Chapter 79: Diamond Array

After leaving the meditation space, Shaoke hurriedly began to recover his drained mental energy. He never expected such a last-minute change, because according to the third-tier mage, the spell structure would move directly beneath the diamond array under the combined force of mental power and mana, relying on the filtered mental power to sustain the array's existence. However, he didn't anticipate that the spell structure would fuse into it under the effect of a silver light, causing Shaoke's heart to race. He was deeply worried that the diamond array in his mental space might be disrupted as a result.

After recovering his mental energy, Shaoke quickly re-entered his mental space through meditation.

The turbulence in the mental space had already subsided. After checking carefully, Shaoke realized that the spatial turbulence, which usually lasted much longer, had subsided unusually fast. Moreover, the mental power within the space had increased slightly compared to before. After a quick check, Shaoke focused his attention on the diamond array floating in the air.

The diamond array had changed from its original silver color to purple, just like the array in the mana space. It had also expanded slightly, with occasional streams of silver light flowing across its surface. A large amount of mental power continuously poured into it, then slowly drifted out from below.

Shaoke only relaxed after confirming the array was still working normally, even though it was larger and the speed of refining mental power had increased.

After moving his awareness through the diamond array for a few rounds, Shaoke discovered that the spell structure of "Death Gaze" was suspended within the diamond space, relying on the absorbed mental power to maintain its operation.

This never-before-seen situation happening to him made him quite anxious. He carefully checked for changes, again and again. After finding no signs of instability, Shaoke finally withdrew from his mental space.

Shaoke thought it over for half the night but still couldn't figure out why this had happened. Even after careful inspection, he couldn't determine where that silver light had come from. Unable to find the cause and too afraid to ask anyone, he temporarily set aside this change. Shaoke reasoned that since this had already occurred, it at least seemed to be a change for the better. Moreover, when advancing to the third rank, a higher-tier array would replace this altered second-rank array. By then, even if there were hidden dangers, they would be completely eliminated.

After recovering through meditation, Shaoke tested the "Death Gaze" spell. He saw two purple diamond arrays rapidly form before his eyes—one slightly larger and one slightly smaller. Upon closer inspection, one could see streams of silver light occasionally flowing across the larger array, which looked quite eerie.

"Death Gaze." After channeling mental power into the spell structure, the spell was cast almost instantly. The target was the firewood burning in the hearth. The dancing flames suddenly froze in place, as if they were a large piece of red jade carved into an artwork.

After successfully casting the spell, Shaoke let out a sigh of relief. Although the array had undergone some changes that currently seemed beneficial, successfully casting it finally eased his initial worries. He wasn't sure if he still had the courage to attempt a second fusion.

He didn't rush to observe the spell's effect. Instead, he carefully checked his own casting consumption. This discovery nearly made Shaoke whoop and jump for joy.

He discovered that the consumption for this casting wasn't double that of similar spells, as the third-tier mage had said. Through careful observation, Shaoke found that the consumption of this spell was no greater than casting a single "Blazing Ray"—and this was an instant cast! This discovery excited him so much that he paced around the room, occasionally tugging at his cloak.

After being excited for a while, Shaoke selected another target. Unsure if he had imagined it, he cast the spell again and quickly returned to his meditation space to check. Finding that the consumption was still the same as other second-level spells, just like the first time, he finally jumped for joy.

Since arriving in this otherworld, he had been cautious and restrained, keeping his distance from the powerful. He didn't know when he would be able to secure a place for himself here. The main reason for all this was his low magical cultivation. He was no genius, nor was he from a wealthy family with access to large amounts of precious medicinal herbs for cultivation. He was merely an ordinary low-rank mage capable of practicing spells.

After realizing the consequences brought by the diamond array's mutation, Shaoke's first thought was that he no longer needed to worry about melee combatants rushing up to him. Although the casting range was short now, there were advanced versions of the same spell later! Then he wondered if he could fuse other spell structures into this diamond array. If successful, he wouldn't need to spend a lot of time practicing hand-seal techniques and various incantations, or even learning some profound magical languages. By then, as long as he devoted a significant amount of time to meditation for advancement, he probably wouldn't be much slower than those geniuses. Moreover, in future battles, sudden spell strikes would easily rob those mages chanting incantations of their tomorrows.

Excited by this thought, Shaoke couldn't help but sit down and try to outline another spell structure within his mental space, attempting to fuse it into the diamond array.

A "Fireball" structure slowly formed as mental power condensed. However, at this moment, the mental space began to fluctuate violently. After expending a great deal of mental energy, Shaoke finally managed to outline the structure with mental power. But before he could take the next step, a massive tremor erupted within the mental space, causing the spell structure to scatter and revert to its original state of mental light points.

