Adam recalled his visit to E-Rantel's Magician's Guild. When he noticed Papermaking Had two different spell scrolls, zero-tier and 1st-tier, he'd specifically asked a guild member about it.
They never mentioned a 2nd-tier Papermaking!
Logically, a non-combat, non-offensive spell like Papermaking shouldn't be concealed.
"'Lowest-tier' alchemy material." Adam mused, eyeing the appraisal data for his 2nd-tier paper.
Lifestyle magic was typically studied to unlock higher-tier spells or enhance daily convenience.
If zero-tier Papermaking was purely for practical use, 1st-tier Papermaking catered to nobles, distinguishing their books and documents from commoners'.
The 1st-tier paper's quality already rivaled that of Adam's old world, sufficient for everyday needs.
Why, then, would New World inhabitants develop a 2nd-tier Papermaking?
Papermaking wasn't an Eight Greed Kings-era tiered spell but a New World creation, pushed to the 2nd-tier through immense effort.
For a caster, that energy could've been spent mastering other 2nd-tier spells or aiming for 3rd-tier proficiency.
From the pragmatic perspective of New World humans, such development seemed unnecessary.
The only explanation was demand.
Alchemy materials, perhaps?
Adam pondered but found no clear answers. He shook his head, setting the thought aside.
Suddenly, something caught his eye, and his face lit with astonishment.
Behind Warm And Papermaking, The "↑" Symbol lingered.
"How is this possible?" Adam muttered, stunned, as if witnessing the impossible.
[Levels 1–7: 1st-tier magic]
[Levels 8–14: 2nd-tier magic]
At Genius 9Lv, equivalent to other caster classes, he should be limited to 2nd-tier magic.
Yet Warm And Papermaking could still advance in tier. What was going on?
Baffled, Adam hesitated briefly before spending a skill point on Warm,
[Skill: Warm (3rd-tier) ↑]
[Cost: 15 MP]
[Description: Heats a touched object to 600°C over 1 minute, or instantly to 200°C.]
Adam remained stunned.
His shock wasn't from Warm's enhanced power but its ability to reach a higher tier.
He spent another skill point.
[Skill: Warm (4th-tier)]
[Cost: 20 MP]
[Description: Heats a touched object to 1200°C over 1 minute, or instantly to 400°C.]
Adam sucked in a breath. At 4th-tier, Warm was formidable.
1200°C could melt steel, nearing magma's heat.
The instant 400°C spike was devastating in its own right.
No "↑" Symbol remained. Reflecting, Adam pieced together the mechanics.
"The caster professions converted by 'Genius' calculate tiers based on cumulative caster levels." He murmured, awestruck.
He'd assumed Genius Treated each base profession independently, but this proved otherwise.
Warm reached 4th-tier because it met the requirement for 4th-tier magic (levels 22–28).
The only explanation was that Genius Summed the levels of his mana-based professions.
[Magician 9Lv]
[Alchemist 9Lv]
[Pharmacist 9Lv]
[Total: 27 caster levels.]
In YGGDRASIL, Alchemist and Pharmacist were production classes but relied on mana, qualifying them as mana-based.
Indeed, the Genius class calculated caster levels across all base professions, especially for casters.
This hidden ability was irrelevant for warrior classes but a game-changer for casters.
In YGGDRASIL, magic casters were divided into four systems, Arcane, Faith, Spiritual, Other, each with separate level tracking.
For example,
[Magician 7Lv + Priest 1Lv = Overall 8Lv]
This allowed 2nd-tier magic in theory, but in practice, the player was limited to 1st-tier Arcane and 1st-tier Faith spells.
Thus, YGGDRASIL players specialized in one system.
To cast 10th-tier magic in a system, a player needed at least 64 levels in that system (e.g., Arcane).
The remaining 36 levels couldn't build another full system.
Adam exhaled deeply, massaging his throbbing temples, still reeling from the discovery.
He'd thought Genius merely mimicked base professions without stat boosts or their unique abilities, a hollow shell for disguise.
This hidden ability was beyond his expectations.
Genius, a standard base class, capped at 15 levels.
By mastering five base professions in one system, or four base and one mid-tier, Adam could easily meet the caster level for 10th-tier magic.
He could max out all four systems, Arcane, Faith, Spiritual, Other, using this loophole.
This was why Adam called it a cheat-like ability.
Even in YGGDRASIL, such mechanics were rare, not nonexistent.
In the light novel, Ainz mentioned a high-tier Illusionist class with a unique ability: the ultimate illusion, capable of deceiving the entire world, blending truth and falsehood.
In gameplay, it allowed disguising Arcane spells as other systems.
Adam's Genius was similarly extraordinary.
***
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