Chapter 22：Fireball

The biggest change to Sean came from the change in his stats. 

After completing the 'Kobold's Nest' quest, Sean had been awarded two free stat points and decided to add them to his Stamina, increasing it from eight points to ten points. 

His Spirit points had also increased to 19 from 18. This was due to his days of diligent study and patient meditation. Although the initial effects of meditation were quick to take place, its long term effects were much slower. To rely on meditation to increase his Spirit upto 20 was a difficult task that required many days to complete. 

Additionally, there was an unexpected change. 

In his quest interface, besides the unchanging Ultimate Quest 'Upgrading Spatial Garrison into God's Garrison', the Mage Class quest 'The Origin of Arcane' and an unfinished side quest 'Golem Heart', there was another new side quest. 

"Side Quest: Arcane Saint."

"Objective: Become the first Low Rank Mage in Human history." 

"Quest Intro: How is this possible, how is this possible! It's not possible that there's a Mage smarter than you! Defeat Meryl Winterstorm, defeat him, make him bend the knee and surrender! Become the first Low Rank Mage and have King Thoradin personally bestow you the title of 'Arcane Saint'." 

"Quest Reward: Blue Colour, Rare Quality Equipment, 'Mage Saint's Ring', can be levelled up."

What was the biggest benefit Sean had gotten from the Spatial Garrison? 

The Gate of Spacetime? 

The various facilities? 

No, it was the various quests! 

Where there were quests, there were rewards and unending benefits! 

Obviously, any rewards that included Blue Rare Equipment that could be levelled up was enough to draw Sean's attention. Sean drooled and surrendered to his own temptations. 

"For the reward… No, for my dreams! I shall work hard to become a Mage Saint!" 

Then, Sean did not go back to bed. Instead, he started meditating. 

The next morning, Sean appeared in front of the female Elven Mage and Meryl with dark circles under his eyes. 

"Sean! Did you stay up late last night?" Meryl was motivated by Sean's unwavering diligence, "You're really brilliant, Sean! I would love to learn from you, let's work hard together!" 

Sean was almost tempted to faint upon hearing Meryl's motivation growing.

Meryl already had exceptional talent, if he invested even more effort… would there be space for people who were not as talented to even breathe? 

"Coughs, to defeat the Trolls, let's work hard!" Sean shifted the conversation and started cheering. 

The greedy little fella, Meryl, did not react to this cheer at all. 

However, the female Elven Mage immediately clenched her fist said with solemnity, "To defeat the Trolls!" 

Then, they all worked harder than before. 

Although Meryl was more talented, Sean's 19 points of Spirit was undeniably beneficial to his progress. It was the reason why when Meryl was still an ordinary person, Sean was already capable of summoning Water. 

When Meryl was capable of summoning Water, Sean had learned to summon Fire. 

Unfortunately, just as Sean expected, while Sean was only capable of summoning a tiny flame, Meryl conjured a large mass of water from above. As a result, Sean was completely drenched. 

"Meryl you did that on purpose! You did that on purpose!" Sean raged. 

That night, Sean sat alone in front of a fireplace and stared blankly into the mildly bright flame. 

Amidst his absent-mindedness, the Arcane energy around him suddenly rippled, causing the flame in the fireplace to sway gently. 

Sean's eyes gradually brightened up. 

Talent did not decide everything. Similarly, affinity for elements was not the only decisive factor. 

In order for Sean to surpass Meryl Winterstorm, there were still many paths that could be taken. 

Paths such as pure Arcane Magic, such as learning both Fire and Frost Magic, such as… borrowing from an external source of power! 

Given that the Fire Sean summoned was insufficient to form a concentrated Fireball, why not form it from flames that already existed in his environment? 

Sean concentrated his energy and manipulated the Arcane energy. A Fireball the size of a fist gradually emerged from the flames in his fireplace…

From certain perspectives, being able to conjure a Fireball had already qualified Sean as a Low Rank Mage. 

Even though this Fireball was not a result of summoning Fire and then shaping it.

Even though it would probably not be accepted by the female Elven Mage and King Thoradin.

Even though it was not technically considered a true Fireball. 

However, Sean had managed to increase his rapport with the Fire Elementals after interacting with the flames. The amount of Fire Sean could summon had also been increased. 

The decisive factor behind how much Fire one could summon was not only the affinity one had. The ability of one's Spirit to manipulate the Fire Elementals also played an important role! 

Assuming affinity stayed the same, the more of one's Spirit was used, the greater the quantity of Elementals that could be manipulated! Without it, even if one's affinity was sufficient, their ability would be limited to summoning Elementals without being able to control nor shape them… 

This was the reason why Meryl was able to summon a huge gallon of water but was unable to shape them into Frostbolts. His Spirit was not strong enough and he could not utilize it properly. Ultimately, this meant that his understanding of the elements was also limited. 

Sean grinned with a bright confidence. 

Even though Sean was unable to summon large quantities of Water Elementals like Meryl, Sean believed that he would surpass Meryl. It would not take long before that happened. 

The day when he surpassed Meryl was right before his eyes. 

It was another ten restless and sleepless nights. Sean would meditate when he felt tired and only ate in his room when he was hungry. When he was well-rested, he would sit near the fireplace and interact with the flames to increase his affinity for it. Sean did not even care how scruffy and dirty he had become throughout this period. His sole focus was on improving himself so that he could actually conjure his first Fireball as soon as he could. 

Time, like water, flowed incessantly. 

Ten days time had passed before one could even notice. 

Within these ten days, Meryl Winterstorm had also improved quickly. 

Having an exceptional affinity for Water, Meryl never had to worry about having insufficient Elementals to work with. He was only a step away from his goal of forming a Frostbolt, but it was not an easy one. 

In regards to the usage of his Spirit and his understanding of Fire, Meryl was still far behind. 

He needed to interact more with Fire Elementals, utilize and train his mental energy and meditate relentlessly until his Spirit was increased to ten points.

Of course, Azeroth did not have a method of quantifying Spirit, this explanation was only using Sean's Stats Interface as a reference. 

According to the quantification of the Spatial Garrison, it was only when there were 10 points in Spirit that the ability to conjure Frostbolts and Fireballs was unlocked. It was also only then when one could be officially qualified to be a Mage. 

There was no doubt about the Spatial Garrison's quantifying ability. 

Meryl Winterstorm's Spirit stat had reached nine points, a mere one point away from his goal. With his exceptional affinity for the elements, forming Frostbolts would be a walk in the park once this goal was reached. 

Sean was about to face a huge challenge. 

However, he was confident. 

On his twenty-seventh day in Stromgarde Keep, Sean had finally managed to summon a flame the size of a basketball and condensed it into a Fireball the size of a fist. 

A Fireball with destructive capabilities.