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nIn the VIP room of the ship, Maximus found himself contemplating the choice between being an Alchemist or a Mechanic after reading about their basic introductions.

nBut why bother studying one of these professions when he can simply buy them in the system mall? Isn’t it just a waste of time?

nStudying one of these professions isn’t just about the potential wealth and resources.

nAfter all with his system mall, he can just resell rare items or products if he needed money.

nThe saying knowledge is wealth in his previous world isn’t just a saying here but a fact.

nIn fact, without knowledge, your wealth isn’t truly yours as it can be snatched by someone stronger than you.

nKnowledge is the path of strength, the foundation of magic.

nThis is also the reason for various academies specialize in different fields of magic rather than just studying magic to attack or destroy.

nIn the early stages of magic, from tier 1 to 3, one simply needed to introduce mana into their soul, much like knights introduced mana into their bodies.

nHowever, in the middle and late stages of magic, the quality of the soul mattered just as much as the quantity. And knowledge is the key to improve soul quality.

nMages who study in battle academy however didn’t require additional miscellaneous knowledge because they trained in both magic and knight paths.

nThe advancement of mage without the required soul quality cause the lack of control towards mana.

nBattle mage compensate this by training their body to turn this lack of control towards explosiveness. And thier knightly body serve as a cushion towards this violent mana to prevent them from being affected.

nJust imagine a battle mage waving an uncontrollable fireball the size of a nuclear explosion.

nWhile it would obliterate the enemy, it would also cause damage to thier body due to lack of control.

nThis is where Battle mages got the tittle war machines.They were harvester of lives in large-scale battles and wars, where their uncontrollable power could be use wantonly.

nMaximus didn’t like the notion of a mage being a barbaric war machine that can’t even control his power.

nFor him mage should be noble and elegant even if they’re harvesting lives like the god of death.

nEven if he trains in both magic and knight he still liked to be in control of his power.

nTo do that he needed vast amount of knowledge to improve the quality of his soul.

nSince there are academies why not join them, given it’s convenience and benefits?

n…

nReturning to the topic of choosing a profession, Maximus first considered being an alchemist.

nIt seemed like the most convenient path for him, especially since he had already gained some recognition as an alchemist when he sold 10,000 high-quality potions—a rarity even among low-tier potions.

nWhat intrigued him the most about alchemy was its potential at its peak.

nAfter alchemy reaches a certain tier and has enough energy, such as mana, alchemists could create or transform any matter.

nThe idea of turning stone into gold, for instance, fascinated Maximus, as it implied the possibility of unlimited wealth.

nHowever, after years of researching the mechanisms of his system mall’s gold point machanism, Maximus discovered that not just any gold or material could be converted into gold points.

nHe tested this by attempting to convert a raw gold block into gold points, but to no avail.

nThrough trial and error, he reached a conclusion: gold itself held no monetary value; it was only valuable because people believed it to be so.

nMaximus referred to this belief as sentiment, and the system absorbed sentiment to generate gold points.

nIn other words, money or gold coins needed to circulate in order to create the sentiment required for the generation of gold points within the system.

nMaximus further tested his theory by mining magic crystals.

nTo his surprise, the magic crystals successfully converted into 1000 gold points, indicating that they possessed a fixed value and did not require sentiments needed to generate gold points.

nThis discovery fueled Maximus’s grand plan to revolutionize the currency system by introducing worthless paper or even digital currency.

nAfter all despite the seemingly infinite resources like gold minerals and magic crystals in this world, they would eventually be depleted.

nHe plan to first test this in the Sunburnt Plateau, were 150 million people would use his created paper or digital currency.

nBy cultivating the people’s sentiment and belief in the value of money, he could harvest this worthless currency through various means and change them to newly printed, sentimentless money without the people even knowing.

nHe would be like a pseudo-god, harvesting sentiment instead of faith, as long as people believed and used his worthless currency.

nDoing so would reverse the role of the script. Instead of his system harvesting the world, Maximus will use this world to harvest the system.

nTurning his attention to the Mechanic profession, Maximus felt a deep sense of interest due to his previous life where technology was convenient.

nAlthough he vaguely guessed that the technological advancements in this world surpassed his previous life, he still wanted to explore it.

nFurthermore, due to his pursuit of conquering the world, he found that alchemical items were too limiting for ordinary people, as only those with mana could utilize them.

nMechanic items, on the other hand, could be accessible to the masses.

nThis would undoubtedly accelerate the exhaustion of world resources since mechanic items heavily relied on materials rather than mana.

nHowever, Maximus saw a symbiotic potential in combining his plan to use worthless currency to harvest system resources and propel mechanical advancement in this world

nAdditionally, he found mechanics to be an easier field to start and advance in compared to alchemy.

nWhile mechanics studied and obeyed rules, alchemists focused on studying and bending laws and rules. 𝓞𝑣𝐞xt.𝗰𝑶𝑚

nThis makes the mechanics advance leaps and bounds compared to alchemists as they go by the laws and rules of the world

nAfter carefully considering the differences between the two paths, Maximus ultimately decided to pursue mechanics.

nHowever, he didn’t entirely abandon alchemy, as he recognized its usefulness.

nNonetheless, his primary focus would now be on mechanics. With this decision made, he purchased a massive number of basic mechanics books from the system mall.

nThe books he acquired included:

nBasics of MechanicsComposition of Different Materials

nReactions of Matter to Each Other

nBasic Mechanical Blueprints

nUsing Spiritual Power to Combine Materials

nCombination of Runes

n…

nHaving bought a substantial number of books, Maximus began reading.

nThanks to his nascent mage strength, he possessed an unforgettable memory and could read at a faster pace using his spiritual consciousness.

nHowever, as he looked at the mountain of books in his storage ring, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

nIt would take years just to finish reading them all, not to mention the additional time required for training what he learned.

nAnd these were just the basics of tier 1-3 mechanics, which he could grasp for now.

n…

nSixteen days later…

nDuring the half-month period of study, Maximus barely scratched the surface of tier 1 mechanics, which left him somewhat disheartened.

nNevertheless, he pondered the lifespan of a mage, even at the nascent level could reach a thousand years, what’s more in the higher tier.

nConsidering this, it was understandable that higher-difficulty professions like alchemy or mechanics required a substantial investment of time and effort.

nHe was already lucky and had it easy to have a complete inheritance that he could just buy from the system mall.

nAlthough there were academies that offered their inheritance and knowledge, He was certain that it wasn’t freely given.

nBut even then he couldn’t help but sigh, this mountain of books where just the surface level of the profession.

nFrom higher tiers like tier 4 mechanics, the knowledge required started to delve further into the intricate fabric of atoms and laws that is in the object

nJust thinking about it made his head swell.

nMaximus stop for a moment and glanced at the notice tab of the ship token.

nEstimated time: 1 day before landing in Lothmire City of Arcane Continent

nCounting the time of the ship journey, he realized that it took at least half a month to travel from Elnor Island of the Curse Continent to the Central Continent.

nThe speed of the ship amazed him, considering the vastness of the endless sea.

nThe ‘endless’ in the endless sea, is not just a decoration but a literal truth.

nEven tier 9 primordial mage or tier 9 cosmic knight didn’t even fully explore the endless sea given the chaotic wind that isolate the four continents.

nEven the gods don’t know what is on the other side of the chaotic wind.

nWhether they were initiate gods or inherited the godhood they all come from the same place not knowing what was on the other side.

nMany believe that passing the endless sea lead to another world or some believe that it was a mere void separating them.

nBut even then the explored endless sea is like a void of space seemingly infinite and thus given the title endless sea.

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