novelraw Chapter 213: Epic-Level Magic — Frost Storm
Chapter 213: Epic-Level Magic — Frost Storm
Chapter 213: Epic-Level Magic — Frost Storm[Blizzard] Proficiency +24
[Flame Chain Star] Proficiency +16
[Spiral Wind Vortex] Proficiency +21
[Blizzard] Proficiency +19
A string of proficiency notifications floated before Lin Mo’s eyes one after another. Before long, an upgrade prompt appeared on his screen.
"Skill [Flame Chain Star] Lv4 (100/100) upgraded!"
"Current skill [Flame Chain Star] Lv5 (2/180)"
Not long after that prompt vanished, another came through.
"Skill [Spiral Wind Vortex] Lv5 (180/180) upgraded!"
"Current skill [Spiral Wind Vortex] Lv6 (5/300)"This felt amazing!
Lin Mo felt invigorated. The speed of these upgrades was intoxicatingly satisfying.
But the most important skill was still [Blizzard]. It was his most frequently used area-damage spell, learned relatively early. During the Silverstream City defense he had already raised it to level 6 and accumulated a lot of proficiency.
After adding the newly gained proficiency, the skill was now less than 70 proficiency points away from reaching level 7, the cap.
That meant roughly three to four more casts...
[Blizzard]!
Lin Mo unleashed Blizzard again. This time the effect wasn’t as overwhelming as before;
after Lin Mo’s continuous magical bombardment, the goblin numbers in this area had already dropped a lot.
[Blizzard] Proficiency +12
Looks like it was time to change position.
Lin Mo cast [Crystal Shield Technique], then leaped away with an [Earth-Rending Slam], moving swiftly through the goblin ranks and sending every goblin near his landing point flying into the air.
[Earth-Rending Slam] Proficiency +17
This skill was one of the more useful knight techniques, with good group-clear potential, so Lin Mo had been practicing it heavily.
After landing, Lin Mo raised his hand and sent another [Blizzard].
The goblins in this sector hadn’t yet suffered large-scale magic cleansing, so their density was comparatively higher.
One Blizzard later, a large patch of them died instantly.
[Blizzard] Proficiency +21
Indeed, this yielded far more proficiency than before.
Lin Mo checked his mana. He still had a lot of magical power left. Although he had used many spells in several battles, including multiple exceptional-grade spells like Blizzard, his mana remained at roughly one quarter of the total. That was more than enough to push Blizzard to an upgrade.
[Taunt]
[Blizzard]!
...
Of course, Lin Mo didn’t forget to combine Taunt with Blizzard, both to draw enemies and to raise that skill’s proficiency.
As it turned out, Taunt leveled up first...
"Skill [Taunt] Lv4 (100/100) upgraded!"
"Current skill [Taunt] Lv5 (1/180)"
As an excellent-grade green skill, one more level and this skill could evolve into an Exceptional-Grade ability.
From Lin Mo’s experience, heavily functional skills tend not to change dramatically upon evolution — usually they become stronger versions with maybe a few extra effects, but their core purpose remains intact.
Like Earthen Shield evolving into Rock Shield and then Crystal Shield Technique;
Fortitude into Strong Fortitude;
Healing Art into Greater Healing Art, etc.
"Huh?"
Suddenly Lin Mo noticed a Bronze-rank goblin sneaking toward him strangely.
A goblin assassin... trying to stab him?
Lin Mo almost laughed.
With his current attributes, even if he stood still and let the goblin assassin strike, the blade probably wouldn’t pierce his skin.
His knight profession level wasn’t very high compared to others, but layered atop his other stacked professions were substantial attribute bonuses. Although his base Constitution was only 40, with a +31 boost it reached 71.
Coupled with the defensive effects of his mage robes and leather armor, not even a level-3 Bronze Goblin—let alone level-4—could break through his defenses.
Still, this little pest could be a big help for his skill evolutions.
Lin Mo cast Taunt, pulling nearby goblins toward him. The would-be ambusher couldn’t avoid being controlled by the Taunt. Lin Mo raised his hand;
biting ice-elemental energy gathered in his palm. He clenched his palm hard. The next moment, snow swirled everywhere and countless icy shards fell like hail, engulfing a huge swath of goblins ahead.
