First Semester, Lesson 29: Comparison

With Keen, their strongest player, defeated and their surprise magic exposed, the students of Class 6 had completely lost their morale. In the next two matches, the students from Class 6 were easily defeated by those from Class 3. As a result, Class 3 won the match with a lopsided score of 6 to 1.

After the match, Tre's face was so gloomy it seemed like it could drip with water. Without even a glance at Lin Yuan, he turned and left with the students of Class 6.

Lin Yuan didn't bother with him. Although he didn't know how Tre had enabled the students of Class 6 to use such strange magic, the magic itself wasn't powerful. At best, it was a surprise tactic. In real combat, it wouldn't be very useful.

"Students, to celebrate our victory, I'll treat you to a drink," Lin Yuan turned to the excited students and said loudly, "Of course, not alcohol."

"I'll have vanilla juice."

"I'll have fire-tongue fruit."

"I'll have..."

The students were not at all shy. Although they didn't ask for alcohol, these drinks were much more expensive than alcohol. If he agreed to their demands, the little money left in Lin Yuan's pocket would probably be completely spent.

Thinking that payday was only a few days away, Lin Yuan gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Long live Teacher Lin!"

As the students were about to escort Lin Yuan to Windnor City, they were stopped by Vice Dean Kapachi.

"Dean Phelnas wants to see you."

A moment later, in the Dean's office.

Lin Yuan stared at the silent Hook, wondering if the old man had gone senile from seclusion. Since being brought to the Dean's office by Vice Dean Kapachi and seeing Hook, he had been silent, just staring at Lin Yuan without saying a word. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

After an unknown period, just as Lin Yuan was getting impatient, Hook finally spoke: "Lin, do you remember how long you've been here?"

"Here? I've been at the academy for less than two months."

Hook shook his head. "I mean how long you've been on the Farinos continent."

Lin Yuan was taken aback, then he let out a sigh of relief. Hook was referring to his arrival on Farinos, not to this world, which meant he didn't know that Lin Yuan originally wasn't from this world.

"I'm not sure, about three months, I guess."

"I calculated it before you came. It's been 107 days today."

Lin Yuan was taken aback again. Why was the old man so meticulous about this?

"After only two months of learning magic with me and a little over a month at the academy, you've managed to invent hybrid magic. It's just incredible," Hook sighed, then suddenly summoned a water ball with a wave of his right hand.

This water ball was different from the usual water bullet spell. A regular water bullet spell is just an ordinary water ball, but the water ball in Hook's hand was clearly rotating at a very high speed.

"Is this... a hybrid of tornado and water bullet?" Lin Yuan asked cautiously.

Hook nodded, and Lin Yuan couldn't help but gasp. A grand mage is a grand mage. Just by understanding a bit of the principle of hybrid magic, he had achieved this in just a few days. Moreover, he could perfectly combine a Level 5 wind magic tornado with a Level 1 water magic water bullet.

This precise control of magic power and superb mastery of magic were far beyond what Lin Yuan could achieve.

"Unfortunately, my research in wind magic is not deep enough. The difference between the wind attribute magic power and the water attribute magic power in my body is too great. I can't fuse them using your method," Hook dissipated the magic power he had gathered and continued, "After several days of experiments, I've roughly figured out that the transformation only occurs when the two attribute magic powers in the body are roughly the same. Although I can forcibly separate part of the magic power in my body for experiments, it's impossible to successfully fuse them. Unless I put everything aside to increase the wind attribute magic power in my body, I can't use hybrid magic as freely as you do."

Lin Yuan was speechless at the power of the grand mage. Forcibly separating the magic power in the body? If other magicians heard this, they would either think he was crazy or daydreaming. But Hook had not only done it but also used it to conduct magic experiments.

"Alas, I thought I could make further progress in magic research, but I didn't expect that I couldn't continue because of this reason," Hook sighed, then suddenly laughed. "I think Sagras must also be very frustrated right now. Watching another door of magic open right in front of him, but being too powerful to step through, that feeling..."

Lin Yuan noticed another problem.

