Chapter 360 - 50: Creating a New Level 0 Witchcraft, a Star Badge Level 5 Rating
Chapter 360: Chapter 50: Creating a New Level 0 Witchcraft, a Star Badge Level 5 Rating
She had been a Wizard for so many years, writing paper after paper, but this goal had always remained out of reach.
Yet a First Level Apprentice had so easily achieved the dream she had chased for half her life.
Soon, Yi Lin finished reviewing the entire paper.
As was customary, the next step should have been to immediately perform a test casting of the optimized [Thunder Blade Technique].
But she hesitated for a moment and pulled up that old paper on Black Moss from the academy’s archives.
Unveiling the Growth Mechanism of the Iron Crystal Shell of Steel Bamboo Black Moss—An Enlightening Interpretation of its Divinatory Significance.
When this paper had first come to her, she had only glanced at it hastily, thought the perspective was rather novel, and casually wrote down her review comments.
But things were different now.
The seed of a new formula had been born from this paper, and she decided to re-examine it.
A trace of anticipation stirred in Yi Lin’s heart. ’Maybe I can catch some inspiration from it too?’
Before long, the Rose Judge gently set the paper down, letting out an almost inaudible sigh.
She had found nothing.
The Beads of Inspiration Mo Ning had seen between the lines were, in her eyes, just ordinary grains of sand.
She had to admit that inspiration was, and always had been, the world’s most unfair gift.
Yi Lin closed her eyes and sank her consciousness into her Spiritual World, beginning to construct the new Witchcraft Model in final preparation for the casting test.
The learning difficulty of the optimized [Thunder Blade Technique] had not decreased, but for a Second Level Wizard, this was no obstacle at all.
What truly made her look forward to it was the new version’s transformative advantage—the stability of the Thunder Blade had been greatly enhanced.
Not by double, not by triple, but by more than tenfold.
This meant that in actual combat, the risk of losing control could be almost completely eliminated.
This point alone was enough to give countless Third Level Apprentices immense motivation to relearn this Witchcraft.
And because the difficulty of control had plummeted, the learning threshold had also collapsed significantly. The original stringent requirement of 30 points of Spiritual Strength and a full 600-point Magic Pool reserve had now dropped to 20 points of Spiritual Strength and a 350-point Magic Pool.
This meant the threshold had been lowered to a level achievable by Second Level Apprentices.
In addition to this, the Magic Consumption was also reduced by about 8%.
In any other Apprentice’s paper, this level of reduction would have been enough for the author to proudly add words like "Massive Reduction in Magic Consumption" to their title.
But in this paper, it was merely the most insignificant, almost trivial, advantage.
All in all, this was definitely a paper that far surpassed the Apprentice level.
Another ten minutes passed in silence.
Yi Lin opened her eyes, and the shadow of a spectral blue Thunder Blade appeared deep within her mechanical eye.
The Female Wizard had successfully finished constructing the Witchcraft Model.
Instead of building a temporary, disposable model as she usually would, she had permanently solidified it in her Spiritual World, which was why it took extra time.
Even a Second Level Wizard was willing to expend a Spell Slot for it, which just went to show how outstanding the new version was.
With a thought, Yi Lin instantly vanished from the workshop, leaving only the phantom image of a rose in her place.
「The next second.」
The Rose Judge had appeared inside the laboratory’s Witchcraft Testing Ground.
Although the academy had built over a hundred large, public testing grounds specifically for Wizards, any Wizard who owned their own laboratory was usually willing to spend the money to build one inside it.
It was like in a past life, how cities had comprehensive and cheap public transportation, yet most people were still willing to spend a fortune to buy their own car.
The core logic of both was exactly the same.
Yi Lin activated the Witchcraft Model and made a motion with her right hand as if gripping the hilt of a blade.
"BZZZT—CRACKLE—!!!"
A swarm of dazzling Electric Snakes erupted from thin air, catalyzed by Magic Power, and instantly condensed into the clear outline of a Thunder Blade.
The outline was the boundary, and within it, the rampaging Thunder Power was pouring in and filling the space with incredible obedience, requiring almost no effort on her part to suppress it.
