9 — Learning Magic

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Jennifer flipped through a thick leatherbound, studying the chronomancy spell matrices that she saw within the book. It had been almost a couple of days since she’d started her training with Viel, and Jennifer had started to frequent the guild library during the period. It was still odd, how she had gotten used to associating with Ranked and Gold plate members.

The time after her training had been spent studying glass magic, and more importantly, her Mark. Jennifer had prodded and poked at her ability, and description, anything that she could find that may give her more information about her Mark, but so far, she’d found little. The search had eventually turned outwards, for time magic and related fields and while there were hypotheses and postulates but so far, she’d found no chronomancy spells that she could use. After a few minutes of silent reading. Jennifer sighed, putting the book to the side amongst the pile of the dozen books that came before it.

“Why’s there no records on chronomancy?” Jennifer muttered out loud as she looked at the stack of books next to her in disappointment. Today had been the day when she’d finally get to train her magic with Nathaniel and she’d decided to use the time before her training with Nathaniel today, to look into glass affinity.

The study of glass magic, or Hyalomancy, as she’d come to know the magic was called, had shown her some extremely interesting facts and tidbits that she’d never known about. For example, the existence of soul glass, and how glass was one of the best methods to capture and store a soul in, being used prominently in some forms of hybrid golems of the extremely forbidden kind. It was also a rare type of affinity that came with many variations between each manifestation of it.

Some of which come from sand magic. Perhaps the Mark of Drought had something to do with the awakening of my affinity.

The idea that the man who’d killed her, and attacked her city may have left a permanent mark on her magic and soul left Jennifer conflicted.

Jennifer moved on from the thought, as she began to recall what she’d read up on glass magic. So far, the details seemed to mention two critical branches of [Glass Mages]. Creation mages, and alteration mages.

Creation mages were capable of creating glass and controlling them but they were restricted to the glass they formed. Alteration mages relied on existing glass around them but had a lot more versatility in what they could control and could rely on their environments. She had assumed she had been a creation mage, as she’d freely been able to form glass shards, but a few tests had shown she possessed the abilities of both, with her creation abilities dominating.

She sorted the books next to her and began to return them to their shelves. The library on this upper section usually tended to be empty, with magical wards and such protecting the books inside.

There was likely someone in charge of the library as well, or perhaps it was purely spells and wards that kept the books safe. Jennifer didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to complain. She’d started to find this to be the place she frequented the most within the guild. A mostly empty place to herself, surrounded by hundreds of books on magic to read? She couldn’t have dreamt of a better place to be in all the time.

With the last of the books sorted and placed into their respective shelves, Jennifer quickly headed out of the library, the doors opening on  their own before her, and closing shut as she walked out. The library was adjacent to where the [Mages] remained in the guild, and as such, Jennifer idly glanced at the people wearing the typical mage robes.

What surprised her the most, were the number of non-human mages walking around. A plenty of harpies, lizardfolks, some dwarfs and more than a few of elven blood walked around. Lienmont saw its fair share of non-humans within the city itself, but even so the city itself was primarily human. To see the diversity among the mages was something that took Jenn by surprise.

She glanced around the guild, having mostly gotten used to being in the premise as she made her way back to the training facility. It was about time for her training with Nathaniel to begin. Jennifer walked into the training hall, past the wards present in its chamber doors as she entered. The sight within made her freeze in her steps.

“Welcome! Don’t mind the constructs, they’re harmless,” Nathaniel said, his hands gesturing slightly as humanoid golems of earth rose from the ground, forming a little platoon. One of them even wore a little mud crown.

Nathaniel caught her look, smiling. “Ah, that one. That’s Jack. He sits around and watches everyone else train. Say hello Jack,” Nathaniel said, as the golem- Jack - waved at her.

Jennifer stared at Nathaniel’s grinning face before she stepped in and headed towards one of the golems. “What are these?”

“Mud golems. Or earth golems, more accurately, but not quite. They’re a simplified earth construct that I’ve made to run autonomously based on a pre-inscribed spell matrix worked upon them. In essence, these will be your training partners and how I’ll be testing your capabilities,” Nathaniel said, turning towards her with a wide smile.

