Chapter 128: Identity (2/3)

From the dormitory all the way to the indoor arena in the northern district, Zhao Xu barely managed to finish reading through the entire forum thread about today's dispute. He never expected that he would be the cause of it all.

In truth, Zhao Xu was not at all surprised that he had successfully awakened the “Scribing Specialty” ability in that second-floor room. After all, he had already reached level 2.

At level 1, a mage only has three zero-level spell slots and one first-level spell slot. Upon leveling up, Zhao Xu now possessed four zero-level spell slots and two first-level spell slots. His spiritual affinity had also been enhanced. Compared to novices who exhausted their potential and only became first-level practitioners after promotion, Zhao Xu’s progression was smoother and more natural—this was the path all future practitioners would follow. Otherwise, having to return home to retrain after every level-up would be rather foolish.

However, it did take him six minutes to copy a zero-level spell scroll called “Reading Magic,” which was somewhat beyond his expectations.

The forum quarrel began with a post from a male player who simply described his experience participating in a test in the Floating City. During the test, he witnessed a mysterious mage player awaken the “Scribing Scrolls” ability in just 22 minutes. The poster, who originally did not even have an account, couldn’t resist registering and asking on the forum whether this was a new record.

But the replies beneath the post were a flurry of highlights: “Tell me, how can someone who just acquired the ‘Scribing Scrolls’ ability copy spell scrolls immediately? They should at least have to upgrade to level 1 mage to get spell slots first, right?”

“Ha, maybe the mages of Mystra don’t need spell slots to copy scrolls.”

“The cloud players now describe details so vividly, can’t mess with them.”

“Just to add, some people do awaken partial spell slots early. Rare, but it happens.”

“Even the defense posts nowadays are so refreshing. Anyone got a job for me? I’m broke.”

“Last time they bragged about a day’s worth of priest training, now it’s 22 minutes. What record is left in this forum? Oh right, the record for the most spells mastered.”

“@LittleRedHeart, big shot RedHeart, your record of 16 spells might not hold up. Better copy a few more before someone claims 20.”

Eventually, the post was locked by the moderator who labeled it as [False Posting]. This only added fuel to the fire, leading to the very heated battle threads Zhao Xu had seen earlier.

Zhao Xu found it quite amusing to observe these heated exchanges as an outsider. Yet, it all seemed pointless—wouldn’t it be better to spend this time leveling up instead?

Still, he began to understand why such a chain reaction had occurred. In the previous world, Mystra had indeed recruited many elite mage apprentices, but its teaching methods and approaches were far stricter than other mage academies on the continent.

Moreover, the mage players residing in Mystra’s Floating City, upon realizing their uniqueness, did not actively boast about it.

Zhao Xu felt a bit sorry for those who had been praised but ended up humiliated and questioned, their posts locked without a chance to respond.

After some thought, he logged into his alternate account, “EastCityLing,” and posted a brief analysis, hinting at the existence of certain career variants where one might sacrifice the “Scribing Scrolls” ability temporarily, then regain the specialty upon further advancement.

He edited his post briefly and published it.

What surprised Zhao Xu was that within just a few minutes—while he inserted a coin and took a sip of his soda walking into the sports arena—his post was immediately elevated by a moderator who paid special attention to him. Responses flooded in.

“Are these braggers organized? One wave after another, never-ending?”

“Hey, put on your glasses and check who the poster is. Who’s the author of that top reply post?”

“Worship the poster, I suspect an insider.”

“No way, could 22 minutes actually be true?”

“True or not, I don’t know, but those who doubted in the original post have been roasted and haven’t logged in for days.”

---

At that moment, Zhao Xu entered the arena and saw the match had already reached its final quarter. He walked directly behind Zhang Qi and sat down.

“Hey, God Xu, coming this late?” Zhang Qi, though a substitute, had played for several minutes and was drenched in sweat but still greeted him.

Zhao Xu smiled in return.

Several classmates glanced toward Zhao Xu. For an entire month, except for a few serious classes, he had skipped most lessons. He hadn’t participated in class activities either, drifting like a lone wanderer.

Even in the popular game “Arthur,” no one had ever teamed up with him.

Over time, they had nearly forgotten he existed.

In university, when you don’t engage in studying, sports, games, or clubs, you easily become invisible.

At that moment, the class’s top student and basketball ace, Li Tiange, was leaving the court to be replaced by Zhang Qi. Li Tiange then took Zhang Qi’s former seat.

Seeing Zhao Xu sitting silently beside him without greeting, Li Tiange smiled and said, “Zhao Xu, I heard you’ve been really into ‘Arthur’ lately. What level are you?”

