Chapter 67: Chapter 67: A Stroke of Inspiration, a Self-Created Skill

After muttering a complaint, Jon wasted no more time and began to read with focused attention.

The two spells, Flame Enchantment and Spirit Contract, were clearly far more complex than Elemental Arrow. The most obvious sign of this was that the pages describing them took up the majority of the entire Spellbook.

By the time he "learned" these two spells, only a few pages were left for a spell called "Concussive Impact"—not much more than the section on Elemental Arrow.

Jon glanced through it and, as expected, found it dull and uninteresting, so he didn’t look any further.

’I’ll look into it later when I have time. For now, let’s see what these two Excellent-grade spells can do.’

——

[Spirit Contract V.1 (Excellent): Consumes 50 Magic Power Value to attempt a contract with a creature, making it your partner. Contractable creature types: Beasts, Elementals, Sprites. No cooldown.]

——

Spirit Contract sounded a bit like Soul Contract, but they were fundamentally different.

Among the player base, skills like this were more commonly known as "Pet Contracts" or even "Spirit Balls." After all, the scope of the contract was limited to creatures of low intelligence like beasts, sprites, and Elemental Creatures, which made the selection quite narrow.

Still, finding the right creature to contract would provide a good helping hand.

Jon was already considering potential creatures to capture within the White Birch Territory. He desperately wanted a beast to serve as a mount, which would make it easier to travel between towns, resource points, and Dungeons in the future.

’I remember there are dire wolves in Shery Mountain that make great mounts. The elite ones are strong in a fight, and they look cool, too.’

’I just don’t know if rare ones like Frost Fang or Gray Eye exist at this point... I’ll check it out when I go back to the village for the Wolf Shadow Mysterious Trace quest.’

Making a mental note of it, Jon turned his attention to Flame Enchantment.

Now this Skill was interesting.

——

[Flame Enchantment V.1 (Excellent): Consumes 50 Magic Power Value to apply a Flame Enchantment to an item, granting it +15 additional Flame Damage for 5 minutes. Consuming 10 grams of Fire Elemental Crystal Dust upon casting can extend the effect’s duration. No cooldown.]

——

Although the bonus damage wasn’t high—not even matching the bonus from Magic Mastery—this Skill was the true bread and butter of Combat Mages: an Enchantment Skill!

Its advantage was that a single Enchantment could be used for an extended period.

It could serve as a temporary buff or be used with materials to create a semi-permanent Enchantment on a weapon. While the added Attributes weren’t as powerful as those from a proper Enchantment, its main advantage was that it was cheap!

It was perfect for transitional weapons!

’In that case... should I give it a try?’

Jon drew his Blade of Balance and weighed it in his hand, but ultimately decided against it.

For one, he didn’t have the materials on hand and would have to ask the merchant’s guild to prepare them. For another, it was almost noon, and he had to go out with Reya in the afternoon. He also needed to craft some engineering gadgets soon, just in case.

So, it was better to first test how Magic Mastery would affect this new Skill!

Jon gripped his blade and activated the Skill with his mind.

Flame Enchantment, activate!

Similar to when he cast Elemental Arrow, Jon felt his thoughts being drawn out, flowing down his arm and across his blade, tracing one Magic Rune after another.

During this process, he sensed he could control the placement of these Runes.

But since it was his first time, he didn’t interfere, deciding instead to see what a normal Flame Enchantment looked like first.

Soon, the Runes linked together, completely enveloping the blade, and his Magic Power was naturally drawn into them.

The Magic took effect.

A red, fiery light flashed over the blade and then vanished, leaving a faint, dark red hue on the original iron.

Looking at its Attributes now, there was a startling new line.

[Flame Enchantment: Adds 15 fire elemental damage on attack. Time remaining: 299 seconds]

’I remember a proper Enchanter’s Flaming Weapon Enchantment adds 30 Flame Damage. This temporary version is a far cry from that...’

’But since it doesn’t require materials and only consumes Magic Power, I can’t really complain.’

Jon gave the blade a casual swing.

’Mmm, smooth as ever.’

As he watched the faint sparks the blade left in the air, a thought suddenly struck him.

’What would happen if I wielded this blade and used Magic Mastery to fuel an attack with Magic Power? Could I control the shape of the flames and turn them into Sword Qi?’

The moment the idea surfaced, it completely took over his thoughts.

Who could resist having every slash wreathed in fire?

He certainly couldn’t!

So, he decided to act immediately!

He found a long, rod-shaped engineering component, stood it upright to serve as a test target, and then raised his blade. As he postured for a downward slash, he channeled his Magic Power!

WHOOSH—!

Like pouring oil on a fire, the infusion of Magic Power caused the previously dim, fiery patterns on the blade to flare up, and elemental flames erupted!

Jon didn’t stop his motion. A standard slash descended, grazing the rod. The flames on the blade flickered and elongated with the swing, flashing past the rod and leaving a black scorch mark in their wake!

His eyes lit up!

’It really works!’

So, what would happen if he combined it with other Skills?

Jon felt his heart begin to race.

Before, when he used Magic Mastery to enhance the two Sword Skills of his "Modified Dragonman Swordsmanship," he had felt something indescribable. It was as if a thin veil separated him from it—he could neither see it clearly nor grasp it.

But now, he could feel it. The time was right!

"Hoo..."

Jon let out a soft breath and closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into his status panel, focusing on the notification that had once cost him a 648-yuan top-up.

[You have grasped a sliver of the true meaning of "Balance".]

[You can consume Experience Points to attempt to recall this true meaning, with a chance to comprehend a "Balance"-related Skill.]

[Current recall attempts remaining: 2/3]

He only had 300 Experience Points left. Statistically, throwing such a small amount into the bottomless pit of "custom skill creation" wouldn’t even make a ripple.

But Jon felt differently.

Often, all that was needed for this kind of epiphany was a single catalyst.

He raised the blade in his hand, and his Magic Power surged forth.

Flame Enchantment plus Magic Mastery!

No more stingily feeding it two or four points of Magic Power. This time, he poured in as much as he possibly could with all his strength!

In an instant, a furious inferno erupted from the blade, the wild flames almost licking the ceiling!

The sudden explosion of Power surged wildly within Jon’s body, but he kept his eyes closed.

He focused his mind, recalling the ferocious Giant Dragons he had once fought. His thoughts settled on the one that had left the deepest impression on him—Ash Disaster Dragon King Patroclus!

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