Chapter 47: Path of Advancement

Chapter 47: Pathways of Advancement

Gu Ze looked at Levi and said, "The manner of awakening extraordinary characteristics is what extraordinary practitioners call a pathway of advancement."

"Let me tell you about the pathways of advancement for the Mage profession."

"Currently, there are three mainstream pathways: the Awakening Method, the Potion Method, and the Weave Method."

"Traditional mage schools revere the Awakening Method, but it is also the most difficult pathway of advancement."

"The Awakening Method of the Maple Leaf City Mage Tower is divided into two types: Elemental Awakening and Mental Awakening."

"Elemental Awakening, when you can cast a first-tier spell, you can attempt an elemental awakening. Gaining the recognition of the corresponding magic element will grant you an element-oriented extraordinary characteristic, such as elemental affinity, elemental body, elementalization, or elemental amplification."

"Mental Awakening, when your mental power reaches a certain intensity, you can attempt to unearth your own potential and talent, solidifying it into an extraordinary characteristic. The extraordinary characteristics gained from mental awakening differ vastly, such as rapid casting, mana feedback, mana fountain, or dual casting."

"Now that I have introduced the two awakening methods, I will tell you how to awaken."

"I walk the pathway of Elemental Awakening. From my own comprehension, elemental awakening is simply about casting more spells and communicating more with the magic elements to gain their recognition. The threshold for this is a first-tier spell."

"To put it simply, practice more."

"I am not very familiar with the Mental Awakening pathway. Looking at the advancement cases from the Mage Tower over the years, the Mental Awakening pathway is the most baffling. Some people awaken inexplicably while eating, drinking, and sleeping, while others only awaken when pushed to their absolute limits during a life-or-death crisis."

"If you choose this path, you can try pushing yourself to the absolute limit. It doesn't have to be a life-or-death crisis; it can also be an emotional limit or a physical limit."

After listening, Levi felt that the Elemental Awakening pathway was more reliable.

Practicing more, wasn't that just grinding?

This was what he was best at.

Gu Ze took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued, "Then there are the Potion Method and the Weave Method. These two pathways of advancement are far simpler than the Awakening Method."

"The Potion Method means consuming a potion to acquire extraordinary characteristics and thus advance."

"The only difficulty is obtaining a potion suitable for oneself. The Potion Method is more suitable as an advancement route for other extraordinary professions. After all, there are too few potions suitable for the Mage profession."

"The Weave Method is also very simple. After throwing yourself into the embrace of the Goddess of Magic, as long as you cultivate your mana and mental power to the advancement threshold, the Weave will unlock higher-level casting privileges for you and grant you more spell slots."

Levi looked at Gu Ze with some surprise, thinking to himself: It seems that the end of the nightmare has truly had a significant impact on Teacher Gu Ze.

The old Gu Ze would never have said words like throwing oneself into the embrace of the Goddess of Magic.

He used to be rather taboo about mentioning the Goddess of Magic.

Now he seemed to have a more open mind.

Levi felt happy for Gu Ze; this was a good thing.

Gu Ze said, "Although Ring Mages do not possess extraordinary characteristics, the spell slots given to them by the Weave are pretty much equivalent to the rapid casting extraordinary characteristic."

"Of course, compared to the true rapid casting extraordinary characteristic, casting via spell slots is still much slower."

"It can only be said that spell slots make it easier for Ring Mages to learn spells and easier to release spells. Beyond that, there aren't many great benefits."

"They have discarded all the advantages that truly belong to mages. By betraying the truth of magic, they will ultimately fail to receive the favor of magic."

"Ring Mages can only flaunt their power at low and mid-tiers. Truly powerful mages are all traditional mages."

Levi secretly held his forehead. Teacher Gu Ze was close to becoming an official mage, and now his stance was no longer swaying left and right; he spoke entirely from the perspective of a traditional mage.

There was nothing wrong with this. The vast majority of people let their positions determine their thoughts and their stances determine their intellect.

Levi did not think that he could view every single matter fairly and objectively either.

Sometimes letting your position determine your thoughts could save a lot of trouble.

Why not do it.

Follow your heart's desires without breaking the rules!

Leaving Gu Ze's room, Levi had gained a massive harvest.

Levi had actually read about the several awakening methods Gu Ze mentioned in books, but they were all just case studies and theories.

Reading them always felt like looking at flowers through a fog, blurry and unclear.

After hearing the essence summarized by Gu Ze, Levi suddenly understood, and the fog before his eyes instantly vanished entirely. He had found a new route forward.

Only one question remained: what exactly was the principle behind the awakening of extraordinary characteristics?

Gu Ze had not explained this clearly to Levi.

Perhaps, no one could explain it clearly.

But this did not stop anyone from awakening an extraordinary characteristic.

Thud, thud, thud!

Levi passed by the spell training ground and saw three small fireballs fly from Rota's hand, hitting the spell target in succession.

He stopped his pace, showing a thoughtful expression.

"Master Rota's Chain Small Fireball spell has already been created?"

"Could I perhaps learn it as well?"

A smile appeared at the corner of Levi's mouth.

He looked forward to entering Master Rota's dream tonight.

Although Gu Ze had agreed to teach him the Triple Ice Arrow spell, Levi found that the power of his own ice spells was inferior to others, so he wasn't very keen on the Triple Ice Arrow spell.

It was optional.

But the Small Fireball spell was different; this was his signature skill.

When he encountered the Snow Bear Nightmare last time, if he had known how to cast chain small fireballs, he wouldn't have had to risk using a self-detonation method to deal with it.

Now that his mental power had grown stronger, the outcome of dying together via a self-detonating fireball might also change.

Levi naturally hoped to harm the enemy without harming himself.

Returning to his room, Levi considered the things he needed to do next.

If he walked the Elemental Awakening route, then acquiring a first-tier spell was indispensable.

Spending money to buy it was the most reliable way.

It would take about two to three months to save up fifty gold coins to buy a single opportunity to read a first-tier spell model.

The premise was that he could no longer use potions to accelerate his cultivation during this period.

The Basic Meditation Method had already been ground to the perfection level, reaching its limit.

In the short term, he no longer needed to rely on potions to accelerate his cultivation.

The second method was to obtain it from dreams, which carried greater uncertainty.

Levi pondered for a moment and decided to pursue both paths simultaneously.

He definitely wanted the first-tier Fireball spell. It wasn't certain that he could get it in a dream, so he would have to spend money to buy a learning opportunity when the time came.

"In a few more days, it'll be the day the manuscript fees are distributed. I hope there's a surprise."

When thinking about spending money, Levi suddenly remembered something.

After returning from saving Gu Ze and the others last time, he seemed to have received a message from the magic butler.

At the time, he was so engrossed in studying the "Great Dreamwalking Technique" that he hadn’t noticed.

Lately, he had nearly forgotten all about it.

Li Wei quickly pulled the magical badge from his pocket—the back displayed “10.”

He stared, astonished.

“Magical steward, why do I have ten extra contribution points?”

Magical Steward: “Six days ago, the Adventurers’ Guild confirmed your completion of the mission to hunt down the black cultist. The Mage Tower awarded you five contribution points as mission reward. In recognition of your exceptional performance, an additional five contribution points were granted as a special bonus.”

(End of Chapter)