Chapter 651: To Ascend or Not to Ascend

Early the next morning, Niya headed to Seventon alone to report the situation to the Princess. A Drow Assassin had been discovered within Netheril, and he was searching for some kind of weak point in the earth veins; such a major matter naturally had to be reported in time. If one wanted the higher-ups to step in promptly, one couldn't leave them completely in the dark. Although such a possibility was unlikely, in this situation, it was all the more necessary to report it immediately.

Except for some items that could be separated for sampling, all of the Drow Assassin's personal belongings, along with his corpse, were packed up and taken to Seventon by Niya. (There were two scimitars, which could also be sampled, so one was left behind.) As for Xia Duo, he made a trip back to Linshui Village. The fleet that had come from Seventon, introduced by Beilaila, had already unloaded his new residents and begun their return journey; they were expected to pass by Savile Town in another two days.

This fleet was composed of eight ships gathered from three merchant guilds, transporting a total of nearly 1,000 people, which was the largest number of people transported since Xia Duo obtained the Silver Ring Badge.

And judging by the timeline, if nothing unexpected happened, this fleet should be able to make one more trip this year.

At the same time, Beilaila's fleet should be able to make one more trip this year, and the four merchant guilds working for Xia Duo in Savile Territory should be able to make two more trips with their fleets.

This was also the reason why Xia Duo had Laidun plan the residential area for nearly ten thousand people, because if everything went smoothly, by the end of this year, Daxia Territory would have nearly ten thousand residents.

This was almost approaching Savile Territory all at once; Savile Territory currently only had 50,000 to 60,000 residents (excluding outsiders), but Savile Territory might not necessarily be able to pull out ten thousand people at once for pioneering.

After all, a mature territory had already reached a state of relative balance in all aspects, and temporarily transferring so many people would inevitably affect normal production, life, and commerce.

From this, one could also see the level of support Netheril currently provided to Pioneers, as it almost instantly filled the population of a newly pioneered territory.

If there were no support and one relied only on natural growth over time or slow attraction, then Savile Territory was the best example, having only grown from a few thousand to 50,000 or 60,000 people in nearly a hundred years.

Although the Orc Tide had a great "contribution" to this, even without it, the rate of natural growth was not something Xia Duo could accept.

……

Because nearly a thousand people had suddenly poured into the territory, Xia Duo stayed in the territory for the time being. As the lord, his presence there was the best support for his subordinates and residents.

However, he was not idle, or rather, he couldn't be idle at all. In the process of studying the Fielder Spellbook, he was actually also reviewing and summarizing all his past knowledge systems.

Because most bridging experiments were essentially "beyond the syllabus" content, if one did not have a solid foundation, let alone conducting bridging experiments, one might not even be able to analyze the results fed back by the Identify spell.

For some time now, Xia Duo had vaguely felt that if he were willing, he should be able to make contact with the 6th Layer of the Magic Net in the form of an Ascension Trial.

This was a kind of self-confidence that came after his foundation was complete, and the reason why he had not tried to ascend was actually because he was worried. Because once he made contact with the 6th Layer of the Magic Net, an Arcanist would also enter a brand-new stage.

By then, once the Arcane Fire "extinguished," one would have to wait until after becoming a Legendary Mage to recreate it.

It was not as if there were no Arcanists in Netheril whose Arcane Fire had accidentally "extinguished" before they became a Great Arcanist, leaving them stuck before the Legendary stage and becoming Archmages who were depressed for the rest of their lives.

An Arcanist's talent and aptitude did not necessarily exceed that of a Legendary Mage; it was just that they happened to create their own Arcane Fire at the 5th Ring level, thereby possessing the potential to become a Great Arcanist.

Although Xia Duo was confident that he could become an Archmage (above 8th Ring), he had never dared to hope for the Legendary stage. It could be said that the Arcane Fire was his greatest reliance for becoming a Great Arcanist. (A Great Arcanist also counts as a Legendary Mage, but has an Arcane Fire that an ordinary Legendary Mage does not.) As long as one lived long enough, even a pig could slowly be enlightened and thus become a Great Arcanist.

It was not even impossible for the Micro Magic Net expanded by the Arcane Fire to develop into a Magic Net covering an entire Plane if one lived until the end of time.

……

In Xia Duo's view, the Arcane Fire was the highest achievement of the Netheril Magic system. The essence of the Arcane Fire was the Magic Net String, which was the Magic Net itself. An Arcanist who possessed an Arcane Fire was almost a miniature god of magic.

Moreover, unlike a god of magic born from the Magic Net, an Arcanist created the Arcane Fire themselves. Although it was still very weak for the time being, its theoretical development prospects were broader than those of a god of magic.

Of course, Xia Duo did not yet know what kind of existence a god really was; this was just a speculation based on what he currently knew.

The Arcane Fire had such potential, and if he lost it and could not guarantee that he would definitely become a Legendary Mage to regain it, how could Xia Duo not be anxious about the gains and losses of ascending! At the 5th Ring level, even if the Arcane Fire were lost, it would only be a matter of recreating it, wasting some time of the Arcane Fire's natural growth. Compared to the growth brought by ascending, the natural growth brought by time was almost negligible.

Therefore, even when he suddenly heard about the Dragon Disaster and the Drow, Xia Duo never thought about ascending immediately, because once he ascended, there was no turning back.

Previously, Xia Duo had thought about maintaining his current state. Researching the essence of the Magic Net more deeply did not necessarily require reaching the same depth of the Magic Net; pure theory was also possible.

Likewise, in theory, a Level 10 Mage could also cast 6th Ring, or even 9th Ring or 10th Ring spells.

The so-called Ascension Trial would raise an original low-ring spell by one ring, or rather, express a high-ring spell through low-ring elements, thereby making contact with a deeper layer of the Magic Net.

Being able to raise it by one ring meant, in theory, it could be raised by multiple rings.

But theory was ultimately theory; raising it by one ring was not easy, and continuing to raise it further was an almost geometric increase in difficulty.

For example, in theory, a Level 1 Mage could also cast a 9th Ring spell by expressing a 9th Ring spell through elements at the 1st Ring level. If a Level 1 Mage were to rely solely on themselves to perform the operations involved, they might have to cast the spell continuously for a year, or even longer, to succeed.

And could a normal human being cast spells continuously for a year without eating or drinking, with highly focused mental concentration?

They might not even be able to persist for a few days.

Therefore, a Level 1 Mage researching 9th Ring level theories or spells only existed in theory; it was almost impossible to achieve in reality.

Xia Duo's situation was a bit better. He was currently considered a Level 10 Mage (Arcanist does not count as a separate Spellcasting Level; it is just an advanced profession, and the essence is still a Mage), so researching 9th Ring or 10th Ring level theories or spells was much more convenient for him than for a Level 1 Mage.

Perhaps he could just continue researching like this until he was certain of becoming a Great Arcanist, and then ascend in one step.

But what ascension brought was not just convenience in research, but also the power that Xia Duo valued highly. The deterrent power of a Level 10 Mage and a Level 1 Mage was completely different, even if that Level 1 Mage could already research 9th Ring spells.

(If one could really succeed in casting a 9th Ring spell as a Level 1 Mage, one could directly make contact with the 9th Layer of the Magic Net and thus become an Archmage.)

To ascend or not to ascend, that is the question! Before truly advancing to become an Arcanist, Xia Duo had never imagined that one day he would feel troubled by such a question. Only after truly becoming an Arcanist and possessing an Arcane Fire would one cherish the Arcane Fire so much!

Just like being generous when one has no money, and becoming stingy after one has money.

(End of chapter)