Blocked Path

When [Lightning Flesh] kicks in, it's like hitting max output with [Double Enhancement]. It's like time slows down for everything else while you're zooming ahead. Wait, scratch that, it feels like the world's moving even slower this time.

Hmm... the difference is subtle, but man, he felt like he was moving even faster just by tapping into [Lightning Flesh]. He's pumped about the idea of teaming it up with [Body Enhancement - Mana].

But hey, let's not get ahead of ourselves. [Lightning Flesh] needs some serious fine-tuning even after casting, unlike the smoother ride with [Body Enhancement - Lightning].

So, both spells are kinda like crafting a unique lightning tailored to fit the human body. Then, they sort of create this program that dictates how the lightning behaves inside you. But with [Lightning Flesh], there's a whole lot more lightning involved, dancing in an even more complex pattern, so there's way more stuff to keep an eye on.

Sure, the spell lays out how each lightning bolt should move during its duration. But there are bound to be some "runtime bugs" cropping up here and there. Gotta keep an eye on those throughout the spell.

On top of that, if he wants to throw in [Body Enhancement - Mana], he's gotta make sure the mana flow doesn't clash with the lightning from the spell. Talk about ramping up the control needed, which also means ramping up his headache big time.

Flopping onto the floor of the practice room, drenched in sweat, he let out a sigh. "So much to do," he mumbled to himself. But even as he thought that, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. You see, back on Earth, he was a computer science student. Figuring this stuff out felt just like debugging a program. And there's nothing he loves more than seeing a program run smoothly thanks to his hard work.

His eyes gleamed with determination as he whispered to himself, "Mom, Dad, don't worry. Your son's doing just fine in this crazy world." With a shake of his head, he got back on his feet and resumed his practice.

...

After another week of relentless practice, he finally mastered casting [Lightning Flesh] with skill and precision. It's quite the accomplishment considering he's only been dabbling in magic for about four months. Don't be fooled by how effortlessly he seems to pick it up; mastering a level 1 spell is no walk in the park.

Only a small fraction of apprentices can pull off this spell after two years of training. And even then, they wouldn't make it look as easy as he does.

He received both good and bad news. The good? He managed to unleash [Double Enhancement II] using [Lightning Flesh] as the foundation. The bad? He could only pair it with the basic version of [Body Enhancement - Mana].

Juggling these two enhancements ramps up the difficulty like crazy. Even with his mind-blowing control, he could only handle the basic enhancement.

But the results? Insane. He practically teleported from one spot to another with a blink of an eye using the spell. But man, the mana drain matched the insanity of the results. I mean, seriously, 50 mana every 5 seconds just for [Lightning Flesh].

Isn't that crazy? Even with his colossal mana pool, firing off the spell once chomps down a quarter of his mana. And here's the kicker—it only lasts for a mere 5 seconds.

Thankfully, his battles taught him that he can't keep up his mana-guzzling antics for long. Just activating [Double Enhancement] at max output chews up 20 mp every 5 seconds, which is already better than his previous 25 mp per 5 seconds.

So, tapping into his insane mana perception and control, he cooked up something new: [Flicker]. See, normally, once you cast [Lightning Flesh] or [Body Enhancement - Lightning], you're stuck with it, right? I mean, sure, you can stop it, but all the mana you poured into the spell? Poof, it's gone.

But here's the kicker: Zack can cancel the spell mid-operation and suck all that mana right back into his pool. Now, that's a move that would leave any apprentice wizard scratching their heads in disbelief.

He's not sure if the big-shot wizards can pull it off, but hey, he hasn't read enough level 1 books to verify that. Anyway, back to the explanation. So, basically, [Flicker] is just him canceling [Body Enhancement - Mana] or [Lightning Flesh] whenever he feels like it.

Since [Body Enhancement - Mana] at max output can only be used when [Body Enhancement - Lightning] is maxed out too, the mana consumption automatically drops to a lower level when he flicks the switch.

All that jabbering means he can unleash [Double Enhancement] at max power or [Double Enhancement II] for a split second, slashing his mana usage like crazy.

