Chapter 20: Strength Assessment (Please keep reading, add to favorites, and recommend!)

Chapter 20

*Screech!*

Inside the sorcery testing room, as the wizardry script whispered from Lynn's mouth and his guided mental strength took hold, the energy factors of the fire element began to arrange and combine in a specific sequence.

The pronunciation of every rune acted like a precision gear, triggering the powers of heaven and earth.

Guided by his mental strength, the fire elements gradually condensed in his hand, forming the casting buildup for the Fireball spell.

*Boom!*

Lynn pointed sharply at the training dummy.

Instantly, a fireball the size of a fist formed in the air, letting out a sharp whistle like an arrow piercing the sky, streaking toward the dummy with a scorching aura.

*Rumble!*

The fireball slammed head-on into the dummy's chest and exploded violently.

The searing flames spread instantly, spreading outward and nearly swallowing the entire dummy.

The explosion's radius reached over two meters; flames surged and splattered in all directions, and a heatwave instantly swept through the entire testing room.

Lynn squinted slightly as the sudden heatwave hit his face, but his heart was a mixture of agitation and excitement.

Although the room wasn't particularly large, the heatwave brought by the Fireball spell made him feel as if the entire space was being consumed by the heat.

"Perhaps I am not skilled enough; the preparation time for casting alone dragged on for over twenty seconds..."

Lynn chuckled to himself. Although he felt a slight dissatisfaction with the deficiencies in his casting process, a trace of a satisfied smile remained on his lips.

Even though the release of the Fireball was not yet perfect, he had already deeply felt the mystery and charm of sorcery.

"Mental strength is like a lever; by using it, one can pry open the energy factors hidden within heaven and earth. The power released is truly shocking."

He took a deep breath, unable to help but marvel inwardly at how captivating the power of sorcery was.

"With a single fireball, how could mere mortal flesh endure it? Even a body as strong as a Knight's could not withstand the instantaneous impact of a flame explosion."

Lynn's thoughts quickly returned to the essence of the Fireball spell.

The power of a fireball's explosion lay not just in that moment of violent impact, but more so in the continuous burning that followed.

If a mortal were unfortunate enough to be hit by this, they would not only have to endure the intense pain of the initial explosion but also suffer through the unending searing of the flames until their body's energy was exhausted.

"The essence of sorcery is to pry open the energy of heaven and earth, so how can mortal flesh withstand these powerful forces that originally exist in nature?"

As his thoughts churned, Lynn turned around to look at the graduated stone monument.

On the surface of the monument, the previously blank scales had undergone a subtle change—

"1.5 degrees, roughly equivalent to the explosive damage of one and a half Demonic Fire Stones..."

Lynn pinched the bridge of his nose, a bitter smile flashing in his heart.

While the result before him was pleasing, it also made him clearly realize his limitations; the mental strength he could utilize only met the minimum requirement for releasing a Fireball.

In other words, as a newly promoted Level 2 Wizard Apprentice, even if he exerted his full strength, he could release at most five Fireball spells.

However, the actual situation was far from as simple as he imagined.

Because within Lynn's mental domain, there was that powerful Life Seed—Yvgrid.

It was this seed that occupied most of his mental strength, leaving Lynn with only twenty percent to use for spellcasting.

This meant that the mental strength Lynn could use freely could only release a single Fireball spell.

"The power of sorcery is closely related to the amount of mental strength. After all, the more mental strength one has, the more energy factors one can draw upon. If I use forty percent of my mental strength, the power caused by this single fireball might reach three degrees."

Lynn's eyes flickered as he pondered inwardly

"Of course, I have only just promoted to a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice, and my mental strength is still accumulating. As my meditation deepens, my mental strength will become stronger. When that time comes, using twenty percent of my mental strength might allow me to release multiple Fireball spells."

He took a deep breath. After confirming the power of the Fireball, he turned to look at the time display on the door. Knowing he still had enough time, he decided to test other methods.

His current methods weren't many, but they weren't few either.

Two zero-circle primary sorceries could be ignored, but he also had the offensive Fireball spell, the self-defense tool his teacher gave him, the "Heart of Flower Language," and the "Desperate Struggle" of Yvgrid.

"Let's test the 'Heart of Flower Language' first."

Lynn's gaze fell on the stone monument nearby. On the monument's panel, there was an option to switch modes, allowing him to change the dummy's various settings.

He touched it with one hand and pulled up the attack mode.

Then, Lynn activated the Heart of Flower Language badge hanging from his chest.

