After a moment of silence, Master Narl solemnly remarked, "This is a priceless new idea!"
Charlie remained composed, waiting for the master to continue.
"To be honest, as a teacher, I feel quite guilty because it's not a particularly difficult idea to conceive. However, this topic has gone through decades of discussion before being formally established, with countless individuals involved. After the academy initiated the project last year, more than a dozen grand wizards and nearly a hundred senior assistants joined the effort, researching it for half a year, yet no one thought of this point—including myself. Do you know why?"
Charlie could tell that Master Narl wanted to share the reason, so he asked the question.
"Because we became entangled in defining the weight of various factors: the weight of talent, the weight of lineage, the weight of magical types. Everyone has their own interests at heart and wants to score points for their field to ensure that when the rules are established, their area receives attention, and their status exceeds that of others."
Charlie frowned and asked, "What's the point? It doesn't reflect true strength."
Narl replied solemnly, "Of course it has significance! You must understand that wizards become particularly protective of their reputation and lives once they reach the realm of master wizard. Without deep-seated grudges, they won't risk their lives, which means that if you fall behind, you may struggle for a long time to reclaim your standing.
Competition within the Arcane Circle is fierce, and you should be well aware of this as a student. In fact, teachers feel the same—higher rankings mean better treatment, more resources, and greater opportunities. For some, it means everything. When a new authoritative standard emerges, it inevitably reshuffles the rankings. Everyone hopes to have an advantage from the outset without having to fight tooth and nail for honor."
Charlie nodded in understanding.
"For the past six months, almost every meeting has inevitably involved discussions about the weight of these factors. Each time, they ended in disputes, with hundreds of meetings yielding little valuable conclusion. To this point, research has become mired in a quagmire due to the absence of a perfect balancing plan." Master Narl showed a look of indignation, his face slightly trembling, visibly expressing his agitation. He said vehemently, "It's ridiculous! Everyone has overlooked the most fundamental aspect: data! Data is the most honest! If we decide to quantify, we should use numbers to resolve all disagreements!
I believe the higher-ups are definitely unwilling to see the project stagnate long-term and trust that the fairness of this new idea will be accepted by everyone, as they have no better options!"
Charlie sighed, "Yes, but quantifying every field will likely require many people to participate; the workload will be immense. This is a colossal project!"
"Yes! A great project! One that will profoundly help Vagrant wizards and combat practitioners understand themselves! Now we have found the right method!" Narl's voice grew increasingly passionate. As he became more excited, he stood up and began pacing the room.
Narl grinned and said, "Charlie, do you know the significance of this idea? Perhaps you will have the chance to name this standard—the 'Charlie Standard'! What do you think? Future generations studying this standard will remember your name! This is your glory!
Moreover, I will submit it to the Millennium Magic Journal. I believe your name will soon spread throughout the entire empire, and your family will be very happy to see your accomplishments."
Mentioning the Millennium Magic Journal, Charlie couldn't help but think of Princess Aisha, whom he had met once, and felt it was quite awkward.
Charlie awkwardly smiled, "There's no need to exaggerate! I was just saying it in passing. It would be even better if I could be fortunate enough to join your project, as I'm very interested in data-related work."
Narl waved his hand dismissively, saying, "You're already a participant in this project. I will write a paper, submit this idea, credit it to your thoughts, and list you as the second author. Do you agree?"
Seeing Charlie's awkward expression, Narl assumed he was reluctant, so he added, "Of course, if you can clarify it yourself, I'm also willing to help you submit the paper. Please trust my integrity; I won't covet this glory."
Charlie quickly explained, "Master, you misunderstand. I don't care about ownership. I just think you are over-praising it. It's my honor if my casual remark can inspire you. If you want to use it, go ahead, and if you win an award, it's also due to your own accumulation."
Charlie understood very well that the benefits he would gain from submitting the paper would be far less than what Master Narl would gain from it. This was unquestionable, and he currently needed Narl's friendship more.
