Time would sometimes pass by slowly, but at other times, it would seem as though it passed by quickly.
People would often inadvertently discover, "Eh, so many days have passed, but I haven't done anything I've planned …"
Claude felt the same way. The two months he had with his foot injury made him feel like a year. Anyone with a cast on their left foot would feel the same way.
The inconveniences of life went without saying. Claude really couldn't stand the stench of not being able to bathe. Not to mention, it was already summer and he would sweat a lot. All he could do was spend a lot of time using a large linen towel to wipe his body clean.
He went to the apothecary four more times, first once every three days and then once every week. Every time he went, he couldn't avoid being caught by the old herbalist and had to bleed again.
It was only after the last time that he was spared the pain. The old herbalist said that the clot was gone and he would be able to jump around after a month of rest.
However, his left ankle had only just recovered and he still needed to take good care of it. He didn't want to touch the ground if he could and he didn't want to walk around if he could.
That was why he stayed in his attic to read and write while he was recuperating.
Even though the 10th of September was the Harvest Festival to honor Mother Earth, he stayed in the attic and watched the parade of people dragging their floats through the streets in front of the door. He didn't rush to join in the fun.
He wasn't the only one who stayed at home to recuperate. His three companions also changed greatly.
Welikro was the one who changed the least. He only became more taciturn, but he was still an avid fisherman. Whenever he had time to rest, he would go to the lake alone with a fishing rod and a wooden bucket instead of asking his friends to go fishing with him like he used to.
Eriksson, on the other hand, was busy repairing his boat. He didn't ask his companions to help him this time and did it all by himself.
He bought planks of the same size and thickness from the shipyard and dried them on the dock. He then removed the damaged planks of the small fishing boat, and under the guidance of Uncle Pegg, he quietly repaired the planks.
After more than a month, the fishing boat was back in the water. This time, however, Eriksson didn't call his friends to go for a stroll. Instead, he sailed the boat for more than an hour on Lake Balinga.
Borkal, who was the most carefree, changed the most. Perhaps the niros crocodile auction had given him a deep sense of shame.
For that, he split the four crowns Sir Fux had given him for the crocodile, one for each of them. Then, he paid for Eriksson's repairs, which cost more than three thales, and Claude's treatment at the apothecary, which cost almost two thales.
As a matter of fact, Borkal had spent his share of the crown on those things. Even when they suggested that the four of them should share it, he refused to agree.
Borkal said that doing so would make him feel better. It was his mistake that caused his companions to lose more profits. He could only spend his share to make up for the guilt he felt. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to face his companions anymore.
His companions had wanted to give Borkal the one thale they earned from selling the game and fish as compensation, but Borkal insisted that the money be used for the four of them.
Based on that, even though Borkal's performance against the niros crocodile was terrible, he was still able to separate his personal and personal interests when it came to money. As a financial officer, he was still trusted by his companions.
What surprised Claude was that after he was forced to stay at home with his injured foot, his three companions seemed to have lost interest in going out.
Apart from going to school and returning to school, the three of them didn't spend much time together.
In the past, Borkal and Eriksson would always think about where they should go on Sundays. Now, they went back to their own homes and busied themselves with their own matters.
Even though Mother Earth's harvest festival was an official holiday in the kingdom, Borkal and Eriksson didn't make a fuss about where they should go. Instead, they followed the parade around Whitestag for half a day.
He believed that Borkal and Eriksson were frightened by the incident with the niros crocodile and understood their own limits.
They were young and didn't know their limits, but when faced with death, they realized that they were nothing.
Had it not been for Claude's final shot, the two of them wouldn't have been able to escape the fate of being torn apart by the crocodile.
Even though the two of them showed off in front of their classmates as one of the Crocodile Hunters, they were actually feeling a little apprehensive about it.
They didn't see Claude kill the python in Egret and didn't mind it at all, thinking that he would be able to do the same in his place.
But when they faced the niros crocodile, they realized how weak they were. The only ones they could rely on in times of danger were Welikro and Claude.
Now that Claude was resting at home, they didn't dare to go out on their own.
Claude dismissed it with a smile. It was a good thing that his companions had calmed down.
Apart from going to school in the mornings, he spent the rest of his time at home recuperating. That allowed him to memorize both of Landes's diaries.
After learning more about magic, he also understood many problems.
For example, Landes said that he only used three months to light up the hexagram in his mental domain and became a first-rank rune magus. Why wasn't he a one-ring rune magus?
Claude remembered that Landes mentioned that he was a four-ring rune magus who specialized in alchemy and runic magic formations.
He was completely different from his Tawari, a five-ring battlemage, who didn't have much combat experience.
