I Am Not A Goblin Slayer

Gauss first began practicing Bigby’s Hand.

According to legend, a long time ago, there was a powerful mage named ”Bigby” who mastered various ”magical giant hands” spells, and Bigby’s Hand was a specialty spell named after this mage.

In form, it bears some resemblance to the most basic trick ”Mage’s Hand,” but the effects are vastly different.

Mage’s Hand is just a standard 0th Ring trick; whether it’s controlling weight, movement speed, or response, it’s virtually unusable in actual combat. Therefore, Gauss mostly uses it as a distance-contact spell to prevent touch-based curse infections.

If Mage’s Hand is merely a lightweight remote control tool hand, then ”Bigby’s Hand” is the powerful mage’s combat-focused creation and invention, derived and expanded on that basis.

As long as the Magic Power is abundant and strong enough, not to mention roadside Kobolds or goblins, even a Giant Dragon can be slapped away in a single stroke.

It is the representative spell of the force brick-flying school.

Recalling the details of Bigby’s Hand in his mind, Gauss quickly immersed himself in the specific spell model.

Since Bigby’s Hand is a spell rewarded directly by the Adventurer’s Handbook, it bypasses the relatively complicated learning process, and the intricate model akin to a supercomputer has already appeared deep in his consciousness.

It is a well-known fact that magic, this wondrous ability, becomes geometrically more complex in its spell models with the increase in the number of rings.

Compared to 4th Ring spells, the 5th Ring spell models are like a great mountain; in terms of complexity, ten 4th Ring spells may not compare to a single 5th Ring spell.

That’s also why, theoretically, Level 9 or 10 casters can begin learning 5th Ring spells, but in practice, it often requires Level 11 Extraordinary casters, or at least exceptionally skilled Level 10 casters, to proficiently use 5th Ring spells.

The reason being, it demands extremely high physical attributes from the user.

The brains of casters below the Extraordinary Level simply cannot bear such complex spell models; for most Level 9 and 10 casters, if their attributes don’t meet the standard, rash contact might result in slowed brain operation and, in severe cases, a risk of turning into a vegetative state on the spot.

Thus, the difficulty threshold for learning spells is not a constraint for professionals; rather, it seems more like a protection provided by world rules to professionals.

Learning a spell indicates that the professional can carry the burden it brings; without meeting the standard, regardless of time investment, one cannot surpass that threshold.

Only by advancing to Level 11 as a professional and mastering Domain Power, which is exclusive to Extraordinary professionals, can one skillfully use 5th Ring and higher-level spells with its aid.

This relationship is somewhat akin to the relationship between ”Dao” (Path) and ”Shu” (Technique).

Dao is the form, Shu is the function.

And although Gauss indeed mastered the spell model of Bigby’s Hand, to truly use it, it still depends on whether his overall quality matches.

As he focused deeply, starting to call upon the power contained in the depths of the spell model through Magic Power, he indeed felt a ”weightiness,” a burden far more substantial than that brought by using magic from 0th to 4th Rings.

However...

He took a deep breath.

”It’s alright, not too difficult.”

Carefully sensing during the operation, he discovered the difficulty in using Bigby’s Hand was indeed much greater, but it was completely within his acceptable range.

Even without Domain Power that can only be mastered by Extraordinary professionals, his inherently ”overpowered” attributes, with an Intelligence Attribute of 20 points, were evident here.

Thus, he naturally ”stepped” over what seemed to be a difficult usage threshold.

The 5th Ring spell brought Gauss a refreshing sense of novelty, akin to a scholarly star suddenly discovering an unprecedented new domain.

The vast flow of Magic Power within his body began rushing somewhere, and the White Magic Wand firmly grasped in his right hand also shone with radiant light.

Suddenly, the extremely complex spell model was fully activated and set in motion, under its guidance, the immense Magic Power finally circulated through his body to the White Magic Wand.

”Boom!”

Above the sky, an immense hand shimmering with silvery light abruptly coalesced above Gauss’s head.

The air seemed to grow heavier due to its presence.

The palm of this giant hand was about ten meters long, excluding the segment of the arm shadow extending below the wrist. Theoretically, Gauss could expand its volume further, but correspondingly, its strength would rapidly decrease.

”So this is Bigby’s Hand...”

Gauss looked up at the giant hand, murmuring to himself.

In the perception of him as the user, the large size of these giant hands was merely one of its least significant effects; more importantly, it housed the terrifying power to shake mountains and crack the earth.

”If this giant hand were to strike, could I withstand it?” This thought involuntarily popped into Gauss’s mind.

Is his ”offensive spear” sharper, or is his ”defensive shield” more solid?

In his usual state, solely relying on Gauss Position, he definitely couldn’t withstand this 5th Ring spell released by himself; that’s a result that doesn’t need testing to know.