Chapter 69 | I Became a Skeleton on Day One of My Isekai

Boosted by his two research auxiliary skills, [Magic Analysis Lv.2] and [Golem Lv.2], Li Xiuman had obtained a photographic memory and could edit the recorded information at will.

Before long, the information from the Memory Crystal rapidly flashed before his eyes. He deleted all the unimportant memories from his mind, retaining only the vital memories related to magic.

Once he had combed through all the memories within the Memory Crystal, he found that there was very little recorded information regarding magic itself.

After all, the soul that had tried to possess him was merely the remnant soul of a Tier 6 Elementalist, so the memories were naturally fragmented and incomplete.

In the end, Li Xiuman only obtained the general knowledge of high-tier Elementalists.

For instance, Tiers 1 to 3 were Low-Tier Elementalists.

Tiers 4 to 6 were Mid-Tier, and Tiers 7 to 9 were High-Tier.

Li Xiuman was already clear about this information, of course.

However, as for what criteria were used to classify Mages of these ranks, his knowledge had indeed been incomplete.

Fortunately, this Memory Crystal clearly outlined the requirements for each tier.

Low-Tier Mages only needed to accumulate enough mana to reach the corresponding tier, and then they could learn the spells of that tier.

Tier 4 Mages, however, had to master Magic Models before they could learn spells corresponding to those models.

Even if their mana, which equated to their level, reached the standard for Tier 4, they could only be called quasi-Tier 4 Mages.

Only Mages who had mastered at least three Tier 4 Magic Models could truly be considered Tier 4 Mages.

Magic Models were extremely difficult to learn, and teaching oneself was near impossible.

Only by finding a high-tier magic instructor and studying under them could one master spells above Tier 4.

Yet, these Mages usually guarded their secrets jealously, rarely sharing the spells they had painstakingly researched and mastered.

Aside from paying a steep price, one could only get the chance to be taught if they became a trusted disciple of a high-tier Mage.

There was another way, which was to create one's own Magic Models and invent new spells.

But only true geniuses could achieve this.

Mastered Magic Models would be engraved onto the caster's magic circle, forming magic runes.

The more magic runes a magic circle had, the more powerful the Mage's spells would be.

On the magic circle that the soul had manifested when casting magic on Li Xiuman, one could only see a framework constructed of mana, without a single magic rune to amplify its power.

This was also the standard used to judge a Mage's true strength.

Therefore, even when high-tier Mages cast low-tier spells, their power was far greater than when cast by low-tier Mages.

Aside from high-tier Mages having far more mana and a much deeper understanding of magic, the primary reason was the amplification provided by the magic runes.

Of course, Mages could choose to hide their strength by concealing the magic runes on their magic circles.

But in doing so, their spells would also naturally lose the amplification from those runes.

Furthermore, if they wanted to cast high-tier spells corresponding to those runes, the magic runes had to be manifested on the magic circle.

“I didn't expect high-tier Mages to have to walk such a path.”

From the Memory Crystal, Li Xiuman found the memories of four Magic Models.

Two Tier 4 Magic Models, one Tier 5, and an incomplete Tier 6 Magic Model.

The two Tier 4 Magic Models were “Wind Dragon's Roar” and “Flame Spear of Judgment.”

Both were offensive spells.

The Tier 5 Magic Model was “Wind's Blessing,” a defensive spell.

The incomplete Tier 6 Magic Model was “Lich's Wail,” a mental attack spell.

This was the greatest treasure he had obtained from the Memory Crystal.

Any Tier 5 or Tier 6 Mage wouldn't mind mastering one more precious spell.

Even higher-tier Mages wouldn't reject having one more low-tier Magic Model under their belt.

Thus, this Memory Crystal must never be exposed. Otherwise, he, a Tier 2 Mage who hadn't even been in this tier for a month, might really be disassembled.

He tried to analyze one of the Tier 4 Magic Models.

He couldn't understand it at all, and just looking at it for a brief moment made him feel a headache coming on along with mental exhaustion.

Well, it seemed he had to be patient and take it one bite at a time.

Li Xiuman dug up the scattered knowledge related to Tier 2 Magic from the Memory Crystal and began to digest it bit by bit.

Although these memories were fragmented and incomplete, they were still far superior to the generic public materials found in the library.

At the same time, acquiring this high-tier Mage general knowledge made Li Xiuman understand why libraries existed in this world, and why low-tier magic knowledge was so easy to obtain.

It was simply because those high-tier Mages didn't care about low-tier magic knowledge at all.

High-tier Magic Model knowledge was tightly controlled by the elite, upper-echelon Mages.

Perhaps there was also a desire to use low-tier magic knowledge to uncover more low-tier Mages.

Among these low-tier Mages, there might be true geniuses who could research and develop precious new Magic Models.

Then, those high-tier Mages would use outdated, obsolete Magic Models to trade for these precious new Magic Models.

In this manner, they could slowly leach off the newcomers, enriching their own magical knowledge.

After committing a vast amount of miscellaneous knowledge from the Memory Crystal to memory, Li Xiuman stored the precious crystal away in his storage space.

He then pulled out the Tier 2 Magic books he had borrowed from the library, using them to help him understand and digest the high-tier insights from the Memory Crystal.

In this way, Li Xiuman studied continuously for three days, completely digesting all the miscellaneous memories concerning Tier 2 Magic from the Memory Crystal.

He had also thoroughly understood the Tier 2 Magic books he had borrowed from the library.

Now, when he tried to grasp the Tier 4 Magic Models recorded in the Memory Crystal...

It might have been an illusion, but he felt like he could understand just a tiny bit of it.

It felt like an elementary schooler who had just learned addition and subtraction trying to understand high school functions.

During these three days, Li Xiuman had also attempted to absorb a vast amount of magical knowledge in hopes of leveling up [Magic Analysis Lv.2].

Upgrading [Magic Analysis] would significantly boost his understanding of magic and his magical talent.

It was a truly divine skill.

Enhancing this skill might even allow him to comprehend a tiny bit of Magic Model knowledge ahead of his tier.

He could sense that if he could grasp Magic Models ahead of time, it would bring him an immense boost.

Not just in raw strength, but also in his potential on the path of magic.

However, he did not get his wish. After three days of intense study, he could feel that there was still a substantial gap before [Magic Analysis] accumulated enough experience to level up.

Perhaps only by creating his own series of Tier 2 Magic could he stimulate [Magic Analysis] to level up.

He had rested for long enough.

It was time to begin his third dungeon exploration.

This time, Li Xiuman set a goal for himself: explore down to the thirtieth floor.

Therefore, this descent would likely require a long stay in the dungeon.

Before heading to the dungeon, he went to return all his borrowed books.

As for the nest of vampires in his basement...

Li Xiuman handed full management of them over to Rorona. After disguising their appearances, they were sent into the dungeon in batches.

They would form parties in the dungeon, honing their skills while earning their keep. At the same time, they would assist Rorona in slaying monsters, providing Li Xiuman with experience points.

This was an all-around exploitation method.

Li Xiuman couldn't wait to recoup the initial 5,000 experience points he had invested in Rorona.

These vampires were still too low-level, with only two classholders among them, and both of their classes were their racial class, Dark Mage.

Thus, Li Xiuman could only obtain the only two class change scrolls the Reby Merchant Association had in stock—one for Heavy Warrior and one for Elementalist.