Chương 54: The Omni Mage

"She's Manlin, an Upper-tier Mage specializing in Empowering Magic." Marven casually introduced her.

"Try to get on her good side. She might become the next Guild Master of the Blackstone Town Mage Guild."

"Master Marven, now you're exaggerating." Manlin covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Your chances are clearly much higher than mine." Marven ignored the comment and pointed at Zelier's injured leg.

"He got hurt during a mission. Heal him. Watching him limp around is painful enough." After saying that, Marven nodded at the two of them and turned to leave the room.

"Sit over there." Manlin gestured toward the sofa. Zelier leaned on his cane and slowly made his way over. Following Manlin's instructions, he placed his injured leg on a small stool and rolled up his trouser leg, revealing the wound wrapped in layers of bandages. Manlin carefully removed the bandages. When she saw the torn flesh beneath, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Marven said you were injured during a mission." Her fingers gently brushed across the wound. A warm energy flowed into his leg, immediately dulling the pain.

"Are you an adventurer?"

"Yes."

"A brave little fellow, aren't you? I didn't have that kind of courage when I was your age." Manlin smiled. Zelier suddenly remembered something. When Marven introduced Manlin earlier, he never mentioned her surname. Could it be that Manlin, like him, was born a commoner?

"Relax. The treatment is about to begin." Zelier immediately took a deep breath and calmed his mind. Manlin raised both hands, hovering them above his wound. She didn't use a staff. Instead, she simply closed her eyes, her long eyelashes casting faint shadows in the sunlight. The atmosphere inside the room suddenly changed. Zelier could vaguely sense a powerful yet restrained force spreading outward. Tiny specks of emerald light appeared around them. The green particles seemed to respond to some invisible call.

They slowly gathered around Manlin's pale palms, circling and intertwining before eventually condensing into a sphere of light. Within that sphere, an incredibly complex Spell Matrix began forming at astonishing speed. Countless threads of mana intertwined, weaving together into a profound magical formation. Its shape resembled a blooming flower bud. Zelier held his breath and stared without blinking.

"Go." Manlin whispered softly. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She slowly lowered her hands. The green sphere of light merged into Zelier's wound. An indescribable sense of comfort instantly spread throughout his body. Under the glow of the emerald light, the damaged muscle tissue began regenerating at a terrifying speed. Broken blood vessels were gently repaired, and even the torn skin rapidly closed under the influence of that mysterious power.

The entire process lasted around a minute. When Manlin withdrew her hands, the light gradually faded away. The horrifying wound that had covered Zelier's leg had completely vanished. In its place was smooth, newly grown skin. Not even a scar remained. Zelier carefully moved his leg off the stool and tested it. There was no pain. It felt as if the injury had never existed.

"This… it's already healed?" Zelier looked completely stunned.

"Of course." Manlin smiled.

"Your injury wasn't too serious, so it was relatively easy to treat. Just remember to be more careful next time."

"What an incredible spell…" Zelier couldn't help but marvel.

"Want to learn it?" Manlin blinked playfully. Although beneath Matrix Deduction, the words— [Healing Spell, Analysis Progress: 1%] —had already appeared, Zelier still honestly nodded.

"I do." Manlin returned to her desk, picked up her cup of flower tea again, and slowly swirled it. Her elegant posture made her look like a refined academy professor.

"What spells have you learned so far?"

"Hmm… Fireball, Wind Blade, Water Orb, and Flame Breath." Zelier casually listed several Elemental spells.

"Oh?" Manlin raised her eyebrows slightly.

"You've already learned the Tier 3 spell Flame Breath? What's your casting time?"

"About seven seconds." Zelier answered honestly.

"No wonder Marven values you so highly." Manlin nodded.

"How do those spells feel when you cast them? Do you experience any resistance or difficulty?"

"Not really. They feel pretty natural."

"I see." Manlin gave a soft laugh. However, there was a hint of regret hidden within her smile.

"Then you'll probably have a very difficult time learning Empowering Magic." Zelier froze.

"Huh?" His progress with magic had always been excellent. Shouldn't that make learning new spells easier? Why would it become harder?

"Every mage's mind can only adapt to certain Spell Matrices, and that compatibility is almost determined from birth." Seeing his confusion, Manlin explained.

"Since you have a higher affinity for Elemental Magic, your affinity toward other schools will naturally be lower. That's unavoidable."

"Even if I placed an Empowering Magic scroll directly in front of you, you still wouldn't be able to learn from it."

"Your mind would instinctively reject the Spell Matrix of Empowering Magic. The moment your mental energy touched it, you would be pushed away." Rejected the moment it touched it…? Zelier thought carefully about her words before asking:"Then, Mentor Manlin… does that mean an Elemental Mage isn't unable to learn Empowering Magic, but rather they simply can't even perceive its Spell Matrix?"

"Yes." Manlin nodded.

"The only way a mage learns magic is through spell scrolls. They use their mental energy to transfer the Spell Matrix engraved on the scroll into their own mind."

"But like I said, when an Elemental Mage tries to learn Empowering Magic, their mental energy is rejected the moment it touches the contents of the scroll."

"If they cannot even see the Spell Matrix, how could they possibly learn the spell?" After hearing Manlin's explanation, a bold thought suddenly surfaced in Zelier's mind. Normally, when a mage encounters a school of magic they lack affinity for, their mind automatically rejects it. That was why they couldn't learn it. But after Matrix Deduction analyzed a spell, it directly reconstructed the Spell Matrix inside his mind, completely bypassing the scroll transfer process. Just like Healing Spell.

It was already being analyzed. Did that mean… He could ignore this restriction entirely? He could use magic from any school? An Omni Mage! Zelier suppressed his excitement and continued asking:"But Mentor Manlin, I've also learned Arcane Magic besides Elemental Magic. I haven't felt any resistance at all."

"That proves your talent is quite exceptional." Manlin nodded.

"Many mages can only master a single school, but some are capable of mastering two."

"Like you. You can use both Elemental and Arcane Magic."

"However, the reason is that these two schools are not fundamentally too different."

"Whether it's Elemental Magic or Arcane Magic, both manipulate mana to influence the outside world. In a sense, they are interconnected."

"But Empowering Magic is different." Manlin raised a finger, and a faint green glow danced around it.

"Empowering Magic naturally conflicts with both Elemental and Arcane Magic."

"The core of Empowering Magic is using mana to penetrate and influence the internal circulation of living beings."

"It can rapidly heal injuries, and it can also strengthen allies by enhancing their strength, speed, stamina, and even mana capacity."

"Its essence is guidance, not control."

"This completely different nature determines that Elemental and Arcane Mages have an extremely difficult time learning Empowering Magic. Only a very small number of people can accomplish it."

"And even if they do learn it, they can usually only master low-tier Empowering spells, and casting them remains extremely difficult."

"Likewise, Empowering Mages cannot learn advanced spells from other schools. Even basic spells are extremely challenging for them." Manlin lightly waved her hand. Green light danced at her fingertips.

"For example, me."

"At most, I can cast a Tier 2 Fireball."

"As for a Tier 3 spell like Flame Breath, I can't cast it at all."

"Because every time I try to examine the Flame Breath spell scroll, my mind automatically rejects it. I can't even see the Spell Matrix inside."

"And take Marven as another example."

"He is an Upper-tier Arcane Mage. At his peak, he can cast Tier 7 Arcane spells capable of changing the very winds and clouds."

"Sounds impressive, doesn't it?"

"But even he cannot learn the Healing Spell I just used."