【Establishing a connection with the elements requires going through three stages: perception, supplication, and contract. Perception requires entering the "Elemental Vision" through meditation to see the free-floating elemental particles in the air. This is a long process, and some people can never achieve it in their entire lives, meaning they will be forever barred from becoming a Mage.】
【Once you see the elements, you enter the second stage—supplication. This requires expressing your reverence and goodwill to them through specific rituals. This is an even more elusive process. Although thousands of methods have been summarized so far, new cases of failure and success still emerge, and not every ritual will receive a response from the elements.】
【When your relationship with the elements becomes close enough, you can establish a long-term relationship with them, which is a contract. This does not mean the elements will serve you as their master; it only means they are willing to respond to your summon. Mages must make regular offerings to maintain this relationship. The deeper the contract, the faster the elements respond and the stronger their power. Of course, the cost of maintaining the contract is also higher.】
“So that's how Mages work...” Wu Yao realized. “It's just like doing business—money in one hand, goods in the other, and you even have to regularly maintain client relationships.”
She recalled how it felt when she cast spells. Those elemental particles had absolutely no intention of demanding anything from her; they happily rushed toward her.
Perhaps this was just the player setting.
It was perfectly reasonable for players to be loved by all.
Wu Yao skipped past those tedious records of rituals and only stopped when she saw the heading "The Essence of Mana."
【Mana is not born out of thin air; it is the energy dissipated by elements, just as sunlight is the sun's breath and tides are the moon's respiration. It fills the space between heaven and earth, omnipresent like the air, yet not everyone can touch it.】
【Humans are born without mana circulation; Mages have neither organs to store mana nor meridians to circulate it. Therefore, we must obtain the permission of the elements to borrow their power, and this permission requires a staff inlaid with an elemental crystal as a medium.】
【A staff is not a weapon but a bridge and a channel, with the elemental crystal being the most important core. Besides that, many magical materials can be used to craft a staff. Elemental crystals can collect free-flowing mana from the environment and store it. Only by possessing one's own high-grade staff, continuously maintaining and expanding the crystal, and increasing its storage capacity, can one become a true Mage and unleash highly destructive spells.】
【During the apprentice stage, without mana in the body or a staff, one must communicate with the surrounding elements through specific incantations. Long incantations are not meant to make things difficult, but are supplications and confirmations to the elements. Every step requires reverence and patience; otherwise, not only will you fail to obtain the elements' aid, but you might also provoke their retaliation.】
【No human can directly utilize mana; this is a law established by the gods at the creation of the world, inviolable and unalterable. But sorceresses, those abominable existences who make deals with demons, those blasphemers who sell their souls and trample upon the natural order—they have stolen the ability to directly utilize mana!】
【This has led to the continent being flooded with demonic pollution, with corrupted lands continuously spreading, and countless creatures falling into demonic beasts as a result. Crops withering without cause is the trace of a sorceress passing by; turbid water sources are the residual poison left after a sorceress's washing; the tragic deaths of innocents are the pastimes of sorceresses for amusement; the premature deaths of children are the sacrifices used by sorceresses in demonic transactions...】
Reading this long accusation against sorceresses, Wu Yao turned the page with complete indifference.
The game's setting for players was that of a sorceress, or a witch—either way, it was all part of the game's setup.
Good and evil didn't matter; what mattered was that the power level had to be maxed out.
The latter half of the notebook finally got to the point, showing actual spell incantations, where Corey's handwriting began to grow messy and desperate.
【Spell: Earth Wall】
【Function: Forms an earth wall of 1 square meter, about 5 centimeters thick】
Wu Yao looked at the two pages densely packed with incantations. Next to each syllable, small characters annotated the pitch and stress positions, and some parts even had breathing marks drawn.
Looking at it this way, being a Mage was really not easy. No wonder Corey took so long to cast his spell back then; now it seemed he was practically a rapper!
She cleared her throat and tried to chant the beginning: “Mograbisuniuka—”
The Silver Moon above suddenly flickered, and some particles seemed to slowly emerge around her, surrounding her.
For the first time, she discovered that besides those restless particles, there were actually particles that moved so sluggishly.
In other words, what she had summoned before were all fire elements, so these slow-moving particles should be earth elements?
Feeling that the room had somehow become brighter, Wu Yao looked up in confusion. The light of the smaller Silver Moon seemed a bit sharper than before, as if it were glaring at her.
She was about to continue when the system suddenly popped up.
【You have learned the spell: Earth Wall!】
【Learned Earth Wall, Spell Compendium collection +1】
Wu Yao's eyes lit up. Skipping right past those two long and tedious pages of incantations, she lowered her head to chant the incantation for Waterball: “Aquasum—”
The Silver Moon flickered again, even more noticeably this time, as if its light carried some silent protest.
【You have learned the spell: Waterball!】
Wu Yao grew even more excited. Completely ignoring the Silver Moon's abnormality, she buried her head in reading the remaining incantations.
Every time she chanted the beginning of a spell, the Silver Moon would flicker once. Seven spells, seven flickers. The Silver Moon's light went from sharp to helpless, and finally, it carried a sort of weary "do whatever you want" attitude, its light seemingly dimming quite a bit.
【You have learned the spell: Weeding!】
【You have learned the spell: Soil Cracking!】
【You have learned the spell: Water Condensation!】
【You have learned the spell: Illumination!】
【You have learned the spell: Cleaning!】
A bumper harvest!
Wu Yao looked at the seven new icons in her spell bar—seven new spells!
Although they all looked like utility and life-skill support spells from their descriptions, even mosquito legs were still meat. A player could never have too many skills!
Unable to wait to test the new spells, she rolled out of bed and rushed outside. The moment she pushed open the door, the territory shield rippled subtly under the moonlight, wrapping this small world like a transparent eggshell.
She stood close to the edge of the shield, deciding to add some extra defense to her territory.
There was no need to chant any long incantations. The moment she harbored the thought, the surrounding earth elements began to swarm over.
Unlike the restless and eager fire elements, they gathered sluggishly, building a neat earth wall at her designated location.
The earth wall was two meters high, two meters wide, and one palm thick. Its surface was rough, but its structure was sturdy.
Wu Yao walked around the earth wall and patted its surface, which only shed a few fine grains of soil.
She tried to communicate with the earth elements: “Can you just maintain this form and not run around?”
Not knowing if the earth elements understood, she continued to build upon this earth wall.
Once the four earth walls were established, standing inside the circle of earth walls she had built with her own hands, she suddenly realized a problem.
Rate on N.U.
