'That means in terms of creating a new spell, I have a clear advantage over the old man. But he still beat me regarding magic composition. By combining my knowledge and old man's experience, I could create a cool yet effective finishing move.
'Hehe… With this, I didn't have to bring firearms into this world anymore. Besides, giving peasants a gun only makes this barbaric world more chaotic.
'The problem is level. I need mana to invoke a spell, and the only way to increase my mana is through leveling up. I will ask old man Izack about monsters after this season is finished.'
"Are you done?" Seeing Jack was smiling by himself without saying anything, Izack was looking at him with a strange look as if he was a mental patient that forgot to receive his medication.
But the truth is, Izack was curious about what had happened inside the young man's head. After showing the magic circle for the Fireball spell to Jack, he could feel something had sprouted inside his mind. Something that drives him to ignore his previous nervousness.
An idea!
He could feel an idea had formed inside Jack's head. A brilliant idea.
But to maintain his image Izack prefers to tease him instead of blatantly asking a question. Besides, he believes that the young man will be the one asking questions to him.
He only needs to figure out the meaning behind those questions to determine Jack's real motive. As an experienced adventurer, getting what he needs from others without the person himself realizing it is his specialty.
"Ah! Sorry... I suddenly have an idea after seeing the magic circle. How long have I been spaced out?" Said Jack while scratching the back of his head in an awkward manner.
'Hmm… I didn't expect him to tell the truth… Interesting…' Izack thought before answering. "It's not important. Let's proceed with the procedure."
Izack Newtown tied up Jack's right hand to the operating table until movement was impossible. After that, he takes out a transparent bottle with blue liquid inside it from a secret compartment behind the wooden cupboard.
"This will be your first lesson. The liquid inside this bottle is called Mana Essence, made by combining mana stone with various minerals.
"The minerals used and the methods to refine it is different for every alchemist. This one uses my personal recipe and methods. I will give you a book to read later."
Izack opens the bottle lid before using his mana to take out a small portion of the blue liquid with his mana as he continues explaining.
"Knowing how to make Mana Essence is essential for a great wizard so he could add or change the magic circles that he has any time. Different situations need different strategies. Sometimes we must adjust our fighting style when facing a different opponent."
The liquid flew into Izack's right palm before gradually changing shape into the Fireball magic circle with a diameter of about five centimeters.
"I will imprint this magic circle in your right palm now. This will be hurt, so bear with it."
'Sh*t! Why does getting stronger always come with a painful experience? What should I do…?' Jack silently complained.
After three seconds of silence, old man Izack added. "And don't scream like a woman. I don't want my neighbor to see me as a perverted old man."
Without giving Jack a chance to reply, Izack Newtown injects a lot of mana into the magic circle, causing it to change color from blue to bright red like molten lava.
With mana vision, Jack could see the process as clear as day. As the magic circle started to touch his skin, pain with a burning sensation assaulted his right palm.
Jack gritted his teeth and tried to divert his attention toward something else to minimize the pain. He begins to imagine his wife and son back on Earth, thinking about what they do at this moment.
As the image becomes more vivid, the pain in his chest overpowers what his palm is feeling. Without him realizing it, a stream of warm water started to flow out from his eyes.
After an unknown period of time, the magic imprint process is finally finished.
Seeing Jack's face, Izack Newtown silently commented.
'Was he crying from this? No… the muscle in his right hand didn't flinch at all. Is he trying to divert his attention by imagining something? Nice move... But it seems he was imagining something sad. I wonder what it is…'
"Done!"
Izack's old voice snapped Jack from his reverie. After wiping tears and snot from his face with his left arm, Jack looked at his right palm with mana vision, but nothing has changed.
Izack Newtown explained. "You won't be able to see the magic circle imprinted into your palm with mana vision because it is already placed between your flesh and skin.
"This magic circle is now active, and you could use it to cast a spell. But before doing so, I will explain about the imprinting process."
Izack pulls two wooden chairs before instructing Jack to sit beside him.
"There are two ways of imprinting magic circles. The first method is imprinting it inside a gem.
"To do it, you need to compress the mana essence into a single drop before reshaping them into a magic circle. Because the size is smaller than a peanut, accuracy, and precision is a must.
"This method needs more mana to perform, but a lot safer because we only lose a gem if the process is unsuccessful. After the successful imprint, the magic gem can be placed into a magic staff, wand, accessories, weapon, or armor to turn it into a magic item.
"The second method is like I just did earlier, putting them below the skin. This method is risky. If the one who did it is not experienced enough or its mana control is lacking, the skin will burn by the magic circle, leaving a scorching wound that needs years to heal.
"But it has an advantage over the previous method. Because the magic circle is inside our body, we don't need to worry that our magic will be stolen by the enemy.
"We could replace the magic circle inside our body when necessary, but we need to wait until the wound is fully healed. You can use a health potion to fasten this process. That's why great wizards like me prefer this method. Even when we have a magic item, we always keep a few magic circles inside our bodies as a precaution.
"Do you understand?"
Jack answered him with a firm nod.
"Good. Let's go to the next room to test your new spell."