A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 19 Entering the Extraordinary

Time flies, and it's already past 7 p.m. Jiang Shuzhou has absorbed two rounds of elements, and his current magic power is enough for him to practice spells.

"Magic Value 31/31"

"Alright! Let's press on and take down the mage tonight!"

Although Jiang Shuzhou was somewhat tired, his spirits were surprisingly good, which might be related to his high spirit attribute of ten points.

Using mental power to quickly draw guiding runes in one's mind, and then rapidly infusing them with magic power, is a technique that Jiang Shuzhou discovered. It's like preparing a pre-made dish; you make the template first, and then fill it with magic power when you need it.

The advantage is that the magic consumption after failure is minimal, while the disadvantage is that the casting is relatively slow. After all, others can complete the task in one step, while Jiang Shuzhou has to take an additional step.

However, Jiang Shuzhou didn't care at the moment. After all, it didn't matter if the casting was a little slower, as long as he could release the spell. As for the rest? He could optimize it later.

Just like writing a program, you have to get the program running first. Only after it starts successfully can you make optimizations.

If you can't even cast spells, then what's the point of talking about weaknesses?

It is clear that Jiang Shuzhou is right.

This time, the Mage's Hand was successfully cast, unlike before when it failed to be cast.

What does it feel like when the spirit breaks through the veil and enters the material world?

Jiang Shuzhou tells you, this feeling is fantastic!

It was even more refreshing than ice, like a blind person suddenly regaining their sight or a deaf person regaining their hearing. Even with his eyes closed, Jiang Shuzhou could sense everything around him.

Not just this room, but the entire ship, and even further!

He could clearly "hear" the sound of crabs lying on the sand, the calls of seabirds, and even the rustling of trees.

Of course, this is not the most important thing.

The book in front of Jiang Shuzhou slowly floated up, though it was somewhat unstable. This was because Jiang Shuzhou was a little excited. After calming his mind, Jiang Shuzhou used the mage's hand to open the book.

"I know why mages stay in the mage tower and rarely go out. It feels really great to control the power of nature."

Although Jiang Shuzhou only mastered one of the most basic spells, don't underestimate the spell "Hand of the Mage".

Hand of the Mage is the most important spell, bar none!

The reason is simple: if a mage wants to cast spells over a long distance, he needs to use the Mage's Hand, which is an extension of the mind. If you don't know the Mage's Hand, you can only construct spells in your mind and can only release them in your mind.

So here's the question: are you really not afraid of dying if you're casting spells in your head?

Therefore, the first rune for most spells is channeling, which involves channeling mental energy to the caster before releasing the spell.

However, this kind of spell can only be released on the surface of the body, which is not only very eye-catching, but also very easy to dodge.

Later, it was discovered by some mage that the Mage's Hand could extend the casting range, allowing spells to be constructed and released over long distances. In intense battles, enemies not only needed to keep a close eye on the mage's every move, but also needed to be constantly aware of whether spells were being cast nearby, giving mages a significant advantage in combat.

Of course, this method is not without its drawbacks. The only drawback is that it requires multi-tasking. Not only do you need to control the Mage's Hand, but you also need to construct runes, dodge attacks, and even cast defensive spells at close range. In other words, you need to operate at least three lines.

It sounds a bit like a useless thing.

But it's okay, isn't that what we mages do? As the saying goes, the more you study in peacetime, the less you bleed in wartime. After all, mages are fragile and don't bleed as much as warriors, so losing a little blood is no big deal.

Although mages don't have that much blood to shed, I have plenty of time to study! In the eyes of a proper mage, someone like Jiang Shuzhou who studies for ten hours a day is just a lazy dog. How can you sleep if you don't study for seventeen or eighteen hours a day?

Therefore, mages are all masters of micro-management. Multitasking is commonplace for them. Drawing a circle with their left hand and a square with their right is a piece of cake for them. They can even draw a triangle for you with their mage hands.

"It took me two whole days to learn my first spell. The path to truth is as precarious as walking on thin ice. Do you think I can ever reach the other side?"

Huh? Isn't that Bo Bing? Have you reached the truth yet?

Shaking his head to clear his mind of these inexplicable thoughts, Jiang Shuzhou felt a sense of loneliness for the first time. It wasn't some kind of life insight, but genuine loneliness. After all, he hadn't seen a single person for almost a week. He was either arguing with people online or studying magic on this dilapidated ship.

He has never seen a single person, neither in the game nor in reality.

"Sigh, this is probably the true meaning of loneliness."

He was trying to indulge in a bit of literary whimsy, but unfortunately, Jiang Shuzhou, whose cultural background was rather limited, couldn't think of any good words.

"Does graduating from high school mean I don't deserve to enjoy solitude?"

One glance at the thimble revealed it to be something he played online, playing abstract games.

In this world, who isn't crazy? The reason they haven't gone crazy is because they haven't felt it yet. EVA is still a bit conservative. If you let people today open it, the Wall of the Heart would be so thick that it would make you despair, and show you what a true absolute defense stance is.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Time flies, and three hours have almost passed.

During those three hours, Jiang Shuzhou practiced Mage's Hand dozens of times until he could cast it within two seconds, at which point he stopped. It wasn't that he didn't want to practice anymore, but that he was out of mana again.

We'll deal with the magic power issue later, since absorbing one round of elements takes at least two hours, and the maximum magic power is ten times the spirit attribute, which is one hundred points.

Jiang Shuzhou is very tired now. He has no energy to absorb elements anymore. He has been able to practice until now only because of his willpower and the excitement of learning magic for the first time.

Now that the novelty has worn off, Jiang Shuzhou is finding it hard to hold on.

Let's look at other spells first.

Then, Jiang Shuzhou saw a sentence.

"Beginners learning the Mage Hand should construct runes as slowly as possible, completing the rune construction within five minutes."

?

Aren't feelings measured in seconds? I thought I was building them too slowly.

Jiang Shuzhou was a little nervous. He used to try to complete the rune construction within ten seconds. This was a bit of a formalism on his part. After all, the book said that the time for casting spells in battle should not exceed two seconds, and he believed it. Even for spells he had just learned, he forced himself to reduce the casting time to within two seconds.

Who wrote this book? Such important information, and you only mention it on the last page? Why is there only one sentence on this page? Are you doing this on purpose? What are you trying to do?!

Jiang Shuzhou was getting anxious; his face had turned red.

"Screw this! I'm done playing, I'm logging off to take a shower!"

In the end, Jiang Shuzhou maintained his composure. After all, he hadn't seen everything, and besides, he hadn't suffered any loss. Was being too talented a mistake?

Although I felt like I'd been tricked, it was probably just an illusion, or better yet, it was an illusion.

"The spell 'Mage's Hand' has been mastered."