Chapter 1

A Mage Should Be Tanky!

At the border of the wilderness plain.

Sugar Ruins City.

In a wide and bright dome-shaped classroom.

“Student Gurney, what do you think is the most important thing for a mage?”

On the podium of the large domed classroom currently holding a supernatural lecture, the female lecturer Hillary Potter, a tall and proud figure with pale skin and curly blond hair, called out Gurney and asked.

Sixteen-year-old Gurney Lawrence, who had short black hair, black pupils, and was wearing a black turtleneck shirt, stood up and answered in a calm, composed manner, “I think that a mage needs to learn to be tanky. Only then can he hold his ground and be able to unleash his spells properly.”

Once he had said that, the fifty Apprentice Mage students in the classroom went into a daze for a moment before someone erupted with chuckles.

Followed by someone’s laughter, and finally, everyone’s uncontrollable and hysterical laughter.

The entire classroom was filled with laughter.

Senior Mage Hillary Potter was also unable to hold back as she laughed along.

It was nothing but common sense; as a magic-focused Transcendent, the most important thing was to be proficient in all of the powerful spells that you knew, as well as all sorts of supernatural knowledge.

As for the idea that this student Gurney thought of — for mages to be tanky — it was way too absurd.

“Can you describe your viewpoint concisely?” Hillary Potter did not rebuke Gurney’s words.

Because these students of Sugar Ruins City Academy were still young boys and girls who had yet to step into the adult world.

When they truly experienced the “blood” and “terror” of this mysterious supernatural world, they would give up on those “immature” ideas.

They would walk on the path of a mage that countless pioneering elites and genius Transcendents had created before them.

Facing his classmates’ mockery, Gurney showed no changes in his expression. He did not feel ashamed because of their response; he was simply calm and composed.

After a short silence, he continued to explain, “As we all know, mages have very powerful long-range offensive methods and the extremely high power output capable of targeting a large area. These are traits that other supernatural classes cannot match.”

“But in terms of defense against physical and magic attacks, we are relatively weaker, or rather, our bodies are as thin as paper. We get torn apart instantly with just one hit.

“The result is that many powerful and outstanding supernatural mages die in the hands of skilled assassins. Sneak attackers with peculiar or unique abilities might also get into close range and kill the mage in an extremely unfair manner.

“From what I know, in the history of Oasia North Continent, there had been several incidents where high-ranking Spellcasters were sneak-attacked and had their defenses broken through, causing their bodies to be torn to shreds. This was what resulted in the Black Crane incident, which led several important events to go down an unpredictable path.

“If a mage is willing to spend time and effort to train their body, to allow their body to gain greater endurance against attacks, they would still be able to survive in complex situations even if they lost their shield. They will also then be able to counterattack their enemies.”

“A good viewpoint.” Hillary Potter nodded slightly. “But the problem is, mages are weak in physical strength and defense, to begin with.

“Don’t you think that spending that time and effort on researching spell knowledge would have far greater efficiency than raising your endurance?

“Furthermore, as your supernatural knowledge becomes deeper, you will be able to explore the Ancient Ruins, the Fog Wilderness Plain, as well as board the recently popular Steampunk Steel Ship. You will be able to survive these sea explorations and deserted island excavations, gaining more supernatural resources for yourself.

“With enough resources, you will become an even stronger mage. You will not have to worry about your own defense and vitality, instead of ending up as a weaker mage that has some sort of defensive capability.”

Hillary Potter easily rebuked Gurney’s words.

Next, she waved her hand to indicate that he should sit down; she did not give him a chance to argue.

As for Gurney, he was not like other teenagers who would be anxious to defend and explain their view to the lecturer either.

He sat down calmly with a tranquil expression.

It was as if the discussion earlier could not raise any emotions in his heart.

I get the logic, but as a fragile mage, survival is still the most important. Wanting to pursue greater firepower but not survivability, this sort of extreme path is not safe!

Gurney who had sat down sighed internally.

There was also a reason why Gurney Lawrence pointed out that “mages should be tanky” and “stability is key”.

Mainly because he was a transmigrator, one who had a careful nature from birth.

Half a year ago, on a stormy night.

In

Summoner’s Canyon

, Gurney’s tanky-mage character, Wanderer, beat the opponent’s fragile Mage with a 9 to 0 score.

During his excitement, Gurney knocked over a bottle and caused a short circuit. He was electrocuted. But after that shock, he received another: he had transmigrated to an alternate world.

It was a mysterious steampunk world.

When he first arrived, Gurney felt fear, uneasiness, and a sense of loss. However, after a while, Gurney started to feel excited that he was an

orphan

here; it was a good sign.

After half a year.

Gurney was finally able to accept and had adapted to his new identity — he was an adopted orphan with a decent talent as a mage.

After learning about this world’s terror and danger while knowing that he was a fragile mage, Gurney, who was a careful person, naturally chose to walk on the path of the tanky mage, which suited him best.

Even though his tanky mage theory was rebuked by his lecturer, Gurney did not feel any dejectedness.

The concept of a tanky mage existed in the world of

Magecraft

; Gurney was not the person who came up with it.

However, in this world, the mainstream path for a mage was to learn spell knowledge to gain control of stronger spells. The idea of a tanky mage was too unorthodox.

It was impossible for him to try and change the ideal of supreme spellcasting that the students in the class held with just some words.

But for Gurney, the tankiness (or rather, the lack of) of other people was their own problem.

Gurney himself was careful to the limit. Naturally.

In this supernatural steampunk world, the reason why Gurney wanted to walk the path of a tanky mage was, first of all, that he had a cautious nature and loved the survivability of a strong body.

The second reason was that the idea of a tanky mage was completely feasible in his situation…

On the podium.

Hillary Potter was teaching the Apprentice Mages about various techniques and rules, among which were stories of explorations in the Steam Ruins.

Many students were listening attentively to her words.

And Gurney, who already had more avenues to this information compared to other people, knew even more supernatural information than that.

The details regarding the various mysterious ruin explorations that Gurney knew were far bloodier and crueler than what Hillary Potter was describing.

Thus, he lacked interest in the lecturer’s words.

His gaze went toward the hazy window. The first thing that he focused on was the unique style of Sugar Ruins City, its color and appearance heavily resembling Byzantine architecture.

The style of this city’s architecture was only similar to the Byzantine era. For the finer details, the supernatural steampunk style covered the city with beautiful mechanical lines and curves.

Large and small houses, along with high-rises and bungalows, extended to the outskirts like scales on a body.

Next, looking further, large steel-framed steampunk-styled steam factories, with their huge steel chimneys spewing dense black smoke, occupied the periphery of Sugar Ruins City.

Looking even further, one could see the supernatural steam trains on the outskirts of the city.

At this moment, a steam train was emitting a loud noise as it burned the newly excavated black iron ores and gradually traveled far away.

This was the world that Gurney was in — the Supernatural Steampunk World.

It was the steampunk era that had the supernatural steam engine as the heart, the huge steel frames as the skeleton, and the supernatural knowledge of the mystical as the flesh and blood — all progressing towards prosperity and breaking through hurdles to discover the unknown territories of the world.

Thankfully, Gurney who had transmigrated to this mysterious world was not alone: a very powerful “Passive Farming System” had come along with him.

The location of this Sugar Ruins City that Gurney resided in was the intersection point of this world’s steampunk civilization and the mysterious supernatural wilderness; it was the “City of Riches” that was filled with both danger and opportunities.

As for the currently weak Gurney, he was still carefully living in this dangerous city by the fringe, quietly farming away passively.

[0] Tank – someone who takes the hits/damage for a team; a meatshield.