Chapter 142 – Talent Demand

Inside the Spell Furnace, a silver-white cauldron-like structure, a faint orange-red flame swirled—seemingly small but containing terrifying destructive energy.

This was the large-scale spell ‘Blazing Sun’, which could manifest as a miniature sun when projected, capable of incinerating everything in its path.

Its destructive power far surpassed the mere combination of ten super Fireballs.

If it were to strike, even the ‘Great Serpent’s manifested form’ at its peak would likely struggle to withstand it.

Was Blazing Sun powerful?

Indeed, it was strong, but…

“This large-scale spell fundamentally originates from Dolai’s super Fireball. Its power is directly linked to the energy Dolai inputs. If Dolai were already at the War General or Commander level, the destructive force of the fused ‘Blazing Sun’ would far exceed its current state.”

Of course, it only had a single-use capacity.

Moreover, after fusing ‘Blazing Sun’, the Spell Furnace’s storage slots were fully occupied. Clearly, the large-scale spell, created by consuming ten prerequisite spells, also occupied ten storage slots.

It was impossible to perform further fusions after the initial fusion.

“By fusing one spell after another to create large-scale spells with broader coverage and greater energy, then projecting them—this is the function of the Spell Furnace.”

“However…”

“Forcing ten identical spells to fuse like this likely utilized less than 10% of this Miracle Building’s potential.”

“The higher the user’s spell proficiency, the more powerful and wondrous the fused large-scale spells will be.”

This was the hint Lord Mu received when he acquired the building.

He was well aware of it, but…

Did Dolai have any spell proficiency? No. Dolai’s spell lethality and destructive power might be strong, and its control precise, but its understanding and perception of spells couldn’t just be described as poor—they were practically nonexistent.

Unfortunately, Lord Mu’s own spell proficiency was also nearly zero.

That was why he resorted to the ‘guaranteed fusion’ method using identical skills, which offered the least enhancement and variation. The Spell Furnace, however, was not limited to producing such violent yet somewhat crude large-scale spells.

It could create more advanced ones, such as continuous thundercloud coverage;

It could craft more refined ones, like forming wind barriers to envelop and protect the entire territory;

It could even produce extraordinarily miraculous ones, for example…

“Why not give it a try!”Although further experimentation required first discarding or dissipating the already fused large-scale spell, with an extraordinary building right before him, not trying felt as uncomfortable as having ants crawling all over his body!”

“But, Dolai can’t do it anymore~”

Its eyes swirled with dizziness, truly unable to muster another full-power attack.

Lord Mu also understood he couldn’t force the Slime beyond its limits. “No matter, we can reduce energy output and use ‘low-consumption’ spells for testing. Once we confirm a combination is feasible, we can switch to full-power spells.”

“Right, oh.”

As expected of the ever-resourceful Lord.

Wait, then why had it expended so much energy on those super Fireballs earlier?

After dispersing Blazing Sun, Lord Mu directed Dolai to attempt new combinations. This time, he selected a mix of spells for proportioning.

Three ‘super Fireballs’, three ‘Heavenly Thunder Descents’, and four ‘Endless Hurricanes’, all in miniaturized, scaled-down versions.Then, he controlled the structure and began the fusion.

「Prompt: Large-scale spell fusion in progress…」

「Prompt: Large-scale spell fusion failed.」

“Don’t panic, it’s expected.”

“Let’s reduce some combinations and only use simple wind and fire skills.”

「…」

「Prompt: Large-scale spell fusion failed.」

“Maybe we should adjust the ratio of the spells. How many possible ratios are there for two spells… 5 types.”

…

「Prompt: Large-scale spell fusion failed.」

“Uh, how about changing the sequence of the spell nodes? How many permutations and combinations are there for two spells?”

「Failed.」

「Failed.」

「Failed.」

Plop~

Dolai lay flat on the floor. It seemed to see a banquet, with itself lying on top as the final featured ingredient.

It still drooled.

Lord Mu pondered.

Lord Mu tried it himself.

Mu Someone couldn’t do it either.

“If even the most basic two spells can’t be fused, something must be wrong.”

“Or perhaps, the previous successful fusions were just the ‘Spell Furnace’s’ pity mechanism for underachievers?”

Mu Someone tried again. Indeed, using the same skill allowed direct quantitative fusion, but when different materials were input, it involved numerous variations.

He could use skills and even perform tricks with them, having at least a ‘proficient’ level of control over Fireball, but he didn’t understand the principles, logic, or theoretical knowledge of spells.

It didn’t work.

Even the Undead General couldn’t do it.

Deadbone: I understand, I can use my self-created skills, I’m proficient in seventy-two transformations, but I don’t know how to explain to you how I understand this.

It’s like a swordsman with strong sword skills, but he probably can’t forge a peerless Treasure Sword.

These are different Domains.

It also relates to the origin of military units—if one naturally cultivated over ten or twenty years with a very solid foundation, an Elite-level spellcasting expert might possess some theoretical knowledge of spells.

He had heard that in ancient times, there was no concept of military units.