Jennifer eyed the five golems standing around her, they held no ears or facial features but eyes had been carved into the earth giving them an odd creepy look. Little crystals of blue were set in their chests, likely the mana core used to power them as they kept on staring at her silently. She turned towards Nathaniel, a lot more hesitant about this whole thing than before.

“Let’s start then. I doubt you need to be told of the basic principles, but just for formality’s sake, do you mind showing me your manifestation and spell shaping exercises?”

Nodding, Jennifer extended her hand as a ball of light appeared over her hand. She changed the color of the light, swiftly going through them one at a time. Then without any prompt from Nathaniel Jennifer changed the spherical light source into a floating leaf of light. She held the light leaf afloat, struggling to hold onto the much more complicated interaction with her spell matrix.

“Not bad, better than average actually,” Nathaniel replied, and Jennifer felt a slight hint of disappointment. She wasn’t arrogant enough to think she was amazing at her spell shaping and manipulation but it was a field she took pride in, hearing her being called merely better than average stung her.

“Alright, let’s move on to something-”

“Actually,” Jennifer interrupted. “I have one more thing to show.” She extended her hand once more, forming a simple light ball, but instead of simply converting the spell, she let it split apart. A single light turned to two, and then four, and soon, a swarm of floating light dust particles shimmered above her hand. Jennifer held onto the spell matrix, focusing on the chained spell before she began to turn each singular mote of light into a glowing leaf.

Golden sparkling leaves swirled around Jennifer’s hand as she tried to spell together, and began to swirl it around her body in a beautiful display of light magic. She turned towards Nathaniel expectantly.

A frown covered Nathaniel’s face, his smile nowhere to be seen. “Make it change colors. Each leaf should be a different one.”

Jennifer stared in confusion for a moment, before obeying. She frowned, now pushing her limits of mental capacity as she focused on each individual leaf, changing the color of the light as she floated them all atop her hand.

“Make the leaves flutter as if they were real,” Nathaniel asked, his voice even.

Jennifer felt her frustration mounting. She tried to manipulate the leaves but the spell matrix fell apart, fading into motes of mana as she failed to hold it all together. She turned up to stare at Nathaniel, and found his expression contemplative.

“You’re good, better than most first years. In fact, I’d put you closer to a second year in terms of pure shaping and manifestation skills,” Nathaniel said, his smile returning but Jennifer couldn’t help but feel as if it was forced, as if he’d been expecting something more.

“Can you show me? The leaves?” she asked, looking at the mage.

Nathaniel looked at her silently for a moment. The mage turned, extending his hand, as a light ball appeared in his hand. With an unseen wind, the ball of light scattered into fluttering leaves that floated all around the mage. The leaves flew towards Jennifer, changing colors seemingly through red and yellow and blue and so many others as they twirled and fluttered as if being carried on a swirling wind.

She stared in awe, extending her hand to touch the leaf and it scattered apart into motes of light from her touch. For a moment, she’d forgotten they were not real. With a sudden snap, the spell blinked out of existence.

“Let’s move on to the training now, shall we?” Nathaniel said.

Jennifer looked up at the mage and returned a nod, yet her mind kept returning to the display. It had been executed perfectly, with no flaw or disarray, without even a gesture to help with casting. How many years would it take her to get that good? How long would she have to practice to be able to execute something like that so flawlessly?

She found her mind drifting towards her Mark, the number of integrity coming to her mind. She couldn’t be sure, but if the Mark worked like she thought it did? In the impossible scenario that her thoughts had been right? Then, she had ten years to catch up to the man in front of her.

“I think I have a basic grasp of your abilities,” Nathaniel said, and Jennifer brought her attention back to the mage. “You seem to have a preference for wind based abilities from what I can see. Interesting, and not a bad combination with glass affinity all things considered.”

Jennifer stared at him in surprise. Appraisal spell of some sort, has to be.

“Very well. I have a question for you Jennifer, do you know what your biggest weakness is right now?”

Jennifer gave the question some thought, before responding. “I don’t have nearly enough attack spells. I don’t have a [Mage] class, so I lack combat skills, and I can only use spells up to Tier 2.”

