What!
Claude stared at the blue orb strangely, and then took a glance at the girl. From the looks of it, she doesn't seem to be able to see this blue orb.
'Is this perhaps... my golden finger?'
A ludicrous thought can't help but emerge in Claude's mind.
It has been quite a while since he had been transmigrated—three months to be exact. Yet he didn't even see a glimpse of his golden finger, which made him doubt whether it would appear at all.
Putting those thoughts aside, he crouched down and reached out to grab it. Upon touching the blue orb, it immediately dissipated and a warm feeling coursed through Claude's body.
In addition, his previously stagnant Mana Sea trembled slightly and began absorbing the mana. On top of that, he also felt that his thoughts became clearer and his thought process become faster. To put it into perspective, the change is akin to watching a video at full HD after spending countless years watching at 144p¹.
Before long, the feeling disappeared completely and Claude was left standing there speechless at what just happened.
"Uhm... Can I go now?" Sylvia asked with a hint of hurriedness in her tone.
It was only at this moment that Claude realized that the girl hadn't left yet, so with his quick thinking, he replied, "Of course, of course! The trade has been done and no harm will befall upon you."
"Un." Sylvia nodded awkwardly before turning around and walking hastily.
"I hit the jackpot this time!" Claude said in his heart as he gazed at the girl fading into the crowd, "Not only did I get fifty silver taels, my golden finger also arrived!"
Thinking of something, he said with hesitation, "Status panel."
[Host: Claude Dawnbreaker
Rank: None
Skills: None
Mana: 2/2
Comprehension: 1]
"It worked!" Claude was elated all of a sudden.
Initially, he simply thought of it as a joke, but who would've thought that his status panel would actually appear. However, Claude suddenly found a problem.
"Huh? Why don't I have a rank?"
[Ding! The requirements for becoming a 1st-Class Mage is to have 10 Mana Points.]
The system's robotic and emotionless voice immediately answered his question.
"So that's it... I thought that I'd become a Mage once I have mana in my body." Claude muttered in disappointment.
[Ding! It appears that the Host hasn't opened the Novice Gift Pack, would you like to open it!?]
Claude eyes lit up and he did not even hesitate before saying, "Is there such a thing? Of course open it!"
[Ding! Congratulations for obtaining a pack of Blue Orbs]
[Ding! Congratulations for obtaining 10 Attribute Points]
[Ding! Congratulations for obtaining a diverse assortment of Unranked Spells]
Once again, a wave of information flooded Claude's mind.
Tens if not hundreds of spells were transferred into his mind all at the same time. He could not fathom how much time it would take for a normal Mage to learn that much spells, but he did it in an instant.
Most of the spells are mainly Low Unranked Spells, there were only some Mid Unranked Spells, and the amount of High Unranked Spells can be counted on one's hand.
Soon, Claude managed to digest all the theoretical knowledge regarding those spells and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. After which, he turned his focus towards the other things he got from the gift pack.
"System, take out the pack of blue orbs."
After saying this, a transparent pouch suddenly appeared in his hands. In it were blue orbs that Claude had seen previously. He knew what to do so he poured it all and started picking them up.
[Ding! +1 Mana]
[Ding! +2 Mana]
[Ding! +1 Mana]
...
There were only about ten blue orbs inside the pouch, all of which only contained Mana. Nonetheless, Claude was satisfied with the result.
Overall, he got fifteen Mana Points which made him rank up to Advanced 1st-Class Mage, only half a step away from becoming a Pinnacle 1st-Class Mage.
"I still have ten attribute points left but I'm not in a hurry to use them up." Claude muttered silently, "So how about I test all my theoretical knowledge first."
It doesn't take a genius to guess that theoretical knowledge is just theoretical knowledge. It hasn't been put into practice yet, therefore there's a chance of something bad happening.
Even though Claude knows that the system won't do something bad to him, he won't take any chances. As such, Claude went to a relatively hidden area and wanted to test it there.
"In order to successfully cast a spell, one has to follow a series of steps, namely: Circle Formation, Rune Inscribing, and Spell Discharge." Claude reiterated the things loaded in his mind, "Circle Formation is the second most easiest part as the Mage simply needs to create a circle— or a shape resembling a circle— using Mana."
With that said, Claude started creating a Mana Circle. He opened up all his pores and gently released his mana in the surroundings. Then, he carefully manipulated the mana to make a circle.
Eventually, he finally managed to create it.
"Not bad for a first try," Claude looked at the Mana Circle he had just created with satisfaction. After wiping the sweat off his forehead, his expression turned serious, "Now it's time for Rune Inscribing."
By far Rune Inscribing is the most difficult part in casting a spell. If a Mage fails in this part, then the spell will fail completely and they would receive a backlash.
To make an analogy, if Circle Formation is a blank canvas, then Rune Inscribing is the process of making art. If one made a mistake during the process, then the finished product naturally won't look good.
"It's just Rune Inscribing, why should I be afraid?" Claude said as words of comfort.
Gritting his teeth, he began inscribing runes and onto the Mana Circle according to the Fireball Spell. The Fireball Spell is the most simplest of all the Unranked spells as it only requires five runes.
One after another, Runes started appearing in the Mana Circle and its previously blue appearance slowly turned crimson red. Knowing this would happen, Claude continued inscribing runes.
Shing!
When the last rune was written, a clear sound rang. By this point the Magic Circle had turned completely crimson.
"It's done!" Claude exclaimed, "The only thing left to do is Spell Discharge."
Not wanting to cause destruction, Claude turned to a ruined wall and pointed his palms. The Magic Circle glowed in an instant and a ball of fire quickly manifested.
Soon, a terrifying ball of flame appeared in front of the Magic Circle before it shot itself at the ruined wall. It whizzed in the air loudly until...
Boom!