Chapter 84: The Clever Use of Mage Hand

Chapter 84: The Direct Application of Mage's Hand

The zero-tier spell Li Wei chose to deduce a flight spell was—Mage's Hand.

He had seen an article in the mana net called "The Direct Application of Mage's Hand."

The original purpose of creating Mage's Hand was to make it convenient for mages to move things.

After all, for mages with weak physical bodies, moving heavy objects was quite an inconvenient thing.

Later it was found that, due to the fragility of the zero-tier spell model, Mage's Hand could not pick up things that were too heavy.

Its purpose gradually shifted from carrying heavy objects to moving things from a distance.

Since zero-tier spells consume little energy and Mage's Hand is relatively highly controllable, it was listed by many traditional mages as one of the must-learn zero-tier spells.

As for ring mages, constrained by the limits of spell slots, they prioritized the spells they absolutely needed.

Generally, they would not waste a spell slot to place Mage's Hand.

In the article "The Direct Application of Mage's Hand," the author proposed the theoretical possibility of "controlling objects from a distance."

The Mage's Hand spell utilizes mana to construct a magical hand composed entirely of mana.

The mage can control the Mage's Hand, using methods like lifting, holding, pushing, and dragging to move objects.

Compared to a real palm, the controllability of Mage's Hand is naturally inferior.

It is very difficult to perform actions like single-finger "flicking," "hooking," or "digging" like a real palm.

However, because Mage's Hand is composed of mana and has no physical entity, it can substitute for a real hand in many inconvenient places.

For example, retrieving an object from a narrow space, or reaching objects at distant, high, or low places.

All in all, Mage's Hand has always served as an auxiliary tool acting as a mage's third hand.

The vast majority of mages also only use Mage's Hand as a daily tool.

Very few mages would think to use Mage's Hand in combat.

In the article "The Direct Application of Mage's Hand," the researcher proposed that since Mage's Hand is composed entirely of mana, whether it is possible to change the shape of Mage's Hand to make it wrap around an object to achieve the effect of controlling objects from a distance.

It sounds no different from picking up an object and retrieving it from a distance.

In reality, for the model that constitutes Mage's Hand, there is a massive difference.

If one could directly utilize mana to wrap around an object to achieve the effect of controlling objects from a distance.

Then more than half of the spell circuits used for shaping in Mage's Hand could be reduced and replaced with spell circuits required for weight-bearing, improving the strength and speed of Mage's Hand so that it could be applied to combat.

For example, the Rock Throwing spell that utilizes the principle of a spell slingshot.

If Mage's Hand could be modified and perfected into an "Object Control Spell," its power and controllability would be far stronger than Rock Throwing.

The mage who created Mage's Hand structured the mana into the model of a human palm for ease of use.

Latecomers proposed abandoning the palm shape and directly wrapping the object with mana to control its movement.

The problem was that if one directly deleted the shaping spell circuits of Mage's Hand.

Then it would cause the mana to directly become a cluster of controllable mana gas that could not move objects.

The mana would lose its "supporting force" and could not "touch" objects.

The spell circuits that determined the "supporting force" of mana were precisely within the shaping circuits.

In the article, the researcher did not create a modified and perfected spell model.

However, the researcher modified the palm-shaped Mage's Hand into a spherical Mage's Hand that wraps around objects.

Proving that the possibility of "controlling objects from a distance" exists for Mage's Hand.

Li Wei saw in this the hope of deducing a flight spell.

Flying by using telekinesis to control objects is one of the common ways of flying.

In fact, there was not even a need to control an external object.

If Mage's Hand could grab a person, he could directly control himself to fly up.

This was not like pulling one's own hair to lift oneself up; the power of Mage's Hand belonged to an external force.

"The most important thing right now is to learn Mage's Hand."

Li Wei pondered.

Thinking so much was useless; he still did not even know the Mage's Hand spell right now.

Zero-tier spells were quite easy to acquire.

They were available inside the mage tower, and he could learn it for just twenty contribution points.

Compared to the hundreds or thousands spent by other people to learn a single spell, the cultivation panel truly saved him a large amount of money.

One could also learn spells through the mana net, but the problem was that up until now he still had not accumulated ten magic coins and had not unlocked the primary mana net treasury.

After finishing the monthly free reading content, Li Wei rarely used the mana net codex because there was nothing to do.

Unless he uploaded his own spell insights and experiences, he could forget about accumulating ten magic coins in a short time.

Li Wei was very evasive about this matter; he did not want to expose his trump cards.

In the early morning, right after Li Wei finished breakfast, he prepared to go to the library to read books.

Jimmy found him and delivered the manuscript fees for May.

When Li Wei received the manuscript fees, he just remembered that today was June 1st.

It was a new month again, the free reading of the mana net codex was going to refresh, and the benefits of the mage tower refreshed as well.

Jimmy said: "The sales of the novel in May were slightly affected by the war and dropped a bit, but the war has already ended, so sales will surely recover soon."

"The manuscript fees for May total ten gold coins and thirty silver coins."

Li Wei accepted the money pouch, not expecting that the war would actually affect his money-making.

"This is going to be a bit difficult to handle now," he thought to himself.

Jimmy did not know what was going to happen later and made an incorrect judgment.

Li Wei knew that in the short term, the war would not end, and peaceful days were still far away.

This was not good news for him.

Jimmy's next sentence brought him a piece of good news.

"News came from the Cornucopia Chamber of Commerce saying that the caravan has already left the Thousand Caves Highlands and headed to the Great Desert. The revenue obtained from selling novels in the Thousand Caves Highlands has been sent back to Maple Leaf City through the bank of the United Chamber of Commerce. It will arrive in half a month at the earliest and next month at the latest."

Hearing this, Li Wei showed a slight smile; finally, there was a piece of good news.

At the beginning of the year, the Spark Literature Society had reached a cooperation agreement with the Cornucopia Chamber of Commerce.

Nearly half a year had passed now, and there was finally some revenue.

Li Wei asked: "How much money is it?"

Jimmy shook his head and said: "It is temporarily unclear. We will only know after the escort team of the United Chamber of Commerce arrives in Maple Leaf City."

"However, judging from how much importance the president attaches to this matter, this sum of money is probably not small."

"Yesterday, the president even specifically met with the head of the Cornucopia Chamber of Commerce regarding this matter."

Li Wei felt a flicker of anticipation.

"Mm, thank you. I appreciate your trouble."

"You're welcome. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."

"Goodbye, Magician Li Wei."

After seeing Jimmy off, Li Wei made his way up to the third floor of the mage tower.

"Magic steward, are there any suitable tasks near Maple City lately?"

He automatically claimed the monthly benefit for apprentice mages—one contribution point.

The magic steward replied: "The city lord has chosen the Shadowed Valley as a camp to settle over twenty thousand captured beastmen. As a result, the Adventurers' Guild has issued numerous bounties for eliminating the magical beasts dwelling within the valley."

"In addition to slaying beasts, there are also tasks involving clearing plants and rocks—ideal for fire mages."

Sounded promising. Li Wei selected one task to exterminate magical beasts, and another to clear vegetation and stone.

These were solo assignments, not cooperative ones—no teammates assigned.

Unless he sought companions himself.

But he didn’t need them.

The shadow attendant was enough.

Stepping out of the mage tower, Li Wei mentally tallied his resources.

"Ten gold coins, thirty-six silver, and 2.8 contribution points. To purchase the spell matrix for Mage’s Hand, I’ll need at least 6.84 more points."

"This trip must earn me no less than seven contributions—or I won’t be able to afford the spell."

(End of Chapter)