The advancement of a wizard requires a tremendous investment of time and energy, and the process only grows more arduous the further one progresses.
Two years had passed since his last breakthrough, and Leilin's wizard rank had risen by only a single level—yet this pace still outstripped many of his peers, and it had given Ernest quite a shock.
"After advancing to sixth-level wizard, I gained an extra spell slot, but I haven't touched any deeper layers of the Weave. What a pity… If I could get just one more third-level spell slot, my odds against other enemies would be considerably better…"
Leilin stared at his own data, a trace of regret flickering across his eyes.
A wizard's advancement was measured by the layers of the Weave they could touch, and only seventh-level wizards could reach the third layer, gaining access to the right to cast third-level spells.
A sixth-level wizard, compared to a fifth-level wizard who had touched the second layer of the Weave, could still only cast second-level spells—his Spiritual Power was merely greater, with a few additional spell slots.
If Leilin could advance one more level and have his Spiritual Power touch the third layer of the Weave, his strength would receive a substantial boost—but there was clearly not enough time now.
However, when his eyes fell on the question mark behind the Zero-level Spell slots, a smile finally bloomed on Leilin's face.
Having completely conquered the Zero-level Weave, Leilin was forever freed from the limitations of Zero-level Spell slots, and had even gained the talents of Material Component Exemption and Immunity to Spell-forgetting.
It could be said that, from now on, when casting Zero-level Spells, Leilin could draw on the Weave at will, with no need to prepare spell slots or anything of the sort.
This meant his mana bar had effectively replaced the rigid spell-slot system. From now on, the only limit on his Zero-level Spell casting was his own Spiritual Power.
As long as his Spiritual Power was sufficient, he could cast as many Zero-level Spells as he wished.
"Perhaps I should prepare one fewer first-level or even second-level spell, to conserve enough Spiritual Power for casting Zero-level Spells…"
Leilin mused. Being able to adaptively deploy Zero-level Spells was his greatest trump card this time around.
If those enemies still estimated his strength based on the capabilities of a wizard from the World of Gods, they were in for a very nasty surprise.
"For the second-level spell, I'll go with Web. And for the first-level spells, I'll memorize Animate Rope and Mage Armor! That way, I can save a considerable amount of Spiritual Power…"
In this regard, Leilin had an advantage: wizard spell slots were prepared a day in advance, so by tomorrow, after a night of meditation and rest, he would recover a large portion of his Spiritual Power—potentially approaching full capacity.
This effectively meant he had gained an extra pool of Spiritual Power out of thin air. He could only use it for Zero-level Spells, but that was still quite good.
Leilin produced an ancient-looking spellbook. Its cover was crafted from the hide of some creature, with traces of scales still visible upon it, and powerful magical energy radiated outward.
This was something Ernest had passed down to Leilin — a spellbook recording numerous low-level Spells, and Ernest himself had once been its user.
—Due to the peculiar nature of spell forgetting, once wizards finished storing their spell slots, their memories of those Spells would become completely blurred or even vanish entirely, making it necessary to re-memorize them.
Given this, a spellbook recording all the Spells they had mastered was extraordinarily important.
In many cases, a spellbook was one of a wizard's most valuable possessions.
The spellbook in Leilin's hands, though a discarded one from Ernest, was nonetheless crafted primarily from earth drake hide and was worth several hundred gold coins.
Yet the pages inside the spellbook appeared noticeably newer, somewhat incongruous with its ancient-looking cover.
Ernest had deliberately erased the Spells he had recorded. For a wizard, transcribing Spells they had mastered into a spellbook was an extremely important task that could not be delegated to others.
"Web! Also Rope Trick and Mage Armor!"
Leilin's fingers flipped through the spellbook and quickly found these sections.
When it came to how much he valued his spellbook, he was clearly far less attached than other wizards.
For Leilin, his Chip was essentially an encyclopedic spellbook, and the efficiency of transmitting Spell Models through the Chip to his memory zone far surpassed studying from a spellbook on his own.
Most of the time, Leilin only brought out the spellbook to put on an act for Ernest, or to compare this form of spellcasting with witchcraft in order to perceive the differences in the governing forces between them.
His fingers traced repeatedly over a spell circuit symbol as Leilin immersed himself in analyzing the Spell.
"Compared to witchcraft, spell circuits and nodes are remarkably simple. After all, wizards cast primarily through the magic network — the complexity of the two simply cannot be compared… To put it simply, a witchcraft model requires the construction of an entire system using Spiritual Power, whereas a Spell Model is more akin to a key…"
With Leilin's formidable learning and memory capabilities, recording a Spell Model was practically effortless.
Almost within minutes, the Chip transmitted its notification sound.