Welcome back, everyone! <(｀^´)> "Hmm, breaking the cycle, I see. It's usually me who does the intro." Well, I thought we should mix it up, you know? Keep people on their toes. Also, I wanted to show off this new trick I learned! (^_-)-☆ Helps me express myself better, even though I don't really know what most of these mean. "Hah, cute. But anyway."
The Librarian clasped his hands together with a sharp sound. "Let's get to today's topic: two things that have been mentioned but only one of which has been shown—Ritual and Word magic." It's all on you today, bud ┐('～`;)┌ I don't know nuthin' about either of those. "Yes, yes, this is as much a learning experience for you as it is for the readers."
Still in the field—by now, a familiar setting to you all—The Librarian turned to face a wooden training dummy. "We'll start with Word magic. As its name, given by Ercale, suggests, you manipulate magic—or just reality itself—using only your words. No mana required. Anyone can theoretically do it... but most die trying."
He chuckled lightly, the sound more ominous than reassuring, before a smirk crossed his face. "To give you an example..." He straightened, his voice dropping an octave as he uttered a single, distorted word:
B̴̯̳͛͝͝R̸̯͇̜̱̠̔̅Ë̸̬̫̄̄A̷͇͔̪̱͉͆͘K̶̡̛͙̖̀̾.
The moment the word left his mouth, the wooden dummy tipped forward and fell flat to the ground with a dull thud.... Is that it!?＼(°ロ＼)
The Librarian scratched his head, looking mildly embarrassed with himself. "Probably should have worded that better. I think just saying 'break' broke its function as a practice dummy. It has to stand upright to be useful for training, after all. Guess that's a lesson in itself—Word magic requires precision. Be specific about what you want to do. Go figure."
He shrugged, clearing his throat as if to reset the moment. "Alright, let's try again. Watch closely."
This time, he took a moment to focus, his expression sharpening as he let the next word roll off his tongue, each syllable carrying a weight that seemed to bend the air around him:
S̶̖̲̆̆N̶̩̈́̄̓À̴͇̐P̸̜̟̤̈́̾͌.
The wooden dummy cracked violently, splitting cleanly in half with an audible snap, the force so precise it left the pieces smoking faintly at the edges. (°o°) Okay, that's better.
"There... worked..." Holy crap, what happened to your voice!? "Using... Word... magic... ruins your throat... really... badly," Are you okay? Do we need to end the chapter here? "Give... me... a... moment..."
A soft blue glow pulsed from The Librarian's throat as he closed his eyes, concentrating. After a moment, the glow faded, and his voice returned to normal. "That's better. Wow, I'm no Demon Lord Elbriga, that's for sure." Who's that? (・・? "The Demon Lord who's the best Word magic user there is, hands down."
He rolled his shoulders and cleared his throat again. "Anyway, that's Word magic for you. To use it, you have to hit very specific pitches. And I mean specific—if you're even slightly off, it can be deadly. And even when you get it right, well, you saw what happened. This type of magic was never meant to be used by humanoids. It's dragon magic, through and through. And even they rarely don't use it due to the risks involved."
He rubbed his throat with a faint grimace before continuing. "The power of Word magic lies in how creative you can get with your commands, but honestly? It's just not worth it. The risks far outweigh the rewards. It can kill you so easily... Anyway, let's move on to the next type of magic, which, surprise, can also kill you if you mess up—Ritual!"
The Librarian clapped his hands together with renewed energy, standing tall as if ready to demonstrate. But then he... just stood there. Doing nothing. Uh... aren't you going to show us an example? "What? Did you expect me to perform one? Sorry, but I don't know how to actually do Ritual magic." You don't!? "Nope."
He sighed and snapped his fingers, cleaning up the splintered remains of the wooden dummy he snapped earlier. "Ritual magic requires a level of proficiency I simply don't have. I can gather materials, follow instructions from books, sure. But I don't have the knack for it. So, I'll just explain instead."
He paced slowly, his voice taking on a reverent tone. "With Ritual magic, you can do anything. And I mean anything. There are no limits. It's the only form of magic with truly limitless potential. You can create life. Rewrite reality. Set boundaries for entirely new branches of magic. Grant powers. Turn yourself into a god—or something even higher than that. You can surpass the very concept of divinity, transcending thought, becoming the ultimate manifestation of power. You could rival, no—surpass the Dark Sun itself."
Wow, that sounds... absurdly overpowered. I sense a 'but' coming. "Oh, you'd be right about that."
He folded his arms and gave a slight smirk. "But, there's a catch—several, actually. You need materials for every spell. You need to know the exact verbal commands. You have to draw the correct sigils, arrange them perfectly, and understand every aspect of what you're trying to achieve. If you don't have everything prepared in advance, Ritual magic is completely useless in the moment."
He gestured dramatically as he continued, "But if you're skilled? If you've taken the time to prepare? Then you'll have premade talismans ready to go. These talismans can store any spell you want, as long as you know the sigil to draw on them. In short, given the right time, resources, and knowledge, you can accomplish anything. That's the true power of Ritual magic."
He dusted off his hands, looking satisfied. "And with that, we're done for today. Bye!"