Abyss Domination - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Affinity
Translator: SaltyTank Editor: SaltyTank

Extraordinary Charisma was the only other possible explanation. 2
Soran blankly stared at Vivian and murmured in disbelief, “Could it be that she’s an innate sorcerer?”
Sorcerers were considered the best class among spellcasters. They did not need to put in effort to learn how to cast spells as they would naturally learn to do so as time passed. They did not require the help of the magic network to cast spells. Due to their innate talent, casting spells was as simple as drinking a cup of water for them. As long as they had the talent, they could cast a wide range of spells using their own power even without fully understanding them. 2
Wizard, Priest, and Sorcerer were the three most representative professions among spellcasters. Intelligence determined the spellcasting abilities of a wizard, while Wisdom was the deciding factor for priests. For sorcerers, their Charisma determined the rate of awakening to new spells.
Explaining these three attributes in detail would be rather difficult, so it would be easier to explain through analogies.
First would be Intelligence, which reflected one’s memorization and comprehension capabilities.
For wizards, spellcasting required the brain to create complex structures from memory. These structures were akin to modern circuit boards, each having spell nodes (semiconductors) and a spell circuit (circuit structure). In order to cast spells, a wizard would need to have a great memory and be able to understand the spells. In short, wizards were turning their brains into bio-computers which could generate spell structures in the blink of an eye. 2
This placed a huge burden on the right brain, which was why wizards could awaken the dormant potential within their right brains and have decent memory, comprehension skills, and emotional control. They were akin to the elites among curve-breakers in university who could tell you the principles and details of an atomic bomb with a straight face. Also like those elites, they were not good at interacting with people. 5
Second would be Wisdom, which reflected one’s willpower, judgement, perception, and intuition. Generally speaking, those who had high Wisdom had a hidden sixth sense which granted them the ability to somewhat predict upcoming events. They were highly perceptive to their surroundings as well, being able to notice even the slightest of changes and even detect mysterious presences or energies.
Lastly, Charisma. It could be divided into three main factors: appearance, personality, and affinity.
Regarding appearance, those who had decent looks usually had at least 12 Charisma, as pursuing beauty was the primal instinct of highly intelligent animals, meaning that people cared greatly about one’s appearance.
Personality could be described as one’s inner beauty. For example, some people who did not have exceptional looks had decent and charming personalities, which was especially true for leaders of influential organizations and nations. (Those types of people usually had 18 or above Charisma). 3
The following excerpt could best demonstrate the power of one’s charming personality:
“On the 26th of February, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte sneaked back from Elba to France. The Bourborns who were recently restored sent out their army in response. Napoleon, bringing none but himself, met the army which was about to kill him and waved while shouting, ‘I’m back!’ With just a single line, the entire army replied, ‘Welcome back, Your Majesty!’ and revolted against the Bourborns.” 10
Finally, affinity was the most important factor among the three. People with exceptional Charisma were often easily accepted and liked by others, but there were other types of affinity which could affect one’s profession as well. Bards, for instance, were affected by their affinity with people, while druids and sorcerers were affected by their affinities toward animals and the elements respectively.. Advanced professions like divine sorcerers and fate sorcerers were not only good with the elements, but also the laws of the universe.
All spellcasters required the power of the elements to cast their spells, but the way they utilized it varied from profession to profession.
Wizards relied on their Intelligence to search for elemental energies and understood their natures through complex calculations. The conditions for the energies to be active or inert, the reactions when the energies of different elements collided with one another, and the changes that occured when energies of the same element were gathered; this was all necessary knowledge for wizards to determine the design of a spell circuit and the number of spell nodes needed to control the elements and generate explosive power. This was the core reason why wizards had to have high Intelligence.
Priests and druids, on the other hand, relied on their Wisdom to discover elements in their surroundings and affect them through the power of their faith and spiritual energies. Afterwards, they would control them with the power of the gods, nature, or laws of the world, depending on their profession, to complete their spells. Priests believed in gods, druids believed in the power of nature, and other special professions placed their faith in the laws of the world. (Note: The core power for priests was divine power, and the elements only assisted in certain parts of their spells, which was why they were call divine spells.)
Sorcerers did not have to go through something so troublesome; all they had to do was to wait for the elemental energies to gather on their bodies and then awaken to new spells.
