Chapter 985: Chapter 430: Spellcasting Matters (Second Update)

Teresa and Laine headed towards the Dawn Wizard Tower together. The female sorcerer thought for a moment and explained, "First of all, you must already know the difference between a warlock and a wizard in spellcasting. My casting relies on my bloodline power, whereas Veronica’s casting constructs a spell model."

"Mm." Laine nodded repeatedly, he was clearly aware of this point.

"So both Veronica and I have been troubled by certain factors in our progress. As you know, I’m the daughter of Female Elder Aurora. My family isn’t lacking in money, nor in numerous magic books, but I happen to be a warlock. My casting relies on my bloodline, and my advancement can only depend on deeply exploring my bloodline power and attempting to master those difficult spells that align with my bloodline." Teresa glanced at Laine before continuing, "So I want to go on an adventure."

"And Veronica is the opposite. She has enough talent and can master numerous spells, but she doesn’t have money." Upon hearing this, Laine immediately understood and joked, "You have enough money and many resources, yet are limited by your warlock bloodline to mastering only a small portion of spells that fit your bloodline. Wouldn’t it be better if you just swapped identities?"

"Don’t even think about it! I would never swap identities with that woman, absolutely not!" Teresa pulled her lips slightly, the mole at the corner of her eye glittering, "I hate her; don’t you think she’s like a hedgehog, trying to poke anyone who comes close? It was the same in Marinburg; even though we didn’t have much interaction, she told me to get lost as soon as she saw me. If it weren’t for inappropriate timing and location, I would have definitely settled it with her."

"She’s always been like that." Laine recalled Veronica’s usual manner and couldn’t help but laugh, "Hasn’t she improved a lot lately?"

"She has the Wizard Tower now, a man, an identity, and Light Magic Riding. Of course, she’d feel good. Forget it, let’s not talk about this." Teresa took out a pair of hand cannons from her arms, fired two shots, and knocked down two sparrows eavesdropping on their conversation from the trees. She struck a pose and winked at Laine, "Of course, the physique enhancement brought by the warlock bloodline won’t let me be at a disadvantage in close combat like her."

"What a clumsy topic shift, dear Teresa." Laine looked askance at the female sorcerer, "But, nice shooting. You must have spent a lot of time practicing, right?"

"It’s been somewhat effective." The female sorcerer’s face flushed red. Ever since being assassinated by a Skaven Ratman Assassin in Hemgart, the female sorcerer seized the opportunity to diligently practice handgun shooting. With a natural talent and some foundation, Teresa quickly developed a decent shooting technique. After receiving the dwarf instructor’s approval, she was eager to showcase it to Laine, "Within eighty meters, I can easily hit the Ninth Ring."

"My female courtier must have such skills. Very impressive, I like it." Laine also winked, and he wrapped his arm around the female sorcerer’s waist, "Tonight, you can see my shooting skills too."

"You really are, I didn’t mean that!" The female sorcerer cast a sidelong glance at Laine and turned her head away arrogantly, though her expression was delighted, "By the way, where were we?"

"We’ve digressed too far; you haven’t told me about mana reserves and spell chanting yet." Laine thought, this lady is finally getting to the point.

"Mana reserves represent the magic power stored in a caster’s body at ordinary times. Simply put, they determine the strength and frequency of spells that can be cast in a battle." Teresa also realized she’d gotten off track and quickly returned to the topic of spellcasting, "However, mana reserves aren’t everything in spellcasting. For instance, if I want to cast an Ice Magic spell in this weather, I’d have to expend about five times as much magical power compared to normal casting. Conversely, Veronica can save a lot of mana when casting Flame Magic and Light Magic spells in this season. If the season changes to winter, I could save a lot of magical power for casting, while Veronica would consume several times more mana."

Laine rubbed his chin and immediately extrapolated, "Related to the environment, Light Mages prefer bright places, Sky Mages need to always see the sky, Death Mages love living near cemeteries away from population centers, Amber Element wizards enjoy wandering the wild with beasts, whereas Shadow Wizards prefer lurking in slums as these environments assist their casting and training."

"Exactly, thus chanting magic is also restricted by the environment. This is why Tsarina Katarina of Kislev never leaves that land perpetually covered in ice and snow; there she can create an ice fortress with one spell." Teresa continued explaining, "However, our Jialan Council differs from the Imperial Royal Wizard Association in mage production. Their method forcefully binds one of the Magic Eight Winds into the wizard’s body, which is a quick training method that can rapidly upgrade a wizard apprentice to an official wizard. But the consequence is that for their entire life, they can only practice one type of magic, and both their body and disposition will be influenced by the magic element."

The Jialan Council’s approach to magic mastery is more gentle and careful, and Laine indicated his understanding, mainly because the way Tygris left for the Empire to learn magic is like this, quick, knowing the what without knowing the why.

