Above the mage

Chapter 173 Comparison

【Cat Claw Technique】(Change Type, 0 Ring):

The caster awakens their wild side, manifesting in their hands. Damage dealt with unarmed attacks is greatly increased during the spell's duration (up to one minute).

Additionally, unarmed attacks during the spell's duration are considered magical attacks.

The spell will end when the spell is cast again or when a weapon is picked up.

Gaode was somewhat helpless.

No wonder Master Ral was so decisive.

It turns out there was another "pitfall" waiting for me.

How should I put this spell?

It certainly deserves the title of rare.

After all, strictly speaking, its damage cap can exceed that of ordinary spells by a great deal.

Generally, the damage from damaging spells is a one-time event.

For example, the damage caused by fire arrows and freezing rays is equal to the power of the spell.

However, [Cat Claw] is a damage-over-time spell, meaning that the damage it can cause should be equal to: the number of effective attacks during the spell's duration * the spell's power.

In theory, this spell can deal damage equivalent to casting several or even dozens of spells with only one spell's mana cost.

The problem is that this is only theoretical.

In most cases, the Cat Claw spell is a useless spell for mages.

Firstly, because [Cat Claw] is a melee spell that applies a "magic" effect to both hands.

Therefore, you need to be able to touch the other person for the spell to take effect.

This is already a significant limitation.

Secondly, the skill threshold for this spell is too high.

One needs at least a certain level of fighting and movement skills to unleash the full potential of the [Cat Claw Technique].

How many mages would bother to learn combat and movement techniques?

Anyway, learning spells isn't difficult for me, so I'll just start learning them. Even if they only end up on the spell list as decorations, it can still be considered as accumulating foundation for awakening my specialization in the future. I'll quickly adjust my mindset.

With the improved composite rune diagram in hand, Gao De arrived at the rune workshop located on the third floor of Gavin Building.

Surprisingly, there was someone standing outside the rune workshop today.

He was a handsome, tall, and elegantly dressed young monk.

He saw Gaode approaching and immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Are you Gaode Maps?"

"I am."

"My name is Donnie Erther, the top student in the Rune Department. You should have heard of me before," the young mage said with a smile, his voice gentle.

But Gao De keenly sensed the subtle hostility beneath Donnie Erther's smile.

Although he concealed it very well.

"I've heard of it." Gao De nodded, and walked into the rune workshop as he spoke.

I have indeed heard of it.

Sadie had specifically warned him to be careful of "Donnie Erther".

He has always had a good memory and has always been receptive to advice.

Therefore, he was not surprised by Donnie Erther's hidden hostility.

Watching Gao De walk into the rune workshop as if it were commonplace, without waiting or even knocking.

Donnie Erther's gaze as he looked at God's retreating figure was now filled with undisguised hatred.

He never expected that even though the rune system had fallen to such a state, new students would still be joining.

Because the Rune Department has made no contributions for many years, the funding allocated by the academy has been reduced again and again.

Furthermore, due to the stubbornness of He west, the head of the Rune Department, they also suffer from the deliberate or unintentional pressure from the academy's higher-ups.

If it weren't for the rune construction technology that Hoshi possessed, Donnie Erther, one of the heirs of the Erther family, would have disdained joining this lousy rune department and becoming its chief student.

Last year he heard that He west had an extra student, and that the college had forcibly assigned him to the school.

He hadn't thought much about it at first.

Runecraft is not something that just anyone can learn.

This new student, who was assigned to Hosie as a student, will likely be abandoned by Hosie soon due to his "incompetence" and will be unable to study "Symbolic Literature".

But what happened next was far beyond his expectations.

First, I heard that He west had specially applied for a repair exemption for Gaode, and then I learned that Gaode would come to Gavin Building to see He west every day.

Clearly, Gao De is learning runes from He west.

As Gao De's learning abilities gradually become apparent, many people are even saying that Gao De may also have a certain talent in runic literature, and it is very likely that He Xi will take him as his disciple and teach him runic construction.

"If you want to pick the peaches, you'll have to ask me for permission first!" Thinking of this rumor, the handsome young noble mage remained expressionless, but secretly he was filled with malice.

"Mentor, Donnie is outside." Gao De reminded him as he knocked on the door of the small room.

