End of the Magic Era

Lin Yun’s hand nearly slipped when the magic symbol appeared, almost dropping the stone tablet for the second time.

Shock appeared on Lin Yun’s face as he looked at that fingernail-sized magic symbol, his mind unable to focus.

‘Sage Chapter, this is the Sage Chapter…’ he realized.

‘The 4th chapter of the Extraordinary Magic Tool Book of Death, the Sage Chapter! An Extraordinary Component that is rumored to be able to turn spells into Ultimate Spells at will!’

For a mage, the existence of ultimate spells was not inferior to the secret Magic Array. Every mage had spells they were especially good at. They would keep researching and improving those spells over the years and their understanding of those spells would be far more profound than that of other mages. In their hands, the might of those spells would reach an unfathomable level.

These spells were Ultimate Spells!

But completing an Ultimate Spell would take a great amount of time. Even the powerhouses at the peak of the magic era didn’t have many Ultimate Spells, because it required time and energy.

Naturally, there was an exception to everything.

The Heaven Mage from the Ivory Tower, Bane, was that exception.

That man used a total of thirteen Ultimate Spells during a war, and with the strength of one man, defeated an entire highland shrine. That fight defied the common sense of all mages, and two thousand years later, after Bane had disappeared in the endless planes, mages were still discussing that battle and seeking to find the truth behind those thirteen Ultimate Spells.

That secret ultimately spread after the fall of the Ivory Tower.

Bane’s thirteen Ultimate Spells didn’t originate from Bane himself, but rather from one Component of his Extraordinary Magic Tool, the Book of Death. That Component was the 4th chapter of the Book of Death, the Sage Chapter!

‘No wonder…’ Lin Yun now understood. No wonder that stone tablet’s power was so strange! Analysis and spell calculation were some of the essential factors of Ultimate Spells. Only with continuous analysis, continuous calculations, and a thorough understanding of a spell’s details, could one make an Ultimate Spell have this kind of unfathomable power.

And his Magic Array was a perfect fit for this. The complicated and detailed Magic Array was also quite dependant on analysis and calculations. It could be said that the Sage Chapter was more important to Lin Yun than it was to Bane.

Lin Yun originally had come up with a complete plan for his Ultimate Spells.

Ultimate Spells would take too much time to complete, so a mage wouldn’t have many during their lifetime. Thus, Lin Yun already made a decision: he wouldn’t worry about Ultimate Spells before becoming an Archmage. Once the Magic Array was refined enough, he would be able to attack with Elemental Incarnation.

That’s right, Elemental Incarnation.

Only someone from the future could know how the mages at the peak of the magic era fought. In comparison, the mages in Lin Yun’s current era such as Larry and Ryan could only be described as incapable. He didn’t even feel that powerful mages such as Solomon and Cadgar were battle-ready after talking to them.

After all, these mages were just controlling mana in a simple way while the ones at the peak of the magic era had turned battle into an instinct. Each one, without any exceptions, chose Elemental Incarnation as their Ultimate Spell. Frightening movement speed and a powerful elemental body allowed them to dominate battles with ease.

After all, during the peak magic era, a 5th Rank High Mage could clear out a plane like the Bone Plane in a few days, Bone Dragon included.

Right now…

If a group of ten High Mages went into that plane, they would only be offering a sumptuous dinner to the Bone Dragon.

All in all, the mages of this era hadn’t gone through many battles, and they didn’t know the power of Elemental Incarnation. Only when the Plane Colonization era came would the mages understand how powerful Elemental Incarnation was because of the plane wars.

…

When Lin Yun realized what he was holding, he had no choice but to change his original plan.

This stone tablet meant he had a lot of choices. But after thinking about it, Heaven Mage Bane had used thirteen Ultimate Spells in that battle!

‘What’s going on?’ As Lin Yun was thinking of his future plans, the magic symbol of the stone tablet was darkening.

Lin Yun was startled.

He didn’t think too much about it and directly used mana to release that Flaming Hand. In a flash, dazzling flames filled Lin Yun’s sight. The heat that spread from his hand couldn’t be compared with a normal Flaming Hand spell. Its might was at least on the level of Flame Burst.

But Lin Yun’s expression sank.

‘Not enough, not powerful enough.’

Lin Yun knew what a true Ultimate Spell should be like.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that a 1st Rank spell such as Flaming Hand should at least become 4th Rank after being turned into an Ultimate Spell.

Everyone knew that mages would have a leap in strength every 5th mage Rank. Besides the powerup from the mana whirlpool and the Magic Conducting Rune, there was also the fact that mages could learn completely new spells every 5th level. Spells before a Mage’s 5th Rank would be known as 1st Rank Spells. The spells between a Mage’s 5th and 10th Rank would be known as 2nd Rank Spells.

Thus, 4th Rank Spells could be mastered by Great Mages between the 5th and 10th Rank.

But the Flaming Hand he had just released, though it admittedly seemed quite powerful, had yet to reach the power of an Ultimate Spell. Let alone the power of a 4th Rank Spell, it was still a bit short of a 3rd Rank Spell.

‘What’s the reason behind it?’ Lin Yun put down the stone tablet and sat in front of the refining table, thinking hard about it.

The weakening of the magic was a problem. Moreover, why was the magic symbol darkening?

‘Could it be that the spells put on the Sage Chapter slowly lose their might over time? But if it is a matter of time, wasn’t this amount too short for that to happen?’