Enduring the intense headache caused by the spatial turbulence, Shaoke forcibly used meditation to alleviate the severe fluctuations. However, before he could even outline his meditation structure, the mutated diamond array suddenly erupted with a burst of intense silver light. Shaoke felt as if a sun had suddenly appeared in his mental space.

The silver light quickly faded. Shaoke then realized that the violent spatial turbulence had calmed down, and he felt his mental space had become slightly more stable.

Perplexed by the series of changes, Shaoke inspected his mental space and found that the silver light flowing across the diamond array seemed slightly diminished and dimmer than before. After confirming no other changes elsewhere, Shaoke tentatively concluded that this silver light had calmed the violent spatial turbulence, and it was likely responsible for the current changes as well.

After exiting the meditation space, Shaoke carefully recalled what had just happened and suddenly muttered to himself, "I'm such a fool, such a fool. Only special arrays and meditation methods can be outlined in the meditation space. It never said ordinary spell structures could be outlined! If that were possible, wouldn't all those geniuses have thought of it?" Thinking this, Shaoke felt frustrated. It seemed his wish to instantly cast all spells had been shattered. Then he made a resolution: he must learn more spells that could outline structures within the space. Although this goal seemed distant, he planned to at least master all the subsequent spells of "Death Gaze," as it was the only spell he knew that could outline a structure within the mental space.

Although somewhat annoyed by his earlier foolish attempt, Shaoke felt he hadn't gained nothing. Through this incident, he discovered a shortcut that could indirectly accelerate his cultivation: general spatial turbulence often occurred after failed spellcasting or prolonged meditation. Moreover, if he took his medication too many times in a day, it could also cause spatial turbulence. Such turbulence typically lasted at least one magic hour, or even longer.

Based on his experiments, Shaoke found that spatial turbulence caused by medication usually lasted about four magic hours. As for the spatial turbulence caused by his failed attempt to outline an array in the mental space, he had thought it would take at least three to five days to recover. Unexpectedly, under the silver light's illumination, it recovered almost instantly.

Reflecting on all the changes that occurred tonight, Shaoke felt incredibly excited. He believed that even by endlessly taking those low-level medications, he could keep up with his peers who took high-level medications. This was because higher-level medications caused greater spatial turbulence when taken in excess, but he no longer needed to worry about that.

The next day, the overly excited Shaoke devoured all the hard bagels meant for breakfast in one go. Several mages standing nearby stared at him in astonishment. The young mage elected by the others gently tugged at his own gray long hair and asked uncertainly, "Mage Xueye, are you alright?"

Shaoke nodded. "Mage Roland, your concern is unnecessary. I don't think I've ever been in better condition than I am now." He flicked the crumbs stuck to his hand onto the snowy ground and said to the mages still watching him, "Hurry up and eat while you can still swallow it. Otherwise, the bread will get cold soon." After nodding, he headed toward his own carriage.

After watching Shaoke leave, Roland and the others confirmed that he seemed particularly different today, as Shaoke had never spoken to them like this before. They found this slightly cold humor both amusing and frustrating. Roland looked at the hard bread in his hand, tore off a piece fiercely, and said, "Hurry up and eat while it's still warm. Well, at least it's still chewable."

The somewhat familiar mages laughed. One even shouted, "Mage Roland, why don't you eat mine too? I'll go see if Mage Xueye's bread crumbs are softer." As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh. The accumulated silence among the mages over the past few days eased slightly that morning, something Shaoke hadn't anticipated.

After discovering the changes in the diamond array within his mental space, Shaoke experienced several waves of joy and sorrow. Once calm, he felt hesitant about replacing this second-rank array with a third-rank one. He wasn't sure if a third-rank array could compare to this mutated second-rank array. Losing the ability to instantly cast special spells would greatly reduce his combat effectiveness and deprive him of the special ability to quickly recover from spatial turbulence.

Thinking it over, Shaoke set aside this issue. He decided to consider it slowly when advancing to the third rank, hoping a solution would present itself by then.

Free from all distracting thoughts, Shaoke immersed himself completely in exploring his mental space over the next few days, hoping to discover more functions. However, until they reached their destination, he found nothing else. Along the way, Shaoke continuously took his medication. He temporarily stopped taking the Empty Stone Liquid because its effects were significantly better than the medication issued by the military, and it had a very low chance of causing spatial turbulence. He planned to save the remaining half-bottle for critical moments, either for personal use or for sale.