Part 1
About a week has passed since I had my cold.
With my body strong again, I decided that the first thing I intended to do was show the accommodations to our new resident, as he was not used to going close to houses, but even so he was already a little familiar with some rooms nearby from my room.
"Well, I see you already walked around the house a bit while I was in bed" Directing me to a door in front of me.
"Yes master, the job of a good Slime is to have full recognition of its territory, and as you weren't willing I decided to do that." It seemed like he wanted to brag about his skills.
"In other words you were snooping, hehe! Well, I don't blame him, I would do that myself if I were in a new place. This is where Master and I prepare and eat our meals." I show a large room.
Little Slime entered the room, jumping around and looking at the utensils, but what he liked to see most was where we kept our food supply. I explained that from that day on it would be where we both would eat and that occasionally Master would also go but that was a rare thing to happen.
After introducing the first floor of the house, which includes the kitchen, the master's business area where he conducted his transactions and the entrance to the house, we headed towards the staircase that would take us to the second floor.
"Well, I don't have much to show you here, since this is where we were from the beginning. However, you must already be familiar with my room, plus on this floor we still have four more rooms." I pointed toward the hallway.
"Ah yes, that's where the forest is with big weird trees, the hole with weird sounds and and..."
Being a little confused by his words, I decided to use a little of my imagination.
" - Hmm, forest with big trees? I think he must be talking about the library since it's the only room that would fit this description. Now a hole with strange sounds, I have no idea what it would be."
"Well, I believe you must have entered the Library, and that's why from your point of view the shelves and bookcases looked like big trees. But since I don't know what would fit the other description, I'd better explain. In this corridor, we find my bedroom, the master's bedroom, the library, the office and finally the workshop, WHICH UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU COME NEAR THE WORKSHOP." I emphasize the importance of him never entering this room, since most of the dangerous things are stored there and, moreover, it is where Master Elias spends most of his time carrying out his research and projects.
With the warning given and him understanding the situation, I wouldn't have to explain everything again.
Early afternoon was approaching, so I realized I wouldn't have time to show the other places in detail. Since lunch time was approaching, I decided to leave it for another day, because I also had my tasks to complete.
Part 2
After a few days seeing that I had nothing else to do, I decided to hole up in the library to learn more about the world around me since the master had gone out to look for materials in the forest.
"Little master, why can't we go outside?"
I watch the little slime looking beyond the barrier that protected the house through a window.
"I would love to, but because I disobeyed the master's orders, I received the containment mark as a form of punishment, which prevents me from surpassing the barrier." I said, turning my attention to the book in my hands.
"So this strange mark on you and what doesn't let it out beyond the green area?" He replied, getting closer to where I was.
"Even if I try, I'll probably get hit with a paralysis spell and alert him, which I really don't want, especially given the lectures I'll probably get."
"What is little master doing since he has remained in the same position for quite a while now?"
"I'm reading a book about some spells and enchantments, after I had my experience with Birdeg I don't want to go through the same situation again."
Whenever he had some free time, he liked to browse some books in the library, especially tales related to the ancient eras before the great war, as it was the only way to learn more about the other clans. This also helped me understand its origins.
Depending on the book I read, the language and writing style were different from one to another, which made it a little difficult to understand some sentences.
Sometimes, the master read the contents of the books to me, which made it easier to understand and memorize some words, even though I suspected that he failed to tell me some things.
He, however, thought that it wouldn't be easy for me to memorize everything, so whenever he could he offered me tutoring classes. That didn't bother me, as we spent more time together that way.
Among the book I was reading, there were a few more around me, such as:
"Expeditions in the Lost Lands", A guide to reports and discoveries by explorers who ventured into ancient civilizations.
"Herbs, Fungus and Beasts: A Magical Study", Explaining the hidden wonders of the kingdoms of plants, fungi and creatures, deepening the study of Herbology and magical creatures and the potential that each one provides.