"No rush, you go first," He west waved his hand casually.

"This is the revised rune diagram, and also the composite rune designed based on your requirements yesterday." Gao De didn't stand on ceremony and handed the two completed composite rune diagrams to He Xi.

As He west looked at the complex runes drawn by Gao De on the magic paper, a glimmer of light unconsciously appeared on his aged face.

He has taught many students and mentored many people.

But no one has ever been able to create such an excellent composite rune that is full of their own style and ideas as Gaode.

The thirty-six classic compound rune diagrams that Gaode studied are ones that many rune masters have learned.

However, after learning it, most people will consciously or unconsciously apply the design to their subsequent rune designs.

Only Gaode truly focuses on learning the thought process and mastering the underlying logic of those thirty-six classic composite rune diagrams.

In the rune diagram submitted by Gaode, He west could not see any trace of imitation; it was all an independent design based on his requirements, without any copying.

Even if some designs have significant flaws,

However, he could even sense Gaode's ingenuity and boundless talent from these flawed designs.

"The changes are good. Compared to yesterday's, the feasibility and compatibility have been greatly improved, but there's still room for optimization. For example, the 'robust' setting here could be adjusted."

He west slowly began to speak, providing a more detailed analysis and explanation of Gao De's rune diagram.

After a long while, Gao De walked out of the rune workshop with the questions that He west had assigned for the day.

He glanced at Donnie Erther, who was still waiting at the door, and whispered, "Your mentor wants you to come in."

Even though Donnie Erther harbored deep hatred for God, he still managed to maintain a composed demeanor on the surface.

He first nodded slightly to Gao De before striding into the rune workshop.

Although Donnie Erther was quite annoyed after waiting outside for so long, he managed to control his emotions very well.

Upon entering the rune workshop, he immediately bowed respectfully to He Xi, saying, "Director He west."

Then, he carefully took out a rune diagram drawn on high-quality magic paper. "This is a magic circle that I came up with a few days ago when I was suddenly inspired. I would like to ask you for your guidance."

Despite his barely concealed pride, Donnie Erser restrained himself and remained humble.

It must be said that his manners and demeanor were impeccable.

He west took the rune diagram.

The rune diagram was made from a magical paper of extremely high quality, crafted from the hide of a second-ring leyline creature, the Flame Rhinoceros, and inscribed with an intricate magic circle.

He west examined it closely and found it to be a first-order magic circle composed of three complex runes, with the effects of a first-level power rune and a first-level flame rune.

In terms of technique, it is evident that Donnie Erser has a very solid foundation and is highly skilled.

By general standards, this is considered a pretty good rune pattern.

But He Xi glanced at it casually and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, lamenting what a waste of resources.

With such fine magic paper, even drawing a magic circle with more than five complex runes would only be considered acceptable.

"The completion level is alright. Hmm, Quincy Erser's style is very obvious in the magic circle."

"It's clear that Quincy Erther didn't hold back on you, and you've mastered it very well. However, the downside is that your style is too much like Quincy Erther's, without any of your own."

Quincy Erther, a second-tier runemaster of the Erther family.

Although he is only at the second tier, he is already one of the top rune masters in the Duchy of Sien.

"So, you just want to be the next Quincy Ursus? If not, stop trying to imitate him."

In the early stages of learning runes, drawing runes by imitating the ideas of predecessors can help one get started faster, and this can also be considered a learning method.

The problem is that Donnie has been a first-tier runemaster for a long time, but the magic circles he draws are still all imitations of others, without any of his own.

In a broad sense, such a runemaster can be considered a runemaster, since he can indeed draw a first-order magic circle.

But in He west's view, such a rune master is just a high-level "craftsman," essentially no different from those bricklayers who plaster walls according to blueprints, and can't be considered a rune master at all.

Actually, although he used to think that such rune masters were meaningless, he was at least calm and wouldn't say such sharp things like he does now.

Why do people become more direct as they get older?

He west thought for a moment and then came to an answer:

After eating fine food, they can no longer eat these coarse grains.

Hosie shook his head, returned the rune diagram to Donnie Erther, and remarked, "The magic paper is nice, but it's a bit wasteful."

(End of this chapter)