Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 119 Three Options

Originally, the merman warriors were wondering why the prophet stopped them from simply carrying the mutant crab demon back to the tribe's camp. With such a large mutant crab demon as food, their food quota for this month would definitely be enough.

But now they realize that the "Wandering Wizard" is turning the mutant crab demons into zombies. After the transformation, the "Wandering Wizard" will be able to control the mutant crab demons to help them fight, and their gains will be greater, and their casualties will certainly be less.

Richard also saw the power of the mutant crab demon, so he didn't immediately take the mutant crab demon's heart, the main ingredient of the [Mutant Heart] potion.

Instead, the plan is to have the Soul-Eating Spider control the mutant crab demon's body in subsequent battles. Although it won't be able to use the opponent's special abilities, it will be sufficient.

With the help of the mutant crab demon, not only will the casualties of the fishmen be greatly reduced, but the consumption of their alchemical bombs will also be reduced.

After numerous battles, his alchemical bombs were almost completely depleted.

So, at the entrance of the mutant crab demon's cave, they threw down a few steel-bristled boars as food so that the Soul-Eating Spider could repair itself, and then Richard and his group returned to the fish-man tribe.

-

After Richard returned to the stilt house, he pondered how to spend his 8239 energy points.

To be honest, Richard had already grown quite fond of the Gray Fern Wilderness, teeming with monsters; it was practically his go-to warehouse for acquiring energy points.

Moreover, now there's an entire blind merfolk tribe helping with the hunt, which is truly something else!

This is why, although he had already obtained the high-level magic stone, he had not yet returned to the school via the teleportation array.

If I were to go back, the number of monsters in the muddy swamp where the school's headquarters is located would not be as abundant, only scattered. Moreover, if I wanted to come back after going back, it would cost two high-grade magic stones for the round trip, which is far too expensive.

Therefore, Richard plans to earn more energy points here first.

From this perspective, there's no need to be stingy with energy points, and Richard has long wanted to know what comes after Grandmaster.

Looking at my list of witchcraft spells, the three I control at the highest level are the following:

1. Dark Element Shield (Grandmaster 95%, Special Effect: Rapid Casting, Thickness Switching)

II. Summon Skeletons (Grandmaster 21%, Special Effect: Summoning Amplification, Arcane: Triple Summoning)

III. Manipulating Skeletons with Magic (Grandmaster 53%, Secret Technique: Possessing a Skeleton)

In terms of percentages, it's clearly the Dark Element Shield that's closest to the maximum.

After thinking it over, Richard decided to first improve his control over the Dark Element Shield.

[Host detected practicing Level 0 Dark Element Shield. Do/Do you wish to consume energy to gain inspiration for practicing Level 0 Dark Element Shield?]

Looking at the number 8239 at the far right of the slider, Richard thought for a moment, then decided to drag the slider to 1239 and selected "Yes!"

After all, only 5% remained to advance to the next level, and Richard felt that 1239 should be about enough.

In an instant, Richard's soul left his body and entered the dream world, where he found himself in a lush forest.

After hundreds and thousands of attempts.

Richard realized that his dark elemental shield had reached its limit.

Suddenly, he felt a dizzying sensation as his soul instantly returned to his body.

And then a passage of text appeared before my eyes.

[Ding! The host's comprehension of the level zero sorcery Dark Element Shield has reached its limit. You may now perform one of the following operations:]

1. Breaking Limits.

II. Innovation.

III. Optimization.

Note: An innovation will add a new witchcraft.

Richard was immediately puzzled, but due to the limited options and prompts, he was at a loss as to which option to choose or where to begin.

After thinking for a long time, Richard gritted his teeth and focused his attention on choosing to break through the limit.

[Deduction to break the limit failed! Reasons for failure: 1. Lack of defensive magic of the same level (Mastery Level: Limit), less than 1/3 of the required quantity; 2. Insufficient energy points, estimated to be between 57843 and 89431 points.]

Wow! So many energy points!

Richard wasn't surprised that other defensive magic was needed to break the limit. He already knew that inspiration couldn't arise out of thin air; it still required a foundation of relevant knowledge.

However, the fact that so many energy points were needed really surprised him.

"Huh! A defensive spell of the same level also requires reaching the limit of its control level? Are you kidding me! How much extra energy does that consume?" Richard's face darkened, and he said indignantly.

No! Could it be that...?

Richard was visibly stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

"From this perspective, there is a very high probability that the Dark Element Shield after breaking the limit will no longer be a level zero spell, but a level one spell."

Otherwise, there's no reason to need so many energy points, plus the level of control over other defensive magic must also reach the limit! Richard seemed to understand at this moment.

Richard immediately brought up the Inspiration panel and found that the Dark Element Shield in the [Witchcraft] section was displayed as: (Limit, Effect: Rapid Casting, Thickness Conversion).

