Chapter 30: Rapid Progress

"Hiss—"

Lu Cang's mouth twitched.

Kumironi looked at Iz with resentful eyes. "Iz, why did you strike Lu Cang so mercilessly? I don't recall you having a habit of child abuse."

Exactly, precisely.

Kumironi, please give this child abuser a good scolding.

Saying things like: *True combat isn't just about you attacking the enemy; the enemy will fight back too.*

He was attacking me without any sense of martial ethics or respect for seniority.

Is this how a master should act?

Lu Cang lay on Kumironi's lap as she worked on healing his injuries.

However, this time, the recovery was not as rapid as when she had healed the fatal wound in Izparut's chest.

During the slow recovery, Lu Cang still felt a dull ache throughout his entire body.

But Lu Cang could faintly sense that along with the healing of his pain, his blood circulation and physical constitution seemed to be improving as well.

Iz scratched his head. "Well..."

"Potential has to be stimulated. I had to let him experience the feeling of real combat."

"Otherwise, if he thinks enemies won't fight back, he might run into trouble later."

Kumironi continued to soothe Lu Cang's wounds. "There's no mage whose first sparring partner was Izparut."

"This was his first actual combat, after all."

"Iz, regardless of how you look at it, you went a bit too far this time."

Yes, exactly.

Teach him a lesson, Kumironi.

Lying on Kumironi's lap, Lu Cang glared sideways at Izparut, his eyes filled with contempt.

This battle had left Lu Cang feeling full of frustration.

In truth, Lu Cang had been looking forward to defeating Izparut.

After all, since transmigrating here, who didn't have a few small dreams?

For example, becoming the world's strongest mage, sweeping through peers without an equal, and suppressing all enemies in the heavens, and so on.

Even if he was just starting out and couldn't become the strongest mage or suppress all enemies in the heavens yet...

He should at least be able to try sweeping through his peers, right?

Furthermore, judging by the results of his promotion ceremony and the descriptions of mages in the book of common knowledge...

He should be considered an absolute magical genius, the kind of top-tier talent seen once in ages.

Coupled with the fact that upon reaching Level 2, he had additionally obtained "God-tier: Multi-casting."

Hearing Iz's requirement for combat among peers, Lu Cang naturally had the idea of beating Iz to a pulp first.

Starting from defeating Izparut, he would sweep through the heavens!

But he never expected...

The one being beaten to a pulp would actually be himself?

Iz, you are really crushing a child's self-confidence.

Iz shrugged and spread his hands. "You can't blame it all on me."

"It's mainly because little Lu Cang really piqued my competitive spirit."

Kumironi raised an eyebrow, her tone slightly teasing and mocking. "Oh~ The legendary Izparut is feeling competitive against a child?"

Iz shook his head. "No, Kumironi."

Iz answered seriously, "At that moment, I truly felt that if I weren't serious, I would lose."

"And, I believe Lu Cang is an opponent worthy of my full attention."

Kumironi froze for a moment upon hearing this, staring intently at Izparut.

She stopped lecturing him and focused instead on healing Lu Cang.

...

It had to be said that Kumironi's healing was incredibly effective.

His body, which had originally been torn and covered in wounds, was left without even a single scar after the treatment.

Even the phantom pains he felt when remembering the injuries had completely vanished.

Not just the wounds, but even the psychological trauma had been healed?

Kumironi really heals well; she truly lives up to her title as a Level 5 Life Recreator.

Lu Cang couldn't help but marvel in his heart.

After returning to his room, Lu Cang couldn't help but reflect on what Iz had said that afternoon.

"I need to have my own thoughts."

Currently, he possessed a total of 14 spells.

Including the Mana Enhancement spell, that made 15.

"Speaking of which, despite learning so many spells, I don't have any theoretical knowledge of magic."

Thinking of this, Lu Cang reached for the nightstand and pulled out the copy of *Ice Spike Spell* that had been gathering dust since he finished reading the incantations once.

He flipped to the first page.

He began reading from the very beginning.

Now that he had practiced magic to the point of "Transcending," looking back at it provided a completely different perspective.

History and origins... weren't actually that boring.

...

Waking up after a night's sleep, the routine continued as usual.

Going to the library to read.

In fact, Lu Cang had already borrowed the book on common knowledge and kept it with him.

