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Chapter 2: Status
Chapter 2: Status
After a long wait, the Biological Assistance Chip finally completed its first self-test.
Soon, all of Leon’s basic attributes were projected in his mind.
"Leon"
Race: Human
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Condition: Healthy
HP: 11/11
Apprentice Mage [Beginner]
Experience: 614/1000
"Attributes"
Strength: 4
Agility: 4
Constitution: 3
Spirit: 8
"Skills:"
1. Copy Document
2. Spell Reading
"
Personal Abilities"
1. Burning Hand
In this world, every normal human being was born with some basic attributes in their body. After years of research and rankings conducted by generations upon generations of Mages, they finally categorized these into four different attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Spirit. As one might guess, Mages were distinguished based on these four basic attributes.
Strength was primarily used to quantify a person’s musculature and bodily power. This attribute was very important for close-combat Mages. The strength attribute affected base damage when using melee weapons and also influenced melee accuracy.
For an average man, having 3 to 4 strength was quite normal. An adult with 5 strength would be considered rather strong.
Agility was used to quantify coordination, flexibility, reflexes, and body balance. It was extremely vital for those warriors who wore light or medium armor, or for rogues wearing leather armor and for anyone aspiring to become a skilled archer.
Constitution represented a person’s health and resilience. Any increase in constitution would improve a person’s Vitality and Concentration. Therefore, it was very important for all professions.
Vitality, also known as the ability to withstand poison or disease.
Concentration. This is a very important skill for sorcerers.
The minimum constitution for any human is 1. If a human’s constitution dropped below 1, they would die.
Spirit determined a person’s capacity to learn and deduce. This attribute was especially important for Mages because it decided the number of spells a Mage could cast. It also made casting spells easier and increased the power of their spells.
Most animals had a Spirit of 1 or 2, while human-like creatures would have at least 3. If a common human wanted to become a Mage, they would need to have at least 21 Spirit.
After analyzing the effects of these attributes for Mages, Leon decided that the most important attribute for himself was Spirit. Once his Spirit reached 21, he would soar to new heights, officially becoming a Mage.
The only way for him to increase his Spirit was through constant meditation, reading spell books and notebooks, and listening to the experiences of other veteran Mages.
However, all of this was simply in front of him but out of his reach!
Because, in this dark and cruel world of Mages, knowledge equaled power and was therefore difficult to find.
Why did so many Apprentice Mages ignore the risks and remain in this place, even knowing there was great danger waiting for them everywhere? Simply put, it was because this was the only place where they could seek knowledge and resources for growth.
Once they left this tall tower of magic, even if they possessed a fortune equivalent to a country’s wealth, they would have no way of obtaining magical knowledge and experience. Not like here, where they could obtain it systematically.
In this fearsome world of Mages, all extraordinary spell skills and precious magical knowledge were monopolized by the Mages. It was completely impossible for common mortals to access them!
Therefore, knowledge and resources were the wings for any Mage to fly toward their dream. Only by being a Mage could one have a bright future.
After reading the basic attributes, Leon shifted his focus to the ’skills’ and ’personal ability’ sections.
Leon only had two skills: Copy Document and Spell Reading. These were basic skills for all Apprentice Mages.
One allowed apprentices to copy the magical knowledge they needed to learn, and the other allowed the user to read magical books.
If a common man touched a magical book without having the "Spell Reading" skill, their mind would become confused by the words due to the supernatural power of the letters, and they would lose control of their body for a period of time.
Only those, like Apprentice Mages, who had undergone strict mental training could overcome this psychic effect and access the true magical knowledge hidden within the book.
The only skill listed under personal abilities was ’Burning Hand.’ This was the sole offensive magical skill Leon had learned in his 6 years as an Apprentice Mage. Burning Hand created a small ball of fire in the palm, allowing him to burn anyone who came too close.
Unfortunately, Leon was still an Apprentice Mage. There was no way to fully master any spell. All he could do was follow the type of element that suited him best and try his utmost.
And, of course, the element he had the greatest affinity with was fire!
Unfortunately, this affinity was not well-regarded within the walls of this tall tower in the swamp. As everyone knew, the Grand Master Eclivel’s elemental affinities were Darkness and Wind. Leon’s path was not compatible with his mentor’s, making it much more difficult for him to receive guidance. Thus, most of the time, he had to rely on himself and study even more.
In fact, this issue had been troubling Leon ever since he arrived in this world, but now that the Biological Assistance Chip had reactivated, Leon firmly believed he could find a suitable magical path for himself in the coming days.
