Chapter 65: After Transcription

Shaoke had already tried interpreting the second-level spell structure once. This time, after fully recovering his mental power and mana, he once again began interpreting the spell structure of "Blazing Ray." Building on his previous failed attempt, he persisted for half again as long as before, only stopping when his mana was completely drained. Fortunately, the scribe of this scroll had infused it with mental power, and the power infused was far from reaching the scroll material's limit; otherwise, the duration of his interpretation would have been even shorter.

After the failed interpretation, Shaoke immediately entered deep meditation to recover his depleted mental power and mana, then resumed the interpretation. After countless failures, he gradually began to sense the unique magical fluctuations of the second-level spell structure. After failing again, he closed his eyes and quietly recalled that peculiar magical fluctuation, and began adjusting his own magical fluctuations during the next attempt, hoping to match the spell structure's fluctuations. Only then could he truly interpret the complete construction of the spell structure.

The repeated failures began to excite Shaoke. After nearly a hundred failures, he finally discovered the method for adjusting mental or mana fluctuations when interpreting spells. After another round of meditation to recover his mental power, mana, and state of mind, Shaoke decided to take a short nap before attempting to interpret the spell structure again, aiming for success in one go.

Shaoke carefully adjusted the fluctuations of his mana and mental power, slowly integrating them into the spell structure before him. Immersed in the process, he suddenly felt as though the spell structure had come to life. The lines forming the structure slowly shifted across the parchment. Shaoke watched these changes intently, as he had never encountered such a phenomenon when interpreting first-level spells.

Focused on the shifting structure, Shaoke failed to notice his mana draining rapidly. Just as he was becoming engrossed, his mental power abruptly withdrew from the structure, and the shifting of the spell formation vanished.

It was only then that Shaoke came to his senses. Realizing his mana was completely depleted, he quickly sat on the wooden floor covered with a thick carpet to meditate and recover his mana. He didn’t want his already small mana space to shrink further.

Little did he know, his method of interpreting spells was one of the most mentally and mana-intensive approaches. Many stubborn mages, unwilling to spend extra gold coins, had stumbled upon this method by accident. However, its effects were far superior to the publicly known methods for interpreting high-level spell structures, as it allowed for a clear observation of how the spell structure operated, indirectly enhancing his understanding of spellcasting—something not observable with the publicly disclosed methods.

In truth, if he had given some common gold coins to the mage attendants here, they would have gladly shared the method already disclosed among high-rank mages, saving Shaoke a great deal of unnecessary time. But it was because Shaoke had already listened to the female mage Wodun's explanation that he believed grasping the fluctuations was the key to interpreting these structures, leading him to waste so much time.

The work that followed became much easier. After recovering his mental power and mana again, Shaoke carefully used his discovered method to interpret the second-level spell structure diagram before him. This time, he successfully interpreted the structure just before his mana ran out. Overjoyed, Shaoke pumped his fist in excitement before happily copying the spell in its entirety.

The spell’s name, creator, the language in which it was most powerful, the required meditation method for casting, the necessary hand gestures, and finally, using lamb blood mixed with special drugs, he carefully drew the complete structure of the spell in the blank spaces of his spellbook. Since the scroll didn’t detail any special techniques for casting this spell, Shaoke left a blank space before writing his name, the location where he copied the spell, and the approximate time.

The successful interpretation of the first second-level spell provided valuable experience for the next two spells. Although the meditation method for the special-class spell "Death Gaze" was quite complex, its structure was much simpler than that of "Blazing Ray." Shaoke easily copied it into his spellbook, but to cast it successfully would require a great deal of practice. After all, requiring a second-rank mage to use a third-level spell’s meditation method during casting caused a great many mages to give up.

After successfully copying these second-level spells into his spellbook, Shaoke began familiarizing himself with their structures, hand gestures, memorizing the tongue-twisting incantations, and practicing the meditation methods, which were far more complex than those for first-level spells.

