My Level Zero System

Chapter 343 - 343: Submission to Reality

Because Mera was still annoyed, Kain would leave her alone in the room for a while, and he went to the study of that high-class Magus.Seeing him arrive, this high-class Magus showed clear joy on his face.

"Young man Kain, you have arrived."

"You can just call me Kain, and by the way, your name..."

"Oh, just call me Optis. Jamie is my granddaughter."

"Yes, Mr. Optis."

The two sat opposite each other. Compared to Kain's formal posture, Optis appeared much more relaxed.

He poured tea for Kain and then for himself before asking.

"So Kain, what is your question? Within the realm of possibility, I will answer; there is no need to be formal."

"I, Optis, though I do not claim to be a profound scholar, have lived to this age, and there are some things I must know even if I do not intend to."

Hearing Optis say that, Kain pondered for a moment and then replied.

"I do indeed have questions, but they are quite chaotic and miscellaneous, so I am not very sure..."

"How about mentioning a specific field?"

"About magic, like... the battle between the two grand-class Magus today."

At this point, Optis's expression also turned slightly serious.

Not only was Kain overwhelmed, but he himself was overwhelmed as well. It was just that his experience was greater.

"Then let us speak from the basics first."

"Kain, what do you think is the difference, or rather the disparity, between a mid-class Magus like you and a high-class Magus like me?"

Kain stroked his chin and thought for a moment before answering, though he did not answer directly but provided a different lead.

"Mr. Optis, I am currently a mid-class Magus. Regarding what is called magic, I also have some of my own insights."

Compared to other Magus, Kain was the opposite.

Other Magus had to learn magic before practicing, while he practiced before learning magic.

The so-called "magic training memories" upon upgrading were more like a form of instinctive knowledge rather than a real experience; thus, after finishing an upgrade of a certain magic, he had to learn how to use it.

Kain raised a finger, and a ball of lightning appeared at his fingertip.

[Thunder Bullet], the most basic and fundamental magic skill of [Thunder Magic], was simply the aggregation of a sphere from lightning.

"This is a low-class magic skill, simple and rigid; more accurately, for low-class Magus, we do not have many choices."

With that, this small [Thunder Bullet] split into three [Thunder Bullets] of equal size, the three of them maintaining a sort of balance as they rotated on Kain's fingertip.

"The magical variations that can be performed are also extremely limited, essentially following templates. They even need to comply with various laws that, logically speaking, should not be applied to something with a supernatural nature like magic."

"It is called magic, but to me, this is still a submission to reality and natural laws. This is inevitable since we are born into this world and into the cradle of nature; what we see, know, and understand is an indispensable part of our cognitive structure."

"We cannot betray our own thoughts; otherwise, how is it any different from grabbing your own hair and pulling your whole body up from the ground?"

In the balanced situation of the three [Thunder Bullets], a fourth [Thunder Bullet] suddenly appeared and joined the rotation. However, this newly added [Thunder Bullet] was smaller than the previous three, making it impossible to form a balanced four-sided situation.

The balance was broken, and the [Thunder Bullets] mixed together and exploded in the air.

"Submission to reality? That is a good name."

Optis did not hesitate to praise Kain. At this age, having such insight and vision was truly extraordinary.

More importantly, he could explain matters that everyone understood implicitly but found hard to put into words in a way that even a child could understand.

"Although it is a submission to reality, being those who only follow pre-existing templates from within the consciousness and from reality, these are the factors that help mold a Magus's mindset in the beginning."

"Even a magnificent mansion needs to be built from the smallest bricks and blocks of wood; cognition is the same."

"Therefore, to find a path higher, a low-class Magus must sublimate, gradually building a mindset that breaks the previous templates. Without a template, breaking it has no meaning."

On Kain's fingertip, another [Thunder Bullet] appeared, spinning. Suddenly, this sphere of lightning began to transform.

"Spinning from all directions in a spherical shape is basically a template that follows natural laws as much as possible, but in this form, damage is hard to improve."

"Improving by creating a larger sphere with more lightning is not the optimal way. That is just a low-class Magus with more energy."

Long ago, Kain had believed that a proper Magus was not about using 10 points of energy to create 10 points of power and then using 100 points of energy to create 100 points of power; this was merely growth in quantity, not growth in quality.

The right path was to become a Magus who used 10 points of energy to create 100 points of power.

One side of the lightning sphere was seen being stretched, creating a sharp point protruding from the surface. This point both pulled the center of rotation for the whole sphere and elongated from the center to form a straight strip rising up.

The volume of the sphere continuously shrank until it disappeared completely, leaving only a straight strip of lightning with a sharp tip spinning vertically like a drill.

[Thunder Arrow], the first mid-class magic skill he had upgraded.

[Thunder Arrow] had moved beyond the rigid [Thunder Bullet] template to become a new model, less constrained by natural laws and more "artificial" in orientation, with the clear purpose of increasing speed.

Canceling [Thunder Arrow], Kain created another [Thunder Bullet], but this time he would transform it into a [Thunder Spear].

The difference here was that if [Thunder Arrow] elongated, applying the principle of consuming power to push the object's speed while refining the shape into an arrow for optimization, then [Thunder Spear], during the transformation stage of the lightning sphere's shape, created a twisted cone instead of elongating, in order to optimize for the amount of damage caused rather than speed like [Thunder Arrow].