However, beyond common knowledge, there were things that needed to be cross-referenced.

Therefore, during his morning reading sessions, Lu Cang still preferred going to the library to consult useful materials.

After lunch...

It was time to study magic with Izparut.

Training with Iz indeed led to rapid progress.

In just one day, Lu Cang had practiced all six of his newly learned Tier 2 spells to the level of "Transcending."

"Heavy Wall," "Poison Vine Lash," "Wind Blast," "Sinking Shadow Marsh," "Hardened Barrier," and "Rising Wave."

These corresponded to the evolution of stone wall hardness, vine toxicity, wind burst power, shadow marsh viscosity, barrier strength, and water pillar range, respectively.

This time, when Lu Cang fought Iz again, it was no longer as strenuous as yesterday.

It also seemed that Iz was controlling his strength and holding back, but regardless, Lu Cang gained a massive amount of insight from such battles.

"Mage Mastery—Transcender" allowed Lu Cang to gain extra experience every time he cast a Transcendent spell.

And the triple-casting from "Multi-casting" allowed him to gain triple the experience.

Combined with the 5x experience multiplier from practicing with Iz, and the occasional bursts of inspiration during combat that further increased proficiency...

This meant that every time Lu Cang released a spell, his experience would increase by hundreds of thousands or even millions.

A single casting was equivalent to a commoner's million-fold bitter cultivation.

At the same time, through fighting Iz...

Lu Cang's application of spells became increasingly proficient.

Many techniques he hadn't thought of before were gradually being developed.

For example, generating a stone wall behind a [Hardened Barrier] to instantly obstruct an enemy's initial attack, providing a second layer of protection.

Once the enemy shattered the stone wall, there would be another Hardened Barrier behind it.

Layered like a sandwich.

Under triple force-dissipation, most attacks could be neutralized.

Furthermore, combining "Breathless Wind Swarm" with "Wind Blast"...

He could instantly blast the wind swarm into the enemy for lethal damage.

Or he could use Wind Blast to instantly stir up the wind, using the gust to mask the concealment of the Breathless Wind Swarm.

Besides that, there was the coordination between Sinking Shadow Marsh and Cursed Arrow, the synergy between Stone Wall and Piercing Pillar...

Transcendent magic, besides being powerful, had another advantage.

That was... novelty.

These were almost entirely new spells; no third person besides Lu Cang and Izparut mastered them.

That which is unknown is the hardest to defend against.

However, what Lu Cang found puzzling was... why could Iz use Transcendent magic too?

Did he also have proficiency evolution?

One day, two days, three days...

Ten days had passed in the blink of an eye since he arrived in this world.

Having completed his class change on the fifth day, his daily routine since then had been catching up on world knowledge in the morning and training with Iz in the afternoon.

Occasionally, Chicheng would come by to ask: *Are you going to hunt the Frost Sub-dragon? The Destruction Sub-dragon? The Flame Sub-dragon?*...

But Iz seemed to be very responsible regarding Lu Cang.

Every time Chicheng asked, he refused to go.

No...

Aren't you his teammate?

At least accompany him once; it's fine if I miss one day of training.

That was what Lu Cang thought.

But in truth, Lu Cang also wanted to continue practicing.

Every day, he could feel his strength growing by leaps and bounds; the pleasure of such progress was impossible to stop.

Moreover, "Mana Void" had successfully completed its metamorphosis.

Under Iz's guidance, "Mana Void" broke through to the "Void Realm," which Iz evaluated as the strongest Mana Enhancement spell for a Tier 2 mage.

And the only mages who had learned the "Void Realm" were Iz and Lu Cang.

Mages who had learned "Mana Tide" would learn a weakened version of the "Void Realm" upon reaching Tier 2, called "Mana Blank."

Learning magic from Iz was truly an exquisite feeling.

If nothing unexpected happened, Lu Cang felt he could keep learning from Iz indefinitely.

The day after learning the "Void Realm"...

Lu Cang went downstairs as usual, intending to have breakfast before heading off to read, still wondering what new things he could learn from Iz today.

However, upon arriving in the hall, he found Iz and the others waiting for him.

Yes, *waiting*.

Lu Cang could sense it.

*Sigh, I want to update more chapters too, but unfortunately, there are rules during the free period.*

(End of Chapter)