Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Excellent-grade Spellbook: [Tivira Academy Apprentice’s Notes]

First, he was happy because he’d gotten the Magic Book he wanted without having to go through the lengthy trial of ”Old Quell’s Hundred Questions.”

He was fully confident he could have passed the test, which involved random questions about the local customs and traditions of the Yino Continent, but it was always good to save some time.

A hundred questions, plus waiting for Ais to randomly generate them... by the time he finished, the whole morning would have been gone.

In contrast, explaining a bit of Engineering knowledge had been much quicker.

Second, part of his conversation with Reya from this morning was already coming true.

In the short time he’d been away from the emporium, brand-new workbenches had been placed in Lounge 1, where he was temporarily staying—one for Engineering and one for Alchemy.

They weren’t top-of-the-line, but they were more than enough for his current needs.

In addition to the two workbenches, two large storage cabinets were filled to the brim with all sorts of miscellaneous items he might need during crafting. It was clear a great deal of thought had gone into it.

’This lavishly decorated lounge will be my exclusive room from now on!’

’Just a few days ago, I was holed up in a drafty wooden shack, worrying about my next meal. Now I’m living in a high-end suite with heating, a large bed, and professional workbenches.’

Mundane chores like eating, drinking, and bathing were all taken care of with a single call.

He had to admit, no one could appreciate the stark difference more than he could.

”Things are really looking up...”

Jon sighed, taking off his cloak and hanging it on the coat rack by the door. He then plopped down onto the soft sofa and opened the prize he had braved the snow to get.

The cowhide-covered notebook looked completely unremarkable.

But he knew that was just an illusion.

As he channeled Magic Power into it, the Anti-Spying Skill on the notebook quietly dissipated, revealing its true form.

Intricate, faintly glowing Magic Runes appeared on what was once a plain cowhide cover. Just holding it made his mind feel a bit clearer.

——

[Tivira Academy Apprentice’s Notes (Excellent · Spellbook)]

[Magic Strength: 15]

[Durability: 16/20]

[Attribute 1: Intelligence +1]

[Attribute 2: Spirit +1]

[Attribute 3: Recorded Magic]

[Currently Recorded Magic: Elemental Arrow (Lvl. 1), Spirit Contract (Lvl. 5), Flame Enchantment (Lvl. 5), Shockwave Impact (Lvl. 10)]

”When will these days of endless studying ever end? — A Mage Apprentice on the verge of fainting”

——

After looking over the Spellbook’s Attributes, Jon couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction, even with his picky gamer’s eye.

’Aside from Elemental Arrow and Shockwave Impact, the other two seem to be Excellent-grade Magic, right?’

’Looks like my luck is pretty good...’

In the game *Yino*, the four spells recorded in the Spellbook a player received for completing the ”Old Quell’s Hundred Questions” trial were all different. The random pool included all the spells a Mage Apprentice could learn from Level 1 to Level 10.

Whether you rolled four Level 1 spells or four Level 10 spells, and whether the rarity of those spells was high or low, all came down to luck.

And this was precisely why he, Jon, a Warrior, had also done this quest before.

If you rolled a good book, you could still sell it for a bit of money.

In the real world, however, this kind of randomness probably didn’t exist. Once he took this book, another one wouldn’t ”respawn.”

This was likely the only extraordinary book gathering dust in Old Quell’s library, and its contents were fixed.

’Now, let’s see just how a Mage’s Power works...’

Jon opened the Spellbook. The very first page was covered in tiny, fly-speck characters, causing his brow to furrow slightly.

These words seemed less like Magic knowledge and more like someone’s rambling thoughts.

It was all meaningless content like, ”I don’t want to study...”, ”Is there a spell that can just pour all this knowledge into my brain...”, and ”That girl from the class next door is so pretty...”

After he quickly flipped through a few pages, the ramblings disappeared, replaced by basic Magic knowledge, occasionally interspersed with faintly glowing Magic Runes.

When he placed his finger on these Runes, he could clearly feel the faint flow of Magic Power within them, which corresponded with and confirmed the scattered bits of knowledge.

’So these are the basic Runes that form Magic... Interesting...’

As Jon read the Magic knowledge recorded in the notes and experienced the principles of the Runes’ operation, a notification popped up before his eyes a moment later.

[Ding! You have grasped some Magic knowledge through reading.]

[You have learned ”Elemental Arrow” LV.1.]

’As expected, the system can help me learn quickly, just like using a Skill Book to learn Skills in the game.’

His mind put at ease, Jon temporarily closed the notebook and turned his gaze to his Skills panel.

He opened the Mage tab. Next to the once-solitary [Magic Mastery · Apprentice], a new, faintly glowing skill icon had appeared.

——

[Elemental Arrow V.1 (Ordinary): Consumes 10 Magic Power Value to coalesce an elemental arrow and fire it, dealing 40 + 100% Magic Strength as corresponding elemental damage. Cooldown: 5 seconds.]

——

An ordinary spell, neither good nor bad, perfectly fitting the traditional impression of a Mage as a ”high cost, high damage” class.

’But in my hands, perhaps it will be different?’

Jon grew thoughtful after reading the description for Elemental Arrow.

’What’s the difference between casting a Magic spell and using a Warrior’s skill?’

He dragged the skill into his hotbar, used for channeling and casting, and activated it with a touch of his will.

That familiar sense of guidance immediately surfaced, leading his consciousness to drift and swirl, ceaselessly tracing the Runes he had just felt in the notebook.

As these Runes flowed and connected, forming the foundation of the spell, they drew in even more Magic Power, finally coalescing in Jon’s hand into a forearm-length, mid-air-spinning arrow of water.

Jon could feel that with a single thought, it would fly out and strike any target he wished.

But he didn’t do so immediately. Instead, he maintained the water arrow’s existence, silently experiencing the sensation of casting Magic.

A moment later, he opened his eyes with a strange look on his face.

’This feeling... is so familiar...’

Jon made a grasping motion with his hand and, without relying on the skill’s guidance, directly cut off the supply of Magic Power to the spell.

The uncontrolled water arrow instantly collapsed, turning into a puff of mist that vanished without a trace.

’Magic Mastery... Mastery...’

He pondered this silently, the light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

’Could it be that ’mastery’ is the true foundation of being a Mage?’

The sensation he just had while maintaining the Elemental Arrow and continuously consuming Magic Power was remarkably similar to the high-consumption mode of Magic Mastery he had accidentally triggered while fighting the Golden Scorpion Mother!

It was the same feeling of ”mastering” Power that originated from within himself!