Chapter 29: The Approach of War (1)

The Williams family had not yet officially moved in, but over the past few days they had been learning from the butler and running back and forth in the manor town to start handling affairs. Having been exposed to many things at the mage guild, William quickly got the hang of managing the manor, providing great assistance to Codd.

William’s wife, Isabella, was also a diligent woman. Coming from a family of small merchants, she could read and do arithmetic, and she soon organized the manor’s internal affairs efficiently. She also had excellent sewing skills; though not as good as those of famous tailors, she was very skilled at making adjustments to sizes and adding or removing patterns with simple stitches.

With the newly added Williams couple as helpers, the butler Codd’s burden was greatly reduced. With more hands to help, the manor’s affairs no longer required owner Donald to worry about everything day by day—just daily reports and a monthly summary were sufficient. Thus, Donald focused on improving his own abilities.

After over a month of study, Donald had mastered most of the level-0 spells and several level-1 spells. Aside from the essential spells Magic Missile and Mage Shield, he was most proficient in spells such as Mage Hand, Detect Poison, Create Water, Fire Element Hand, Teleport, and Fall Feather. Unlike most young mages who focused only on powerful and relatively easy-to-cast elemental spells, Donald deliberately chose spells with a wide range of applications.

When his teacher, Messeil, learned of this choice, he was highly impressed.

“A mage’s energy is limited. No matter how powerful, a mage cannot master all spells from every school, and mental constraints prevent them from casting too many spells in a short time. Therefore, mages usually focus on the schools that suit them best, knowing just enough about others. From your choices, it’s clear that young Donald is a cautious and wise person!”

“Thank you for the praise, teacher. I just thought this way. A summoner’s abilities aren’t omnipotent. Since I also have talents in other schools, I shouldn’t waste the gifts given by heaven. Instead of pursuing weak offensive spells, it’s better to have summoned creatures take the lead in attacking while I support them with spells from behind—this makes it easier to defeat enemies!”

Donald chose these spells because they were the most versatile among all level-1 spells and the best suited to him.

For example, Mage Hand is akin to the skill of taking objects at a distance in martial arts novels from past lives—it’s an advanced technique that only the most skilled masters who have mastered the Ren and Du meridians can learn. It’s extremely useful both in daily life and combat, serving as a versatile skill.

Detecting Poisons allows one to determine whether food is toxic. Combined with Water Creation and Fire Element Hand, these three spells greatly enhance survival capabilities even in extreme environments like deserts or rainforests.

Although Message Casting has distance limitations, it can still be very useful in critical moments. Floating is another spell he values highly; with this simple first-level spell, one can fall from a cliff like a gentle feather, avoiding death from rapid descent. Once he advances, he will definitely learn the third-level Floating and the fifth-level Flight spells—after all, the desire to soar in the sky is the same for humans in any world.

As for the other first-level spells, either their effects overlap or they’re of little use. Donald merely glanced at them and recorded them without delving into their study. The attack power of first-level spells poses little threat to warriors above the mid-black iron level. Thus, Donald abandoned those flashy spells and chose only the practical ones, even if most were support spells.

After learning about the power of ancient mages from the books in the Mage Society, Donald developed an ambition to follow in their footsteps and become a powerful and well-rounded mage. “If our ancestors could do it, then given a chance, I can too. Master, do you know why the strength of mages today is declining?”

Upon hearing his apprentice’s aspirations, Miesel was pleased and explained, “I will fully support you in pursuing such an ambitious goal. After the Banai Empire, the main streams of mages have generally been element mages who specialize in controlling the four elements, alchemists who focus on creative creation, summoners skilled in spatial and interdimensional summoning, and wizards adept at souls and curses. Compared to the ancient Arcane Empire era, these four branches not only lack four additional schools but also lack many spells and knowledge within these four branches themselves.”

“You should know that ancient mages were divided into eight schools, plus generalists who mastered multiple schools—so in total, there were nine schools.”

“The eight major schools—Elemental, Protective, Spellcasting, Divination, Illusion, Enchantment, Transformation, and Necromancy—cover almost all aspects of magic in the world. For example, modern elemental mages belong to the Elemental school, alchemists primarily inherit knowledge from the Transformation and Enchantment schools, while summoners draw from the Spellcasting school. Witches are the group of modern mages that have inherited the most knowledge from ancient magic; they possess a different subset of Spellcasting techniques and also draw on principles from the Protective, Divination, and Necromancy schools. As a result, they are most skilled at using curse spells to weaken enemies and can manipulate negative energy to cast dark spells, making them seem more mysterious and terrifying compared to other mages, and they are often regarded as evil beings.”

“Overall, ancient mages inherited less than half of the knowledge held by ancient archmages. It was through the improvements and innovations of generations of genius mages throughout history that the current structure of the mage profession was formed.”

After listening to his teacher’s detailed explanation, Donald became even more determined in his goal to become a powerful being like the ancient archmages. Choosing this path might mean lower combat strength at first and slower progress. But with the powerful artifact, the Book of Truth, as a backing, along with his age advantage, Donald was confident he could break through to the higher ranks before the age of forty. He had enough strength to protect himself until he grew stronger, and he had the time to wait!

It is worth mentioning that, thanks to his enhanced mental abilities and the white crystal ring given to him by Miesel, Donald was able to cast and master a second-level spell, Wind Arrow, even at the initial stage of becoming a black-iron mage. As a second-level offensive spell, Wind Arrow is currently Donald’s most powerful offensive skill. It creates a sharp, invisible arrow by compressing air, capable of piercing wooden targets from at least a hundred meters away. Its power is already on par with small-caliber firearms from his past life. If not for level restrictions and limited casting times due to his mental strength, Donald could cast this second-level spell three times. With just this skill, he could confront three ordinary high-level black-iron warriors head-on without relying on any summoned artifacts and still emerge victorious.

However, warriors below the Bronze rank are considered at the bottom in this world; there are many more true powerhouses. Relying solely on one’s mediocre magical skills, it would be difficult to ensure one’s safety in the brutal battles that can arise under any circumstances. Fortunately, Donald doesn’t rely just on his own magical skills—he also has innate spells granted by the Book of Truth and even more powerful summoning abilities as his advantages.