[Blizzard] Proficiency +43!
This time, counting that level-3 Bronze Goblin assassin, Blizzard earned more than forty proficiency at once — the progress bar exploded.
It’s happening!
Lin Mo focused, waiting for the incoming notification.
His first epic-level magic was about to arrive!
"Skill [Blizzard] Lv6 (300/300) upgraded!"
"Current skill [Blizzard] Lv7 (Max)"
"Attribute points gained: Mana +3, Spirit +2!"
"Automatically evolved into new skill — Frost Storm!"
"Learned skill [Frost Storm]! Attribute points gained: Mana +3, Spirit +2!"
Another +6 mana total. Lin Mo’s base mana rose to 98 points! He was only 2 points away from level 10!
No wonder mages are hailed as the strongest profession—slaying monsters is truly efficient. Mages have many elemental branches and many skills;
each skill’s upgrade and evolution grants attribute points. Now, the mage had undoubtedly become his fastest, strongest leveling profession.
It justified how Lin Mo had focused early training on this class.
Now it was time to test the power of his first epic-level spell!
[Frost Storm]: Conjures a frost storm across a large area. Countless razor-like fragments formed by ice elements rain down, cutting and dealing ice-element damage to enemies within range for 10 seconds. Enemies in the area are continuously afflicted by the "Frostbite" effect (5% slow, ongoing cold wound). "Frostbite" can stack up to 5 layers. When above 3 stacks, additional "Frostbite" applications grant a 10% chance to freeze the target;
at full stacks, the chance becomes 20%!
Incredible!
No wonder this was an epic-level spell. Even just the description was far longer than Blizzard’s.
And its effects were much stronger.
First, its base area far exceeded Blizzard’s;
it hit more frequently, lasted twice as long, and also applied the "Frostbite" effect. The freezing effect that Blizzard could only gain via an evolution route was now built into the skill itself.
By the way, Lin Mo hadn’t selected Blizzard’s evolution route when it reached max level.
But after gaining a new, more powerful skill, choosing an evolution route for the old skill didn’t excite him as much.
Lin Mo chose the damage-increasing "Stacking Flow" evolution for Blizzard.
More important, however, was picking an evolution route for the new Frost Storm.
Please select an evolution direction —
Evolution Route 1: Frozen Flow 1 — During the duration, damage dealt to enemies in range increases with each hit, up to a maximum of 30%!
Evolution Route 2: Bone-Chilling Cold 1 — The "Frostbite" effect will additionally reduce targets' qi and mana regeneration speed by 10%!
"Whoa—"
Lin Mo involuntarily sucked in a cold breath.
As expected from an epic skill, both evolutions were strong.
The first route, Frozen Flow, resembled Blizzard’s previous Stacking Flow but offers a 10% higher increase at rank one — essentially an enhanced version.
Given Frost Storm’s higher damage frequency compared to Blizzard, the stacking damage increase would be easier to accumulate.
The second route was equally absurd.
"Frostbite" is already a nasty debuff that slows enemies and applies cold wound damage. The Bone-Chilling Cold route additionally reducing an enemy’s qi and mana regeneration speed was outrageous.
Qi and mana regeneration speed greatly influence a professional’s skill-casting cadence. Slowing these would make enemies release skills more slowly, and because their internal energy flow would deviate from the norm, they would feel unfamiliar and clumsy.
That awkwardness during combat has a huge impact—like losing your "feel" in a game;
when your feel is off, you can’t fight well, let alone battle effectively.
Both evolution routes were extremely difficult to choose between.
After much thought, Lin Mo chose the pure numerical increase — Evolution Route 1.
Although Route 2 would grant stronger functional control, at his current stage epic-level spells still consumed substantial resources. Frost Storm should serve as main damage output rather than as an auxiliary control in fights against tough enemies. Later, once his power and attributes improved further, he could consider using it more as a control or disruption skill.
