The late spring sun was just reaching its zenith as I stretched out my arms and wiped away the sweat beading on my forehead. Casting Waterball in succession so many times was exhausting, not just on my mana stores, but also mentally. Continually using the Eyes of Fate added to the burden, although that took a lot less strength than Lysander led me to believe.
Despite my fatigue, tremors of excitement shook my hands as I prepared myself. It had been over a month since I last tried casting a spell chantless, but the memory was fresh in my mind. I envisioned the necessary runes and magic circle, then slowly reached for my mana.
The sweet, seductive warmth flowed into my body, renewing my strength and sending a thrill of anticipation through my body. I took a long, deliberate deep breath to quell some of the impatience, as that could be detrimental to the spell. Finally, I was ready.
"Waterball," I murmured.
I directed my mana to move in the same patterns a chant would, slowly Constructing a series of runes and placing them within the magic circle. The manual control took much longer than using a chant, eating up my willpower over the course of several minutes. By the time the last rune fell into place, my arms trembled from exertion, and my legs were ready to collapse. I grit my teeth and persevered, unwilling to let anything disrupt my concentration.
At last, the final rune fell into place. Closely observing the magic circle, I sighed in relief. It was a perfect replication, but I didn't release the spell yet.
Mustering what little remained of my dwindling mana, I tweaked a few runes, adjusting their placement within the circle. After a few other changes, I cut off my mana, watching as a spherical ball of water formed in my palm. It didn't appear any different than a typical Waterball, but it was hard to suppress the smile threatening my lips.
Letting the water drop to the ground, I quickly cast another Waterball, foregoing the chant once more. With my previous experience, I moved through the process much quicker, taking barely twenty seconds to cast both the spell and make the adjustments.
When the spell resolved, I had used barely half the mana required for the Waterball spell. This time, I really couldn't hold back a smile, the corners of my lips twitching uncontrollably.
"Is that a smile?"
I jumped as Selena's voice startled me into dropping the Waterball. It exploded when it hit the ground, splashing water all over my ankles.
"Sorry," she said quickly, "But even if it was small, that's got to be the first time I've seen it. What's got you so happy?"
Didn't I smile a lot though? Thinking back, I quickly sobered as her words seemed to be the case. The only time I ever felt happy enough to smile was with Soltair, and that was rarely, if at all. I jumped again as Selena cleared her throat, breaking me from my thoughts.
"It's nothing much. Just some progress on a spell."
"Oh? Ready to show me?"
I looked at her carefully. Modifying spells was nearly unheard of, as most people lacked the control to even properly feel mana, much less manually control it. The rare instances of doing so usually sent waves through the world, as their work was passed on and recorded time and time again. The small incident of the light spell from day one had been covered up by Selena, but I had no doubt even that would stir up trouble.
"It's okay if you don't want to, but remember I'm on your side."
Her face seemed to glow for a second, lit by a smile that brought anything I'd ever imagined to shame. Reluctantly, I nodded.
"I was practicing with the water ball spell when I realized the chant used the mana rather inefficiently. I think I've got it fixed to optimize mana consumption, but I doubt it's anywhere near perfect. I'm pretty experienced, and-"
"You fixed a spell?" She asked dumbly. "Wait, is this like the light spell? You cast chantless again?"
"Well, technically. But I did it the right way and still manually used runes, instead of just forcing what I want to happen!" I said hurriedly, trying to assuage her fears.
"Even so, I wish you'd at least consult with me first."
I felt a little bad at her disappointed look but pushed onward. "Here, if I cast it like this…" Casting the modified Waterball spell before her, I grinned proudly. "See? It's like twice as efficient!"
She looked at it carefully, then turned her gaze to me. "It doesn't look any different to me. What exactly did you do differently?"
"I just made some changes to the order of the runes, and a few minor tweaks to the one dictating the actual creation of the water." I quickly cast again, pausing the spell shortly before it resolved so she could examine the magic circle.
"Ah, I see. And how did you know to do that?" She asked curiously.
I froze, feeling like a mouse before a cat. "Uh, well…"
"Is this that ability you mentioned before? Does it allow you to see mana?" She asked, eyes widening.
I nodded dumbly, not exactly sure why I felt ashamed. "Something like that." Maybe it was because I was hiding something from her. She had done nothing but help me, yet I couldn't even share the truth.
"If it truly reduces mana consumption, that would be incredible. By any chance, did you figure out a new chant for it?"
"I'm not great at the whole chant thing, to be honest." The way the sounds connected with the mana was completely beyond me, and I had no idea which syllable of the chant to even start with.
"Then why don't you spend a few days at the library? There are a few books on the origin of chant that might help you understand them. Until then, let's keep this a secret between you and me."
"Do you have any recommendations?" I asked hopefully.
"Hmm, not really. It's not something I've taken a particular interest in, but I'm sure the librarians can help you out."
As we talked, a sense of warning filled me, accompanied by a writhing surge of mana. Turning quickly, I stared in shock as a ball of fire crashed toward us, setting the air itself ablaze with its fury.