Once he scraped together enough points to host a lecture, he went for it. All the boring stuff like booking the classroom and setting up shop could be handled right there at the mission hall.
He decided to choose one of his favorite topics, spell patterns, as his lecture topic. Specifically, he was all about breaking down the secrets of the [Mastering Level 1 Spell Patterns] book.
Scheduling-wise, he figured afternoon slots would be best. Gotta give the apprentices and wizards a chance to wrap up their day jobs before diving into the magical nitty-gritty. Sure, it meant shelling out extra cash for the classroom, but hey, that's the price of doing business.
He booked the room for a solid 2 hours and planned out a series of 3 lectures, one per day for 3 days straight, all for a steal at just 30 points. Talk about a bargain compared to those other classes charging a whopping 200 points.
After days of empty classes, finally, one apprentice showed up—a boy who looked about 11 years old. Oh, and here's a fun fact: in this world, you gauge someone's age by their face, not their body. Thanks to all that mana, folks tend to appear taller and beefier than they actually are.
Now, this kid, he had the body of a 14-15 year old but with the face of an 11 year old. Talk about a weird combo, right? But not as much as Zack, a legit 14 year old according to the system age, was rocking the physique of a fully grown, muscle-bound man. Seriously, he was like a bodybuilder, standing towering 2 meters tall. Pretty intimidating, he gotta say himself. But hey, those muscles were just a perk of being bathed in [Lightning Flesh] for years.
Sure, he could've used some magic to tone down his physique and blend in more, but nah, he liked it just fine the way it was! Check out those guns, those pecs, those shoulders, those quads—RAAHHHH! (He mentally flexes, then catches himself.) Ahem... Got a bit carried away there.
Anyway, circling back to the lecture, the kid plopped down in one of the seats. Just so you know, the classroom was like a scaled-down version of those lecture theaters he remembered from his university days. So, he's down below while the kid's got the higher ground, looking down at him.
He waited a bit longer, just in case any other apprentices decided to show up. After about 5 minutes of waiting, he figured it was time to get started.
"Alright, so if you're here, that means you've already got the hang of crafting spell patterns for level 0 spells, right?" he asked the apprentice.
"Yes," the apprentice confirmed.
"Great. Let me kick things off by saying that level 1 spells aren't all that different from level 0 spells when it comes to the symbols that make up the patterns." With a wave of his hand, he projected his mana into the air, forming a larger-than-life spell pattern of [Thunder Armor], one of the go-to spells for level 1 wizards.
The pattern was a whirlwind of constantly shifting symbols and geometric shapes, moving at dizzying speeds. He snapped his fingers, freezing the symbols in place.
Then, he pointed at a section of the pattern, swiping it aside to create a duplicate in another space, and then enlarged it up to make it easier to see. Now, there were two spell patterns floating above the podium.
"As you can see, all the symbols here are also used in level 0 spells. The big difference is that level 1 spell patterns have way more modules or sections, which cranks up the complexity big time. Unlike level 0 spells, which usually just have one module," he explained, occasionally enlarging a particular section of the spell pattern or conjuring up another one for demonstration.
The apprentice stared in awe. Manipulating mana in the air wasn't a walk in the park, especially for wizards with fire and lightning attributes. But Zack wasn't just casually tossing around mana like it was nothing—he was shaping it into intricate level 1 spell patterns with ease.
Seeing the admiration in the apprentice's eyes, Zack knew he was hitting the mark. Most of the other lectures relied on projector-like devices to display slides with images of spell patterns for explanation.
Sure, these wizards could also project a spell pattern in the air when casting a level 1 spell, but making it larger than life and holding it there for an extended period? That was a whole other level of control reserved for the elite, peak level 1 wizards.
Zack figured showing off his control wouldn't raise too many eyebrows. After all, a wizard's mana level was what really mattered, and plenty of geniuses could match his tricks in addition to faster meditation speeds.
So, with his mana level, flaunting his control wouldn't make him stand out as a top prospect for peak level 1 wizard status anytime soon. He'd just be the guy with solid mana control skills, flying under the radar of his peers and higher-ups.
But this little trick of his surely appealed to the apprentices. It made explaining spell patterns a breeze, allowing him to zoom in on the details and make things crystal clear for them.
He did this because needed something to make his lecture stand out and rake in more points. Otherwise, he'd be stuck playing catch-up with those big-shot lecturers. However, he was sticking to his principle of not drawing too much attention—just this one lecture, no grand ambitions for a lecture empire. After all, he didn't want to stir up any unnecessary hostility from other lecturers.
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And wouldn't you know it, his strategy paid off big time. His lecture quickly became a hit, even after bumping up his fee to 200 points. His classroom, packed with 50 eager apprentices, was always buzzing. By keeping his class size steady while raising the price, he avoided ruffling too many feathers among his fellow lecturers. See, if he kept his fees low and expanded his class or added more lectures, it'd be like poaching audiences from the competition.
With his income looking solid, Zack was content. Now he could spend just 2 hours a day lecturing and the rest of his time diving deep into spell patterns and formations!
Sure, he could have made a decent living selling arrays as a formation master or doing spell pattern consultations as a spell master. But those gigs would've eaten up too much of his time for not enough payoff. That's why he went through all the trouble to get his lecture game on point.
***
So, fast forward a few months—six to be exact—since the chaos in Mossley, and things were heating up in the tower. Not because the Holy Empire was cracking down harder on wizards outside the tower, but because the three remaining level 2 wizards inside were all gunning to be the top dog.