But according to the first diary, Landes only spent three months as an apprentice to become a first-rank rune magus. What was the difference between a first-rank rune magus and a one-ring rune magus?
It was only when Claude started reading the second diary that he understood that a first-rank rune magus wasn't a one-ring one. A first-rank rune magus only possessed the mana they could use, but they didn't know how to cast spells. In other words, a first-rank rune magus was still a magus who didn't know how to cast spells.
In order to become a one-ring rune magus, a first-rank rune magus had to draw up a runic formation in his mental domain and imprint it into the inner space of the hexagram.
The hexagram was divided into seven smaller spaces, namely the hexagon in the middle and the six triangles on the sides.
These seven internal spaces could be engraved with seven magic rune arrays. After the engraving was completed, a rank 1 Rune Mage would officially become a 1st Ring Rune Mage. He could then use his own mana to cast seven spells through these seven magic rune arrays.
The seven formations imprinted in the inner space of the hexagram were known as one main spell and six auxiliary spells. They were the seven basic spells that a one-ring rune magus had to master.
It wasn't that a one-ring rune magus could only cast those seven spells. They could use other formations to cast other spells, but the mana required and the time needed to cast them would far exceed the cost of casting those seven spells.
Landes even made a numerical analogy in his diary. He set the mana of a first-circle rune magus at 100, so when casting a spell drawn on the hexagon in the middle of the hexagon, which was also known as the main spell, it would consume one to two mana points.
Casting the six triangular magic rune arrays at the side would consume three to five times the amount of magic power needed to cast them.
If he were to cast other spells, he would have to use hand seals and incantations to temporarily construct the runic formation for that spell. At the same time, he would have to use up at least ten to twenty mana points.
In fact, the effect of this spell wasn't any greater than that of the seven basic spells. Maintaining this temporary magic array before the spell was cast consumed most of his mana.
Therefore, for a level-1 rune mage, it was crucial to carve the seven basic spells on the hexagram in the meditation spiritual space.
Of course, a first-rank rune magus could only choose to imprint seven rank zero spells. They couldn't imprint rank one spells even if they wanted to. That was something they would have to consider when advancing to a two-ring rune magus.
Landes wrote in his diary that during the early and middle stages of the magic civilization, there were close to a thousand rank zero spells. At that time, rank zero spells were divided into various attributes and magic categories, and their effects were also greater than the current rank zero spells.
However, during the later stages of the magic civilization, with the lack of magic resources, many rank zero spells that relied on external forces and magic materials were eliminated and integrated.
Now, apart from the rank zero spells that could be cast using one's own mana, rank zero spells that consumed a lot of mana and had average effects were also abandoned.
That was something Claude understood. It was similar to the automobile industry in his previous world. Before he transmigrated, a good car was required to reduce emissions, save fuel, be powerful, have a stylish design, and have all the necessary functions.
Naturally, luxury cars that cost millions didn't need to meet those standards, as they were meant for the buyers to show off in the first place.
Nowadays, magic resources in Faslan were getting more and more scarce. Even common magic materials from centuries ago were now rare treasures.
The once flourishing world of magic was now left with only two paths: the civil and the military.
The civil path was rune magi, who focused on alchemy and researched how to conserve or preserve the effects of magic without using up any magic resources.
The military path was battle magi. That was the basic force that magi used to rule over the world of Faslan. However, their path to the next level had been cut off by the so-called silver-tier magi nobles.
As a first-level rune magus, the seven basic spells Landes had to use during his breakthrough were all alchemy spells.
However, the one thing he regretted the most was that he shouldn't have listened to Tawari's advice and changed one of the basic alchemy spells into a battle support spell. It took up a space in the hexagram for nothing and he didn't have the chance to use that spell in his daily life.
Back then, Tawari advised Landes that even though he was a rune magus who focused on alchemy and runic magic formations, he should at least be able to protect himself.
Life in the magic tower wasn't as peaceful as it seemed. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for rune magi to scheme and scheme against each other.
Tawari himself had seen quite a few rune magi fail in their competition, so it was best for Landes to inscribe a battle support spell. He didn't need to use it and only needed to let other rune magi know about it to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Even though Landes said that he regretted using a battle support spell to take up a space in the hexagram, he was very grateful for Tawari's guidance and help later on.
Other rune magi wouldn't have the chance to learn a battle support spell and after Landes accidentally used that spell, the number of people who tried to provoke him and order him around decreased significantly. On the other hand, the apprentice magi of his batch were still often bullied by the rune magi in their daily lives.
Claude could completely understand what Landes was talking about in his diary. It was only to be expected.
Newcomers were always bullied by the old. It wasn't just in the magic tower, but also in the workplace in his past life.