Chapter 98: Chapter 98

Flora's magical energy continued to flow within his body, not along a single route, but through many different pathways, each with seemingly minor yet actually enormous differences.

While channeling her magical energy, she simultaneously explained the fundamentals of magic to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo felt every subtle flow, listening to Flora's narration, his understanding of magic continuously deepening.

Simply put, physical professions were like body cultivators in novels—their own physique was robust, and the qi and blood generated from this originated entirely from themselves, making it easier to mobilize.

Whereas magical professions were like spirit cultivators, borrowing power from heaven and earth, nurturing themselves, converting elements into magical energy stored within the body. During the use of magic, they would then transform the magical energy back into elements through resonance with the elements in the air, unleashing them in different forms...

Specific skills were about giving the magical energy precise operational pathways; the more powerful the skill, the more complex its pathway, which was quite similar to physical professions.

"Alright, these are all 8,031 magic circuits discovered so far. Through combinations of these circuits, all current magic can be constructed."

Flora finally stopped transmitting magical energy, removing her hand from Lin Mo's head.

"So, how many did you remember?"

Lin Mo savored that mysterious feeling; his body seemed to remember all the pathways it had traversed, but whether he had truly mastered them would probably require practical verification.

"It's fine if you can't remember that many. Many of these are quite peculiar circuits that aren't commonly used. Generally speaking, as long as you can proficiently master the first 641 most basic circuits, you'll be able to understand most common magic."

Flora wasn't surprised by this. In fact, directly using her own magical energy to run circuits within the other person's body was just a method to help apprentices roughly understand magic. Each specific circuit required careful study and practice during subsequent learning.

For a normal person, progressing from a mage apprentice to casting their first spell, even the simplest one, would take at least two to three months.

Of course, geniuses like her were different. Because she had read many relevant books in advance, back when Lady Raphael completed the guidance, she immediately remembered dozens of circuits and successfully cast her first spell in less than three days!

At that time, she had already gained some fame in mage circles. Later, when she entered the academy to study, she increasingly displayed exceptional talent, advancing to a professional in less than two months, hence being called the kingdom's once-in-a-century magical genius.

Lin Mo's response made Flora think his situation was probably like that of a normal person—unable to directly grasp the circuits through guidance—so she comforted him, "Learning magic isn't something achieved overnight. Don't be impatient; slowly study each circuit, and you'll eventually gain something..."

To be honest, after learning that Lin Mo had no talent for magic, she actually felt somewhat relieved.

After all, achieving dual professions as Warrior and Assassin in less than a month was already shocking enough. If he had similar talent in magic, Flora would even start to suspect if he was some deity's illegitimate child.

"I still have some questions I'd like to ask, is that alright?"

"Go ahead, it's still early."

"Why not directly utilize the elements in nature instead of going through two complex transformations?"

Hearing this question, Flora couldn't help but laugh, as if returning to the classroom.

Only complete beginners with no foundation would ask such a question.

But since Lin Mo was precisely such a novice, she patiently answered, "Because the concentration of elements in the air isn't sufficient to directly form magic."

Lin Mo nodded and continued asking, "Then what do the two magical transformation processes represent respectively?"

"The first process, whether smoothly absorbing elements and converting them into magical energy, affects your speed in learning and practicing skills. The second process, transforming magical energy back into elements through resonance, determines casting speed and spell strength."

"Then if there are no skills, is it impossible to condense magical energy?"

"That's not absolutely true either, but without specific skill circuits, relying only on basic circuits to accumulate magical energy is very difficult because the magical energy in the air is too mixed, containing various elements that repel each other, making efficiency too low. Generally, after learning relevant circuits, people accumulate magical energy by practicing specific skills."

"For example, the Fireball spell you're holding is a simple magic formed by combining circuit 13 and circuit 27. By practicing the combination of these two circuits, the elements you absorb become single fire elements, making it easier to condense magical energy. And the magical energy condensed through this pathway has higher compatibility with fire element skills."

Each basic circuit required practice to master, and combinations between circuits needed additional practice. The difficulty of learning magic was indeed much higher than skills in other professions.

Lin Mo picked up the spell scroll in his hand. After understanding the basics related to circuits, elements, and magical energy, this originally incomprehensible scroll suddenly seemed clear and easy to understand.

