Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 100 Becoming a Mage
The mage is a lament for those without talent.

Dragons and dragonborn command the elements to fulfill their desires; their magic is simple, brutal, yet powerful.

Therefore, whether it is dragon speech, dragon language magic, or even dragon breath, they all have low consumption and high power. The seemingly primitive magical structure has created miracles that make other races want to curse "authority dogs".

There is actually no essential difference between sorcerers, evil sorcerers, and users of divine magic.

They are all users of "other power," borrowing the authority of bloodlines, higher beings, and deities, and using their pre-set templates and privileges to control the elements.

They are more like users than wielders of power.

The driver is the renter, not the developer or owner.

This is also the root cause of the strange growth curves of these three types of professions, which are fast in the early stage, slow in the middle stage, and hard to predict in the late stage (any profession can become overpowered in the late stage).

The mage is the opposite, extremely slow in the early game and gradually speeding up in the mid-to-late game (the mage's early game is too long).

The mage is perhaps the only spellcaster without talent or authority.

The power to wield the elements is the magic array constructed by knowledge; the power to drive the elements is the magic provided by one's own spiritual strength.

The principles and models of magic were studied bit by bit, and constructed from scratch.

For a normal spellcaster, it might take several months just to start with magic tricks. For an average first-level mage, it can take years to master spells. You might learn a few first-level spells and a couple of second-level spells, and then you'll be in your forties, facing a mid-life crisis and starting to think about retirement and pensions.

In theory, mages are the only spellcasters who don't require specific talents, but in reality, it has become the most competitive and resource-intensive path for geniuses.

"I'm starting to understand. The amount of calculation and casting difficulty required for a first-level spell is at least twenty times that of a trick."

Tricks are not difficult because they are not spells at all; they are "practice questions" for selecting geniuses, and are components of higher-level spells.

The increased difficulty doesn't mean you need twenty times the time and effort, but rather that you need to simultaneously perform twenty times the computational load, knowledge derivation, and spatial imagination.

To turn imagination into reality, to wield the paintbrush in the void, we need substantial multithreading and high computing power, and an accumulation of knowledge many times greater.

"The number of spell levels doesn't actually indicate power, but rather difficulty. The difference between each level could be tenfold." These were Royce's exact words, which Rean also agreed with.

After all, his third-ring Holy Flame Aura is the most obvious evidence. Its power is not as great as most first-ring spells, but its effects and operation are obviously extremely difficult.

Therefore, it is possible to see from the beginning how far a spellcaster can go, and it seems that it is also possible to deduce from the starting point where he will get stuck.

The second ring road is the limit for the average smart person. With enough time and luck, they might be able to get to the third ring road, but the fourth ring road is absolutely unattainable.

Rean's talent might be slightly stronger due to his foundation in otherworldly mathematics, physics, and chemistry, but it's limited, and it's unlikely he'll ever reach the true fourth ring.

Now that he had truly reached the critical point of becoming a mage, Rean recalled his encounter with that third-circle mage in the slave market and could understand the despair the other party had felt back then.

The fruits of his life's hard work—that fireball spell that could blow up houses, that fireball that should have killed ten warriors in one hit—slammed into that "barbarian" without causing him any harm.

The magic missiles he launched with lightning speed were the culmination of years of hard work and represented his dignity as a mage.

However, he was completely ignored by the "barbarian with the holy sword" and even roared to pieces.

The bewilderment and despair as you watch a barbarian approach, the frustration of having lived a lifetime but being no match for a single roar from the other side—it's a miracle you didn't die of anger on the spot.

"Tsk, how tragic. Even if he recovers, his Dao heart will be shattered, and he will never be able to become a mage again. I hope he will be alright."

Rean was no saint. Although the other person seemed pitiful, all he wanted to do was laugh, laugh out loud.

So, are there people who lack talent but are still able to break through to higher levels?