To further simplify, wizards sought out and controlled the elements internally, priests and druids discovered surrounding elements and affected them with external powers, and sorcerers simply waited for the elements to gather on their bodies. Wizards, priests, and druids actively engaged with the elements, while sorcerers passively attracted them, which was why sorcerer were regarded as the best among spellcasters.
Though it may seem that Sorcerer was exceedingly better than other spellcasting professions, it was not without its disadvantages. Though they would awaken to some new spells naturally as they leveled up, the number of spells in a sorcerer’s repertoire if they relied solely on those would be way less than that of wizards. They could learn new spells through studying as well, like wizards, but the rate they learned new spells was significantly slower as most sorcerers only had average Intelligence. With the mental capabilities of a normal person, sorcerers might even take years just to learn a few new low-level spells. On the other hand, wizards would only need a few months to learn the principles of the spells and cast them.
Kobold sorcerers were the best example. They had an innate Charisma of 16 or above, but their Intelligence was only 10 or so. They would gain new spells every time they leveled up their profession, but that was it—their Intelligence was too low to learn or awaken to new spells on their own. Only sorcerers with 18 Intelligence or above, who potentially could have been wizards instead, had the ability to learn spells just like wizards. After the fall of the Goddess of Magic, the threshold would be raised to 20 instead of 18. 2
Without sufficient Intelligence, sorcerers were better off improving their available spells rather than trying to learn new ones. Regardless of the effort they put in, they would not be able to memorize the complex spell circuits and spell nodes, nor would they be able to create spell circuits in their minds. This was especially true for higher level spells, as the complexity increased along with the level.
_Is she really a sorcerer?_ Soran thought. 4
The more he thought about it, the more he believed that Vivian was indeed a sorcerer. She seemed to have high innate affinity and had cute looks, thus Soran determined that Vivian had at least 16 Charisma. 5
If she was indeed a sorcerer, there was no need to teach her the concepts of magic. She only had to follow her intuition and cast spells with her innate talent, which was why she could learn the Level 0 spell Light just from seeing it cast once. As a side note, Level 0 spells were universal spells among spellcasters.
“Vivian.” Soran closed his eyes in deep thought and said, “Repeat after me.”
Recalling a spell from his memory, Soran spoke a series of weird half-syllables. Normal people could hardly pronounce these half-syllables, but he seemed to do it with ease.
Of course, nothing happened.
When Vivian followed suit and pronounced those half-syllables though, a weak arc of electricity appeared in her palm, shocking and stiffening Soran for a split second and forming goosebumps all over his body.
Electric Jolt, a Level 0 spell.
Soran hurriedly stopped Vivian as his hair stood straight and said in a low voice, “Let go of your feelings!
“Control the power you feel with your will. You don’t have to understand it, just learn how to make the power obey you!”
Crackling sounds could be heard.
Not being able to fully understand what Soran meant, Vivian still nodded her head and tried once again. A weak arc of electricity appeared on her palm once more, and it dispersed after flickering a few times.
“I did it!”
Soran smiled as he happily lifted his sister up. He kissed her on the forehead and said, “Vivian is truly a sorcerer! I’m sure you will grow up to be a gorgeous and rich spellcaster!” 2
Vivian could not comprehend what Soran was saying, but that did not stop her from laughing cheerfully—she could finally help her brother instead of being a burden. 4
Sorcerers. 1
As their innate talent awakened, all they needed to cast Level 0 spells were simple keys—the incantations of the spells. When they leveled up their profession, they would automatically learn new and higher level spells.
Sorcerers would learn new spells and their incantations based on their affinities, thus there was no need to decipher and understand complex spell structures. Their ability to cast spells was a talent and gift in itself.
The brains of living beings contained genetic memory and talent. This was what the players believed to be the source of a sorcerer’s powers. When one had extraordinary affinity, the power of nature would awaken their genetic memory, allowing them to recall their past memories of various spells as they leveled up. 4
For this very reason, many thought that sorcerers were the descendants of certain great beings of the past, with the most notable example among all being Dragon Disciples. 4
Author’s Note: The chapter was rather boring and may be confusing, but it has its importance, so please bear with it. 🙂 5
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*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap 2