“Acceptable casting speed. Adequate control… You used about half your mana for those few seconds, correct?” she eventually said.
“Close to that, yes.” I acknowledged.
“You have grown quickly. Arguably too quickly. Your biggest problem right now is that your capacity for the spells isn’t matching your talent with them. In truth, we could spend several hours tweaking your style to make marginal gains in your spell casting, but it would not be a good use of our time to do that, for either of us. You would gain more benefit in learning other spells and mastering them while you build up your aether capacity. In that, we have found no better method than to use your mana and meditate. The act of draining and refilling your pool increases its capacity over time. Ideally, in a controlled manner. Emptying too quickly, too often, can have negative consequences, so we generally advise against that. So don’t go over to the Spell forge and drain your whole pool casting that spell repeatedly. It would most likely do more harm than good. You also cast in the other schools? OK, there is nothing more I can offer you at this time. Come back and see me when you can maintain Hail Storm for ten seconds while staying above 50% mana or if you pick up some other Arctic school spells.”
“Thank you,” I said in response to her dismissal, and turned towards the door.
When I was nearly there, she called out, “Aenara, if you are pursuing Magus status, you might find Snowman to be an interesting spell.”
“I’ll look into it. Thank you.” She nodded at me and then went back to her paperwork.
“Yo!” the bubbly voice called out as I entered her classroom. “It’s been… a day? Do you have something to show me, or is this a social call?”
I grinned at the infectiously happy woman sitting on her desk at the front of the room. Her fiery red hair flickered in sync with the various flames around the room. “I’d love to say only a social visit, but I have completed those quests you set me.”
“You have? Awesome. Show me, show me, your beautiful flames!”
I got down to the bottom of the stairs and headed over to stand near her.
“Firebolt first, let’s keep the best for last!” She waved her hand and a floating target made of fire popped up at the other end of the room. I equipped my Inferno staff. She put a hand out and stopped me. “Just you, please, no tools.”
I stored it away and raised my hand. The small pellet burst out from my palm, blitzed across the chamber and into the target, which promptly burst into a ball of flame.
“Nice. Very nice. Good execution, cleanly cast as well. Fireball?” Her eyes were wide, to match her massive, enthusiastic grin. A new target bobbing on the far side of the room, putting us just outside of the range. I lifted my hand and started casting the spell.
“Shouldn’t we do this at the Spell forge?” I asked before finishing the spell.
“Bah, no. I’ll contain your power and this way, no one else gets to witness your progress! Maybe if you were to cast Volcano or Meteor…a rank five spell worthy of showing off more than some wussy Hailstorm spell. Now chop chop with the Fireball!”
I swallowed at the realisation she knew I had cast Hailstorm, and finished casting
“Ahhh, yeah! That hits the spot, just right.” She chef kissed. “No denying it. You have learnt how to cast that one right. Do it again! And I’ll forgive you for getting an Arctic five before an Inferno five.”
The follow-up fireball rattled the windows.
“Solid casting of both those spells. You clearly have been putting in the work, just remember to have fun with it.” She pulled out two slips from her desk. “I’d appreciate it if you picked spells that made that frigid bitch thaw in jealousy!”
“I do have two more Inferno spells,” I said when it felt like she was about to dismiss me.
“You do? And you are only telling me this now? And I almost downgraded you from being my favourite student. Tell me!”
“Burning Touch and Fire Weapon.”
“Rank 1s,” she said, slightly disappointedly. “Ok, use this.” She pulled a basic Battlestaff out of her storage and then offered it to me.
Once I took the staff, she waved her hand and a man made of fire appeared before me.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I took the staff in hand and bounced it a little, getting a feel for the weight. Right, first things first. I cast
“Well…I wasn’t expecting you to combine them like that…Nicely executed, you were already moving before I realised what you were doing. Definitely battlemage thinking, you and old sparkles get along, don’t’cha.” She waved her hand and the target dummy reformed in front of me. “Hit it again without Burning Touch.”
I thrust the Battlestaff end into its face; it snapped back, but only flew into the first row of seats.