In fact, this has always been the case. Unconventional methods such as species evolution, using potions to compensate for innate deficiencies, borrowing external forces (divine power, evil power), embedding artifact fragments, reincarnation (taking over the body of a young mage), and becoming an undead can all potentially break through the bottleneck of talent.

Waiting patiently for a promotion is a dead end, but finding another way while you still have the ability to move around is a path that may lead to success.

"I just want to become a mage, even if it's the worst and most foolish one."

Kuku, standing before Rean, is the best recent proof of this. He is a great mage who has broken through the limitations of his talent and represents someone who has found another path.

Aside from that extremely humiliating final battle, he did indeed reach the pinnacle of archmage status through his own efforts.

"Second line of thought, activated."

For Rean, this "Kuku cheat" is just as effective. It can be used to speed up learning on ordinary days, and when casting spells, it can provide double the computing power, double the focus, and double the logic lines.

Rean removed his armor; his skill level was far from that of casting spells while wearing armor, and sweat had soaked his vest. "Arkha suda va," Rean murmured to himself, constantly correcting his incantation and gestures, gradually building up the model in his mind.

More than a minute had passed, and Rean was still constructing the spell, which should have taken only one action (one second to construct).

Normally, the spell would have failed and his focus would have been interrupted, but every time Rean's attention wandered, another line of thought would immediately fill in, allowing it to continue intact.

The two thought processes continuously output two streams of magic.

It's as if a pattern that can only be drawn in one stroke is being completed by two people working together.

“.ark.” Rean had repeated this short incantation more than a dozen times, rebuilding and perfecting this naive spell model stroke by stroke.

This has lost its meaning in actual combat.

But for Rean, it probably saved him at least several months, allowing him to go from being stuck on a single exam question to almost completing an entire exam paper!

"clatter."

Sweat was dripping directly onto the ground. Rean had felt himself reaching his limit at least four times, but the warmth in his blood allowed him to persevere.

"almost."

Finally, looking at the complex spell model in front of him (he was a noob), he smiled.

The magic power poured in had overflowed, the magic power consumption exceeded the third ring, and the casting time was so long that everyone suspected he was casting the fifth ring. But in the end, Rean completed the spell, the spell he had built from scratch.

"Longstrider!"

Finally, Rean uttered the word.

A faint white light covered his feet, and the magical glow indicated that it had all come true; the spellcaster had distorted reality with his own will.

He took light steps and clearly felt much easier. Then, he tried to run, step by step.

"Almost there. Twenty percent?"

It still couldn't match the acceleration effect of the acceleration boots, which nearly doubled, or even the standard speed boost of 3 meters per second, but Rean was already quite satisfied.

He could feel the feedback from the magic, and he could feel that his control over the elements and his magic power had made a significant leap.

If this isn't an illusion, then he has become a true mage.

Synchronization rate increased by 10%, and satisfaction rate increased by 20%.

Kuku immediately expressed his celebration.

There's no doubt that Rean has already taken this step.

[Gained Class: Mage (First Ring).]

[Gain Magic Perception (Passive), Spell Focus (Mage), and Elemental Affinity.]

After Rean became a full-fledged mage, he also received everything a mage should have.

"It's a success." Rean took a deep breath and smiled.

"It really succeeded?" Even the all-powerful magical girl looked completely bewildered.

How could he have succeeded? How could such a clumsy spellcasting technique have worked? This isn't an emotional denial, but a rational inability to accept it.

"How could it possibly succeed!" Miss Sallyman was completely taken aback. She was actually a first-ring mage, and she might only ever be a first-ring mage in her lifetime.

Rean, however, frowned.

He felt empty, and his soul and body were simultaneously thirsty.

He knew what he was lacking: the enhancements from his soul and profession were causing his physical body to malfunction, and his head was starting to ache.

"Miss Purple Rose, please help me hunt down some dragons. I need to complete my first species evolution."

It's still unrealistic to expect to achieve everything at once, but Rean felt he needed physical integrity and a hardware upgrade, so he decided to start with the little dragon.

(End of this chapter)