Ethan had seen it mentioned more than once in the books he was currently reading: when a mage first absorbs energy to convert it into usable magic power, they must be cautious, especially regarding the choice of energy; they should never make a decision lightly.
For example, with elemental energy, most novice mages would definitely choose one specific element. While this energy grants the mage better control over that element, it also affects the mage themselves.
Their spiritual power being assimilated and taking on some properties of that energy is considered mild. With extreme energies like fel energy, it can even affect the mage's personality and thought process. Over time, they might even completely transform into a different person.
This is why, for mages, while all energy can be used as magic power, most mages are extremely wary of certain extreme energies.
Ethan initially set his sights on water elemental energy. Aside from his first learned spell being the Water Creation Spell (which, however, didn't use water-attributed magic power, but was purely an application of spiritual power, and strictly speaking, not a water-attribute spell), the most important reason was that the Calm Sea was a world full of water, where water-attribute magic could be greatly enhanced in such an environment.
At the same time, the versatility of ice attribute, a variant of water attribute, is also extremely high—and it looks cool when used!
Of course, for true mages, it's not like game settings where choosing a certain elemental energy as their magic power prevents them from using other spells outside that element. It's just that the speed of magic power circulation and energy consumption will vary depending on the compatibility of the spell used and the degree of conflict with their own magic power.
Relatively speaking, pure elemental mages who base their magic power on water elemental energy will find using fire-attribute magic somewhat less efficient.
There are many mages like Yishanzhuo, who are proficient in three elements. However, they either have completely mastered elemental energy, with their own magic power containing more than one type of elemental energy, or they use another type of energy as the basis for their magic power, and this energy possesses extreme plasticity, allowing for arbitrary transformation—such as arcane energy.
"If I'm not mistaken, you initially intended to absorb water elemental energy, starting your path as a mage by mastering elemental attributes."
In the world of mages, there aren't nearly as many miscellaneous classifications as elementalists, arcanists, or even those tied to the magic net or mana bars; there's no real difference. True grand mages simply wouldn't allow themselves to have any shortcomings in magical knowledge. They understand almost all related knowledge and can 'freely switch casting methods and the attributes of their own magic power.'
However, on the path to achieving this goal, the influence of magical attributes on a mage will determine how far they go on this path, and can even determine where a mage's ultimate destination lies.
"Yes."
Ethan had been staying with Merlin for two days. During these two days, Merlin hadn't taught him, but had comprehensively assessed Ethan's abilities. Only now was he preparing to begin teaching.
"Actually, your choice wasn't wrong. If I were in your situation, I might have made the same decision." Merlin carefully chose his words: "However, if I have a path that is very suitable for you, but will be much more difficult to walk, yet promises immense future achievements, would you be interested?"
Ethan was a little confused, because Merlin's words were too vague.
"Immense achievements? How immense?"
Merlin thought for a moment, perhaps choosing a reference that Ethan could understand clearly? In the end, he decided to directly compare himself.
"How strong you will ultimately become, I don't know. That depends on you, not on anything else… But if you can steadfastly follow this path, then your ultimate achievements will at least not be lower than mine now."
Ethan's heart rate uncontrollably quickened a little. Fortunately, he was someone who had seen "big scenes," and he quickly regained his composure, not losing his composure in front of Merlin.
"To be able to observe endless planes, break through plane barriers, and even possess the power to completely destroy a plane?"
Ethan was certain Merlin could do the first point; the possibility of the second point was also extremely high! As for destroying a plane, that was hard to say, but at the most conservative estimate, destroying a planet should not be difficult for Merlin—if the Ancient One, who protected Earth from multiverse invasions, were to let loose, Earth probably wouldn't be enough for her to mess with.
This doesn't mean these two mages could shatter the world with one punch or one forbidden spell, but rather that these two mages possess countless means and trump cards. For example, the Ancient One, if she were willing to embrace darkness and release Dormammu…
The terrifying nature of mages lies in this: no one knows what they can do or even achieve. This unpredictability is also one of the reasons they are feared and dreaded.
Ethan also wanted to become such a mage, so he was very interested in the path Merlin proposed.
"You should know that mages are a group of people who rely on powerful spiritual power to manipulate energy and achieve their goals. Whether it's a fireball spell or a more profound magic, the essence is the same."
