He can use any spell but he can only use the versions of the spells that relied exclusively on the mana in the surroundings. This made them slower than the leyline spells.
They too won't cost him internal energy. But he still has to pay for the mental energy needed to mobilize external mana.
This cost of mental energy will be several times higher than using his internal energy to cast the spell. It is a significant disadvantage to him, so he won't use them if he doesn't need to.
He also got spells for the wood element. He got Plant Growth, Wood Escape, and Wood Puppet spells.
While he was looking for spells of the wood element, he discovered a difference in equality of the same level of spell. Some spells had the same level, but a few of them were more versatile.
For example, he saw Wood Armor and Vine spells. They were both level 10, and he wanted to get them. But when he read their description, he realized that he could do what they do with the Wood Control spell.
As he looked further, he discovered that he could also copy the Wooden Shield spell, Wooden Spikes, Wooden Seal, and many others with the Wood Control Spell. So he didn't pick them.
The reason why he picked Plant Growth, Wood Escape, and Wood Puppet spells is because he couldn't reliably copy them with Wood Control, or he couldn't copy their effects at all.
He memorized the location of the thirteen spells. Then he went to their location to retrieve them.
It was easy to retrieve spells in the library. All he had to do was go up to the crystal ball containing the spell and tap it with his identity card.
Once the identity card makes contact with the crystal ball, a prompt will appear on his identity card asking for him to authenticate the purchase of the spell.
If he allows the purchase to go through, he will lose the points needed to purchase the spell, and the crystal ball will light up. Anyone can connect to it in this state and learn the spell.
But the spell can only be learned once. Anyone can connect to the crystal and learn the spell, even if they were not the one who purchased it. But once someone learns the spell, the crystal will lock down.
Once the crystal locks down, it will dim and become normal. In this state, no one will be able to learn the spell within it.
Arthur learned all thirteen spells that he picked out. He already knew the cost of the spells when he chose them, so he wasn't surprised by the cost shown on the shelves.
The ten normal spells cost an average of 100 points. Some, like the dust-cleaning spell, cost just 20 points, while the flight spell costs 200 points.
The three wood element spells were more expensive. The cheapest one was plant growth, which cost 50 points. The more expensive one was Wood Puppet, which cost 420 points.
Wood Escape was also expensive. It cost 250 points. This is already more expensive than the flight spell.
So in total, it cost him 1,720 points to acquire the 13 spells. This wasn't much to him in light of the 10,000 performance points he received for topping the newbie ranking list last year.
So he doesn't have to worry about the cost. If there is one thing he has to worry about, it is being able to use the spells well before the end of the month.
The spells are all at level 10. This means that they cost around 10 units of energy for each activation. There is some variability because every spell is different in terms of its mode of activation, structure, and effect.
For example, the dust-cleaning spell costs 5 units of internal energy to activate. But the flight spell has a wide range of costs depending on the mass of the person using it and how long the spell is used for.
There are also spells like the swift body spell that have a fixed cost of initial activation but cost more depending on the duration of the spell. It costs 10 units of internal energy for every 1 minute of use or so.
This is just the cost of internal energy. Spells also require mental energy to cast. But unlike the cost of internal energy, which is set in stone, the cost of mental energy depends entirely on the expertise of the spellcaster.
The power and energy cost of spells is fixed. But the speed of casting the spell, the mental energy needed to cast it, and the level of control of the spell all depend on the power of the caster's mind and their mastery of the spell.
This is why he still needs to learn and practice these spells to a certain state before he can use them reliably in battle. So he was eager to return home to practice.
But he didn't go home immediately because he still had to go to the weapon-forging hall to get the pouch that he had his mind on. That's where he flew to next.
He successfully bought the space pouch but it was expensive. At least it was for a normal new disciple. No one can easily bring out the 1,000 points that the space pouch cost.
Every disciple is given a monthly stipend based on their grade. It is sent to their identity card every month by the personnel hall. That's also how he got his rewards.
S-grade disciples get 100 points per month. A-grade disciples get 50 points per month. B-grade disciples get 20 points per month, while C-grade disciples get 5 points per month.
Even for an S-grade disciple like him, 1,000 points is a large sum. It is 10 months' worth of stipend for him.
If other S-grade students save for 10 months, they will be able to afford it by this time. But he doesn't think it is likely.