Nathaniel nodded. “Partially correct. The [Mage] class would certainly lend itself to combat, I agree, and if you wish, we can work towards getting you a [Mage] base class evolution, seeing how you’re close to level 20, but. The problem isn’t just your lack of spells, it’s your mana pool, or the lack thereof.”

Jennifer frowned at the man. Her mana sensitivity was quite high, due to her enchanting work, but the size of her mana pool wasn’t something she could control.

“I can tell what you’re thinking. Yes, normally, there’s no real way to increase these issues outside of plain old practice, and leveling till you either get a skill for it or naturally increase your mana pool,” Nathaniel smirked. “Thankfully for you, we’re opting to choose a faster option.”

With a flicker of mana, a diamond shaped and carved glass vial filled with a deep purple liquid appeared in Nathaniel’s hand. “This is a potion of Greater Mana Recovery. It cannot increase your mana pool, but it will greatly help with the process. Take a seat.”

Jennifer stared at the vial. She had no estimation how expensive that vial was, and she was afraid of what she'd hear if she asked. She looked around her, before shrugging as she sat down on the floor.

“What I’m going to be teaching you is a technique I developed on my own. It’s a mana circulation method, and a spell matrix chain. Normally, each incantation invoked needs to be done separately, one at a time. But with this, you’ll be able to stack multiple spells together. Or, if you have enough proficiency, then use more than one spell together like this.”

Mana weaved in mesmerizing patterns as fire blazed around Nathaniels’ hand, expanding till a transparent blade of mana hovered around his palm, waiting to be released. The crystalline blade soon shattered into shimmering particles that swirled all around him as they vanished.

[Enhanced Mana Sense] worked at overdrive, in tandem with her [Lesser Arcane Analysis] and Jennifer felt her head spinning as she tried to grasp the multiple complexly layered spells being used all at once. She gulped, looking up at Nathaniel with wide eyes.

“You have glass mana as well?” Jennifer asked. The blade had definitely been glass, she had felt her mana reacting to it.

Nathaniel smiled as he looked at her. “I do have multiple affinities, but glass is not one of them. But you forget that affinities are just a guiding hand, your mana’s preferred form if you will. My glass spells may not be as strong as yours but that doesn’t mean I can’t perform them.”

Jennifer stared at the man, before a few things began to sort themselves out in her mind. This man, probably still in his twenties, was part of a Ranked adventurer team. His appearance and demeanor had let her treat him casually, making her forget just how absurdly skill he’d need to be, to get to his position. This was possibly even greater than the education she may have received in the academy, and she had no intention to let it go to waste.

“If I may ask, what is your affinity- or umm, affinities?”

“I have Fire, Earth, and Metal affinity. It’s a weird combination, I know,” Nathaniel replied offhandedly and Jennifer felt her breath get stuck in her chest.

Dual affinities were rare as it was. Three? Almost unheard of.

“Now, let’s get to it alright? We’ll channel your mana internally and then strain your pathways just enough that the recovery would reinforce them further and increase their capacity. Ideally this is something we’d do over two or three months for best effects but I’m afraid we won’t have the time. Anyway, focus on the way I channel my mana, and try to emulate the same pattern.”

Jennifer closed her eyes, focusing her senses as she started to mimic Nathaniel’s spell formation. Mana rolled in his core in an odd pulsating rhythm. Her mana channels strained as she tried to emulate the same pattern and each movement of mana felt like she was walking uphill with her hands tied behind her back. Jennifer inadvertently felt her control slip.

“It’s alright. Keep going,” Nathaniel said, continuing to channel his mana.

Jennifer nodded, she engaged her [Enhanced Mana Sense] and began to channel. Mana roiled in her core, mixing around on it’s own. She felt the change in her mana as her glass affinity had blossomed. It felt slower, denser, with her spell matrixes straining to properly allow the flow of her mana.

She let the mana flow into her channels, each pathway connecting to the next as it all flowed towards her hand. Waiting to be applied into the appropriate spell matrix, and released.

“Good, let it stay. That is one spell ready. Now put another on top of it.”

