Chapter 29

The improvement of arcane power requires gradual accumulation. Although he encountered setbacks in running his shop, which made him anxious and irritable, Gao Deng still could not allow himself to slack off.

He had been studying the Mendoza's notebook, but had not yet had the chance to read the Netheril Durand scrolls.

The process of reading Mendoza's notebook consumed a lot of Gao Deng's time. Although this notebook, which recorded a lot of obscure arcane knowledge, only required 14 points of intelligence to read, the system still had not determined that he had finished reading the entire notebook and received the reward.

This was because there was a key term in the notebook, "Omaser-Durando," which Gao Deng could not understand. As a mage, Gao Deng's basic education could be said to be very solid. He was proficient in Common, Draconic, and had some research in Netherese, Dwarvish, Elvish, Abyssal, and Celestial. However, "Omaser-Durando" did not belong to any of these languages.

The structure and pronunciation of this term were somewhat similar to the Sandese language used in the southern continent's Benlatu and Muland Empires. However, after consulting many materials, Gao Deng found that this term did not belong to Sandese.

To understand the meaning of this term, he even prepared to learn the "Comprehend Languages" spell. Unfortunately, Gao Deng searched all the magic shops and the Mage Guild in the entire Bluewater City but could not find a way to learn this rare divination school spell.

In the end, he could only regretfully put Mendoza's notebook aside for the time being.

"Wes-longda!" Gao Deng recited the command word in ancient Netherese that Dorn had told him, and the magical aura that obscured the text on the scroll instantly dissipated. Gao Deng could finally see the entire contents of the thirteen parchment scrolls.

Mages represent the development needs of productive forces in the material plane.

Mages represent the direct manifestation of the supreme power of the multiverse.

Mages represent the ultimate pursuit of knowledge and truth in the river of time.

The opening was a series of three powerful parallel sentences. Gao Deng smiled in agreement.

"The Grand Mages of the ancient Netherese Empire are indeed all arrogant and self-important figures."

In this crystal sphere, the fundamental source of magical power is called Source Energy. This is a mysterious energy that exists throughout the multiverse, scattered, chaotic, and elusive.

During the Third Age, when the glorious Netheril Durand Magic Empire existed, mages needed to use keen mental power to sense and capture Source Energy, and when necessary, shape it into spells. At that time, becoming a mage, even just an apprentice, was an extremely difficult task. Talent, effort, and opportunity were all essential. Therefore, the mages of the Netheril Durand Empire were proud and considered themselves the greatest group in society.

However, when the Fourth Age began and the goddess of magic created the Weave, magic became widespread, and the number of mages greatly increased.

If mages are compared to programmers, then Source Energy is like an incomprehensible machine language. However, mages who mastered Source Energy were closer to the essence of the world.

The Weave, on the other hand, regularized, detailed, and visualized Source Energy. It can be seen as a high-level computer language, making it easier for mages to understand and apply energy, greatly contributing to the popularization of magic.

In this era, although mages are still the elite of society, their importance and rarity are far less than during the Netheril Durand Magic Empire period, and they naturally do not have the high and mighty attitude of the empire's mages.

The parchment scrolls of the Grand Mage Olor were not formal books, so they were written very casually. The opening introduced his understanding of the profession of mages and his general understanding of the universe and energy. The following sections were very scattered, recording his research experiences or sudden ideas.

Almost every paragraph had no connection, and the content was highly fragmented. If it weren't for Gao Deng's sufficient ability to interpret and analyze information, he would have been at a loss with these scattered pieces of information, unable to extract useful knowledge and systematically organize it.

While flipping through the scrolls, Gao Deng suddenly read a section of text that greatly interested him.

"The gathering, stacking, and casting of Source Energy is a very practical emerging discipline. If low-level mages master this technique, they can integrate several low-level spells to achieve the effects of high-level spells, greatly enhancing their combat power. Although I am very reluctant, I must admit that the guys in the south, who drink sheep's milk and eat dates, have already surpassed the great empire in this area. They call this technique 'Omaser-Durando,' which means the overlapping and repeated use of energy."

Although the Netheril Durand Empire was great, during the same period, a great empire not inferior to Netheril Durand also rose on the southern continent across the Sea of Stars, named Imaka, which means the Land of Fire and Gold.

This country also had a brilliant magical civilization, especially in spatial and summoning spells, as well as the creation of constructs, mechanical devices, and mechanisms, achieving outstanding achievements.

However, the disappearance of the Imaka Empire was very mysterious and complete, and its language was almost lost in this era. No wonder Gao Deng could not find the definition of "Omaser-Durando" in any language books. Perhaps only in places like Candlekeep, with its vast collection of books and claimed to have gathered all the knowledge in the world, could there be some records about the Imaka Empire's language.

