[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-76":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269722,4431,"Chapter 76: First Casting","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-76",76,"\u003Cp>The night was deep, his body weary, but Li En’s spirit was strangely energized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This potion—does it have some kind of problem? Can you tell me exactly what’s in it?” The potion, reeking of fishy odor and rooty herbs, nearly made Li En vomit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you knew the ingredients, Ga , that’d be the real problem!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fine, Li En stopped asking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t understand why Kuku kept pushing him to start learning magic now (Kuku: Take advantage of the ‘Snake’ buff before it fades and get him in quickly).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What difference does one more day or one less day make? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to wait until he’s in better condition?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh? It worked?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En had tried “Focus for Casting” many times before—and mostly failed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, he succeeded instantly, slipping into casting state with ease, and he was stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is Kuku’s disgusting potion really that powerful?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his abnormally heightened mental state finally allowed him to begin his first spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Temporary Class Levels: First-Rank Alchemist, First-Rank Sage, First-Rank Dragon Tongue Mage (these temporary classes will vanish in 11 days and 20 hours)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, Li En, with a caster rank, should’ve been able to cast long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But reality, as Kuku said, was that casting was a technical skill—even with the Hero Soul’s aid, Li En couldn’t achieve precise casting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, construct a spell model. Rocket Spell—it’s your target.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Li En’s casting target was the zero-rank cantrip, Rocket Spell, whose standard damage barely matched Li En’s sword slash—it was the simplest fire spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For an ordinary mage, it was just a flick of the finger—but now, Li En was drenched in sweat, his hands constantly moving, daring not to pause for a second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.Again, it collapsed. So hard to control.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No flame even formed—the spell model shattered outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En checked his panel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Biological Level: Raw Stone, Status: Strength 8, Constitution 9, Agility 6, Spirit 8 (22)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the primary attribute for casters—spirit, used to convert and generate mana—his spirit, boosted by the Hero Soul’s possession, exceeded Su Er’s peak by four points; considering marginal returns on attribute points, the actual mana gap might be several times greater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With such immense spirit, how could he not even master a cantrip?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this was already vastly better than before—he’d previously been unable to enter casting state at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it the problem with mana emission (neutral)?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mana emission was a caster’s foundational ability: literally converting spirit into mana and releasing it outside the body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the basis of many supernatural abilities—Li En, as a paladin, had mana emission (positive energy) and mana emission (radiance), and as a red dragon descendant, he also had mana emission (fire).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former enabled him to use healing spells (though he didn’t know them) and Smite Evil, while the latter allowed various fire enchantments and fire breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His previous great feat, the Holy Flame Aura, had also relied on mana emission (fire) to infuse dragonfire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But mages required pure mana, crafting spells bit by bit—naturally, they needed mana emission (neutral).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En himself didn’t possess it, but all three magic-class professions he gained from Kuku included this most basic ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now he was trying to channel his spirit, converting it into pure mana to construct a “spell model.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This felt utterly different from paladin or sorcerer casting—those two were like idiotic auto-casters, where shouting a word made mana move on its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a mage had to precisely control every drop of mana, building his spells from scratch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Looks simple enough—just an ‘arrow’ plus a ‘fire plane mana marker.’ Why does it always explode in my hands?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like shaping a bullet about to be fired—but each time, it collapsed on its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it too much force, or insufficient control?” Li En compared the model and diagram in the book, inputting mana to shape it—but still failed every time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grew anxious, his gaze instinctively drifting toward Kuku.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kuku clearly sensed it, yet kept silently reading, offering no guidance whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En took a deep breath and abandoned the idea of asking for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood the principle—some skills could only be learned through personal trial, like riding a bike or swimming: once you got it, you got it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For now, he could only slowly feel his way—his invisible spirit tendrils twisted between his hands, trying to mold a complete spell model.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En felt progress with every passing moment—his condition today was indeed excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he didn’t know how many failures lay ahead before he could advance further—this uncertainty tested his will the most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Got it!” After at least a hundred failures, Li En finally crossed the first threshold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, after Kuku switched to another book beside him, a colorless, transparent “arrow model” stabilized in Li En’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drenched in sweat, he didn’t stop—he moved to the next step of casting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Inject mana, let the spell model mature.