When he focused his consciousness on the level 0 spell, Dark Element Shield, the three-choice dialog box reappeared.

This time, he chose number two!

[The host has chosen innovation. Please specify one or more other forms of witchcraft.]

"Bone Armor Technique!" Richard was overjoyed and immediately murmured to himself.

[Sorry, your mastery level of Bone Armor Technique has not reached its limit; you cannot innovate. Please select again.]

"Damn!" Richard was speechless. This didn't work either?

This puzzled him. If it's about innovation, can't you just refer to other sources? Does mastering a level of control have to be pushed to the limit? That's ridiculous!

Crucially, Richard has no other level zero sorcery mastery level that has reached its limit; currently, Dark Element Shield is the first one.

Come again!

Richard brought up the panel again, focusing his attention on the Dark Element Shield, a level zero sorcery spell that had already reached its limit, under the [Witchcraft] section.

This time, he chose three!

[The host has selected optimization. Optimizing the Dark Element Shield requires 18415 energy points. Insufficient energy points currently exist; optimization has failed!]

Richard's face darkened!

He felt like he had been played.

There are three options, from one to three, and none of them work.

However, after careful consideration, Richard realized that it wasn't entirely without gains. At least he now knew that when a level of mastery over a form of witchcraft reaches its limit, there are three options: breaking the limit, innovating, and optimizing.

It's okay if you don't have enough energy points right now, as long as you have a goal!

It's just liver energy points!

Working people, who's afraid of this!

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Richard.

"Huh! That's right, whether it's the Dark Element Shield or summoning skeletons, they're all level zero sorcery, but I also have a trick to control skeletons, and I'm about to reach my limit."

If one were to elevate magic to its limit, would that mean that the conditions for innovation have been met? After all, magic is also witchcraft, and only low-level witchcraft at that.

Furthermore, the conditions for innovation do not specify that it must be witchcraft of the same level.

Richard crossed his arms and paced back and forth in the room, increasingly convinced that his idea was feasible.

Richard immediately prepared to improve his magic manipulation of the skeleton.

[Host has been detected practicing skeletal manipulation through magic. Do/Do you wish to consume energy to gain inspiration for practicing skeletal manipulation through magic?]

Looking at the number 7000 at the far right of the slider, Richard thought for a moment, then decided to drag the slider to 3000 and selected "Yes!"

Currently, he still needs to increase his level by 47% to enter the next level. In addition, since manipulating the skeleton is just a trick, Li realized that 3000 energy points should be enough.

In an instant, Richard's soul left his body and entered the dream world.

After thousands of attempts.

Richard felt that his magic trick of manipulating the skeleton had reached its limit.

Suddenly, the world spun around him, and his soul returned to his body.

Richard immediately brought up the panel and focused his attention on the Dark Element Shield in the [Witchcraft] section.

This time, he chose option two!

[The host has chosen innovation. Please specify one or more other forms of witchcraft.]

"Control the skeleton!" Richard thought with delight and immediately murmured to himself.

[The level of control over the skeletons has reached its limit, meeting the innovation requirements. This innovation will combine the level 0 sorcery Dark Element Shield with the trick of controlling the skeletons to generate a new level 0 sorcery, estimated to require 14521 energy points. Insufficient energy points; innovation failed!]

Although this was also a failure, Richard was not disappointed.

Because all we lack now is energy points, and the Gray Fern Wilderness is full of monsters!

For three consecutive days, Richard led the fight against monsters day and night, leaving the murloc servant Fingart somewhat bewildered.

"That's strange. We've already had enough blood sacrifices this month! Is Master going to hunt some for us in advance for next month's sacrifices? Or is he going to improve the food for our tribe?"

Although Fingart couldn't understand why for a moment, he couldn't stop laughing when he saw the corpses of monsters being carried into his own tribal camp.

However, because Richard and the mutant crab demon controlled by the Soul Eater Spider were too efficient at killing monsters together, Fingart originally planned for one team of merman warriors to search for monsters and another team of merman warriors to carry the monster corpses, but this configuration was simply not enough.

In the end, Fingart had no choice but to assign four squads of murloc warriors to carry out the aforementioned task.

The murloc warriors were still exhausted, but since it was for the sake of increasing their tribe's income, they were happy despite the exhaustion!

Of course, Richard's energy points were also huge over the three days. Although he did not encounter the brain-eating monsters and demon mantises that he desperately needed, he managed to collect enough energy points by killing other monsters, and has now reached 15439 points.

Richard spent most of his three days waiting and traveling.

Wait for the fishmen to report where the monsters are, then rush over and quickly kill them.

If we only consider the kill time, Richard estimates that all these battles over three days wouldn't add up to more than two hours.

Back in the stilt house, Richard couldn't wait to bring up the panel and once again focused his attention on the Dark Element Shield in the [Witchcraft] section.

Still, choose option two!

(End of this chapter)