Stellatus nodded slightly in response.
Mentor Maya entered a state of focused explanation. With a single thought, a fireball emitting intense heat appeared in the air beside her.
This fireball was about the size of an apple and emitted an orange-red glow. The burning flames caused the temperature in the air to rise instantly.
"This is a standard Magic Missile. It glows orange-red and burns with fire because my mana is the same attribute as yours, Miss; we are born with a natural affinity for the Fire Element."
Mentor Maya continued her explanation: "Imagine the existence of a small ball two centimeters in diameter. Inject your own mana into the ball and control it so that at the moment it hits the target, it completely releases the mana it contains."
The explanation was very intuitive, the kind that was popular and easy to understand.
After saying all this, Maya picked up three manuscripts and handed them to the blonde girl.
"These record some knowledge and insights; the rune structure templates and how to master these two cantrips are all on there."
"Take them and read first. When you're finished, tell me, and we'll strive to master them as soon as possible!"
"Thank you, Mentor!"
The blonde girl took the manuscripts with both hands and shouted with some excitement.
Then, the blonde girl looked at Maya a bit nervously and asked, "Mentor, then... after I become a mage, will I be able to go on expeditions with General Aatrox?"
"Yes, with your family's status, it won't be a problem," Maya complimented.
Crack!
The scene froze at that moment, and then, like a stone hitting the surface of a quiet lake, concentric circular ripples spread out.
...
The next day, Durin slowly opened his eyes; beneath him was still the same hard bedboard. He had dreamed again, and this time the dream seemed to be a continuation of the story from the first dream.
Durin could feel an extra segment of memory in his brain, a memory concerning the casting of the two cantrips, Mage Hand and Fire Splash. He looked at everything in the room, somewhat dazed.
Everything was so familiar—so familiar that he thought he was hallucinating.
Every time he dreamed of Styraatu's past experiences, Durin needed a period of buffer time to let his mind adapt to these memories that weren't his own and to digest the content that was beneficial to him.
The content of those three pages of manuscript wasn't much. Although he still didn't recognize the Ancient Shuriman script, Durin had at least watched from a third-person perspective how that red-haired woman named Maya released these two cantrips.
Durin tried to imagine according to the principles, imagining using mana to simulate an arm. As the thought arose, the dormant mana in his body followed suit.
Following his imagination, a concrete, illusory arm slowly appeared in Durin's vision. Then, this Mage Hand reached for the backpack and lifted it with some effort.
To an outsider, the backpack containing the Darkin Harp and the Mantis Blade appeared to be floating in mid-air.
Durin immediately grinned and thought to himself: It seems my magic talent is quite good! I'm the type who gets it instantly.
Next, he began to test the second spell, the damaging Fire Splash. Strange mana flickered under the light and shadow, then formed a slightly distorted sphere of air.
Gradually, this distorted air sphere began to emit a faint light. The light grew brighter, and the texture of the small sphere gradually became solid.
The light was also gradually dyed red by magic elements, rapidly shifting from colorless to crimson. In an instant, it became a condensed red sphere about two centimeters in diameter.
"A fireball is composed of mana, and the power it contains is also mana. What drives the fireball to fly at high speeds is also mana. The essence is the same."
Durin recalled the words explained by Maya: "How to let one part of the mana constrain another part, and how to let one part of the mana control all the rest. And how to ensure that each part of the mana does not interfere with the others—that is the meaning of a rune structure's existence!"
The next moment, the surface of the two-centimeter red sphere in Durin's left palm was instantly covered with a layer of burning flames.
"Success!"
A brilliant smile spread across Durin's face; he even wanted to jump up from the bed to celebrate. He finally had a self-defense spell!
He was one step closer to being promoted to a mage!
As the thought dissipated, the flame sphere hovering in his left palm also vanished into the air as the mana dispersed, leaving behind only the heat after burning.
The next thing Durin had to do was go to the Entresol Level, find that Shuriman expert Kaleti, and buy an annotated dictionary that could translate Ancient Shuriman script from her small book stall.
After confirming his plans, Durin put the backpack on the floor back on his shoulders. Of course, the Mantis Blade had to be taken out of the backpack and stuffed under the bedboard.
As for the hole in the backpack, he temporarily wrapped it with a cloth bag to prevent outsiders from seeing the appearance of the Darkin Harp. It seemed he would have to return to the 10GIA instrument shop today to have the backpack mended.
Durin went out and bought a Double-layer Chicken Burger from a stall. The selling price was cheaper than before, costing only 5 copper circle coins.
It seemed prices were adjusting downward; Zaun was restoring order.
He spent another copper circle coin to take the public elevator. The elevator's charging model was similar to a bus; regardless of whether it was an adult or a child, no matter where they were going, once they got on, it was a flat fare.
Durin found a spot near the cabin door to squat, thinking about translating the potion content and the Ancient Shuriman script.
After a while, he heard the administrator shout loudly, "Entresol Level arrived!"
The elevator stopped steadily at the Entresol Level, and what came into view was still that familiar neon sign: Welcome to Zaun!
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