The Basics

29th of Kraal, year 991

"Can you cast the spell faster?" Magra asked.

They were at the back of the house where no one could see them as they studied magic with the help of one of the books in Blink's possession.

"Yes, Namgan," Blink replied.

The spell they were studying was [[Magic Arrow]]. It was a low-cost, low damage spell. However, it always hit its target and could not be dodged, blocked or redirected. It had a way of disappearing into a void and jumping around any form of defense all the while homing in on the target. Most importantly, it could be cast instantly, thus making it impossible to interrupt.

A Tier 0 spell, [[Magic Arrow]] wasn't even an arrow but a semi-transparent energy sphere. It was one of those spells that could be cast regardless of the wizard's affinity without any penalties such as additional mana consumption or reduced damage. A spell caster with a fire affinity like Blink, for instance, would require twice the usual mana when casting a water-based spell, and even then could only hope to gain half the expected damage. This was how penalties worked.

Blink liked [[Magic Arrow]] a lot. He could cast it in an instant and it wouldn't even take a second to replenish the mana it consumed.

From the book "Theoretical Foundations of Magic" Blink had also learned through Magra that the cloudy translucent substance in his soul was called mana. Mana was what allowed a wizard to cast most spells.

The number of times a wizard could cast a certain spell depended largely on the size of his mana pool, which also depended on the size of his mana storage. The book recorded that there were three known types of mana storage: a mana core located in the solar plexus, a halo located above the head, and the soul which covers the entire body. A magician could only have one type of storage.

Each type of storage had their own advantages and disadvantages. Those who stored mana through their souls had the biggest storage and therefore the most amount of mana, but the quality of their mana was inferior to the others. However, they would surely shine in combat in the later stages of their development when the quality of their mana shall have caught up to those with halos and mana cores.

As for those whose mana were stored in their halo, they only had a slightly superior mana to those who stored theirs in their soul. However, the synchronization of their mana and mental energy tended to be somewhat more advanced than others. This allowed them to cast spells a bit faster than other magicians. In a fight between magicians of equal rank the slightest advantage could easily become the difference between victory and defeat, between life and death.

Those with mana cores had the best quality of mana, and their spells were consequently more powerful than magicians with other mana storage types. However, they had the most limited amount of mana and had the least development potential. They would most likely lord it over other wizards of the same level as official wizards at the initial to intermediate stages but would be at the mercy of a wizard with a soul storage once they reached the peak stage prior to advancement to Grand Wizard.

The book, however, clarified that these were more conjecture than reality. The author, Master Thomas Renly, pointed out that there were more variables to a fight between two wizards other than quality and volume of mana. The book cited instances when a wizard with a higher attainment in magic lost in a duel against another wizard with mediocre attainments. While mentioning several other factors, Master Thomas concluded that an advantage meant nothing more than holding the longer stick.

The book was a real treasure for Blink, and he was glad that his Namgan Magra decided to help him to understand its content.

Magra explained to Blink that the book was difficult for him to understand because it was written more than 200 years ago. Then, it was very fashionable to write in long sentences with a lot of fancy turns-of-phrase. A lot of the words were also either obsolete or had undergone several modifications in meaning, such that the original meaning was already lost from disuse. In short, it would have been impossible for someone like Blink, who hated books, to understand the contents of the book.

From the book Blink had learned that there were five steps to casting spells. The first step was to mentally construct the spell structure. The second step was to sense and gather the needed elemental energy in the surroundings. The third step was to infuse mana into the spell structure, and the mana would then mix with the elemental energy, allowing the spell to take form. Then, the magician would release the spell using mental energy. Finally, the magician would use mental energy to propel and control the spell towards its target.

Apparently, at the time of the book's writing, researches were being conducted to simplify the spellcasting process in order to reduce the time needed to cast spells.

Another important lesson Blink learned was that some elemental spells were naturally easier and much faster to cast than others. Earth spells such as [[Earth Spike]] could be cast almost instantaneously because earth elements were abundant almost everywhere. The immediate environment also made a difference: casting water-based spells would be a breeze beside a lake or river, for instance. Lastly, but most importantly, the spellcaster's elemental affinity improved the casting efficiency for spells of an elemental to which the spellcaster has an affinity. This was why it was very important for acolytes to be tested first on their elemental magic affinity.

[[Magic Arrow]] could be cast instantly because there was no need for the caster to sense and gather for a particular elemental energy. Any of the eight known elemental energy types—earth, water, fire, wind, wood, lightning, light and darkness—would do. It could even allow for a mixture of the elements. Another reason for this was that while almost every Tier 0 spell structure had four runes, [[Magic Arrow]] only had three.

Since the book was about the basics of magic casting, there was a chapter dedicated to rune formation, of course.

According to Master Thomas the four runic symbols making up the rune formation in Tier 0 spell structures ensured the stability of the spell from the casting to the moment of impact. The formation also guaranteed that the spell attained the intended effect.

The first rune screened the elemental energy before it was infused into the spell structure together with mana.

The second rune would stabilize the spell structure, keeping its form intact until it had attained its purpose.

As for the third rune, its main function was to attain the desired effect. There were runic symbols for explosion as there were runes for freezing, spinning, piercing and all other effects. Higher tier spells which require complex effects would therefore require more runes added to the formation.

