parentshiftbook Chapter 36 The Apprentices' Gathering
Chapter 36 The Apprentices' Gathering
Li Ang's gaze passed through the windows of the abandoned houses and looked out at the misty bushes.
The morning dew sparkled on the leaves.
Have a look.
The air is clearly rich in water vapor, yet the wizard goes to great lengths to control the combination of hydrogen and oxygen. Isn't this taking the long way around?
The idea, once it appeared, lingered in Li Ang's mind.
For the rest of the time, apart from occasionally going out with his hood up to stroll around the general store on the west side of Maple Leaf Town, he was basically immersed in analyzing the traditional [Water Splash Technique].
By repeatedly casting spells and recording mana consumption, Li Ang discovered that the traditional method was surprisingly inefficient.
Perhaps it's a zero-ring trick, or perhaps there's another reason, but in any case, no wizard has optimized or improved it.
Each time the traditional [Water Splash] spell is cast, it can only produce a water ball the size of an egg, but it consumes nearly one-tenth of Li Ang's magic power.
It should be noted that this level of magic consumption was enough for Li Ang to cast the "Mass Destruction Trick" [Burning Fire].
Of course, the [Water Splash] spell also has its advantages – it doesn't require any spellcasting materials.
"The water vapor content in the air is affected by temperature and humidity. Even at the driest midday, there are at least a few grams of water vapor in one cubic meter of air. If we could collect them..."
Li Ang scribbled notes on the parchment with a charcoal pencil.
Given Li Ang's current memory, he doesn't really need to use pen and paper to take notes.
He did this partly to get a feel for doing research, and partly to have the opportunity to trade parchment with other wizarding apprentices.
Li Ang repeatedly experimented to "capture" the water vapor, but things were not as simple as he had imagined.
After a series of actions, the [Mage's Hand] only held a few almost invisible water droplets.
"Does this mean we need to use a large amount of magic to gather water vapor?"
"But in this way, it's basically no different from the traditional [Water Splash] spell in terms of mana consumption."
"Too inefficient..."
Water vapor condenses into liquid water, which requires cooling...
"Use a thermal magic trick [Freeze Ray]?"
"But this requires [Ice Crystal Stones], and [Water Splash] originally didn't require any casting materials, so this makes it more complicated."
"Or perhaps we could increase the pressure, creating a high-pressure area using a magic model similar to [Thunder Slash]?"
This last idea gave Li Ang a much-needed boost.
Instead of attempting to directly capture water vapor, Li Ang manipulated the translucent [Mage's Hand] to construct a special force field in the palm of his hand, creating a spherical area of about five centimeters.
Clearly, constructing such a force field is more complex than casting [Thunder Slash], requiring extremely high levels of magic power and mental strength.
Li Ang failed seven times, and it wasn't until his eighth attempt that he managed to maintain the high-pressure area.
Meanwhile, changes are taking place in the high-pressure region.
At first, a thin layer of mist formed in the force field, then the mist became thicker and thicker, gradually gathering into tiny water droplets. The water droplets collided and merged with each other, and then a water ball the size of an egg, trembling slightly, floated above the palm of the [Mage's Hand].
Become!
Li Ang was overjoyed.
"Snapped!"
Li Ang withdrew the continuous magical energy transmission, and the water sphere dispersed, splashing all over the ground.
Returning to the table, Li Ang clasped his hands together, reviewing the experiment's performance. "In terms of mana consumption, [Water Splash] consumes about half the mana of the original version, but correspondingly, it demands a much higher level of mental control from the caster."
Overall, the progress hasn't been significant.
"Most importantly, these egg-sized water spheres are basically useless in battle, except for quenching thirst..."
"You can't exactly spit it in the face of an enemy, can you?"
'As expected, attacks that don't require spellcasting materials are...well, let's just say their power is questionable.'
Despite his inner complaints, Li Ang was quite satisfied with the overall effect of his improved [Water Splash Technique].
Next, I'll try to research non-contact casting of the [Suggestion] spell...
After spending another day in Ioria, Li Ang noticed several new symbols on the corner of the wall as he passed by a general store.
It was the time and place that he and the wizard apprentice Kevin had agreed upon, encrypted using the ordinary spell model of [Hand of the Wizard].
The current translation is: Sunday night at 9 PM, abandoned logging camp in northwest Maple Leaf Town, Kevin.
……
The following evening.
Li Ang covered his face with his hood, bypassed the dense forest north of Maple Leaf Town, and headed northwest toward the logging camp.
In Ioria, it gets dark early in April; it's already late at night before nine o'clock.
At this time, most residents of Maple Leaf Town were already asleep, and the entire town was pitch black, with only a few lights still lit up in the central tavern.
The bright moon that was originally hanging high in the sky was obscured by dark clouds at some point.
The water element in the air becomes more active.
A heavy rain seems to be brewing.
"Speaking of which, casting the new [Water Splash] spell seems much easier during a downpour."
"And the [Ignite] spell will be significantly weakened in this situation."
Weather and environment both affect magical combat to varying degrees.
As he pondered this, Li Ang kept moving his feet, but he did not use the [Dancing Light] spell to illuminate the area in order to deal with any possible situation.
With a spiritual awareness within a 5.5-meter radius, he has a basic grasp of everything around him.
……
Inside the half-collapsed log cabin at the logging camp, three alchemical lanterns were kept lit by inferior fluorite powder and copper runes.
The dim light barely illuminated the interior of the wooden house, and also revealed the faces of several young people sitting around it.
"Mr. Suguang hasn't arrived yet, Kevin. Are you sure a formal wizard will attend our gathering?" The speaker was a brown-haired boy, about sixteen or seventeen years old.
After a moment's hesitation, Kevin continued, "Since Mr. Su Guang said he would keep an eye out, I think he's very likely to come. Let's wait for him a little longer. If Mr. Su Guang doesn't arrive in an hour, we can start the meeting then."
Several apprentices, cloaked and hooded, remained noncommittal.
There were five people in the cabin. Besides the two who had just spoken, there was a tall, thin young man standing against the side wall, holding a thick notebook bound with leather rope in his arms.
Sylvia sat at the old wooden table in the center, placing a few silver leaves on the table.
There was also a slightly older young man sitting quietly on a wooden box next to him.
Most of them come from the Cook Territory or the even more distant Maha Territory.
In the Kingdom of Frank, a country ruled by theocracy, a leader typically has only one or two wizard apprentices.
They embarked on the difficult path of becoming wizards, either through family tradition, by chance discovery of an ancient book, or by guidance from a wandering wizard.
Led by Kevin and another wizard apprentice named Phabien, the group gathers every three months in Maple Leaf Town to exchange knowledge, materials, and information.
Maple Leaf Town is a melting pot of all sorts of people, and the abandoned logging camp is remote enough that it's far from the town and rarely attracts the attention of the Holy See. At the same time, it's not as dangerous as the real wilderness.
Time ticked by in the tense atmosphere. Suddenly, the tall, thin young man spoke up: "It's about to rain. Has Mr. Su Guang not arrived yet?" He looked up at the wooden house, and almost as soon as he finished speaking, footsteps came from afar.
A figure appeared before the crowd.