Chapter 507: Arcane Spellcasting

Returning to his residence, Xia Duo lay on the bed. At this moment, he felt a very contradictory sensation: on one hand, the exhaustion following his advancement, and on the other, an inexplicable excitement. He clearly knew he needed to rest and wanted to rest, but he could not fall asleep no matter what, as if gripped by a morbid state of agitation, tossing and turning on the bed.

Simply put, Xia Duo stopped trying to sleep and decided to study his Arcane Fire instead.

At this moment, the Arcane Fire was connected to the Magic Net, with a constant stream of energy flowing from the Magic Net into the Arcane Fire, "igniting" it to generate Arcane Energy, which then circulated continuously within the root of the Arcane Fire—the curled-up Micro Magic Net.

Xia Duo had just advanced, and the Arcane Energy inherent to the Arcane Fire was not yet full, but even so, he was already akin to a self-charging spellcasting machine.

As long as the output power was not greater than the input power, he could ensure that Magic was always available for use.

Of course, the actual situation could not be so idealized; Spellcasting was similar to moving bricks, both requiring the consumption of physical strength, or rather, energy. Using Arcane Energy for Spellcasting was not necessarily less strenuous than Spellcasting through the Magic Net.

It was merely an extra set of Spellcasting systems, an additional choice, capable of adapting to more situations.

Naturally, the premise for all of this was to first learn Arcane Spellcasting.

……

Taking advantage of the fact that he could not sleep, Xia Duo opened the books related to Arcane Spellcasting within his Personal Space and roughly went through them. He had actually read this content before, but without Arcane Energy on hand, he had been unable to conduct experiments.

Only now, having successfully advanced to an Arcanist, could he be considered to have truly entered the practical stage.

【Arcane Spellcasting】 mainly consists of two concepts: one is Spellcasting using Arcane Energy as the energy source; the other is Spellcasting using Arcane Energy as a medium and tool.

The first requires unfolding the Magic Net Strings within the root of the Arcane Fire, using the Magic Net Strings as a medium and Arcane Energy as the energy to cast spells. Currently, Xia Duo's Arcane Fire is not yet perfect; unless he dismantles the Arcane Fire, he cannot unfold enough Magic Net Strings to be used for Spellcasting.

Of course, if the Arcane Fire is dismantled, the Magic Net Strings will simply dissipate. As for when he will possess enough Magic Net Strings for Spellcasting, the Arcanist himself actually has no real way to influence it; it basically relies on the natural growth of the Arcane Fire.

In any case, the Magic Net Strings are just tools and will not disappear after Spellcasting; they will eventually grow to a practical stage.

Additionally, unfolding the Magic Net Strings at the root of the Arcane Fire is essentially unfolding the Arcanist's personal Magic Net, but an Arcanist's personal Micro Magic Net is far less powerful than the external Magic Net, so one must consider the possibility of it being damaged.

……

Basically, when Arcanists speak of 【Arcane Spellcasting】, they are referring to the second concept, which is using Arcane Energy as a Spellcasting medium and tool to replace the Magic Net Strings.

Although the Arcane Energy born from the Arcane Fire is a form of pure energy, it naturally possesses some characteristics of the Magic Net Strings, sufficient to be used to simulate Magic Net Strings for Spellcasting.

Casting spells in this way, because there is no assistance from the Xianshi Mawang or the Arcanist's personal Micro Magic Net, is more difficult than casting with the help of the external Magic Net or the personal Micro Magic Net.

Furthermore, with this method of Spellcasting, the energy circuits that constitute the spell will also undergo some subtle adjustments; after all, Arcane Energy is not a true Magic Net String.

There is a difference between energy flowing through Magic Net Strings and energy directly forming a circuit. In this regard, Netherese Mages have long had corresponding solutions, which is simply to change some open circuits into closed ones.

The difficulty is not high.

The true difficulty of Arcane Spellcasting does not lie here, but in simultaneously constructing energy channels and driving the energy circulation; it is like a train that has to lay tracks while driving.

It is almost double the mental effort.

Whereas casting spells with the help of Magic Net Strings only requires constructing the energy channels, and the Magic Net Strings will automatically respond, with energy circulating automatically. In this regard, the Spellcaster does not need to worry; it is simply the best Spellcasting tool.

In the end, it still requires more practice. After all, for an individual, Magic is not just theory, but even more so a practice; practice makes perfect, after all! ……

The first spell Xia Duo chose to study for Arcane Spellcasting was 【Light】. As the first spell Xia Duo ever came into contact with, this time, it once again took on the task of being his first target.

Of course, being simple enough, as well as having an obvious and harmless effect, was the main reason Xia Duo chose it.

For his first time performing Arcane Spellcasting, Xia Duo did not know what the experience was like for other Arcanists, whether they succeeded or failed, but for him, it seemed a bit too smooth; he succeeded on the first try.

Perhaps it was because the spell Xia Duo chose was too simple, but regardless, succeeding on the first try was undoubtedly a good omen.

However, the next few attempts all ended in failure. Xia Duo wanted to continue trying, but at this moment, his spirit had reached its limit. The excitement from initially succeeding in his advancement, and even the success of his first Arcane Spellcasting, had been replaced by deep fatigue.

The superficial excitement could no longer suppress the exhaustion deep within. Since he was already on the bed, Xia Duo turned on his side and fell straight asleep.

……

Advancing to an Arcanist is actually casting an extremely complex 5th Circle Spell 【Create Arcane Fire】 and then combining it with one's will; no matter how tired one is, it is not as exhausting as reaching the limit of Spellcasting.

And it is certainly not as exhausting as returning from the Projection Plane and receiving the feedback of a long period of time in an instant.

Having gone to sleep before nightfall, Xia Duo woke up in the middle of the night.

The first thing he did after waking up was to attempt Arcane Spellcasting again. When a bright ball of light appeared in the bedroom, a satisfied smile appeared on Xia Duo's face.

At this time, his consciousness and mental state were much better than before he went to sleep. Xia Duo clearly realized some of the difficulties of performing Arcane Spellcasting; his success on the first try before had contained a certain amount of luck.

Now, he could see the entire Spellcasting process clearly and fully understand the key steps involved.

In this way, he could be considered to have initially learned 【Arcane Spellcasting】. As for other spells, he still needed to study their Arcane Spellcasting versions one by one and then practice them before he could be considered to have mastered 【Arcane Spellcasting】 completely.

"Tower Spirit, tell me today's date."

"Agent Xia Duo, today is the 29th day of the fourth month."

"Has it passed midnight?"

"No."

Xia Duo sat up abruptly from the bed. He had calculated that he should be able to advance smoothly before the Snow Melting Competition, but he had not expected the time to be so tight. Now that it had not yet passed midnight, it meant that there was only one day left until the Snow Melting Competition.

After getting out of bed, Xia Duo went straight out and walked toward the Elevator. While taking food out of his Dimensional Bag to satisfy his hunger, he summoned clear water through his Bloodline Ability, and then used this mass of clear water to summon a 【Pure Water Sphere】 to roll back and forth over his body, treating it as a bath.

In any case, what else could this kind of Water Element, which had almost no self-awareness, be used for besides cleaning?

It wouldn't even hurt if it hit someone.

(End of chapter)