Chapter 492 - 358: The Path Ahead for the Star Mage (Part 2)

Chapter 492: Chapter 358: The Path Ahead for the Star Mage (Part 2)

This was the creation of a Path of the Extraordinary, not some essay, but the principle remained the same—different paths can lead to the same destination.

Isaac collected his thoughts and tapped a finger lightly, instantly activating the ritual. Under his control, mists of multicolored Magic Power billowed forth from the ritual’s materials, weaving themselves into vibrant threads that slowly coiled around the Shadow of the Star God.

The moment the "threads" wrapped around the Shadow of the Star God, it seemed to react. Its body trembled slightly, and its hands twitched as if trying to break free. However, after a moment, it calmed down under the youth’s control, allowing the "threads" to bind it.

The Shadow of the Star God itself possessed no consciousness; not even one belonging to a Tier Three Star Mage.

The Shadow of the Star God’s recent movements were, in fact, merely the youth’s subconscious rejection of the foreign Magic Power—an instinctive reaction. That was why he had quickly brought it under control.

Soon, guided by Isaac, the vibrant threads first enveloped the Shadow of the Star God, then slowly extended downward to envelop the young wizard as well.

When the vibrant "threads" had completely enveloped the youth, forming a giant cocoon, Isaac’s relaxed expression faded, replaced by a more solemn one. The most crucial part had arrived!

With a thought, another mist of Magic Power rose from the ritual, swirling like a vortex. It slowly flowed toward the cocoon at the center of the ritual and gradually merged with it. As this Magic Power was absorbed, the giant cocoon began to shrink.

And in Isaac’s vision, inside the cocoon, the headless, four-limbed, six-winged Shadow of the Star God was slowly merging into the youth’s body. During this process, his body changed rapidly. Strange lines of Magic Power appeared within him, originating from the point between his eyebrows and spreading out toward his limbs.

A moment later, these lines of Magic Power covered the youth’s entire body. A faint stream of Magic Power could be seen flowing through them, eventually converging in his abdomen to form a second Magic Power node. With that, the youth advanced to Tier Two.

The ritual continued, as did the youth’s metamorphosis.

Isaac, however, had ceased his movements, his brow slightly furrowed.

The experiment was a success. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

And also a failure.

It was a success because the Star Mage now possessed the ability to cast independently. He could sense a unique fluctuation that had appeared in the world; all that remained was to simplify the ritual, and the corresponding feedback would arrive.

But...

That was the extent of it. The Star Mage path had a limit. At most, one could only reach Tier Four before hitting a dead end. Furthermore, due to the unique nature of its power system, this path, unlike those of other Casters, didn’t allow one to pivot to the path of a Wizard or Arcanist after reaching the end.

The reason lay with the Shadow of the Star God. The concept of collecting the Star God’s dissipated Divine Power to form this Shadow was nothing short of brilliant. It perfectly circumvented the adverse effects of Divine Power on mortals. Simultaneously, the fact that the Shadow manifested differently for each individual ensured it could never become the basis for faith in a true Deity in this world, thus minimizing the risk of things spiraling out of control.

However, this also meant the source of their power was impure. Before Tier Three, and even up to Tier Four, this was actually a significant advantage for the unique path of the Star Mage.

But for anyone aspiring to advance beyond Tier Five, the purity of one’s power becomes critically important.

Take the path of the Legendary Mage, for example. Before Tier Three, a Wizard’s power is also quite impure, drawn from various rituals—some natural, some man-made. Furthermore, during the Grand Wizard stage, they must modify their bodies, making their power sources even more complex.

But this impurity only persists up to Tier Two. To advance to Tier Three, a Legendary Mage must fuse all their disparate powers into a single whole, sublimating into a unique High-level Magical Creature.

From that point on, their source of power becomes pure, and as they progress further, there are naturally few drawbacks.

Star Mages, however, are different. They are unable to resolve this issue even up to Tier Three. Their power comes from the Star God, and having such a singular source of power is not necessarily a good thing.

This was also the real reason Gandalf was never able to break through to Tier Four. In a way, Isaac’s method of fusing the Shadow of the Star God with them not only granted them the true ability to cast independently, but also filtered their power, making it somewhat purer.

Unfortunately, it only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

Isaac watched the large cocoon nearby, his eyes narrowed slightly. Thoughts swirled in his mind like a storm. After a moment, he let out a helpless sigh.

He had just been trying to find a solution to the Star Mage’s fatal flaw, to find a way for them to advance further. After all, there was now only one issue blocking their path forward, and it was crystal clear: they just had to solve the problem of power purity!

But... regrettably, that was incredibly difficult.

For the Star Mage path to progress to its later stages, to take that next step beyond what they’ve already achieved, they would have to directly confront the power of the Star God!

And this was different from the Mad Witch. Although a Mad Witch also had to face Outer Gods at Tier Five—a life-or-death crisis involving multiple Outer Gods—their power was, at least, their own. Star Mages were different. The only reason their power could be considered their own was precisely because of its impurity. Once that power became pure, it would no longer belong to them.

In other words, this path was a dead end from the very beginning!

As for fusing everything together like a Legendary Mage...