He continued to descend.
As a skeleton, Li Xiuman didn't get hungry or thirsty, so aside from essential rest, he didn't need to stop for food or drink.
Before the passageway between the tenth and eleventh floors, Li Xiuman decided to take a short break.
His previous battle with the goblins had consumed a lot of his mana, and he needed to let it recover.
But Li Xiuman didn't just idle away his time while waiting for his mana to restore.
He pulled a book from his coat and leaned against the stone wall to read it closely.
The flames inside his eye sockets flickered, growing larger and smaller as if he were lost in deep thought.
The book he was reading was An In-Depth Explanation of Tier 1 Elemental Magic, which he had taken from the merchant association.
It recorded common Tier 1 magic.
Although Li Xiuman was an Elementalist among Tier 1 Mages, strictly speaking, he didn't know how to use actual Tier 1 spells. The magic he had used so far relied entirely on his racial talent to manipulate raw elements.
And right now, he was studying the Tier 1 Elemental Magic, “Fireball.”
This was the most basic Tier 1 magic, and usually the first spell an Elementalist mastered.
Although it was incredibly common, its very ubiquity was proof of its sheer practicality.
It had a short chant, fast casting speed, and respectable power.
The chant only required uttering “Fireball” in the ancient magic language.
Thus, it was the most commonly used spell for Tier 1 Elementalists.
Due to limited energy, typical Elementalists usually chose to specialize in a single element.
But Li Xiuman chose not to leave a single one of the four elemental affinities behind.
“So this is how the magic circle is constructed.”
“I see. Connecting the mana here and here indeed makes the effect much stronger.”
Li Xiuman mumbled in a low voice.
Then, he slowly raised his hand, attempting to channel his magic according to the diagrams and annotations in the book.
“Fireball!” (This was in the ancient magic language.)
Obscure syllables echoed from his throat, and a fiery red magic circle took shape across Li Xiuman's open palm.
Immediately after, an exploding fireball shot out, striking the stone wall and bursting apart.
The power was far more impressive than when Li Xiuman had simply condensed a crude ball of fire and tossed it.
“Success on the first try? Is this a racial advantage?”
“But my accuracy is a bit lacking.”
Li Xiuman read the magic book carefully once more, then raised his hand again.
“Tier 1 Elemental Magic, Fireball!”
This time, he visualized the trajectory in his mind and carefully controlled his mana, allowing the fireball to accurately strike his target.
“Good shot. Much better this time.”
Li Xiuman constructed the “Fireball” magic circle a few more times, but to conserve mana, he didn't actually fire them.
Once he gained some familiarity, Li Xiuman turned to the next page.
“Tier 1 Magic, Water Arrow!”
“Tier 1 Magic, Earth Bullet!”
“Tier 1 Magic, Wind Blade!”
Only after trying the most basic and common spells of all four elemental schools did Li Xiuman carefully put away his magic book and stand up.
In his eyes, these spells still left a bit to be desired.
They were too rigid in form and lacked versatility.
To him, mixing a water element into the Tier 1 spell “Earth Bullet” to shoot at the eyes would be far more practical than just splashing mud in someone's face.
Or dispersing “Earth Bullet” into sand to throw in their eyes.
In combat, depriving the opponent of their vision was extremely crucial.
Perhaps the mages of this world possessed some noble sense of self-respect that made them look down on using magic in such a way.
Li Xiuman gave it a casual thought, then cast the matter to the back of his mind.
He walked toward the passage leading from the tenth to the eleventh floor.
Beyond this point lay monsters of Level 10 and above. The level of danger would spike significantly, and he had to discard any carelessness and proceed with utmost caution.
He stepped into the dark passage and disappeared.
...
Crisp footsteps echoed as he descended further and further.
The eleventh floor.
The temperature surged instantly. Both the ground and the stone walls were bone-dry.
For ordinary adventurers, this temperature might have been agonizingly torturous.
But as a skeleton, Li Xiuman obviously didn't care about heat or cold.
Besides, he possessed [Elemental Resistance]. This level of heat was absolutely nothing to him.
Feeling the hot wind blowing against him, he took a step forward and continued walking deeper.
According to his information, this floor was primarily home to a species of red lizard.
They could manipulate fire to some extent and were highly agile.
Li Xiuman soon encountered the legendary fire lizards.
Calling them lizards was an understatement; they were the size of crocodiles, looking much like Komodo dragons.
“Hiss, hiss, hiss!”
Upon spotting Li Xiuman, the creature let out a violent hiss. It opened its mouth, and fire elements began gathering inside.
“Damn, what a terrible temper!”
Li Xiuman complained as he watched the fire lizard attack without a second thought.
But internally, he breathed a sigh of relief. The creature didn't seem particularly intelligent.
Whoosh!
A fireball trailed a plume of flames as it shot straight toward Li Xiuman.
Watching the incoming fireball, Li Xiuman gripped his staff as defensive spells from the magic book flashed through his mind.
Thus, he whipped out the book.
There was no helping it; defensive magic was relatively complex because it involved sustaining mana flow, making it impossible to memorize in just a brief moment.
Dodging the fireball using [Swiftness], he held the magic book in one hand and raised his staff with the other.
He exuded the perfect aura of a proper mage.
“Tier 1 Magic, Water Wall!”
The magic stone at the tip of his staff flared with a beautiful, deep blue luster, and a disc-shaped magic circle quickly formed.
Water condensed in midair, forming a flowing wall of water.
The fireball shot by the fire lizard was easily blocked, throwing up nothing but a wisp of steam.
The fire lizard was dazed.
Then, it chose to run around the water wall.
“...”
Li Xiuman hurriedly flipped to the next page of his magic book.
“Let's see... like this, and like that...”
He clumsily manipulated the water wall to move.
But his clumsy maneuvers were no match for the fire lizard's nimble movements.
Aside from the very beginning, the water wall failed to block a single other fireball.
“Damn it, what a useless spell!”
Li Xiuman slammed the magic book shut, gripped his staff, and dashed forward, leaving a dark afterimage behind.
“Hiss, hiss, hiss!”
The fire lizard spat out another fireball.
Facing the incoming fireball, Li Xiuman gripped his staff tightly. Gathering wind magic into a [Wind Vortex] around the staff, he swung it fiercely at the fireball under the amplification of [Great Strength].
Swatted out of midair, the fireball exploded, dispersing into scattered embers.
And Li Xiuman didn't slow down in the slightest, rushing straight toward the fire lizard with his staff raised high.
“Die!”
There was no escape.
The fire lizard felt itself utterly pinned down.
The staff blurred into an afterimage as it smashed toward the fire lizard's head.
With a loud crack, the lizard's head burst open.
[Ding! Killed Fire Lizard Lv. 11. Experience +150]
“Magic is still much easier to use this way.”
Li Xiuman felt that the spells in the magic book didn't really suit him.
What he needed to do was borrow the principles of the spells in the book and apply them to his own magic.
Rather than learning the spells themselves, he needed to study the underlying principles.
Squatting down, he drew a small knife and sliced open the fire lizard's chest, extracting a magic stone only the size of a date pit.
Magic stones were stones that grew inside magical beasts and contained mana.
Usually, they were the most valuable part of a magical beast. The lizard's hide was also worth quite a bit, but Li Xiuman had no way of carrying too much baggage.
His destination was the Octagonal Fire Crystals that grew below the twentieth floor.
Stuffing the magic stone into his waist pouch, Li Xiuman continued forward.
Rate on N.U.
