Lu Cang did as he was told. Last night, he had only been casting Magic continuously without attempting any fine control.
Now, with this bit of guidance, Lu Cang felt like he had suddenly grasped how to control his Magic.
SHWII!
This time, as the Ice Cone formed, it resonated with his Magic Power. Lu Cang felt the cone become harder and more translucent, its coldness deeper than before.
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +100,000]
[Ice Cone Skill Added Effect — Harder Ice]
'Holy shit?'
'One hundred thousand?'
'So practicing in a special way gives an extra boost?'
'And there's an added effect, too.'
'So you don't just get added effects from leveling up Skill Proficiency. You can get them by figuring things out on your own, too.'
'It's like I've discovered a whole new world...'
Then, Lu Cang took control of the Ice Cone, and under his manipulation, it began to spin...
SHIIING—
Its rotation sliced through the air, chilling the surrounding atmosphere.
Lu Cang could feel that this type of control consumed more Magic Power than simply casting a normal Ice Cone.
But his Magic Tide was already LV: 100.
His Magic Power recovery speed was extremely fast.
The amount of Magic Power he was using still couldn't outpace his recovery rate.
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +200,000]
'200,000?'
'I haven't even fired it yet, and it's already equivalent to casting the skill twenty times.'
[Ice Cone Skill (LV: 85) — Added Effect: High-Speed Rotation]
"And now..."
Lu Cang controlled the five Ice Cones, aiming them at the trees in the distance.
SWOOSH!
In an instant, an Ice Cone pierced through a large tree. Without losing any momentum, it struck the next tree in line.
The moment the Ice Cone exploded, Lu Cang maintained control, sending countless ice shards flying in all directions upon impact.
And the moment the ice shards touched the trees and grass, they were instantly coated in a thick layer of frost.
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +50,000]
"So strong."
Lu Cang could feel that this Ice Cone's piercing power was now more than double what it was before.
More importantly...
SWOOSH!
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
The next four Ice Cones shot out in quick succession!
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +50,000]
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +50,000]
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +50,000]
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +50,000]
[Ice Cone Skill Added Effect — Ice Splash]
The four Ice Cones.
Each one provided 50,000 Skill EXP.
In total, this single cast of Ice Cone Skill had provided Lu Cang a full 550,000 Skill EXP.
Iz saw the result of Lu Cang's cast.
He couldn't help but smile and say, "Not bad. You succeeded on the first try. A fast learner."
Lu Cang nodded excitedly.
He raised his hand again.
Imitating the feeling from before, he cast it again.
This time, however, there was no extra increase in Skill EXP.
SWOOSH!
As the solid, spinning Ice Cone shot out and exploded into a patch of ice in the forest, it only added 10,000 Skill EXP.
'So... it was a one-time thing?'
'No.'
'Skill Proficiency... it should be about familiarity and mastery.'
'It's the process of becoming more proficient with the skill.'
With this in mind, Lu Cang tried to control the Ice Cone Skill again.
A five-shot burst of Ice Cones formed in front of him, but this time Lu Cang didn't fire them.
Instead, he gathered the Ice Cones together.
'If I can split it into a five-shot burst, I should be able to merge them into one...'
[Ice Cone Skill EXP +100,000]
'It worked!'
'So Skill Proficiency really is about exploring and experimenting with a skill.'
[Ice Cone Skill Added Special Effect — Giant Ice Cone]
DING—
The five Ice Cones merged into one.
Forming a Giant Ice Cone even larger than Lu Cang's own body!
SWOOSH!
This single Ice Cone shot out!
BOOM!
CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK—
It smashed through a series of trees along its path, stopping only after destroying seven or eight large ones.
"Not bad..."
Iz stroked his chin.
This time, without his prompting, the little guy had started to explore more variations of the Magic on his own.
'Truly gifted.'
'What's more impressive is that he always finds the trick to it in a single attempt, successfully mastering these derivative forms.'
"Next," Iz said, "try splitting the Ice Cone into even more smaller shards."
"The trick is..."
Along the way, Lu Cang experimented on his own or tried things according to Iz's instructions.
He actually managed to evolve eight additional variations for the Ice Cone Skill, which already had many effects.
Giant Ice Cone, Ice Cone Split, Ice Cone Double-Pierce, Extreme Cold Diffusion, Perfect Invisibility, Quick Cast, Remote Generation, and Icy Melt.
Through all this practice, his Ice Cone Skill's proficiency rose to LV: 90.
Based on the Skill Proficiency level, the number of consecutive Ice Cones he could fire increased from 5 to 7.
Iz praised him, saying, "With your current mastery of the Ice Cone Skill, you'd be hard-pressed to find even a few Mages in the entire world who could compare."
'Not many Mages in the whole world?'
'That's high praise.'
"By the way, Iz..."
"Who is the most powerful Mage in the world?"
Since the topic came up naturally, it was the perfect time to ask.
In response, Izparut answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Me."
'Okay... classic self-praise.'
Lu Cang wasn't the least bit discouraged by this dead-end answer. Instead, in his childish voice, he rephrased the question, "Then, what Level is the most powerful Mage in the world?"
Iz replied seriously, "Level 5."
'Right...'
'I shouldn't have used the words "most powerful" when asking you.'
"No, that's not what I mean, Iz."
"I'm asking, what is the highest Level of any Mage in the world?"
Iz stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"The highest Level?"
"That would probably be the Level 8, An Zheng."
'Level 8?'
Actually, from last night until now, Lu Cang had faintly sensed that Iz wasn't as weak as he looked.
The attitude of the town's residents toward Iz and his group also reflected this indirectly.
But the highest Level being only 8 was still quite surprising.
'I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot fewer Divine Talents than I imagined...'
'But, even though a Level 8 Mage exists, he still says he's the strongest at Level 5.'
'Iz, you really are arrogant.'
"Oh, we're here."
The Dragon Rhinoceros stopped. Before them was the entrance to a deep cave.
Looking inside, he couldn't see a thing.
"This is the Dungeon?"
Iz dismounted and nodded. "Yes. According to the map from the commission, this should be the Shadow Cave."
As he spoke, Iz raised his hand slightly, and a silver Array lit up faintly in front of him.
"Yep, this is the place."
'An Array.'
'Come to think of it, the Magic I cast now doesn't produce any Magic Arrays.'
'Is it because my Magic is too Low Tier?'
'But it seems like Iz also casts his Magic without Chanting. That's something that stands out.'
"Let's go."
"Okay," Lu Cang said.
The fact that a Level 5 Mage wasn't as weak as he'd thought allowed Lu Cang to relax a little.
However, Lu Cang still had no real concept of just how strong a Level 5 Mage actually was.
The only Magic Iz had ever cast in front of Lu Cang was that one Thunder Strike Skill.
Other than that, there was this spell right here that could create an Array.
But Lu Cang didn't know what this spell that produced a Magic Array was exactly.
WHOOSH—
A Fireball formed in his palm, and he threw it into the cave.
It illuminated the dark path ahead.
The path was pitch-black and straight...