The Gravity Spell is a magic that can directly control gravity. After carefully reviewing the relevant materials, Alan discovered that it possessed an extremely complex rune structure, making it incredibly difficult to learn.
Alan, who was proficient in runology, carefully studied the rune composition of the Gravity Spell and found that its underlying rune was also control, meaning this gravity magic was an advanced variant of control-type spells. To learn this magic, one needed at least an instinctive level or higher proficiency in control-type magic; the entry threshold alone was ridiculously high.
Of course, this difficulty was nothing to Alan; after only a dozen minutes of study, he could already easily control the surrounding gravity, calmly floating in mid-air.
"The Gravity Spell feels a bit like an evolved Levitation Charm. It suits me very well. However, its direction of effect is not just simply upward, and its efficiency in converting magic is also very high. After further in-depth research, if I engrave it into my Flying Cloak, my speed will probably increase by another level."
Alan was very satisfied with this Gravity Spell. With his proficiency in control-type magic, he could make it a constantly ready magic with just a little practice. After researching the contents of the Gravity Spell, Alan took out an exquisitely bound thread-bound book from the Rune Serpent's private material box. This book, both in terms of paper and binding method, was very different from other Western-style books in the library, giving Alan the impression of a Chinese ancient book, and the characters on it were the traditional Chinese characters he was very familiar with!
"Qingyuan Secret Arts Essentials? Is this a Chinese magic book?" Alan carefully stroked the cover of the ancient book. The Rune Serpent had specially used an elegantly decorated small box to preserve it, indicating the importance she placed on this book. When Alan gently opened the ancient book, a yellowed parchment was folded under the cover, clearly very old. Alan picked up the parchment and saw that it was a diary written in Ancient Runes, detailing how the Rune Serpent obtained this book.
"Today, the club encountered a powerful challenger. The opponent called himself Chang and was an Eastern wizard traveling in Europe. We developed a strong interest in him. Beaumont volunteered to challenge him to a duel, and he lost very thoroughly. Several other club members and I were a bit indignant; it was outrageous to be beaten so badly by a foreigner in Europe. But after subsequent continuous challenges, we were all impressed by Chang's power. The magic he used was simply unheard of. Even fighting us all at once, he could still hold his own. Chang even created several clones exactly like him, and they also had spellcasting abilities!
I couldn't tolerate the humiliation of such a crushing defeat and suggested to Beaumont that we use the Killing Curse to ambush Chang, but Beaumont objected to my shameless act. He said no one stipulated that the Silver Spears must be the victor in a duel. I felt very ashamed about this. Perhaps years of victory had given me such dark thoughts. Therefore, I proactively apologized to Chang, but the opponent was very friendly, at least outside of the duel.
It was precisely because of this encounter that we few formed a friendship with Chang. He told us that in his hometown, secret education was practiced, with great emphasis on master-disciple lineage. His Qingyuan Secret Arts Academy was almost in a secret realm, a secluded space, which is why we found the magic he used so unfamiliar. And Chang was very disgusted with this overly closed method of inheritance. To change the status quo, he left his sect, as he called his magic school.
After leaving the East, he began many years of travel, actively learning unique magic from other wizards, and eventually mastering them all. Chang said that his ideal was to return to the East after years of study abroad and establish a magic school without sectarian bias. Of course, in the East, they call magic Secret Arts.
Everyone, including myself, was moved by Chang's grand ideal. Therefore, after discussion, we decided to open the club's collection to Chang and teach him the mysteries contained within Western magic. Facing our generosity, Chang was also very touched, and therefore left this Qingyuan Secret Arts Essentials as a return gift. During that time, Chang and we exchanged magic insights, and everyone gained a lot. This was also my happiest time in the club.
It is also for this reason that I highly praise and am obsessed with the magic left by Chang, but because his magic is truly too profound, most people in the club find it difficult to even understand. And to learn them, I even spent a lot of time learning Chinese. I know that compared to others in the club, my talent is quite limited. If it weren't for the family magic of the Gravity Spell, I wouldn't even be able to join the Silver Spears. But because of this clear understanding, I am willing to spend more time learning, and after learning one of the spells in the Secret Arts Essentials, it also gave me a different perspective on the Snake Skin Potion. If I had it, would I be able to minimize the side effects of the Elixir of Life? —Goodwin Nicklaus."