"Old man, according to what you said, as long as a magician has two attribute magic powers that are close, he can fuse them?" Lin Yuan asked doubtfully. "But the history of magic on the Farinos continent is so long, and there must be many magicians who have studied two attribute magics. Are there no magicians whose two attribute magic powers are close? Haven't they thought of this method?"

At least Lin Yuan knew that in his class, Zona was now a Level 3 water magician and a Level 3 fire magician. The two attribute magic powers in her body were very close.

"There are indeed people who study two attribute magics, but in the history of the Farinos continent, there has never been a person who is suitable for two attribute magics. Like you, someone with all attribute magic powers is extremely rare. Moreover, studying an elemental magic that is not most suitable for one's own attribute requires much more time and effort than studying an elemental magic that is suitable for one's own attribute, and the final result may not be good. So far, all magicians will not invest too much effort into other elemental magics, which means they cannot have the same two attribute magic powers."

Lin Yuan understood. Hybrid magic had always been theoretically possible, but because of practical limitations, it could not actually appear, nor would there be magicians to study it. After all, the life of a magician is limited, and even mastering a single elemental magic requires a lot of time. Moreover, in addition to elemental magic, there is the more profound space magic.

"So... this is only useful to me?"

Hook shook his head. "Not exactly. The power of hybrid magic is much stronger than that of single attribute elemental magic. Moreover, I have experimented and found that the effect of meditating with the fused magic power is much better."

Lin Yuan nodded. He had experienced this himself.

"If a magician can purposefully learn two attribute magics from a young age, then through the fused dual-attribute magic power, although he can't make rapid progress in the elemental magic that suits him, he can use hybrid magic. I have roughly estimated the final result. Without other influences, an average-talented fire attribute magician, if he focuses on studying fire magic from a young age, is very likely to become a Level 4 fire magician by the age of 20."

Twenty years old is the age of most magic academy graduates, and this estimate seems to be based on that.

"But if he starts learning water and fire magic from a young age and fuses the magic power from a young age, then at the age of 20, he should be able to master at most Level 1 water magic and fire magic, and he won't have enough magic power to use the ice fire ball," Hook explained further, seeing that Lin Yuan seemed somewhat confused. "This is because he has to ensure that the two attribute magic powers in his body are the same, so he can only stay at the level of the elemental magic that is not suitable for him. If it weren't for the good meditation effect of the fused magic power, which saves a lot of time, a fire attribute magician might not be able to completely master Level 1 water magic by the age of 20."

Lin Yuan's head was spinning. For someone with all attribute magic power like him, it was impossible to understand how difficult it was for a magician who could only adapt to one attribute to learn another attribute magic.

"So, at the age of 20, a magician who studies hybrid magic can use two attribute magics, but his strength is much worse than that of a magician who studies single attribute magic," Hook continued. "This situation will be reversed around the age of 50."

Fifty years old is the average age of a junior mage on the Farinos continent.

"At this time, a magician who studies single attribute magic will enter the ranks of mages if there are no accidents. A magician who studies two attribute magics should be able to reach Level 6 in both water and fire magic. At the same time, he can also begin to freely mix the two attribute magics. Judging by the power of the ice fire ball, if this magician is not stupid, his strength will not be inferior to that of a junior mage."

"After the age of 50, a magician who studies single attribute magic will generally choose space magic. At this time, his strength will mostly depend on his research in this area. The strength of a magician who studies two attribute magics, however, will increase faster and faster as he masters water magic better. When this magician can fully control all water and fire elemental magics, then his strength will definitely not be lower than that of a senior mage."

Hearing this, Lin Yuan quickly asked, "So, a magician who studies hybrid magic has a much brighter future than one who only studies single attribute magic?"

Instead of answering the question, Hook countered, "Lin, tell me, how many 50-year periods are there in a lifetime?"

Lin Yuan fell silent. According to Hook, a magician who studies hybrid magic cannot match a magician who studies single attribute magic before the age of 50, and whether he can catch up after 50 still depends on the specific circumstances.

Not to mention the extra effort required to study two attribute magics at the same time, just the fact that he cannot match magicians with the same talent in the early stage is enough to make most people unable to accept it.

After all, most people pursue the power of magicians.