"Hmm?! You've reached the tipping point?"

In the bay to the west of town, hearing about Penny's research on magic, Rekita seemed a little incredulous: "Sean, should I congratulate you?"

"What is a liminal point?" Hearing a new concept, Penny was curious.

"Well, you should know that magic research can sometimes go wrong without proper guidance. Likita paused: "Especially when the research route is not right in the first place." ”

Penny was a little confused, but he also heard something: "You mean, my research line is wrong?"

"It can't be said to be wrong, it's just that it's outdated, the real magic practice is not as simple as climbing the grid according to the magic net, and the purpose of the mage will educate the apprentices is just to enable them to release spells, in fact, the attitude is not responsible. Rekita shrugged: "As for the real arcane, you should ask your mentor, but it seems that your mentor is really irresponsible. ”

"Uh...... Can't you tell me?"

Penny's eyelids jumped, where did he go to find the elusive mentor?

"Well, I know a little bit, but it's too much time to explain it to you......" The female red robe sighed regretfully, and then frowned, "But Hughes may be able to tell you that he is happy to do this kind of thing most of the time." ”

"Oh, thank you for the reminder. Penny nodded, and kept the matter in his heart, and saw several small boats approaching the shore.

The middle-aged man commanded several of his men to bring ashore the ragged slaves, most of whom were criminals in the territory of Serre—certainly the rulers thought of them.

There were nearly one hundred and fifty slaves in total, all of them were quite strong, and there were more than thirty half-orcs in them, Penny nodded secretly in his heart, so that there were suitable miners.

"Well, these slaves still have to be well guarded, and if one of them dies, it will be a great loss for us. Penny frowned as he looked at the ragged group of slaves, and although he didn't have the idea of challenging the order now, he couldn't see this group of people in such a miserable state.

"Hehe, you can rest assured, I know their value very well. Rekita narrowed her eyes: "If they work hard, it won't be a problem to survive." ”

"They have to be fed and clothed. Penny added.

"Eat and dress warmly, and then rebel?" the female red robe glanced at Penny: "It seems that you don't understand these knowledge." ”

"I don't think you understand, Rikita. The mage felt a little uncomfortable in his heart: "You are not from a noble background either, why is there always a lack of, uh, sympathy." ”

"The more lowly you are, the more you should climb up. The female red robe was stunned for a moment, and then was silent for a while before continuing: "I don't think it's a good character to be lowly. ”

As she spoke, she looked at the group of listless slaves and snorted coldly: "If they are willing to rebel and run away in order to rebel against fate, I admire their courage, and if they do not succeed, I will despise their stupidity." ”

"That being said, you're ...... also a statement," Penny pondered for a moment, "It's too straightforward." ”

"Well, I'm sorry, I hate hypocrisy. Rekita sneered: "Since you are sitting in a high position, you should treat the people below as ants and tools, well, what kind of eyes are you?"

"Nothing?" Penny shrugged his shoulders and looked aside, thinking that it would be a waste of time to have this kind of conversation with a paranoid, but he didn't expect that his attitude would make the female surnamed Red Robe even more angry:

"What do you mean by that crazy look? Are you thinking I'm not normal enough?Hmm~ I suggest you stay away from me now. ”

Although this was said plainly, it made the male mage feel the danger, and he wisely stood a little away from her, and at the same time his heart was full of doubts, why didn't he find out that this woman's surname was so hot before?

Even the female red robe herself is inexplicable, this anger is too abrupt, and in the past few days, it seems that her ability to control her emotions has decreased a little.

She calmed her breath and calmly commanded the soldiers to settle the slaves.

Under the command of the overseer, the group of slaves began to build a makeshift camp, and in the distance, the walls were still under construction. The town seems to be full of life.

"Mr. Thean, there are one hundred and forty-five slaves here, please sign for it. ”

A middle-aged man came over and handed over a slip, no stranger to this middle-aged man Penny, he signed the list and asked, "Mr. Ogan, didn't Vica come over?"

"Miss is busy. The middle-aged man replied politely.

"That's right. Penny sighed, handed the list to the middle-aged man, and turned away from the shallows with some trepidation.

...... "Miss, don't you really want to get off the boat and take a look?" There was a huge ship moored offshore, and when she saw the middle-aged man returning, the lady on the deck smiled, but when she heard this, she froze again.

