I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 137 New Spells

When DuPont opened his eyes again, it was already afternoon.

It wasn't that he was a heavy sleeper, but rather that he had already taken off his clothes and gone to bed last night, yet he was still woken up to carry out a mission, which lasted until 8 a.m. before the whole thing was finally over.

Thanks to his future mentor, he finally got a glimpse of the whole story.

The military commander of Beer Town, in league with an evil organization, obtained the lich conversion ritual. Together with the vampire, they sacrificed the townspeople to ensure the success of their conversion and allow the vampire to be promoted to a higher rank.

They even found one of the three essential gems: the youngest daughter of the White Stone City lord, a novice priest who believed in Mystra, a noble lady who came here to gain prestige, and a beautiful virgin who was bewitched by a vampire.

Deva was unfortunately chosen as a sacrifice, and they finally got their chance to send the paladin out of the city. However, their real misfortune was that they underestimated Deva's strength and overlooked DuPont.

Before nightfall could even arrive, their two most capable subordinates became cannon fodder, ultimately leading to their downfall.

When DuPont heard the news, he was also filled with fear. Fortunately, Deva's timely request for help allowed the mentor to detect the different magical patterns and bring the real mastermind to justice.

However, if they don't find out, there shouldn't be any major problems for him and Deva. After all, the requirement of virginity is just a vampire's rite of promotion. The old mage's ascension to lich doesn't require such a complicated process. According to his mentor, making a lich's life-saving box only costs money, and the blood sacrifice is just a claim made by the evil cult. In reality, the probability of actually becoming a lich is practically nonexistent.

An eighth-ring mage has a 90% chance of becoming a lich, a seventh-ring mage has only a 50% chance, and a sixth-ring mage has at most a 20% chance. Anyone who gambles on this is practically insane. They feel their life force draining away, their magic failing to improve, and eventually they become impotent, furious, and go mad.

“Harua should have all spells from level 0 to legendary, right? And nearly half of Harua’s population are Netherworlds, so it should be the place with the most ancient spells, second only to the goddess.” DuPont asked, “Harua should have the knowledge to become a lich, right? Why would he contact cultists?”

"Once you become a lich, you can't maintain your humanity. Negative energy will destroy your spirit, and the only result will be your fall. If you don't do it, it's because you haven't had the chance yet. So here, I only recommend the option of a benevolent lich. The conditions are quite demanding. If you can't meet them, then go buy a life-extending potion. If you can't afford it, then just wait to die."

Hearing this, the paladin was puzzled: "Most professionals don't have any other means of prolonging their lives. They all have to face birth, aging, sickness, and death. Mages are already considered to be among the most advanced. Why would someone want to become a lich?"

“Because they are too smart. Smart people always have more ideas, and it’s not like other professions where you can’t do it. There’s a difference between having hope and having no choice.” Veronica said, gripping the teleportation rune stone and frowning.

"I have some things to do. The matter in Ale Town must be kept strictly confidential, otherwise it may cause panic. If it is found that someone leaked it, they will be held accountable. I have already erased your information in this matter. However, too many people know about the vampire matter, so it is unlikely to be kept secret. You should keep a low profile recently and not go too far away from the church."

Both nodded. Veronica and Deva exchanged a few words, and the paladin turned and left. The female mage looked at DuPont: "You did a good job, but I'm going to hide you in this and put all the credit on Deva. Do you have any objections?"

DuPont shook his head: "I'm trying to get rid of this connection with vampires, so why would I have any objections? But is it really okay for Deva to bear this kind of troublesome reputation? She's been targeted by vampires."

“Her safety isn’t a problem. On the contrary, it would be stupid of them to actually lure those guys hiding in the dark out. It’s your matter that’s more difficult.” Veronica said somewhat awkwardly, “I told Lavoisier that I would take you on as an apprentice, but he wouldn’t let you go.”

"Huh?" DuPont was shocked to hear this. Could it be that Lavoisier had found out about his ambiguous relationship with the female school doctor? Would he be killed to silence him when he got back? "What should I do?"

"His idea is that you have to stay here for four years, and you can only be released after your fifth year of internship. Before that, you have to stay at the academy for half a month every month, and you need to represent Northwest Academy for any activities." Veronica seemed a little helpless: "There's nothing I can do about it. After all, I'm not from Northwest Academy, and your talent is a bit too dazzling. You'll be promoted anywhere after two and a half years at the level of Level 4. It's normal to be stuck. Or it would be strange if he were to let you go. But it can be considered that we have reached an agreement."