During this time, Shaoke also asked the mage attendants who delivered his meals to bring him some necessary books. Additionally, he copied down the meditation method required for advancing to the third rank. After speaking with the attendant, he learned that if he wanted a better formation than the one provided for advancement, he would need to pay her five hundred common gold coins. Shaoke hesitated for a long time before gritting his teeth and making the deal, as he had learned that this better method could maximally preserve his already diminished constitution during advancement.

One day, while practicing dual-hand gesture techniques, Shaoke heard a knock at the door. Still somewhat out of it, he wondered why someone was knocking when he hadn’t called for anyone.

Opening the door, he found a mage attendant. The female mage attendant entered, looked Shaoke over, and smiled. "Sir mage, there’s only one day left of the month you’ve been staying here. As per your instructions, I’ve come to remind you."

Shaoke shook his head. "Has it been that long already? Alright, you may leave. I’ll pack up and prepare to go." He planned to practice his dual-hand gesture techniques a bit longer before leaving.

But the female attendant shook her head and pointed at Shaoke. "Are you planning to leave looking like this? Look! How long has it been since you’ve washed or combed your hair? Why not let me tidy you up here?" She raised her hand, showing the grooming tools she had already prepared.

Shaoke scratched his head, feeling his hair almost matted together. His face reddening with embarrassment, he said, "Then... then I’ll trouble you."

The female mage smiled, walked to the side of the large bed, and gently pulled the wall-mounted lamp outward. "Let’s go down this corridor. There’s a large bathing pool there where you can receive the best and most satisfactory service."

A soft click sounded from the mechanism, and the wall beside the large bed slowly slid inward, revealing a dimly lit passage. The female mage beckoned. "Follow me. Don’t worry, no mage will come to this room before your reserved time is up."

Shaoke hesitated briefly. Seeing a few disheveled mages occasionally passing through the short corridor, he felt reassured and followed her. After turning a corner, he saw even more mages—some disheveled, and many, like him, emitting a foul odor.

The mage attendant walked ahead and pushed open a room. "Mage, please come in. We’ll groom you in this room." She stepped aside, gesturing for Shaoke to enter first.

Shaoke asked uncertainly, "Didn’t you say there was a large bathing pool? Is it in this room?"

The mage attendant chuckled and pulled Shaoke inside. "Did you really want to bathe there? Besides, going there looking like this would easily make you the center of attention. You can bathe here too. If you really want to go there, I’ll need to tidy your hair first." After pulling Shaoke inside, she closed the door.

This room was about half the size of the transcription room. Against the inner wall was a large bed occupying roughly half the space, and beside it was a small pool filled with hot water. The steaming vapor made Shaoke feel as though he had returned to the Misty Forest for a moment.

The mage attendant pulled Shaoke to a slightly lower-backed chair and reached to undo his cloak. Shaoke stopped her. "I’ll do it myself." The mage attendant grabbed his hand and smiled. "No need. Didn’t I say you’d receive the best service here? Leave everything to me." With that, she busied herself.

Looking at the full-length glass mirror before him, Shaoke felt as though he were in a barbershop from his previous life. However, the barber wasn’t an ordinary person but a female mage of the same rank as him. "Why did you come here to work as an attendant? It must take up a lot of your time for magical practice."

The mage attendant picked up a small pair of scissors and began trimming his hair. "If I had enough gold coins, I definitely wouldn’t be here. Working as an attendant here, if I’m lucky, I might catch the eye of some high-rank mage and receive guidance on magical issues. Actually, you can earn a lot of gold coins here. Using them to buy auxiliary training materials can make advancement faster than for ordinary mages."

Shaoke smiled helplessly. "Are you a mage who advanced from the border? There are so many female mages here, but they’re rarely seen outside."

The attendant shook her head. "I’m not a mage who returned from the border. I came here right after leaving the academy. Very few mages from the border work here; they don’t want to." As she spoke, her face slowly reddened. "Actually, there are many services here that female mages find unacceptable."

Shaoke closed his eyes and waited quietly for her to finish trimming his hair. His long-term irregular diet had left him feeling extremely weak—weaker than when he had first advanced to second-tier mage. This was despite consistently taking the freely provided constitution-boosting medicine during this period. Otherwise, he wondered if he’d start panting after just a few steps.

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