Above the mage

Chapter 231 Ice Marrow and [Blade Burst+]

After the lights in the various tents on the edge of Duo'er went out one by one, Gao De, who had just sat down cross-legged and was preparing to begin his practice for the day, heard footsteps coming from outside the tent.

Gao De immediately stopped what he was doing, his guard up.

Who would come looking for him so late at night?

"It's me," Chief Himo's voice came from outside the tent. "You're still awake, aren't you?"

"Not yet." Gao De quickly got up, opened the tent, and welcomed Chief Ximo in.

"Chief Shimo, is there something you need?"

Chief Ximo smiled. "If it weren't for your intervention today, the Duoer border region would have been in grave danger."

"The tribe doesn't have anything good. After thinking about it, this is the only thing that's barely presentable."

As he spoke, Chief Himo carefully took out a small ice bottle from his bosom.

The ice bottle is crystal clear, and through the bottle, you can clearly see three drops of crystal-clear, dark blue, droplet-shaped "gel" inside.

Chief Shimo handed the ice bottle to Gaode.

"What is this?" Gao De asked in surprise.

"Ice Marrow, Tier 1," Chief Shimo explained. "In the Northern Territory, Ice Marrow is the most widely accepted 'currency.'"

With Chief Himo's explanation, God gradually understood the situation.

In places like the North, gold and silver coins are meaningless.

The people here are more accustomed to bartering. The only thing that can truly be considered "currency" is "ice marrow".

The so-called Ice Marrow is not some rare mineral, but a droplet-shaped gel that Iceborns master through the "Ice Extraction" method after awakening their Iceborn bloodline. It is made by using the Iceborn bloodline to harmonize their own magical power and finally condense it.

The whole process is actually somewhat similar to concocting a magic potion, except that only Iceborn mages can condense "Ice Marrow".

Similarly, the stronger the bloodline power, the higher the grade of the condensed ice marrow.

In addition, the more abundant the magical power, the shorter the time required to condense the ice marrow.

Ximo is an early-stage Iceborn mage, and the Ice Marrow he condensed is naturally first-tier Ice Marrow.

At his mage level, it would take him about a year to condense a single drop of first-tier ice marrow.

For a mid-stage Iceborn mage, it takes half a year, and for a late-stage mage, it takes four months.

It is easy to imagine how precious ice marrow is.

Of course, the preciousness of ice marrow lies not only in the difficulty of its condensation process, but also in its powerful efficacy.

This ice marrow contains extremely abundant and pure ice elemental power, which can be used not only as medicine but also directly as a magic potion.

After consuming ice marrow, the power of ice elemental spells cast by mages will increase dramatically.

However, the most important reason why it became a hard currency in the North is that after consuming it, in addition to "amplifying" the power of ice magic, it can also be used to assist in the cultivation of ice-attribute cultivation methods and even enhance one's own ice-bloodline.

Needless to say, the Iceborn Mage's cultivation method is the "True Ice Secret Transmission," obtained through bloodline awakening, which is the purest ice-attribute cultivation method.

As for the latter, it is of paramount importance to the people of the North.

Iceborn mages' spells are derived from their own bloodline, unlike regular mages who need to spend time building spell models.

At the same time, the powerful Iceborn bloodline will also rapidly increase the Iceborn mage's mage level.

Take Sunafa, the new war mother of the Zhenbing tribe, for example. She is already at the fourth level at a young age, thanks to her powerful Iceborn bloodline.

This is where the advantage of the Iceborn bloodline lies.

However, from another perspective, the Iceborn bloodline also limits the growth of Iceborn mages.

Because breakthroughs in "The Secret of True Ice" are limited by bloodline power.

For an Iceborn mage like Shimo, whose Iceborn bloodline is weak, the maximum level he can reach in his lifetime is only the late stage of the first ring.

Without breaking through the power of one's bloodline, the [True Ice Secret Technique] will absolutely not be able to complete the ring advancement and become a second-ring mage.

The reason why the Iceborn are becoming weaker and weaker is precisely because they are extremely dependent on the power of their Iceborn bloodline, while that bloodline power is constantly declining.

In ancient times, the Iceborn bloodline could allow Iceborns to reach the seventh or even eighth ring.

But now, even the Fifth Ring Road is difficult to reach.

Let's take Sunefa as an example again. Because of her Iceborn bloodline, she can quickly become a fourth-ring Iceborn mage in just a few years, but she may also be limited by her Iceborn bloodline and remain at the fourth ring for her entire life.