The fourth runic symbol was basically related to movement. Whether a fireball flew along a straight line or an arc depended upon this rune. Some basic spells came down from the sky; some popped out of the ground; some spread out; and some converged towards one point.

Mentally creating the runes and placing them on their designated spots around the spell structure was difficult enough. Manipulating all four runes at the same time required lengthy training and preparation for wizard acolytes before they were even able to make all four runes move in perfect synergy around the spell structure. The greatest challenge to a spellcaster was keeping the highly reactive runes in their correct spots as they moved around. Thus, it required tremendous concentration for beginners just to keep the runes in place.

It was not unusual for beginner acolytes to fail hundreds of times before they could even begin to keep the runes in place in order to activate the spell. The one who was unusual would be Blink. He had managed to activate the formation on the fourth try!

[[Magic Arrow]] could be cast in an instant because it did not require screening for a particular elemental. The spell structure utilized whatever available elemental energy in the immediate surrounding. It could even mix two or more types of elemental energy.

Blink tried to cast the spell once more. This time he was able to release it at half the time it took the first time he cast it. He cast [[Magic Arrow]] ten more times and was able to establish a casting rate of four [[Magic Arrow]] every three seconds.

His [[Flame Shot]] was still much faster at a rate of two per second. Of course it was to be expected as he obviously had a strong affinity for fire. Then there's the fact that [[Flame Shot]] required only two runic symbols as well—one for effect and one for flight. Other than that, he didn't need to construct nor control the runes when forming the spell structure. The runic symbols simply constructed themselves and took their designated spot like obedient children.

Blink could also perform a [[Barrage]] or quick successive shots with [[Flame Shot]], which he could not hope to do with [[Magic Arrow]].

Despite all that, it did not mean that Blink would rather use [[Flame Shot]] instead of [[Magic Arrow]] all the time. There would be certain situations when the latter would be more practical such as when fighting close to a river, which would reduce the damage of all fire-based spells. [[Magic Arrow]] also consumes half the mana needed for a [[Flame Shot]].

With this handy new spell, Blink had the leeway to revise battle tactics against the monster in the evening.

Previously, he would fire a three-shot [[Barrage]] twice then wait for the moment the monster would pull its head back, the sign that it was about to launch its fiery breath. As soon as Blink saw it, he would shoot twice to the monster's eyes, effectively interrupting the monster's skill.

Despite the precarious lapses of the previous battle, Blink had been highly successful with this strategy.

Blink figured that after the first [[Barrage]], he could switch to [[Magic Arrow]] for about three breaths before he had to interrupt the monster's lone magic skill. This would lower the drain rate of his mana and allow him to grind the monster some more.

Now, if he could also add [[Earth Spike]] to his arsenal, those dangerous mishaps that almost got him killed twice would be nothing to worry about.

With that thought, Blink simulated the sequence for about twenty times before going over the instructions on casting [[Earth Spike]].

There were multiple challenges to casting [[Earth Spike]].

The first difficulty was that the spell structure had to be constructed on the spot where the piercing spike was supposed to protrude from the ground. This means that Blink had to send out his mana at a certain distance for the spell to materialize.

Another challenge was that the longer the spike, the more mana it required. Moreover, a longer spike would take more time to materialize. Thus, a spellcaster usually had to decide on whether he had enough time for a longer spike or to settle for a shorter one that would just barely get the job done, if at all.

But the greatest challenge to [[Earth Spike]] casting would always be the variables presented by the opponent. Because of the destructive force of a wizard's spell, no opponent would dare remain stationary nor move slowly when facing one. For non-magic casters, their best hope against a spellcaster would be to close in and force a melee battle. Ideally, the opponent should walk straight into the pointed tip of the spike as they charged in. However, grasping the timing to do just that under the pressure of a fast-paced battle was easy to imagine but almost impossible to execute. Usually, an [[Earth Spike]] served as an obstacle which a magician's opponent had to circle around. Of course, a more coldblooded wizard might use it when the enemy was going down or trapped into a corner.

For his battle against the winged monster, Blink intended to use [[Earth Spike]] primarily to stop the monster on its tracks whenever it would decide to charge. Another tactical objective for casting [[Earth Spike]] was to keep the monster confined to a preferred area. Blink figured that he could only attain the second objective by casting three or more spikes simultaneously.

It was troublesome initially for Blink to send out his mana to condense the spell structure. Since he needed the spike to grow out of the ground instantaneously, he usually ended up infusing too little mana resulting to the spell collapsing before it could take form.

However, after meditating, Blink was able to establish the proper timing to the mana infusion part and casting the spell became automatic.

He proceeded to try casting another [[Earth Spike]] right after the first one and had no trouble doing so. Thus, he tried to cast a third and was also successful.

Blink tried going for a fourth one, but his mind became very sluggish and his spells collapsed all at once. He therefore figured out that his present ability only allowed him to cast three [[Earth Spikes]] simultaneously, after which he needed a few seconds to recover and be able to cast another spell.

"It appears I would have to be content with just two [[Earth Spikes]] if I want to follow up with a [[Barrage]]," Blink said to himself.