"A Blessing of Spirit and Soul: Eternal Bonds," A fairy tale about two goddesses who shape destiny as they struggle to restore harmony to a parched land, leaving an eternal legacy.
"The Tamer", Tales of a great beast tamer, who studied and cataloged every living creature in Hemera while he was still alive, revealing his tragic end when he tried to dominate a Daemon dweller.
Leaving the last two books aside to read before bed, the others were teaching me a lot, especially the book I was holding in my hands, as it was an excellent manual of spells and incantations, covering the basic to intermediate level.
Reading just a few lines, I could already understand some magical fundamentals.
Firstly, Hemera's magic originated from the gift granted by the Creator after the creation of mana and lines of law, which maintain the balance of the world. This was how he gave rise to the seven primordial crystals.
And how each clan received a crystal, resulting in the origin of certain specific types of magic, thus giving rise to Elemental Magic.
There are therefore seven distinct types. Understanding this complexity was challenging, as each performed multiple functions. The book explained that most spells were developed specifically for clashes in the era of Luphedaemon wars. But even if they used them lightly, it would still be dangerous.
However secondly, in order to use magic, you needed to have mana. In other words, if you possessed mana you could use it.
There were also two ways to use mana:
By extracting it from your body or taking it from something that contains it. Therefore, it could only be done in these two ways.
For a long time, Hemerians used mana only for magic and enchantments, but as generations passed, magic began to be researched and improved, making learning more challenging. As a result, the amount of mana needed for spells increased exceptionally.
So, for those with high mana capabilities, everything was fine, but for those who didn't have them, they couldn't utilize this kind of magic. It was at this time that some sages began to explore ways to extract mana from other resources to meet the requirements of spells.
Thirdly, considering that there are seven types of magic attributes, there are various methods to activate them, but the simplest and most practical ways are through magic formations and incantations. To trigger a spell, one needed to chant a chant or draw a magical formation.
In the past, the use of magical formations was the norm to cast spells, however, with the advent of enchantments, everything became more practical and conventional. In the past, simpler incantations could take anywhere from one to three minutes, which was not excessively long, but still, they were not recommended for prolonged battles. In contrast, once a magic formation was established, it could be activated repeatedly.
History tells us that a certain magician successfully managed to reduce the time spent performing enchantments, establishing a new method. The simplest enchantments now only took about five seconds, making it possible to use basic magical attacks with ease. However, unless the situation was extremely urgent, the more complex spells were still cast using formations.
Lastly, someone's mana was always determined at birth, so simply their destiny as a mage was already set from birth.
"- Hmm, I don't think I have a problem with that. The master informed me that my body has an exceptional capacity to store mana, so much so that to avoid problems, he applied a magical lock to keep its flow stable."
He ended up revealing that the affinity for mana in our bodies is a hereditary trait. So maybe some of my biological parents had a high affinity for magic, but that's something I would never know.
Part 3
As the master hadn't returned yet, I continued leafing through a few more pages of the book until I started trying out some basic magic.
The book presented methods for both incantations and magical formations, so I started with a basic spell attributed to the Felles. I had already seen the master use it a few times, so it wouldn't be that complicated. It seemed that the more complex the spell, the longer the chanting time would be and depending on the incantation, a magical formation would be required to complete it.
It also briefly mentioned that highly skilled mages could cast spells without the need for chanting, but since I was still an apprentice, that wouldn't be possible.
"I believe this should do the trick." I got up from where I was, placed the book on a shelf, stretched out my hand and spoke the words.
"In this merciless world, grant this vorpal soul a divine shard, so that enemies will bow before me - [Blazebound²!]"
I began to feel an intense wave of heat radiating from my hands, as if the flow of mana was intertwining with my blood. In an instant, an intense blue light appeared in front of me, illuminating a small part of the room.
"But, wait, is this color correct? If I remember correctly, master's Blazebounds always resemble ordinary flames." I analyze the incantation and realize that I didn't make a mistake when chanting the spell.
