Returning to the city at night, I deposited whatever parts I had been able to collect from the goblins at an association building.

  I was told they'd calculate my payment by the next day.

  The money wasn't particularly interesting to me, since there wasn't anything I wanted in particular.

  'Well, getting some better gear would be good.'

  As it stood, the only magical accessory I had was the ruby ring, providing me some extra stamina.

  Taking it off my finger, I noted that the drop in stamina was not as noticeable as it was a while ago.

  'Probably because my body has improved...'

  The effect of the ring had clearly decreased.

  With the money I had now, I'd only be able to buy some trashy accessories that would probably do nothing for me.

  Naturally, many famous workshops were centered in Babel, thanks to the constant supply of materials and demand for armor, accessories and weapons coming from adventurers.

  If I completed a few C rank missions, I'd probably be able to buy myself some decent equipment.

  Giving it some more thought, there were two things that I wanted.

  First and foremost, defensive artifacts.

  Up until now, I had mostly been punching down, meaning I could easily defeat my opponents with my massive firepower.

  But if I ended up in a scenario where I was ambushed by another mage...

  I'd be screwed.

  Why?

  I was missing one of the most basic and important spells for any mage.

  Barrier.

  So, to handle that issue, getting some equipment to give me some defensive capabilities would be useful.

  Next, a magic staff.

  "That'll be a bit more difficult, though."

  A magic staff was something that cost more than a house in the capital of the empire.

  In other words, even after two years, I'd probably be far off from affording it.

  Every staff had to be custom made to fit its user as well as being fine tuned with specific materials to match the owner's affinities.

  But, if I could get one, I would once again massively increase my power.

  'That's more of a pipedream than anything... I should just focus on what I have at hand.'

  Sitting at the small desk in my inn room, I opened the book I was guided to in the library.

  Lancel's Tips and Tricks for Fast Casting.

  The cover was worn out, and the pages were frayed, indicating its usefulness.

  I briefly wondered about how a book on the Notary art might have ended up in the library.

  'Maybe one of our guys ended up as an adventurer?'

  Reading the first page of the book, I noted that it seemed very informal compared to my old magic tome.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  So, you wanna be a wizard who can cast fast?

  This book will teach you all you need to know to be the fastest spellslinger amongst all your peers!

  It's a Lancel? Guarantee!

  It was to the point it seemed like some sloppy scam advertisement.

  Moving through the pages, my eyes shook slightly.

  "Damn, this isn't half bad."

  Once again, I felt as if I had been overestimating myself.

  The ideas laid out in the book seemed very simple, making me question why I hadn't thought of such ideas.

  To be fair, my 'formal' magic training had pretty much ended when I was exiled, so I guess it only made sense that my basics were lacking.

  'Surely you could've taught me this kind of thing?'

  I clicked my tongue, thinking that my master had taught me a powerful technique like mode but hadn't bothered teaching me the basics.

  'To be fair, whatever this guy's writing about can't exactly be called the basics.'

  The author, Lancel, was someone who threw out the 'typical' notations of spell castng.

  Mages, mages, really, they worry too much about perfection, acting as if magic is some kind of thing that needs to be respected.

  So dear reader, understand that perfection is quite a time consuing matter, those high up folk would probably want to kill me for writing this, but I'd say that you should purely treat magic as a tool.

  I mean, if you're reading this, you probably aren't one of those stuck up asshats from the empire, right?

  Ignoring the last part, the idea he was trying to lay out was that perfection could be thrown out the door for increased efficiency.

  He called it 'slurring.'

  Like a drunkard fails to finish his words properly, Lancel suggested doing the same for spells.

  The concept was quite simple, but to me it felt rather heretical.

  Studying in the Notoria household, I was (unsuccessfuly) taught magic as if it was some sort of magnificent caligraphy, that it was a precise and delicate art that had to be performed with surgical precision.

  Of course, that notion was not wrong, as precise casting meant that the spell would have increased mana efficiency and control, but for me, who had infinite mana, the former was not so important.

  Rather, increasing my output through any way possible was more important.

  Flipping another page, I came to two diagrams of the fireball spell.

  The first was a perfectly drawn fireball, probably even better than the one in my old tome.

  The second, was... unorthodox, to say the least.

  Rather than a perfect circle with smooth pathways to guide the flow of mana, it was a hexagonal shape with crude jagged lines.

  Clearly, the second would be considered 'wrong.'

  Probably havent seen one like this, right?

  I call it the dirty firebal, it looks a bit strange, but constructing this kind of thing in your mind will be far faster than the normal version.

  This spell served me well in the battlefield, one small moment where the enemy doesn't expect you to be able to cast quickly enough is all it takes.

  Obviously, there are cons, in many ways, its inferior to the normal version.

  Firstly, a hexagon is far inferior to a circle when it comes to gathering mana equally, meaning that the spell will be weaker.

  Secondly, the straight pathways of the dirty fireball cause some mana to be lost, unlike the smooth curves of the regular version.

  Third, the efficiency is overall worse, so even though the hexagon already handles less mana, that reduced amount of mana is even further reduced when actually casted as a spell.

  I found the ideas to be interesting.

  The final spell would be weaker and less efficient in mana consumption, but the upside was massively increased casting speed.

  Leaning back on my chair, I considered the possibilities.

  'A weaker spell should be fine, right?'

  I was already capable enough of launching high power bullets that were bordering on the level of artillery shells.

  Being able to apply pressure with a constant rain of bullets, even if they were weaker than normal, would be a great tool in my arsenal.

  And even when my bullet skill would level up, I'd still be able to use this technique to even further increase my casting speed.

  It'd be like suddenly doubling the firerate of bullets, easily catching my enemy off guard.

  'Lancel... You're not half bad, huh?'

  If I got the chance, I'd definitely read his other books.

  Closing the book, I began practicing.

  Of course, since I was in an inn, I wasn't able to fire off my magic, so instead I simply constructed the circle and allowed it to fall apart.

  Bit by bit, I found parts of my regular magic bullet which I could 'slur', essentially creating my own 'dirty bullet'.

  It would probably take a while for me to be able to properly apply the principles to my second and third layer casting, but with this, I'd be able to cast a first layer magic bullet at full automatic speed.

  LOG 37 - THE THEURGIA FAMILY & THE THEURGIC ART

  The Theurgic Art is known to be split into four levels, based on the cardinal directions. The first level is North, and the final is East. Because their magic is tied to the "directions" of the world, a Theurgic mage is nearly impossible to ambush. They are always "in tune" with the space they occupy. Their magic focuses on the construction of barriers, with each direction applying an entirely new mechanic upon their barriers. By all means, the Theurgic Art is considered to be the strongest defensive magic in the entire empire, with their users being unmovable objects on the battlefield.

  Cultivation ? Progression ? Dark Fantasy