Having selected Evolution Route 1, Lin Mo was eager to test the new spell’s effect.
The battlefield was perfect for showcasing a newly learned epic spell — why wouldn’t he show it off?
Lin Mo quickly mobilized his mana and sought resonance with the ice element.
As expected, epic skills were a leap above Exceptional-Grade ones: not only in power and effects but also in casting difficulty and cost.
It took him a full three seconds to complete the casting. Of course, some of that delay was due to unfamiliarity;
with practice the time could be reduced significantly.
Vast ice elements formed into a blizzard that filled the sky, dense flakes raining down.
Compared to the earlier Blizzard, the new skill had much greater density and falling speed.
As for range — not even comparable: it was almost three times Blizzard’s!
As for raw damage, the difference wasn’t obvious yet...
After all, he was facing ordinary goblins, at most level 1–3, which Blizzard already one-shot.
Only against somewhat higher-level monsters would the disparity become clear.
This terrifying ice-elemental surge also drew Flora’s attention.
She turned and looked at the raging cold current in the distance, amazed: "An epic-level spell... It seems this elite-level ice-element mage isn’t ordinary!"
The higher the grade of magic, the harder it was to learn and master. Excellent-grade magic already made many so-called prodigies scratch their heads. Exceptional-grade required long study and teacher guidance even for Saint Antonius Academy’s best students.
Epic-level magic was even more difficult.
Even Flora, hailed as the kingdom’s once-in-a-century magic genius, had struggled when she first learned epic spells. Under Archmage Elvish’s guidance she had spent a long time barely mastering them.
And yet this ice mage released an epic skill, which made Flora all the more curious — she wanted to meet this immensely gifted mage.
But really, weren’t these elite mages standing a bit too close to each other?
They’d basically been casting in the same area since earlier;
to Flora, that seemed inefficient.
Wouldn’t splitting up yield much higher efficiency?
At the rear, reinforcements from the neighboring city finally arrived at the front lines. Some forces entered the town to clear goblins and protect residents while the rest came to the battlefield, immediately easing the pressure on the once-tense front.
Combined with the recent magical bombardment, the goblin assault was clearly flagging.
Now was the perfect moment to strike another heavy blow to utterly crush the goblins’ morale.
Once fear took hold, even commands from higher-level goblin leaders wouldn’t prevent them from showing their species’ cowardice.
That earlier ice mage had one hand still free — Flora felt itchy to act.
It was time to strike!
She raised her staff high. A brilliant fire energy quickly condensed on her staff and formed a beam of fire that shot into the sky.
The huge spectacle drew the attention of many people and goblins. As everyone wondered why she directed that power skyward...
The next moment, a "sun" suddenly appeared overhead.
No — it wasn’t the sun but a massive molten "lava" orb composed of fire element energy.
Like a meteor, that "sun" crashed down at lightning speed. In less than a second, blinding light spread outward rapidly.
A thunderous explosion roared across the battlefield!
"Holy... nuclear!"
Watching the spectacle from a distance, Lin Mo thought that while it wasn’t literally a nuclear blast, it certainly had that vibe.
Without doubt, this was a powerful epic-level skill.
Flora, the kingdom’s once-in-a-century talent, indeed possessed serious strength.
With that destructive force and show of power, Lin Mo felt he’d need time before he could match her...
At this stage of the battle, a carriage rolled onto the battlefield’s flank — Landon and his team had finally arrived.
More capable adventurers joined the fight. Landon looked toward the explosion with shock in his eyes.
That was the most powerful magic he’d ever sensed — the terrifying element fluctuation felt especially real to him as a mage.
On the other side, the earlier blizzard-like spell was also formidable.
This was the kingdom’s frontier;
where were all these powerful people coming from?
Shocked though he was, Landon acted swiftly. After disembarking from the carriage, he grabbed his staff and began casting, reaping goblin lives like harvesting grain.
A mage’s might reveals itself clearly in large-scale wars.
While not transcendent-level and unable to single-handedly decide a whole battle, a mage like Landon could easily perform the work of ten or more other professions.
