Chapter 176: Second-Ring Mage

Li En had a dream.

In the dream, it was not the Hall of Heroic Souls under the familiar starry sky, but an endless sea of stars.

In the void, massive shadowy figures emerged one by one.

Among them were an Elf Empress wearing a veil, an ancient Dragon King with horns, a Titan Giant playing music in a city of clouds, and a colossal beast whose roar sounded like the sky collapsing and the earth cracking—of course, the great serpent coiling across heaven and earth was not missing either.

They chatted happily, drank, and sang; especially that great serpent, which danced particularly wildly.

Dancing alongside or dancing together were several equally huge female serpents, female beasts, and giantesses, yet the rhythm seemed to be the familiar upbeat disco of his past life?

While playing around, they also seemed to be saying something, exchanging something.

Some of them even seemed to start arguing.

Moreover, that ancient Elf Empress even smiled and waved at himself, who had stepped in here at some unknown time.

"Eh, why do I know she is the ancient Elf Empress? Wait, interaction actually happened. Could this not be memory, nor a dream?"

"Oh my, oh my, how did the little one run in here? Let me send you out."

The serpent's voice echoed in his ears; before Li En could respond, he had already, in a daze, reappeared in reality.

He was reaching out his hand, yet he was sitting on his own bed.

He felt somewhat bewildered, glanced at the night outside, and thought, "Better keep sleeping."

When he woke again in the morning, the dream had been forgotten completely.

This second sleep was particularly sweet.

"Time to get to work."

Li En got up and drank a large glass of water; yesterday, Dimon, Larry, and the others had treated him to a hearty feast.

At the banquet, they also discussed adventures in the Underworld and that Lich; chatting and chatting, they started boasting, and accidentally drank a bit too much.

Although the Dragon Bloodline's body had strong resistance, some dwarf strong liquors were named "Dragon Slayer" and "Giant Killer."

Li En, returning home in a daze from the carriage, proved the authenticity of their names.

These items were all spoils of war Dimon had captured from smugglers.

He had exploited a bug: as an "Ascetic," possessing and enjoying such fine wines was forbidden, but if he hosted friends while drinking only water himself, there was absolutely no problem.

Thus, vows were mostly matters of the mind. As long as you truly believed conquest would bring a righteous order, then even actively pursued slaughter and conquest might not break the vow.

As long as you were crazy enough, then establishing a "Righteous Empire" was entirely possible; it was just that apparently no one in history had managed to do it.

But for vows, self-deception would not work; if you were too radical, you might suddenly break the vow during some future review of the past.

After all, deceiving and numbing oneself for a moment was possible, but deceiving oneself for a lifetime was too unrealistic.

In a sense, this was indeed a profession where the firmer the will and the more extreme the emotions, the stronger one became; classical Oathbound Knights who had abandoned the gods' favor, once they grew, were far stronger than ordinary Paladins.

After all, they did not need to bow to divine power, but only to fulfill the promises and kindness within their own hearts.

"Uphold the promise."

"Fight for those who love me and those I love."

"Fight for the bottom line of humanity and human nature."

Wielding the Hero's Sword in his hand once more, Li En could feel that something seemed to be giving feedback.

He had originally thought the vows were just words, but during this journey, all three vows were repeatedly fulfilled, and thus he received the Oath's feedback.

"Perhaps the essence of a Paladin is anger toward unjust people and unjust things..." He vaguely touched upon something.

His exhausted body was once again trained to the extreme; after returning, drinking water, and resting for a while, he began to sit in meditation.

He did not rush to advance further, even though he indeed longed for higher-level abilities.

And the process of cultivation was also a path of evolution, even sublimation.

The power of Radiance gradually merged into his body, and his Holy Power further "radiantized."

This was the cultivation method of the Path of Judgment, and also the life of a Judgment Knight.

Upon reaching the stage of complete fusion, even just a single point of Holy Power at the sword's tip could be imbued with the colors of light and fire, unleashing a slash carrying a heavy "Punish Evil" attribute.

Or, by that time, one might already be able to shout loudly, "For the Holy Light."

"Uh, this works too?" Li En, with eyes closed, felt that his Red Dragon Bloodline's innate fire-control instinct could actually control the fire portion within the "Holy Light," increasing its controllability and power to a certain extent.

Perhaps the power of his Evil-Cleaving Slash could also be further enhanced?

"Why didn't I feel it before... Oh, before I couldn't even be considered a Dragonborn, only a big Kobold." A thin Dragon Bloodline naturally could not provide sufficient elemental control or perception.

Li En, with his Dragon Bloodline awakened, slowly comprehended the power within his body, that Red Dragon-like innate fire-control ability.

In his outstretched hands, faint flames seemed to flow.

The model of "Scorching Ray" from memory began to take shape; the three-stage flame trigger model was easily constructed, and another "Dragon Head" indicated that this computational load was trivial. Next, pouring in mana and guiding elemental power... the most difficult part of this spell was actually the latter.

Guiding the ray and maintaining its stability and speed both required elemental control abilities beyond the norm, yet these seemed to be no problem for a Son of the Red Dragon.

