Chapter 284: Stepping into Gold Level

“Yes, exactly—control the rate of your mental energy output, maintain the balance of the spell’s runes.”

In the courtyard behind Swampkeep, Ronin was instructing Elin in the use of the Water Arrow spell.

The casting difficulty of an intermediate spell was not great; after just one day of study, Elin had nearly mastered it.

As water elements from heaven and earth converged upon her palm, a thirty-centimeter-long water arrow swiftly formed.

Though called an “arrow,” its shape bore no resemblance to a real arrow—it resembled more a cone, especially at its tip, which was sharply pointed.

The third-tier spell, Ice Arrow, was merely a frozen variant of Water Arrow, its piercing power derived from that razor-sharp apex.

It was said that Jenny had once struck a knight directly with an Ice Arrow, denting his breastplate so severely that it crushed his heart, killing him instantly.

“Lock your mental energy onto the target, then release.”

Elin turned her gaze toward a branch swaying in the wind. Instantly, the Water Arrow shot forth with startling speed, whistling as it sliced through the air.

“Crack!”

The branch, struck by the arrow, snapped violently and tumbled from the tree.

Though weaker than the Fireball spell—another second-tier spell—the Water Arrow should not be underestimated.

During the great cleansing of the domain, Jenny had once stunned a crocodile with a single Water Arrow.

“I did it! I finally did it!”

Elin clenched her fists in excitement, leaping up and throwing her arms around Ronin, who stood beside her offering guidance.

Her warmth pressed against him, carrying a faint, sweet fragrance—was it the natural scent of a young girl, or had she applied perfume?

Pity he had spent his past life single, never having encountered perfume, never studied it—otherwise, he might have explored its secrets in this world.

“It’s just a second-tier spell. No need to get so worked up.”

Ronin chuckled, wrapping an arm around her slender waist and gently setting her down. “Let me show you my second-tier spell.”

“Okay!” Elin nodded earnestly, her cheeks flushed crimson.

Ronin took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and became utterly focused.

Today was the last day of August. Thirty days had passed since his last stat allocation. Ronin had accumulated 430 attribute points—and at dawn today, he had broken through.

Now, he was both a Golden Knight and a Magus.

Upon becoming a Magus, a mage could enhance the potency of ordinary spells—expanding their area, increasing their damage, and so on.

Ronin knew the rune pattern of the Fireball spell by heart. He traced it flawlessly, in one seamless motion.

In the past, the fireball would have coalesced immediately. But now, he could control the timing, and during that interval, he could expand the rune pattern itself, enlarging the spell’s scale.

“Let’s make it a bit bigger.”

His mental energy tugged gently at the runes, stretching them outward—until, at a diameter of two meters, they seemed to reach their limit.

Boom!

Fire elements surged violently, their velocity so intense that even Elin, a mid-tier mage, could feel the tremor.

Before she could even gasp, a colossal fireball—two meters in diameter—materialized before her eyes. The heat wave scorched her cheeks; the wind whipped her golden hair wildly.

“So… so big…”

Even Ronin, the caster, was astonished. The power of this second-tier spell likely surpassed even the third-tier spell, Flame Burst!

Of course, amplifying its power came at a cost—his mental energy and mana drained far more rapidly.

Whoosh!

The fireball roared skyward with a heavy, tearing sound, then detonated violently at a height of dozens of meters. The explosion stunned everyone within and beyond the castle walls.

They looked upward, their expressions deepening into awe.

Their lord—mysterious, powerful!

“Is this… a second-tier spell?”

Elin whispered, disbelief trembling in her voice. “The Fireball spell shouldn’t be this strong, should it?”

She thought of the Water Arrow she had just mastered—compared to this fireball, it was like a three-year-old child standing beside a towering, armored knight. They existed on entirely different planes.

“Once you become a Magus,” Ronin explained with a smile, “you can enhance ordinary spells to a certain degree. Do you understand?”

Elin’s eyes flew wide open. “A Magus? You’re a Magus? Oh my god—how is that even possible!”

Watching her stunned expression, Ronin couldn’t resist pinching her cheek.

“Keep working hard, little Elin. With your talent, you can become a Magus too—don’t make me wait too long.”

“Y-yes… yes…”

Elin nodded, though inwardly she trembled. A Magus? Could she ever reach that?

But seeing Ronin’s encouraging gaze, she clenched her tiny fist. She would reach it—she would!

Having finished guiding and encouraging Elin, Ronin turned to his own training.

At this stage, both knights and mages had liquefied their aura and mana—increasing their volume tenfold or more.

Meanwhile, knights could sense the “Fah Lun” deep within their aura sea; mages could perceive the “Yin Lun” within their mana space.

Though abstract, these could be likened to aura seeds. When knights and mages channeled their respective energies through them, the seeds responded, amplifying their power.

When fully assimilated and fused into the aura sea and mana space by transcendent force, it meant the knight or mage could advance further—entering the Stellar or Grand Magus tier.

Thanks to the system, Ronin need not labor to assimilate these two wheels—he merely needed to master the combat techniques and spells of this stage.

First and foremost: the sixth-tier spell, Fire Dragon Swallows Heaven.

He had a peculiar connection with this spell.

Rulans had gifted him two spell scrolls of this spell. The first, used in the Ushan Arena to drive back a Golden-rank assassin and save Princess Branka.

The second, deployed in the Strange Valley to kill Natalia and wound Carlos.

Now, he would no longer rely on scrolls—he could cast it freely.

Beyond spells, he would also master two combat techniques: Fire Flash and Pressure Wave.

“Pity Grandpa’s spellbook didn’t contain any sixth-tier wind-element spells.”

Rulans had given Ronin many books—most complete were those on fire-element techniques, from intermediate to Stellar tier. Books on other elements existed too, but the higher the tier, the scarcer they became.

It made sense—Rulans was a dual-element user of Thunder and Fire, so his collection naturally favored those.

As for spellbooks, he wasn’t even a mage—so he had little interest in them.

A sixth-tier spellbook would cost at least five hundred gold coins; if the spell was particularly potent or had special effects, the price soared.

For Ronin, acquiring spellbooks later would be a significant expense.

Besides purchasing, there were other means of acquisition: entering the Beast Mountain Range to hunt sixth-tier wind-element beasts and extract their magic cores.

By studying the rune imprints stored within the cores, one could learn the spell.

But this method was far more troublesome.

First, not all level-six wind-elemental beasts are necessarily capable of mastering level-six magic;

second, Carlos had a timid nature—his diet rarely extended beyond level-five beasts, and he avoided confronting creatures of his own rank unless starved into desperation.

Thus, to hunt a level-six beast, Ronin would have to go himself.

“Let’s first head to Wushan Fortress—if the old man hasn’t acquired one, then I’ll simply buy a copy.”

Calculating the time, over a dozen days had passed; Toru and the others would soon arrive at Wushan Fortress—Ronin could go ahead and arrive early.

The precise distribution of gains from this victory still required a prior discussion with Rulans. (End of chapter)