Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 49 Two Techniques and One Shield (Please continue reading)

Richard has gained a fairly clear understanding of the teaching style of the Ignis school after this period of time.

For a first-level wizard apprentice, it's considered easy to get in but difficult to graduate. The school doesn't care whether you attend classes or what classes you take; you just have to pass the assessment held every six months.

Otherwise, no matter how many classes you attend or how attentively you listen, it will all be for nothing.

Richard greatly appreciates this point, as it stems from respect for the trainees' freedom of choice!

You can freely combine and learn the courses offered by this school of thought; you only need to learn what you want to learn!

With the matter at Spider Trail resolved, the instructors responsible for the basic courses for freshmen have long since resumed their normal teaching.

Because Richard had enough points, he had taken several additional paid courses during this period and completed the prerequisite courses for three other level zero sorcery spells: Bone Armor, Slow, and Dark Element Shield.

This is not what he initially planned!

Richard's original idea was that it's better to be a jack-of-all-trades than a master of none, so he would master a powerful sorcery and instantly kill his opponent at the start.

This is why he chose to learn Shadow Grip first from the beginning!

But after taking a paid course, "The Combat Essentials of a Wizard Apprentice," Richard changed his mind.

During the course, the instructor said, "Wizard apprentices, especially first and second-level wizard apprentices, have a limited total amount of mental energy and can only use a very limited number of spells. Therefore, they must fully balance offense and defense and not leave any weaknesses."

Indeed, Richard's weakness is exposed when faced with battles that cannot be resolved quickly; he lacks any sustained defensive magic.

While Shadow Grip can change shape to protect itself, it can only block one attack from the opponent.

Faced with multiple attacks from the enemy, Richard currently has no choice but to dodge.

Thinking about it, Richard recalled his battle with the Shadow Hunter and still felt lingering fear!

If I hadn't happened to buy the Elegance of Wind potion at that time, and if I hadn't drunk the potion without hesitation before fighting the Shadow Hunter.

Then there is a high probability that he himself was killed instantly by an arrow in that battle!

Therefore, this time he chose to learn Bone Armor Technique, Dark Element Shield, and Slow Technique, which basically made up for his shortcomings.

That's right!

Richard's next plan is that, as his mental strength gradually improves, he is now able to support the use of level zero witchcraft two to three times.

Therefore, he redefined his combat style.

Richard did not choose powerful level 0 attack spells again, such as Death's Bite or Lesser Shadow Bolt. Instead, he first chose two sustained defensive spells, Bone Armor and Dark Element Shield, to make up for his defensive weaknesses.

[Bone Armor Technique] Continuously consumes mental energy, drawing on dark elemental energy and bone powder to form multiple white bones that rotate rapidly around the body. The spell requires a magical medium: bone powder.

One of the prerequisite courses for bone armor techniques is manipulating skeletons, something Richard has already mastered.

【Dark Element Shield】Consumes approximately three points of mental energy, drawing out dark elemental energy to envelop the entire body in a bubble-like form.

Although both are defensive magic spells, they are quite different. Bone Armor is more suitable for resisting physical attacks, such as sword strikes, while Dark Element Shield is more suitable for resisting all elemental magic attacks.

Then, Richard chose a relatively common level 0 spell, [Slow]. The reason for choosing it was simple: as a turret class, wizards definitely need to keep their distance from their opponents as much as possible, especially since Richard himself is a master of archery.

[Slow Spell]: Consumes approximately two points of mental energy to draw upon the power of dark elements, applying a slow curse that reduces the enemy's movement and attack speed.

Speaking of the Slow spell, the White Wizard's Slow spell draws on the power of the earth element to apply gravity, reducing movement and attack speed.

The Black Wizard's Slow spell is essentially a curse that draws upon the power of dark elements!

Richard wouldn't have understood the difference if he hadn't taken the paid courses.

Today, Richard will begin to study these three spells, starting with the simplest one: the Slowing Spell.

[Host detected casting Level 0 Slow Spell. Do/Do you want to consume energy to gain inspiration for Level 0 Slow Spell?]

This time, looking at the numbers 1 and 8200 at either end of the slider, Richard thought for a moment, then decided to drag the slider to the 1000 position and selected "Yes!"

After a dizzying spin, Richard's soul returned to the dream world. This time, he found himself in a vast, desolate wasteland, possessing the body of a blurry, hooded figure.

As soon as he possessed the body, he saw the first rune of the Slow spell appear in his mind, slowly being outlined by his mental power, but it quickly failed.

The Slow spell consists of three runes, which, once drawn, form a spell model.

Having already gained experience in drawing runes multiple times, especially with his experience with the Rodrigo Meditation Method and Shadow Grip, one of the most difficult level zero sorcery spells, Richard gradually grasped the knack after several attempts.

With his inspiration flowing freely, Richard quickly and successfully sketched out the first rune in his mind, after only a dozen or so attempts!

After quickly sketching out the first rune, Richard continued to sketch out the second rune in his mind.

This time, it took much longer, and it took nearly a hundred attempts to succeed!

After a long while, Richard successfully outlined the third rune!

At this point, the magical model of the Slow spell had taken shape in Richard's mind. What Richard needed to do now was to find a living creature, cast the Slow spell on it, and evaluate the effects of the spell.

But Richard looked around and saw only emptiness and desolation; there wasn't a single living creature in sight.

Just as Richard was thinking how great it would be if a few wolves came so he could try out the slow spell, suddenly, the scene before him blurred.

When the images became clear again, he saw the phantoms of three prairie wolves baring their teeth at him from dozens of meters away.

Wow! The dream space actually has this function!

That makes sense, of course you can have whatever you want in a dream, but I wonder if it will consume more energy points.

Richard immediately cast a slow spell on the prairie wolf that was closest to him.

The beginner's Slow spell often fails to be cast. After finally managing to cast one, a cloud of black mist quickly enveloped the prairie wolf.

The prairie wolf's running speed decreased visibly, but not by much. Richard estimated that the beginner-level Slow spell only reduced the opponent's speed by about 20% to 30%.

So, this time, even in his dream, he still couldn't outrun the prairie wolf; he failed!

Fall down and get back up, keep trying!

Finally, after countless failures, Richard did it!

Before the three prairie wolves could pounce on him, he cast a slow spell on them all and then dragged them into his own battle rhythm!

When Richard returned to his original body, he checked the panel and saw the [Witchcraft] Slow Spell (Proficiency 58%)!

Richard was quite satisfied with this. Although 1000 energy points was not a small amount, it was still quite unexpected that he could push the Slow spell to the proficient level.

It seems that the commonality of witchcraft has saved him a lot of energy points!

Next up is the next form of witchcraft.

[Host detected casting Level 0 Bone Armor Spell. Do/Do you wish to consume energy to gain inspiration for Level 0 Bone Armor Spell?]

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

After a long while, Richard stared at the information on the panel and fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)