I tried the spell a few more times and it always gave the same result.
"Hmm. I believe that the spell must adapt to each user, so as to date I have only seen the master recite it, perhaps he should visualize Blazebound differently." I considered this to be the most sensible response to the situation.
As the hours passed, I continued training some additional incantations since the magical formations required specific materials that I didn't currently possess. However, what I didn't expect was that the uncontrolled use of so much mana would end up making me faint from exhaustion.
Part 4
When I regained consciousness, I realized that I was no longer in the library, but in my room. The slime explained that, after I passed out on the floor, without any reaction, he feared the worst thinking that I had died, but was soon relieved when he saw that I was still breathing.
"Ow! my head". My head was throbbing with pain and it felt like the room was spinning in addition to my body being sore all over.
"Well, that's what happens when you don't know how to handle mana correctly, your body had to use all its remaining energy on your last spell causing it to collapse."
I tried to direct my gaze towards the voice and despite my dizziness, I realized that Master Elias was sitting next to the door, reading a book while drinking a cup of tea.
"I don't believe I ever explained to you what happens when we use too much mana, right? Even if we can manipulate it, it's still a limited resource. When our bodies can no longer extract mana, we end up using nutrients as a form of compensation, the which in turn can lead to a breakdown." He said as he finished sipping his tea.
"But wouldn't I have realized it when it happened?"
"If you had used all your mana yes, but as I placed the magic lock on your body it limited your enchantments. "That's why when you tried again the magic lock caused your body to use its nutrients."
"- Is that why, even if I used Blazebound, the appearance of the flame was different due to the fact that I wasn't using all my mana?"
I explained the situation to the master, and he still said it was unusual, as the spell generally looked the same to every user he had ever observed. However, as I belonged to the lost clan of the Luphios, it was possible that the magic had a different activation mode for individuals from that clan.
We ended up extending the conversation, and at the end of the night, he finished reading the last two books I planned to read that night.
Part 5
The next day, I continued practicing several times, noticing that with each attempt, my mana capacity could increase, but always remaining aware when I noticed that the spell became more difficult to cast.
"Hah... I think I can do it ten times with this one, if I keep going like this I can multiply the number."
According to what the master explained to me, as we gain more experience with mana, its control becomes easier. At this point, I would only need to focus on gaining skill in reciting incantations and spells.
"- Will I one day be able to perform enchantments without the need to use chants? That would be really cool!"
After completing my thought, I realized that the master was calling me, so I would no longer have time to practice as I had exhausted almost all of my mana that morning.
Part 6
As the weeks went by, I trained all the basic spells in the book to the point where I could cast most of them with ease, but that didn't apply to the intermediate spells, which still required additional effort.
The book stated that there were seven classifications of magical learning: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Legendary, Arcane, and Primordial.
Thus, only mages with ordinary studies could improve their skills to the advanced level, while those who did not have adequate preparation were able to cast spells at the intermediate level. When someone surpassed the advanced classification, they gained the title of Master, and so on, making them unique beings.
Eager to learn more, I asked Master Elias to show me master-level spells, but he scolded me, explaining that it would be impossible, since spells of this power could cause the destruction of the entire area of the house.
He explained that spells of such magnitude were generally reserved for battles, especially direct attacks. However, if I wanted to know how one of them worked, all I had to do was look at the barrier that surrounded the house, a master-level spell that prevented invaders and magical creatures from crossing it without his permission.
I asked him if I could one day reach his level, and he stated that with the proper training, I could even surpass him. But I think he was making fun of me.
Notes:
1 - Luphedaemons: A war triggered by the alliance of the Luphios, Felles and Selestinos clans against the forces of the Daemons and Draconis.
2- Blazebound: Basic level spell attributed to the Felles clan, similar to a small flame used to light lamps, bonfires and sometimes used in combat.