Chapter 138: Human Body's Seven Major Mana Node Model?

Very good, skip.

As a low-tier monster, even with 【Mana Storage】 installed, Pujiji has only one central mana node, making it completely useless as a reference.

Turning to Chapter Two, it discusses innate mana and ambient mana.

Hmm... innate mana is probably one's own blue bar, while ambient mana is the active mana in the surroundings that can be drawn upon.

The casting process involves using innate mana to construct an effective spell path within the body, then drawing in ambient mana to achieve the spell effect; Pujiji can only achieve this through a mana crystal.

The book also mentions that spell power equals innate path efficiency multiplied by ambient mana concentration.

This also explains why that Gold-tier mage in the mist was so strong; it was purely because the ambient mana was overly enriched, so a casual draw yielded several times the mana of the outside world.

Similarly, the general function of mana crystals is also to gather surrounding free-floating mana, making the ambient mana around the caster denser during casting.

As for innate path efficiency, it seems to be tied to magic level.

High-tier magic has so-called minimum casting requirements; if path efficiency doesn't meet the standard, even if you learn the spell model, you can't cast it.

Continuing to flip forward, there are some basic structural models.

Honestly, the beginning of this book is actually quite easy to understand, but as I continued flipping forward, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

The initial single-ring structure and double-helix structure, although looking a bit complex, were still within the range of being understandable.

Quickly flipping to the back, I found things like multiple superposition models and triangle linkage models; after a cursory glance, Lin Jun instantly regained the feeling of studying advanced calculus...

Turning back to look at the book title, "Fundamentals of Universal Spell Construction".

Is this damn thing called fundamentals?

Lin Jun didn't believe it; were all mages in this world top students?

Closing this book, he opened another one: "Common Fire Magic Models (Levels 1-3)".

Indeed, with the limit set to within Level 3, it felt like there was no knowledge beyond the syllabus.

Lin Jun chose a Level 2 magic spell, Fireball, to study.

Although Lin Jun hadn't used a single spell up to now, his 【Mana Control】 was actually at Level 5.

This was naturally all thanks to the efforts of 【Greed】 and the selfless dedication of the adventurers.

Out of casting necessity, a specially crafted magic Pujiji was generated.

【Mana Storage Lv7】 + 【Mana Control Lv5】 + 【Fire Magic Lv5】

With the three basic skills required for casting magic fully equipped, a D-rank mana crystal was also paired with Pujiji to serve as an external casting device.

One couldn't expect Pujiji to automatically cast magic; with these skills, Pujiji still lacked knowledge of spell models, so everything was manually controlled by Lin Jun.

Controlling Magic Pujiji No. 1, using 【Mana Control Lv5】 to outline the Level 2 magic model, it was quite easy.

But since it was the first time casting, Lin Jun still dawdled for 10 minutes before completing the connection of the Fireball spell path within the mana crystal.

Once the final path completed the loop, under Lin Jun's guidance, the mana indeed surged heavily towards the mana crystal!

The temperature of the mana crystal rose rapidly!

Hmm?

Isn't this Fireball? Why did the mana crystal's temperature rise?

Before Lin Jun could figure it out, the mana crystal directly turned into a fireball, burning through the mycelial tentacles and dropping to the ground, while continuing to heat up!

A sudden explosion sound flashed through the mushroom forest, and just as quickly vanished was that magic Pujiji, along with 10 square meters of mycelial mat...

Damn, it's fine if the mana crystal gets roasted and explodes.

Where did it go wrong? Lin Jun saw others' spells forming outside the mana crystal.

Fortunately, the two books were placed far away and weren't damaged.

Another Pujiji ran out from the forest to help Lin Jun flip through the textbook again.

Half an hour later, Lin Jun finally figured it out.

He had been so focused on constructing the magic path that he forgot to connect an exit for it; just now, the mana circulated repeatedly within the path, eventually exceeding the limit and exploding.

Having learned the lesson, Magic Puji No. 2 finally succeeded in rubbing out Lin Jun's first fireball in his mushroom life.

Fire!

