Chapter 1 A Mage Should Build Tanky!

The Borderlands of the Wasteland.

Suge Ruins City.

A spacious and bright domed classroom.

"Classmate Gune, what do you think is the most important thing for a spellcaster?"

On the podium of the large circular domed classroom, the female transcendent course instructor "Ciel Porter," with golden curly hair, a tall and impressive figure, and fair skin, called on Gune to ask.

"Gune Lawrence," with short black hair, black pupils, wearing a black high-necked top, about sixteen years old, stood up and answered unhurriedly and seriously.

"I think the most important thing for a spellcaster is to learn to build tanky, because only then can you stay alive, and only by staying alive can you deal damage."

As soon as these words were spoken, the more than fifty apprentice spellcaster students in the entire huge circular domed classroom were first stunned, and then some began to snicker.

Then someone laughed out loud, and soon everyone burst into laughter.

The whole classroom was filled with laughter inside and out.

The senior transcendent spellcaster "Ciel Porter" couldn't help but smile.

As everyone knows, the most important thing for a magic-type transcendent is to master and be proficient in various powerful spells and transcendent knowledge they study.

This student named "Gune" had a truly novel view that spellcasters should build tanky.

"Can you briefly explain your point?" Ciel Porter did not refute Gune's view.

Because these students of the "Suge Ruins City Academy" were just inexperienced teenagers.

Only after they truly encountered the "bloodiness" and "terror" of this mysterious transcendent world.

Would they abandon those "immature" views.

And then embark on the path of spellcasters paved by countless elites, genius transcendents, pioneers, and trailblazers.

Facing the laughter of many classmates, Gune remained calm and unruffled, not feeling ashamed or embarrassed by others' ridicule, appearing very composed and serene.

After a moment of deliberation, Gune continued to elaborate.

"As everyone knows, spellcasters have very powerful long-range strike capabilities, extremely high precision, and sufficiently wide coverage, which other transcendent professions cannot match."

"But their own physical and magical resistance are relatively weak. To put it more bluntly, they are as fragile as paper, breaking at a touch."

"As a result, many powerful and excellent transcendent spellcasters, when approached by assassins skilled in stealth or mystical killing techniques, die in an exceptionally frustrating manner."

"As far as I know, in the history of the Northern Continent of Oya, there have been several black swan events where high-ranking magic spellcasters were ambushed, their shields broken, and their bodies torn apart, leading major events down unpredictable paths."

"If spellcasters are willing to spend some time and energy training their bodies to have excellent resilience and damage tolerance, then even if they lose their shields, they can survive better in complex combat scenarios and calmly counterattack those enemies."

"A very good point." Ciel Porter nodded slightly.

"But the problem is that spellcasters themselves have weaker physical strength and defensive abilities."

"Don't you think spending the same time and energy on studying spells and knowledge yields better results than on resilience?"

"Moreover, possessing profound transcendent knowledge will help you survive better in ancient ruin exploration, misty wasteland pioneering, and the currently popular steam-punk iron steamship voyages across various seas and explorations of ruins and deserted islands, thereby obtaining more transcendent resources."

"With resources, you will become a more powerful spellcaster, rather than obsessing over your own defensive abilities and physical vitality, becoming a spellcaster with some defense but relatively weak strength."

Ciel Porter succinctly refuted Gune's point.

Then she waved her hand for Gune to sit down, not even giving him a chance to rebut.

And Gune, unlike ordinary young teenagers eager to express their views and argue with the instructor, did not do so.

Instead, he sat down obediently and calmly.

As if the brief debate had caused no inner turmoil in him.

"I understand the reasoning, but as a squishy mage, surviving is still the priority."

"Pursuing only higher output without seeking survival—that kind of extreme path is unstable!"

Sitting down, Gune sighed softly in his heart.

Guné Lawrence held this view that 'a mage should build tank items' and 'stability above all'.

This was mainly because Guné was a transmigrator with a naturally steady disposition.

About half a year ago, on a stormy night,

in Summoner's Rift, after Guné, playing a tanky mid-lane Ryze, had shredded the opposing squishy mage into a 0-9 score,

in his excitement, Guné pulled off a series of slick moves—knocking over a drink bottle, causing a short circuit, getting electrocuted, and convulsing all over—before successfully arriving in this other world.

A steampunk, supernatural, and mystical world.

Upon arrival, Guné had felt fear, unease, and confusion.

In fact, after a while, he even grew excited about his orphan status—a good omen, he thought.

After half a year of growth,

Guné had finally accepted and adapted to his current identity: an adopted orphan with considerable 'caster' talent.

Having learned of this world's terror and danger, and being a squishy caster, the naturally steady Guné naturally embarked on the path suited to him—the tanky caster.

His exposition on tank-mage theory met with rebuttal, but Guné showed no sign of discouragement.

The concept of a tanky mage was not unheard of in caster academia, nor was Guné the first caster to propose it.

But the mainstream for casters was to study spell knowledge and master more powerful spells.

The notion of a tanky mage was simply an unorthodox path.

With just a few words, it was naturally impossible to change the course of the many supernatural casters in the class, who pursued the ultimate path of spells.

But for Guné, whether others were stable or not was their own business.

As for Guné, he was as steady as an old dog.

Of course.

In this steampunk supernatural world, the reason Guné chose the tanky caster path

was partly due to his naturally steady nature, favoring the reliable survivability that a strong physique brings.

And partly because the tanky mage model was entirely feasible.

At the podium,

Cylas Porter was lecturing on various caster techniques and rules, interspersed with many anecdotes from exploring steam ruins.

The many students listened with rapt attention.

But Guné, who had access to information that ordinary people couldn't obtain, knew a great deal about the supernatural.

The many things Guné knew about exploring mysterious ruins were far more dangerous, bloody, and brutally real than what Cylas Porter described.

Thus, he found little interest in Instructor Cylas Porter's lecture.

His gaze drifted past the gray window.

The first thing that caught his eye was the exotic, heavily colored, Byzantine-style architecture of 'Sug Ruins City.'

These buildings were only similar to Byzantine style; in the details, they bore more of the era's mechanical aesthetic, a steampunk style with linear contours.

Houses of various sizes, some tall, some low, stretched outward in a neat row.

Then, looking further out, he saw the large steel-framed steampunk steam factories on the outskirts of Sug Ruins City, and the huge steel chimneys belching thick black smoke.

Further still, there was the supernatural steam train on the outskirts of the ruins city.

At that moment, a supernatural steam train let out a low 'wooo~' as it carried newly mined 'black iron ore' away, clattering and fading into the distance.

This was the world Guné inhabited—a steampunk supernatural world.

An era of the steampunk supernatural epoch, with supernatural steam as its beating heart, large-scale giant steel as its skeletal framework, and supernatural mystical knowledge as its flesh and blood, thriving and blazing trails into the unknown regions of the world.

Fortunately, Guné did not come to this wondrous world alone; he also brought with him a very powerful 'idle system.'

The location of 'Sug Ruins City,' where Guné resided, was a borderland between the steampunk civilization and the mystical supernatural wilderness—a 'gold rush city' where danger and opportunity coexisted.

And Guné, currently weak, was lying low in this border city, idling quietly.