Chapitre 32: Chapter 32: Modified Mage's Hand
Éditeur: EndlessFantasy Translation
For three consecutive days, Lide did not leave the Mage Tower. The improvement of the Mage's Hand spell was more difficult than he expected, and the progress was very slow.
The 30 magic nodes were a standard magic model derived after countless experiments by immensely powerful mages. The difficulty of trying to improve it was evident.
However, Lide was not one to give up easily. The challenge of improving Mage's Hand ignited his intense fighting spirit.
The Bloodline required only two Sunshine Hours of rest each day to regain energy, and Lide devoted all his remaining time to the improvements.
So much so that he didn't even notice when Laurent used Gold Puck to exchange a large amount of food from the Alex Chamber of Commerce and moved it into the Golden Wheat Commerce's warehouse.
The originally deadlocked improvements suddenly became clear to Lide on the third day, after he returned to Earth for a meal.
He created a mathematical model for all the magic nodes according to their respective formats, using this approach to eliminate a large number of useless node combinations.
Finally, the progress skyrocketed, and the probability of encountering issues significantly decreased.
On the fifth day after returning from the Alex Chamber of Commerce.
Seventh floor of the Crimson Mage Tower.
A burst of laughter rang out, startling the magic apprentices who were reading downstairs.
Was that Lord Lide's laughter?
Recalling Lide's usually stern expression, each apprentice found it hard to believe.
"Vina, go see if Lord Lide has made a new discovery."
"Could it be that Lord Lide has had a breakthrough?"
"Vina..."
As Lide's maid, Vina was naturally the best choice to go inquire at this time. Pushed by the others, she hurriedly got up, lifting her blue mage's robe.
Knock, knock, knock~
"Come in,"
Pushing open the door to the seventh floor, Vina was incredibly curious.
The room hadn't changed much. Various magic materials were arranged on storage shelves, and the room was very tidy. The only difference was that Lord Lide seemed very happy.
Seeing the joy on Lide's face, the curious girl asked, "Lord Lide, have you made a new discovery?"
She had never seen such an expression on Lide's face before. A smile was usually rare.
Lide calmed his joyful heart and smiled, "Look."
Snap~
After a snap of his fingers, a semi-transparent giant hand appeared in the room.
A First Circle spell, Mage's Hand.
Vina looked at the Mage's Hand before her, puzzled. She didn't see any changes.
"Lord Lide, this is Mage's Hand... How..."
Lide laughed heartily, snapped his fingers again, and the Mage's Hand before Vina's astonished eyes underwent a tremendous change.
The giant hand transformed into a semi-transparent shield in midair.
Snap~
With another snap, it transformed from a semi-transparent shield into a longsword.
Snap~
A long knife.
Snap~
A wolf fang club.
Snap~
Ultraman.
Vina stood there completely stunned. She could clearly feel that this was indeed the Mage's Hand spell's magic fluctuation.
But why, why could it keep changing?
This scene shattered Vina's entire worldview.
In a mage's knowledge, once a spell was cast, its shape and nature couldn't be changed.
For example, a Fireball Technique would remain a fireball after casting; it couldn't turn into a fire blade or a flame shield.
This was because the shape of a magic model was fixed and couldn't be altered.
But what was happening with the ever-changing Mage's Hand before her eyes?
Why could the Mage's Hand transform?
"Lord Lide, did you come up with this?
By the Magic Goddess, you truly are a genius. The mages in Green City will sing your praises, and bards will extol your greatness."
Vina's eyes sparkled with admiration.
The girl's unrestrained adulation gave Lide an inward sense of elation.
In these five days, apart from resting for two Sunshine Hours each day, he had almost no breaks.
He encountered at least two thousand failures while improving the model.
Initially, the magic rebound from failed attempts was severe, causing pain similar to needles piercing his brain.
This made him cautious.
However, he later discovered ways to mitigate the rebound.
By controlling magic output.
A magic model required a sufficient amount of magic to activate. Failing to meet this amount would result in casting failures, and severe rebounding could occur.
Lide discovered that by continuously reducing the input of magic, the magic model could keep running.
While a reduced magic model couldn't be released, his focus was on studying the relationships between nodes, not on casting.
To reduce rebound, he precisely adjusted the magic input.
Starting from 9 points of magic, reducing to 8 points, 7 points, 3 points, and even to an extreme precision of 2 points.
By inputting only 2 points of magic, he could keep the magic model running at a minimal level. Lacking magic in the model required immense spiritual power for stability.
The Blood Clan Ancestor's Bloodline bestowed upon Lide a terrifyingly high magic affinity, making his control over magic almost as simple as breathing.
During the day, he was fairly ordinary, but at night, even the slightest magic could be effortlessly controlled.
With the method to minimize rebound established, he began his journey of reckless experimentation.
A collapsed magic model would create a significant magic rebound for a mage, causing mild mental breakdowns or severe ones leaving one brain-dead.
Therefore, even extraordinary mages dared not endlessly experiment or modify magic models, which is why its modifications were hardly reported... It was too risky; the slightest change could leave a person brain-dead, a risk few were willing to take.
Because of this, mages held immense respect and reverence for magic models, considering them a gift from the Magic Goddess, believing that to touch the majesty of a deity would bring divine retribution.
However, Lide's magic affinity reduced the dreadful magic rebound to almost nothing.
Thus began various modifications to the magic nodes.
In five days, through two thousand failures, he established two mathematical models as experimental data.
Finally, he developed this transformable Mage's Hand.
The current Mage's Hand, a First Circle spell, increased its magic node count from the original 30 to 90.
The addition of 60 magic nodes was the key to its transformation ability.
Lide had almost completely reworked this spell.
The results showed, as the original stiff Mage's Hand could now change shape as per the mage's will, even after casting.
Its power significantly increased, the strength of Mage's Hand rose from 150 pounds to nearly 800 pounds, a fivefold increase.
Imagine in a battle, initially casting a Mage's Hand, and when attacked, transforming it into a shield, and then into a longsword when attacking. The enemy would be thrown into confusion and annoyance.
Of course, it wasn't without cost. The magic required for casting increased from 10 points to 15 points, a 50% rise.
And no amount of modification changed the fact that Mage's Hand was still a First Circle spell.
Though its power now rivaled ordinary Second Circle spells, it wasn't much use to Lide.
In battle, a Small Fireball Skill was more effective than using Mage's Hand for hand-to-hand combat.
However, the significance of improving Mage's Hand was that Lide had found a direction.
Without the means to learn more advanced spells, he could still elevate his current spells twofold in power.
So, when the Small Fireball Skill he cast became as powerful as a tank's main cannon, while his enemy's was on par with a 1-kg gas canister, the gap would be glaringly obvious.
-- Cadeau
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