Time flew by and when Luna looked up, a year had just gone by.
A lot had happened in that year.
After becoming Habaser Dlin's assistant, Luna began to show his talent in forging, and with the addition of high attributes, his achievements in it were glorious. After excelling in potions, arrow enchanting, and weapon crafting, he successfully crafted his first piece of enchanted chainmail, making him a quadruple-field master, and thus the first unofficial mage's assistant to Master Habaser Dlin.
Becoming an assistant meant that he had his own separate lab to conduct his own research, he was able to access Master Habaser Dlin's private library instead of that of the Sorcerous Grocery Store, as well as a 5% commission on each product produced! Yes, before that, no matter how long he did it, it had always been unpaid volunteer labor.
For the next six months, he stayed in the lab, except for a couple trips to the Thieves' Guild. After half a year, Luna announced two things. First, he had successfully analyzed the formula of the "King of Thieves" potion, and from now on, the witchcraft grocery store could also produce this potion. Moreover, he would be the sole owner of 20% of the potion's revenue for ten years! Of course, such high benefits were more due to the second piece of news - he successfully resolved the first-ring spell "Mage Armor" and became a full-fledged mage!
That year, he was sixteen years old.
In terms of age, he was average, as many geniuses were able to cast first level spells at the age of five or six, and even more so, to put it politely, the face of the warlocks who lived by their faces.
Only Habaser Dlin knew of his genius, for only Habaser Dlin knew the circumstances under which he had broken through to become a first level mage. So his gift was a generous five-year contract, a 16-foot "sub-space bag" and the words, "Don't feel like me, and don't give up on me. "
As a result, the system gave a quest called "Love of Habaser Dlin", which Luna intends to let rot in the quest bar forever.
I remember when I played the Baldur's Gate games, the protagonist could not get a space bag in the Baldur's Gate area no matter what, that's probably because the world he walks in has no boundary with the upper level of this world, he is just a ranger who is outside the circle.
For a business magnate and master magician like Habaser Dlin, a secondary space pouch, though rare and equal to less than 10,000 gold coins in value, would be a suitable gift for a budding mage.
He had practiced fine swords in private for a while. However, after competing with a mercenary, oh, after the mercenary he paid to covertly hire to feed his moves, he temporarily gave up his intention of practicing both magic and martial arts.
Can only say, the so-called first level "wandering swordsman", or too weak. Upgrading is even more remote, three quests, he only completed the "officially become a mage" quest in a year, gained 600 experience value. The rest of the time, no matter killing chickens and dogs or secretly killing a goblin, did not bring even a little bit of experience value.
Completing "Love of Habaser Dlin"? He would rather die!
During this year, due to Habaser Dlin's obvious attention and protection of him, the attitudes of others towards him were also changing.
William was straightforward enough to put his foot down and discuss his willingness to form an alliance with him several times; cousins who were both full mages would be a force to be reckoned with in the future. In order to improve his relationship with Luna, he even paid out of his own pocket to buy back the house in Nasakai that was owned by Luna's parents and later sold by his aunt's husband.
Afterwards, the two agreed that William would expand his power in the Mage Guild and form his own group; while Luna would join the Alchemist Guild and try to become a pivotal role, and that the two would act as each other's aids in the future.
Nicklas and Black Lily's siblings, treated Luna with a 180-degree shift in attitude from looking down to looking up, and it only took a year. Of course, it was a year of mutual benefit, with Luna making cherished potions that were sold at high prices on the black market and buying rare swag through them, both sides made big bucks.
The most enviable thing was his contract, working six hours a day, half a year's work and half a year's vacation for five years, which should be considered a first-rate deal in a sorcery grocery store.
...
Flowing like the Milky Way, shining like the sun.
Luna sits wide, empties her mind, and eases her consciousness into the darkness.
To describe, to read, to perceive.
