The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Chapter 396 Mage Magic
Compared to witch magic, the learning process for mage magic is much more complicated.

A witch only needs to rely on her will and emotions to drive the magical power in her blood to cast spells.

Simply put, it means "I think so I can".

All you need is magical power and a firm will to cast spells.

A mage's magic requires them to use their mental energy to gradually construct the corresponding spell structure in their mind before they can cast that spell.

Elemental magic uses this spell structure to manipulate the free-floating elemental forces in the air to cast spells.

Mental magic uses this spell structure to draw upon more of one's own mental energy to cast spells.

Alchemy magic uses mental power to gradually imprint the spell structure in one's mind onto magical materials, thereby giving them the corresponding magical effects.

Generally speaking, mages have limited mental energy to draw spell structures, so even mages with multi-elemental magical talents will not learn all the spells of their own preferred school, but will combine multiple magical elements to create a more versatile spell system.

As Moran's book, *Essential Magic Tricks for a Wizard Apprentice*, states:

"Constructing a spell structure is like constructing a meditation diagram; it is a difficult and slow process. Destroying a spell structure will also completely destroy the mental energy that created it."

Therefore, the choice and combination of spells are of paramount importance to mages.

This book lists some tricks that are highly practical for mages in their apprenticeship stage, along with their combination strategies and future potential.

A sorcerer's apprentice is equivalent to a novice witch.

"Trick" refers to the magic level corresponding to the mage apprentice rank. Because its power is too small, it is like a magic trick, hence the name "trick".

The mage ranks and magic levels that follow are the same as those of witches, called beginner, intermediate, advanced, and peak levels, and their power effects are roughly corresponding one-to-one.

However, most of a mage's spells do not have the potential to be upgraded.

In other words, the level of a spell's structure when it is first created will remain the same level thereafter.

Only a few spells can be further developed and upgraded based on the original spell structure.

The process by which mages learn magic is the process of constructing spell structures.

Once the spell's structure is successfully constructed, the spell is considered learned.

If it cannot be further developed and upgraded, the effect of this magic is basically fixed.

There's no way to level up through practice. At most, the mage's rank will increase, their mental strength will be stronger, or their elemental affinity will rise. Because their influence on elemental forces will increase, they can mobilize more elemental forces using the same spell structure, thus enhancing the spell's effectiveness.

However, this enhancement effect is always limited.

Each level has different spells, plus some composite spells that can manipulate multiple elemental forces. Overall, mages have more spells than witches.

However, this difference in quantity is largely due to the limitations of spell structure. The effect of each spell is fixed, and what a witch can accomplish with one spell, a mage can achieve with several spells.

For example, a witch's Golden Arrow spell can be used to fire single arrows, multiple arrows, arrows as large as pillars, or arrows as small as needles. All of these can be achieved by increasing magic proficiency and magic level.

But for a mage, a single golden arrow is one spell, a rain of golden arrows is another, a giant arrow is a spell, and a golden needle is yet another.

Specialized spells like witch cooking magic have flexible and diverse effects, making them virtually impossible for mages to achieve through spell construction.

So when Lilith and the others said that mage magic is inferior to witch magic, from this perspective, it is indeed true.

There is still a layer between spiritual power and elemental power, so it's better to directly convert magical power into elemental power for spellcasting. Although it has its flaws, it also has certain advantages.

For example, composite elemental magic and mental magic.

Mental power is merely a bargaining chip and lever to manipulate elemental forces; as long as the affinity is sufficient, it can influence various elemental forces.

Instead, magical power is converted into elemental power, and each time it can only be converted into a single elemental power.

Therefore, witches do not possess compound magic, while sorcerers do.

A mage's compound magic is virtually irreplaceable by a witch's magic.

For Moran, mage composite magic not only expands her magical reserves but also provides her with inspiration for creating composite magic cards.

Moran's interest was piqued when he saw representative composite magic in "The Fundamentals of Composite Magic".

For example, field magic that can change the terrain of battle.

Unfortunately, the magic books that Della's grandmother sent did not contain any information about the structure of compound magic spells; they only contained some theoretical books.

Moran only saw a few complex tricks in "Essential Tricks for Mage Apprentices," which were barely effective and far from being large-scale complex magic.

Mental magic is even more special.

The spell structure serves only as a guide; the spell's effects are primarily based on the characteristics of mental power.

Each type of energy has its own unique characteristics that distinguish it from other energies, and mental energy is no exception.

The reason why mental magic and the witch's mind magic are somewhat similar is that mental power is related to memory, while the power of the mind is related to thought and cognition.

Thought and cognition, in a sense, are based on memory.

One influences memory, the other influences thought and cognition; their effects partially overlap.

For example, a mage's memory fabrication spell can change the recipient's attitude towards themselves by altering their memories.

The witch's spells can do the same thing, and are even easier.

However, the changes to memory fabrication techniques are more subtle and have a wider range of applications.

Furthermore, among the mental magic of mages, there is the forgetting spell, which can erase memories.

After seeing the effects of these two spells in a book called "An Introduction to Mental Magic," Moran immediately decided that he had to learn them.

These two spells are simply the perfect choice for infiltrating alien races.

It can both erase and fabricate memories, giving itself a "real" identity in the eyes of others, and eliminating any worries about revealing its identity.

Unfortunately, Moran searched through all the magic books that Della's grandmother had given him, but he couldn't find any forgetting spells or memory manipulation spells, let alone a single apprentice-level mental magic trick.

The magic books that Della's grandmother sent were the only ones that actually recorded the structure of spells and could be learned. They only had a complete set of spells for the five major single elements: metal, wood, earth, fire, and water, ranging from apprentice level to advanced level.

However, each school of magic typically only has one or two advanced spell structures.

Wind, lightning, and ice magic are only available at the apprentice and beginner levels.

The light and dark magic systems only have a few apprentice-level spell structures.