Chapter 6: Specialization Faction, Memory Barrier

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

For the next half an hour, Mage Mo Feng’s phone kept ringing. Only when the battery became a little overheated did he finally let out a sigh of relief and put down his phone.

“Is it very strange?” Mo Feng smiled. He felt as if a huge rock had been lifted from his heart.

“I thought all communication between you mages were done via spells,” Lin Qi said curiously.

In his previous life, the mages he controlled in Single-Player Games had barely walked again after mastering the “Teleportation Spell.

“It’s us, not you.” Mo Feng corrected. “Logically, it should be like that, but casting spells is not without cost.”

Mo Feng blinked as he spoke. “For the low-mid levels, it’s hard to perform complete mental communication spells.”

“I either have to cast a spell on the target in advance, which is not as good as a walkie-talkie. Or I can send a one-time transmission, which is not as good as a text message. In that case, why not rely on technology? This custom-made satellite phone in my hand is pretty good in terms of reliability and privacy.”

“A mage who knows how to fly will still ride a plane unless he can use teleportation. Of course, most importantly, magical powers are limited, and the environment in the sky is indeed not very friendly.”

A confident glint flashed across Mo Feng’s eyes. “That’s why we mages tend toward areas where the light of technology cannot shine, to showcase the glory of magic.”

“Since the beginning, I’ve performed the zero-level ‘messaging spell’. It’s enough to ensure that our whispers are only audible to you and me.”

Lin Qi couldn’t help swallowing hard.

At this moment, he even felt that the other party was filled with light. The surrounding music around him was like a train that was slowly moving away.

Magic looked pretty cool.

Lin Qi could not help but re-examine the “Memory Palace” in the depths of his sea of consciousness. The original cracks had mostly been repaired.

Even after enduring the impact of the spell on Lin Qi’s behalf, its recovery speed was extremely fast.

Realizing that he might not have this rare opportunity after entering the academy, Lin Qi asked, “Actually, I’m very curious. Why do mages study ‘memory’ and ‘computational ability’ instead of traditional ‘magic talent’?”

“Hehe.”

Mage Mo Feng could not hold back his laughter. “The answer is very simple. Firstly, you have to pass the Secret Energy Particle Detection Test at the primary school graduation stage. Only then will you have the chance to enter a special secondary school and take the ‘Mysterious Magic Unified College Entrance Examination’. Therefore, in terms of magical talent, you would have already surpassed 70% of the people.”

“As for the capacity of magic power, I can only say that ordinary people’s’ computational ability ‘and’ memory ‘are far from the level where they need to compete in magic talent.”

“If you can’t do both, you won’t be able to cast any spells. You’ll be like a puppet whose strings are being pulled.”

As Mo Feng spoke, he tapped his fingers lightly and a bright halo appeared on his fingertips. It looked like there was a blazing fire inside with the exterior covered by an elegant lampshade. The halo of light floated with the breeze.

The customers in the bar could not help but cover their mouths as they watched this wondrous scene.

This was the unattainable shore of magic.

“I can perform the zero-level ‘Dancing Light’ spell with a snap of my fingers, but a clumsy new mage might not be able to perform it even after trying for an hour or two.”

“Every spell-casting has to go through the complicated ‘spell model’ process. Inputting the many relevant current factors to come up with a special solution.”

“That’s why if the road is just in front of me, I will obediently walk toward it. Otherwise, I would have to solve an incomparably complicated problem just to save a couple of steps. Only a fool would waste spells on things like that.”

Even an ordinary man could become a wise master. A single sentence from him could become the word of law.

Lin Qi felt his heart leap in excitement. He finally felt as if the clouds in front of his eyes had parted and he could see the sun.

Casting spells, to put it simply, was the process of using a formula to find a solution!

If it was a bad student, they would not be able to memorize formulas (memory) or use it (computational ability).

Only by completing these two “foundational skills” could one be qualified to pursue the higher talents.

All circles had a “wall”, and only the people inside the wall knew this profound truth.

“Other than that, is magic omnipotent?”

Although he knew that he was a computational noob, Lin Qi still couldn’t help but feel very eager.

Even for the risky “Wingsuit Flying”, there were many extreme thrill-seekers addicted to it, trying to conquer the sky through it. For mages, it was just a third-level “flying spell”.

“You’re thinking too much.” Mage Mo Feng chuckled. “There are several specializations.”

“The eight major factions of magic—Transformation, Curses, Illusion, Necromancy, Protection, Prophecy, Shaping, and Enchantment. On top of that, there is the Universal faction, which is independent of the other eight. You will know the complexity of the whole system when you enter the academy.”

“No matter how much an ordinary mage tries, he can only specialize in one or two factions. This is also the most obvious characteristic of every mage.”

“Only one?” Lin Qi felt somewhat disappointed.

Although he knew that he shouldn’t bite off more than he could chew, it felt too pathetic to only master one.

Mo Feng shook his head. “That’s not all. Powerful Mages, after exploring the different factions to a certain extent, will try to practice spells across factions, but there are limits to the level. For example, I specialize in fourth-level transformation, but I can also perform first and second-level curses and shaping.”

Lin Qi’s heart started beating faster. He probed. “Why is there such a restriction?”

Mage Mo Feng couldn’t help feeling somewhat surprised, but he still patiently explained, “I can’t remember.”

“With your basic score of only 250 points, you will definitely be at a disadvantage in the future. The academy will probably target your special characteristic and have you focus your cultivation in that angle.”

“Memory?”

Lin Qi couldn’t still his racing heart as much as he tried to. He couldn’t even think about asking about the future direction of his cultivation.

“Don’t tell me that there has never been a genius with a photographic memory? With super memory?”

Mo Feng could no longer hold back his laughter.

“I am the kind of the genius you speak of.”

“At first, I was confident that with my photographic memory, I would definitely be outstanding and become one of the rare genius mages in history.

Mo Feng’s tone suddenly grew a little dim.

“The spell model based on the mysterious language of Sisma has a naturally-occurring ‘memory repelling’ characteristic. The language of Sisma itself has this forgetting characteristic, as if the heavens believe that humans stole it from the gods, and have been trying to take it back from our memories.”

“Even a genius with a photographic memory would have to put in tremendous effort just to memorize it. It would take a lot of effort just to recall one or two parts of the spell model. Most of the time, we waste our computational ability on correcting errors made by an incorrect model.”

Mage Mo Feng’s face lit up. “You just deduced the universal working solution to the Rubik’s cube. This made our faction decide to invest real resources to nurture you. Because your talent is the key for casting spells!”

“Most sorcerers will keep practicing a few signature spells and then rely on muscle memory to perform them.”

“The memory repelling will be even more severe for the cross-faction spell model. If you dare to start off by trying to memorize the models for four different factions, I guarantee that you will be an apprentice for the rest of your life.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that you can use special materials to record words, the legacy of magic would have been lost a long time ago. Unless the memories in your head are recorded down like in a book, otherwise no one can do anything about it.”

Lin Qi, who had been listening the entire time, was instantly dumbstruck.

His memories were indeed not recorded down in a book. They were recorded down in many books.