Chapter 647: Mechanical Wizard
Recently, Duke researched many documents but failed to find any information related to the small tree, so he decided to name it the Golden Tree, and the fruit it bears, the Golden Fruit.
The nature of the Golden Fruit is extremely special, different from typical treasures that increase spiritual power or lifespan.
The energy it contains is something Duke has never seen before, providing excellent nourishment to the soul and spiritual power.
Furthermore, the current upper limit for consumption remains invisible, suggesting it can be consumed continuously to perpetually increase spiritual power and lifespan.
At least, given Duke’s current life level and spiritual power, continuous consumption seems to consistently provide gains.
Nevertheless, this is somewhat against common sense, so Duke speculates it’s due to his presently low spiritual power and lifespan, which makes it hard to determine the upper limit.
The energy nature of the Golden Fruit is exceptionally unique, distinct from ordinary life energy or spiritual power supplements.
It contains an unusual energy unfamiliar to Duke from any wizard tomes or material illustrations, extraordinarily gentle yet inherently noble.
This energy not only seamlessly nourishes and strengthens the soul’s essence and spiritual power, but also quietly extends the base length and resilience of life.
Duke plans to consume the remaining four Golden Fruits in their entirety, aiming to approach the threshold of becoming a Level 2 Mage sooner and maximizing available resources.
As with the first time, the fruit melts upon entering the mouth, transforming into a warm and cool intertwined flood.
Duke intensely guides the absorption, carefully experiencing every subtle change.
The effect remains noticeable, though the growth amplitude has declined.
Once the energy is fully absorbed, Duke examines the skill tree panel:
[Spirit: 210.3 -> 216.1]
Increased by 5.8 points, compared to the first fruit’s 8 points, reduced by 2.2 points.
It appears the effect has weakened, but actually, this is due to the higher base spiritual power compared to the first time consuming it, leading to seemingly smaller growth.
The feeling of lifespan extension over a century is still clear, with little difference compared to the first consumption of the Golden Fruit.
Duke can almost be certain that the spiritual power increase this time is likely not much different from the first increase.
Normally, such spiritual power-enhancing treasures lose effectiveness after one or two doses.
Yet, the Golden Fruit remains effective even after a second dose, and the effectiveness hasn’t diminished.
Duke recorded the process and related data, briefly adjusted his breathing, then consumed the second fruit.
The absorption process remained smooth, with spiritual power steadily increasing.
[Spirit: 216.1 -> 220.5]
Next was the third fruit.
[Spirit: 220.5 -> 223.6]
Duke continued to record relevant data throughout the process and then consumed the fourth and final fruit.
[Spirit: 223.6 -> 225.7]
With this, the final traces of fruit energy blended into his body, yielding about a quarter of the initial spiritual power improvement.
But as before, this isn’t due to the Golden Fruit’s effect weakening.
Rather, it’s because Duke’s base spiritual power value increased, making the enhancement appear smaller.
After consuming the Golden Fruits, Duke reviewed his personal panel on the skill tree.
[Constitution: 34.7]
[Strength: 36.2]
[Agility: 33.5]
[Spirit: 225.7]
[Free Attribute Points: 14]
Counting the free attribute points, he could now raise spiritual power to almost 240 points.
However, he shouldn’t hastily use the free attribute points; their value escalates over time.
Duke is only sixteen points shy of the 256 spiritual power needed to advance to a Level 2 Mage.
With a period of meditation practice and gradually maxing out some skills, he should nearly reach the threshold for Level 2 Mage.
In the subsequent period, he must earnestly begin preparing for the advancement to Level 2 Mage, securing relevant resources.
The current amount of Magic Stones exceeds one hundred million; selling some temporarily unused resources should suffice to purchase Energy Wells.
If not for the large number of Energy Wells he needs, this wouldn’t be a concern.
For ordinary wizards, preparing one Energy Well is already quite difficult.
Energy Wells require at least tens of millions of Level 1 Magic Stones; for an ordinary wizard, this number is huge, as most wizards find earning money quite challenging.
For Duke, Magic Stones aren’t the most pressing concern now; the key issue is obtaining Energy Wells of Light and Dark attributes.
His journey to the East Coast indeed serves this purpose.
The East Coast is significantly more prosperous than the West Coast, with greater material resources and more access channels.
Since it’s rare for him to visit the East Coast, he naturally cannot overlook the knowledge of Mechanical Wizardry.
Although Duke doesn’t intend to become a Mechanical Wizard, the flourishing Mechanical Wizardry civilization on the East Coast likely offers much to learn and borrow.
He currently needs to max some skills, learning Mechanical Wizardry aspects can simultaneously aid in grinding free attribute points, killing two birds with one stone.
Duke then took out the Thought Core, linking it with his spiritual power.
The starlight within the deep blue gemstone of the Thought Core suddenly became lively; the miniature gear set on the base emitted a pleasing, harmonious ringing, akin to the adjustment sound of a clock.
Next, a remarkably clear, well-structured, and rationally beautiful light blue three-dimensional operating interface instantly projected before him, visible directly through his spiritual power.
Duke linked to the Empire’s public information network; a vast flow of categorized information flowed gently like waves but was efficiently filtered and organized by the Thought Core.
He saw Empire news, academic journal summaries, basic magic knowledge, regional Records of the Land and People, etc. The content is extensive yet systematically arranged.
This offered Duke an intuitive understanding of the expansive Empire information network, though it was not his immediate goal.
Duke quickly began searching for materials on Mechanical Wizardry, soon encountering a wealth of relevant information.
Such a vast amount of information would take a long time to sift and process manually; however, with the Thought Core’s assistance, processing speed is greatly enhanced.
As soon as Duke’s thoughts moved, the Thought Core’s response was astoundingly prompt.
Simultaneously with his thought’s end, the interface’s center expanded like a dazzling knowledge star map, rapidly searching, associating, and filtering countless light points, forming several clear learning path recommendations and a prioritized recommended resource list.
Each path included core textbooks and practice guides officially compiled and authorized for publication by the Empire’s Ministry of Education, Royal Magic Research Institute, or prestigious higher education institutions.
Duke quickly skimmed through the list, swiftly selecting several sets of official materials best suited for current introductory learning, allowing direct integration with his existing abilities.