The strength of one's Iceborn bloodline is innate and depends on luck, but it is not something that cannot be changed later in life.

The most well-known method is to ingest ice marrow and then use the "ice-condensing" ability in the "True Ice Secret Manual" to enhance one's ice bloodline power.

It must be because Ice Marrow was originally formed by Iceborn mages using their bloodline power, and since they share the same origin, it possesses such miraculous effects.

The arduous process of refining Ice Marrow combined with its powerful effects ensures that Ice Marrow will always be scarce and will never rot in one's hands.

The former ensures that "ice marrow" will not experience "inflation" and will maintain its stable value.

This is exactly what is characteristic of currency.

Therefore, "ice marrow" became the hard currency of the North, and it is not wrong to call it a high-value currency.

These three drops of ice marrow before us are the culmination of Chief Ximo's stockpiling over the past three years.

Sincerity is evident in every word.

"In that case, I shall respectfully accept your offer." Gao De thought for a moment and reached out to take the ice bottle.

If the other party is only offering something insignificant as a token of gratitude, then there is not much difference between accepting or not accepting it.

But if the other party has truly offered their most precious possession, then accepting it is actually the better choice.

Seeing that Gao De accepted, Chief Ximo's face immediately showed a relieved expression: "Then I won't disturb your rest any longer."

After watching Chief Himo leave, God opened the cap of the ice bottle in his hand.

The rich aura of ice elements instantly rushed over, giving one a jolt of energy.

As Gao De looked at the three drops of ice marrow containing rich ice element power, he thought of what Du Wei had told him: refine the magical plants containing ice element into a medicinal liquid, and drip it into the eyes. After absorbing enough ice element power, the Mandora Magic Eye can continue to improve.

Ice marrow possesses extremely abundant and pure ice elemental power, which perfectly meets this condition.

Therefore, the Mandora's Eye should be able to be enhanced through Ice Marrow, and the effect may be far superior to the potion refined from the magical plant.

Thinking this, Gao De's heart stirred slightly, and he activated the Mandora's Eye.

His normally normal left pupil immediately developed a ring of deep, eerie blue fluorescence, becoming mysterious and unpredictable.

At the same time, the field of vision changed. The world seen by the left eye became more microscopic, and the boundary lines of the solidified blue particles in the ice marrow could even be faintly distinguished.

If you look into the distance, things that are originally tiny seem to be right in front of you, just like the telephoto lens of a camera from a past life.

Then, Gao De raised his head, took a drop of ice marrow from the ice bottle, and dripped it into his left eye.

Instantly, he felt a clear, cool chill rush into his eyes.

Without him needing to do anything extra, the glowing Mandora's Eye automatically began to absorb the abundant ice elemental power.

The entire process lasted for an unknown period of time.

Once the chill had completely dissipated, the Mandora's Eye on Gao De's left side appeared noticeably deeper than before.

When I tried to observe things with Mandora's Eye again, it was clearer than before.

Gao De carefully sensed it, and under the powerful perception of his mental energy, some information naturally surfaced in his mind.

If you add another 71 drops of the same ice marrow, his Mandora's Eye will be upgraded to the next stage.

Mandora's Eyes is a special ability obtained through "Mandora's Tears".

Due to the rarity and randomness of "Mandora's Tears", and the fact that even if you consume "Mandora's Tears", you are not guaranteed to obtain "Mandora's Eye".

Therefore, there are very few mages who possess the "Mandora's Eye," and it is an extremely rare ability.

Given the rarity and special nature of this ability, it is natural that there is not much information recorded about it, and there is no specific classification of its levels.

To make it easier for him to distinguish the levels of Mandora's Eye, Gao De thought for a moment and decided to create one himself since there was no classification of realms.

He simply designated the newly awakened Mandora's Eye as Tier 1.

The next level, naturally, is the second order.

Based on the number of drops of first-order ice marrow, it should now be: Mandora's Eye, first order (1/72).

With this settled, Gaode felt much more at ease—concrete data was his comfort zone compared to vague concepts.

It will take another 71 drops of ice marrow to upgrade Mandora's Eye to the next stage.

However, he only has two drops in his hand now.

Furthermore, the exact level of Mandora's Eye is still unknown.

In short, the more ice marrow you have, the better.

However, since Ice Marrow was the most valuable treasure in the Northern Territory, Gao De couldn't come up with anything of equal value to exchange for it, no matter how hard he thought about it.

