Colin pushed open the wooden door and walked into the hall.
Directly opposite the wooden door was a massive stone slab. Text ford from points of light appeared on its surface, like an announcent board.
"Test Station Five, occupied. Test Station Six... Test Station Twenty-One, available." After finding an open spot, Colin turned from the slab and entered the public research hall behind it.
The layout here was similar to the workstation area of a corporate office or a graduate student lab.
Along the right wall of the hall were over a hundred individual cubicles, each partitioned by stone slabs.
Most of these cubicles were occupied by apprentices, toiling away with their heads down. Everyone was so busy they hardly had ti to look up.
Colin found an empty cubicle and sat down. Inside was just a desk and chair, a small, perpetually glowing lamp, and so tools for processing Casting Materials, such as flasks, alcohol lamps, a mortar, and a pestle.
He then took out the materials he had prepared for the day.
Gemstone dust, sulfur powder, bat wings... in short, a whole pile of strange and bizarre items.
Colin stretched.
For the past month, he had spent several hours here almost every day—even more ti than he spent reading in the Great Do.
After taking a deep breath, Colin opened his notebook and quickly got into the zone.
’I used to think I was definitely on the path to becoming a Mage. But after starting my studies at the Black Tower, I’m not so sure anymore.’
’Because Magic requires research, and so far, I’ve only learned the most basic theoretical knowledge. I’ve only just begun to learn how to research and study Magic on my own.’
’To use a combat analogy, I used to be like a rcenary using Firearms. I could fight with Firearms, and I was pretty good at it. But the Mages who do research in the Black Tower are like the designers who study the principles of Firearms. They can create and design Firearms suitable for combat in all conditions, and they can use them with complete mastery themselves. The difference between the two is self-evident. And that comparison is only in terms of combat.’
It could be said that the ability to systematically study and research Magic was the key factor distinguishing a Wild Mage from a proper Mage. An insurmountable chasm lay between them.
After reviewing his notes and his personal training thods, Colin took a deep breath.
He stood up and looked at the testing area opposite the cubicles, happening to see a vacant spot.
Colin grabbed his materials and headed over.
To put it simply, the testing area was a firing range. The outer section was divided by partitions into individual preparation areas, and beyond them was a large firing zone.
There was nothing inside the firing zone itself, only so invisible and intangible Defense Magic.
Colin took out a small, perforated glass vial and poured so powder into his palm.
These were the materials he had just finished preparing back at his research station—substances that could help a user create a ripple in the Magic Net.
Just like when learning from a Scroll, using these materials during Casting made the ripples in the Magic Net more distinct. This allowed the user to have a clearer Perception of the fluctuations, which in turn helped them optimize their casting thods.
It was worth ntioning that these substances capable of causing ripples in the Magic Net were all discovered and cataloged through the research of countless Mages.
However, the effects of the sa materials varied from person to person, and could even differ for the sa person on subsequent uses. The sa Magic could also be cast with different Spells and materials. A Shaman from a Barbarian Tribe, for instance, would surely cast Flaming Arrow differently than a Magic Professor would.
This was where the room for optimization ca from.
So far, all of Colin’s research had been related to combat.
Specifically, this line of research focused on a particular Magic, with the goals of simplifying its Spell, increasing its power, and increasing its Casting Speed.
Colin clenched the materials in his palm.
He recited the Spell and cast into the training area.
Colin frowned, concentrating hard on omitting a syllable from the Flaming Arrow Spell.
Normally, doing so would cause the Magic to fail, one hundred percent of the ti.
But a red Fla still burst forth from Colin’s palm. He then threw the ball of fire forward, watching the Flaming Arrow strike the marble wall and be slowly absorbed.
’I guess that counts as a success.’
Colin breathed a sigh of relief.
With this, his Speed in casting Flaming Arrow would be just a little bit faster.
Just as shaving a single second off one’s ti in a sprint is a monuntal task, the simpler the Cantrips, the harder they were to optimize and upgrade.
After all, for thousands of years, countless Mage Apprentices had learned how to research Magic by optimizing Cantrips. These common Cantrips had long been optimized to their absolute limits.
For the past month, he had basically been optimizing his own Cantrips while also trying to practice his ability to cast High-tier Magic.
While conducting his research, Colin also noticed that the Skill Level of his Casting Skills was steadily increasing, and his Casting Ability had improved as well—he could now cast Tier Two Magic three tis a day, one more ti than before!
The Skill Level for his Casting Skills on his Panel had also reached 1676/2000.
An increase of over two hundred and ninety points in just over a month—that was much faster than practicing on his own.
However, this thod of practice had one huge drawback...
It was very, very expensive.
Colin glanced at the small glass vial in his hand.
In this month alone, he had spent over seventy Gold Coins on materials.
The cost of materials was not included in the tuition fee.
The sky-high two-hundred-Gold-Coin tuition fee he had heard about back in the slums was rely the ticket to get on the Mage’s path.
And this was just the bare minimum for materials. A Mage’s research budget was basically unlimited—the more, the better.
Furthermore, the stronger one’s personal Casting Ability beca, the more research funding was required. After all, the ripples in the Magic Net caused by cheap materials would eventually beco insufficient.
At this thought, Colin sighed.
Although he wanted to stop researching Magic and just get by with the Magic and Skill Level provided by his Task Log, he knew that was impossible.
Most High-tier Mages needed to research and improve the Magic they had mastered. A basic requirent to be considered a Legendary Mage was to have created a Magic of one’s own, and on top of that, they also had to be able to use at least one Tier Nine Magic.
These were feats that could only be achieved through researching Magic. The Skill Level Colin gained from his tasks could, at best, help him build a solid foundation, but it could never help him research and create his own Magic.
Besides, the ability to steadily advance one’s skills and learn a vast amount of Magic through research was the defining characteristic and strength of a Mage.
Colin couldn’t bring himself to give up this chance to improve just because of money.
’In this world, I suppose only the rich can truly afford to learn Magic. It’s just too difficult for a Wild Mage like .’
Even as he had this thought, Colin rallied his spirits and began his Casting experints again.
He perford his Casting again and again, analyzing the results each ti, until he had completely drained all his Spiritual Power and couldn’t even cast a single Cantrip.
By then, a little over fifty minutes had passed.
Colin then packed up his things, left the public research hall, and headed ho.
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