Cornflower Witch

Chapter 404 Integrating the Advantages of Different Schools of Thought

Currently, Sylvanas has learned a lot of spells in the Mage Alliance, but most of them are of average power or only play a supporting role. Therefore, she will not build specific spell ability cards. Instead, after experimenting with spells, she will dissipate the spell models to free up card slots.

The power of the 'Secret Word' aspect flowed in her pupils, and then runes appeared in front of her.

Through the continuous construction of spell models, Hilti's understanding of these runes became more profound.

The power of each aspect can be used to construct runes and form spells. For example, during the Blood Dynasty, the vampires developed numerous spells with the 'Blood Law' aspect.

However, these spells are often strongly associated with 'attribute'. For example, spells with the 'blood law' attribute are mostly related to blood or are cast with the help of blood. If they are cast with other attributes, such spells cannot be cast or are extremely weak and have no effect at all.

But 'secret words' are different. They can be said to be the essence of runes. Through runes as a kind of 'record', a certain miracle and scene can be reproduced and constructed into countless different spells. Although they do not receive any additional blessing, they have the ability to expand without restraint.

The same spell might have a power of 10 when cast by a woodland wizard, but only 3 when cast using runes constructed with the 'Mystic' attribute—a difference of three times. This is why people generally consider 'mage' spells to be less powerful.

However, in actual combat, wizards do not have as much of an advantage over mages as one might imagine. This is because reality is not a simple numerical game, but a complex scenario with countless factors influencing it. The disruption of any link in the chain will affect the whole.

Just like the low-level spells commonly taught in the Mage Alliance School, such as 'Sonic Missile', 'Mirror', and 'Flame Spray', 'Sonic Missile' uses compressed sound waves to attack. It is extremely difficult to defend against by normal means. If the opponent is a wizard with an average physique, being hit by it will cause his internal organs to rupture and die. It is not ineffective just because the power is not great.

Secondly, there's 'Mirror Spell,' a very simple spell that can create smooth mirrored terrain or erect it to make it difficult for the opposite side to see through. This can restrict the movement of warriors and allow mages to hide behind the mirror, making it difficult for the archers on the other side to know their exact location and aim.

Then, the 'Flame Spray' can generate ordinary flames of over 300 degrees Celsius, which can easily deal with various insects and large swarms of low-level creatures. These are often the nemesis of warriors. Their greatswords can easily cut down giant beasts, but when faced with a swarm of flying insects, they are not very effective and can only be forced to run away.

Reflecting on what she had learned over the past six months, Hilti began to improve the 'Phantom Flying Sword' technique she had mastered.

If it's just used as a flying sword for slashing, although it's fast, its power is limited. If it encounters a giant beast of the same level, such a flying sword simply cannot break through its defenses.

How about a saw instead? Hilti thought of a circular saw, so she changed the shape of the flying sword into a circular saw. After testing this 'phantom circular saw' a few times in the test field, Hilti shook her head.

Because the sharp blade is removed, the piercing power is greatly reduced, and the cuts made with each attack are very small. If it is used to wear down an opponent for a long time, the circular saw will have to rotate continuously for several seconds to tear through the armor or shield. The cost-effectiveness is indeed higher, but the time spent and the missed opportunities can be fatal in real combat.

No wonder it was shaped like a sword; this was to compensate for its lack of power and inability to penetrate armor. In actual combat, the flying sword can be seen as a thrusting spear or lance.

After that, Hilti tried various shapes and found that their power was ultimately limited. The sword shape was indeed the optimal solution after comprehensive consideration.

However, if the 'sword shape' is truly that excellent, then the secret technique that the professor dedicated his life to researching should not be 'Steel Shadow Demon Hand' but 'Steel Shadow Flying Sword'.

After removing the flying sword shape, Hilti re-condensed the magnetic sand, but this time in the shape of a hand.

This time, she suddenly felt an unexpected ease in controlling it, much like she was controlling her own arm, with a natural and fluid feeling.

No wonder it's shaped like a hand, because humans subconsciously use their hands to manipulate objects, making it very easy to control with minimal mental strain.

