CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: CORROSIVE ARROW

Five days later.

"The Starry Sky Meditation Technique upgrade optimization is complete."

Herag closed his eyes and began to meditate.

After the upgrade of the Starry Sky Meditation Technique, the three and a half stars in Herag’s mind, which were originally scattered randomly, are now connected together.

Shenlan added an auxiliary background, and Herag understood. It resembled the thousand array maps he encountered when deciphering the pocket watch, but these maps had fewer points.

The existing three stars are sequentially positioned on several magic power points of the first map. Herag calculated that there are seven more magic power points on this map.

The three stars form part of an array map, connected in a continuous line.

During meditation, Herag discovered that the three stars had a slight connection, significantly increasing the speed of meditation.

The fourth star was initially expected to take another month, but at this pace, it would be solidified within a week.

In addition to the increased meditation speed, the speed of magic power circulation also improved considerably.

"Partial Petrification." Herag’s right hand turned grayish-white.

"Shenlan, how long did this casting take?"

"This Partial Petrification took 0.86 seconds."

Herag contemplated, "0.86 seconds, it previously took 1.3 seconds; the improvement is notable."

This 0.5-second improvement can be considered significant, playing an important role in real combat situations.

"Once the first array map is completed, there should be further changes."

Herag decided to enroll in multiple courses to provide Shenlan with sufficient data support and information entry.

With Shenlan’s powerful data analysis and calculation capabilities, Herag only needs to input enough data, and Shenlan can accomplish many tasks.

During the upgrade period of the Meditation Method, Herag took the time to write another letter to Lillian.

Due to the permission restrictions of the Moonlight Forest Talisman Stone, they can only communicate via letters.

...

Five days later.

"The Basic Principles of Spell Model Construction data has been entered, increasing spell model construction speed by 20%."

"The herbalism database has been updated, adding multiple magic potion material effects and uses, new conventional magic potion refining procedures, new Wolf’s Bane Potion formula, and White Fresh Cure Potion formula..."

In five days, Herag completed the Basic Principles of Spell Model Construction course and the Basic Introduction to Herbalism course.

At the same time, the fourth star of the Starry Sky Meditation Technique was also successfully meditated on.

"Herag Merlin: Power 2.2, Agility 2.0, Constitution 3.0, Spirit 6.9, Magic Power 100%."

After this successful meditation, other physical data had minor improvements as well.

"Two stars left to become a Second-Class Apprentice." Herag silently calculated.

Once he meets the Spiritual Power criteria, he can attempt to break through to a Second-Class Apprentice.

"Next is... learning two spells." Currently, Herag only had one spell, Partial Petrification, and his offensive and defensive means were too limited.

Level 0 Spells generally have dedicated Spell Model Books, just like Partial Petrification.

Herag can opt to purchase from an Official Wizard or seek to buy from fellow Wizard Apprentices.

He thought of Leo, the one with glasses, and took out a talisman stone, opened the friend list, and sent a message: "Do you have any Level 0 Spell Models?"

A while later, Leo replied: "Yes, what type do you need?"

"One offensive and one defensive."

"For offense, there’s Ice Cone Technique, Small Fireball Technique, Corrosive Arrow; for defense, Ice Shield."

Leo then projected several diagrams showing the overview spell models of these spells, along with brief data and effect descriptions.

"Ice Cone Technique: High magic power consumption, fast speed, strong attack, with freezing effect, affected in hot areas."

"Small Fireball Technique: High magic power consumption, moderate speed, strong attack, with explosion and burning effect, can’t be cast underwater."

"Corrosive Arrow: Moderate magic power consumption, extremely fast speed, strong attack with a corrosion effect."

"Ice Shield: High magic power consumption, weak resistance to fire attribute spells."

After a quick scan, Herag asked, "How much?"

"Each is two Magic Stones, or 300 Gold Coins if paying with Gold Coins."

"So expensive?" Herag hadn’t realized Level 0 Spells were priced this high.

Leo replied, "That’s the standard price. Compared to magic potion materials, Level 0 Spell Models are quite cheap. The prices for Level 0 Spells are transparent; you can easily find out."

"However, newly joined Wizard Apprentices usually can’t afford Level 0 Spells. Generally, they do some tasks to earn Magic Stones before studying Level 0 Spells."

"If you accept tasks, it’s best to find those rewarding Magic Stones. Gold Coin tasks, while simple, are too slow."

Herag wandered around the Gossip Tavern for a while, searching Level 0 Spells with keywords, and indeed found it to be this price.

He opened Leo’s chat window and replied, "I’ll take the Corrosive Arrow, I’ll pay with Gold Coins."

"Alright, I’ll bring it to you. Where do you live?"

"Room 443."

Ten minutes later, Leo arrived with a heavy book and a bunch of drafts.

He also lived in the Northern Forest Region, not far from here.

"This is the spell model for Corrosive Arrow you wanted, and these drafts are some of my previous calculations, which you can use as a reference."

Leo’s drafts were densely filled with many parameters and formulas, with a neat reasoning process.

"Here’s 300 Gold Coins; count them." Herag’s money pouch was suddenly much lighter, which pained him a little.

Lillian probably didn’t expect Herag’s Gold Coin consumption to be this quick.

Leo adjusted his glasses and used magic power to let the Gold Coins jump one by one into his pocket.

"Transaction complete. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. When I’m not busy, I can provide answers. The Corrosive Arrow spell is a bit challenging." After checking all the coins, Leo got up to leave.

"Alright, thank you." Herag got up to see Leo to the door.

After closing the door, Herag sighed, "I didn’t expect there to be after-sales service. Leo indeed has the air of a researcher."

Apart from the long robe provided by the Forest, Leo’s clothes were simple coarse cloth garments. His hurried appearance suggested that he was probably busy researching spells.

Herag guessed that his life might also be tight. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have set up a stall at the flea market.

The wizarding profession is indeed very costly. Right now, Herag only has over 200 Gold Coins and one Magic Stone left, just enough to buy a second Level 0 Spell.

For now, no suitable defensive spell is available. He felt the Ice Shield spell was too limited, and many people knew the Small Fireball Technique, which often gets restricted.

Among the three offensive spells, he eliminated the Small Fireball Technique first because his ring was already enchanted with this spell, though the casting speed is slower.

The Ice Cone Technique wasn’t suitable for sustained combat. His Spiritual Power was lacking, his magic was limited, and the Ice Cone Technique consumed too much magic power.

Thus, he finally went with the Corrosive Arrow spell, as its usage scenarios are relatively broad.

Though he didn’t need Leo’s drafts much, Shenlan could complete all the calculation processes, even the spell model construction didn’t need to be done manually.

Nevertheless, he went through the drafts in their entirety, recognizing Leo as a very logical wizard.

"Shenlan, begin entering Corrosive Arrow data and then start constructing the Corrosive Arrow spell model."