Li En vaguely perceived that between various professions, and between professions and the body, there was no separation.

On the contrary, they merged and influenced each other, ultimately shaping the result.

"Scorching Ray."

His extended fingers fired two consecutive rays condensed from flames.

"Boom!"

But only the first one hit the target, exploding a spark on the wall.

The second naturally dissipated; obviously, even for a Red Dragon lineage, extensive training and exploration were still needed.

"It succeeded, but it still needs a few days of polishing..." Yet he still underestimated the role of the Second Thought Stream.

This "AI" quickly completed the calculations and, during the second casting, performed auxiliary adjustments; by the third casting, all three rays achieved stable detonation!

Precise casting requiring repeated practice and calculation to refine was easily integrated with the help of the auxiliary Second Brain.

Upon successful casting, a faint Arcane aura surrounded Li En, and he stepped into the realm of a Second-Ring Mage.

This was obviously quite abnormal; he had only a handful of first-circle spells, yet he had kicked open the door to the second tier with a single kick. At this moment, Li En was undoubtedly a formal second-circle mage.

"You can go to the Mage District early."

This was to be expected, after all, it was the Sage's "treasure," but Li En hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

However, thinking that the Sage himself had struggled for half a lifetime, circling around the second and third tiers, Li En sighed, feeling a strange sense of sorrow.

But soon, he had no time to think about such things.

"You, you've already reached the second circle?!" Third-circle mage Luo Yisi was full of shock.

He hadn't failed to see geniuses, but he had never seen anything this abnormal.

It's been less than a month, hasn't it? Going directly from zero circle to second circle? Just a few days ago, I was still teaching him his first first-circle spell, Great Stride.

Moreover, Luo Yisi, who had taught Li En personally, definitely knew something about Li En's own talent.

Let alone being a top genius; this kind of "mediocre talent" wouldn't be strange to announce abandonment halfway through if they didn't see each other for two months.

"Mm, just lucky. I encountered some things in the Underdark..." Li En wore an expression as if the past was unbearable to recall.

But if you really ask specifically what happened to allow such a leap to the heavens, the answer remains "unbearable to recall."

"... I encountered the Mind Flayer and a swarm of Mind Flayers, and thus awakened psychic abilities." After some thought, Li En decided to fabricate a bit more of a "true story."

After all, he would soon need to choose a mentor; he needed some reputation and qualifications... In the world of mages, Li En was truly a blank slate; their attitude toward other professions was too subtle, even somewhat arrogant.

Ordinary noble status meant nothing to them; they often pursued knowledge and the possibility of reaching higher-level magic.

"Truly enviable." And Luo Yisi's gaze at Li En was full of envy.

In his view, this wasn't simply about saving a few years of effort (in his estimation, Li En would need about three years to possibly become a second-circle mage); it greatly increased his ceiling while also opening up many convenient paths.

Combining the psychic school, sorcerer bloodlines, and mages all had unique paths to walk, with strength and ceilings that were quite good.

"Perhaps, Li En, you could consider which specific school to pursue, or even walk the path of a psychic sorcerer; although progress is somewhat fated, it saves a lot of time." While speaking, Luo Yisi signed Li En's "graduation certificate" and prepared to write a recommendation letter.

"No need, I have already decided long ago. I plan to pursue the Evocation school; can you recommend a master in this field to me?"

Although third-circle mages usually confirm their specific school, if considering apprenticeship, it is best to decide early. With Li En's current achievements, he didn't need to worry about having no mentor want him; on the contrary, he could consider finding the one most suitable for himself.

"Evocation? There are many."

The world of mages will never lack spell-slinging brutes.

And Li En making this choice was only natural; "Smite Evil" and "Fire Magic" were basically Evocation; his main combat methods were all Evocation, so there was no reason to choose other options... Ku Ku's previous advice had essentially allowed him to lock in his target directly.

"... Master of Thunder and Fire Skoll, the Grumpy Flame Sorcerer Wednesday (pseudonym), the Little Fire Dragon Louise sisters... Don't be surprised why they all play with fire; those who play with fire in Evocation account for at least one-third." And by prioritizing these "fire mages," it was obvious this mentor had also seen something in Li En's red dragon scales.

Dragonblood Sorcerers might not be many, but there were definitely several in the local Mage District.

At this moment, Li En's "initiation" mentor's attitude toward Li En even added eagerness and sycophancy.

He not only introduced some famous fire mages, sorcerers, and psychic practitioners, but also actively contacted his own connections to recommend some relatively suitable mage resources.

He even vaguely hinted that before completely locking in a mentor, developing multiple lines simultaneously was not a bad thing.

The world of spellcasters is sometimes relatively simple, and the potential Li En displayed indeed had the capital to make the arrogant ones bow their heads and actively flatter.

Recalling the mage tower apprentice senior brother he met before, whose eagerness vaguely revealed contempt, compared to the eagerness of this current third-circle formal mage, Li En smiled helplessly.

(End of this chapter)