The fireball hit a mushroom tree, blasting open a hole about two meters in diameter.

!

For the first successful Cast Magic, Lin Jun couldn't hide his excitement, controlling Magic Pujiji No. 2 to use Fireball several times in succession.

It became smoother and smoother; from initially needing 10 minutes to construct one Fireball, to now being able to rub one out in just tens of seconds.

And Lin Jun was very certain that this time could continue to shorten with practice!

The mushroom tree in front serving as a target was already riddled with holes; luckily, a fat Pujiji filled with water was nearby to extinguish fires at any moment, otherwise the whole area would have burned long ago.

After using Fireball once again, Magic Pujiji No. 2 suddenly died.

Hmm?

Checked it... mana exhausted, starved to death...

Unlike humans, where emptying mana causes at most dizziness, headache, and fainting, Pujiji, a monster that relies on mana to move, dies immediately if mana is over-consumed.

Even with 【Mycelial Reassembly】, resurrection was impossible; although the corpse looked intact, most of the mycelia inside had actually starved to death, belonging to damage levels exceeding the repairable limit, so it could only be discarded into the swamp for recycling.

Lin Jun thought for a moment and felt this problem could be solved by having Pujiji connect its tentacles to the mycelial mat, replenishing mana while casting, so there would be no fear of suddenly running out.

This small incident did not affect Lin Jun's enthusiasm for casting; soon, Magic Pujiji No. 3 took over the post from its predecessor.

One day later.

Magic Pujiji rolled the mana crystal, surrounding mana surged in, and 10 seconds later, a Fireball blasted out.

This time the power was slightly greater than the initial one, with the blast diameter reaching 3 meters.

However, Lin Jun was not very satisfied.

Ten seconds; for a battle, that is still too long.

After all, the Mushroom Cannon takes less than two seconds from aiming to firing.

Other human adventurers, when casting spells in combat, can generally conjure them within two or three seconds.

After all, when constructing a spell, the mage cannot move wildly for stability; if the casting time is too long in battle, they become a living target, purely seeking death.

But the problem is, conjuring a Fireball in two or three seconds is the result of others' years of practice; Lin Jun has only played with magic for one day, and ten seconds is his current limit.

Afterwards, he can only rely on constant practice, enduring the grind to shorten the casting time...

Wait, I'm already using 【Greed】 as a cheat, so why do I still have to grind problems to improve?

Isn't there any skill like Quick Cast? He thought for a moment, and it seemed he really hadn't seen one.

Then is there any way to quickly draw the spell model?

Come to think of it, can I directly draw the spell model inside a Pugi's body and cast the spell?

Bang—

Magic Pugi... who knows what number, anyway, daily loss +1.

The ox-and-horse Pugi's ran out from behind the Mushroom Tree to mop the floor, cleaning up all the Pugi fragments on the ground.

Indeed, magic is not that simple.

The crude method of directly pinching the spell model into a Pugi's body didn't work; either the spell wouldn't release, or it exploded after mana overload.

Nor did he know where the problem lay.

Although he had expected it, Lin Jun still couldn't help feeling disappointed.

After all, if every spell required Lin Jun to spend a lot of time practicing, then the practical value of spells for him would drop significantly.

It was far less practical than leveling up a skill to a high grade.

Looking at the dozen or so magic-related books on the ground.

Could it be that they could only be treated as a hobby, conjured occasionally for fun...

In his helplessness, the name of one book once again caught Lin Jun's attention.

Magic Array...? —

Inside the Employee Mushroom House, Norris slowly woke up.

"Where am I?"

His memory still lingered on the hot soup the Boss gave him...

"You're awake!"

The blinding strong light forced Norris to cover his eyes.

What is that?

Squinting a slit, Norris saw a Pugi standing in the light.

No, that Pugi itself was light!

"Pugi... God?"

Norris did not know that the Pugi before him was the crystallization of Lin Jun's life's learning—the Light Spell Pugi!

Sitting up somewhat flustered, Norris suddenly felt something stuck in his throat.

"Cough, cough!"