"Circuit 13 and circuit 27..."

Seeing his action, Flora reminded him, "I just demonstrated the basic circuits for you. Although combinations between circuits are described on the scroll, you can't run them just by reading. You still need to start learning from the basic circuits. When you've mastered circuits 13 and 27, I'll teach you how to combine and run these two circuits."

In her view, Lin Mo was still too impatient. Perhaps his rapid success in other professions had fostered a habit of seeking quick results, which was a major taboo for mages and needed correction.

But Lin Mo was already immersed in the world of circuits. He stared at the scroll before him, recalling the feeling of Flora's magical energy flowing within his body just moments ago.

Circuit 13 and circuit 27, then combine them according to the description on the scroll...

Seeing him still spacing out, worried he might mess things up, Flora frowned and prepared to push him.

However, just as her palm touched Lin Mo's shoulder, a familiar sensation suddenly emanated from him.

Flora instantly stiffened all over, eyes wide open, staring dumbfounded at Lin Mo.

The next moment, just as Flora had "feared," Lin Mo suddenly raised his hand, hot elements gathering in his palm, forming a sphere the size of a fingernail.

Lin Mo's mouth twitched. Did he make a mistake in the process... why was it so small?

Flora pointed at him, momentarily speechless.

The scene before her had too great an impact on her worldview, making her start to doubt herself.

Was she actually not a genius?

But back when she cast a spell within three days, it truly was a major event that shook the entire capital's magical community, even surpassing her teacher, Archmage Elvith.

This vice-principal of the Magic Academy took five days to successfully cast his first spell when initially learning magic.

Counting from when she completed the guidance, it hadn't even been three minutes.

"Miss Flora, where did I go wrong? Why is my spell so small, and it seems hard to throw out too..."

Flora looked at Lin Mo's genuinely confused expression, sighed while holding her forehead, rubbing her brow until it turned red before answering, "Because your magical energy is still too weak. Besides skill proficiency, spell strength also depends on the amount of magical energy injected. This is similar to warrior profession skills—the same common-level skill used by a powerful professional with abundant qi and blood is far stronger than when used by a non-professional."

"As for throwing it out... from formation to precise control and use, magic similarly requires long practice."

So that's how it was...

No wonder the information he wanted didn't appear before his eyes—this didn't count as formally using a skill.

Indeed, learning magic was much more difficult than physical professions!

Lin Mo had long memorized the contents of the scroll. He closed his eyes and tried combining the magic circuits again.

Perhaps because he had just mastered the basic circuits, this process wasn't very smooth, taking almost ten seconds to complete.

Lin Mo opened his eyes, looking at the small flame in his hand that seemed slightly larger, showing an understanding expression.

"I understand, indeed, mastery of the basic circuits is the foundation of magic."

If he had deeper understanding of the basic circuits and could run them faster, combining them wouldn't be so difficult.

What exactly do you understand?!

Flora clenched her pale fists, feeling an urge to hit someone.

This visibly rapid progress speed—could humans really achieve this?

"Anyway, that's pretty much how magic works. After this, you can practice slowly on your own..."

Flora waved her hand, feeling somewhat mentally exhausted. "I need to rest. It's getting late, you should sleep soon too."

After speaking, she turned and entered the tent.

If she kept watching, she was afraid her blood pressure would spike. Better to simply not see, not be bothered.

"Alright, thank you for your guidance, Miss Flora."

Lin Mo nodded, expressing sincere thanks.

She had used her own magical energy to teach him all the basic circuits at once—Miss Flora was truly dedicated and didn't hold anything back!

He didn't know that this was just the almost essential guidance process when mentors taught newcomers. Generally, they wouldn't guide through all circuits at once because there were too many to learn, making it meaningless and potentially confusing the newcomer.

The reason Flora ran through all circuits in one go was actually somewhat with an attitude of investigation and wanting to see Lin Mo—the genius warrior and assassin—become disoriented in the magical field.

Flora couldn't be bothered to respond to him, secretly rolled her eyes, directly lay down in the sleeping bag, and put on an eye mask.

Lin Mo returned to his tent area, not rushing to rest either, but sat by the campfire, continuously practicing those two basic circuits.

From initially needing two to three seconds to complete each circuit's operation, he gradually progressed to two seconds, one and a half seconds, one second...

