Chapter 46 — The Sorcerer's Present Circumstances

"Her total mana is great, and her spiritual power is strong too, but when she constructs spell models she runs into problems similar to mine—or even worse," Hedy said, her head lowered. "She can only master a single fireball, or the Great Fireball, whose spell model is similar to it. She's actually a very hardworking child; she knows herself that none of her talents are good—she's neither a good lord nor a good mage. Though she usually seems carefree, in truth she knows it all, and has always been secretly working hard. But there's no help for it—the limits of talent are limits. It's a wall, hard to cross."

As she spoke, she sighed softly. "So when I first saw that wild mage's notes, I felt a great deal of emotion... He was no special case; this situation is in fact very common among down-and-out mages. When the ability to construct spell models cannot keep up with one's theoretical level, one can only be a low-tier caster for life. For a pragmatic mage, if you can't turn all the calculations in your head into a spell you can actually use, then everything is zero..."

"Wrong." Gao Yang's voice suddenly cut her off.

Hedy did not react for a moment. "What?"

"If the only thing that counts as 'practical' is conjuring a fireball or an ice arrow yourself, then a mage waving a staff and a monkey waving a stick aren't much different," Gao Yang shook his head. "A formula is not zero—it's the one in front of all those zeros. You just haven't found where to put the decimal point..."

Hedy frowned. "I... don't quite understand. If I can't use a spell model to realize the formulas in my head, what use is knowing all the theory? Can it beat anyone?"

"One day you'll understand that 'can beat anyone' is not the whole standard by which a mage is judged—it shouldn't even be the main one," Gao Yang said, rising. "I've already sent riders to Tansang Town to tell Master Philip to purchase some extra things. By the time the main force arrives, your magic laboratory will be ready to set up."

"A magic laboratory?" Hedy was stunned for a moment, then frowned. "Those things are all very expensive. At the beginning..."

"I took a few ingots of mithril from the mountain treasury. They're not coinage, so they don't need re-minting, and when buying magic items they can serve directly as hard currency—enough to furnish you with a most basic set. I know your old magic laboratory in the castle is completely destroyed, but we must have a new one as soon as possible."

Hedy remembered the task Gao Yang had assigned her earlier.

"Understood—once the crystal resonator arrives, I'll copy out all those rune structure diagrams you asked for!" Hedy could not help smiling. Though she regretted the mithril ingots, how could a mage not be happy at the prospect of having her own magic laboratory again? And as the saying went, a child selling off the family fields feels no pang...

Was there any problem with the Xuanmai Sect giving its great-great-great-...-granddaughter a little pocket money to buy a set of laboratory equipment? None at all!

Well, that saying didn't suit the steady, grounded, and mature Hedy, but it would certainly fit Rebecca.

When there was strength to spare, should he perhaps get one for that stubborn little girl too? Though in all likelihood she would only study fireballs in it...

With these somewhat scattered thoughts, Gao Yang returned to his tent, preparing to study those few strange crystals.