And for the rest of the fight, he can stick with the basic enhancement and zip around when needed, like a ghost flickering on the battlefield. Hence, the name: [Flicker]!

This is the trick he pulled out to take down that flame wizard in their long-drawn-out battle before.

Anyway, now that he's got the level 1 spell down pat, it's time to level up to a level 1 wizard!

...

Hold up, folks. Here's the kicker: after a whole week of digging through books non-stop, Zack couldn't find a single clue on how to become a level 1 wizard using those level 0 books. He even blew all his points on borrowing more books. And he's pretty darn sure the method won't be spelled out in the level 1 books either 'cause he stumbled upon a hint in one of the books he read. 

The book spilled the beans: the secret to leveling up to an official wizard is under lock and key, guarded by the bigwigs in those mega organizations. If Zack wants in on the action, he's gotta snag a membership with one of those big leagues.

He's clueless about joining any other organization, but he's got the lowdown on how to join the lightning magic tower. Inside the [Things you need to know as an apprentice] handbook, there's a handy instruction manual for exactly that.

All he's gotta do is stroll into the mission hall, announce he's ready to level up to a level 1 wizard, pass a mana test, and show he can cast a level 1 spell. Easy, right? Well, not exactly. There's a catch—he's gotta sign a membership slash slavery contract with the magic tower, committing himself to a whopping 20 years of service.

Twenty freakin' years! But hold your horses, because if he thought that was steep, joining the lightning magic tower as a normal apprentice demands a whopping 40 years of servitude. Yup, he just got the scoop from one of the receptionists in the mission hall.

It's one of the fallbacks for apprentices who can't stand losing out on the perks of being able to trade goods and snag books from the library when they can't level up to a wizard in two years.

In exchange, the magic tower assigns them to one of their businesses. Once apprentices rack up enough contributions, they can trade them in for magic books or even score permission to hit up the magic tower market.

But I digress. The point is, Zack's hitting a brick wall on his path to advancement. But does he throw in the towel? Hell no.

He snatched a mission from the hall and marched right out of the tower. He's gonna hit up the black markets for some insider info on how to crack this level 1 wizard conundrum.

…

In short, Zack was screwed. No matter where he looked, there was no info on how to level up. Rumor had it that all the advancement methods were locked down tight by the bigwigs in those mega organizations.

These organizations, run by level 2 wizards, like the elemental magic towers, the empires, and the kingdom alliance, held all the cards. Each elemental magic tower had a level 2 wizard in charge, except for the lightning magic tower, which boasted a level 3 wizard at the helm. Then there were the Holy Empire smack dab in the continent's center and the Kingdoms Alliance down south, also run by level 3 wizards or powerhouses on par with them.

The smaller organizations and kingdoms only had level 1 wizards, usually folks who'd finished their time in the big leagues. But even if they wanted to spill the beans on how to level up, they couldn't, thanks to some magic oath they took during their big org days.

As for any DIY advancement methods floating around in the black markets? Nuthin'. Only the occasional level 1 spellbook or artifact.

Zack's mind was racing as he plotted his next move. He decided he'd give leveling up on his own a shot before the two-year deadline hit. If he couldn't pull it off by then, he'd bite the bullet and sign that lightning magic tower contract.

And here's where things get wild. His insane idea? Hunting down live level 1 wizards and analyzing their mana hearts.

From the way he was blazing through mana gathering, learning spells, casting, and tweaking them, Zack realized that his "Advanced" talent wasn't just a notch above average. "Insane" was more like it.

He's convinced he can reverse-engineer the whole level 1 wizard advancement deal from the body of a live level 1 wizard.

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Name: Zack

Age: 10/100 (150)

Occupation: Apprentice wizard

Mana: 28/28 (195/195)

Overt Talent: [Low Mana Manipulation Correction], [Low Mana Sensory Correction]

Hidden Talent: [Limitless Mana Well], [Advanced Mana Manipulation Correction], [Advanced Mana Sensory Correction], [Advanced Intelligence Correction] 

Hidden Boss Abilities: [Hidden Strength]

HBP: 0

HB Progress Bar: 10/100% 

Expand Hidden Boss abilities Store? yes/no

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