If that's the case, Hilti found the iron sword she used for practice in the training ground, drew it out with her palm formed from iron sand, and swung it in the air.

With this idea in mind, Hilti focused her attention again, and then one magnetic hand after another appeared, each hand drawing a sword.

Thus, the six longswords hovered silently behind Hilti, then flew out together, traversed a long distance, and pierced the target fifty meters away. They were then pulled out and clashed with each other, easily displaying various sword techniques.

Without the limitations of the human body, swordsmanship became much more flexible, with unrestricted techniques such as slashing, thrusting, parrying, flipping, and counter-thrusting. After several minutes of this ambidextrous fighting, Hiltija finally had the hands holding the swords planted upside down in the ground, ending the experiment.

The girl gently covered her forehead, feeling the exhaustion of mental energy consumption for the first time. Controlling six swords not only consumed six times the energy, but also required each sword to distribute attention and perception, resulting in a consumption of more than 12 times. It was something that ordinary people could not handle.

A protracted war is definitely not going to work, but a sudden outbreak is a way to rapidly increase lethality.

Soon, Hilti thought, why does a hand have to be a hand? Why can't a puppet hold a sword? A puppet can be equipped with more devices, or even have built-in energy, reducing the burden of operation.

As expected, the secret techniques of the 'Puppet School' will eventually become associated with puppets and dolls when they develop to a certain extent.

No, I'm going to study the 'Mithril Clock' school in the future, so I should think about the arcane system of that school. Siltia recalled what she had recently learned.

The power system of the 'Mithril Clock' school is mostly related to concepts and attributes such as 'time,' 'order,' 'precision,' and 'mechanics,' just like their most representative alchemical creation—'clock'.

She hasn't learned about 'time' and 'order' yet, but she has already come into a lot of contact with 'precision' and 'mechanics'.

If they were to follow the philosophy of the 'Mithril Clock' school, they would probably focus on the blade.

Without hesitation, Hilti began to try to control the shape of the condensed blade more precisely, so that the two 'Phantom Flying Swords' were exactly the same, with completely identical textures.

The process seemed simple, but it was not easy to actually do. Hilti practiced for several hours before she slowly found the key points and then achieved her goal.

Since she could precisely control the blade, she wondered if she could inscribe patterns inside to create a simple alchemical artifact. Guided by this idea, Hilti began to try to add the 'sharp' rune effect to the blade.

Ten days later

A beautiful silver flying sword, its blade no longer showing any trace of rough black sand, appeared in her hand. The sword's surface was smooth and silvery, which not only reduced drag during flight, but also had special patterns engraved inside. As she poured power into it, the blade trembled slightly, its edges becoming increasingly sharp, and a faint glow appeared.

Then Hilti commanded it to fly out again, and it sliced ​​through the wooden stakes on the other side in one go, with great speed.

【Sharp Blade Flying Sword - Improved】A third-tier spell, faster and sharper than 'Phantom Flying Sword'.

With these achievements, Hilti turned back to researching 'Magic Hand Manipulation', making its structure more stable so that it could levitate on its own and greatly reducing the mental energy required for manipulation.

[Magic Hand Manipulation - Improved] A fourth-tier spell. Compared to the original, its stability is greatly improved and its mental focus consumption is reduced. It can be used to write words, perform intricate alchemical processes, assist in potion making, and complete various miscellaneous tasks.

Indeed, each school of thought has its own advantages. If she can integrate them, she can unlock the potential of various spells and achieve stronger effects.

If other mages saw such a scene, they would be astonished. It's not that Hiltya's idea was novel, but rather that many mages throughout history had similar thoughts, though most of them failed. Studying and mastering the secret arts system of one school takes up most of one's life, and to delve into and master the secret arts systems of two schools simultaneously requires extraordinary talent and energy.

A slight misstep could ruin a promising life, resulting in failure on both fronts and stopping at a certain stage. Furthermore, the fusion of secret techniques from different systems can sometimes bring about changes that are not all positive, as evidenced by the 'battle for the peak' several years ago.

If someone could truly integrate the essence of multiple schools of thought and achieve mastery in one, he would surely be supported and worshipped by countless monks, because such a person would have essentially paved a completely new path.

(End of this chapter)