The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 50: The Advantages of Integrating Different Schools of Thought

Currently, Sylutia was learning a vast number of spells at the Mage Alliance, but most of them had average power or were only for support. Therefore, she didn’t construct them into specific Ability Cards. Instead, after experimenting with the spells, she would disperse the Spell Models to free up card slots.

The power of the Secret Word Aspect flowed in her eyes, and runes appeared one after another before her.

Through continuously constructing Spell Models, Sylutia gained a deeper understanding of these runes.

The power of each Aspect could be used to construct runes and form spells. For example, during the Blood Dynasty era, the Blood Clan developed a multitude of spells based on the Bloodline Aspect.

However, these spells were often strongly tied to their Aspect. For instance, Bloodline Aspect spells mostly involved blood or were cast with the aid of blood. If swapped to another Aspect, such spells either couldn’t be cast, had pitifully low power, or were completely useless.

But the Secret Word was different. It could be said to be the essence of runes. Through the “recording” function of runes, it reproduced certain miracles and phenomena, building them into a vast array of diverse spells. While it lacked additional boosts, it possessed an unrestricted ability to expand.

If the same spell, when cast by a wizard of the Hidden Grove, might have a power of 10, but when cast by relying on the Secret Word Aspect to construct runes, its power might only be 3. That was a threefold difference, and this was why the general consensus was that “Mage” spells had lower power.

However, in actual combat, the advantage wizards held over mages wasn’t as significant as imagined. This was because reality wasn’t a simple numbers game but a complex scene influenced by countless factors. A disruption in any single link could affect the whole.

For example, take a few low-tier spells commonly taught in Mage Alliance schools: “Sound-Shuttle Missile,” “Mirror Surface,” and “Flame Splash.” Among these, “Sound-Shuttle Missile” used compressed sound waves to attack, making it extremely difficult to defend against through normal means. If the target was a wizard with an average physique, getting hit would cause their internal organs to rupture and die. It wasn’t ineffective just because its base power wasn’t high.

Next was “Mirror Surface,” a very simple spell. It could create a smooth mirror-like terrain or raise it upright, making it hard for the opponent’s line of sight to penetrate. This could limit a warrior’s movement and allow mages to hide behind the mirror, making it difficult for enemy Archers to pinpoint their location or aim.After that came “Flame Splash,” which could produce ordinary flames of over 300 degrees Celsius. It was handy for dealing with all kinds of insects and large swarms of low-tier creatures, which were often the bane of warriors. Their greatswords could easily cleave giant beasts in two, but against a cloud of flying insects, they were largely ineffective and could only be forced to flee.

Thinking back on everything she had learned in the past half-year, Sylutia began to improve the “Phantom Flying Sword” she had mastered.

If she just used it as a flying sword to slash, while fast, its power was limited. If she encountered a giant beast of the same tier, such a flying sword couldn’t even break its defense.

What if she made it a saw? Sylutia thought of a circular saw, so she changed the shape of the flying sword into a ring-shaped saw. After testing this “Phantom Circular Saw” a few times in the training ground, Sylutia shook her head.

Because removing the sharp blade point drastically reduced its piercing power. Each attack could only cut a very small opening. If she wanted to wear down an opponent over time, the circular saw would have to spin continuously for several seconds before it could tear through armor or a protective shield. While the cost-effectiveness was slightly better, the time spent and the missed opportunities would be fatal in a real fight.

No wonder it was made into a sword shape. It was to compensate for the lack of force and the weakness of failing to break armor. In actual combat, the flying sword could be seen as a thrusting spear or blade.

After that, Sylutia tried various other shapes and found the power was ultimately limited. The sword shape was indeed the optimal solution after comprehensive consideration.

But, if the “sword shape” was truly so excellent, the secret art that professor had spent his life researching shouldn’t have been “Steel Shadow Magic Hand” but “Steel Shadow Flying Sword.”

Dismissing the shape of the flying sword, Sylutia condensed the Magnetite Sand again, but this time, she changed it into the shape of a hand.

As she manipulated it this time, she suddenly felt surprisingly smooth. It was probably like commanding her own arm, with a feeling of natural flow.

No wonder it was made into a hand shape. Because humans instinctively use the manipulation model of their own hands, directing it is very easy and the mental burden is small.

If that was the case, Sylutia found a practice iron sword in the training ground, used the magnetite sand hand to pull it out, and swung it in the air.

