Above the mage

Chapter 100 Awakening Specialization

This was the first time Gaode had ever seen such a massive ley line creature, and also the first time he had ever witnessed a level 2 ley line creature in person.

He felt both shocked and somewhat moved.

The shock comes from the incredible size and strength of the purple worm, creating an exaggerated visual effect.

It feels like a science fiction movie unfolding in real life.

The lament is that the flaws of such giant ley line creatures are too obvious and fatal.

They are so large that they move very slowly.

At the same time, because of its large size, it becomes too obvious a target.

Therefore, they have virtually no way to dodge magical attacks and can only choose to take them head-on.

If you can withstand it, you are invincible—if you can't break through its defenses, what can you do to it?

Those who couldn't withstand it were like this purple worm, being wantonly toyed with by the 2nd-rank mage, Vilsha.

This thing looks scary, but among the creatures of the second ring, its combat strength should be among the lowest.

The sudden appearance of the purple worms resulted in the deaths of five people, including an unfortunate mage apprentice.

But this did not cause much of a stir.

The people of this world have a kind of commonplace attitude towards death that they never had in their previous lives.

Human life is like a mustard.

Gao De still felt some strange emotions.

A soul born from an era of order cannot, in the end, become indifferent to life in a short period of time.

But Gaode found that he was gradually integrating into this atmosphere and learning to accept this environment.

People always have to adapt to their environment.

Next, the guards hastily tidied up the temporary camp, which had become chaotic due to the appearance of the purple worms.

Several more guards stepped forward and dissected the purple worm along the cracks in the keratinous carapace of its corpse.

Half an hour later, the guards dug out the corpses of the five unlucky men who had been swallowed by the purple worms.

Less than an hour after being swallowed, the bodies of these five people had already decomposed beyond recognition.

It's not surprising, considering that the stomach of purple worms can even corrode and digest skin and armor, let alone human flesh.

After the guards quickly searched their belongings, they found an open space, dug a hole, and buried them together.

As for the belongings found, they will be returned to the deceased's family when we return.

This is already quite humane.

If you can't bring the body back, at least bring the belongings back so that people can remember you.

Harvest month, 9th.

Last night's accident will not affect the continuation of the land reclamation.

The task was still to clear away the earth vein creatures inhabiting the dense forests on both sides of the official road in batches.

Everyone was very familiar with the whole process.

"We're so far from Hogan's ley lines that we shouldn't normally encounter level 2 ley line creatures."

"Fortunately, it was Mage Velsa who led the team this time, otherwise it wouldn't have been as simple as just five people dying."

Maciej, a rather talkative mage, remarked to the group before any leyline creatures were discovered.

"Mage Velsa is a battle mage, and she has been a 2nd-circle mage for over ten years, which is why she was able to take down a 2nd-circle ley line creature so easily."

When he talked about Velsa, his face was full of admiration.

"Battle Mage? Why is there such a distinction, and what is the basis for it?"

This is the sixth day of clearing the land.

The members of this temporary team have become quite familiar with each other.

Upon hearing Marchey speak up, someone immediately followed suit and started a new topic.

Maciej doesn't mind sharing some "common sense" knowledge with everyone.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it; it's something you usually only encounter after advancing to the first ring," Maciej explained.

Apart from him, everyone else in the team was a mage apprentice.

"After each successful upgrade, a mage will randomly awaken a special ability."

"This special ability can target a single spell, enhancing only the power of that spell."

"It could be aimed at a specific type of spell. For example, it could grant certain buffs when casting Protection spells, enhance the effects of summoning spells, or increase the power of all damage-type spells."

"It could also be a universal enhancement that applies to all spells, such as reducing the casting time of all spells or increasing the casting range of spells, etc."

"Or it could be a personal enhancement, such as increasing one's resistance to certain elements, improving one's reaction speed, improving one's skill with a certain type of weapon, or even simply and directly increasing one's mana and mental strength."

"It could even be an enhancement to skills, such as increasing the success rate or speed of crafting alchemical items."

"It could also be some strange and unusual auxiliary effects, such as increasing your cultivation speed."

"In addition, it can also directly grant you mastery of a particular peculiar spell."

"In short, any special ability you can think of, and even those you can't, may appear when it awakens."

"These diverse, varied, and incredibly magical special abilities are collectively referred to as specialties."

There is no universally accepted standard for the level of a skill, after all, it is extremely difficult to find two identical skills in the world.

"However, based on the effectiveness of the expertise, it can be divided into several types."

"These are combat feats, creation feats, metamagic feats, support feats, and special feats."

"Among them, feats that can significantly enhance a mage's combat power are classified as combat feats."

"Once you awaken your combat specialization and learn multiple damage spells, becoming proficient in combat, you can be called a combat mage."

While these were just trivial common sense to Maciej, they were extremely valuable knowledge to the wild mages in the team who had not yet entered the realm of formal mages.

Everyone listened with great interest.

"Each time a mage advances through the rings, they gain a random feat. As a 2nd-ring mage, it is said that both of the feats that Mage Velsa has awakened are combat feats."

"So even within the enforcement team, she's a top-tier battle mage."

At this point, everyone finally understood why Maciej had remarked that it was fortunate that Velsa was leading the team.

"You said the awakening of a special ability is random, does that mean it's all based on luck?"

"Doesn't that mean a wild mage could awaken a specialty far surpassing that of a genius mage?"

"Or perhaps even a genius mage might awaken a useless specialization? Wouldn't that be incredibly frustrating for those exceptionally talented mages?"

Suddenly, someone in the group asked a question that Gaode Maps was also considering.

"It's certainly not wrong to call it random, but it's not completely random; it should be called pseudo-random." Maciej shook his head and explained in detail:

"What special ability you awaken is definitely uncontrollable, so it's random."

"However, the specialization of awakening is also related to the knowledge, magic, and even the guidance and meditation techniques that the monk himself possesses."

"How does that relate to something?" Still unable to grasp the concept of expertise, another person couldn't help but ask.

Marchie didn't lose his patience and continued, "To give you a few simple examples, if all the spells you know are utility spells and you don't know any damage spells, then you basically won't awaken a combat feat."

"If you have mastered multiple Protection spells and have your own unique understanding of their application, there is a high probability that you will awaken a Super Magic Feat of Protection spells."

"Or, if you are an outstanding alchemist whose knowledge of alchemy far surpasses that of other knowledge, you are very likely to awaken the Creation Specialty."

"In short, based on experience, there is a consensus that the more and deeper a mage's spells are, the more extensive their knowledge, and the stronger their magical and spiritual power, the higher the likelihood that they will awaken a powerful specialization of a certain type."

"So it's called random, but it's actually randomness within a controllable range."

"Those genius mages, whether in terms of knowledge or spells, far surpass ordinary mages, so in 99% of cases, the specialties they awaken will also be exceptionally powerful."

"I see." This thought crossed the minds of everyone present, not just the person who asked the question.

Everyone seemed to be deep in thought, and subconsciously began to consider what specialization they would awaken after advancing to the first-ring mage level, given their own circumstances.

(End of this chapter)