The first few pages of the second diary contained Landes's seven basic spells, and it was written with illustrations.
He even used dotted lines and solid lines to describe how to construct a magic circle, as well as how to use the mana within the hexagram to cast a spell through the magic circle.
Claude didn't quite understand what Landes' intentions were when he wrote the diary. It didn't seem like a diary, but more like a magic textbook.
Anyone lucky enough to get their hands on these two diaries could become a rune magus on their own according to Landes's notes.
Of course, that was good news for Claude. He was the lucky one.
The first spell he chose was Magus' Hand, a basic spell that almost all rune magi would choose as their main basic spell.
This basic spell of Magic Hand was indispensable and often used by rune mages in alchemy experiments.
According to Landes' diary, an alchemy experiment required at least a dozen or so uses of Magus' Hands, so this basic spell was engraved in the hexagonal space in the middle of the hexagon.
The use of this Magic Hand was to form a pair of invisible hands with mana, and use the mind to control these invisible hands to conduct various experiments in the Alchemy Rune Magic Array.
This pair of invisible hands could perfectly replace the experimenter's own hands during experiments of high and low temperatures, as well as various corrosive substances. It was one of the most important basic spells for rune mages.
The second basic support spell was Investigation Eyes. Its effect was to carefully observe the alchemy runic magic array's experiments, and it could freely enlarge or shrink the size of the object being observed or experimented on.
This was a basic support spell that rune mages could not do without.
The third basic support spell, Precise Control, was mainly used to support Magic Hand.
After all, in alchemy experiments, the use of the Magic Hand was nothing more than lifting, lifting, and holding, just like human hands.
But with the assistance of Precise Control, the Magic Hand could be turned into tools such as knives, scissors, and hammers, which could be used more effectively on the test subjects.
The fourth basic support spell was Decomposition, which was also a basic spell that all 1-circle rune mages had to learn.
Landes wrote in his diary that a first-ring rune magus could not conduct an alchemy experiment on his own. He could only participate as an assistant in an alchemy experiment led by a higher-ranked rune magus.
Then, as an assistant, the first-ring rune mage would have to prepare for the experiment, such as breaking down the various magic materials needed.
That was something Claude could totally understand. It was just like the research centers of universities in his previous world. A professor would take on a research project and the monks under him would break it down and prepare for it.
Most of the experiments were done by the research monks who buried themselves in the laboratory. The mentors were only responsible for the most critical research topics, as well as the summaries and research results reports. Many of the experimental papers were written by the research monks, and the mentors were only responsible for signing their names …
From this point of view, the alchemy experiments of the rune mages were indeed like a research project. The only difference was that their research objectives were different.
His fifth basic support spell was Fusion. As the name suggested, it was similar to Decomposition, except that one was a decomposition spell and the other a fusion spell.
But according to the diary, Landes would be able to make some low-grade mana potions with those two spells combined.
The sixth support spell was the one that Landes regretted so much. It was called Magic Missile.
It was to use magic power to pass through the magic array engraved in the hexagram and release an arrow made of magic energy. It was invincible and could even pierce a large hole in an iron plate.
Due to Landes's affinity with the fire elemental, the Magic Missile he cast could also be called a Magic Fire Arrow. It was much more destructive and damaging.
The only drawback was that it didn't have a long range. The effective range was only around ten meters.
The further the range, the weaker the damage. Beyond twenty meters, it wouldn't be called a Magic Missile anymore. Rather, it would be more appropriate to call it a Flying Pellet. Even if it hit the target, it wouldn't cause much damage.
According to Landes's analysis, it was mainly because the range was too long and most of the mana was consumed during flight.
To Claude, that was what real magic was.
In the video game he played in his previous life, the magus in the game could cast a huge fireball with a wave of his hand. It was just too cool.
If it was a Magic Missile, it wouldn't be much different.
He was basically carrying a .54 pistol with him. So what if the range wasn't too far? Ten meters would be more than enough.
Even in the movies he watched in his previous life, the distance between the two sides wouldn't be more than ten meters.
If he had learned Magic Missile long ago, he wouldn't have sprained his left ankle when he ran into the niros crocodile.
He could have waited for it to get close and aimed with his finger like a gun. Then, he would have shot it dead. If one shot wasn't enough, he could have fired a few more. As long as he had mana, he wouldn't have to worry about bullets. It was practically an infinite supply of bullets!
At that moment, Claude completely forgot about the taboos people had against magic in this world and immersed himself in his own imagination.
Landes complained in his diary that Tawari had misled him into learning the support spell.
He really wanted to replace the Magic Missile with a Cleanse spell, because cleaning the equipment in the alchemy lab was also his responsibility as an assistant.
He didn't engrave Cleanse as a support spell like the other rune magi did. As a result, he had to set up a magic formation for Cleanse every time, which drained a lot of his mana.
Cleanse was indeed a decent spell. Using magic to clean dirty equipment was easier and more convenient than doing it by hand. It also saved him the trouble of disinfecting.
