With the mid-term break in progress, everyone returned home to visit their family or stay with close family relatives. I on the other hand stayed back at school, I was determined to learn more using this solitary period.
No student was around which meant I'd be able to freely express myself. During the scholastic season I could only practice my magic in the dungeon and the dense magicubes there made it more difficult to cast magic due to imbalance.
Also, the magic I was planning on learning didn't require the use of magicubes. It sounded unbelievable but it was in fact true.
There were about nine continents in all and a select few had their own style of magic, my continent; Endlave was said to possess one of the most common types but also very powerful.
We could harness the mana within us and turn them into magicubes, it utilized shorter chants and faster activation time with just enough power. It may have been common but it was far from weak.
I took a special interest in the continent known as "Zestria" they were said to possess a unique type of magic which I was dying to learn.
It was a bit lonely in the school, being the only student present.
A few teachers were still around but luckily Lady Ophelia wasn't one of them. I could practice magic rest assured she wouldn't suspect me.
In the library...
As for the librarian– Miss Geraldine Fraiser, she was such a studious woman - she stayed on school grounds during the break, just like I expected. It was great to have 24/7 access to the library - I could get all the books I wanted to read without any hassle. Awesome.
Apparently, there were only five books available about Zestrian magic, which could indicate that either these books were quite expensive or that the school doesn't place much emphasis on magical practices from other continents.
"Geez, now I have to learn the language.."
I had to waste an entire day learning the entire Zestrian language which felt like me burning precious time.
It'd have taken a shorter time had I chosen not to learn the archaic and modern manner of speaking. I felt it was imperative I learnt the former in the eventuality that I came across some old texts.
Later on, I was able to comprehend Zestrian language quite well, so I started to read books about how magic works from their continent.
The librarian had noticed me looking through the books, but I don't think anyone believed I could understand them at my age. Still, I was confident in my abilities and had faith that I could comprehend the material.
Unsurprisingly, the magic manual was my favorite. It had fascinating concepts that were similar to the stories we've been told in class.
For example, there were two ways to perform magic - chants and magic seals. Chants appear to be the most common method of performing magic nowadays.
The background of the manual was quite interesting, however, I was a bit concerned about one aspect - "Hmm.. it appears the amount of mana a person has is predetermined when they are ten years old.."
I took the books to my dorm. Geraldine let me take any number of books I wanted since I was the only student around, so it wouldn't be hard to know which book was taken by whom.
She saw me as a fascinating person which made sense because she was an old lady and I was an extremely little sixteen year old.
Back at my dorm...
It was pretty quiet without Alaric around. He left most of his things on going home for the break, leaving them in my care. I had no problems looking over them for a friend.
"Well... I won't know what I can do till I try.."
I had to read the chants for one reason. Zestrians used a branch of magic known as "True magic" which only focused on the use of mana instead of magicubes.
It made things much more difficult because Scentia would have to convert the magicubes to internal mana for my use. In a sense, this was practicing magic in its purest form. The main reason I wanted to learn it.
With my right arm outstretched out the window, I took a deep breath in order to gather some calmness of my environment.
"Okay... the coolness and serenity of the air guides the clouds in the canvas of the skies. I seeketh the peace of the wind that it may converge upon my being, come to me, wind sphere."
There was a rush of mana all through my body, one I'd never felt before. I was filled with warmth that reminded me of a golden ray of light for some reason.
As the mana coursed through my veins I was able to converge air into a fixed spot and form a very small sphere of wind. Hence the spell name; wind sphere.
The small sphere of wind dissipates. And my first thought was relating to propulsion.
"Why didn't it go flying? I'll try again.."
Trying again wouldn't hurt. I needed to make it fly, push forward. So I placed my right arm out again and focused much more than before.
Easy, just envision unification and focus on it. Imagine it in your mind and really feel the power of it. Once you have a clear picture in your mind, release it and let it manifest like projectile.
[ Unique Skill ---> Oracle Engine ]
Activating...
[ Survey complete, recommended function ---> Chant annulment ]
In progress...
I manifested the wind sphere in my grasp again, but this time I hadn't even done the chant. This realization made me halt for obvious reasons pertaining to wordless casting.
"What gives... I have to try again."
But a sudden weakness rushed through my body similar to the time I had used [Apocalyptic Flame Control], I was out of mana.
