Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Russell suddenly felt a surge of joy.

Knowing your own strength is increasing rapidly is one thing, getting recognition from your teacher is another.

He tried hard to repress his excitement, and began seriously casting a level 0 Spell.

Carpenter also put aside her heavy mood, focusing on her brother and her own conflict.

Then, the little girl’s excited and longing expression slowly turned calm.

Her gaze started shifting constantly between sneaking glances at Hilbert and looking at Russell with a teasing smile.

Her eyes were unusually lively, and Carpenter couldn’t help but cover her lips with one hand, genuinely worried that her brother, who was already rolling his eyes at her, might suddenly lose control and attack her.

Actually, Russell’s Spells were quite good, but he forgot to consider the influence between different Spells.

When casting, it shouldn’t be done by category, but rather according to their mutual impact.

So he cast Transmutation Spells one by one, even after casting Energy Shaping School Spells which already caused some chaos, making the environment more difficult for his spellcasting.

Spells that originally required only 0.5 spiritual power, in the later stages, required almost 1 in casting difficulty.

Then he put the Illusion Element at the end... although Illusions require not much total spiritual power, they do require precise allocation of spiritual power at each point of the Rune.

Though many Mages have low requirements in this aspect, Gilbert would never let Russell pass off with such an obviously fake Illusion Technique.

At this moment Russell was already unable to think about matters beyond casting Spells.

Yet he persevered to the end, imprinting his secret mark in mid-air... ethereal and even unable to solidify, his carefully selected mark seemed to mock his foolishness.

”Teacher, I’m sorry, I thought too simply.” Russell spoke disheartened.

Though a bit frustrated, he still tidied his attire before slightly lowering his head to speak to Hill... this complete acceptance of his failure, coupled with a lack of resentment, truly pleased Hill.

It’s quite normal for a young person to be inconsiderate, although some are born with the sensitivity to intuitively know how to cast Spells, Russell is not.

Moreover, the elemental presence in this world isn’t particularly active, so Russell not sensing it is normal.

However, what Hill was unhappy about was that during practice, Russell had done full series casting, yet never realized how severely Spells influence each other.

This child still isn’t precise in controlling his spiritual power, and is a bit overly cautious... he stopped casting immediately with half of his spiritual power left unused.

Protecting his Mental Sea is good, but in a safe place, leaving one-tenth of spiritual power just in case is sufficient... as long as he avoids excessive agitation of the Mental Sea, and doesn’t loan the portion of power that he can’t control at the base, even using it all would at most just be tiring.

Furthermore, occasional agitation doesn’t lead to disaster, Mages aren’t that fragile.

Gilbert had issues in the past because he used five hundred percent, and not just once or twice.

Even Hill, when pressing himself like that, needed a long time to recover.

Hill floated a book out of the study... after noticing Russell seemed directionless in his casting, he summarized a set of fundamental theories on counteractive and complementary Spells based on miscellaneous Mage notes from this world.

”This, Russell can read.” Hill said softly, ”As for Carpenter, unless someday you can figure out on your own why Russell failed, otherwise, no need to read.”

Carpenter pursed her lips helplessly: although aware of the vast talent gap, realizing she couldn’t even grasp why her brother made a mistake, still slightly irritated her.

Russell couldn’t help but pat her head, then gently tapped it twice.

Hill glanced at Carpenter, not planning on comforting her.

This girl’s capacity for endurance had long been honed, had she been easily unbalanced, she wouldn’t have formed such a deep sibling bond with Russell.

Thus, rather than happy education, Carpenter must understand that only through desperate hard work can she catch up to those who, relying on talent alone, surpass her.

Mages in this world inevitably face extremely fierce competition to survive.

Even if Russell wishes to shelter his sister, those who can’t keep up will fall behind.

Even someone like Hill, who always harbors nostalgia for the past, can only occasionally look back at the past left behind, and amidst the relentless pursuit of self-improvement now, he can’t find time to return attentively to the past.

Regret is inevitable, but everyone knows letting go at the right time is the responsible behavior for both parties.

Carpenter’s talent for Illusion Technique is truly decent, but definitely not strong enough to easily follow closely behind Russell.

Hill felt she understood... even if not hoping to walk shoulder to shoulder with Russell, merely trailing behind him without being left behind, allowing her brother to greet her with a backward glance, Carpenter must exert all her strength.

”Then, Russell, how long do you think you need before you can stand in front of me again?” Hilbert smiled slightly.

Russell opened that thin manual, closing his eyes once he saw the first page: it’s all summary interpretations, anything related to other books is merely touched upon, if he knows and can recite them all, naturally he can comprehend.

But if he lacks something, then he truly can’t understand.

Russell indeed tries hard in this aspect, to be honest, he remembers these books to some extent, yet he dares not be certain he understands each word clearly.

He still needs to read them carefully again.

Moreover, this time, he must memorize each word clearly and recite each sentence backward fluently.

Carpenter leaned her little head curiously on her brother’s shoulder, her big eyes swirling upwards: ”Brother Russell doesn’t seem too confident!”

”I can’t assure you I hold vivid memories of each book mentioned here.” Russell’s tone carried a bit of confusion and a hint of grievance.

”A Mage’s Mental Sea is like a library.” Hill’s tone was flat but filled with determination, ”You might instantaneously forget which book, but you must know which corner of your Mental Sea you’ve stored it in.”

Russell didn’t quite understand a frown appeared.

”You don’t understand this yet, just remember my words, this is something you’ll grasp after learning 5-ring Spells.” Hill glanced at him, ”The books you can access now, just memorize them using spiritual power.”

”Yes, teacher.” Russell nudged the slightly dazed Carpenter, ”We’ll remember.”

Carpenter’s previously joyous face had already drooped... with Russell’s temperament, he’d never let Carpenter indulge alone.

Even if those books are temporarily of no use to Carpenter, Russell would compel her to recite them entirely.

Her older brother Russell was thoroughly concerned about Carpenter potentially being aggrieved where he couldn’t see, and had rigorously high demands on her since childhood.

That’s partly why her acknowledged mediocre talents didn’t prevent her from becoming a Mid-level Magician so early... a few slightly more talented children couldn’t even cross the Mid-level Apprentice threshold before turning sixteen.

Carpenter indeed never relaxes, but, how to put it... merely thinking about the daunting future even though knowing she won’t give up, she still feels like crying a bit for herself.

”One month! Teacher, please give me one month.” After pondering for a while, Russell finally spoke through clenched teeth.