Narl nodded and said, "Alright, I'll be a bit shameless this time and proceed with the first option. This is my work; I want to break the deadlock of the project and push it forward. You needn't be too polite; being the second author also comes with point rewards. There's no need to save for the academy; in fact, many instructors use this project as a guise to obtain funding and resources.
The Millennium Magic Journal has some annual awards that offer decent rewards. With your contribution here, I believe you won't be disappointed."
If Master Narl describes it as a decent reward, it's definitely a good reward. Faced with the choice between awkwardness and resources, Charlie unhesitatingly chose the latter.
"Alright, thank you, Master!"
As he spoke, Narl picked up a quill pen and began writing fervently. He was truly a pragmatic person.
Charlie couldn't help but remind him, "Master, you haven't resolved my confusion yet. What's really going on with my bottleneck?"
Narl exclaimed, "Oh!" and chuckled awkwardly, saying, "I almost forgot about that. However, give me a moment to jot down some thoughts to avoid forgetting them later."
"Sure."
After a short while, Narl set down his pen and stated, "The reason you hit a bottleneck is simple: the magic you currently grasp is, in fact, false magic."
"Ah?!" Charlie was taken aback, having speculated on many reasons but never considered this possibility.
Narl continued, "The magic you are learning now is the work of the late Master Wizard Faraday. He independently simplified most of the sculpting magic, making significant contributions to the popularization of magic. The framework he left behind is still in use today, constantly simplifying and producing more magic.
Master Faraday named the simplified magic 'Elemental Magic.' You only need to possess an equipment with a magical pool and learn the incantations to cast magic. The reason you cannot comprehend level four magic is that no level four magic has yet been simplified into this framework."
So that's how it is.
Charlie then asked, "What should complete magic look like?"
However, Narl didn't follow Charlie's line of thought and continued explaining, "From a school of thought perspective, ancient magic is divided into eight categories: Protection, Spellcraft, Divination, Enchantment, Sculpting, Illusion, Necromancy, and Transmutation.
Generally speaking, personal energy is limited, and teachers will require you to choose a category to study in depth. I ask you, is Anton teaching you any magic knowledge now?"
Charlie shook his head.
Narl sighed, "You chose the wrong teacher! The fact that Anton can qualify as an instructor proves his talent, but he has a serious psychological issue. His denial of his magical talent has become pathological, severely affecting his mentality and behavior. Now I'm growing increasingly worried about your competition with Peter."
Charlie shrugged, helpless, "I didn't have a choice! When the talent assessment ended, I only scored 26 points. If I hadn't chosen him, I might have already left the Arcane Circle and be doing some menial work at the Sky Harbor."
"Indeed! The Talent Research Institute is quite harmful! If the new level assessment project for wizards were completed, perhaps such mistakes wouldn't happen."
Charlie nodded.
Then, Narl began explaining the origins of magic, "A complete piece of magic has its unique spell model, which includes incantations, gesture guidance, rune construction, magical conversion, and mental locking, ultimately completing the spell activation.
Master Faraday integrated the spell models of most low-level magic into a single incantation, subtly altering the frequency of mental vibrations through variations in tone and rhythm to complete the construction of the spell. That's why magic became so simple."
Charlie suddenly comprehended, his earlier gloom lifted.
As he spoke, Narl pulled two books off the shelf and handed them to Charlie. "Breaking through the bottleneck isn't too difficult. Here are two books: one is 'Faraday's Elemental Magic,' and the other is 'Analysis of Level Four Spell Models.'
The first book describes Master Faraday's research insights and is a must-read for Stellar Wizards, detailing many spell models for beginner magic. They are relatively simple, and you must master them well, as it will aid your understanding of more complex spell models.
The second book encompasses practical spell models for level four magic that you can try to construct and comprehend. If you can grasp ten level four spells, it means you only have one requirement left to achieve the title of 'Stellar Wizard': to increase your personal magical pool capacity to 2000."
Charlie smiled wryly, "At the current pace, accumulating magic power is also a challenging goal."
Narl chuckled, "I set this requirement to spur you on, so you don't become complacent. You now have a more pressing crisis; I don't need to add this requirement.