Finally, Gao Deng understood the exact meaning of "Omaser-Durando" and was so excited that he clenched his fists and waved them vigorously.

He eagerly found Mendoza's notebook. The parts that were previously incomprehensible due to the lack of understanding of "Omaser-Durando" now became clear and coherent.

He felt like he had returned to his youthful student days, struggling to solve a difficult problem, staying up late and thinking hard. When he finally calculated the result, the sense of satisfaction was more refreshing than the purest wine. Now, Gao Deng's sense of achievement was many times stronger. After all, the abstruse and profound magical knowledge was much more difficult than those middle school problems.

"Reading complete. You have gained 1000 experience points, +3 to Arcane Knowledge, +5 to Spellcraft, +2 to Use Magic Device."

After the system prompt, Gao Deng found that the experience points stored in the experience pool had surged to 1527. He still needed half of the 3000 experience points required to reach level 4.

"Really not easy." Gao Deng sighed deeply and stood up.

The knowledge of energy stacking and repeated application recorded in Mendoza's notebook was not complete. However, this necromancer had been working hard in this direction, hoping that by mastering this technique, he could continuously cast the Summon Undead spell and make the summoned creatures coexist without the later spell's creatures canceling out the earlier ones.

If Mendoza's research had succeeded, he could have summoned nine skeletons by continuously casting three first-level Summon Undead spells, significantly enhancing his combat power. If that were the case, Gao Deng felt he would definitely have died at his hands.

Fortunately, Mendoza's information was incomplete, causing his research to stagnate for a long time.

After reading the necromancer's notebook and cross-referencing it with the knowledge from the Netheril Durand scrolls, Gao Deng believed he had fully mastered this technique.

However, Gao Deng did not plan to use this technique on summoning spells. That was too low-level. He had a sudden inspiration and thought of a good idea.

"It's time to develop a spell that is uniquely mine."

As a mage, creating one's own spell is naturally an important subject. Only mages who have a unique understanding of Source Energy and the Weave, a deep understanding of the essence of the universe, and can create their own spells, are qualified to be called masters of arcana. Those who only passively learn and use spells, no matter how skilled their casting techniques or how powerful their abilities, can only be called proficient casters.

Those famous mages who left their names in the annals of history have all made significant contributions to spell creation. For example, Bigby, who invented the Bigby's Hand series of spells, and Mordenkainen, who is famous for the Mordenkainen's Disjunction spell across countless planes... Whenever these legendary mages' names are mentioned, every caster, including Gao Deng, is filled with admiration.

Because the new spell he planned to develop was relatively dangerous, Gao Deng left the room and went to the back garden—blowing up some flowers and grass was better than destroying expensive furniture.

"Activate subsystem, spell development."

"Subsystem activated. Complete innovation or basic improvement?"

"Basic improvement."

Although Gao Deng had developed some new spells in "The Ancient Epoch" and had considerable experience, in this world, he was still just a lowly third-level mage. His 16 points in Arcane Knowledge and 10 points in Spellcraft were not enough to support him in completely creating a new spell.

Standing on the shoulders of giants allows one to see further. Gao Deng knew this well, so he decided to improve and create a new spell based on existing spells.

"Enter new spell data."

"Spell prototype: Magic Missile. School: Evocation. Associated elements: Water, Fire. Energy type: Force. Spell configuration: Multiple energy stacking..."

"Data entry complete. Analyzing... Analysis complete. With your current spell proficiency, the success rate is 17%."

"Close to one in five, that's enough."

Gao Deng took a deep breath, focused, and recalled the profound and abstruse magical knowledge. He recited the incantation in Draconic, and two pale silver water-drop-shaped energies condensed at his fingertips.

This was the first-level Evocation spell, Magic Missile.

He had already cast the spell, but Gao Deng did not stop. He spoke more complex magical syllables, and the force energy in his hand continued to accumulate, increasing to three, four...

"Lem-Sur!" The last two syllables, filled with magic, resonated in the air. Gao Deng raised his hand, and twelve silver bolts of lightning cut through the clear autumn sky, exploding ten meters ahead.

Branches broke, and leaves flew.

"Surprisingly, it succeeded on the first try, good luck." Gao Deng smiled in relief. "The power is strong. If all twelve missiles hit the enemy, the damage would be astonishing."

"New spell creation successful, recording... Language, gesture, and material components have been stored. Please name the new spell."

"Gao Deng Freeman's初级飞弹风暴." Gao Deng's lips curled into a proud smile.

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Note: "初级飞弹风暴" translates to "Gao Deng Freeman's初级Missile Storm." "初级" means "初级" (beginner or primary), so a more accurate translation would be "Gao Deng Freeman's Beginner Missile Storm."