Ryan had no idea how long he had been unconscious. Slowly, he stood up from the ground, looking at NiuNiu who was sleeping at the top of the cave. A faint smile appeared on his face. NiuNiu had somehow managed to create a small hammock up there. Honestly, Ryan really liked NiuNiu, as she resembled the Barbie dolls from Earth—except for her green hair and wings. He still couldn't fully accept that he had merged into this world and become a mage—a profession straight out of a game.
A fireball quietly appeared between his fingers. Seeing the bright red glow of the fireball, Ryan realized this was real. He quietly dispersed the fireball. Ryan wasn't as foolish as others might think. The differences between NiuNiu and a grass sprite were clear, even though Ryan had never seen a grass sprite in person. The depictions in the magical beast compendium were quite different. Nonetheless, Ryan still liked NiuNiu. Without her, he might have been alone on the mountain—perhaps even contemplating suicide. Slowly, Ryan walked toward the cave entrance. Outside was a completely different landscape from Earth. The snow outside had piled up over two meters deep. Fortunately, the cave and stable were situated on higher ground. Ryan now understood why the streambed not far away was so wide.
Ryan walked toward the stable. Although NiuNiu had mentioned that his advancement would be much harder than others, he couldn't just stop practicing. The world would keep turning without him, after all. Ryan also realized that this was his only way to stand out. Forget revolts or reforms—rules in society that lasted for thousands of years couldn't be compared to the relatively short-lived governments on Earth. These rules must have a reason for existing. To thrive, you had to follow the rules everyone had tacitly accepted. Otherwise, you would be eliminated by them. Ryan had already understood this early on in this world. Although he was at the lowest rung of the social ladder, anything was possible. After all, hadn't he already become a mage?
Ryan still wore his thin clothes, but the biting cold didn't bother him much. In fact, he felt quite warm. As he trudged through the snow that reached his knees, Ryan noticed his strength, stamina, and overall physical abilities had increased significantly. It must have been the transformation brought about by his qigong training, he thought.
Ryan carefully took care of the stable—cleaning the manure, adding water to the horses, and so on. He didn't slack off just because he was a mage. By the time he finished these tasks, two hours had passed. Ryan locked up the stable and stepped outside.
"Damn it! Why didn't I think to use skis? I've read too many books," Ryan muttered as he slapped his thigh, looking out at the vast snowfield.
Quickly, he returned to the stable and grabbed a wooden plank. He measured it for a moment, then frowned. "This plank is way too thick. What now?" he mumbled in frustration.
"Hmmm... The Wind Blade should be sharp enough," Ryan thought, sitting on a haystack. All the tools were stored in the cave not far from here. He decided to try using a level-one Wind Blade spell.
"Boom!" Ryan cast a Wind Blade silently, but it shot out so quickly that it split the thick plank in half.
"Whoa! That's like a mini submachine gun!" Ryan exclaimed in shock at the broken plank.
"Slow down, slow down..." Ryan muttered as he tried to control the magic output. He wanted to find the feeling he had when casting a small fireball, but this time, he needed the Wind Blade to remain in his hand. This required utmost control of both magic output and mental focus.
Every time Ryan tried, the Wind Blade would fly off the moment he completed the incantation.
But Ryan didn't give up. He knew the saying practice makes perfect—only constant practice would allow him to achieve his goal.
"Aha! Progress!" Ryan cheered when, after more than an hour of effort, the Wind Blade finally stayed in his hand for a full second. Excited, he seized this breakthrough and continued practicing with renewed determination.
"If anyone knew that a mage cast over 40 Wind Blades repeatedly just for a plank of wood, they'd probably think he's insane. And honestly, I think so too," NiuNiu muttered as she observed Ryan from a distance. In fact, the moment Ryan stepped out of the cave, NiuNiu had followed him. After all, she was worried he might do something drastic, like attempt suicide. To her surprise, this was far from the case.
One day, NiuNiu finally asked Ryan about it. Ryan replied seriously, "If I could die instantly, sure, no problem. But what if I end up half-paralyzed or spend half a day screaming in pain before finally dying? How could I endure that kind of suffering? Besides, I'm terrified of dying. Why would I even think about suicide?"
"Boom!" A large bump formed on Ryan's head. "Then why didn't you say so earlier? I froze for hours in the snow worrying about you!" NiuNiu scolded.
"Hmm, this will do. It's passable at least," Ryan said as he examined the wooden plank in his hands. The ends of the plank were slightly curved, and the bottom was polished smooth. It looked a lot like a skateboard from Earth.
"Ugh! This is ridiculous. What am I supposed to do about going uphill?" Ryan only now realized a critical problem—how was he supposed to ski uphill? Yet he couldn't bear to throw away the plank he had worked so hard to make. Resigned, he slung the plank onto his back and resumed his trek from a few hours earlier, now with an extra burden.
"Eat first, then read that Atlas of the Continent. Tomorrow, start learning alchemy and craft an alchemical item within half a month. There are tools in the satchel," NiuNiu instructed between bites of fruit, her tone full of annoyance.
Ryan didn't bother to question where these items had come from, though it was easy to guess. He thought to himself sarcastically, Adult grass sprites are supposed to have the intelligence of a child. This little one is sharper than me. Definitely a counterfeit.
"Boom!" NiuNiu sensed Ryan's sarcastic thoughts and hurled a fruit pit straight at his head.
Ryan quickly ate some jerky, drank a bit of warm water, and lit a candle—an excellent tallow candle. As for its origin, Ryan never asked.