After reading this seemingly self-reflective note, Alan finally gained a clear understanding of the source of the strange magic in the Rune Serpent's hands. It turned out that these spells were all foreign imports, not originating from the local area at all. Perhaps, apart from the Gravity Spell, all of the Rune Serpent's other magic came from this Qingyuan Secret Arts Essentials. Thinking of this, Alan became even more interested in the content of this book.
He silently nodded, and then Alan eagerly began to read the contents of this ancient book. All the text and illustrations on it were in Chinese characters, but Alan, being Chinese in his previous life, found it easier to read than English. Within some individual pages, there were also the Rune Serpent's sticky notes, full of her notes and annotations, clearly showing that she had put a lot of effort into studying the content.
Indeed, in this Qingyuan Secret Arts Essentials, Alan saw many spells he had previously encountered from the Rune Serpent or in the club. For example, the Tunneling Spell that Alan had used to burrow through ground and walls before came from this magic book, except that this magic was called Earth Travel Art in the essentials, and its function was to allow the caster to freely travel through solids like soil and rock. At the same time, the essentials also recorded a Water Travel Art, a magic that allowed the caster to move freely in water without being affected by resistance.
Moreover, Alan also discovered that the Secret Arts in the essentials did not have special requirements for incantations and casting actions, which was very different from the European magical world. Even a wizard with strong magic sensitivity like Alan, when first learning magic, had to cast spells according to standard incantations and gestures. Learning these Secret Arts, in addition to consuming magic, more importantly required a strong physique and a calm mind, and for beginners, certain hand seals would assist in casting.
"Is this aspect of content called Unity of Heaven and Man? Body tempering and calming the mind—isn't this the method I explored to train magic sensitivity?"
Alan at this moment actually saw his former self before he encountered magic in the Secret Arts Essentials. The training methods he had developed over many years seemed to perfectly align with the core cultivation principles in the ancient book.
"So, cultivating Eastern magic requires a certain intensity of magic sensitivity from the beginning? It seems to be because they don't have auxiliary spellcasting tools like wands, so from the very beginning, they strive toward wandless magic. No wonder they are so powerful."
From the brief records, Alan could imagine the development and spellcasting habits of the wizards, or rather, Secret Art Masters, in his distant homeland, which also made him more interested in the spells contained in the essentials.
Continuing to flip to another technique, Alan's eyes lit up again.
The Body Tempering Art, an auxiliary cultivation method, has two stages of practice. The first stage is to steadily improve one's magic reserves and magic sensitivity through physical exercise, breathing techniques, and other methods. The content recorded here was almost identical to Alan's training methods, but what surprised him even more was the second stage of the Body Tempering Art cultivation.
After magic reserves and magic sensitivity rise to a certain level, the control and perception of magic will be strengthened. Then, through the methods recorded in the essentials, magic can be guided to temper and strengthen the wizard's body, thereby comprehensively enhancing physical strength. After long-term cultivation, the practitioner's strength, speed, endurance, resistance to blows, and flexibility will be greatly enhanced, and in the end, they may even gain some incredible abilities, such as bone shrinking, a steel body, and a certain degree of stretching and softening the body.
Seeing this, Alan immediately recalled the various magical abilities the Rune Serpent had displayed, such as her ability to instantly twist and change direction like a snake while moving. At the same time, the Rune Serpent's body was even harder than steel; even a full-power God Slaying Slash couldn't break it easily.
Also, at the Silver Spears headquarters, Ashwinder had once rescued the Nundu in front of him with extreme speed. And he had been controlled by the Rune Serpent during his shedding period very early on and was taken as a loyal companion, so it was not surprising that he would be taught this Body Tempering Art. It is estimated that Ashwinder's speed was also enhanced by the Body Tempering Art.