"Even with vast mana reserves and environmental assistance, magic isn’t necessarily safe; the fluctuation of the magic wind blowing from Chaos Domain to the Mortal World is inconsistent, without pattern or sign, at times turbulent, at times barely perceptible. Even a Grand Mage like my mother will still have the possibility of failing to cast high-ring magic." Teresa continued introducing, "The fluctuation of the magic wind is considered unpredictable; a wizard once suddenly received a gust of magic wind help him instantly refill his mana during a void demon circumstance, and also a powerful wizard had their casting rhythm disrupted by a bizarre magic wind while casting a spell, directly exploding, or getting a magic backlash turning into a chaos creature."

"The fluctuation of the magic wind greatly influences a caster’s spellcasting, which is why we need a wizard tower because it’s a place to steadily train magic, and why Light Magic Riding is so precious because by borrowing that instrument, Veronica can greatly reduce her chances of spellcasting failure." Teresa concluded, "Thus, a wizard’s strength is unstable, affected by mana reserves, the casting environment, and the severity of the magic wind."

"I see." Laine finally fully understood this issue.

The psychic casting of the Grey Knight Primarch involves directly using Subspace Energy, which is completely different from a Caster. Psychic casting is merely an auxiliary and cannot be done far from Laine, who relies more on melee combat.

"However, Laine, the pattern you carved for me does aid my casting," Teresa spoke softly with a flushed face upon noticing there was no one around. "It helps purify my Magic Power, making my Magic chants more stable and secure... Veronica has had that thing for many years now, right?"

"Indeed."

The two spent quite some time chatting leisurely. In the company of Laine, and feeling the pure Spiritual Energy winds surrounding him, Teresa, who previously felt discomfort from the intense heat and blazing sun, appeared much more refreshed.

They reached their destination.

In front of the Dawn Wizard Tower, several Kingdom Knights of Laine and King Belgar Iron Hammer of the Angland Clan were already present. Upon seeing Laine appear, Belgar chattered on incessantly, "Humans are such dawdling creatures, a species that can go into heat anytime. Well, at least you humans are more prolific than us. By Valaya, the last baby girl born in our clan was three years ago. It’s tough finding a bride here, and Dugen seems to have taken a liking to our clan’s Agelina. I’ll definitely make him bring enough gold and ore..."

Having finished speaking, Belgar paused, took out a water bottle he carried, drank a mouthful of Bagman Black Beer, wiped his mouth, and continued, "Such hot weather, I’d say! The last time I basked under such scorching weather was more than thirty years ago when I was planning the third attack on Eight Peaks Mountain, gathering supplies and heading for the Black Mountain Range..."

Belgar’s endless chatter had long made the Kingdom Knights present headache-ridden. Olivier, in his thirties, dressed in a white shirt and red formal pants, shook his head helplessly and said to Hex standing beside him, "People say dwarves are long-winded, today that’s proven true. We’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes, and King Belgar has been talking for fifteen minutes."

"Be content, Olivier. Dwarves only go on endlessly with those they consider friends, which means he regards us as his own." Though annoyed, Hex, a Kingdom Knight skilled in training troops, maintained his patience, "To attack Black Stone Stronghold, we’ll have to rely on these dwarves. Mountain combat is not the forte of knights, and we can’t transport catapults to the front of Black Stone Stronghold."

"Yes, indeed." Olivier, having come from Marinburg and witnessed the formidable power of artillery, had plenty of critiques about Brittania’s giant catapults.

In the Empire, who uses such things anymore?

Brittania’s heavy catapults may not lack power; their bombardment power even surpasses the Imperial Cannon. However, besides their power, heavy catapults face transport challenges and require ample time for on-site assembly; their firing rate and accuracy remain unstable.

Recently, Hex has been training the Peasant Infantry Corp, trying to acclimate them to cooperate comradely with dwarves. Knight training was left to Armand, and the knights must coordinate with the dwarves’ offensive to unleash their full might.

"I’m here, let’s begin." Laine arrived on the scene with Teresa, and the assembled Light Magic Riding was placed before the Dawn Wizard Tower. Four Brittania hybrid warhorses pulled the rune-etched chariot covered in Magic Runes and Arrays, surrounded by the power of Wind of Light, with several wizard apprentices bustling about.

Today, they were to witness the might of the Light Magic Riding here.

The chariot is an overwhelmingly magnificent and incredibly unbelievable weapon. The exquisite coach is adorned with Holy Artifact-like lavish jewelry enameling, paired with ornate Gothic designs covering astrological signs and skull motifs, eternally lit candles. On the chariot, there’s a massive optical device adorned with embellishing icons. Initially bearing the Twin-tailed Comet emblem, it was wiped off and replaced with the radiant Jialan Flower in full bloom.

Eight copper mirrors arranged from small to large stand before Veronica atop the chariot. The Jialan Witch wore an ancient Great Wizard Robe painted with vivid hues and floral inks, the bright red stylized peony lining the robe. The robe’s neckline stands high, with slits on both sides reaching up to the knees where beautifully covered legs with flesh-colored stockings peek through. Veronica wore cream-colored high heels, her dark brown hair fluttering in the air, and addressed her apprentices while calling out, "Laine has arrived. Are you ready?"

"Ready, Mentor." Catherine, Veronica’s chief disciple, an Official Wizard, called out. "All instruments have been calibrated!"

"Then let’s begin the experiment!"