"Mages are an incredibly rare and noble profession. Out of millions of people, there might not even be a single certified mage…" Ryan began reading aloud. Naturally, the book began by introducing the profession of mage, as it was provided by the Mage Guild.
"What? So being a mage isn't as common as cabbage?" Ryan exclaimed, suddenly realizing the high status of his newfound profession.
"Cabbage? What is cabbage?" NiuNiu asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Cabbage is a type of vegetable that farmers eat, the kind they eat all winter long," Ryan explained.
Niu Niu was so angry! When did magicians become so common? So Niu Niu asked, "Why do you think that?"
"Not everyone can pick up a magic book, I thought it was a pretty ordinary profession, you know, like in games..." Ryan imagined the other world based on his understanding from games, but in games, it was just a choice, not dependent on talent.
"I'll tell you, there are no more than 1500 magicians on the entire continent. Among them, the low-level magicians, those from levels 1 to 4, account for about 60%. Mid-level magicians, levels 5 to 7, account for about 30%, and the remaining 8 to 9-level magicians account for less than 10%. And the entire human population on the continent is over 5 billion, got it?" Niu Niu explained loudly. This was something Niu Niu had read about, and the reason she could understand the language here was because of the soul contract with Ryan. If Ryan knew, he would probably say, "Don't forget the people who dug the well when you drink water! The world is changing for the worse!"
"Wow! What about level ten?" Ryan asked curiously.
"Level ten! That's a Legendary Mage, someone who can't engage in worldly activities. As for those old guys, they don't care about these trivial matters. Alright, alright, just read for yourself," Niu Niu said impatiently when she saw Ryan about to ask more questions.
"The Dual-Star Continent is home to countless intelligent races, including the barbaric orcs, the stubborn and grumpy dwarfs, the rude barbarians, and the elegant and beautiful elves..." Ryan read carefully.
It turned out the world was called the Dual-Star Continent. The name came from the two giant stars visible day and night. These stars were so massive that every time Ryan saw them, he was deeply stunned. The lakes, forests, mountains, seas, snow-covered peaks, and deserts were all visible. Ryan, who had seen satellite maps before, could even distinguish plains from rivers, and the massive cloud layers. He often looked up at the sky, sometimes feeling like he wasn't in a foreign world, but aboard a spaceship. Ryan also discovered that these two stars, along with the planet beneath his feet, all orbited a single star. He couldn't tell the exact distance, but based on his calculations, they were probably on the same orbit, or else there would have been an eclipse by now.
The center of the Dual-Star Continent was where humans gathered. To the west, there was the great forest filled with magical beasts, elves, and dwarfs. To the east, there were the vast plateaus home to the barbarians and orcs. To the north, there was the ancient, unchanging ice field, and to the south, the vast ocean. However, there weren't many humans near the sea. It was said that there was a half-year period during which huge tidal waves rose, some reaching dozens of meters.
"Hmph! It's no surprise that there aren't any huge waves with the stars so close together," Ryan thought about the tidal surges in the Qiantang River on Earth, caused by the moon.
There were only harbors in the inland rivers, and the seas were filled with magical beasts and intelligent races that were countless.
Currently, humans were divided into three major empires: the Light Empire, the Dark Empire, and the most powerful of all, the Alliance Empire. The Alliance Empire believed in religious freedom, and its land was filled with temples and religious organizations. There were also the headquarters of mercenary guilds, warrior guilds, mage guilds, thief guilds, merchants' guilds, and many other organizations. The Alliance Empire had a parliamentary system managed by the Council of Elders, composed of 15 members, who were checked by the Upper House. The balance of power had been in place for thousands of years.
The Dark Empire worshipped the God of the Underworld, and the Light Empire worshipped the God of Light. The territories of the three empires were shaped like irregular ellipses. The Alliance Empire occupied about 45% of the land, and the rest was split between the Light and Dark Empires.
Ryan was in the Alliance Empire, located near the ancient ice field, with a huge magical beast forest to the east, and the Beastman Empire to the southeast. Between the Alliance Empire and the Beastman Empire lay a massive canyon, formed by the melting snow from the glacier. This river was the famous Rum River, which originated from the northern ice fields, passed through the Alliance Empire and the Beastman Empire, and eventually flowed toward the ocean. There was a fortress located on the plains near the Light Empire, serving as a defense against both the Beastman Empire and the Light Empire. Ryan lived in Harry City, one of the three provinces of the Reishi Duchy, which was closest to the ice fields.
This book mostly introduced the Alliance Empire, with only brief mentions of the other two empires.
As for the various professions, there were many, such as magicians, warriors, archers, thieves, assassins, poets, blacksmiths, and many others. Professions like magicians and warriors were divided into 10 levels. A first-level mage's badge had a six-pointed star on a staff, two stars for the second level, and so on. At the 8th level, the badge would be silver and white, with no six-pointed star. The 9th level badge would be golden, and the 10th level was not mentioned. For warriors, the staff would be replaced by a greatsword. Thieves had a key, assassins had a throwing knife, blacksmiths had a hammer, and archers had a bow. Each profession had a corresponding emblem.
As for the Mercenary Guild, it was represented by a plaque marked with letters like A, B, C, D, E. Ryan was reading this when he suddenly heard some noise outside. He hurried to the cave entrance.
"Dammit! A magician's things and you can touch them?" Ryan noticed movement in the stable below. He suspected a wild beast had entered the stable, as there were footprints in the snow. Swearing loudly, Ryan grabbed a skateboard and rushed out.