章 4: Chapter 4 First Casting of a Spell
編集者: EndlessFantasy Translation
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Bang bang bang~
The knocking on the door interrupted Lide's thoughts, though the impact of his first glimpse into the Otherworld had not yet faded.
Vina dragged lunch into the room, and after a greeting, she adeptly placed the meal on the Blue Heart Parasol Tree round wooden table nearby.
"Lord Lide, please enjoy your meal."
"Thank you."
Lide sat down and, as if he remembered something, asked the girl who was about to leave, "Has anything special happened in the city recently?"
Upon hearing Lide's question, Vina felt a twinge of joy. Although she was a maid, Lide rarely spoke to her.
"Lord Lide, I heard that the Mage Association plans to hold a magic seminar in November, and three Great Mages will attend."
"Anything else?" Lide adjusted the dinner plate. He wasn't very interested in meetings at the moment.
Thinking of the scene he saw through the window just now, he continued to ask, "Are there always this many beggars on the streets?"
Vina shook her head hastily, "No, Lord Lide. Recently, the Beastmen in the southern Far Mountain Range have started a war, so there are more refugees."
She quickly added, "If you don't like it, I can have someone drive away the beggars near the Mage Tower right away."
Most mages have rather peculiar tempers, thought Vina, though she was reluctant to expel those pitiful beggars.
But if the beggars angered Lide, their very lives would be at stake.
Lide shook his head. From the scenes on the street just now, he could roughly judge the political, economic, and living conditions of the Nolan Empire or Green City.
The lofty nobles, the reputable slave owners, the cautious civilians, the ruthless mercenaries, the pitiful beggars, the somewhat kind but cautious shopkeepers.
It was not a stable world, indeed.
"No need. If there's extra bread, you can give some to those in need, but not too much. You may go now."
Hearing Lide's words, Vina understood immediately that while her master was kind-hearted, he was also pragmatic.
If the beggars received too much, they would gather in large numbers, making it harder to manage.
Their Mage Tower wasn't the City Lord's mansion and had no obligation to rescue beggars.
"Yes, Lord Lide."
Seeing that Lide said nothing more, Vina pursed her lips and left with a slight sense of dejection.
Lide was fully aware of the maid's little thoughts but said nothing.
Giving a little food to the beggars was fine, but widespread aid was impossible.
His current identity was too dangerous. A mage showing occasional kindness by giving some food was understandable, but doing it often would be seen as strange.
This was something the City Lord should handle, not a mage.
Sitting at the table, he began to eat.
For the Bloodline, human blood was true sustenance, but this human food couldn't provide enough nutrients... though it wouldn't harm him to eat it.
The Blood Clan Ancestor ate regularly to conceal his identity.
But deep down, Lide wasn't Bloodline, so he naturally had an appreciation for gourmet food. Thus, what was a task for the Blood Clan Ancestor became a pleasure for him.
Lunch was quite sumptuous, with a glass of milk, a large piece of magic power-rich roast meat, two large pieces of bread, two small plates of vegetables, and a dessert.
The most remarkable item was the roast meat, for only the meat of Demon Beasts had such rich magic power.
In Green City, this piece of Demon Beast meat would sell for at least fifty silver pucks.
A normal worker's monthly salary was just ten silver pucks.
His lunch's meat alone could feed a family of three for a year.
In "Glory," the currency was divided into copper pucks, silver pucks, and gold pucks, with the exchange rate being 100 copper pucks = 1 silver puck, 100 silver pucks = 1 gold puck.
Copper pucks were the basic currency unit. One copper puck could buy a black bread on the street, roughly equivalent to 1 RMB.
But since it was a different world, this wasn't a straightforward comparison. Though "Glory" was a transcendent magical world, it was set in a medieval Western background where productivity was low, so purchasing power differed somewhat.
As an elite member of the Green City Mage Association and a baron of the Nolan Empire, Lide received a stipend of 20 gold pucks monthly.
Additionally, the area around the Crimson Mage Tower fell under his protection, yielding about 10 gold pucks monthly in protection fees.
Friendly nobles also provided a monthly fee as protection, amounting to another 20 gold pucks.
