The tower library is big, but it's not the biggest library Zack has ever been to. Even so, the content of its books is the most interesting he has ever come across in his whole life.
In addition to books containing spells, there are books on different topics, all with content that can help people with the mage class, even if it's not obvious at first.
Some books don't even contain magic. Instead, they are magical theories, encyclopedias about enchanted items, or biographies of magicians who lived in the magic tower before Zack.
The strengthening of his physical attributes is due to a journal from an ancient combat mage who served in the army. This mage lived when the combat mage profession had not yet matured, and the death rate was unbelievably high.
One of the main problems was that the magic combat system was not adapted to meet the enemy head-on. Until then, mages were at the rear while casting spells. The change of position on the battlefield was deadly.
Finally, people of magical talent were recruited among the commoners, teaching them a limited number of low-level spells they could master perfectly.
Before this measure was adopted, to deal with this problem, they tried to find solutions that would increase the Wizard survival rate. One of the solutions they proposed was to find a way to increase the mage's physical attributes so that he could perform better on the battlefield. For this reason, they developed a technique based on the body enhancement spell.
The body enhancement spell serves to temporarily increase the attributes of the spell's target through magical power for a short period of time. The technique is based on the principle of passive strengthening of a magician's body. It uses a special method of circulating mana in the mage's body so that it is actively strengthened, instead of the passive strengthening that all mages have.
The theory is interesting, but if the technique was perfect, Zack wouldn't find it in a half-forgotten book in the library. Two crucial flaws in this body reinforcement technique prevent it from spreading to combat mages.
The first is that the technique is painful. Basically what is happening to the mage's body is that you are forcing the mana to forcibly strengthen your body. Not to the level of torture, but as long as you practice it, you will feel pain. And not only that, the mana control necessary for this technique requires constant concentration, so the exhaustion at the end will not be only physical, but also mental.
The second flaw is that not all magicians can practice this technique. To perform the technique it was necessary to guide the mana continuously to the muscles of the entire body in a constant manner. That is not as easy as it seems. One needs great control and mana affinity for it to work. Otherwise, the technique will fail. Also, the effect of the technique wasn't particularly outstanding, so it wouldn't be useful for tier 2 magic classes.
Only a person with strong physical and mental stamina and great magical talent can learn this technique.
It is for these reasons that it was not possible to implement this technique as a general solution to all combat mages. They just couldn't use the technique.
Zack is unaware of his talent, but his ability to easily learn everything related to his magic class is enough for him to learn this technique. As for pain, it turns out that being aware of the very real possibility of death in the future is enough to ignore pain.
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Who would have thought?
However, with the passing of time the technique was losing effect, and the higher his physical attributes were, the speed at which they were increasing decreased proportionally. Zack suspected that soon the technique would be effective anymore. Even his other attributes were increasing very slowly.
Initially, Zack thought that by now he would have reached level 100, but the higher your level, the more difficult it was to increase it. Zack was at level 84, which meant there were still 16 levels to go. Before he could level up multiple times a week. Now Zack is lucky if he levels up in that time frame.
No wonder the archmage said there was no chance they would get a tier 2 class before they were sent out to fight. Getting a high-tier class is no joke.
If Zack was a normal person in this world, it would probably take him more than a decade to reach the maximum level, maybe two or perhaps more.
Even though Zack had read the equivalent of two libraries, it wasn't enough for his intelligence and wisdom to reach one hundred points, the theoretical maximum for tier 1 classes.
The only thing Zack could do was continue meditating to accumulate mana and learn spells in the time remaining from him.
(The only thing I don't understand is why my charm has increased)
He didn't notice it, but reading so many books had given him a refined scholarly air, making him look more elegant.
Zack looked away from his attributes and looked at his abilities. During these months, all his skills leveled up, and he also learned new skills. Unlike his spells, his skills leveled up very slowly. Both Speed Reading and Memorization leveled up at their own pace.
The problem was Mana Control. As a key skill to any mage, the skill quickly increased to level 9. Since then, no matter what Zack tries, there is no way to level it up. Zack found a bottleneck.
After getting used to a rapid level increase, the fact that he won't get results for months can be frustrating. Luckily, Zack has other things to focus on.
Zack obtained the Herb Identification skill after reading a glossary on the continent's plants and their properties in the central library. When he realized that he had obtained a skill, Zack inspected and read all the books on the subject, but still, he only managed to level it up to level 2.
For a while, Zack thought that the kingdom's herbal knowledge was really limited. He soon discovered that this was not the case.
It turns out that the Herb Identification skill is a practical skill, not a theoretical one. The ability levels up when real plants are identified. As much as Zack studies them in books, the ability will not increase to a great extent. That he was able to get it up to level 2 is impressive.
Multitasking he also got it by chance. Practicing the strengthening magic technique took up a lot of time on his schedule, so he had to stop doing certain activities. At times, Zack felt so tired that he couldn't even practice spells on those days.
The solution he came up with was to combine daily meditation with the strengthening technique so that he could have more time on his hands to learn more magic.
It didn't work. It just wasn't possible, these techniques were too different from each other. Even so, thanks to trying to practice two complex techniques simultaneously, he was able to obtain the skill. Thanks to it, Zack could read the books in the library and practice the technique at the same time. Although he was exhausted every night. Luckily, the meditation technique made his body well-rested in the morning. However, that was the first time Zack had felt the need to sleep since he got here. Mental exhaustion could not be so easily restored.
The only skill he hadn't leveled up until now was danger sense, but that was normal. To level up a skill, you have to use it repeatedly, and Zack hadn't been in danger since he acquired it. In fact, neither he nor his companions had made any more expeditions since they returned from the dungeon, but that may be about to change.
Zack's rhythm is insane. Anyone in his shoes would have collapsed. This pace is not good for him, and Zack knows it, but they have no other choice. He knows that he needs to become as strong as possible.
He's running out of time. He may have already run out of it.
Zack left the room and saw the maid waiting for him as always. Seeing him leave his room, she guides him to the dining room like every day, but today was different.
Yesterday Albert informed them that the Prime Minister would have breakfast with them today.