Well, technically, only two of them were in the running. The old geezer from the library was perfectly content snoozing away among the books. See, there used to be four level 2 wizards in the lightning magic tower. But after three of them were sent off to war, one died, one got seriously messed up (that's the library geezer), and the last one strolled back without a scratch, thanks to his city dodging any level 3 powerhouse encounters.
As soon as Ms. Scratch-Free got back to the tower, she squared off against the dude who'd been holding down the fort, vying for the top spot.
Archibald Cromwell, the older of the two, clocked in at a spry 200 years old. Sure, he had some serious clout among the tower's forces. But he wasn't so ancient that he was on his last legs—he still had a good century left in him. Plus, he'd already hit late level 2, which was nothing to sneeze at.
Now, onto Evangeline Ashwood, the fresh face of the competition. At just 100 years old, she'd soared to near peak mid level 2 status, giving Archibald a run for his money. Dubbed the greatest prodigy in the last thousand years, she was seen as the one with the best shot at hitting level 3 wizard. No wonder she had a legion of supporters rallying behind her in the tower.
The factions backing Archibald and Evangeline were evenly matched, so there was no clear winner in the race for tower leader. Right now, Archibald had the upper hand thanks to his higher wizard level. But Evangeline had recently hit a breakthrough, leveling up to late level 2, closing the gap.
Feeling threatened by Evangeline's progress, Archibald threw down the gauntlet, challenging her to a duel. He was banking on his experience to tip the scales in his favor. Word around the cafeteria had it that the winner would snag the top spot in the tower. Not that it mattered much to him personally. He wouldn't be privy to the showdown—it was slated to go down in private with Sir Cedric, the old library dude, as the referee. The duel was scheduled for a month from now, after which the tower's head honcho would be decided.
If he had to toss in his two cents, he'd say it made sense for the tower to sort out its leadership pronto. Heck, it was even more crucial than dealing with the Holy Empire. Without a clear leader, the tower would be fractured, easy pickings for the Empire.
Anyway, he was too busy diving into the sea of knowledge that was the library. Thanks to the steady flow of points from his lectures, he could keep borrowing books left and right, beefing up his level 2 know-how.
Level 2 knowledge was a whole different ball game compared to level 1 stuff. See, when he claimed to have mastered level 1 spell patterns and formations, it didn't mean he'd pored over every single level 1 book in the library. Nope, he'd just figured out a system, a pattern he could apply to any level 1 tome he stumbled upon. Reading more level 1 books wouldn't make that pattern any more complete; it'd just beef up his database a bit.
But level 2? Now that was a whole different beast. Understanding each book took way more time and brainpower.
As he pondered the complexity of level 2 knowledge, he circled back to what made level 2 spell patterns tick. The leap from level 0 to level 1 was all about adding modules to the spell, allowing for more intricate 3D shapes.
But the jump from level 1 to level 2? That was all about the symbols themselves. Remember those engravings that naturally popped up on his level 1 magic circle in his mana core? Turns out, those were the primitive forms of level 2 symbols.
Level 2 symbols were basically just combinations of level 1 symbols. Maybe some wizard ancestor stumbled upon those engravings and managed to crank out level 2 spells. But the symbols he saw in level 2 spell books were way more refined than the ones in his magic circle. It made sense—countless wizards had tweaked and polished those shapes to pack an even bigger punch.
Now, since level 2 symbols were combinations of level 1 symbols, the number of possible combinations skyrocketed to factorial levels. Wrap your head around just how mind-bogglingly massive that number is.
Let's put it into perspective. Say there are 1000 level 1 symbols. That means there would be a mind-boggling 4.023872601×10^2567 level 2 symbols. Yeah, you read that right—10^2567. And guess what? There are thousands of level 1 symbols out there! He'd be up the creek without a paddle if he had to memorize all of them, even with the brainpower boost from his status window.
But hey, luckily he didn't have to memorize every single symbol. He just needed to grasp the concept of how they worked. Kinda like creating a module in a level 1 spell. Take an ignite module, for example. He knew he needed symbols for heat, compression, and expansion.
In level 2 spells, each symbol was like a module in a level 1 spell. And you could build modules using level 2 spells. That's what made the whole spell pattern thing so darn complicated. He wasn't sure if he could wrap his head around all of this in just two years.
Now, he could really appreciate the freakishness of his intelligence. From what he'd seen, it took ordinary level 1 wizards a whopping 100 years just to get the hang of one level 2 spell pattern. That's because they had to master level 1 spell patterns first before even thinking about level 2. And even then, there were no guarantees they'd be able to pull off a level 2 spell circle and advance to the next level. No wonder level 2 wizards were as rare as hen's teeth.
Thinking about the mind-bending complexity of level 2 spells, he let out a heavy sigh. Time for a pick-me-up. He reached for a slice of chocolate cake and dug in, savoring each bite. With his food finished, he headed back to his room to dive back into his studies.
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Name: Zack
Age: 14/150 (300)
Occupation: Official Wizard (Level 1)
Contract: [Lightning Magic Tower - Official Member]
Hidden Contract: -
Mana: 310/310 (13,660/13,660)
Overt Talent: [Low Mana Manipulation Correction], [Low Mana Sensory Correction]
Hidden Talent: [Limitless Mana Well], [Advanced Mana Manipulation Correction], [Advanced Mana Sensory Correction], [Advanced Intelligence Correction]
Hidden Boss Abilities: [Hidden Strength] [Thousand Faces]
HBP: 0
HB Progress Bar: 30/100%
Expand Hidden Boss abilities Store? yes/no
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