With this idea in mind, Sylutia focused her attention again, and one by one, magnetite sand hands appeared, each pulling out a sword.

Thus, six long swords hovered silently behind Sylutia. Then, the six swords flew out together, crossing a long distance to embed themselves into a target fifty meters away. Afterward, they pulled themselves out and began fighting each other, effortlessly executing various sword techniques.

Without the limitations of a human body, sword techniques could be used more flexibly. Slashing, thrusting, lifting, reversing, backstabbing—many moves were performed without any restrictions.

After sparring like this for several minutes using the “left hand versus right hand” style, Sylutia had these hands hold the swords point-down in the ground, ending the experiment.

The young girl lightly held her forehead, feeling the fatigue of mental power consumption for the first time. Controlling six swords wasn’t just a sixfold increase in consumption; there was also the attention and perception shared across each sword. In reality, it was over twelve times the consumption, definitely not something an ordinary person could handle.

Doing this for a prolonged battle certainly wouldn’t work, but a sudden outburst was also a means to rapidly increase killing power.

Very quickly, Sylutia had another thought. Why did the hands have to be hands? Why couldn’t she use puppets to hold the swords? Puppets could be equipped with more devices, even built-in power sources, to reduce the burden of control.

As expected, the secret arts of the ‘Puppet Shadow School’ always ended up connecting to puppets and marionettes once developed to a certain level.

No, she was going to join the ‘Mithril Clock’ school in the future. She should think along the lines of that school’s secret art system instead. Sylutia recalled what she had learned recently.

The power system of the ‘Mithril Clock’ school was mostly related to conceptual attributes like “time,” “order,” and “Precision Machinery,” much like their most representative alchemical creation: the Clock.

Regarding “time” and “order,” she hadn’t learned anything related yet. But “precision” and “machinery” were areas she had already been exposed to quite a bit.

If she followed the philosophy of the ‘Mithril Clock’ school, they would probably work on the blade itself.

Thinking it, she did it. Sylutia began to try controlling the shape of the condensed sword blade more precisely, meaning making two Phantom Flying Swords identical, with perfectly matching patterns.

This process seemed simple, but the actual control wasn’t easy. Sylutia practiced repeatedly for several hours before slowly finding the key points and finally achieving her goal.

Since she could precisely control the sword blade, could she inscribe patterns inside it and make it into a simple alchemical creation? Guided by this thought, Sylutia began trying to apply a “Sharpness” rune effect to the sword blade.

Ten days later.

A beautiful, silver flying sword appeared in her hand. Its surface could no longer be seen as rough black sand; it was smooth and gleaming silver, reducing air resistance during flight. Not only that, but special patterns were also inscribed inside. As power was infused, the sword blade trembled lightly, its edge growing sharper and emitting a faint glimmer.

Afterwards, Sylutia commanded it to fly out once more. It sliced cleanly through a wooden post opposite her with incredible speed.

[Improved Blade Flying Sword] Third Tier spell. Compared to the Phantom Flying Sword, it’s faster and sharper.

With this achievement, Sylutia turned back again to study “Magic Hand Manipulation,” aiming to make its structure more stable, allow it to hover on its own, and significantly reduce the mental power consumption required for control.

[Improved Magic Hand Manipulation] Fourth Tier spell. Compared to the original version, stability is greatly enhanced, and the mental attention consumption is reduced. It can be used to hold a pen and write text, perform fine alchemical processes, assist in making potions, and complete various miscellaneous tasks.

Indeed, every school had its advantages. If she could integrate and master them, she could unlock the potential of various spells and achieve even greater effects.

If other Mages witnessed this scene, they would certainly be stunned. It wasn’t that Sylutia’s ideas were novel, but because many Mages throughout history had had similar thoughts. Most of them failed. Studying and mastering the secret art system of one school could take half a lifetime, and delving into the secret art systems of two different schools while mastering both required extraordinary talent and energy.

One misstep could lead to a promising life being wasted, ultimately failing on both fronts and stagnating at a certain stage. Furthermore, the fusion of secret arts from different systems didn’t always bring positive changes. The “Peak Seizing War” from several years ago originated from this.

If someone could truly integrate the essence of multiple schools and become a master of them all, that person would surely be adored and worshipped by countless Mages. Because such a person would have, in essence, carved out an entirely new path.