Gradually, a silvery glow appeared around her, a tiny bit of light that filled the world like a firefly. Only when you look with your eyes, you will be blind to it, only after you enter meditation, you can see it with your soul.
The points of light gradually became spots of light, the spots of light became radiance, the radiance enlarged into rivers of stars, and the rivers of stars enlarged into galaxies.
When each point of light was so large that it covered the sky.
In the darkness, the boundless "net" woven by silver threads was revealed.
Consciousness made contact with the net, and a torrent of arcane magic poured into the space of consciousness, which Luna manipulated with her spirit, shakily sketching out a few symbols.
When the model was fully formed, Luna's consciousness continued to sink downward. He saw the second layer of the network, the flowing light, and even vaguely felt the power of the "source" in that distant place, but at that moment, the fatigue coming from his consciousness forced him to retreat.
When he opened his eyes, there were already four models floating in the space of his consciousness, one in the shape of a question mark, which was the "Appraisal Technique"; one in the shape of an eye, which was the "Sleep Technique"; one in the shape of a burning flame, which was the "Burning Hand"; and the last one was the "Burning Hand". Burning Hand"; the last one was a translucent armor symbol, that was 'Mage Armor'.
Yes, he had been able to prepare four one-ring spells at once. Aside from the two spell bits that are provided by the High Intelligence bonus, he already has two first-ring spell bits available to himself, meaning that Luna is effectively a second-level mage.
(As for the relationship between spell rings and character level, see the other books for a more detailed explanation. Basically, it's that mage characters are bipolar, and spell rings go up one level. Third level learns second ring spells, fifth level learns third ring spells, and that's it.)
Luna's way of preparing spells for this set is, at a cursory glance, no different from a normal mage, except that she doesn't take a spellbook. In essence, it was very different! A magician's studies have always been divided into three parts - meditating to exercise the spirit, learning to parse spells, and holding a book to prepare magic.
It was the basic skill of a mage to reach out to the magic net through constant meditation, familiarizing and absorbing the magic power, and strengthening the connection with the magic net.
Then, through studying the materials of the spells, to analyze the essential structure of the spells, and to keep experimenting until mastery, this is the basic process of learning a new spell.
Finally, consuming expensive materials to transcribe the well-studied spells into the grimoire one carries with him. When one was in high spirits, one side opened the grimoire and the other connected to the magic network. Based on the information in the grimoire, a model is constructed in the corresponding magic network, and then guided to infuse one's own spiritual power and the magic power of the magic network to complete the preparation of the magic. When needed, the spell can be cast by simply completing the spell guidance.
Luna had practiced the meditation method left behind by his father since he was a child, simply exercising his mental power and not needing to touch the magic net. The first spell he cast, "Mage's Hand", was also cast by mobilizing the magic power that was scattered in the space through his mental power. Very few mages who were born with strong mental power cast their first spell in this way during the initiation stage, and they did not need to prepare to cast it directly.
After all, zero-ring spells required a very tiny amount of magic power, the magic power scattered in the air would suffice without the need to prepare through a magic net. By the time they practiced the mage's method of meditation, their mental affinity for magic power increased dramatically, and the required magic power could be easily obtained through the magic net, thus embarking on the path of an orthodox mage.
Luna couldn't even have a decent textbook because he didn't have a mage to guide him. So what he had been using was to use his mental power to mobilize the magic power, the ones in the air and the ones in the magic net, and then construct a model in the magic net and cast it. The mental power he gained from his meditation did not have a high affinity with magic power, so learning magic was very difficult. Initially, when he prepared the magic, he couldn't even "bind" the magic, and it actually disappeared after a turn in the magic net. ...
After he became a formal mage and realized the drawbacks of his own meditation method, he thought more than once of giving up this kind of meditation and practicing the meditation method of a formal mage instead. However, there was always a thought in his mind that stopped him, telling him that now was the best option, so he still persisted like this. Right now, his mental power was already comparable to that of a seventh level mage like William, but he was still only able to cast only one ring spells without any problems.
