The small room.

Rosen lay with eyes closed on the mattress, yet not a hint of sleepiness.

After finishing his daily meditation, he immediately focused his mind to summon the desktop, his gaze falling on the new gear icon that had appeared.

The name of the gear: 'Spell Virtual Machine'.

After focusing on it for about two seconds, a stream of information flashed through Rosen's mind.

"Load practice scenario?"

(Note: The scene will be extracted from the adventure log and rendered in real time.)

Rosen's heart stirred and he immediately thought silently: "Load the moment of battle with Celus by the frozen river."

"Do you need an assistant?"

"No assistant, I want to fight alone."

"Loading...loading complete."

The next second, Rosen's closed eyes were filled with light.

The frozen surface of the frigid river, the thick snow, the howling cold wind, everything was there.

As expected, Lillis and Xapolsky were not there, but Celus and the zombies were.

At the moment, everything was motionless, as if it were a paused game screen.

"Hmm, interesting."

He began to explore the specific functions.

Soon he discovered a skill bar, with skills and spells that matched those in the spellbooks.

Currently there were a total of 4: Magic Missile, Wizard's Firearm, Fire Shield, and Flight.

Each spell icon had a skill proficiency level, with 5 tiers: Novice, Proficient, Expert, Master, Transcendent.

The proficiency level for Magic Missile and Flight was Novice, while Wizard's Firearm and Fire Shield were Proficient.

"Hmm, it really is like a game."

Soon, he also discovered a 'Spell Rules Database'.

Looking inside, it contained the rules for the spells he had just learned.

Finally, he found a 'Spell Editor'.

After viewing, he discovered it could modify spells based on existing rules, or directly create new spells.

"Spell creation and modification, plus live practice scenarios, this thing really is a magical artifact!"

At this moment, a stream of information flashed through his mind: "Start spell practice?"

Just as Rosen was about to try, he immediately thought: "Start."

The scene sprang to life.

Celus suddenly turned and stared at him, three Ash Missiles flying swiftly towards him, dozens of zombies also pouncing at him.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Caught off guard, Rosen was struck head on.

A stream of info flashed through his mind.

"User died, practice failed."

"Damn, again!"

The scene instantly reset, three Ash Missiles screaming towards him once more.

Rosen immediately cast Fire Shield to defend, while counterattacking with the Magic Missile he had just learned.

'Pop! Bang!'

The missile fizzled and exploded right next to Rosen's head, blowing half of it off.

"User died, practice failed."

"Again!"

Three missiles flew at him, but before being hit, Rosen was already done for.

"User died..."

"Remove the zombies, let me duel Celus!"

"Damn, insta-death again! Once more!"

...

After being wrecked by Celus fifty times in the spell virtual machine, Rosen's fighting spirit burned out.

He stopped and began reviewing his failures, analyzing the reasons.

Soon he discovered the first failing factor.

"Celus can cast a missile in just 0.4 seconds, firing three continuously, his proficiency is at least Expert."

"I'm only Proficient now, taking 0.7 seconds for one missile, and can only fire one at a time. The gap is too big."

One with an AK firing bursts, headshotting everything; the other single tapping with a pistol, having to carefully aim each shot - of course the latter would get wrecked instantly.

"The standard Magic Missile is too crappy, needs improving!"

Rosen opened the Spell Editor and began trying to optimize it.

"Shape a ball, infuse it with power, control its flight path, three steps of control..."

"Can I skip shaping the ball and just spin the power into a stable vortex instead?"

This way it would be just two steps, greatly lowering the difficulty and casting time.

Thinking it through, he just went for it.

There weren't many rules in the database, but after some tinkering, Rosen actually managed to create it.

Magic Missile

Spell Type: Uncommon Neutral Logic Tier 2 Spell

Spell Power: 10.34 (Lower Mid Tier)

Description: Streamlined version of Magic Missile, with major adjustments to existing structure for faster and longer range casting.

Minimum Cast Time: 0.3 seconds

Max Cast Range: 80 meters

Mana Cost: Moderate

(Note: Current mana can sustain 3 streamlined missiles continuously, but high chance of failure or even accidents without proficiency!)

How to gain proficiency?

Of course, through repeated practice.

Luckily, Rosen had the means for this.

But at the moment, he didn't feel like practicing, only improving his spells.

The Wizard's Firearm, Fire Shield, Flight and others he had created before were like blind men groping an elephant, barely serviceable.

Now with the powerful virtual machine and more spellcasting rules learned, he could properly optimize them.

It was past 10 pm already, quite late, but Rosen was still highly spirited, optimizing spell after spell.

When he really couldn't optimize any further, he began practicing.

He practiced and practiced, gradually ingraining the spells into instinct.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Rosen felt a thick wave of fatigue wash over him. He didn't push himself and closed his eyes, falling into slumber.

The week after progressed as usual.

Rosen painted during the day, cared for his master, studied at night, spending all other time tinkering with spells in the virtual machine.

As he learned more and more spellcasting rules, the machine's database grew richer.

Rosen also had more tools for improving his spells.

In short, the days passed exceptionally fulfilling.

During this time, Celandine was the same as always.

After around 11am, her temperament would greatly change, from an ice cube to a raging fire, as if wanting to melt Rosen into her embrace.

But the moment dusk hit at 6pm, she would immediately revert to a dignified, elegant lady, with every action proper, neither cold nor intimate with Rosen, maintaining a comfortable distance for both.

Though a bit unaccustomed at first, after so many days he was mentally prepared.

He just had to treat Celandine as having severe dissociative identity disorder.

On this particular night.

After the regular spellcasting lesson, Rosen returned to rest in the first floor room.

Today's lesson was simpler, so he wasn't too fatigued.

After completing the meditation homework, for some reason, he felt an abnormal excitement in spirit, his usual calming techniques greatly reduced in effect.

Not only were all kinds of thoughts boiling in his mind, he felt as if some strange power wanted to burst out from his heart.

"Something's really off today, was it too intense meditation?"

"No, the duration was basically the same as usual."

Tossing and turning for over half an hour, still not a hint of sleepiness, thoughts slightly calmer but no way he could sleep in this state, let alone enter the virtual machine.

No choice but to review the knowledge from the past days, hoping to divert his attention.

After about another hour, his thoughts gradually calmed and as sleepiness arose, there was suddenly a soft 'clack' from upstairs.

"Sounded like a window opening."

"It's still snowing outside, why open the window?"

A jolt ran through him, instantly dissolving the sleepiness.