*Rustle!*

As the badge activated, colorful flowers suddenly bloomed around Lynn. The petals gathered and dispersed rapidly like flickering spots of light, forming a physical barrier shaped like a large, petal-covered eggshell.

These flowers were delicate and dense, appearing as if they were growing in the air, completely enveloping Lynn's body to form a perfect protective net.

In an instant, Lynn seemed to have turned into a large egg made of flowers, standing quietly in the center of the room.

At the same time, the dummy began to prepare its attack. Two scorching pillars of fire erupted from its eyes, surging toward the floral barrier almost instantly.

*Boom! Boom!*

The fire pillars struck the floral barrier violently. The searing flames collided fiercely with the multicolored flowers, the sound of burning turning into a low roar.

Lynn felt a strong heatwave, but thanks to the protection of the Heart of Flower Language, he suffered no direct damage.

On the monument, the scale began to climb slowly, showing that the power of the dummy's fire pillars was gradually increasing, testing the defensive capability of the Heart of Flower Language. Lynn watched the scale nervously, holding his breath.

As the fire pillars scorched it, the scale rose rapidly at one point, approaching fifty degrees.

"Fifty degrees... it's very close..."

Lynn's heart raced. He suddenly felt that the surrounding floral barrier was becoming unstable; the edges of the petals were gradually charring, and the luster of some flowers began to dim.

Finally, the moment the scale approached fifty degrees, the barrier emitted a slight cracking sound.

"Close!"

Lynn hurriedly switched off the dummy's attack, and the barrier ceased its collapse.

The air was filled with the scent of scorched flowers and a faint smell of burning. The Heart of Flower Language's barrier had barely held on, but it had clearly reached its limit.

"The Heart of Flower Language can actually resist a sorcery attack of over fifty degrees! This truly is a powerful defensive enchanted item!"

Lynn was quite satisfied with the defensive effect of the Heart of Flower Language. Finally, he decided to try Yvgrid's "Desperate Struggle" effect one more time.

Yvgrid's "Desperate Struggle" could detonate the eighty percent of mental strength that was constantly occupied by the Life Seed, forming a powerful defensive effect.

"If calculated according to the Fireball conversion ratio, eighty percent of mental strength should produce six degrees of damage or defense."

Lynn thought silently. Concentrating his mind, he lightly pricked Yvgrid to trigger this powerful effect.

At the same time, he activated the dummy's attack mode, preparing to test Yvgrid's defensive capability.

In an instant, the Life Seed within Lynn's mental domain seemed to be distorted by a force, expanding rapidly.

A surge of vibrant green aura erupted, permeating Lynn's surroundings and forming a green shield like a suit of armor.

This was not like the Heart of Flower Language, which bound him in place; instead, this layer of green armor gave Lynn greater freedom of movement.

It even made him feel lighter and faster, his bodily reactions much quicker than usual.

Lynn's figure flashed, quickly dodging the dummy's fierce attacks as if he were moving with ease through teleportation.

"This is actually an all-around enhancement!"

Lynn was delighted. Just as he was about to leap again, he suddenly realized he was in a basic sorcery testing room and should not move recklessly to avoid affecting the test results.

Thus, he stopped, steadied himself, leaned against the stone wall, and waited patiently for the scale to change, prepared to shut off the dummy's attack at any moment.

"If it were pure defensive power, it should be around six degrees. However, with this all-around enhancement, the defensive strength must be somewhat weakened."

Lynn calculated quickly in his mind, closely watching the jumping scale on the stone wall.

The scale rose slowly from one degree, two degrees, to three degrees, and then to four and five degrees. The armor remained as stable as before, showing no signs of collapse.

A hint of surprise rose in Lynn's heart: "This defensive power is actually still this strong!"

It wasn't until the scale approached six degrees that the armor began to show subtle signs of instability; the green light on the surface flickered, and slight cracks began to appear.

Lynn was quick; he immediately turned off the dummy's attack mode, his heart filled with joy

"Yvgrid's 'Desperate Struggle' effect actually has such a high mental strength conversion rate! Hahaha, this is simply amazing!"

He couldn't help but laugh out loud, a smile blooming across his face.

However, as the effect of Yvgrid ended, his laughter suddenly cut short. He felt a sudden, violent bout of dizziness, and his vision went black.

Lynn's limbs instantly became powerless. The chaos in his mental strength caused him to almost lose control; his entire body felt as if it had been hollowed out, and he fell heavily to the ground.

Lynn propped himself up with his arms, gasping for breath

"Is this... is this... the aftereffect of 'Desperate Struggle'?"

(End of Chapter)