Chapter 53: Mage Armor
Outside Graystone Town, on a stretch of open ground.
Gauss gripped his staff tightly and closed his eyes to focus his mind.
He continued to work his will toward the new spell within him: Mage Armor.
One advantage of spells rewarded by the Adventurer’s Handbook is that, compared to other apprentices learning skills, they skip a lot of the entry‑level time.
It felt like he had already mastered this skill—now he was just reacquainting himself with past experience.
Based on the intel Gauss and the Night Owl Team gathered, normally even if someone got a spellbook, starting from zero to reach basic proficiency—barely enough to produce an effect—would take several months at least.
As for becoming truly proficient, ordinary apprentices like them would need years.
But Gauss didn’t need much time to go from basic to skilled—he was already ahead at the starting line.
Thanks to the benefits brought by the Adventurer’s Handbook, his first two spells—Mage Hand and Magic Missile—didn’t take too long to advance from level 1 to level 2.
With eyes closed and mind concentrated, he ran through the Mage Armor spell in his thoughts a few times.
Gauss began recalling some of the notes in Andini’s notebook that he had read earlier.
Each spell is an independent magical effect.
These magical effects can create useful tools, weapons, damage or protective barriers, and so on—roughly falling into eight categories.
Protection, Evocation, Divination, Enchantment, Transmutation, Illusion, Necromancy, Alteration.
Mage Hand and Magic Missile that Gauss already mastered belong to Evocation and Transmutation, respectively.
And the spell he was about to practice, Mage Armor, belongs to Protection.
The target for this spell could be himself, or another creature he had touched.
But casting it on others required more experience, and the effect wouldn’t be as obvious as casting it on himself.
Once successfully cast, a protective magical shield would envelop the body.
After running through the memory, Gauss formally began practicing.
“Mage Armor!”
Gauss focused his attention and mobilized his internal magical energy.
The spell imprinted in his mind stirred just a bit.
There was feedback!
A slight expression of relief appeared on Gauss’s face.
That he could feel that sudden jolt on the first try meant this spell wouldn’t be too difficult to practice.
Having a reaction meant good feedback.
“Keep going!”
“Mage Armor!”
…
Gauss tried several times in a row.
He felt the spell was about to “spring forth.”
Of course, the act of casting had little to do with whether he said the spell’s name out loud.
But casting is an extremely focused process, and speech is a direct mental cue—it helps you enter the correct state of mind in the shortest time.
Many people might have the experience where the harder you try not to think of something, the more uncontrollably your mind keeps drifting toward it.
So focusing on something without distraction sounds simple but is actually quite complex, especially when you’re not yet familiar with what you’re practicing.
That's why certain words or gestures as guidance are actually very necessary.
Even for spells Gauss is already fairly proficient in—Mage Hand and Magic Missile—he will silently utter them in his mind during casting, to ensure his attention is locked on the corresponding spell.
After a brief rest.
Gauss took a deep breath, feeling that he was just one step away from success.
He patted his cheek and regained his focus.
“Mage Armor!”
His mental will began sending commands throughout his body, and the meditative imprint for Mage Armor flickered slightly.
The magical energy within his body surged swiftly.
“Buzz!”
This time, the magic within him gathered smoothly onto the bone wand, finally releasing a wave that fused with natural magic on the surface of his body.
With the expenditure of magic power, a layer of magical protective field was ultimately formed.
“Tier 1 Spell Mage Armor lv1 (1/10)”
“Success.”
Gauss let out a breath of relief.
Once the Mage Armor spell was successfully cast, it no longer required intense focus—it had already taken shape and only needed a bit of attention to maintain.
Because he could sense his own magic, Gauss could clearly feel that a mysterious field was protecting his surroundings.
But it wasn’t a tangible, solid physical defense like leather armor or iron armor.
Gauss hesitated for a moment and took out the dagger he carried.
He aimed it at his finger and carefully made a cut.
“Buzz!”
As he made a tentative attack, the magical field around his body seemed to hum briefly.
And at the point where the blade touched his finger, apart from a faint white glow, there was no other reaction.
The blade didn’t seem to slice into his body, but rather cut into an invisible, extremely thin, and tough outer membrane.
Of course, that description wasn’t entirely accurate, but Gauss couldn’t think of a better one for the moment.
“No bleeding, no injury at all.” Gauss stared at his fingertip, his face showing a hint of excitement. “Such a clear effect!”
This was the magical effect brought by a protection spell.
It might not bring greater power, nor could it create something out of nothing, and certainly couldn’t deceive or cloud someone’s mind.
But it could protect the target and provide a strong sense of safety.
“The protective field seems to have weakened a bit.” After carefully sensing it, Gauss came to this conclusion.
Attacks would be negated by Mage Armor, but in turn, part of Mage Armor’s effect would be worn down.
Very reasonable.
You couldn’t expect Mage Armor to block all damage indefinitely.
Since it was magic, it had its own limits.
So, even after mastering Mage Armor, it didn’t mean you could act recklessly.
Relying on Mage Armor’s protection to tank enemy attacks was obviously unwise.
Especially since at the moment, his Mage Armor wasn’t fully trained and its effect wasn’t that strong yet—extra caution was necessary.
Attacks that could be dodged should still be avoided.
Only then could the “protection” of Mage Armor avoid unnecessary wear and still function better when facing unavoidable hits.
Gauss remained clear-headed.
“Next, I need to test the damage threshold of Mage Armor.”
It was necessary to understand the limits of his own spells.
Only by having a clear understanding could he judge in real combat which attacks he could endure and which he likely couldn’t.
From there, he could make more rational combat decisions.
After the first “self-inflicted” test and personally experiencing the effect of Mage Armor, Gauss became more confident.
He decisively slashed his hand again.
If it had been before, the blade might have caused heavy bleeding.
But now, as the blade passed over his skin, only a faint white glow appeared, and again, it cut into an invisible protection, causing no harm.