Chapter Eighty-Three: Conceptions for Countering Witchcraft

Andy recounted everything he knew about Stein’s past to Catherine. After all, Catherine was the youngest apprentice Stein had ever adopted, so her bond with him was much deeper than Andy’s—a man who had arrived halfway through the story. Upon hearing Stein’s story, Catherine’s dissatisfaction with Flora and Clark and his son grew immensely, especially toward Peter Clark, who had inflicted irreversible harm upon Stein. Catherine practically wished she could destroy him.

As for Andy, he did not care much either way, but since Catherine insisted, he too donned an indignant air.

For the next two days, Catherine roamed the academy with her two new pets, trying to gather information about the Clarks. The two ghosts she had recently picked up on Ascension Hill, perhaps because their original bodies had died so long ago, were far less spirited and retained only fragments of their memories compared to the ones she had tamed back in Dallas. This greatly diminished Catherine’s efficiency in gathering intelligence. In contrast, Andy only had to ask around a little to learn the basic circumstances of the Clark family. After all, their history was no secret, and father and son were infamous in the outer academy.

Healy Clark was the vice dean of the inner academy and a leading candidate for the dean’s successor. Peter Clark, on the other hand, was the chief of the Societies Office in the outer academy.

Andy focused his inquiries on Peter Clark. He learned that the man was a seasoned bronze sorcerer and was well-equipped with rune gear, scrolls, rare artifacts, and other items that boosted his power. He also discovered that the entire Grim Academy was riddled with monitoring arrays; any magical fluctuation from sorceries of level two or above would be detected, drawing the attention of the Discipline Office.

Leaving aside whether Andy and Catherine had the strength to take on Peter, it was clear that making a move within the academy was out of the question, even if they could overpower him. Thus, Andy and Catherine resolved to observe for a while longer and plan their revenge carefully.

Nevertheless, they found an opportunity during one of Peter Clark’s public appearances to watch him from afar, memorizing his features with grim determination.

At that moment, Andy couldn’t help wishing he had a high-powered sniper rifle—a single shot from several kilometers away would settle the matter, allowing him to slip away before any enforcers could arrive. Once this idea took root in his mind, it refused to leave. Andy began to seriously consider whether he could develop a sorcery specifically designed for sniping. Though he didn’t shy away from thrilling, close-quarters combat, the prospect of striking from the shadows was oddly appealing.

After more than two months of study with Professor Martin, Andy’s foundational knowledge of sorcery was far superior to before. Now, by delving into materials Martin had recommended before leaving, he felt himself improving day by day.

While Catherine scoffed at these elementary topics—trivial knowledge that even children were expected to know—Andy found great joy in his daily studies.

He firmly believed that one day he would succeed in creating this sniper sorcery, just as Catherine had once devised her “Circle of Curses.” Now, when inspiration struck, he could form a preliminary concept in his mind, unlike before, when he was utterly clueless about sorcery models. He decided to use the first-level spell “Flame Arrow” as the foundation for his sniper sorcery. Even if he could not forge a new spell entirely, he would modify it to achieve the desired sniping effect.

Through relentless practice, Andy had mastered “Flame Arrow” to a grandmaster’s degree. Its power was now nearly on par with an ordinary fireball. However, this level of force was still insufficient to break through the protective fields of a bronze sorcerer.

Yet, in the course of practicing and casting spells, Andy discovered that a spell’s power was not fixed but fluctuated within a certain range. To judge the exact power of his spells, he and Catherine once paid to use an academy spell-testing room, equipped with advanced detection devices capable of measuring a spell’s energy intensity.

In this world, the strength of a spell was called its energy level and measured in “degrees.” Through testing, Andy had determined the energy values of his two primary attack spells.

According to reference materials and his own experiments, Andy deduced the following: an average first-level “Flame Arrow” had an energy level between 30 and 60 degrees. An expert’s “Flame Arrow” could reach 40 to 80 degrees, while a grandmaster’s could soar to 60–120 degrees. An ordinary second-level “Fireball” ranged from 50–100 degrees, and an expert’s from 70–140 degrees.

Through discussions with Catherine, Andy learned that a bronze sorcerer’s protective field had at least 100 degrees of energy. During his recent enthusiasm for secondary disciplines, he had also discovered that certain rune items could further boost a sorcerer’s defense.

Ordinarily, after a spell was cast, its energy would hover near the lower end of its range. Yet sometimes, the spell would hit its upper limit, even reaching the peak value. Sorcerers called this a “spell critical.”

During his tests, Andy found that his own spells could reach higher energy peaks than those recorded in the texts. His grandmaster-level “Flame Arrow” could range from 60 to 135 degrees, and his expert-level “Fireball” from 70 to 158 degrees. It was clear that his “bugged” soul talent was at work again, granting him 25% higher critical damage than other sorcerers.

Unfortunately, this kind of critical was generally uncontrollable. Some rune equipment was rumored to increase the chance of a critical, but none could truly solve the problem of control.

Andy imagined that if he could reliably trigger a spell critical with “Flame Arrow” at grandmaster—or even master—level, he could unleash an attack with over 200 degrees of energy, enough to pierce most bronze sorcerers’ defenses.

He chose “Flame Arrow,” despite its lower base energy, as the foundation for his sniper spell rather than the more powerful “Fireball” for several reasons. “Flame Arrow” could be cast more quickly, was less conspicuous, and, unlike the area-of-effect “Fireball,” dealt pinpoint, penetrating damage—perfect for breaching protective fields. Thus, to realize his vision of a sniper spell, he needed not only to master “Flame Arrow” to the highest degree but also to ensure it would always score a critical and dramatically extend its range.

On this front, Andy had already found a direction: he would master certain spell specializations.

Through his recent studies, Andy had learned that many elite apprentice sorcerers possessed unique spell specializations—also called metamagic feats. These were powerful auxiliary techniques developed by sorcerers through the study of spellcasting principles.

There were many spell specializations capable of greatly enhancing a sorcerer’s combat abilities, and Andy had come across many drool-worthy records in the library.

For example: “Efficient Casting,” which sometimes allowed spells to be cast with no energy cost; “Empowered Spell,” which enhanced spell power using more energy; “Focused Casting,” ensuring the next spell would critically hit; “Extended Spell,” which increased spell range at higher energy cost; and “Quickened Spell,” which made the next spell instantaneous at a greater energy expense.

According to Andy’s plans, mastering “Focused Casting,” “Extended Spell,” and “Empowered Spell,” combined with grandmaster-level “Flame Arrow,” would make his sniper sorcery a reality.

Unfortunately, in the first floor of the library where Andy spent his days, he could only access brief descriptions of these specializations. To study them in detail, he would need to access the second floor. Though outer academy students were eligible to enter, the rarer materials on that level required a fee to read.

Andy longed to say, “If money can solve it, it’s not a problem.”

The trouble was, he was almost out of money.