In the deepest part of the Small Tooth Tribe, in front of an old wooden house.
Several large pottery jars were placed at the entrance. Some jars contained live, plump fish, others were filled with strange-smelling herbs, and one large jar was filled with peculiar stones of various colors.
Lyle glanced at the surroundings of the wooden house, his gaze falling on the large jar filled with stones of various colors: "What is this?"
"Color Ore."
The old Lizardman Priest spoke with a blank stare, introducing without reservation: "When these stones are crushed, they can be used as paint to draw totems and patterns on the tribe members."
"Is there any special effect?" Lyle looked at the stones of various colors again.
"No." The old Lizardman Priest shook his head.
Lyle immediately lost interest. After a brief observation of the wooden house, he had the old Lizardman Priest lead the way and walked into the house.
This wooden house was clearly old, with moss and small wooden vines covering the wooden pillars connected to the ground.
Lizardmen are an amphibious demi-human race that prefers to live in damp places, but all Lizardman houses are two-story stilt structures.
The lower level consists of a foundation made of thick wooden stakes, with only the upper level being inhabited.
As soon as he stepped into the wooden house,
A stale, foul, and rotten smell immediately assailed him.
"Deodorize."
Lyle wrinkled his nose.
Magical light surged as he cast "Deodorize" twice in a row, and only then did the strong smell in the room mostly dissipate.
He scanned the room.
There was no real decoration to speak of; it was very rustic. On the walls hung many necklaces and pendants made of unknown bones, as well as ugly and completely impractical shields made of shells.
Lyle's gaze was immediately drawn to the many scrolls made of some kind of animal hide, placed on a bookshelf-like structure in the room.
The number wasn't large, but there were dozens of them.
"Is this where all the knowledge of your tribe is stored?" Lyle's eyes lit up slightly.
The old Lizardman Priest nodded blankly.
Various knowledge within the tribe was guarded and protected by the Elder Council, but since he was the only priest in the entire tribe, he naturally had to guard it himself.
Lyle walked forward, casually picked up a scroll, on which were densely packed Lizardman characters that looked like gibberish.
"Take out all the scrolls about magic and explain them to me."
Lyle glanced at it and immediately gave up the idea of using "Decipher Magic" to read the text. He spoke directly, not bothering with pleasantries.
Since the old Lizardman Priest was here, there was no need for him to decipher it himself, and besides, "Decipher Magic" was not omnipotent.
Back in E-Rantel, Master Beroray had specifically told him about the drawbacks of this magic. "Decipher Magic" could indeed allow the user to understand the meaning of unknown text.
But it was only "understanding."
Some details could not be accurately described, so using this magic for scholarly research was not feasible.
Soon.
The old Lizardman Priest selected six scrolls from the dozens of animal hide scrolls and placed them in front of Lyle, introducing them at the same time.
There were scrolls on how to make herbs.
There were studies on the use of faith-based magic.
There were methods for predicting future weather.
There were methods for feeding fish in lakes, and so on.
Many things that Lyle considered not magic at all were treated as magic by the old Lizardman Priest, such as empirical methods for observing future weather and fish farming techniques.
Lyle ignored these miscellaneous contents and first inquired about faith-based magic. As expected, they were all first-tier and second-tier faith-based magic.
Most of them were auxiliary magic.
There was no third-tier magic that interested Lyle.
As for herbal recipes?
There was nothing commendable there either. In Lyle's opinion, the herbal production techniques mastered by this Lizardman were completely at the level of a human herbal apprentice.
"No wonder the tribe is so weak."
Lyle shook his head, greatly disappointed. Seeing the old Lizardman Priest pick up the last animal hide scroll and begin to introduce it, he patiently listened.
He was already considering the next Lizardman tribe.
"This is knowledge of Magic Enhancement, which requires more mana to forcibly cast higher-tier magic that would otherwise be unusable."
"To achieve the maximum effect of this Magic Enhancement, it needs to be combined with a magic ritual. The mana consumption is enormous, making it not a practical magical method."