Jennifer continued to pull on her mana, as her channels strained under the dual load of mana flowing through them. She pushed against the discomfort, as her mana channeled once more, beads of sweat dripped down her forehead, as her chest tensed. Each motion of her mana felt like carrying a mountain side with a boulder on her back, but she pushed, letting the mana flow as it formed another spell slot in her hands. That was spell number two.

“Good, you’re catching this faster than I’d expected. Alright, now drink the potion, and layer it once more.”

Jennifer almost had lost control of both her spells, as she struggled to believe what she’d heard. Her mana channels buckled under the strain of the flow of her mana, and her core tensed within her body.

“It may seem harsh Jennifer, but if you truly wish to survive what’s to come, you need to be a lot stronger than this, and fast. And I trust that you can do it,” Nathaniel said, in a calm and measured voice, almost as if reciting the words to himself.

Jennifer nodded lightly, afraid to open her eyes, lest she lose control of her mana. She felt the potion Nathaniel put in her hand as she lifted the vial up to her lips and began to drink.

Mana exploded in her channels, brimming with power. Her core filled itself within seconds, overflowing as the mana continued to pour through her. Her channels felt like they had been set on fire, as they stretched under the mana pouring through them, and Jennifer felt as if a sun had opened up at her core.

“Don’t let it go rampant. Focus, and stay calm. You are in control. Circulate the mana in your core, and channel it into the spell. You are in control Jennifer. Make the mana obey your will.”

Nathaniel’s voice played through Jennifer’s head, as she struggled to gain rein of the roaring tide of mana that poured through her.

I can do this. I’m in control.

Mana pulsed within her core. Flowing through her channels as Jennifer felt her mind stretching. Her hands began to shake, as sweat poured down her back. Jennifer felt her muscles tighten, as she strained her will, to follow the mana.

[Lesser Arcane Analysis] pulsed within her mind, as the trick that she’d picked up in the sewers came to her. She latched on to the idea, looping the mana in a single section. Her mana rotated, each loop representing one spell, and Jennifer guided the flow. Like a river meeting the ocean, her mana snapped into place, melding together as her spells chained into one another.

She had done it.

“Now. This is the critical step. Form your Wind Blade, but form it with glass. Your mana’s nature is glass, and it wants to take the form of its nature. Let the mana take the form it wishes to, and follow the path it shows.”

Jennifer nodded, exhaling as she focused on the spell. Slowly she poured her glass mana into the matrix. Her glass mana stirred, denser than her normal untinged mana and she coaxed it into forming the wind blade, filling the spell with the far denser glass mana. The spell started to distort, twisting under the different density of mana and she frowned, struggling to hold it’s shape.

Mana swirled in her core, more and more pouring forth as her pathways seemed to set themselves on fire. Power pulsed, restrained, and waiting to burst out, and each passing moment had Jennifer clenching her teeth under the increased stress of keeping all the mana under her control.

Jennifer pushed her core, pushed against the mana, strained and she felt her Mark pulse in response. Like a gear being slid into its place, something shifted within her spell. The mana rushed through her spell matrix, pouring forth as it burst from her hands. She struggled not to scream as all of it poured out in a rush, a storm of mana brewing around her, before exploding outwards all at once.

She felt arms grab her as she tumbled, her mind drifting from exhaustion. A strange liquid filled, as she felt the touch of glass on her mouth. Her consciousness began to snap back in place and Jennifer opened her eyes to see Nathaniel smiling at her.

“You did it Jennifer. Look,” Nathaniel said, as Jennifer turned her head.

A large gash carried itself across the ground, soaking with glass affinity mana. Jennifer stared at the cut through the tiled ground, the damage already being repaired by the wards and her eyes widened in surprise.

“I- my spell did that?”

“Definitely wasn’t me,” Nathaniel replied, grinning.

Jennifer continued to stare blankly, still not sure she could believe her eyes.

“Use your [Arcane Analysis] to inspect your spell. It’s pretty nifty. You can get system prompts from the skill if you focus,” Nathaniel said, and Jennifer activated her skill, focusing on her just formed spell.

Glass Blade
Attack/Glass
Tier - 2
Launch a sharp and devastating glass blade to cut through multiple distant foes.

