Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 23 The Combat Power of Magic Tricks (Please continue reading)

In an instant, Richard's soul wandered again, this time possessing the hunchbacked figure once more, chanting the incantation to control the skeleton over and over again. But the focus had changed; this time, Richard's focus was on understanding how to control the skeleton and perform everyday actions.

After several attempts, Richard seemed to have a sudden realization and was bursting with inspiration. It turned out that he needed to divide his spiritual power into two tendrils and control the left and right halves of the skeleton with a certain rhythm.

However, the difficulty of subdividing mental energy and probing one tendril versus two tendrils is completely different!

So the hunched figure repeatedly manipulated the skeleton to walk, first stepping with the left foot, then the right, and slowly, as the steps became more coordinated, the arms also began to swing.

After a long while, when Richard regained his senses and performed the trick of manipulating the skeleton again, sure enough, the skeleton walked much more smoothly, more like a normal person.

After practicing it a few more times, Richard was able to fully control the rhythm of the walk.

Richard was immediately overjoyed and started making the skeleton run around the room with a "clattering" sound.

In a flash of inspiration, Richard controlled the skeleton to run faster to the chair and delivered a powerful chop to the wooden chair back!

With a "crack," a crisp sound of wood breaking rang out, and the sturdy chair back bar easily snapped in two.

Richard approached and examined the skeleton's hand bones closely. Then he looked at the broken section of the chair back and the crossbar, and his eyes lit up.

The chairs in the dormitory are all made of black pine, which is sturdy and durable.

If not deliberately damaged, Richard estimated that it could last for decades without needing to be replaced, but even such sturdy wood was easily split open by the skeletons he controlled.

This shouldn't just be because the skeleton that Milo gave her was a quasi-knight in life, and its skeleton was sturdy.

More importantly, it lies in the magic of witchcraft. It seems that under the control of mental power, the hardness of the skeleton's bones has also been enhanced for some unknown reason!

Otherwise, Richard really didn't know how to explain how his hand bones remained intact while the almost equally hard and solid black pine wood broke so easily.

Immediately, to verify his guess, Richard manipulated the skeleton to break the other two backrest strips of the chair.

Upon further examination of the skull's hand bones, they were indeed still pristine white and intact, as good as new!

Richard's face lit up with joy. He withdrew his spiritual tendrils, picked up a bone from the scattered pile of bones, and gently brandished the knight's longsword a few times.

Even without the aid of mental energy, the bone remained unmarked, much to Richard's surprise. It seemed his previous guess was wrong.

Clearly, it wasn't due to his own spiritual empowerment, but rather because the skeleton had been enhanced through some means.

Richard slapped his forehead, finally recalling what Milo had said before she left: "This is the skeleton of a quasi-knight, which has undergone preliminary purification and enhancement."

The key lies in the words "purification" and "enhancement"!

Of course, the word "preliminary" also indicates that the bone's hardness can be further increased.

"Huh, I've only used it a few times, why do I feel like my mental energy is being depleted so much!" Richard looked puzzled. Logically speaking, controlling the skeleton should consume very little mental energy, so how could it feel like my mental energy was being depleted by more than half after just a few uses!

Could it be that the higher one's level of mastery over the trick of manipulating skeletons, the greater the mental energy consumed during manipulation?

No, no, it should be that the more complex the movements you make with the skeleton, the more mental energy you consume, and the longer you control it, the more mental energy you consume!

At this thought, Richard's face darkened and his brows furrowed.

It seems that I must quickly make up for my weakness of insufficient mental strength.

Otherwise, even if you can control the skeletons with unparalleled skill, it won't have much practical value if the time is too short!

This was quite different from Richard's original plan to control skeletons and wreak havoc in the wild.

Upon opening the panel, one sees the [Witchcraft] section: Manipulating Bones (Basic 14%).

They have already advanced to the second level, namely the superficial level.

Richard roughly estimated that the skeleton was much more lifelike now, as if a real person was walking.

However, the corresponding mental energy consumption is nearly 30% higher than at the beginner level, requiring approximately 0.4 units of mental energy to be consumed every half hour.

To put it another way, that's 0.8 units of mental energy consumed per hour.

"Could it be that the next level, the Proficient level, requires more than one unit of mental energy? If so, doesn't that mean I can only maintain the skeleton for a maximum of two or three hours before running out of mental energy?!"

Richard paced back and forth, pondering whether to further enhance the trick [Manipulating Bones] or postpone it for now.

After a long silence, Richard's expression hardened, and he made up his mind.

Regardless, let's first push the spell [Manipulating Bones] to the proficient level, because only by reaching the proficient level can we meet the training standards for the level zero sorcery [Shadow Grip] later.

You'll have to improve sooner or later, so you might as well improve now!

Half a day later, Richard looked exhausted and haggard, but when he saw the [Witchcraft] section on the panel displaying: Manipulating Bones (Proficiency 16%), he was unusually happy.

Richard raised an eyebrow, and without making any visible movement, the skeleton beside him suddenly sprinted toward the desk like a 100-meter dash.

Just before it crashed into the desk, it braked sharply and came to a steady stop ten centimeters away from the desk.

At this moment, the skeleton stretched out its right hand, picked up a thick book from the table, and then returned to Richard's side, handing it to him.

The entire process was so fluid that it was almost indistinguishable from that of a real person.

The skeleton picked up the knight's longsword from the wall, assumed a starting stance for Cornell swordsmanship, and then began to demonstrate each move in a very professional manner.

With his masterful control of the magic tricks, Richard can now manipulate the skeleton to perform very complex movements, and the precision of his control has been greatly enhanced.

The only drawback is the high mental energy consumption, estimated at one unit of mental energy per hour, but this is less than Richard expected.

Looking at the skeleton displaying Cornell's swordsmanship, Richard nodded slightly, a satisfied smile on his face.

Currently, the skeleton under his mental control is already approaching the level of a quasi-knight in terms of combat power.

Most importantly, the skeleton he controlled was fearless and undaunted!

Even if there are mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead, they will not hesitate to follow his will and go through fire and water!

However, Richard, who was planning to further improve his magic trick, brought up the panel and was surprised when he saw the energy consumed.

The energy points have dropped from 3505 to 2805, consuming a full 700 points.

We haven't even gotten to the main point yet—learning Rodrigo's meditation method and Shadow Grip—and this foreplay has already consumed so much energy?

Richard was speechless for a long time!

"This level of energy consumption far exceeds the inspiration trigger of a bow and arrow, and this is just a trick! It seems that the energy consumed by improving witchcraft far exceeds that of basic skills!" Richard frowned and pondered to himself.

Originally, he planned to continue improving his ability to manipulate skeletons to the level of mastery, or even higher, if the energy consumption was not high!

But now it seems we still need to reconsider.

(End of this chapter)