Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill-Chapter 84: The Marvelous Uses of Mage’s Hand
The Tier Zero Magic Li Wei chose to use for deducing a Flying Spell was—Mage’s Hand.
He had seen an article on the Magic Net titled "The Many Uses of Mage’s Hand."
The original purpose for the creation of Mage’s Hand was to make it convenient for Mages to move things.
After all, for physically frail Mages, moving heavy objects was rather inconvenient.
It was later discovered that due to the fragility of the Tier Zero Magic Model, Mage’s Hand couldn’t lift things that were too heavy.
Its purpose gradually shifted from carrying heavy objects to moving items from a distance.
Because the Tier Zero Magic consumed little mana and Mage’s Hand was relatively controllable, many traditional Mages listed it as one of the must-learn Tier Zero spells.
As for Ring Mages, constrained by the limits of their Spell Slots, they prioritized necessary spells.
They generally wouldn’t waste a Spell Slot on Mage’s Hand.
The article "The Many Uses of Mage’s Hand" proposed the theoretical possibility of "Controlling Objects in the Air."
The Mage’s Hand spell uses Mana to construct a Magic Hand made entirely of Mana.
A Mage can control the Magic Hand, using it to lift, carry, push, or drag objects.
Compared to a real hand, the control of a Magic Hand was naturally inferior.
It was difficult to perform single-finger actions like "flicking," "hooking," or "digging" as one could with a real hand.
However, because the Magic Hand was composed of Mana and had no physical form, it could be used in place of a hand in many inconvenient situations.
For example, retrieving an item from a narrow space, or grabbing things that were far away, up high, or down low.
In short, Mage’s Hand had always served as a Mage’s auxiliary third hand.
The vast majority of Mages only ever used Mage’s Hand as a daily tool.
Few Mages would think of using Mage’s Hand in combat.
In the article "The Many Uses of Mage’s Hand," the researcher proposed that since the Magic Hand was made entirely of Mana, could its shape be altered to envelop an object, thereby achieving the effect of Controlling Objects in the Air?
This might sound no different from picking up an item and retrieving it from a distance.
In reality, it was a massive difference for the model that comprised Mage’s Hand.
If one could directly use Mana to envelop an object and achieve the effect of Controlling Objects in the Air, then one could remove most of the Magic Circuits used for shaping the Magic Hand and replace them with Magic Circuits needed for bearing weight. This would increase the Magic Hand’s power and speed, allowing it to be used in combat.
For example, the Stone Throwing Skill, which uses the principles of a Magic Slingshot.
If Mage’s Hand could be modified and perfected into an "Object Control Skill," its power and controllability would far surpass the Stone Throwing Skill.
The Mage who created Mage’s Hand constructed the Mana into the model of a human hand for ease of use.
A successor proposed forgetting the hand shape and directly using Mana to envelop and control an object’s movement.
The problem was, if the shaping Magic Circuits of Mage’s Hand were simply deleted, the Mana would just become a controllable cloud of energy incapable of moving objects.
The Mana would lose its "support force" and be unable to "touch" objects.
The Magic Circuit that determined this "support force" was located within the shaping circuits.
In the article, the researcher had not created a fully modified and perfected Magic Model.
However, the researcher did manage to change the hand-shaped Magic Hand into a spherical one that could envelop objects.
This proved the possibility that Mage’s Hand could be used for "Controlling Objects in the Air."
Li Wei saw in this the hope of deducing a Flying Spell.
Using Telekinesis to fly on an object is one of the common methods of flight.
In fact, he wouldn’t even need an object.
If Mage’s Hand could grab a person, he could directly control it to make himself fly.
This wasn’t like pulling yourself up by your own hair; the power of Mage’s Hand was an external force.
’The most important thing now is to learn Mage’s Hand,’ Li Wei thought.
It was useless to overthink things; he didn’t even know the Mage’s Hand spell yet.
