I’m not Goblin Slayer Chapter 053

In an open space outside Grayrock Town.

Gauss clenched his staff, closed his eyes, and immersed himself in his mind.

He continuously communicated with the new spell within his will, Mage Armor.

One advantage of the spells rewarded by the Adventurer’s Handbook was that, compared to other apprentices learning skills, it saved a lot of time getting started.

It was as if he had already mastered this skill, and now he was just picking up past experiences again.

According to the information Gauss gathered from the Night Owl Squad and others, normally, even if others obtained a skill book, it would take at least several months to practice from scratch to the point where they could barely cast the skill effect.

As for wanting to use it proficiently, the time spent by ordinary apprentices like them was calculated in years.

However, Gauss didn’t need to spend too much time going from beginner to proficient, which meant he was ahead at the starting line.

Benefiting from the effects of the Adventurer’s Handbook, the time it took for his first two spells, Mage Hand and Magic Missile, to upgrade from Lv 1 to Lv 2 was not too long.

Closing his eyes and concentrating, he went through the contents of Mage Armor several times in his mind.

Gauss began to recall some knowledge from Anderni’s notes he had read a while ago.

A spell was an independent magical effect.

This magical effect could create convenient tools, weapons, damage, or protective barriers and other effects, generally divided into eight major categories:

Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation.

Mage Hand and Magic Missile, which Gauss had already mastered, belonged to Conjuration and Evocation respectively.

And the Mage Armor he was about to practice belonged to Abjuration.

The magical casting target of this spell could be himself or other creatures he had touched.

However, casting on other creatures required more experience, and the effect was not as obvious as self-casting.

After successful casting, a protective magical force field would envelop the body.

After a quick review of his memory, Gauss began to formally practice.

“Mage Armor!”

Gauss concentrated and mobilized the magic power within his body.

The spell etched in his will moved slightly.

Feedback!

A relaxed expression appeared on Gauss’s face.

Being able to find that sudden jolt of sensation on the first attempt indicated that this spell would not be too difficult to practice.

A reaction was good feedback.

“Continue!”

“Mage Armor!”

……

Gauss tried several times in a row.

He felt that this spell was about to “come out.”

Of course, casting had little to do with whether he shouted the spell’s name or not.

It was just that casting was a process that required extreme concentration, and words were a direct psychological suggestion to the mind; they could help you enter the correct psychological state in the shortest time.

Many people might have such an experience: the more they tried to control their brain not to think about something, the more the brain would uncontrollably cross the line repeatedly.

Therefore, concentrating one’s mind on something without distractions was something that sounded simple but was actually quite complex, especially when you were not proficient in the content you were practicing.

Therefore, some specific verbal or postural guidance was very necessary.

Even when casting Mage Hand and Magic Missile, which Gauss was already quite proficient in, he would silently recite them in his mind to ensure his attention was focused on the corresponding spell.

After a short break.

Gauss took a deep breath, feeling that he was just one step away.

He patted his cheeks, cheering himself up again.

“Mage Armor!”

His brain’s will began to send commands to his body, and the meditative imprint belonging to Mage Armor flickered slightly.

The magic power within his body also surged rapidly.

“Buzz! Buzz!”

This time, his own magic power smoothly gathered on the white bone staff, finally releasing fluctuations and converging with natural magic power on the surface of his body.

Along with the consumption of magic power, a layer of magical protective force field finally formed.

“ 1st-level Spell Mage Armor Lv 1 ( 1/10)”

“It worked.”

Gauss let out a sigh of relief.

After Mage Armor was successfully cast, there was no need to concentrate especially; it had already solidified and only required a little mental effort to maintain.

Because he could sense his own magic power, Gauss could also clearly feel that he was protected by a mysterious force field around him.

But it was not a tangible, substantial material defense like leather armor or iron armor.

Gauss hesitated for a moment, then took out the dagger he carried with him.

He aimed at his finger and carefully made a cut.

“Buzz!”

As he made a tentative attack, the magical force field around him seemed to hum for a moment.

And at the point where his finger and the blade met, apart from a faint white light flashing for a moment, there was no other reaction.

The blade seemed not to cut his body, but rather an invisible, extremely thin, tough outer membrane.

Of course, this description was not entirely accurate; Gauss just couldn’t find a better description at the moment.

“No bleeding, no damage caused.” Gauss stared at his fingertip, a hint of excitement on his face. “Such an obvious effect!”

This was the magical effect brought by Abjuration spells.

It might not bring stronger power, nor could it conjure an item out of thin air, nor could it deceive or delude others’ minds.

But it could protect the target and provide a strong sense of security.

“The effect of the protective force field seems to have weakened a little.” Gauss concluded after carefully sensing it.

Attacks would be negated by Mage Armor, but correspondingly, a part of Mage Armor’s power would also be worn down.

Very reasonable.

You couldn’t expect Mage Armor to always help you withstand all damage; since it was magic, it would also have its limits.

So, even if you mastered Mage Armor, you couldn’t say you could just be reckless.

It was clearly unwise to rely on Mage Armor’s protective effect to take enemy damage head-on.

Especially at present, when his Mage Armor practice was not yet perfected and the effect was not that good, he needed to be even more careful.

Attacks that could be avoided should still be dodged as much as possible.

This way, unnecessary attacks wouldn’t wear down Mage Armor’s “protection,” and it could provide better protection when truly unavoidable attacks were encountered.

Gauss’s thoughts were still very clear.

“Next, I need to test the damage absorption limit of Mage Armor.”

A thorough understanding of the limits of one’s own spells was also necessary.

Only by having a relatively clear understanding could he judge in actual combat which attacks he could withstand and which he probably could not.

Thus, making a relatively wise combat decision.

After the first “self-mutilation” attempt and personally experiencing the effect of Mage Armor, Gauss’s confidence grew.

He decisively made another cut on his hand.

If it were before, this knife would probably have caused severe bleeding.

But at this moment, the blade slid across his skin, but after a faint white light flashed, it still cut into an invisible defense, ultimately causing no damage.