Someone like Flora needn’t even be mentioned — calling her one-against-a-hundred would be a gross understatement.
With the guards who’d come from the neighboring city helping, Roland Town’s interior situation gradually stabilized. On the external battlefield, Flora’s and Lin Mo’s high-intensity magical bombardment had severely disrupted the goblins’ assault.
The goblin commander behind the scenes wasn’t a fool;
it could clearly see Roland Town wouldn’t fall so easily.
So it decided to retreat for now and wait for another opportunity.
These terrifying humans couldn’t stay in the town forever — once they left...
It prepared to give the retreat order.
But just as it opened its mouth, a prickling sensation ran down the quasi-Silver Goblin’s spine and it shivered.
"F-Found you!"
The next moment, Lin Mo swapped places with his clone. At the same time, [Vanish] activated and his figure disappeared, dashing forward at incredible speed.
While his main body fought, Lin Mo had been constantly using [Shadow Split] to increase kill efficiency and brush proficiency, and to have clones scout the battlefield.
Furthermore, buffs applied to his main body, such as [Swiftness] and [Eagle Eye], also affected clones.
So Lin Mo kept [Eagle Eye] active to help his clones see farther.
He controlled a clone to charge across the battlefield, searching until it finally found the goblin behind this war’s command.
Its skin bore silver-white markings — clearly a quasi-Silver Goblin.
Its power should be around level 5, close to level 6.
Its class appeared to be a spellcaster.
This information flashed through Lin Mo’s mind as he approached to within ten meters of the quasi-Silver Goblin.
His Frost Dragon Scale Sword was already raised, terrifying sword momentum coalescing. Lin Mo’s pupils constricted.
[Flash]
This space magic allowed him to instantly appear behind the foe.
[Phantom Sword Dance]!
A frenzy of sword energy slashed out. Before the final finishing sword energy even formed, the quasi-Silver Goblin had already been cut into bloody pulp.
[Flash] Proficiency +35
[Phantom Sword Dance] Proficiency +35
Since learning [Phantom Sword Dance], Lin Mo hadn’t used it that often.
Partly because once he grew stronger, he didn’t need such an overwhelming skill for most monsters;
partly because his mage-level spells had become even more effective than his warrior moves.
When he first obtained this skill he had used it immediately but hadn’t managed to kill the enemy decisively — so the skill stayed at level one for a while.
This 35 proficiency finally pushed the epic skill to level two.
"Skill [Phantom Sword Dance] Lv1 (20/20) upgraded!"
"Current skill [Phantom Sword Dance] Lv2 (15/40)"
Lin Mo glanced at his mana attribute.
It had reached 98...
Two more points and he could break into level 10. Pushing further, at level 11 he could officially become a Veteran-tier mage.
Logically, he should keep going hard to raise mana, level up sooner, and reach Elite rank. That’s the fastest, most direct way to increase strength.
But Lin Mo suddenly recalled what Bishop Fletcher from the Silverstream City Holy Light Church had told him earlier.
In this world, job advancement exists. When a professional reaches level 11 — advancing from Veteran to Elite — there’s a small chance that, through sustained understanding of their vocation, the profession will branch into a specialized path.
For example, warriors might become Berserkers, Swordmasters, or Brawlers. Mages might specialize into elemental attackers, arcane scholars specializing in utility and research, or even Summoners. Priests might become Healers or Benedictioners...
These job branches are generally stronger and more distinctive than base classes.
Beyond ordinary job branches, there are rare special job unions.
Lin Mo remembered Fletcher’s exact words.
"Across the continent’s long history, only a few exceptionally gifted individuals have mastered two professions simultaneously — not superficially, but truly progressing both to high levels and understanding both deeply.
"Among those geniuses, an extremely small number, by fortunate coincidence during job advancement, experienced a mysterious fusion between their two professions... eventually merging into a more powerful special profession!"
Mastering both in parallel, fortunate ones, union, fusion...
These keywords sent Lin Mo into deep thought.
If he raised only the mage profession to Elite and then hoped for a special job, how likely would it be?
Almost zero...
But what if two professions were advanced nearly at the same time?