"No, the family business matters. She shook her head.

"Miss......" Oggen's expression became serious.

"Escape was always short-lived, and I thought I would be able to sit idly by and watch my family decline. Vika sighed, "I'm really naïve. ”

"Miss, I believe that all of you will see clearly your efforts to the family. ”

"They know what a ghost. Vika scoffed: "They're just going to make a mess of good things." ”

Ogen's expression was immediately embarrassed.

"Well, whether or not I can help my family through this difficult time, I will choose my own life in the future. Vika had a depressed expression on her face before she let out a long breath.

Ogan didn't know what to answer, so he stood respectfully where he was.

...... "Well, you've reached the threshold, congratulations, Sean." ”

Penny made his way to the makeshift academy in the center of town, and the dean, who seemed to be the busiest in town, seemed to be idle at the moment.

"Oh, there's nothing to congratulate, I didn't expect you to be so idle. ”

Hughes was half-lying on the recliner used by the mayor with his legs crossed, holding a half-bitten freshly picked apple in one hand and a book in the other, and his expression was lazy when he spoke.

"I taught the thirteen apprentices, and then I asked each of them to teach the other children, and I would tell them to take regular exams, and if they didn't pass them, they would be given back the reduced taxes. Hughes yawned, "You didn't see their parents forcing them to study with sticks." ”

"You're really bad. Penny was speechless for a long time, but in the end he couldn't say anything, the work of the education system, they all taught Hughes, naturally he had the final say.

"It's nothing. We're much more merciful than those colleges in the country, but Sean, is this kindness really a good thing?" Hughes said, his tone no longer lazy.

"I don't know, I just know that if you educate apprentices like you do in the country, the people here will rebel in a few days. Penny spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

"It's okay, actually, I like this too, but Penny, you have to know that if you go out here and go out to the red-robed apprentices in the establishment, they will definitely compete with those apprentices in the country. Hughes said with a serious expression: "This is also a part of the education department's measurement of the quality of school teaching." ”

"It's too far to think about that now. Penny raised an eyebrow, "You'd better teach me magic first." ”

"Okay, okay. Hughes nodded, "I'm going to start teaching a disciple of the highest level ever." Well, don't be idle, in fact, Sean, I'm afraid I don't explain this set of things very clearly, because my understanding is also very limited. ”

"At least it's better than knowing nothing. Penny made a chair and sat down.

Hughes sat in his chair, rubbed his temples, and pondered his words for a while before he spoke slowly:

“...... Sean, first of all, what do you think, what is arcane power?"

"Wandering supernatural forces in the multiverse. "That's what the textbooks say.

"Hmm, do you know where these supernatural powers come from?"

"Magic web?" was the obvious standard answer, but Hughes shook his head:

"No, no, Sean, now we call it the Magic Web, in fact, in other universes of the multiverse, there are ancient times when the Magic Web was not finalized, it has another name. Houston paused: "Or rather, it's not just arcane, even magic, psionics, and all kinds of monster abilities, all come from that thing." Before Nessreel, this collection of multiverse supernatural powers was known as the Source Sea, and for us mages, it was the true source of power, and the web was only part of the source woven by the goddess of magic. ”

Penny nodded thoughtfully: "Yuanhai, so there are still some places in the abyss where the magic net does not exist, and the power of the monsters there comes from it?"

"It's all over the multiverse, order, chaos, whatever. Hughes said: "If a mage can deeply understand the power of the source sea, then he can cast arcane magic in any world of the multiverse, and some mages from different planes have visited Faeron in the past, and they can quickly adapt to the changes in Source in Torel and cast spells, such as Mr. Duncan, who left a series of arcane magic." ”

"Then why does the web exist?" Penny wondered, "Just to control Toriel's magical powers?"

"This ...... It's not that simple, controlling Toriel's magic is only part of the reason. Hughes scratched his head: "Actually, before the magic net was stable, the arcanists of Nessreel all used the source sea to cast spells directly, and you may not know much about them. ”

"You know, they seem to be using a power spell called Arcanon. "It's not such a profound secret, and some information from the Red Robe Mage Society has also recorded it.

"And do you know what the Ao Neng is?"

Penny shook his head.

"Okay. Hughes patted his head: "What kind of power do you think we mages rely on to cast spells?"