Ethan nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"Therefore, spiritual power is the foundation of mages. The improvement of spiritual power means being able to control more energy, which means being able to cast more powerful spells and achieve higher goals."
Ethan himself lacked the spiritual power qualification, so he had been diligently cultivating to improve it. Coupled with the fact that ever since the Space-Time Compass appeared, his spiritual power had been more or less trained, he had practiced for over seven years to reach his current level—just a tiny bit short of being able to formally become a mage.
"In fact, the strength of spiritual power is not only about enabling mages to use more energy, but also has many other benefits."
As the foundation of mages, the importance of spiritual power is naturally beyond doubt. The extent to which mages research and treat spiritual power with caution far exceeded Ethan's previous imagination.
Conversely, many 'secrets' of spiritual power have also been researched by mages. As a top-tier mage, Merlin's understanding of spiritual power has reached a considerable height.
"Besides controlling energy, the strength of spiritual power also determines the primary and secondary relationship between you and magic."
"What does that mean?"
Merlin explained in detail, and only then did Ethan understand. The relationship between a mage and magical energy is not a simple master-servant one.
Simply put, while increasing their spiritual power, mages must also be able to understand their 'limits' to avoid absorbing too much magical energy and being invaded by the energy in turn.
As Ethan had read in books before, a mage's spirit being 'polluted' by absorbed energy is the mildest symptom; more severe cases involve personality changes.
For example, some fire-attribute mages, after cultivating to a certain level, begin to become irritable. That's because they have absorbed more fire elemental energy than they can control.
"For example, if spiritual power is one, then this spiritual power can perfectly control ten units of magic power. If it exceeds this number, there will be danger." Of course, this is not absolute; the quantity of spiritual power can be the same, but the quality is different, so Merlin said this just for easier understanding.
Ethan, hearing this, seemed to understand Merlin's meaning a little: "You mean, you want me to continue focusing on cultivating spiritual power, and not rush to absorb energy to convert it into magic power?"
Merlin smiled, directly shaking his head to deny Ethan's guess: "Actually, the path I suggest you take requires you not to absorb external energy to convert into magic power."
Ethan was stunned, completely unable to guess what kind of path Merlin had designed for him.
"You should know that besides absorbing external energy, mages can also generate magic power themselves."
He shook his head. Ethan hadn't encountered this yet, but according to the descriptions in the books he had read, after mages absorb and convert energy into magic power, and then expend their stored magic power, they can indeed recover the consumed amount on their own, in addition to absorbing energy of the same attribute from the outside again.
From this, it can be inferred that mages themselves are capable of producing magic power.
"The magic power generated by mages themselves is different from energy absorbed from external sources; it possesses stronger plasticity, and can even be said to be the purest form of magical energy, with the strongest plasticity."
Merlin sighed helplessly at this point: "Unfortunately, by the time many mages realize this, their spiritual power has already been more or less polluted by external energy. In this situation, the attribute of the magic power they generate will inevitably lean towards the attribute of the energy they previously absorbed. The exact degree depends on how much the mage's spirit has been polluted."
It was precisely for this reason that mages referred to the invasion of external energy on their spiritual power as 'pollution.' Mages had many different ways of dealing with this situation. But no matter how they dealt with it, it would cause them to waste more time and energy before reaching their ultimate goal.
Ethan, hearing this, felt like he had just attended a thorough professional lecture. He thought of his previous decision; with his meager spiritual power, he would almost inevitably be polluted by water-attribute energy. Not to mention his future desire to learn and absorb other attribute energies, just the pollution of his spiritual power alone carried the risk of decreasing his control over space-time energy—no, it would definitely decrease.
Ethan, suddenly realizing he had narrowly avoided a difficult situation, gradually understood the path Merlin wanted him to take.
"The path you've arranged for me, could it be to continue focusing on cultivating spiritual power, and then rely entirely on my own spiritual power to generate magical energy?"
Merlin smiled and nodded. Ethan had guessed correctly this time; he was indeed suggesting that Ethan take this path.
However, this path was infinitely more difficult than the ordinary path of a mage, especially in the early stages, where being almost unable to use any magic would make Ethan not much stronger than an ordinary person. Therefore, he felt that Ethan might need some time to consider carefully before deciding whether to take this path.
What he hadn't expected was that Ethan made his decision much faster than he had imagined, giving him the answer on the spot.
"No need to consider, I'll choose this path."