Of course, the benefits were not without. He could cast a spell without preparing a spell, consuming only his mental energy to mobilize his magic power. Zero-ring spells, because they called upon less magic power and consumed less mental power, he could cast them nearly hundreds of times, at a speed as fast as an ordinary mage's. But if it was a one-ring spell, invoking both free magic and magic power from the magic net, twisting to build a model, filling it with magic power and then releasing it, he would have to consume three times the time and a normal portion of mental power of a normal mage. This kind of spell casting was very dangerous, the slightest disturbance would trigger a serious backlash, one must make sure the environment was safe before attempting it.
This way of casting spells is somewhat like the way of casting spells in Nesser's era, when there was no magic net, and the arcane power that filled heaven and earth was violent and changeable, the arcane masters were using their powerful spiritual power to shape the arcane energy into spells and cast them directly.
...
Putting away close to 10,000 gold coins and a change of clothes into a secondary space pouch, some bread from the bakery downstairs, some roasted meat and a crossbow, magic books, some magical materials and two magic rings, he realized that he still had almost nothing. Shaking his head, he opened the attic window, which had a canopy sticking forward above it, and underneath it, in addition to the window, was a stone basin for feeding pigeons.
There were many pigeons in Borde's Gate, and every morning flocks of pigeons whimpered with whistles as they circled over the city. This is how many people wake up from their dreams, open their windows for fresh air, and watch the pigeons flying to start the whole day.
So out of love for pigeons, many homes have these feeding tubs on their roofs.
Luna stirs the grains a little, and a few thumb-sized bottles are revealed in the middle of the scattered grains. That's where it's always been, where he hides his stuff, set up where everyone can see it. Every time Niklas came by, his hand would grab the side of the basin to lend a hand in flipping it down, but he never bothered to look ...
Getting everything packed up, Luna was going to take a trip.
Systematically, it was too safe and serene at the Gates of Borde to be a good fit for his upgrades. And he also wanted to make a tour like those new mages to find a chance to upgrade his mage level.
Those kind hands that reached out to him, that unbelievably generous contract, Luna who had countless experiences in his previous life knew clearly that he wasn't worth that price, what those people were investing in was his future. If his future didn't live up to expectations, then he'd have to pay it back with bones and flesh!
Alchemy is a skill that is closely related to the level of magic, it is not something that Luna can do everything with by directly adding a high level with skill points.
A lot of processes went into the creation of a magic potion. Cultivation of materials, collection, refining, purification, extraction, synthesis, etc., and then there was the last and most important step, casting the spell. Only a bottle of potion produced in this way would have a magical effect and could be called a magical potion.
Different levels of mages casting the same spell, the effect of a high level mage casting is far more than that of a junior caster, this is the difference between spell casting levels. Casting level was generally equivalent to mage level, and in Luna's case, his apparent casting level was first level. In reality, he had learned a secret spell documented inside the Habaser Dlin library that allowed him to add part-time levels to his caster level, up to a maximum of 4 levels. So with his two levels of Mage plus one level of Wandering Swordsman, his caster level was 3.
What can a caster level 3 do? Can make rudimentary magical potions, like a minimally effective medical potion. Or simple magical wonders, like crystal balls or something, the kind that cost dozens of gold coins a piece.
Even though his alchemy skill was up to a dozen levels high, and even though he spent a whole day completing 90% of the crafting of a bottle of potion, he would only be able to take 5% of the proceeds. A four-ring, level 7 mage who spent a minute casting a spell on a potion to get it finished would easily take 15%.
That's the difference.
The threshold for crafting magical weapons and armor or shields was caster level 5; crafting wands required caster level 5; and crafting staffs and magical trinkets required caster level 12! It's almost considered the preserve of middle-aged and old-aged magicians.
You don't need to be surprised when you see a small +1 ring costing 5000 gold coins, behind that lies countless years of hard research and exploration by an intermediate mage!