Chapter 97: Almost fallacious reasoning

This time, showing off really got struck by lightning.

——Is this the first spell I learned? How did he figure it out?

Is there a relatively safe spell to use as an excuse?

Fear spell... absolutely impossible.

Summon Imp... it's a joke.

Summon Demon Strangling Curse... Ha!

Life Tap... he hasn't even memorized the spell yet.

Weakness spell... Naga's shadow magic?

No way...

Did Marin ask this because he sensed that I have learned shadow magic?

It is impossible to detect shadow energy just by appearance. Jess goes in and out of the Wizard's Sanctuary without incident. Even the battle mages on guard can't see anything abnormal. What is the chance that Marin will see something wrong?

If he had seen it earlier, wouldn't he have questioned me long ago?

After all, he learned the Fear spell a month ago. If it could be detected, it should have been detected then.

So, Jess judges that Marin must have noticed something wrong from the casting process of the Light spell just now.

As for what is wrong, Jess speculates that Marin can judge that he has learned spells before. It must be that the experience of casting spells before has had an impact on this casting of the Light spell, making him look unlike someone who is casting a spell for the first time.

That is to say, Marin doesn't know what spell he learned before... Maybe it's arcane magic?

Thinking of this, Jess realizes that there is still hope and he won't be kicked into the Stormwind City prison immediately.

Find reasons... find reasons, Jess. You are the best at finding reasons. Now is the time to test you!

What impact can past casting experience have on current casting? Mana? Concentration?

Marin said that mana needs long-term training to improve. In a month's time, Jess is not training intensively every day. Can there be a visible difference?

Then it must be the difference in concentration.

Jess speculates that he must be much stronger in concentration than those novice apprentices who are learning spells for the first time. So much so that Marin thinks he seems to have been specially trained, which makes him suspicious.

Most young apprentices seldom go out once they enter school, let alone have practical combat experience.

And he has already escaped from the verge of death several times relying on only one Fear spell. His concentration in casting magic is definitely not comparable to those novices. Since he has determined this reason, he must also come up with a reason that can be explained to Marin... Besides using shadow spells, why is his concentration stronger than others? After thinking for a while, Jess suddenly realizes a fairly good explanation.

Swordsmanship.

This is not nonsense. Some sword skills Jess learned from Gerred and when he faces the enemy, he calmly thinks about the swordsmanship tips taught by Gerred, which enables him to stay calm in many battles. This is extremely helpful for training his concentration.

That's it.

Gerred, even if you are not here, please help me again!

"Well, Master." Jess blurted out, "Now that you mention it, I really thought I had learned some magic before. After all, the place where I grew up is not too far from the mage academy in Lordaeron. Maybe I had contact with it when I was a child... But just thinking about it like this, I really can't remember what other spells I have learned. But in my opinion, what really enables me to maintain concentration and try energy-saving casting as you said is the experience in using a sword taught by a dwarf warrior."

Marin stared at Jess, his expression somewhat complicated.

"Can practicing swordsmanship also help in casting spells?"

"Based on my own experience, yes." Jess said, "When I was training the Light spell at the beginning, it was very unsuccessful. If I was a little distracted, it would get out of control. Or after maintaining it for not long, it would exhaust my energy and make me feel tired, so I didn't dare to try again."

"Until after confronting a wild boar in Westfall, I was thinking, why not treat the light spell I summoned as an enemy? Just treat it as a wild boar that is about to charge and kill me. I have to take it seriously, keep an eye on its state, feel its temperature, and figure out its temperament..."

At this point, Jess was almost unable to hold on to the logic in his words. But this is only because he is too nervous. Stay calm, control his emotions, and continue to talk nonsense calmly. Success or failure depends on this.

"This is exactly what that dwarf brother taught me, Master. He told me to always point the tip of my sword at the opponent, maintain a deterrence against the enemy, and always pay attention to the enemy's movements without any slack or laziness... I think it is precisely such qualities that enable me to have a better mentality to maintain the Light spell. After I decided to do this, the Light spell can indeed be maintained for a longer time. With my concentration trained through swordsmanship, I can almost really feel the temperature and temperament of those gathered arcane energies... Although it's not clear, this greatly helps me cast spells effectively!"

Marin seemed to be a bit stunned after listening. After a long time, he said, "I have a hunch that this may be a good research topic, Mr. Sethor. For example, many elven mages are powerful swordsmen. On the one hand, it is because their lifespan is really too long, so they have plenty of time to practice martial skills. On the other hand, maybe it is also because, as you said, the elves know that training in aspects such as their own body and consciousness responsiveness is also an auxiliary improvement to their casting level." He paused and then said, "In fact, I have considered this before, but I have never really made up my mind to take the time to try to learn some martial skill, and I haven't encountered many students who have really tried like you to share their experiences. Speaking of which, maybe the masters in Dalaran have already verified it."