The old Lizardman Priest spoke slowly with a blank stare, his tone subtly revealing his disregard for this magic, then continued:
"And there are also some limiting conditions."
Charm magic only changes the controller's perception of the caster, not the original perception.
This Magic Enhancement was clearly not valued by the old Lizardman Priest.
However!
Lyle, who had been uninterested, suddenly widened his eyes.
Magic Enhancement?
Lyle looked at the old Lizardman Priest with some surprise and unexpectedness.
This was the type of magic he had always wanted to master!
Although "Magic Enhancement" and "Enhanced Magic" only changed the order, they had a fundamental difference.
"Enhanced Magic" refers to enhancement-type magic, such as magic that boosts agility, strength, or increases resistance.
"Magic Enhancement," on the other hand, refers to methods of enhancing magic itself.
For example, Magic Double Maximize, Magic Triple Maximize, Magic Ultimate Maximize, Magic Range Expand, and so on.
Among the characters Lyle knew of, very few could use these types of "Magic Enhancement."
The Slane Theocracy, in order to master this type of magical technique, created professions such as "Arcane Devotee" and "Apostle of Surshana," named after Surshana, the God of Death among the six great gods.
"Explain this Magic Enhancement in detail."
Lyle said with a serious expression.
Listening to the old Lizardman Priest's slightly muddled language, Lyle frowned.
Even if he could understand what the other party was saying, the language systems of different races still differed. After listening carefully for a while, Lyle finally understood what the other party meant.
"Magic Ascension?"
Lyle was slightly surprised. He didn't recall this Magic Enhancement in the game "YGGDRASIL" from his memory.
"Could it be 'Magic Tier Ascension'?"
Lyle knew a little about this Magic Enhancement. In the entire light novel series, the Bone King had used it only twice.
Once was against Shalltear, using "Magic Triple Maximize, Tier Ascension, Magic Arrow."
Once was against the Elf King's Root Earth Elemental, using "Magic Triple Maximize, Ultimate Maximize, Tier Ascension, Silent Cast, Magic Arrow."
Since both battles involved the Bone King fighting seriously, coupled with a series of Magic Enhancement combinations, and using the lowest-tier "Magic Arrow," it left a deep impression on Lyle.
However!
The ability of "Magic Tier Ascension" was to raise the tier of magic, for example, raising a first-tier "Magic Arrow" to the tenth tier.
There were no magic rituals or restrictions during this process.
But according to the old Lizardman Priest, "Magic Ascension" could be used to cast higher-tier magic that would otherwise be unusable.
Of course.
The "higher-tier" in his mouth meant raising magic by one tier. If a magic ritual was performed, it could raise it by two magic tiers. It seemed to be a degraded version of "Magic Tier Ascension."
If it was only that.
Lyle would naturally lose interest. Raising magic by one or two tiers held little significance for him and would be useless later on.
Because all magic has a total of ten tiers, no matter how much it's enhanced, the tenth tier is the peak, and it's impossible to break through.
But the old Lizardman Priest described it as "using unmastered magic," which is distinctly different from "Magic Tier Ascension."
According to his description, this "unmastered" meant being able to bypass the caster's level. For example, a caster of second-tier magic could forcibly use third-tier magic, though it would consume more mana.
"Magic Ascension, Magic Ascension—"
Lyle murmured softly, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Wait!
Could it be that magic?
Lyle was startled. He suddenly remembered that when the Undead Legion attacked the Lizardman tribes, someone among the Lizardmen had used this magic.
It seemed to be the brother of the "Frozen Fang" wielder.
Additionally.
The priests of the five Lizardman tribes also seemed to use this ritual to activate "Elemental Spirit Summon," summoning a mixed-element Wetland Elemental Spirit.
"Can you use this Magic Enhancement?"
Lyle narrowed his eyes, looking at the old Lizardman Priest opposite him. That old fellow should be among the five tribal priests in the future.