【Saliva Arrow lv5】

【Neurotoxin lv4】

Red poison liquid turned into a water arrow, shooting through the Pugi in front of him in one go, and even punched a hole in the Mushroom House...

The Light Pugi flickered twice, its light extinguished, and it fell inside the Mushroom House.

Although Pugi's were not afraid of neurotoxins, they couldn't withstand the 【Saliva Arrow】 shooting straight through their bodies.

How could spitting out my own saliva be so powerful?

Looking at the dead Pugi, Norris also realized this was probably a new variety the Boss had made, and that he seemed to have caused trouble again.

"Boss... I'm sorry..."

Norris made a mournful face, praying this Pugi wasn't too important, and that he wouldn't be locked in the Slime Room again?

"It's... not... a... pro... blem... Nor... ris..."

The terrifying voice from behind almost made Norris roll out.

Crawling to the opposite corner of the Mushroom House with hands and feet, Norris finally turned to see what made the sound—a long, strip-shaped Pugi...

"Boss... what is this again?"

The long strip Pugi twisted as it spoke: "S... peaker... put... it... on."

"Put it on? How do I put it on?"

Then Norris, with a bitter face, watched as the Pugi wrapped around his neck...

Finally accepting this Boss's mouthpiece on his neck, Norris also asked about his changes.

"Boss, what happened? Why is my... saliva so powerful?"

Not only did it shoot through the Pugi, but it even shot a hole in the Mushroom House, comparable to the power of a bow.

Lin Jun then explained to him that he had processed his body again, and now he had more powerful skills!

Powerful skills, huh...

【Saliva Arrow】 and 【Rolling Charge】?

Putting aside those two dubious skills, the other few are indeed very useful.

【Acceleration】 and 【Dodge】 made Norris feel as light as a swallow; if he encountered those three adventurers from back then now, although he couldn't claim to be unscathed, Norris should be able to defeat them on his own.

【Sonic Detection】 is a bit hard to evaluate; the skill can indeed detect over a large area, but at the same time, because the detection range is so vast and the information so abundant, every use makes Norris's head ache a little...

Having understood his new body, Norris was happy that he had become stronger again, yet at the same time he sighed that he was becoming even further from being human.

Looking at his nails which had grown longer again, they needed trimming...

However, Lin Jun felt he hadn't finished experiencing the new skills yet.

"Norris, try that remaining skill of yours too!"

"Not right now, Boss..."

Norris's manner of making excuses made Lin Jun heartbroken.

"What kind of talk is that? How can you guarantee its practicality without testing the skill?

Norris, you must know, this is all for your own good!

Use it; only then can I help you improve it next time if there are any inconveniences!

What is there to be embarrassed about? In the midst of battle, between life and death, should you go to your death just because of embarrassment?"

After this barrage of reasoning, Norris felt so ashamed that he could only think his awareness was still too low.

He gritted his teeth!

【Rolling Charge Lv7】

"Hahahaha!"

Amidst the Boss's inexplicable laughter, Seeing Xiao Hei, sitting in his sparkling little nest, saw a large silver ball roll quickly past the front of his mushroom house.

With a "Bang."

Seeing Xiao Hei, drawn out by the large shiny object, saw Norris curled into a ball, unconscious and embedded in the rock wall after a car crash.

After thinking for a moment, Seeing Xiao Hei pulled Norris out from the rock wall.

He returned him to his own mushroom house, then happily took more than ten beautiful silver scales back to his little nest.

Seeing Xiao Hei discovered that sticking these silver scales on the mushroom house walls made the little nest much brighter; she hoped that one day she could cover the whole nest with them!

Lin Jun was also very happy.

Skills are truly magical; humans can actually become that competitive!

【Rolling Charge】 must have altered some joint structures or muscle flexibility in Norris's body; otherwise, this effect would be impossible.

However, with so many skills added, Norris's blank slate is almost full.

The next enhancement will probably be the final round.

By the way, what would happen if a human had 【Wake Jet】?

Norris is out of the question; next time we can try it on a captive.

(End of Chapter)