Yi Lin couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, "The difference really is immense."
Over a hundred years ago, when she was still just a Third Level Apprentice, she too had ambitiously attempted to master the old version of the [Thunder Blade Technique].
She had spent a great deal of time understanding the Divination Model and constructing the Witchcraft Model, only to give up decisively after a single attempt.
To this day, she still remembered the feeling: the rampant thunder struggling wildly in her hand, threatening to break free from its restraints at any moment.
In that moment, her heart had leaped into her throat, and a fine layer of cold sweat had instantly broken out on her back.
’It was too dangerous!’
But the feeling of the new Witchcraft was completely different. The thunder was utterly tamed.
A moment later, the Thunder Blade was fully formed.
Countless tiny electric serpents slithered across the blade’s surface, pulsing with a cold, blue-white light.
Without hesitation, Yi Lin locked her gaze on a human-sized boulder a hundred meters away and swung her arm down decisively.
"BOOM—!"
A deep peal of thunder exploded.
The Thunder Blade vanished from her palm the instant she swung, and in the next moment, it struck the target with absolute precision.
At the point of contact, the Thunder Power transformed into terrifyingly high heat. The cut in the boulder instantly turned a searing orange-red—first melting into lava, then immediately vaporizing into nothingness.
The Thunder Blade swept past, cleaving the boulder in two.
And yet, less than a quarter of the blade’s Thunder Power had been consumed.
Yi Lin seized the momentum, directing the still-potent Thunder Blade to unleash a fierce series of lightning-fast slashes.
"BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!"
Thunderclaps boomed three times in succession.
Only after the final slash did the Thunder Blade exhaust all its power, exploding into a blinding shower of white light.
The boulder was completely obliterated, its fragments THUDDING onto the ground.
Every fresh cut surface still glowed with the searing, dark red of molten rock.
Yi Lin’s mechanical eye CLICKED as she made her initial assessment. ’This is a Genius Level optimization.’
The Female Wizard was inclined to believe that this should be considered an entirely new Witchcraft, not just an optimization.
Although the Thunder Blade’s appearance was similar, its power was roughly equivalent, and its method of attack was identical, its core was something else entirely.
The new Thunder Blade’s control difficulty was significantly lower, and the sensation of slashing with it was so smooth it was almost silky.
According to the records of predecessors, every slash from the old Thunder Blade would cause a shock to its internal structure, risking complete collapse at any moment.
Consecutive slashes?
’Don’t even think about it!’
So, without a shred of hesitation, Yi Lin wrote a sentence in the paper’s evaluation section:
[This Witchcraft utilizes a completely new Divination framework, and its effects far surpass the Thunder Blade Technique.]
[Upon review, it has been determined that this transcends the scope of optimization or improvement. It is therefore recognized as a new Level Zero Witchcraft. The author of the paper may name this Witchcraft.]
As for the final evaluation grade, Yi Lin gave an answer with almost no thought:
[Overall Evaluation: Star Badge Fifth Level.]
Below the review section, five exquisite Star Emblems quietly materialized.
This was the highest evaluation at the Star Badge level; any higher would be the "Moon Chapter" tier, which belonged to the First Level Sorcery Domain.
But after the Female Wizard finished writing, she suddenly shook her head.
"Star Badge Fifth Level is still a little low.
"The Mo Ning Formula alone is enough to earn a Star Badge Fifth Level. Creating an entirely new Level Zero Witchcraft should at least add another half a star."
The moment her voice fell, a dim star appeared without warning in the air above the Witchcraft Testing Ground.
Yi Lin’s heart leaped in surprise, her tone instantly becoming respectful and solemn. "Your Excellency, Sophie!"
This was the signature communication method of the academy’s vice dean, Sophie.
This vice dean, in the Wizard World, also possessed a renowned title—the Destruction Dark Star.
It was said that this title came from Her Excellency Sophie’s most proficient Third Level Witchcraft—[Dark Star Celestial Punishment].
For a Witchcraft’s name to so brazenly include the two words "Celestial Punishment" was a clear indicator of its terrifying power.