Trying to compress it further became very difficult.

After practicing for a long time with minimal results, Lin Mo could only temporarily stop and began trying to improve the speed of circuit combination.

The first combination wasn't smooth, just like before, taking four to five seconds before the magical energy flowed smoothly.

Lin Mo continued trying repeatedly, carefully experiencing the process of connecting the circuits...

After several attempts, he suddenly had an epiphany-like feeling.

Trying again, this time, the speed of combining circuits was noticeably much faster, reduced from the original four to five seconds to about three seconds.

Lin Mo grew more excited the more he practiced, simply informed Alden that he would take the first night watch, and continued attempting repeatedly.

Unknowingly, over an hour passed...

Lin Mo stood up, looking at the thick tree trunk before him, took a deep breath.

Two seconds to successfully operate two basic circuits, two seconds to combine them... the entire process took four seconds total. A ping pong ball-sized fireball flew from his hand, hitting the tree in front.

The fireball's power was very small, just making a "pfft" sound, leaving some scorch marks on the trunk before disappearing.

But Lin Mo was very excited, almost crying out. Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveI-Fire.ɴet

"Learned skill [Fireball]! Magical Energy +1!"

Such information appeared before Lin Mo's eyes.

Opening the panel, he carefully checked this newly learned skill.

[Fireball] Lv1 (0/10): Condense magical energy to resonate with fire elements, release fireball

Note: The door to magic opens for you.

For a moment, Lin Mo actually felt like crying.

Not easy... after about twenty days in this world, he finally learned his first spell, officially stepping onto the path of a spellcaster!

After the joy came a wave of dizziness. Lin Mo shook his head, his temples throbbing.

Using magic not only consumed magical energy but also placed some burden on the spirit because operating the circuits required very precise control, making it much more difficult than physical professions, especially combining circuits, which was very mentally taxing.

Coincidentally, it was time to change shifts. After greeting Carson who had gotten up, Lin Mo lay down in the sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.

Perhaps because he was mentally quite tired, he slept more deeply than usual this time, but actually didn't sleep very well.

Opening his eyes, the sky was completely bright, with bustling voices outside. Everyone had already started chatting while eating breakfast. Lin Mo yawned and quickly got up.

Stacking the chopped wood, this time no longer needing a flint, Lin Mo willed it, and a fireball smashed over, instantly igniting the firewood.

Lin Mo cheerfully took out bread and cheese, sandwiching meat slices to grill together.

On the other side, Flora also rubbed her sleepy eyes, emerging from the tent with messy hair.

Couldn't sleep, completely couldn't sleep...

Originally thinking that not looking would eliminate the impact, but even with eyes closed, images of Lin Mo's confused expression while casting spells last night kept surfacing in her mind.

He really learned the basic circuits just through guidance... and unlike her, hadn't even read relevant books in advance.

And this guy even directly learned to combine circuits without any mentor demonstration or teaching—how exactly did he do that?

Flora couldn't help but recall her question after completing the guidance, asking how much he remembered.

At that time, she had asked with some teasing intent, and Lin Mo's vague answer fit her expectations. But now thinking back, something seemed off...

What exactly did "hard to say" mean? How much did he actually remember?

It couldn't be such a coincidence that he happened to learn circuits 13 and 27, right?

Although curious, for the sake of her blood pressure, Flora ultimately gave up asking this question again.

After breakfast, they continued their journey. The distance from Roland Town to Silverstream City wasn't very close, requiring at least another day and a half of travel.

Moreover, the upcoming route had no proper roads, instead passing through forests, increasing the probability of encountering magical creatures.

Before departure, Lin Mo found Alden. "If we encounter magical creatures on today's journey, can you leave them all to me to handle?"

Alden asked somewhat puzzled, "But won't it be too tiring for you to handle them alone?"

"Not at all, not at all."

Lin Mo repeatedly waved his hands, then boarded the carriage at the front of the convoy.

Alden watched his back, scratching his head. He had actually noticed this before—their team's new member seemed a bit too enthusiastic about hunting magical creatures...

Was it hatred for evil, or simply enjoying combat?

Forget it, anyway it's not a bad thing.

He was also very confident in Lin Mo's strength. With him handling things, Alden could relax more during the journey, spending more time with his family, preventing that bastard Solan from taking advantage and tricking his precious daughter again.