Upon hearing that he had been spared due to a lack of talent, DuPont finally felt relieved: "Then do I still need to hand in the scroll?"

"No need, I still have that much face." As she spoke, she took out a book about 5 centimeters thick: "However, copying scrolls does have its benefits. Besides selling them for money, it can also train your concentration on spells, which is a good way to solidify your foundation. Once you finish reading this book, 'Tips on Copying Spell Scrolls,' and you understand it thoroughly, the burden of copying will be reduced by nearly half, and the burden of copying won't be so heavy."

DuPont took the book and secretly checked it, discovering it was the same item the system had previously sold him for 2000 gold coins. If its effects were indeed as described, it was truly valuable: "Thank you, mentor. When can I come to study with you next time?" "Next week would have been fine, but there's just too much of this mess right now." Veronica was genuinely exhausted as she spoke, taking out a glass bottle: "The Month of Prosperity is almost here. I think I'll have time in the last two weeks. Give me some of your blood, and I'll set up a secret code for you. Then you can go directly to the library, and how much you learn depends on yourself."

DuPont took out a dagger and made a small cut on his finger. After dripping a dozen drops, the wound slowly healed. Just as he frowned and was about to make another cut, he was stopped by the female mage.

"That's about it. But your blood is healing a bit too fast. Although you have a strong constitution, this is not normal. Do you have other bloodlines?"

"I was accidentally contaminated by the blood of the Red Dragon, but it should be fine, right?" DuPont rolled up his sleeves and looked at himself. "I haven't noticed any mutations in myself."

"I'll study it when I have time later, so you don't need to worry too much." The female mage put the bottle away. "Keep a low profile for now. A new storm may be brewing soon, so learn the third-circle spells as soon as possible."

As she spoke, she took out a spellbook: "There are a few practical low-level spells in this book. If you have time, learn them and try to integrate the two systems as soon as possible. Otherwise, when you look at your barren spell slots in the future, it will take a lot of effort to change them."

After the female mage finished speaking, she left, leaving only DuPont and the two thick books on the table in the church room.

The book of copying notes was quite thick. DuPont opened the spellbook, and the first book he saw was the book on reading magic.

0-ring Prophecy Spell: Reading Magic
Effects: Increases magical recognition ability upon use, granting +2 to Arcane Knowledge checks for one hour. It also allows for rapid reading of non-magical books, memorizing their contents; memorization speed is related to the caster's intelligence. Overuse may cause headaches.
This technique was quite interesting. An hour later, DuPont learned the spell and couldn't wait to pick up the copying technique.

As the spell was cast, a sky-blue light shone in DuPont's eyes, and the heavy book flipped through itself rapidly without any wind, reaching its final page three minutes later.

As the arcane brilliance in his eyes faded, DuPont couldn't help but rub his temples, trying to think. Soon, lines of text appeared in his eyes.

Closing your eyes enhances the effect, and it can even automatically turn pages to see where you are. However, to DuPont's disappointment, this reading magic can only memorize, and it cannot directly imprint knowledge into one's brain and learn abilities like the system can. It still requires self-study.

But at least you don't have to hold the book and read it, which reduces the strain on your wrists and allows you to read while lying down.

However, the best practice is to go back and review the monster encyclopedia, noting down the attributes of monsters you haven't encountered yet. This way, you won't panic when you encounter them again and can quickly find a solution.

Aside from this, there is only one spell for 0-ring spells called Arcane Mark, which marks an object with a unique mark that belongs to the user. Users can choose to let others see it or not.

This should be an item marker similar to that in a magic shop. I didn't expect it to be a 0-ring spell. However, if I want to keep it permanently, I'll need some gold as a casting material.

Another hour later, DuPont opened his eyes and turned to the page in his spellbook that pointed to the first-circle spell.

First-level Prophecy Spell: Preemptive Strike
Upon seeing this spell, DuPont scratched his head.

The spell "Seize the Opponent's Opportunity" is quite useful. Its effect is to use arcane power to instantly see through the target's weaknesses, thereby increasing one's hit rate.

However, this spell has become a level 0 spell in the new mage system, so why would the mentor still recommend that he learn this spell?

(End of this chapter)