As for "Experience," after Leon read the chip’s related information, he began to gain a basic understanding of what it was. Through the process of organizing Leon’s past memories and knowledge, the Biological Assistance Chip identified two necessary conditions for Leon to advance and become a Mage.
First, without a doubt, his Spirit needed to reach the minimum level for a Mage.
For example, Leon’s Spirit Attribute was 8. This meant that he was a "wise man," much more intelligent than common people, but to advance and become a true Mage, he needed his Spirit Attribute to reach 21. That was a gap of 13 points. This could not be rushed. He would have to read a mountain of magical books to reach that level.
Secondly, his own "Experience" had to reach a certain threshold as well.
This meant that after Leon raised his Spirit Attribute to 21, he still needed to somehow elevate his Experience to the maximum level. Only then could he officially advance. He needed to accomplish both to become a Mage.
There were many methods for gaining experience points. For instance, Copying Documents, Spell Reading, spending time practicing spells, crafting magical wands, identifying magical items... In short, any accumulation of knowledge involving magic would grant Leon a certain amount of Experience Points.
All of this seemed easy, but it was actually quite difficult to accumulate Experience Points.
Because only successful experiments or complete understanding of magic could grant Experience Points. Only after Leon fully read and mastered a magical book could he understand its use. If he read a book and still could not grasp the knowledge within, how could he grow?
It was always easier said than done. Even with the help of the Biological Assistance Chip, Leon still needed to work hard to get what he wanted.
Just as Leon was lost in his contemplative thoughts, the sound of footsteps came from the hallway outside his room.
"Leon, hurry up, it’s our turn to do the tasks!" A rough voice called from outside his door.
It was Nolan, an Apprentice Mage who was at the same level as Leon.
Lower-level apprentices like them had to inspect the grounds surrounding the tower every seven days to search for magical materials and harvest them properly. This was also one of the daily tasks assigned to the apprentices by the tower’s master.
Leon hurriedly tidied up his room, grabbed a black cloak hanging on the wall, opened the door, and stepped out of the room.
Nolan had broad shoulders, a huge frame, a fierce face, and long disheveled hair. All of this made him look somewhat like a barbarian. It was said that he came from a kingdom in the Highlands of Grimm. According to rumors, people born in that land possessed barbarian lineage.
Neither of them said anything when they met outside. They simply exchanged nods, then turned and walked down the dark hallway toward a staircase.
Although it was daytime now, they did not encounter any other apprentices along the way. There were more than fifty official apprentices living in the tower, but most of the time, these apprentices were busy practicing their own magical spells or preparing all sorts of strange magical experiments. They rarely spoke in public places.
This was one of the main reasons why this swamp tower always seemed so quiet.
After walking through the long, dark hallway and descending the spiral stone staircase, they reached the main hall on the first level of the tower. Here, they finally encountered more people, as this was the space for the Approved Apprentices.
Most of these people were actually children, between 8 and 14 years old, and there were about twenty of them.
These young fellows came from all over, and they were all here with the dream of becoming the greatest Mage. But little did they know, the path to becoming a Mage was incredibly difficult and terrifying, and this path was all that awaited them in their future.
In fact, there was a strict separation of the population in this tower. Generally, most of these children only had about 3 to 5 Spirit Points. Therefore, they were not currently considered real Apprentice Mages and could only be addressed as Approved Apprentices.
All Approved Apprentices had to complete their basic training in language and writing. Additionally, they could only advance when they managed to sense their elemental affinity and gather Elementium while meditating. Only then would they have a chance to move up to the second floor and become an official Apprentice Mage.
As for those who could never reach this basic requirement, they would be eliminated.
Helping these young friends complete their meditation, teaching them language and writing skills, and instilling in them the basic rules of the magical world... of course, it was impossible for the Grand Master Mage to carry out these low-level tasks. Thus, it became part of the daily routine for official Apprentice Mages in the tower.
But such an easy daily task never fell into Leon’s hands.
After saying ’Hi’ to Ertil, who was teaching these Approved Apprentices in his language class, both men ignored the eager gazes of these young fellows and went straight to the main hall, quickly arriving at a tightly closed stone door.
Nolan placed his right palm against the stone door and spoke in a low voice, "Curium • Ada."
Following the completion of the secret spell, the old-looking stone door slowly slid to both sides, revealing the dark and mysterious swamp outside the tower to the two of them.
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