Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Mage’s Progress

The "Sageheart Spellcaster" in his hands, once its existence became widely known, would undoubtedly lead to a surge in the number of mages. Yet the process of transcription had stymied nearly everyone; otherwise, his classmate would have certainly encouraged him to give it a try back then.

In Arthur’s world, nothing was said to be exclusive to the natives, nor was there anything players couldn’t master. Especially after the great crossing, everyone stood on the same footing; whatever you could do, so could I. Since Antinoya could pass on the "Sageheart Spellcaster" to him, he too could teach it to others.

It was as if Zhao Xu now held a key to spreading power far and wide.

He found it hard to imagine that these Arthurian natives would entrust something like this to him, a mere player. Arthur was the home these people wished to protect, not the players. In the hands of another, ignorant of what the future held, this secret might be sold for a few hundred or a thousand coins.

"Mentor, why do you trust me so much?" Zhao Xu asked slowly.

"No reason," came the reply.

Zhao Xu was momentarily taken aback.

"Just teasing you. Your mastery isn’t complete, so you won’t be able to spread it," Antinoya suddenly smiled.

Only then did Zhao Xu recall that Antinoya had mentioned his inability to fully grasp it; this was the reason. Still, in a year’s time, when he truly mastered it through the crossing, he would become a latent risk.

"Actually, you don’t need to worry. There are plenty of things out there that can disrupt the balance," Antinoya said, lifting her hand from beneath her robes and pointing directly at Zhao Xu.

Unlike other mages—no incantations, no gestures—she simply pointed at him to cast her spell.

A flash of golden light swept past.

Before Zhao Xu could react, he saw it at his desk.

Neat and orderly, tens of thousands of gold coins piled before him, their surfaces still bearing the faint image of the Goddess of Commerce and Wealth, proof that these were genuine coins.

"Wishing Spell. Twenty-five thousand gold coins," Antinoya said softly.

Never in his previous life had Zhao Xu seen so many coins at once; he was left breathless.

"Now this, this is what truly disrupts the balance. Do you understand?"

Zhao Xu looked up at Antinoya. Casting a wishing spell required a price—it consumed experience, and excessive use would cause one’s level to drop.

He hadn’t expected Antinoya to conjure these coins out of thin air.

"No cost?" As the possibility dawned on him, Zhao Xu found it hard to believe.

"Of course. I wouldn’t risk dropping a level just to show off to a child like you," she replied.

"This is outrageous," Zhao Xu couldn’t help but exclaim. The gold, weighing 225 kilograms, sat right in front of him, an amount countless people could never earn in their lives.

A quarter of a ton, not four grams.

On Earth, this would be akin to a ninth-level spell conjuring eighty million worth of gold out of nowhere.

For such a spell to be cast without cost—it could easily destroy any financial system.

"Don’t overthink it. There are very few mages who can actually wield this power," Antinoya said, her gaze deep and steady as she looked into Zhao Xu’s eyes. At that moment, the coins on the table vanished, swiftly stowed away in her dimensional bag.

"I shouldn’t have revealed so much so soon, but I see a different fate behind you. I believe you can be trusted."

Zhao Xu sat quietly.

When these legendary mages said they could see fate, it wasn’t just rhetoric; they truly saw it.

Perhaps Antinoya had already realized that people like Zhao Xu would all eventually arrive in Arthur.

He knew any further questions would be pointless; what she had said was the utmost she could reveal.

No other player would receive a prophecy clearer than this.

Zhao Xu lowered his head again. "Mentor, what should I study next?"

Having witnessed firsthand the wonders a mage could achieve, he felt utterly enthralled by this mystical power.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Antinoya gave a soft, surprised hum, as if something unexpected had occurred.

"Something just came up that I must attend to. You should rest for now—resume your studies tomorrow," she said.

With that, Antinoya’s form flickered and vanished. It was as if no one had ever been there at all.

Zhao Xu hadn’t expected his mentor to leave so abruptly. He could only pick up the "Overview of First-Level Spells" at his side and peruse the descriptions.

He still needed to select some first-level spells, for these would be his true fighting strength once he left the floating city.

With Antinoya absent, there was no one to provide him with the actual spells to copy. For now, Zhao Xu could only browse the summaries for a preliminary understanding.

After nearly two hours, all the lectures for the night were surely over. Zhao Xu had no choice but to log out and wait until tomorrow to inform Antinoya of his choices.

"Xu, what’s up with you today? You’re not even playing the game."

After a romantic rendezvous with his girlfriend downstairs, Zhang Qi returned to the dormitory, only to find Zhao Xu quietly reading instead of logging in, and was greatly surprised.

"Just taking a break." With the weight lifted from his mind and no longer fearing he might never become a mage, Zhao Xu turned to some idle pastimes.

"Xu, why not join our class guild?" Zhang Qi hurried over.

"You’ve raised the deposit?" Zhao Xu asked in surprise.

To establish a guild in Arthur, you didn't need any special badge; just pay a deposit to the local city boss. Then you could openly recruit and issue or accept missions.

But no player could afford that sum at the moment.

"Didn’t expect you to be so well-informed," Zhang Qi replied, amazed. "Of course we have no money. But players can still form unofficial guilds; we just can’t issue quests."

"The guild was started by Huang Daqiang, to impress some of the prettiest girls in our class," Zhang Qi explained.

Huang Daqiang was something of a big shot in their class—wealthy and influential, with plenty of followers on campus. Later, after becoming guild leader, he committed several outrageous acts and lost everyone’s trust, eventually being ousted and turning bitterly against the class guild.

In his previous life, Zhao Xu had been so annoyed by Huang Daqiang that he deliberately started playing Arthur, hoping to help his class during a guild war.

"I can’t join. I’m still stuck at the Mage Academy."

Now, with new ambitions, Zhao Xu had no interest in picking fights with Wang Daqiang and politely declined. He was too busy fighting for his own survival to bother about pride, especially since at this stage the class guild was still dominated by Wang Daqiang.

"Xu, you should’ve listened to me and changed your class earlier. Two-thirds of mages on the forum have already given up on training and switched classes."

"Even Li Tiange, the top student, joined to play mage at the urging of Goddess Lulu, but couldn’t even transcribe a zero-level spell and had to quit today. No one in the whole school has managed to successfully copy a zero-level spell as a mage."

Zhao Xu was astonished. He hadn’t realized things had been this rough at launch—Li Tiange was among the best students in their year.

It seemed he had still underestimated how hard it was to start as a mage.

"So, Xu, how far have you gotten?"