Chapter 288: Chapter 286: Attempting to Learn Higher-Tier Magic
At the suggestion of Hilia and Benovia, Anarce reluctantly told Mier about Benovia asking a Priest to treat her.
Along with Benovia deliberately spreading the news, and since Mier’s father was gravely injured at Benovia’s place, in the days that followed, Mier indeed stopped looking for Anarce.
She didn’t even seek out Hilia, became silent all day, no longer wandered around with her old friends, and just like Anarce, left after class and was absent-minded during lessons.
With no one bothering her, Hilia was naturally quite happy and managed to complete all second-year subjects and memory reinforcement within the time Rose required, without a hitch.
When Hilia had smoothly finished her studies, completed last year’s second-year exams and scored high, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The girl looked at Rose’s apparition: "Master Rose, what should I do next?"
Rose replied: "Apply to the school for an early exam. Other than morning and evening meditation, you can skip classes. Use all that extra time to better yourself."
He summoned Hilia’s Magic Puppet, manipulated it, took out a sheet of paper, and wrote down this month’s improvement plan.
"Let loose during your morning and evening meditation—absorb as much as you can. After meditation, return to your dorm for a bath, then go out to practice the spells you learned during the holidays, and begin trying to study Tier Three magic."
Rose took out another sheet and wrote a few words.
"This is the Tier Three magic you’ll try to learn: Ice Shield Skill."
"Ice Shield Skill..."
Hilia quickly recalled what she knew about Ice Shield Skill.
"This magic is apparently an upgraded version of Ice Wall. By refining Ice Wall into a thin Ice Shield, it’s more flexible, offers stronger defense, and can even be transformed into an ice prison..."
Rose nodded: "Exactly, it’s the evolved Ice Wall—good for both offense and defense. Its defensive ability completely outclasses the Ice Wall that uses Mithril Net. Once you successfully reach Tier Three, you can fuse the Mithril Net with Ice Shield Skill for even stronger defense."
"You can also combine the advanced spell of Forest Silk, the Tier Three Natural Magic ’Withered Silk,’ to make the Ice Shield tougher and more shock-resistant. Its defense won’t fall short of the ’Load-Bearing Wall’ combo you and Elina developed."
Hilia’s eyes sparkled, "I’ll learn this one!"
The defense of Load-Bearing Wall is well-recognized.
After all, it’s constructed with Shield of the Earth, the strongest Tier Three defense magic, blended with water, ice, and natural magic. No one person could master that many spells.
Letting the Magic Puppet learn doesn’t work either, since if a Puppet studies spells outside its own element, their effect is vastly diminished—the extent depends on how well the Puppet’s Heart matches the spell’s element.
The Water Element Puppet Heart matches better with ice and natural magic, but much worse with other types.
So, even if you want to learn Natural Magic later, Hilia has to learn it herself. Once her Magic Power refinement exceeds 100%, other element spells won’t beat her main element, but they’ll surpass the Puppet’s effectiveness.
Rose said: "Nowadays, relying too much on Magic Puppets leads everyone to neglect Magic Power refinement, which makes the Mage combat system more single-focused. That’s probably why the Mage League values team competitions so much."
"Unlike in our time, if a Mage didn’t learn spells from other elements, they’d be too embarrassed to go outside. Single-element combos were sure to get crushed by multi-element combo skills."
Hilia asked: "So how do Mages with Puppets nowadays compare?"
Rose chuckled and shook his head: "Low-tier Mages can’t compete, as it’s basically two against one. But after surpassing human limits, when materials become scarce, Puppets’ usefulness drops dramatically—then it’s not certain anymore."
"There aren’t any materials that surpass the human limit?"
"There are, but... they’re not easy to get."
"Alright then."
Hilia picked up the plan and read it carefully.
"More money again..."
One thousand Gold Coins barely warmed up in her hands before another chunk had to go.
Rose said nonchalantly: "Originally, the plan was for you to study basics, then take on commissions to find precious materials in ancient ruins and Heretic Bases to improve. But your school has a wasted Meditation Room, and since you have some funds, just buy second-tier materials directly, and you’ll get similar improvement."
Hilia lightly bit her lip, "I understand!"
There’s no cultivation that doesn’t cost money—if you only work hard, who knows when you’ll actually advance.
Hilia had heard of nobles who, upon realizing their kid was a Magic dud, spent big bucks to directly push them to Tier Three Mage with materials, then matched them with a strong Magic Puppet. When trouble came, the kid only had to give orders and play Mana Charger, while the Puppet handled the enemy.
Of course, if they ran into Mages who could actually fight, these wastes still lost—they could only bully Ordinary Mages who couldn’t afford to learn magic.
Hilia scrutinized Rose’s plan, and found this month’s plan was pretty simple: practice spells to avoid getting rusty, and keep up proficiency, but the real focus was hitting Tier Three as quickly as possible within a month.
She understood that since she devoted most of her time to study, her progress was sure to lag behind others.
With five times meditation speed, anyone who ignores Magic Power refinement could reach the limit of Tier Two instantly and prepare to ascend to the Divine Realm.
However, Magic Power refinement is also a key factor in preparing for ascension.
"Magic Power refinement also affects the depth of the Divine Realm you enter—the higher the refinement, the deeper you can go, and the higher your post-ascension baseline. They definitely won’t neglect refinement just to be the first to ascend; I still have a chance to be number one!"
Hilia was brimming with confidence.
Rose smiled, but didn’t tell her that, as things stood, Benovia was most likely to ascend first.
No other reason—she was richer.
Stuff Hilia couldn’t bear to buy, Benovia used as everyday supplies.
Even though Benovia had been named a Holy Daughter candidate, she remained Emperor Ista’s favorite little Princess—the Empire’s ninth Princess. Once she became a candidate, she was no longer eligible to compete with Princes and Princesses for power or fiefdom. Her siblings became very friendly, often giving her pocket money and gifts.
Thus, Benovia’s little treasure trove was quite fat.
She called herself the richest little lady in Ista, and no one dared object.
Watching Hilia start to practice the advanced Ice Wall spell, Ice Shield Skill, Rose glanced toward Benovia’s location.
"In another ten days, Benovia should be advancing. Wonder if she’ll reach the deepest point this time?"