Jess said, "This is just my guess, Master. After all, you said at the beginning that I had learned other arcane spells... I am completely confused. I haven't learned any others. The Light spell is the first one. If I had learned others, I wouldn't have thought that I couldn't connect to the ley lines."

"Indeed. I was overthinking." Marin patted Jess on the shoulder and said, "In fact, I was just worried about you. Learning arcane magic in some crooked places is very dangerous. Some wild mages who know about spells like to modify spells according to their own preferences and then spread them to their students, thus causing uncontrollable disasters. I am mainly worried about this."

"I understand." Jess nodded heavily.

His back of the head was already covered in sweat. After dealing with Marin's questions, he even had an illusion that handling this problem well might lead his life on a completely different path.

In fact, it is indeed so. What is the consequence of being interrogated by a high-level mage of the Wizard's Sanctuary and revealing that he knows a series of shadow magic?

Maybe he will be interrogated and investigated. In the end, he will also betray that large group of warlocks led by the Slaughtered Lamb. Jess is not confident that he can withstand the medieval torture.

Maybe his future destiny will be a wild warlock expelled from Stormwind City, wandering around Elwynn Forest with an Imp. After being killed, one can obtain a grimoire: Summon Imp, and then learn the first spell of a warlock.

That is, a professional quest NPC who is constantly being killed... the goalkeeper of Northshire Abbey...

Just as his mind began to wander boundlessly, Marin's words interrupted his reverie.

"Come with me, Jess. I will fulfill my promise. After you have mastered the Light spell, I will teach you a second spell. This time it's up to you to choose."

After finishing speaking, Marin walked towards the direction of his study.

Up to me to choose?

He plans to learn an arcane-related protective magic that can last for a long time to make up for his current biggest weakness - having no ability to respond to long-range magic attacks.

Jess realizes that although the number of casters he has encountered so far is extremely small, but it seems that every time they appear, they pose a fatal threat.

He has good physical fitness and some combat experience. In the face of some strong and clumsy enemies, he can dodge and delay as much as possible. He can also use the Fear spell to control the enemy and buy time for himself.

But what about against caster enemies?

On the beach, facing the arcane missile of that naga siren, Jess seems to have only one way to deal with it, which is completely relying on luck.

For the first one, he dodged by relying on his outstanding reaction. What about the second one? It was just pure luck.

If that arcane missile hit him directly in the back... Jess has no idea what it feels like to be hit by such an arcane missile. In short, he is definitely dead. That female naga will definitely not show mercy to him.

Now he only has one bottle of shadow protection potion left. Thinking about collecting grave moss again... Jess feels a tingling sensation on his scalp just thinking about it.

At the same time, he saw a shaman priest in Redridge Mountains simultaneously use fire element and nature element magic, wind and thunder.

As for the naga siren, she is a versatile talent who masters water and ice magic, arcane magic and shadow magic. That is to say, just in Stormwind Kingdom, there are casters everywhere.

Not to mention that many mages have the ability to interrupt his casting. The effect of the Fear spell on them is also questionable. Catching an opportunity to fear these skilled mages may be even more difficult than directly killing them.

Could it be that every time he goes out in the future, he has to bring several kinds of elemental protection potions to feel at ease?

Or stop taking risks and only deal with wild animals like wolves and wild bears, and give up from now on?

Absolutely impossible. So there is only one choice left for Jess - Mage Armor.

In the game, Mage Armor is a powerful magical state that can increase all spell resistances and provide a mana recovery speed at the same time.

But here... what kind of effect is it?

Considering the performance of several previous magics, Jess speculates that even if there are differences, they won't be too different.

But is this kind of magic difficult to learn?

In the game, Mage Armor is a high-level spell that can only be learned later.

If he asks to learn the spell for Mage Armor, will he be laughed at by Marin?

However, the more complex the magic, the more difficult the spell is to control, and the more powerful it is.

For example, the spell for Summon Imp. Because he uses it rarely, he hasn't memorized it yet. He even forgot the beginning. But this one spell has brought him a loyal partner...

His learning ability for arcane magic is far inferior to that for shadow magic. So he has to learn as few but refined as possible and spend his limited time on practicing those truly useful and powerful spells.

While thinking, he has already entered the study with Marin.