However, Claude felt that Landes wasn't looking too far ahead. He was only concerned about the fact that he was still a one-ring rune magus and forgot that when he had the ability to manage an alchemy lab, he would be able to get his assistants to do the cleaning.
By then, even engraving Cleanse would be useless. It wouldn't be as useful as a support spell like Magic Missile. At the very least, he would be able to protect himself.
However, Landes' seventh support spell left Claude speechless. Compared to the sixth support spell, Magic Missile, Mental Intimidation was far more useless.
It wasn't a battle support spell nor an alchemy support spell. To be precise, this spell named Mental Intimidation was created by Landes himself, or rather, plagiarized from somewhere else.
Before Landes officially became a one-ring rune magus, he was given the job of a breeder.
The alchemy experiments conducted by the rune magi in the magic tower required all sorts of materials, including some ferocious beasts that were still alive.
The python and niros crocodiles that Claude had encountered before, as well as the mountain leopard that Welikro said was the most cunning and nimble beast in Egret, were all used by rune magi as test subjects for their alchemical experiments.
Usually, the alchemy experiments in the magic tower were conducted in this manner. The master of the magic tower, the seventh-ring archmagus Loenk, would decide on the experiments and hand them over to one of the rune magi to lead.
The rune magus in charge would then set the sequence of the experiments and list out the required materials and assistants.
If the storage of the magic tower had all the necessary materials, it would save them a lot of trouble. If they lacked certain materials, they would be handed over to the battlemages of the magic tower to gather them.
The ferocious beasts were all captured by the battlemages. Some were used as test subjects, while others were provided with their flesh, bones, and blood.
For example, the skin of a niros crocodile could be made into rune paper and made into magic-imbued tomes through alchemical formations.
Even though it couldn't compare to the tomes made from the skin of a fiend, it could still be used to cast some low-level spells and reduce mana consumption.
Landes was one such alchemy experiment he participated in.
The master of the magic tower, the seventh-ring archmagus Loenk, had a sudden thought. He found out from a certain tome that niros crocodiles used to be fiends, but for some reason, they had devolved into ordinary beasts.
It was said that a long time ago, when magi hunted niros crocodiles while they were still fiends, they could find many magic stones and crystals in their nests.
Loenk suspected that it was those magic materials that helped the niros crocodiles evolve into fiends. Later on, the lack of magic resources in Faslan caused the crocodiles to devolve into ordinary beasts.
Loenk wanted to test if his guess was correct, so he came up with a plan to let the niros crocodiles live in a place filled with mana and see if they could evolve into fiends again.
Tawari and the other battlemages captured many niros crocodiles from Swamp Kemda and locked them up in a sealed area.
Of course, Loenk wasn't going to take out a lot of magic materials and leave them to the crocodiles. He only set up a large alchemy array there and had the first rank rune mages pour their mana into it every day. Then, the crocodiles would crawl all over the magic-filled alchemy array on the ground.
From a certain point of view, 1st rank rune magi like Landes were treated as chargers by Loenk. Or rather, as mana-charged humanoid tools, or as magic ingredients for the niros crocodiles' evolution.
To make the alchemy experiment less monotonous, Loenk ordered Tawari and the others to capture more beasts and lock them up in the sealed area filled with mana in hopes that they would evolve into fiends.
Of course, mana alone wasn't enough. These ferocious beasts would starve to death, so someone had to feed them.
This glorious task fell onto Landes's shoulders, and he became a breeder in name only.
As a fisherman, Loenk was extremely afraid of these ferocious beasts. Even when he was feeding them, they would be locked up in a room with magic.
Every time he entered the sealed space to feed the beasts, he would be on tenterhooks, afraid that he wouldn't make it out alive or that he would become part of their food one day.
Especially when the beasts pounced on him when he was pouring the food, he felt the urge to pee.
He admitted this in his diary because if one day a beast really evolved into a magical beast, then the magical confinement in the original room would be useless against it.
This was what Wizard Landes was most afraid of. If that happened, he would be torn to pieces …
So, he sought help from Tawari, who gave him two support spells. One was Magic Missile, and the other was Banshee's Howl.
Magic Missile gave Loenk the ability to protect himself. At the very least, he could heavily injure a fiend before it tore him to shreds. It was a spell that would harm both sides.
Banshee's Howl, on the other hand, was a mental-type fear spell. Casting it would cause the enemy to fall into extreme panic and lose their rationality.
This spell was most likely targeted at humans. While it was effective against fiends, they would be even more dangerous if they went berserk. Moreover, casting it consumed a lot of mana.
Loenk had to admit that Loenk was a genius in magic. He was actually able to simplify Banshee's Howl's spell from a group spell to a single-target spell, Mental Intimidation. It could be cast on a specific target and cause the target's mind to go blank.
This greatly facilitated the process of feeding the beasts, which was why he proudly used Spirit Shock as his final basic support spell.