Flaming Sword

Finally, he finished learning all the spells, it took him long enough, but now he can confidently call himself a mage, it does seem weird because he also calls himself a swordsmaster, but who said you can't be both?

Magic fascinated him, anything is possible with magic, even improving his swordsmanship, so his new goal now is not only to reach the peak in the way of the sword, but also with the way of magic, and finally combine them in order to reach previously unknown heights.

But he still has a long way, and every journey starts with the first step. After he finished learning all the spells in the book and improving them both in comprehension and in level, his wisdom and intelligence also reached the maximum.

<Ding! Due to being the first player to train to the maximum, you have received a new talent

'Strong Will'>

[Strong Will]

Level 1 (MAX)

Passive:

- You are fully resistant to mind related debuffs

- You can survive a fatal strike (Cooldown: 24 hours)

He was surprised his actions received such merit, he merely trained for his own enjoyment, but the game keeps giving him rewards, he rather likes this kind of game.

But he couldn't let it distract him, he wants to start walking the path of a mage with a sword, and that means getting a spell that can strengthen his fighting style. So he decided to review all the spells he learned.

Arcane Bullet - Easiest and simplest spell, low damage, cast time and mana cost.

Arcane Shield - Good against all attacks, weaker than elemental shields.

Fireball - A strong spell with high damage, can hit multiple enemies.

Fire Circle - Constantly damage enemies around you.

Earth Spike - Can strike enemies even if there are obstacles between you (It comes from the ground).

Earth Wall - A sturdy shield, good against physical attacks.

Ice Arrow - A spell with average damage, applies slowness.

Water Shield - A flexible shield, good against magic attacks.

Wind Blade - A strong and quick spell, good against single targets.

Air Blast - Pushes enemies away from you and does a little damage.

Now he needed to decide which of these spells can help him in his path.

The offensive spells would probably be weaker than his attacks with the sword in the future, so he should focus on defense spells or spells that can be used simultaneously with his sword skills.

The best pick for an attack spell seems to be the 'Fire Circle', he can damage his enemies with fire at the same time he attacks with his sword.

As for a defensive spell, 'Earth Wall' is pretty useless to him, since it's the only defensive skill that doesn't move with the user, and he is going to be constantly moving while in combat. 'Water Shield' would be a good pick, his skill 'Defensive Stance' can't block magical attacks after all, although 'Arcane Shield' is more useful against physical attacks so it will depend on the situation.

But these spells aren't enough, he needs a spell that can strengthen his sword technique, and it doesn't seem like the ones he learned can do that. It looks like there is only one option left, create one himself.

Although he doesn't understand spell matrixes enough to create one from scratch, he doesn't need to.

Spell matrixes are made out of different layers, each layer has its own function. For example, the first layer of the 'Arcane Bullet' spell is responsible for shaping the mana.

So if he takes layers with different functions and combines them together perfectly, he should be able to create his own unique spell!

After organizing his thoughts, he started picking the functions he needs for his spell.

First of all, he needs to shape the mana in the shape of his sword, this is the most difficult part, but based on the spells he learned, he believed he could do that with a bit of luck, and the trial-and-error method.

Additionally, he needs to give the mana an element. He chose the fire element, as this element is the most suitable for his attacking style.

Finally, he needs to constantly supply mana in order to keep the spell active, he could take that part from the 'Fire Circle' spell.

The result should be a spell similar to 'Fire Circle', but concentrated to his sword, meaning that the damage will not only be higher, but also combined with the damage from his sword skills and attacks.

He started with the first layer of the spell, he tried changing it many times, not only based on his knowledge but also based on trial and error.

At first, the shapes were vague and unrecognizable, but slowly and surely they started looking more and more similar to a real sword.

Finally, after almost a full hour, he managed to create a perfect sword made of mana. He smiled but didn't let success get the better of him, he still has a long way to go.

The second part was easy, he directly used the same layer as in the fire spells, and this time after supplying mana, the mana sword instantly turned into a fire sword, but it quickly dissipated.

He still needed to add the last part that allows him to maintain the sword, and so he tried, and failed.

He tried again, and again. He tried for almost two hours before he stopped, filled with frustration.

It didn't matter how he tried to combine the three layers, they just didnt connect, the fire sword always disappeared quickly.

After a few seconds of cursing the mother of the one who invented magic, he started to calm down.

Charging in blindly isn't his style, he shouldn't let his previous successful attempts give him a false sense of confidence, modesty is a virtue.

He took a deep breath and tried looking at the problem from a different angle.

Maybe the problem wasn't with the combination of the layers, but with spell matrix as a whole, so he decided to try his old method, 'Spell Image'.

He imagined how he would hold the fire sword, slash with the fire sword, and even block with the sword.

He slowly sank into his own imagination, fusing and perfecting the spell matrix unconsciously.

After a few dozen minutes, he suddenly woke up to a system notifications.

<Ding! You have successfully created a new spell! Please give it a name>

As he regained his consciousness, he tried to recall his previous dream.

After a few seconds, he came to a realization.

Spell matrixes aren't different layers with individual meaning stuck together, but a perfect fusion of different concepts.

Each combination of layers has its own fusion, and without understand the concept behind the fusion, it's almost impossible to fuse them together, at least it would take days to fuse even two layers, not to mention more.

The first two layers fused together easily because changing the element doesn't count as an additional layer, but an addition to the first layer.

Luckily, he managed to enter a special state of mind, otherwise it would have taken him days of trying and failing just to fuse these 2 layers.

As for the spell name, he didn't need to think much. The name came naturally to him, and just like that, the spell 'Elemental Sword - Fire' came into the world.