13 Range Day

Cole turned the pages until he found a suitable spell.

'Vine casket, huh?'

The pages were filled with ink. There was a long description of the spell's capabilities with several sketches drawn near the corresponding words. One showed a single vine that coiled like a snake while most others depicted a mass of vines with no structure. This spell could be molded into virtually anything. If structured properly, it could be a weapon or a trap. Cole imagined there were other uses for it too.

In short, vine casket was a base spell which would expend mana to cause an explosive burst of vine growth. By manipulating the spell's structure, you could change the nature and behavior of the vines. But each form came with inherent dangers and risks. It was an excellent spell for binding creatures, but it was difficult to control, making it liable to entangle allies if they were too close when the spell activated.

It seemed interesting, so Cole turned to the page to where the spell's fundamental circle was drawn. In spell books like this one, the author could prepare to cast a spell, then infuse a small amount of their mana into the circle's ink, allowing them to record the spell's structure.

By placing his own hand on the circle and infusing a small amount of his mana, Cole was able to feel the structure of the spell prepared by the book's author.

This was a very popular learning method among the mages. Some people even structured and recorded massive spells on paper beforehand so they could unleash something complex or unfamiliar in battle without memorizing it. Although casting a spell directly from a spell circle would destroy the medium containing it... In any case, mages could make a lot of money by recording spell scrolls or spell pages despite their one-use nature.

Anyways, Cole preferred to simply study the structure of a contained spell. That way it wouldn't be destroyed so he could study it several times and gradually become more familiar with it. Besides, releasing the vine casket's recorded circle as it was now would probably envelop him in a mass of thorned vines. It would be... an unpleasant experience.

In order to use the spell at all, he would have to modify its structure. A spell's structure determined everything. An excellent example would be the ice shards Cole used in the recent battle.

The first part of that spell's structure involved forming the ice shard itself. It was tricky, but he made it so it would form a thin diamond shape which was sharp enough to penetrate most armors. The next portion of the spell prepared the amount of force used to launch the projectile forward. He had to structure it in a way that would allow the projectile to work with his rifle's barrel without causing too much wear on it. It would be costly if he couldn't make his barrel last, so he spent a lot of time studying how to make suitable projectiles for various kinds of spells.

He relied on his gun to handle the ignition of the spell as well as the spin of the projectile so he mostly just had to aim and shoot.

However, the vine casket spell would be a little more difficult to form.

For starters, he formed the spell to start with a dormant vine projectile. Then as usual, he added the launching force to the spell and wrote down a few potential options which would affect the shape of the dormant projectile.

'A good start. I should test this first.'

The blade caster watched from afar as the marksman put down his spell book and set up a simple metal square target, hanging it on the wall of the cave not too far from the wall of ice crystals. The metal target was something he carried around in his bag all the time. It appeared to be a simple piece of metal, but the marksman had shot it countless times with several different spells, so it must have been made from something special.

After setting the target up on the cave wall, the marksman positioned himself some distance away and laid prone with his rifle ready. He set the spell book open on the ground beside him and wrote a few notes in the margins of the pages. While he did so, the blade caster walked up and stood a little behind him.

The blade caster scratched the back of his head as he approached.

"Mind if I watch? I never really got to study much magic."

The marksman glanced over and saw Aizen, the cloaked knife fanatic of the party.

"Sure, Aiz. I don't mind."

The cloaked blade caster stood there in silence, watching as Cole got back to scribbling notes and ballistics equations within the margins of his spell book. He was glad to watch the marksman practice spellcraft, but he couldn't help feeling slightly annoyed with how he was addressed.

'Why does he have to abbreviate my name? Its only two syllables long...'

After a few minutes of writing, Cole put down the pen and was ready to fire his first test shot. He opened the chamber of the rifle, but didn't load a crystal into it like normal. Instead, he breathed into it. As he did so, a dark cloudy sphere of his own mana formed there. This was for a few reasons. Firstly, his mana attribute didn't match this kind of spell, so it meant that it would be weaker. That was a good thing while performing tests. Besides that, he also didn't want to waste any crystals just to figure out a new spell.

He closed the rifle's chamber, obscuring the black orb of swirling mana and performed the weapon's loading procedure. Then he aimed down the sights, stabilized his breathing and pulled the trigger.

A brown seed was launched from the rifle and flew across the cave before embedding itself in the wall just to the left and down a little from the small square target. However, that's all it did. Yet, this failure was the desired outcome. Cole didn't include the explosive vine growth part of the spell yet, as he wanted to make sure he could form the spell so it would be accurate and dormant until impact. It was not yet complete, as he was testing only the first part until it was perfected.

He made several modifications, writing new notes and firing new rounds a number of times until he was satisfied with the accuracy of the spell. Looking to his side, he saw the blade caster's focused expression. Cole didn't usually say much to anyone, but he was moved by his ally's focused determination to learn, so he decided to step outside his comfort zone and say something.

The marksman wasn't confident enough to look him in the eye while talking, so he kept looking down range while he explained his actions.

"So far, I've been testing and adjusting the first part of the spell. When crafting a new spell, its important to take an iterative approach. You basically make sure the small stuff works properly before you add in the big stuff."

Aizen's face turned to one of shock. This was first time he'd ever heard the marksman speak so much.

"So far I've been testing the shape of the dormant spell, a seed in this case. I had to change it a few times to get something that flies straight. Now that it's sorted out, I can add the active part of the spell. I can usually make the spell active from the start, but this one is designed to be a bit explosive, so I have to either make it a delayed activation or get it to activate on impact."

For the first time ever, Cole and Aizen had an actual conversation. It was mostly just about spell theory, but it was an enjoyable topic for both of them.

Aizen asked questions and Cole answered. He would also explain his spell adjustments between each shot. The metal target rung out each time the seed hit it, signifying a clear hit. Before long, the marksman had a functioning vine casket spell and the square target was wrapped with thin vines. For now it looked weak, but that was just because he had been using his own mana to supply the spell. If he were to load the rifle with a matching crystal instead, the spell's power would increase many times over. With a satisfied nod, he stood up and went to clear the vines from the metal plate so he could retrieve it.

"This one is a bit tricky, but the ice shard spell I use is much simpler, so I can teach it to you later if you're interested."

Aizen was shocked again. He always assumed the taciturn marksman to be a fairly cold guy, but he was offering to tutor him in spellcraft. Such education was extremely expensive and was only taught in a few highly advanced universities. It was a very generous offer.

Needless to say, Aizen gratefully accepted and Cole tucked the small metal plate into his pack before they walked back to camp. Cole quickly reverted to being the silent type once they were around the others again. Perhaps he was just shy.

When the cooking finished, the group sat around the glowing orb and enjoyed dinner together. A couple of the party members were helping the injured ones eat while the rest were either engrossed in devouring their own food or engaged in conversation with each other. However, the blade caster couldn't help but glance over at quiet Cole with curiosity. At the end of the day, he really knew nothing about that guy. He saw him with newfound respect and perhaps even admiration.

The chatter continued while the party enjoyed a carefree meal together.

On the other side of the cave, a small brown vine sprouted from a hole in the wall. It was from that first shot the marksman missed while forming the vine casket spell. What rested in the center of that hole was supposed to be a dormant seed that shouldn't activate, but apparently something went wrong. Little brown tendrils dug into the stone wall as the lone vine gradually crawled upwards.

It was slowly growing towards the glowing ring of runic words that encircled the safe haven.