So Lide's monthly income was around 50 gold pucks. The operation of the Crimson Mage Tower cost 20 gold pucks a month, leaving him with about 30 gold pucks in surplus.
Therefore, eating what seemed to regular folk as an extravagantly expensive piece of Demon Beast roast meat was of little consequence to him.
The magic power-rich roast meat melted in his mouth, and the dense magic infused his body, invigorating every cell like a massage bath.
His whole body rejoiced.
"This truly is the Grand Sword."
Lide felt utterly content, no wonder Demon Beast meat was so highly prized.
Once having savored Demon Beast roast meat, other foods became bland in comparison. He swiftly finished the meal.
After resting a while, Lide felt an eager urge when looking at the spell skills on the attribute panel.
As an Earthling, his curiosity for these transcendent powers was undeniable.
Especially after soul transmigrating here, his curiosity grew stronger.
Magic—these two words were more attractive than gold.
Though without spell-casting experience, the memories of the Blood Clan Ancestor had thoroughly familiarized Lide with these skills and spells.
It felt as if he had practiced them thousands of times.
There was no sense of unfamiliarity.
This gave him a great sense of relief.
Glory World was far from a peaceful place, filled with various evil races.
Without strength, surviving would be uncertain.
In the game, he was now the Blood Clan Ancestor, without the player's ability to respawn.
Truly dying without respawn would be game over.
Magic.
Lide focused on his skills.
For modern people, only these extraordinary abilities would truly pique their interest.
It began.
In his spiritual sea, a point-and-line diagram of the spell meticulously practiced in original memories appeared.
Magic Model.
A familiar yet foreign name.
To cast spells, mages needed to activate their magic models.
Magic models consisted of magic nodes and circuits.
Magic nodes were fixed points, connected by lines known as magic circuits.
Magic power flowed from the first node through the fixed circuits to the second node, and so forth.
Once the last node was activated by the magic power, the model was complete, ready to cast.
Understanding the principle of magic wasn't hard, but using it was entirely different.
Mages needed to carve the spell's model into their spiritual sea.
The Blood Clan Ancestor had already carved more than a dozen magic models.
To cast spells now, he just had to input magic into these pre-carved models.
After reviewing the spell-casting process multiple times, Lide subdued his excitement, returning to calm.
It's a common knowledge among mages that it's best to be calm while casting spells, as emotional disturbances could affect the outcome.
Once he was composed, Lide began to slowly channel magic into the magic model.
Small Fireball Skill.
The simplest beginner-level spell for mages, a first-ring spell.
First-ring spells had fewer than a hundred magic nodes, while the Small Fireball Skill had only fifty.
If it were the original caster, this first-ring spell could be cast with a snap of the fingers.
But since Lide was still a novice, he felt a bit nervous.
Stretching out his left hand, replicating the casting gesture from his memory, he started silently summoning magic power.
Five seconds later.
Whoosh~
An apple-sized, orange-red fireball hovered in mid-air.
The searing fireball raised the room's temperature by several degrees.
Lide's face lit up with joy.
Success!!
His first spell-casting was a success!!
The thrill of summoning a fireball from his hand was beyond words.
This was magic, far exceeding reality.
Lide could clearly feel his ability to control the fireball at will.
With spiritual power, the fireball could fly towards an enemy at dozens of meters per second.
Its power was no less than a high-explosive bomb filled with TNT.
If he wished to increase its power, he could continue to pour magic into it, enhancing the fireball's strength.
Glancing around the magic laboratory, he dismissed the idea.
With a mental command, the fireball danced before him like a tethered balloon.
Its scorching flames emitted tremendous heat, raising the room's temperature steadily.
The orange-red fireball, like the most beautiful flower, exuded danger and mystery.
The blazing small fireball flew up, down, left, and right, spinning at his fingertips, bouncing at his feet, and drifting before his eyes.
Lide's mind was completely absorbed in the magic.
After half a Sunshine Hour, he gradually stopped infusing magic into the fireball.
Without the magic support, the fireball began to shrink, its orange glow dimming until it vanished within minutes.
Such was magic.
Lide's interest in magic surged to the extreme after casting the Small Fireball Skill.
He loved the feeling of controlling magic power, the joy of having fireballs dance at his fingertips more than anything else.
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-- 贈り物
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