Nor were there fixed classes. People could cultivate and develop themselves into ‘warriors,’ ‘mages,’ ‘archers,’ etc. If they obtained some rare Legacies and learned certain secret techniques, they could become high-level professionals like ‘Ghost Swordsmen,’ ‘Blazing Mages,’ ‘Great Sun Archers,’ etc.

The development paths were very free.

However, for professionals to learn a single skill, it required a great deal of time, effort, and 99% talent to master.

“So, the Spell Furnace requires operators who are mages with a complete system of knowledge. They could be called scholars, researchers—far more than just knowing how to fight.”

“The requirements for the Mage Tower are similar, just much, much lower.”

This was also why he hadn’t exchanged for the ‘Mage’ military unit.

A rare one-star mage could at most cast Fireballs. Even if they evolved further, gained self-awareness, and mastered multiple spells, they would still have to start from scratch to create spell Scrolls.

It would be better for Lord Mu to learn it himself.

“We’re still lacking talent, top-tier talent.”

…

After slaying the Great Serpent, the next few days were calm.

Mu Yuan reduced the frequency of his explorations outside.

Firstly, he had some money for now, and he needed to gradually convert this wealth into the strength of his territory, which would truly stay by his side.Secondly, he was also worried about encountering more unexpected troubles. He had developed a psychological shadow from suppressing monster tribes. What if the next envoy he encountered was stronger than the Great Serpent?

Envoys vary in strength.

Totems differ in quality.

Thirdly, finding suitable areas for conquest now required traveling at least a hundred kilometers away. The round trip was time-consuming and laborious, significantly hindering the cultivation of Deadbone and other generals.

It was time for peace.

Feeling their inadequacy in strength, Deadbone and the others had immersed themselves in rigorous training. Even General Dolai recognized its own shortcomings.

—During the battle in the dungeon, it took longer to defeat a minor boss compared to Rakshasa and Red Robe.

It was a senior, after all! This was utterly embarrassing!

“So, you need to develop a single-target killing move with greater penetration and precision.”

Thus spoke Lord Mu.

Using the Dolai template, he intertwined the power of wind and fire to form roaring flame dragons one after another, only to disperse them moments later.

“This isn’t enough. You need more concentrated power.”

Mu Yuan had considered that since Dolai possessed skills in thunder element manipulation and steel condensation, it might as well develop a killing move like the ‘Railgun.’

However, Dolai, being academically challenged, couldn’t quite grasp the principles and combination patterns of the railgun. At this stage, it might not even be capable of precisely controlling electromagnetic forces.

So, Mu Yuan took a step back. “Start with the Thunder Spear. Try a more basic fusion of thunder and steel.”

Next,

Lord Mu arrived at Rakshasa’s training ground. The muscular, dark-skinned man was continuously swinging his malevolent spear.

As energy flowed, the sinister tattoos on his body seemed to come alive, radiating fierce intimidation.

This was a characteristic of the Ghost General—malevolent energy coursing through the entire body. Red Robe did not have such patterns.

“Your technique is fine, but you can delve deeper into the malevolent energy. For example, store the energy you don’t usually need within the malevolent tattoos and unleash them at critical moments to gain greater power.”

This move was inspired by Deadbone.

Through his ‘Death Siphon’ talent, General Deadbone condensed excess energy that couldn’t further increase his limits into crystals attached to his bones. However, during the battle with the Great Serpent, at least half of Deadbone’s ‘years’ of accumulation was used up, leaving him feeling insecure for a while.

Rakshasa’s malevolent tattoos were somewhat unique. Having used Rakshasa’s power before, Mu Yuan was well aware of this.

“Like this… like this… and then like that. That should be about right. You’ll need to explore the specifics yourself.”

Thus instructed Mentor Mu.

If it could be developed, he, Lord Mu, could also freely borrow it for his own use.

No—it couldn’t be called freeloading when he taught it himself. It was the mentor’s inspection.

He soon moved on to inspect Red Robe.

In constructing the illusion world, Red Robe had made rapid progress. Mu Yuan had little left to instruct her on, but…

“Based on the illusion scenes, you can try developing area-based skills.”

Once again, Mentor Mu provided insightful guidance.

After satisfying his desire to instruct, Mu Yuan hesitated for a moment between the training ground and the Mage Tower before ultimately choosing to return to the Mage Tower to lie down.

No sooner had he lain down than his phone, far away on Blue Star, began buzzing incessantly.

Mu Yuan had no choice but to get up, “biu” back to Blue Star, grab his phone, and continue lying down to read.

“@everyone, shocking news! Check the forum—there’s the latest information about the Hero Festival!””The Star Gazing Association has predicted that the Hero Ceremony will likely commence one month from now. Lords who have formally established their territories for no more than two years and eight months may begin preparations in advance.”

Unlike some forecasts, the Star Gazing Association releases few predictions, but those they do publish are remarkably accurate.

In the previous year and the year before that, the association made highly precise predictions regarding the Crimson Moon Tide.

This time,

“Beyond the timing, the Star Gazing Association has also forecasted more detailed rule information for this ceremony.”

The next chapter is still a few hundred words short, writing in progress.

(End of Chapter)