“You need more combat experience with those two, some solid foundation work, though. I’m guessing you have mostly been casting from range and haven’t spent as much time with melee spells. Some of the higher-tier inferno spells like being cast in close range. As you discovered, stacking melee enhancement spells can be greater than the sum of their parts, as the spells synergise. Especially so, if they aren’t the one-use variety like Burning Touch. You’re spell modding, right?”
I nodded.
“Your Burning Touch feels similar to Shocking Grasp. I’m assuming the system granted it to your spell book after you successfully cast a modded version. Try following the instructions for the spell from your book and comparing that version with the one you hold in your head right now. Ok, I’m not going to set you a rep count or kill count for those spells. I want you to go away and synergise with them. Get a feel for how the fire burns with them. Come back when you think you can fight with them instinctively, or if you pick up any other spells and want to show off. ”
Not sure why, but I felt the need to ensure my armour set was straight before I knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
I pushed open the door to see the well-dressed head of the Storm school, sitting at his desk, pouring tea into two teacups.
“You left me to last again, Aenara.”
“Saving the best for last,” I replied. I got a raised eyebrow with a wry smile.
“You got Arctic’s version of Hail Storm.” I nodded. “Ours is better.” He indicated I should take the seat opposite him.
‘Simon Claston (The Spark) wishes to transfer a copy of a spell (Storm: Hail Storm) to your book. Do you accept?’
“I have a challenge for you. You have until we finish this pot of tea to learn to cast this spell. Do you accept?”
“Yes,” I said, accepting both the spell and the challenge.
I took a sip of the tea, a little too hot and opened my spell book to look at the new spell.
“You’re the Spark now?” I asked, as I looked at the spell’s hand movements in comparison to the other versions.
“Once you had reported her death, it was inevitable.” His eyes followed my hand motions as I followed the instructions. “The head of the Storm school is usually the Spark or their successor. Same with Arctic’s Shiva and Inferno’s Ifrit. Still not sure why the other two share their names with ancient elemental demigods and Storm’s with one of the first spells most mages learn…” he took another sip of his tea and settled back, observing me.
I gave the spell one more go over and then took the final sip of my tea. I gave a satisfied sigh as I put the cup down. “That is good tea.”
“It is. Sadly, not much left. Hopefully, one of the farmers will be able to grow a suitable replacement before we run out. Importing it from the old world has been one of my few indulgences. Are you confident or would you like some more time?”
“I wouldn't say confident, but I am at the point where I’d be trying the spell regardless.”
“Ha, Excellent.” He stood and indicated I should join him. When I stood up, he snapped his fingers, and I found myself standing at the Spell forge again.
“When can I learn to teleport?” I asked.
“Magus ability, it would be up to the headmaster.”
We approached the staff member in charge of the Spell Forge. “Ahh, Professor, would you mind if my student made use of the facility for an assessment?”
“Not at all, Lord Spark.” He turned to me, “If you wouldn’t mind using the same end as last time, I haven’t had a chance to fully repair the damage yet.”
“Certainly, Professor.”
I moved to stand in one stall at the end again and closed my eyes. I went through the spell one more time and then started casting its parts. I needed to be careful; it was almost identical to the other one, but there were some subtle differences, more than just a shift in the school. The focus was less on the physical manifestation.
I finished casting the spell. Once again, the black clouds formed, the bright flash of the first lightning burst forth, instantly accompanied by the roar of thunder. Then the first sharp bang followed as the small balls of ice started to rain down heavily upon the broken dummies in the area of effect. The spell was different, where Arctic’s blanketed the area, creating a curtain of ice, Storm’s felt more chaotic, the swirls, bringing the hail down in different directions. I kept the spell up for a couple of seconds before letting it go. I watched as the spell unravelled, and the effect died.
“My gratitude, I’ll send Gretchen down to assist with the repairs.” The head of the Storm school told the professor.
“That won't be necessary, it is my honour.”
“No, I insist, it’s the least I can do after one of my students did such damage under my instruction. I’ll suggest we put in the upgrade you have been requesting. I suspect we will have a lot more students reaching this potential in the next few weeks, and it will make for a sound investment. Maybe get the students themselves to acquire the materials.”
“That would be appreciated.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder, snapped his other fingers, and we were back in his classroom.
“Impressive work. Stable, and you maintained it beyond a simple cast and drop. The actual cast could do with some more work, but it’s still impressive for your first attempt at a new spell.”