Jennifer stared at the system prompt blankly, which only served to confirm her suspicions.

“Your mana pool was under stress, causing it to expand as well. Keep on using my mana circulation method, and it should grow naturally. Congrats, you’re firmly a Tier-2 mage now. You’re not ready for tier 3 spells yet, but it shouldn’t take too long to get there. For now, we’ll continue practicing with glass affinity versions of your spells. I’ll try and find some suitable glass ones for you as well,” Nathaniel said, grasping her hand as he pulled her up.

“Now, are you ready for another round? We’ll try to stack multiple mana bolts together this time,” Nathaniel asked with a smile, and Jennifer found her heart pumping in excitement, her lips curving up in a smile, matching his.

“Sera take me, yes!” Jennifer replied, as her heart thundered with excitement. For just a moment, she let herself forget the nightmares she’d seen, as she was consumed by the joy of learning new magic.

***

Wind burst in a frenzy around Jennifer as a fist of earth and dirt threatened to smash into her face. She whipped around, dodging the mud golem chasing her as shots of earth launched towards her from the spells engraved on its arms.

“Elphion damn you, just die already!” Jennifer shouted, as her mana poured through her mana pathways, she weaved two mana bolts together, launching the spell at the golem. The bolts shot towards the golem, hitting the mana stone engraved at its chest. The spell matrix of the golem flickered for a moment, but it soon refocused at her and shot towards her with alarming speed.

Jennifer’s heart thundered, as she panted, frustration mounting at the sturdy golem eating through all her spells with barely a shrug. She clenched her teeth as she began to weave another spell together.

Wind rushed around her in a frenzy, sharp air currents mixing with glass that threatened to rip her clothes if she lost control. Jennifer stood still as the golem rushed towards her and the mana continued to build. A shimmering blade formed around her hand, shooting off with a howling screech as it launched at the golem.

The Glass Blade crashed into the golem, cracking its surface as it ate into its body, shattering the mana stone powering it. The golem halted in its moments, the mana keeping the earth together dissipating as it crumbled. Jennifer turned to the side to look at Jack standing silently as he watched the fight. She had a feeling that the golem was analyzing her. The last fight, her spells had been predicted and countered by the golems and she’d been forced to improvise on the spot.

“Seven minutes, and fifty four seconds. Not bad honestly,” Nathaniel said with a smile, as a towel appeared in his hand out of thin air.

Jennifer stared at him silently, before she nodded, accepting the towel as she wiped her sweat away. She used her [Lesser Arcane Analysis] to bring up the system prompt for the spells she’d been taught.

Glass Eye
Glass/Divination

Tier-1

Form an eye of glass which can share it’s senses with the caster and serve as a scouting option.

Jennifer hadn’t been extremely sure at the utility of this spell, but she suspected it wouldn’t hurt to learn it. She could think of its uses, especially in avoiding ambushes.

Reflection

Glass

Tier-2

Reflect an oncoming spell back at the opponent from a suitable glass surface. Spells of a higher tier require exponentially more mana to reflect.

The spell had been an interesting choice as it’d allow her a lot of versatility in combat with any other [Mages].

Glass Storm
Area/Glass

Tier - 2
Create and launch a storm of slashing glass shards that can cut and slash through creatures, launching them away from the caster.

The spell was a wide area attack that summoned a storm of swirling glass shards around her. It may surpass her Glass Blade spell in sheer strength, if she managed to learn it. But the part that truly excited her was being able to multi-cast the spell with Glass Blade.

Nathaniel’s spell casting, as he’d demonstrated to Jennifer, allowed him to combine and use multiple spells together in complex compound spell matrix chains. Jennifer felt her heart leaping at the thought of casting a swirling storm of glass shards all deflecting any spells flung her way. She was already hoping to combine her Mana bolt, and its glass version, Glass bolt, with the Glass storm spell to allow a more complex glass storm spell that exploded upon impact.

Jennifer felt surprised how quickly she’d adjusted to regularly casting Tier-2 spells now. She’d been told to expect some variant of a [Mage] class to unlock itself for her soon, but so far, she hadn’t gotten any. A part of her was still unsure if she wanted to pick a [Mage] class, even if she got one.

