Slowly reining in his scattered thoughts, Li De organized his ideas for the improvement process.
Based on the characteristics of the Small Fireball Spell, he identified three directions.
The first was to further increase the power of the Small Fireball Spell, turning it into a high-damage heavy weapon.
The second was to maintain its current power while increasing the projectile speed of the fireball to address its weakness.
The third was to reduce the power of the Small Fireball Spell and instead increase both the casting speed and the projectile speed.
Each of these three options had its own merits. Attempting to achieve all of them simultaneously was impossible, and Li De was fully aware that his current level of spellcraft wasn’t advanced enough to handle such an ambitious improvement.
Most vampires were now Level 5 or higher, and nearly all mages had already learned the Large Fireball Spell. Thus, further increasing the power of the Small Fireball Spell wasn’t necessary—no matter how much it was boosted, it would still fall short of the Large Fireball Spell’s effectiveness.
The second option was undoubtedly the most ideal, but it was also the most difficult. Having previously improved Mage Hand, Li De knew how challenging it was to enhance a spell’s power while maintaining its original state.
The fact that Mage Hand’s magic nodes had increased from 30 to 90 after improvement spoke volumes about the complexity involved.
Moreover, the mana consumption of Mage Hand had risen by 50%. For him, as the Vampire Progenitor with abundant mana reserves, this drawback was negligible.
But for a Tier 1 spell, that level of mana consumption was still too high. While the power had increased, the cost-effectiveness had decreased, which was why he hadn’t promoted his version of Mage Hand among the vampires.
In his personal opinion, he leaned more toward the third option: reducing the fireball’s power while increasing its casting speed and projectile speed, as well as reducing mana consumption.
Even if the Small Fireball Spell’s power was reduced slightly, gaining faster casting and projectile speeds would be a trade-off Li De found completely acceptable.
Why was the machine gun the most despised weapon by infantry in modern warfare? Because its relentless suppressive fire kept soldiers pinned down, unable to raise their heads.
If he could cast three or more Small Fireballs per second, turning it into a magical Gatling gun, even with reduced power, it would be enough to leave opponents stunned.
At that point, who cared if the power was lower? It would still send enemies running into the afterlife.
Of course, this was only his preliminary idea. To truly achieve the goal, countless trials and failures would surely be required.
Nighttime was the greatest weapon bestowed upon vampires by the Goddess of Night. Vampires with unique bloodlines experienced significant enhancements in all aspects after nightfall.
As the Vampire Progenitor with the innate talent of Mana Affinity (Extreme), Li De could tangibly feel just how powerful the nighttime bonuses were.
Mana practically condensed into mist around him.
Closing his eyes, he entered his Mental Sea.
The formal improvement of the Small Fireball Spell began.
With the experience gained from improving Mage Hand, this initial phase went relatively smoothly. Following procedure, he first assigned numbers to the 50 magic nodes, labeling them from 1 to 50.
It must be said that although the Small Fireball Spell only had 20 more magic nodes than Mage Hand, its magic model was several levels more complex.
If Mage Hand’s magic nodes were arranged sequentially from 1 to 30, the Small Fireball Spell’s nodes were scrambled: 1-32-18-47, and so on, without any fixed order.
To alter a spell, the most fundamental step was to understand the role of each magic node within the magic model—whether it amplified power, stabilized the model, accelerated mana flow, or conserved mana.
It was almost impossible for unnecessary magic nodes to exist in a mature Tier 1 spell like the Small Fireball Spell.
Countless mages chose the Small Fireball Spell as their first formal spell, and over time, countless powerful mages had refined it.
Li De had mentally prepared himself for this. Improving this spell wouldn’t go as smoothly as it did with Mage Hand.
But as a man of action, he didn’t hesitate for long and immediately got to work.
Using his exceptional Mana Affinity, he gradually reduced the mana required to activate the Small Fireball Spell’s magic model from 8 points to 7, then 6, 5, 4, and finally to an absolute minimum of 3 points.
Before improving Mage Hand, he had managed to operate its magic model with as little as 2 mana points.
The Small Fireball Spell, with 20 more magic nodes than Mage Hand, had been compressed to 3 mana points—a limit that couldn’t be pushed further.
After several experiments, Li De realized that 3 mana points were the critical threshold for the Small Fireball Spell’s magic model. He decisively abandoned any further attempts to reduce mana consumption.
For a spell with 50 magic nodes, being able to operate with just 3 mana points was already extraordinary. If it could be activated with 2 mana points like Mage Hand, he would surely have reached a new level.
But 3 mana points were acceptable—at least the backlash from a collapse at that level wouldn’t harm him significantly.
Disassembling magic nodes.
The most direct way to understand the function of each magic node was to dismantle them one by one. What would happen if a node were removed? Could the model still be activated? Would it collapse? Would mana consumption increase or decrease? What state would the released spell be in?
All these questions could be answered by disassembling the magic nodes.
The Small Fireball Spell’s magic model was an entirely new challenge, completely different from Mage Hand in terms of operational rules and node arrangement.
But facing unfamiliar challenges only fueled Li De’s interest. Exploring unknown magic and gradually unraveling its mysterious veil fascinated him.
It was like slowly lifting the hem of his goddess’s long skirt, inch by inch exploring that forbidden and mysterious realm, filled with strange excitement and longing.
First, he began dismantling the magic nodes.
Node 1—the starting point of the Small Fireball Spell. Li De bypassed Node 1 and directly channeled mana into Node 2.
As mana flowed through, the Small Fireball Spell’s magic nodes lit up one by one, glowing faintly blue.
The bypassed Node 1 seemed to have little connection to the overall magic model, as mana flowed smoothly into Node 50 without obstruction.
But the moment the final node lit up with a blue glow, the originally stable magic model instantly collapsed.
Before Li De could react, he felt a sharp pain in his mind, like being pricked by needles.
The feeling of magical backlash was far from pleasant.
Li De frowned, picked up a quill pen, and recorded the experimental data in Continental Common Script in his notebook.
"Removing Node 1 causes the model to fail. Node 1 likely serves to stabilize and connect the entire model."
Failure during the process of improving magic was as normal as breathing. He didn’t experience any emotional fluctuations. However, the backlash from the Small Fireball Spell’s collapse was nearly twice that of Mage Hand’s, slightly exceeding his expectations.
But for someone with the innate talent of Mana Affinity (Extreme), it was still well within his tolerance. Unless he failed hundreds or thousands of times consecutively, the backlash from 3 mana points wouldn’t cause him significant harm.
After the pain in his mind subsided, Li De began testing Node 2.
The experiment continued~
Overlooking Green City, the scarlet spire of the Crimson Mage Tower reflected faint scarlet hues under the moonlight, standing out prominently against the night sky.
From the seventh floor, the dim light of magical lamps shone through the glass windows. The warm yellow glow stood out like a lighthouse on a solitary island amidst the pitch-black Green City.
It exuded mystery and allure.