The most valuable things he possesses now, aside from the Tier 4 rune construct "Breath of the Wild" left to him by Hoshi, are only the few dozen Sean gold coins.

Well, after entering the North, these dozens of Sean gold coins also lost their value.

Let alone trying to buy ice marrow, even using it to buy food would be met with disdain by the Northerners.

"We still have to rely on planting trees."

After much thought, Gaode realized that his only remaining asset was still planting trees.

Once they gained significant influence in the North by relying on Yugathira's abilities, they naturally had no shortage of Ice Marrow.

The simplest example is that if you provide a habitable place for the border region of Dor, in exchange for Chief Ximo continuously refining ice marrow for him, Chief Ximo would definitely be more than willing.

"In the first year of planting trees, relying on one's own strength is too weak. The most useful thing is still the magic array. Looking at it this way, entering the rune department and studying rune literature back then was just a prelude to this moment."

Whether it's cultivating the "Azure Wood Longevity Sutra," realizing Flora's potential, or building her own power as envisioned, all of these are inseparable from Yugathira.

The most urgent task now is to find a suitable location to plant trees.

It's unrealistic to rely solely on exploration and searching on your own; it's too much of a gamble.

First, you need a map, even a rough and simple one will do.

Clearly, this kind of thing does not exist in the small tribe of Duerbian, as their nomadic territory is limited.

However, Gao De had already found out the location of the current camp of the medium-sized tribe closest to the border of Duo'er.

The next step is to get there and then try to buy the map from them.

After considering his next steps, Gao De stopped thinking about it and prepared to begin his practice for the day.

But before that, there is one more thing to do.

He focused his mind on "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow".

origin:

0 rings - [Snow Wolf] (7/7).

Yes, he hasn't used the new source he just acquired today.

Once you reach the first-ring mage stage, with at least a zero-ring origin, there's no need for Gaode to specifically store it for unforeseen circumstances.

Use whatever you have.

His attention swept over his tricks that he hadn't yet "added points" to, and finally settled on [Blade Burst].

This is a rare trick in the spellcasting system.

In terms of sheer power, it's not particularly outstanding, only 6 degrees, and 12 degrees under upgraded spellcasting, barely 2 degrees higher than the un-upgraded [Magic Blast].

However, the damage caused by [Blade Burst] is a noble force field damage, and it is also an extremely rare area-of-effect attack spell.

These two factors combined are enough to significantly increase its priority for stat allocation.

Having made the decision, Gaode focused his attention on the constantly flashing yellow "+" sign after "Blade Burst" and acted decisively.

[Blade Burst+] (Spellcaster, 0 Rings):

In an instant, you create a ring of semi-transparent blades to sweep around you.

Every creature within the spell's range (5 feet) except you will take damage.

Additional: The center point of the Blade Burst will no longer be fixed to the caster, but can be any point within 20 feet that the caster can choose as the center point of the Blade Burst (but if the caster does not cast the spell with himself as the center and is within the casting range, he will also be damaged).

*******

A very peculiar improvement.

In simple terms, it's equivalent to extending the casting range.

After all, given that the spell is cast centered on the caster and has a range of only 5 feet, the applicability of [Blade Burst] is actually quite limited: only when a large number of enemies are close at hand.

In fact, for a mage, being in this situation is extremely dangerous, if not a matter of life and death.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, a mage would definitely try to avoid falling into such a situation.

However, if one doesn't fall into this situation, [Blade Burst] becomes useless.

This contradiction means that while [Blade Burst] is an area-of-effect spell, it cannot be used as a regular combat spell; more often, it's a reserved, limited-use spell.

However, after allocating points to "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow", the applicability of [Blade Burst+] is greatly improved.

With a casting range of 20 feet and a base spell radius of 5 feet, this means that Blade Burst+ can hit enemies up to 25 feet away.

As expected of you, Feng Lingyueying!

Gaode was very satisfied.

Just then.

Footsteps sounded outside the tent once again.

However, it was noticeably lighter than before, so it wasn't Chief Himo's return.

And who is it?

Gao De raised an eyebrow slightly.

A moment later, someone outside the tent called out softly and cautiously in Ace language:

"May I come inside?"

They are people from the border tribe of Duo'er.

Gao De thought for a moment, then got up again and opened the tent.

Outside the tent stood a short, thin boy, about seven or eight years old, with dark skin and hair like dry straw.

Gao De had a slight impression of this boy.

Because during the bonfire party that night, the boy kept staring at him with a fervent, almost worshipful gaze.

(End of this chapter)