“I think you’ll manage to qualify for an Iron plate in a week or two. Though we may have to step it up a bit. I’d prefer if you could pass off as low bronze by the end of the month,” Nathaniel said, scratching his chin.

The gate slammed open as Jennifer turned around in alarm, her spells ready to be fired. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Anghul looking in. Her mind caught up to the thought a moment later, as her worry intensified. The sudden demon attack she’d been scared of might’ve been easier to deal with.

“Nat, the guild head is calling you,” Anghul said, eyeing Jennifer briefly before she walked back out.

“We’ll have to leave today’s training there, feel free to set up the golems for training if you ever want to. I’ve registered your mana signature in there,” Nathaniel said, smiling.

Jennifer bowed her head respectfully. “Thank you for teaching me so much,” she said, and Nathaniel smiled.

“Don’t worry about it, and if anything I should be thanking you. I’ve always hated the idea of teaching but this turned out to be surprisingly fun. Remember to use my mana channeling technique for your mana pool whenever you can, and practice the spell matrices. We’ll work on their application in a few days,” the mage said.

Jennifer nodded in reply. She’d already made plans to work the technique as much as she could. Mana pool was one of the things that she suspected would also travel back in time with her, if the time reset ability worked in the way she suspected it did.

“I’ll head out then. See you around Jennifer,” Nathaniel said with a wink, walking out.

Jennifer watched the mage headout, before soon packing up herself and making her way back towards her home. The dark sky up ahead gave her a pause as she realized just how long she’d been casting and practicing spells for.

I must’ve used my mana pool almost ten times over. Maybe more. This has to be the most spellcasting I’ve ever had the chance to do in my life.

A smile crept upon her face at the thought. There was always going to be an advantage for children whose families could afford facilities like this. It was part of what made getting into the Academy so difficult for someone without that kind of money or connection. Simply being able to cast twice as much as the other person due to a mana potion was bound to give results no matter what.

The lack of resources Jennifer had had was part of what had gained her the [Resourceful Enchanter] class when she’d reached level 10. Her mind went to her Mark, and she pulled up the ability portion once more.

Abilities: Time Reset

Resets: 1

Returns the chosen to the soul anchor set in the stream of time at the cost of Integrity.

Jennifer read the description once more, for what must’ve been the tenth time. There’s no mention that I can only do this when I die. Maybe if I can find some way to go back in time when I want… if I can train with Nathaniel over and over, I wonder just how much I’ll be able to learn.

She put the thought away for now. There was no good way to test the hypothesis and she’d already spent hours trying to trigger another reset, even shouting out the words reset a couple of times when nothing else had worked. Which only left the one way she’d been sent back in time for the first time around, and she wasn’t ready to take her own life for an experiment.

Walking back home, Jennifer quietly slipped through the doors and made her way upstairs. It wasn’t too unusual for her to be late from her Master’s workshop, but she usually told her parents when she would be and Jennifer didn’t feel like explaining why she forgot to do that today.

She made her way to her room, and then slunk down onto her bed, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt her body melting away. She stared at the ceiling, feeling her thoughts fade when her mind drifted back to the beautiful leaves of light that Nathaniel had shown to her.

Jennifer extended her hand, trying to summon and form some but found her control slipping once more. She got up from the bed, sitting upright as she focused, trying once more. A single leaf floated atop her hand, glowing, yet it didn’t move in the wind in seemingly random ways. There was no sense of reality to its motion.

Frustrated, she gave up the exercise as she slunk back onto her bed. This is pointless. Moving that many leaves erratically and changing colors on top while swirling them around. It’s far too complicated. There would be no real usage for this and it seems like a major hassle, probably why Nathaniel didn’t try to teach it to me.

Jennifer continued to stare at the ceiling of her room silently, as time slipped by.

This is stupid. I’ll probably be better off just practicing my glass spells. No one needs their shaping and manifestation skills to be that good.

Another minute of silence had a groan of frustration escaping her mouth as she pulled herself up. Walking over to her desk she took a seat.

With silent concentration, she summoned another light ball and began to practice.

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