Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 376 Starlight (7)

After studying magic with Tops for a few days, Lu Mingfei finally realized that his bald teacher hadn't lied to him after all.

He said that the magic he possessed was not up to par, which was true, because he only knew three spells from beginning to end.

Pyroxene gravel, Pyroxene arc, and starlight.

The first two are the essential gem magic skills that students must learn upon entering the Realucaria Magic Academy; any apprentice picked from any classroom could master them.

Of course, Lu Mingfei wouldn't.

As for the latter, the auxiliary magic called "Starlight" is much simpler than the former two.

Even so, Tops still had to put in a lot of effort to barely explain the theory of this magic to Lu Mingfei.

Meanwhile, the problem with the wand was also solved.

"You don't have a wand?"

Tops looked at Lu Mingfei with some surprise, thinking that a strong person like Lu Mingfei should not lack basic weapons and equipment.

"what"

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed, and said:
"It's not that there aren't any. Well, it's just that their intelligence is too low to use them."

"So that's it."

Tops suddenly realized.

He seemed to remember something and said to Lu Mingfei:
"Wait a minute."

As he spoke, Tops immersed his consciousness into his bell bead and began searching through it.

Although his strength was weak and the bell could only store a small amount of things, it could still hold basic living supplies.

After a long while, Tops struggled to pull an old staff from the bell.

【Pyroxene Staff】

A staff with a pyroxene inlaid at the top. A catalyst for casting spells.

He handed the staff to Lu Mingfei and said:

"If you don't mind, use this one. This is what I used when I was young; even people with low intelligence can use it to cast spells."

"I don't mind! Of course I don't mind!"

Lu Mingfei's smile stretched almost to his ears:
"I'm so desperate to find a usable staff! None of the ones dropped by mages are reliable; they just explode after a couple of swings."

Tops paused for a moment, his eyes twitching slightly, and he subconsciously pulled back his hand holding the staff, as if the sapphire staff might explode at any moment.

He hesitated before saying:

"Um... Mingfei, I think... it might not be a problem with the staff..."

Seeing Lu Mingfei's bewildered expression, as if asking "Whose fault is that?", Tops sighed and began to patiently explain to him.

He explained things in a simple and easy-to-understand way, using various vivid metaphors, and finally made Lu Mingfei understand the core of the problem: it was not that the staff was of poor quality, but that his own way of outputting power was too "violent", coupled with his insufficient intelligence attribute, which ultimately caused the staff to "overload" and break.

Even Master Serenity didn't have a particularly good solution to this problem, since the limitation of basic attributes was a major drawback.

But Tops, the guy whom the academy considered a "waste stone," actually had his own "heretical" path!
He taught Lu Mingfei a special technique for guiding magic.

This method is considered heretical and crude by orthodox mages, completely contradicting the principle of precision and change that splendid magic pursues.

But it was perfect for Lu Mingfei.

With Tops's hands-on guidance and repeated adjustments, Lu Mingfei clumsily tried.

Once, twice...

Tops showed no impatience, meticulously pointing out even the slightest deviations in his guidance. Finally, after what seemed like the umpteenth attempt—

hum...

A soft blue light quietly emanated from the tip of the staff.

It dispelled the darkness in a small area around them, enveloping the two in a tranquil glow.

【Starlight】!
Lu Mingfei stared wide-eyed at the tip of the staff, at the point of true magical light that belonged to him.

He succeeded!

Lu Mingfei, through his own efforts, finally unleashed the first truly meaningful magic he had ever mastered!
Although it's just a very basic auxiliary lighting spell.

He looked up at Tops, who was also wearing a relieved smile, and was so excited he almost threw his staff away:

"Teacher! I did it! Look! It's starlight!"

Tops laughed at his excited expression, his bald head gleaming in the starlight.
"Yes, you succeeded, Mingfei. You see, the door to magic wasn't completely closed to you."
-
Lu Mingfei pointed Tops in the right direction and invited him to his territory, Stoneville.

Tops stared at him blankly, lost in thought for a long time.

It took him a long time to accept this fact.

It turned out that his student was not an ordinary fader, but the lord of Stoneville City, who controlled nearly half of the land in Ningmgford.

He accepted Lu Mingfei's invitation because he had nowhere else to go and was a wandering mage.

Before leaving, Tops pointed to the Lienia Lake District in the distance and told Lu Mingfei:

"Look north from here, do you see the building standing on the horizontal plane? That's the Academy of Realucalia, the hall of learning for the Radiant Stone Mages."

However, the academy has been closed for a long time.

In order to uphold its creed of not intervening in the war of destruction, the academy set up magical seals on the east gate facing the royal city and the south gate leading to this land.

Without the Radiant Stone Key, one cannot enter the academy. For a low-level mage like me, the Radiant Stone Key is not something I can even dream of.

I happened to leave the academy when I cast the seal. I can no longer return to that hallowed hall of learning.

"The pyroxene key, is it?"

Lu Mingfei pondered:

"I've got it. I'll gather the relevant information. It shouldn't be too difficult."

Then, Tops humbly pleaded with his students:

"If you find another pyroxene key besides the one you need..."

No rush, it'll be fine after you've finished taking care of everything...

Could you please give me that key?
I know very well that I am just a piece of junk, with absolutely no talent for magic.

But I still want to return to that hall of learning, to complete my theories. Only the magic academy has enough scrolls of knowledge; only there can I continue my research.

Lu Mingfei smiled and said:

"Of course, teacher. It is a student's mission to fulfill the teacher's long-cherished wish, isn't it?"

Tops almost burst into tears.

He became more serious, incessantly explaining to his disciples the dangers of the lake area, the lobsters, and the cuckoo army, as if he had activated his motherly side.

"Oh, and also... we need to be careful of the Platinum Child."

They were born from the secret arts of the Eternal City; they are a cursed group of people—
The elder whose feet gradually disappeared, the mute "frog"—they were all cursed…and they resented those who were physically healthy.

(End of this chapter)