Tier Zero Magic was easy enough to learn, though.
It was available in the Mage Tower, and he could learn it for just twenty Contribution points.
Compared to the hundreds or thousands others spent to learn a single spell, his cultivation panel really saved him a lot of money.
He could also learn spells on the Magic Net, but the problem was he still hadn’t accumulated ten Magic Coins and hadn’t unlocked the Basic Level Magic Net Treasure Vault.
After finishing the free monthly reading material, Li Wei rarely used the Magic Net Codex because there was nothing else to do.
Unless he uploaded his own insights and experiences with magic, there was no way he’d accumulate ten Magic Coins anytime soon.
But Li Wei was very wary of doing that; he didn’t want to reveal his trump cards.
Early in the morning, Li Wei had just finished breakfast and was preparing to go to the library to read.
Jimmy found him and delivered his royalties for May.
It was only when Li Wei received the payment that he remembered it was June first.
It was a new month, meaning the free reading material on the Magic Net Codex had reset, and the Mage Tower’s benefits had refreshed as well.
Jimmy said, "Novel sales in May took a slight dip due to the war, but it’s over now, so I expect sales will recover quickly."
"Your royalties for May come to a total of ten Gold Coins and thirty Silver Coins."
Li Wei accepted the money pouch, surprised that the war had even affected his earnings.
’This makes things a bit difficult,’ he thought.
Jimmy didn’t know what was about to happen and had made the wrong judgment.
Li Wei knew the war wouldn’t end anytime soon; peaceful days were still a long way off.
This was not good news for him.
Jimmy’s next words, however, brought him some good news.
"News came from the Treasure Basin Commerce Association. They said the merchant caravan has left the Thousand Cave Highlands for the Great Desert. The profits from the novel sales in the Thousand Cave Highlands have already been sent back to Maple City through the United Commerce Association’s bank. It should arrive in half a month at the earliest, or next month at the latest."
Hearing this, a smile touched Li Wei’s lips. Finally, some good news.
At the beginning of the year, the Xinghuo Literature Society had reached a cooperation agreement with the Treasure Basin Commerce Association.
Nearly half a year had passed, and there were finally some returns.
Li Wei asked, "How much money?"
Jimmy shook his head and said, "It’s not clear yet. We’ll only know after the United Commerce Association’s escort convoy arrives in Maple City."
"But judging by how seriously the society president is taking this, it’s probably not a small amount."
"Just yesterday, the president had a special meeting with the head of the Treasure Basin Commerce Association about this."
Li Wei felt a sense of anticipation.
"Okay, thanks. Sorry to trouble you with the trip."
"Don’t mention it. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way."
"Goodbye, Mage Li Wei."
After seeing Jimmy off, Li Wei headed to the third floor of the Mage Tower.
"Magic Butler, are there any suitable missions near Maple City recently?"
He casually collected his monthly Apprentice Mage benefit—1 Contribution point.
Magic Butler: "To settle the more than twenty thousand Beastman captives, the City Lord has chosen the Dark Valley as their camp. A large number of bounty missions to clear out the Magic Beasts in the Dark Valley have been posted at the Professional Association."
"Besides the missions to clear out Magic Beasts in the Dark Valley, there are also missions to clear out plants and rocks in the valley that are suitable for a Fire Element Mage."
That sounded pretty good. Li Wei selected one mission to exterminate Magic Beasts and another to clear out plants and rocks.
This time it was a solo mission, not an assistance mission, so there were no teammates.
Unless Li Wei found his own teammates.
He didn’t need teammates.
His Shadow Attendant was enough.
Li Wei walked out of the Mage Tower, taking stock of his assets.
’10 Gold Coins and 36 Silver Coins, 2.8 Contribution points... To buy the Magic Model for Mage’s Hand, I still need at least 6.84 more Contribution points.’
’I need to gather at least 7 Contribution points on this trip to be able to afford the spell.’
