Skill Selection

The next day, Cecia entered the library with anticipation, searching for books on light magic.

It was only because of her Fire Element Affinity that her Fireball spell had displayed power impressive enough to rattle Scarlett.

Now that she had Fireball as an offensive spell, it was only natural for Cecia to choose a light magic spell for her second skill.

After all, her talent lay right there.

Cecia browsed through defense and support light magic.

Ideally, it would be something that could assist her with blacksmithing while boosting her combat strength at the same time.

Finally, in a dust-covered corner, Cecia found a few books: Introduction to Light Magic, Learning Light Magic from Scratch, On Ether, the Medium of Light Element Propagation, and Its Magic, as well as a few copies of Ranking Novice Light Element Skills: From Top-Tier to Trash and Methods for Learning Light Element Skills.

Cecia glanced at the author's name on these books.

Without exception, every single one was written by Archmage Merlin.

Why is it her again? Cecia had never even heard of such a famous mage before.

After wandering around the library for a few more turns, she found this person's autobiography.

Fortunately, this book wasn't written by Merlin herself, so it would likely offer a more impartial account of her life.

Cecia thought about it, her lips twitching, and pulled the book off the shelf as well.

She opened the book and began reading.

Merlin Draco, Legendary Archmage, graduated from the Madoria Royal Magic Association. She was currently the Second Seat of the High Tower Magic Research Association.

This legendary mage's resume was nothing short of wild. Her old mentor, the notoriously rigid Professor "Greywhite," had once described her like this:

“An interview with me? Oh! You mean you want to know about that lunatic who blew up the Madoria Royal Magic Association three times? I swear by the great Goddess of Light! If you're going to write a biography for her or put her deeds into textbooks, I refuse to be interviewed! I have no idea why you want to learn about her! I bet writing down her story will have an almost despicable influence on future magic apprentices!”

After calming down Professor Greywhite, the stiffest scholar at the Madoria Royal Magic Academy, the interviewer finally obtained Merlin's biography and history.

Merlin's graduation research topic had been: How to Barbecue a Fire Dragon.

During Madoria's largest annual festival—the commemoration of the Old Empire's fall 256 years prior—

She had publicly cooked a fire dragon!

Fire dragons, also known as red dragons, were epic creatures whose flesh and blood were packed with chaotic fire elements. Lord knows how she had slain an entire red dragon, persuaded people from the neighboring Royal Guard Academy to scrape off its scales, cut it into small pieces, and cook it.

Her absurd behavior drew a large crowd of onlookers.

A red dragon's fire element resistance and affinity were among the highest in the world, meaning ordinary flames couldn't possibly cook its meat.

Lord knows how Merlin had managed to drag over a blast furnace from the United Dwarf Kingdom...

After undergoing a series of complex operations—weakening fire resistance, extracting and storing fire elements, and channeling them back to feed the flames—the cooking finally began.

Unfortunately, it still ended in failure. Merlin's device for extracting fire elements simply couldn't withstand fire elements that intense and violent.

In the end, it triggered a massive explosion.

Fortunately, the students of the Madoria Royal Magic Academy possessed exceptionally high capabilities, so there were no casualties on site. However, it did mark the only large-scale renovation in the academy's two-hundred-plus years of history.

Later, she compensated everyone in the school with a piece of charred red dragon meat. Students recalled afterward that it didn't taste too bad, though it was a bit dry and chewy.

...

Cecia got a general idea of what kind of person Merlin was and felt she was a true genius in every sense of the word.

Not only was she the youngest legendary Rank Five mage in history, but she was also a master in fire dragon culinary arts, an expert in magic research, a specialist in magitech manufacturing...

Of course, the more brilliant someone was, the more likely they were to possess a touch of arrogance. Still, Cecia felt that Merlin's magic books held immense reference value, provided that the user was also a genius.

With her system and enhanced learning ability as her cheat tools, Cecia felt she had nothing to worry about.

She sat down in a chair and opened Ranking Novice Light Element Skills: From Top-Tier to Trash.

Sacred Mark: Places a mark on the target, increasing light magic damage taken and reducing the target's stealth capability.

Trash. Useless for mages, though decent for priests. Mages lacked holy power to unleash its true essence, and using it would only make them have to avoid church people.

She turned the page.

Light Orb: Summons an orb of light that floats nearby and can attack targets.

Mid. Output was inferior to Fireball, and Fireball was sufficient for illumination anyway. Aside from dealing extra damage to dark creatures, it was outclassed by Fireball in every other aspect, serving only niche scenarios.

...

Cecia flipped quickly through the pages until she finally stopped at defensive light magic.

Aegis of Light: Envelops the user in a film of light. Can be used for defense or offense, while enhancing the user's physical attributes.

God-tier. Aside from consuming too much mental strength—making it unsuitable for battles of attrition—it had almost no drawbacks. Activating it in a pinch offered top-tier results. Extremely versatile and powerful, though its mental strength consumption was quite heavy for beginners.

After pondering for a while, Cecia still felt this one was the best choice.

It could improve her physical attributes to help with blacksmithing while providing additional offensive and defensive options.

Cecia spent a little more time reading about the usage methods and control techniques for light magic.

Only then did she close the book, intending to head to the Madoria Magic Workshop to purchase a Skill Crystal.

As she walked out of the school gates, the Roland family carriage was still parked outside.

“Hey, Senior! Want a ride?”

Scarlett called out happily upon spotting Cecia.

“No thanks, Scarlett. I need to visit the magic workshop.”

“Oh! Are you going to buy a Skill Crystal? I can give you some recommendations!”

“No need to trouble yourself, Junior Scarlett. I'll share the good news with you tomorrow.”

“Oh, alright then. I'll look forward to it! Let me stay intrigued for now. Goodbye, Senior Cecia!”

Scarlett seemed a little disappointed, but Cecia didn't dwell on it. It was just a minor interlude that quickly passed.

When she entered the Madoria Magic Chamber of Commerce, the clerk greeted her with a professional smile while eyeing Cecia up and down.

A subtle distance and coldness lurked in the clerk's eyes.

However, once Cecia picked out her Skill Crystal and produced a bag of shiny gold coins, the clerk's gaze instantly turned flattering.

The clerk rubbed their hands together eagerly.