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boom!” This time, it exploded in his hands again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En took a deep breath, didn’t look at anyone else, and focused on calming his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once, again—though still failing, progress was advancing. After one success, shaping the fire arrow’s spell model seemed much easier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could now succeed two or three times out of ten, only to blow it up during mana injection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En was beginning to understand: the key wasn’t spirit strength, but stability and precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A precise, stable mana model—any tiny flaw would cause it to explode the moment mana was injected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tch, seems I’ll need to test spatial imagination and spatial geometry too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The model grew increasingly complete and refined—until this time, after injecting mana, it remained stable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En smiled. It might still be imperfect, but it was whole and qualified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.Next, introduce the fire element.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En could ignite it with a single thought—his dragonfire mana emission would guarantee power—but ordinary apprentice mages couldn’t do that; they couldn’t “breathe fire” themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most basic fire spells were actually the product of “mana exchange,” summoned from the elemental plane via a “fire plane mana marker.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, the mana arrow began to “color”—gradually ignited by the fire element drawn in by the mana marker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Li En was blasted clean off his feet!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cough… cough…” Li En lay on the ground, coughing for a long while before slowly sitting up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t injured—his red dragon heritage gave him high fire resistance; this level of mana-fire explosion couldn’t harm him. It was just—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.Is this power level… off?” He didn’t understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En, aware of his red dragon bloodline, had chosen fire arrow as his first cantrip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as far as he knew, this cantrip’s power was… subtle. Very subtle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Idiot! You’re red dragon bloodline! Naturally element-affine! They (fire elements) like you! You have to reduce the mana you feed them! The amount of mana a dragon uses will overload the spell model!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At last, Kuku spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh… how much should I reduce it by?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, no answer came—and Li En understood: he’d have to figure it out himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seventy percent, sixty percent, fifty percent… finally, around forty to fifty percent, it stabilized!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throughout this process, Li En’s mana shaping skill also became stable and refined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, a tiny flame arrow flickered faintly between his hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next came hand gestures to guide it (incantations had already been used during shaping—the cantrip’s incantation was extremely brief)—this part shouldn’t be hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bang!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En shattered the teacup on the table—and Kuku, on the other side, closed his book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good! Faster than expected! At least ten tries! I thought you’d—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En smiled. He’d actually aimed for the cheap pencil drawing on the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He resolved silently: when he had time, he’d sneak in some accuracy practice—reality had no teammates to absorb misses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was probably already three or four in the morning, but Li En, having succeeded in his first spell, was exhilarated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d mastered a zero-rank spell so easily—was his talent really that good? He’d heard mages judged a student’s potential by how quickly they mastered low-rank spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Below average. At this level, you’ll never become a grand mage under normal circumstances.” Kuku’s teaching mode was brutally cold and realistic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cantrips aren’t hard. Normal apprentices take about the same time—but you’ve had my class as an aid. Other apprentices still struggle with the hardest part: mana emission.” Li En’s dream of being a mage prodigy shattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, Kuku had been lenient—Li En still had grand mage-level spirit support and the ‘Snake’ buff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cantrips weren’t even considered proper spells; even street bards and thieves could learn some.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En’s innate talent for casting, then, was clearly low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Snap.” Kuku closed his book, expression calm—he’d expected this result all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ensu had never been a casting prodigy; his aptitude for most classes was below average. But what ultimately determined how far a person could go wasn’t just talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could anyone be worse at talent than Kuku, the goblin with below-average intelligence?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At a mage tower, they’d make you a student for half a year, then kick you out. I can give you the progress of a ‘mage prodigy’—if you’re willing to pay the price.” Perhaps this was why Kuku had been summoned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1541,"2026-06-19T21:45:41.002Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","5ce075c0f974e31f374250d05ea69ff7af05f295204451df12a6b26bf401f849","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-77","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-75",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]