Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Direction of Improvement
Slowly retracting his scattered thoughts, Lide organized his ideas for improvement once more.
According to the characteristics of the Small Fireball Skill, he identified three directions.
The first was to continue increasing the power of the Small Fireball Skill, transforming the spell into a high-powered heavy weapon.
The second was to maintain the current power but increase the projectile speed of the Fireball Technique, to compensate for this shortcoming.
The third was to reduce the power of the Small Fireball Skill, while increasing casting speed and projectile speed.
It could be said that each route had its own advantages, but wanting all of them was impossible; Lide had a clear understanding that his current accumulation of spells was not yet sufficient to reach such a level of improvement.
Bloodline members were now all above Level 5, and almost every mage had learned the Big Fireball Skill, so continuing to increase the power of the Small Fireball Skill was not very necessary; additional increases would hardly surpass the Big Fireball Skill.
The second point was undoubtedly the most ideal, but the difficulty was too great. Lide, having improved Mage’s Hand, knew how hard it was to enhance power while maintaining the original state.
From the original 30 Magic Nodes of Mage’s Hand to the 90 Magic Nodes after improvements was evident.
Moreover, the Magic Consumption of Mage’s Hand had increased by 50%, which was nearly a non-issue for him, a Blood Clan Ancestor with ample magic power.
But for a first-level spell, it was still too high; the power increased, but the cost-effectiveness decreased, which was also why he had not promoted Mage’s Hand among the Bloodline.
Personally, he leaned more toward the third point, reducing the power of the Fireball Technique, increasing the speed of the fireball’s trajectory and casting, and simultaneously reducing the consumption of magic power.
Reducing the power of the Small Fireball Skill to gain faster casting speed and projectile speed was entirely acceptable to Lide.
Why, in modern warfare, was the machine gun the most dreaded by infantry? Because the ceaseless suppressive fire from the enemy made it impossible to raise one’s head.
If he could release three or even more Small Fireballs in one second, transforming the Small Fireball Skill into a magical version of a Gatling gun, even if the power was slightly reduced, it would still be enough to astound the enemy.
At that time, what did it matter if the power was small? It would still bring them face to face with the undead.
Of course, this was only his preliminary conception; to truly achieve the goal, it would likely require continuous trials and countless failures.
The night is the most powerful weapon gifted to the Bloodline by the Night Goddess; members of the Bloodline with unique bloodlines see a significant enhancement in all their abilities after nightfall.
Lide, this Blood Clan Ancestor with the Talent Specialization of Magic Affinity, could feel more intuitively just how strong the enhancements brought by the night were.
Magic power almost condensed into mist around him.
He closed his eyes and entered the Spiritual Sea.
The improvement of the Small Fireball Skill officially began.
Having the experience from researching Mage’s Hand, the initiation this time was relatively smooth. As per the rules, he first numbered the 50 Magic Nodes from 1 to 50.
It must be said that although only twenty more Magic Nodes were added, the complexity of the magic model of the Small Fireball Skill was several levels higher than that of Mage’s Hand.
If the Magic Nodes of Mage’s Hand were arranged in order from 1 to 30, those of the Small Fireball Skill were shuffled, like 1-32-18-47, with no fixed sequence.
To change a spell, the most fundamental point is to understand the role of each Magic Node within this magic model, whether amplifying power, stabilizing the model, speeding up magic power circulation, or saving magic power.
It was almost impossible for unnecessary Magic Nodes to appear on such a mature first-level spell like the Small Fireball Skill.
Countless mages would choose the Small Fireball Skill as their first spell upon becoming official mages; over the long span of time, countless powerful mages had already refined this spell.
Lide was mentally prepared that improving this spell was not likely to go as smoothly as with Mage’s Hand.
But as a man of action, he did not hesitate overly, and immediately began.
Relying on his strong magic affinity, he gradually reduced the magic power input required to activate the Small Fireball Skill’s magic model from 8 points to 7, then to 6, 5, and 4, until he could no longer reduce it beyond 3 points.
Before the improvement of Mage’s Hand, the extreme limit he could control was using two points of magic power to operate the magic model of Mage’s Hand.
The Small Fireball Skill had 20 more magic nodes than Mage’s Hand, and compressing it to 3 points of magic power was already the extreme; reducing it further was almost impossible.
After several experiments, Lide realized that 3 points of magic power was the critical value for the magic model of the Small Fireball Skill, and he decisively abandoned the plan to further compress magic power.
For a spell with 50 magic nodes, being able to operate the spell model with just 3 points of magic power was already incredibly unbelievable, if it could truly be activated with two points like Mage’s Hand, then he must have broken through a level.
But he could accept 3 points of magic power, as the backlash from a 3-point collapse wouldn’t greatly affect him.
Next step.
Dismantling magic nodes.
The most direct method to understand the use of each magic node was to dismantle them—what happens when a magic node in a magic model is split? Can it be activated, will it collapse, does the magic consumption increase or decrease, and what state would the released spell be in?
The answers to these questions could all be obtained by dismantling magic nodes.
The magic model of the Small Fireball Skill was a completely new topic, entirely different from the Magic Hand in terms of operation rules and the arrangement of magic nodes.
However, faced with unfamiliar challenges, Lide was even more intrigued. Exploring unknown magic, gradually uncovering the mysterious veil of magic, this feeling made him feel obsessed.
It was like slowly lifting the hem of his goddess’s long gown, little by little exploring that forbidden and mysterious realm, filled with a peculiar thrill and longing.
First, he began dismantling the magic nodes.
Label 1, which was the beginning of the Small Fireball Skill. Lide directed the magic power directly to the second magic node, bypassing node number 1.
As the magic power was transferred, the magic nodes of the Small Fireball Skill lit up one by one, emitting a pale blue light.
The bypassed node 1 seemed to have little connection with the entire magic model; the magic power flowed smoothly into node 50.
Just as the last node lit up with blue light, the previously stable magic nodes instantly collapsed.
Lide didn’t even have time to react before he felt a slight pain in his brain, like the sting of a needle.
The feeling of magic rebound was not pleasant.
Lide frowned and picked up a goose feather pen to record the recent experimental data in his notebook in the common language of the continent,
Removing node 1 made the magic model unsustainable, and it was highly likely that node 1’s role was to stabilize and connect the entire model.
Failure in the process of spell improvement was almost as normal as breathing; he didn’t feel any emotional fluctuations, though the backlash from the Small Fireball was almost twice that of the collapse of the Mage’s Hand model, which was slightly beyond his expectations.
However, for him who possessed a talent specializing in magic affinity, it was still well within his tolerance range, unless he failed hundreds or thousands of times in a row, a mere 3 points of magic rebound would not cause him significant damage.
Once the pain in his brain eased, Lide began testing node 2.
The experiment continues~
Overlooking Green City, in its southern district, the sharp-pointed vermilion Mage Tower reflected speckles of crimson under the moonlight, particularly conspicuous against the night sky.
On the seventh floor, the dim Magic Lamp shone through the glass windows, casting a warm yellow glow in the dark Green City, like a lighthouse on a lonely island.
Filled with mystery and allure.