It didn't come as a surprise to me, after all this dealt with turning unreactive mana directly into a magical phenomenon, it would weigh heavily on me.
Normally, I'd just need to use magicubes to my advantage. But a scenario where magicubes were less important made things difficult.
By the next day, my body had adjusted and now I was able to summon about ten wind spheres before having to catch my breath.
Still, this was still Elementary level; the novice stage of Zestrian magic. Yet it was so difficult.
Through my experiments, I made a few discoveries.
"I don't think that textbook is entirely right.."
Theoretically, internal mana grew with use, and spells could be cast without the need for chants.
This raised an interesting question - what was the purpose of chants? It could be that they trigger magical effects automatically, and if that was the case, then it made sense why they were so widely used.
Chants were easy to teach, and if anyone can do magic with the right chant, then there was no need for complicated instructions.
I was yet to try out other spells, but this was an intriguing prospect to explore.
Naturally, I still had an infinitesimal mana reservoir but it seemed in Zestrian magic mana is coursed through the veins.
Whereas in Endlavian magic, the unreactive mana is left stored in the caster and projected as reactive magicubes when in use. But it was still too soon to draw any conclusions.
Whatever the case may be all logic arrives at the same point, mana is key and magicube isn't.
By the end of the third day I was already able to manifest about thirty six wind spheres all without the use of chants.
"I should probably learn to make them fly now..."
Miss Geraldine, a woman late into her sixties unexpectedly met Headmaster Polpe on her way to her quarters, "Hello Miss... you're looking exquisite today."
The woman couldn't help but blush, "Oh Count Polpe, flattery will get you everywhere.." they both guffawed while looking at each other. There was some redness in their faces.
A wind sphere, weak as it may be swept up her skirt and the moment this happened Polpe had a massive nosebleed.
"Oh my!" She'd dress her skirt properly the instant it occurred but he'd seen what he'd seen. That sight was surely immortalized in his memories.
Luckily, she didn't know the wind came from me. She believed it was an abrupt strong wind.
They weren't far from the window where I'd cast the spell so the moment it happened I ducked under the table to hide myself.
For the first time my height was an advantage.
I was able to make it fly. I decided to try again.
Left arm outstretched, a surge of energy coursed Iike a gentle stream through my body and immediately I manifested a sphere of wind that moved at moderate speed to the door seven meters from me and hit it shut.
"Yes! I did it!"
It turned out that spells had an order of operation that must be followed for them to be successful.
First, one must call forth the element and set the size, and then set the speed. Once these steps had been completed, the spell was ready to be released.
I must admit, I had been focusing on firing speed before setting the size, but now I understood why chants might come in handy.
With this newfound knowledge, I was sure to cast much more effective spells.
[>> Attention, magic spell "wind sphere" has evolved to become "wind pistol" would you like a test run of this new spell? <<]
"Sure.."
I fixed my hand like a pistol and closed my left eye shut so I could scope with the right.
With this new spell I was able to shoot wind-like bullets from the tip of my index finger which had been pointed out like the barrel of the pistol.
It was a synthesis spell and as such didn't require a chant and still fell within the grounds of Zestrian magic.
"Now let's see what I can do with Intermediate magic.." since I'd already learnt everything there was about Elementary magic it was time to go on to the progressive stage of things.
This particular spell seemed longer which made sense, as you progressed so did the length of the chants. What a hassle.
With my hand out the window again I was ready to chant.
First, Scentia did me the favor of harvesting magicubes around me and turning them to internal flowing mana then I was ready.
"Okay... I call to thee, O kings of wind and queens of the skies that watch over those who beseech thee, sweep away the obstacles of mundane with your impenetrable might... gale of end."
My eyes were closed this whole time, unaware of the dense air that surrounded me in a spiralling manner.
Before my palm was a rapidly growing spiraling ball of wind that was accompanied by a discomforting screeching noise. I'd lost control of it.
The sphere tore through the window and a huge portion of my roomʼs wall, charging forward like some rocket.
When it reached a certain distance it exploded and produced a white vortex that drew the clouds into it.
It erased every cloud in the sky within a three kilometer radius.
Been blown away by the force of this attack, my head struck the wall which sent me into an unconscious state.
Controlling the recoil was something I wouldn't forget next time.
Who knew Zestrian magic was so dominant...?