I Became the Progenitor Vampire - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Chapter 62 Conceptualization of the Small Fireball Skill
 

Gradually gathering his wandering thoughts, Lide organized his approach for spell improvement.

Based on the features of the Small Fireball Skill, he identified three directions.

The first was to continue increasing the power of both Small and Big Fireball Skills, making this spell truly become a presence as a high-powered heavy weapon.

The second was to maintain the existing power while increasing the speed of the Fireball Technique’s trajectory, to make up for this shortcoming.

The third was to reduce the power of the Small Fireball Skill while increasing the casting speed and the trajectory speed.

It could be said that each of these three pathways had its own advantage, and aiming for all was impossible. Lide had a clear understanding that his current accumulation of spells was not yet at a level to achieve such improvements.

The Bloodline’s current levels were all above level 5, and almost all mages had learned the Big Fireball Skill, so there was little necessity to continue increasing the power of the Small and Big Fireball Skills. Increasing it further would be difficult to surpass the Big Fireball Skill.

The second point was undoubtedly the most ideal, but the difficulty was too great. Lide, having improved the Mage’s Hand, knew how difficult it was to increase power while maintaining the original state.

The Mage’s Hand had originally 30 magic nodes, but now, after the improvement, it had 90 magic nodes, which illustrates the point.

Moreover, the Magic Consumption of the Mage’s Hand had increased by 50%, which was nearly a non-issue for him, the Blood Clan Ancestor with abundant Magic Power.

But for a first-level spell, it was still a bit high. The power had increased, but the cost-effectiveness had decreased, which was also why he hadn’t popularized the Mage’s Hand throughout the Bloodline.

Personally, he preferred the third option, to reduce the power of the Fireball Technique, to increase the projectile speed and casting speed of the Fireball, and at the same time, to reduce Magic Power consumption.

Reducing a certain power of the Small Fireball Skill in exchange for a faster casting and projectile speed was completely acceptable to Lide.

Why in modern warfare is the machine gun the most loathed by infantry? Because the relentless suppression of the enemy makes it impossible to raise one’s head.

If he could release three or even more Small Fireballs in one second, turning the Small Fireball Skill into the magical version of a Gatling gun, even if the power were smaller, it would be enough to shock the opponent.

So what if the power was less? It would still send them to meet the Undead.

Of course, this was just his preliminary idea. To truly achieve the goal, it would probably require continuous trials and countless failures.

Night is the strongest weapon given to the Bloodline by the Night Goddess; members of the Bloodline with unique Bloodline capabilities are greatly enhanced in all aspects when night falls.

Lide, the Blood Clan Ancestor with the Talent Specialization of Magic Affinity, was even more able to directly feel how powerful the enhancement brought by the night was.

Magic Power nearly condensed into mist around him.

He closed his eyes and entered the Spiritual Sea.

The improvement of the Small Fireball Skill officially began.

With the experience from researching the Mage’s Hand, the starting point was relatively smooth. Following the procedure, he began by assigning numbers 1 through 50 to the first 50 Magic Nodes.

It must be said that though there were only twenty more Magic Nodes, the complexity of the magic model for the Small Fireball Skill was several levels higher than that of the Mage’s Hand.

If the Magic Nodes of the Mage’s Hand were sequentially arranged from 1 to 30, the Small Fireball Skill’s Magic Nodes were arranged in a scrambled order, like 1-32-18-47, with no fixed sequence.

To change a spell, the most basic requirement is to discern the role of each Magic Node within the Magic Model, whether it’s to amplify power or stabilize the model, to speed up the flow of magic or to save Magic Power.

It was highly unlikely to find unnecessary Magic Nodes in a mature first-level spell like the Small Fireball Skill.

Countless mages choose the Small Fireball Skill as their first spell upon becoming an official Mage. Over a long period, countless powerful mages have already honed this spell.

Lide was mentally prepared for this; improving this spell was unlikely to be as smooth as Mage’s Hand.

But as a man of action, he didn’t hesitate much and began to act.

With his exceptional magic affinity, he gradually reduced the magic input required to activate the Small Fireball Skill’s magic model from 8 units of magic power to 7, then to 6, 5, and 4, until he finally reached the unimaginable minimum of 3 units, which could no longer be decreased.

Before he improved Mage’s Hand, the extreme amount of magic he could manipulate was two units that would set the Mage’s Hand’s magic model in motion.

The Small Fireball Skill had as many as 20 more magic nodes than Mage’s Hand; compressing it to 3 units of magic had reached the absolute limit, and reducing it further seemed almost impossible.

After several experiments, Lide realized that 3 units of magic were the critical value for the Small Fireball Skill’s magic model, and he decisively abandoned his plan to further reduce the magic input.

For a spell with 50 magic nodes, being able to operate its model with just 3 units of magic was already incredibly unbelievable; if it really could be activated with two units of magic as Mage’s Hand could, it would mean he had made a breakthrough in rank.

But 3 units of magic were also acceptable; at least, if a collapse occurred, the backlash of 3 units wouldn’t have much effect on him.

Next step.

Splitting the magic nodes.

The most direct way to figure out the use of each magic node was to dissect it; what would happen to the magic model if a node was taken apart? Could it still be activated? Would it collapse? Would the magic consumption increase or decrease, and what would be the state of the spell released?

Answers to these questions could all be found through the dissection of magic nodes.

The magic model of the Small Fireball Skill was a completely new subject; this spell was entirely different from Magic Hand, whether in its operating rules or the arrangement of its magic nodes.

But faced with the unfamiliar challenge, Lide became even more interested, exploring the unknown magics, slowly unveiling the mysterious veil of spells, this feeling made him obsessed.

It was like slowly lifting the skirt hem of his goddess, bit by bit delving into that forbidden and mystical domain, filled with an unusual thrill and longing.

First, he began to dismantle the magic nodes.

Number 1; this was the start of the Small Fireball Technique. Lide directed magic straight into the second magic node, bypassing node number 1.

As the magic flowed, the nodes of the Small Fireball Skill lit up one by one, emitting a faint blue glow.

The bypassed node number 1 seemed to have little connection with the entire magic model; the magic flowed smoothly into node number 50 without resistance.

Just as the last node lit up with blue light, the previously stable magic nodes collapsed in an instant.

Lide didn’t even have time to react before he felt a slight pain in his mind, like the sting of a needle.

The feeling of magic rebound was not pleasant.

Lide frowned and picked up a quill to record the recent experiment data in the common language of the mainland,

“Removing node number 1 renders the magic model non-viable; node 1’s function likely serves to stabilize and connect the whole model.”

Failure during the improvement of spells was as normal as breathing, so he wasn’t particularly disturbed mentally, though the rebound from the Small Fireball was about twice that of Mage’s Hand’s collapse, which was slightly beyond his expectation.

However, for someone with magic affinity as his Talent Specialization, it was still well within the threshold of endurance. Unless he failed continuously hundreds or thousands of times, a backlash from a mere 3 units of magic couldn’t deal him significant harm.

Once the pain in his mind had eased, Lide began to verify node number 2.

The experiment continued.

Looking down upon Green City, the scarlet Mage Tower with its tapered spire in the southern district was particularly conspicuous against the night sky, reflecting dots of crimson color in the moonlight.

From the seventh floor, the dim Magic Lamps shone through the glass windows, casting warm yellow light that, like a beacon on an isolated island, pierced through the darkness of Green City.

It was full of mystery and allure.