The convoy set off. Lin Mo's carriage also contained Ellie and Lena, who had followed closely behind after seeing Lin Mo board this carriage.

Since others felt somewhat awkward being with these two half-orc girls, everyone was quite happy with this arrangement.

Lena sat on the cushion, swinging her legs, curiously observing Lin Mo and Ellie.

She felt that Ellie had been acting somewhat strange these past two days... the frequency of Lin Mo's name coming from her mouth was even higher than from herself.

Ellie was very seriously picking at her fingers, looking at the scenery passing by outside the window.

After a long silence, she finally couldn't help speaking: "Lin Mo, what was the matter when you went to see that mage lady yesterday?"

She clearly remembered yesterday, when they were in trouble, that suddenly appearing mage lady overwhelmingly solved their enemies with crushing force. That powerful strength made her quite envious, and thus she felt full of respect for Flora.

Half-orcs always revered and respected the strong—this was an instinct brought by the orc blood flowing in their veins.

But this feeling immediately became different after seeing Lin Mo suddenly go talk with Flora for a long time last night, even having quite intimate behavior (referring to the head-touching guidance).

Lin Mo must also admire such a powerful woman, right? And they were the same race, unlike herself...

This feeling was strange; Ellie herself felt conflicted, but she couldn't help thinking this way.

"Oh, asked her about some magic-related matters."

Lin Mo's mind was full of thoughts about magic circuits and didn't notice Ellie's expression, answering directly.

Lena was stunned. "Isn't Mr. Lin Mo a warrior?"

She remembered that sparring match between Lin Mo and Mr. Alden at the association—that was clearly a warrior's combat style.

"Also an assassin and knight, and now a mage~"

Lin Mo answered in a joking tone.

As his words fell, his expression suddenly turned serious, excitement flashing in his eyes.

The carriage stopped. From the dense forest ahead, several evil green-skinned little creatures emerged.

These pest-like creatures really could be seen everywhere.

Lin Mo stretched his body and said to Ellie who was preparing to get up: "You don't need to move, leave it to me."

Saying this, he directly jumped off the carriage, eagerly walking up to those few goblins.

Seeing only one human getting off, those goblins who felt they had numerical advantage immediately emitted triumphant laughter. One of them waved a spiked club, smashing toward Lin Mo.

Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to draw his sword, just casually blocking. The spiked club hit his arm without even causing the slightest pain, like a massage.

Felt less powerful than the dwarf auntie at the massage shop...

After about two to three seconds, magic gathered in Lin Mo's hand. Compared to last night when he hadn't formally learned it, the current Fireball spell was clearly different—the condensation speed was faster, and it was no longer only ping pong ball-sized, but had upgraded to baby palm size.

Under Lin Mo's control, the fireball flew from his hand, smashing into the face of the goblin that had just attacked him.

Caught completely off guard, the fireball hit right in the face, instantly turning that green face black.

The goblin screamed in agony, rolling on the ground in pain.

"Sorry, not very skilled yet, didn't finish you off in one go."

Lin Mo smiled quite "sheepishly," then immediately followed up with another shot to correct his mistake.

[Fireball] proficiency +1

The prompt appearing before his eyes lifted Lin Mo's spirits, and he immediately continued casting Fireball.

After the second goblin was also killed by Fireball, the remaining two goblins finally realized the situation was bad and tried to turn and escape.

How could Lin Mo let go of proficiency within reach? He immediately went forward, captured them all, and sent them off one by one with Fireball.

Four goblins total, increasing proficiency by 4 points.

Lin Mo returned to the carriage, looking at the progress on his proficiency panel reaching 4/10, feeling the refreshing sensation of starting to level up again in a new game cycle.

Inside the carriage, Lena and Ellie looked at each other, eyes dazed.

Well, at least what he said earlier wasn't an excuse—he really went to learn magic last night...

For the rest of the journey, Lin Mo kept looking forward to goblins appearing, and his use of [Fireball] became increasingly proficient. Unfortunately, because his magical energy was too low, only 1 point, a single fireball still had difficulty directly killing a goblin.

To conserve magical energy, later Lin Mo simply punched goblins half to death first, then used [Fireball] for the finishing blow.

Thus, after about half a morning, [Fireball] proficiency finally reached (10/10), undergoing its first upgrade.