[Affix: Efficient Casting (Common)]
[Effect: Each time you cast a spell, there is a chance to trigger Efficient Casting, causing that spell to consume no Mana.]
Besides the affix, a dark black orb burst out from the defeated monster's body and was drawn toward Rhys.
"Just as I thought!"
Rhys felt a surge of joy in his heart.
His understanding of the game was accurate—
Although Slimes were the lowest-level Fiends, the bottom of the food chain,
they were still considered natural spellcasters.
Efficient Casting was their innate affix.
This affix granted them the ability to cast multiple spells,
though most Slimes lacked actual spell skills, so the effect was not obvious.
As a reincarnator, Rhys had an incredibly broad perspective and naturally knew about this hidden mechanic.
The Epoch of Endings, though a game, hid much of its information in fragments,
unlike ordinary games that straightforwardly tell players everything in full detail.
Because of this, gathering information became an extremely important task in this game.
Of course, that was a story for later.
Rhys moved silently, lurking in the shadows,
and then opened the system interface.
NPCs in The Epoch of Endings possessed remarkable intelligence.
Not only NPCs, but even the lowest-level Fiends—
though not very wise—had intelligence far surpassing that in other games.
Though they acted on instinct,
they were not fixed in one spot waiting to be hunted by players like monsters in other games.
On the contrary, they actively searched for players around and began their own slaughter!
Lifespan was the foundation of everything in The Epoch of Endings.
This applied equally to players and to Fiends.
Yes, not only could players gain lifespan by killing Fiends,
but Fiends could also gain lifespan by killing other Fiends or players.
Compared to strong Fiends, fragile and clueless players were obviously better vessels for gaining lifespan.
Therefore, even with the terrifying power of Cosmic Finality,
Rhys didn't become arrogant.
Instead, he chose to move to a safe place to digest what he had gained.
Opening the system interface, Rhys added the just-acquired Efficient Casting affix to his Fireball skill.
[Skill: Fireball (Common)]
[Cost: 10 MP]
[Cooldown: 5s]
[Effect: Channel Mana to summon a burning fireball to attack the target]
[Affix: Efficient Casting (Common)]
An unintuitive fact was that affixes were not necessarily better the more you had.
Of course, most people had no choice—
they simply used whatever affixes they got.
After all, they didn't have Cosmic Finality,
and every single affix was an invaluable treasure.
But for Rhys, affixes had to be chosen carefully,
because both equipment and skills could only hold a fixed number of affixes.
Except for certain special equipment skills, Common-level skills can only hold one affix.
Although you can replace it, the previous affix will then completely disappear.
At present, what Rhys needs most is an affix like Efficient Casting that reduces skill consumption.
After all, a Mage's damage output isn't low to begin with,
and Rhys knows monsters very well—each Fireball he casts deals terrifying damage.
In The Epoch of Endings, a person's damage output is not simply calculated by subtracting magic resistance and defense from the raw damage.
The damage dealt varies depending on which part of the target's body is hit.
For example, the Fireball Rhys just cast struck the Slime's weak spot, causing a critical hit, which made the damage so efficient.
If it had hit elsewhere, it wouldn't have killed the Slime so easily.
But Rhys was confident in his technique.
What he needed to solve most urgently was the Mage's huge mana consumption problem, so he could fight continuously.
So, he set his sights on the Slimes.
He lightly licked his lips, and as the Slimes, having spotted him, approached steadily,
Rhys raised his hand and launched another Fireball at the leader Slime's weak spot.
"Boom!"
[Critical hit, excellent effect! You dealt 50 points of fire damage to the Slime.]
[Slime has died.]
[Authority: Siphon activated.]
[Siphon successful. No affix generated this time; life energy has been accumulated.]
Just like last time, a black orb burst from the Slime's body and entered Rhys.
"Siphon succeeded, but no affix gained?"
Looking at the system text, Rhys pondered briefly without panic.
He retreated while continuing to kite the Slimes with Fireballs.
[Critical hit, excellent effect! You dealt 50 points of fire damage to the Slime.]
[Slime has died.]
[Efficient Casting effect triggered; this cast consumes no Mana.]
[Authority: Siphon activated.]
[Siphon successful. No affix generated this time; life energy has been accumulated.]
After casting four more Fireballs, Rhys finally triggered Efficient Casting once, restoring the corresponding Mana cost.
Though Efficient Casting was a good affix, it was still dropped by a Slime, and only of Common rank, so the activation chance wasn't high.
Moreover, aside from the first time, he hadn't gotten any affixes from Slimes—only accumulated life energy each time.
This puzzled Rhys for a moment.
Was the Siphon authority actually a probabilistic ability?
Though better than nothing, such a probabilistic Siphon affix was weaker than he had originally imagined.
As he mulled this over, he casually launched another Fireball at a Slime's weak point.
The familiar notification popped up again, but this time there was a slight difference.
[Authority: Siphon activated.]
[Siphon successful, consuming life energy, affix generating...]
[Your affix Efficient Casting (Common) has been upgraded.]
[You obtained the affix: Efficient Casting (Fine).]
"!!!"
Rhys felt a surge of joy in his heart.
He hadn't expected the Siphon affix to bring him such a pleasant surprise.
Siphon's success didn't always generate an affix.
If no affix was generated, the life energy would accumulate and eventually form a higher-level affix.
This was not a bad thing—on the contrary, it was a huge advantage!
Slimes were low-level Fiends and could only carry Common-level affixes.
Yet after accumulating life energy, Rhys had just gotten a Fine-level Efficient Casting.
A Common Efficient Casting gave about a 20% chance to consume no Mana,
while a Fine Efficient Casting increased that to 30%.
A 10% increase might not seem like much,
but the implications behind it were far more significant.
That was just Common upgrading to Fine—
what if it went from Ancient to Mythic?
Or from Immortal to Divine?
Every step was a massive improvement.
This was the true power of the Cosmic Finality Siphon authority!
Rhys took a deep breath and quickly replaced the Efficient Casting (Common) on his Fireball with the new Efficient Casting (Fine).
Whether it was the noticeable 10% boost or simply Rhys's burst of luck,
the Efficient Casting effect triggered three times in a row.
Under the relentless stream of fireballs, several Slimes were instantly wiped out.
After killing more than a dozen Slimes in succession, even these instinct-driven creatures sensed danger and instinctively scattered in all directions.
[Your level has increased: Lv.1 → Lv.2]
[You have gained 5 free attribute points.]
[Your status has been fully restored.]
In The Epoch of Endings, every time a player levels up, all their statuses are fully restored.
At low levels, aside from drinking MP potions to replenish mana, this was one of the few ways a Mage could sustain themselves.
Seeing his fully restored 100 mana points, a smile appeared on Rhys's face.
"Trying to run? Eat my Fireball!"
A dazzling fireball erupted from his fingertips and flew toward the fleeing Slimes.
After killing another seven or eight Slimes, Rhys saved thirty mana points for any potential emergencies when returning to town, then ended the hunt.
Just then, a group of players dressed in starter gear emerged from the shadows...