The substitutes nearby glanced back at Li Tiange, finding his question odd. Everyone was basically level 1. What was there to ask?

If someone had reached level 2, the greeting would simply be, “Master, carry me.”

Zhao Xu was indifferent and simply answered, “Still in training.”

“Hey, let me tell you, sticking stubbornly to one class is useless. Look at Lulu; she just switched to Ranger because she found the mage too hard to play.”

Li Tiange gave Zhao Xu a self-satisfied look. “But I’m almost done with my mage training and can teach you some tips. I’ve got these from a few level 1 mages I managed to find. Want to hear?”

Zhao Xu was puzzled and asked, “Didn’t you say before you couldn’t copy zero-level spells and were going to give up?”

He recalled Zhang Qi telling him this half a month ago, which didn’t align with Li Tiange’s current words.

Moreover, in the previous world, Li Tiange was definitely training as a Ranger, so why was he still stubbornly pursuing mage training now?

Zhao Xu couldn’t figure out where the timeline had diverged. They had barely met before.

Li Tiange looked embarrassed.

He had heard Zhao Xu was stubbornly pursuing mage training and, fearing ridicule for giving up, had picked it back up himself, though with no success.

He lived in the building opposite, so rarely bumped into Zhao Xu.

Now that Zhao Xu had finally come to the court, it was the perfect chance to convince him to quit mage training.

It made sense for him to give up.

Li Tiange could never forget how, when they first enrolled, Cui Lu had been quite close to Zhao Xu, but then they drifted apart. If Zhao Xu really did become the mage Cui Lu admired, what would happen if she suddenly warmed up to him again?

Zhao Xu simply shook his head, declining.

His gaze had already shifted to the court, paying little attention to Li Tiange’s words.

“Why don’t you just delete your account? Come to our Winter City, I can help you out there. You can train as a warrior, team up with me and Cui Lu, and the monster hunting will be fierce!”

“Tiange, if you want to be a good mage, you should focus more on the principles behind the spells. It’ll help you understand them better. You’re a top student after all.”

Out of camaraderie, Zhao Xu offered this advice.

“Ha, what a joke! No wonder you haven’t graduated yet.” Li Tiange immediately snapped.

He had gone through great trouble to assist those level 1 NPCs, running errands and guarding for them.

And now, they were giving him that nonsense about studying hard.

But as soon as he spoke, Li Tiange regretted it. He had planned to mislead Zhao Xu into a trap but instead blurted out his rebuttal prematurely.

Unable to backtrack, he changed the subject. “In my opinion, this lousy game should be set up like this: When you learn a spell, a ding sounds, and you’re notified you’ve mastered it.”

“Plus, a complete spell list should be displayed. The NPCs beg us to copy all the spells properly, and they won’t let us leave until we finish.”

Hearing this, Zhao Xu absentmindedly smoothed back his hair, feeling that Li Tiange’s description sounded oddly familiar.

Suddenly, a classmate on the field got hit and bled from the head. Several rushed to help him to the infirmary, and Li Tiange was subbed in.

As Zhao Xu was about to leave, a gentle breeze swept by—Cui Lu approached him, asking, “Zhao Xu, what did Li Tiange just say to you?”

Cui Lu was the best female gamer in their class. In freshman year, she had reluctantly helped Zhang Qi and Zhao Xu pass the King’s Ascension match.

“No big deal. Li Tiange was just sharing some game tips. He’s quite enthusiastic,” Zhao Xu replied.

“Oh, don’t listen to him. I’ve told him to change careers, but he’s sulking and won’t say why.”

“By the way, the class is going hiking this weekend. Are you coming?” Cui Lu smiled and suggested.

Without hesitation, Zhao Xu replied, “No time.”

Suddenly, he recalled that in the previous life, it was during this very hike that Cui Lu had fallen and almost disfigured her face.

With that in mind, he resolved to ask Zhang Qi to watch over her more closely this time.

Besides, according to the butterfly effect, she probably wouldn’t fall again.

Just then, Fang Xiyue came over, casting a disdainful glance at Zhao Xu.

Confused, Zhao Xu stood up and left.

Fang Xiyue sat down on the opposite bench and hurriedly told Cui Lu, “Lulu, ‘EastCityLing’ just updated on the forum. Hurry and check out your idol.”

“Ah, show me quickly! Thanks to this big sister, I finally decided to change careers. Zhao Xu, let me introduce you to this ID—”

Cui Lu turned to speak, but Zhao Xu’s figure had already disappeared into the distance.