"What is spell creation?" Nichols said, leaning against the podium. "That question has been pondered for a while. Some people will tell you that spells can't be created. That they are a gift from the gods.
He paused looking at every single student carefully.
"And to that I say bullshit." it wasn't a loud declaration but it still shoke the hearts of everyone present to some extent. What Nichols said was almost heresy.
The man didn't looked bothered though. He continued, stopping his leaning to stand straight as he faced the class.
"Spells are a combination of mana, world energy and will. Mana can be found everywhere. It is a product of the world energy I just spoke about. World energy is the very source of power driving all the activities of the beings on Heavomar. And will… will is up here," the man said tapping his skull slowly.
"Spells are created through the mana on the outside world and the one on the inside combining with the world energy, then breathed into with will."
Nichols lifted a single finger, summoning a single orb of fire above it. The orb illuminated one half of his face, casting a dark shadow on the other half.
"Now, let me ask you all something. Is this a spell? Think carefully before you answer. No points will be deducted but my opinion of you will be greatly lowered." He warned, still maintaining the bright orb of fire.
Amari felt the answer was obvious, right? The man's purpose was trying to throw people off with his previous words, meaning this wasn't a spell. But he kept shut and observed his classmates expressions first.
Most of them looked as confused as he was, some visibly showing their confusion by scratching their heads and chins.
Eventually, it appeared someone grew bold enough to answer the question.
A blonde boy shot out of his seat, raising a hand. "It's not a spell, sir!"
He sounded confident but didn't look as confident. And Nichols didn't answer immediately, not helping matters at all. The professor stared the boy in the eye, so much so that he fell back after a minute or so.
Nichols shook his head, turning his attention away from the boy and then dispelling the ball of fire.
"While I applaud your thinking, I'm afraid that isn't true. This is a spell, albeit a simple Observer-level spell,"
Amari heard clearly audible gasps from Lilia and the others. He felt the same way too.
'Observer-level? How is that even possible? That spell was far more potent than anything I could cast while I was at the Observer level!'
Though this was a slight miswording since two of his classes were still at the Observer level. But this could be disregarded. He found that his mana pool was far greater than Lilia and co while he was at the Observer level, meaning even with his bigger mana pool, all his Observer level spells didn't reach a fourth of Nichols'.
The professor smirked, having achieved his desired effect.
"That is indeed correct. This is an Observer-level spell. Most of you are probably concentrating on the volume and power of the spell. I don't blame you for that but it is easily explained as well.
"Please note that spells are ranked by order of difficulty not power. An Observer level spell in my hands would be enough to kill all of you but even if you all had Greater Spells, they would not scratch a single hair on my body.
"Now, back to the topic of the day. There's a fundamental difference between spells and simple elemental mana manipulation, which you are all familiar with. And that is Will."
Nichols stopped, letting everyone digest the information a bit. It wasn't difficult to understand on a simple level, but even so, it confused Amari.
He raised a hand, interrupting the man's next words.
"Yes, what is it?" Nichols said scrunching his nose up as he looked at Amari from head to toe.
It was that same look he'd given at the beginning of the class. And Amari could bet a decent amount that it was because of his horn-less features.
He ignored the visible prejudice and recited the question he thought of.
"Basic elemental mana manipulation is indeed like you said. But don't we use Will to determine what the mana will turn into?"
It appeared to be a logical contradiction, but Nichols didn't look bothered and the grimace on his face had considerably lessened.
"That is a good question for someone with an initial gap in formal magical knowledge. And yes will is used, but not subconsciously. For a spell to be called a spell, it shouldn't need a lot of thought before it is able to be cast.
How would you feel if you had to constantly think about the shape of the spell you are casting, compared to how you know spells- near instant cast with just a few seconds of delay? That is the difference between the two types of Will.
Nichols paced around the stage unhurriedly, looking at everyone's faces as if observing something.
"And that brings me to the final point of the lesson. Spells have to be meticulously shaped out in the creation stage. Then, a stable model is built in the mind and there becomes a lack of need for thinking. They are activated almost instantly.
So for today's class, I will give you a small assignment. Come up with a spell idea for any element you are comfortable with and I will assess the viability of said ideas. That will be the end of today's class."
. . . .
"Damn, that was the most exciting thirty minutes of my life," Amari muttered to no one in particular as he walked out of the lecture room, but a long list of agreements followed after.
Melchomar in particular looked as excited as him.
"Oh man, I can't believe we're learning how to make spells. We never had that in my village…" His voice was lowered especially in the last part, drowned out by the chatter of the others.
Amari and some others noticed but chose not to say anything.
He shrugged the information away, switching the topic rather quickly. "Well, who else has a free period before the next class? I'm up for some combat practice."
Two hands raised meekly and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. This would be an interesting fight for sure.