"It should be...... Thinking. Penny thought for a moment, and his tone was affirmative: "We control spells by mind. ”

The power of the warlock comes from the bloodline, the power of the divine arts, from the gift of certain beings, and the power of psionic energy, from the heart.

And the power of mages comes from thinking, they rely on thinking to control the magic web, this power can not be clearly quantified, except for the number of layers of contact with the magic net, it is impossible to express the strength of the mage's thinking at all.

It may be said that the mage casts magic by relying on the communication between his mind and the magic web, and the deeper the understanding of magic, the more power he can gain.

However, after listening to Hughes's statement, it seems that the object of the real mage's thinking communication should be the 'Source Sea' hidden behind the magic net.

"Well, in fact, the so-called 'arcane energy' is the degree of synchronization between those arcanists and the source sea, this kind of thing comes from the mage's cognition, understanding, and depth of communication with the source sea. Hughes explained, "Actually, we are not detached from this kind of thing when we are using arcane art. ”

"Uh......" Penny's eyes widened, "Hughes, can you be clear." ”

"Every time you finish preparing a spell, you feel tired, and it's because our arcane abilities have been transformed on the magic web.

Whenever we engage in arcane-related actions, the arcane energy increases when you are unconscious, and to a certain extent, you are exposed to a deeper level of power.

In fact, the shape of the magic net was designed by Mystra according to those ancient mages - when they converted all the arcane powers in their brains into preset spells, they had to sort them in a logical order from lowest to highest, otherwise it would collapse, now you know. ”

"Hmm...... I kind of get it, you're telling me what Arcane really is. Penny pondered Hughes's words for a moment and nodded: "So, as long as you continue to study, sooner or later you will be able to accumulate deep enough arcane energy to enter the next layer of the magic net......?"

"Of course it's not that simple. Hughes spread his hands: "This is to mention the existence of the magic net, in fact, before Nessreel, the god of magic at that time, Mithriel, did not restrict the source too much, and it was only after Nesser collapsed that she felt the need to restrain Torrell's arcane power." ”

"Hmm, I've heard that she closed more than 11 layers of magic nets?"

"No, no, no, in the mouths of many advanced mages, they prefer to use another way of saying it. Hughes spread his hands: "She used the magic net to transform a part of the outer 'source sea', cutting off the connection between the deep source sea and the caster, on the other hand, the existence of magic also simplifies the spell casting steps, although it limits the power of the caster, but it is good for the popularization of magic." ”

Penny nodded.

"Actually, the reason why you can't enter the fourth layer of the magic net is not complicated, that is, because borrowing the magic net to cast spells is much simpler than borrowing the 'Source Sea' to cast spells, so to analyze this relatively simple spell, your arcane energy does not grow so fast, so you can't get in touch with the deeper arcane.

Arcane education in China is eager for quick success and does not care about the development of most apprentices, so the arcane research methods that are taught at the beginning only stay at the stage of the magic web, and there is no mention of the 'source'...... Maybe at the simpler level 1 and 2 magic, this difference is not big, and you can successfully advance, but at the third level of spells, the contrast is obvious. Hughes looked at Penny, who was listening: "So you have to think of a way as soon as possible, put aside the magic net, and carefully study the nature of magic, all the mages on Faeron do this." ”

"The nature of magic?" Penny's forehead twitched, it used to be the thing he hated the most.

"Put aside the magic net, start with the simplest zero-level tricks, and study every element of these spells until they are ripe. Hughes yawned: "In this way, if the arcane from zero to level 3 has been studied like this, your arcane energy will probably be enough." ”

He looked at Penny's ugly face and spread his hands: "I told you a long time ago, don't always use scrolls to learn spells. ”

"Well, it looks like I was really wrong. Penny rolled his eyes a little weakly.

"Actually...... There is also a shortcut. Hughes whispered suddenly, but Penny pricked up his ears:

"A shortcut?"

"If you could find a place where the web doesn't exist...... The 'Source Sea' there is usually bare, and although it is very difficult to cast spells in that kind of place, it is undoubtedly closer to the essence of arcane, and as long as you can cast spells in that place, you may have the opportunity to master that power more quickly. Hughes said a few words, and then snorted, "Of course, what mage would run to the outer plane with nothing to do? ”

He didn't notice that Penny's eyes lit up.

(To be continued)