15 Experimentation
I waited for the second years to leave when they finished their training classes and stood in the middle of the grounds. 'It's time I tried making some new spells that I could use.' I look at my status screen and wondered about different spells I could create from the different elements.
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[Status]
Name: John Colton
Age: 14
Level: 6
Experience: 350/600
HP: 150/150
Mana: 80/80
Strength: 17
Intelligence: 16
Dexterity: 15
Agility: 15
Wisdom: 16
Unspent points: 0
Skills: Identify, Intermediate Magic Focus, Primal Instinct, Indomitable Will, Sword Training - Intermediate, Magic Creation - Beginner, Pain Resistance - Beginner, Overcome the odds - Beginner
Spells: Fireball, Light, Aqua, Wind Slash, Raise Earth, Blind, Fire Bullet, Earth Bullet, Wind Bullet, Water Bullet
Boons: Wadur's Blessing
Curses: -None-
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'Hmm, since I have been training with the sword for a while, can't I integrate some magic into it?' I start thinking to myself as I pull out my sword from its sheath. I held the sword with both hands and stared at the blade.
I imagined coating the bladed part of the sword with fire. Soon enough, I started to hear crackling and the blade started to burst into flames, leaving the handles free of the fire. I could feel the heat coming from the sword but there was no pain.
[Fire Sword] spell learned.
[Fire Sword]
Coats current sword-type equipment with the fire attribute. Deals extra damage and has a 20% chance to burn the enemy attacked. Burn deals 5 damage per second and lasts for 10 seconds.
"Not bad." I said as I looked at the flaming sword I had in my hands. I gave the sword a few swings, trying to get used to the flames. After around ten minutes of swinging the sword around, I realized that it took up half of my mana.
"Ten minutes to use up 40 mana… I think I can work with that. The bleed and the burn can work well together." I mused.
I used the different elements to coat the sword as well and got different effects from each element.
[Wind Sword] spell learned
[Earth Sword] spell learned
[Water Sword] spell learned
[Wind Sword]
Coats current sword-type equipment with the wind attribute. Deals extra damage and attacks have higher piercing. Bleeding effect chance is doubled.
[Earth Sword]
Coats current sword-type equipment with the earth attribute. Deals extra damage and chunks of earth on the sword can be freely moved to form a shield around the sword.
[Water Sword]
Coats current sword-type equipment with the water attribute. Deals extra damage and three orbs of water float around the sword. Orbs of water can be shot on command.
I practiced the new spells I've learned with breaks in between to recharge my mana. Mana regenerates passively but it goes faster when I am not actively doing anything.
I trained up until lunchtime had finished and the 3rd-year students had to use the training grounds for their classes. I went back to the dorm to get some rest.
"Where have you been, John?" Daniel asked as he saw me enter the room.
"I just took some time to train, that's all." I said as I prepared some clothes for a bath.
"Hey, John… Don't blame yourself for what happened. There was nothing anyone could do." Daniel tried to console me.
"I know… That's why I have to get strong enough to be able to do something, Daniel. I can't let the people I care about get hurt anymore." I said as I clutch the clothes I took in my hands.
Daniel and I didn't talk much after that. We did our daily routines. Took a bath, ate dinner and went to bed. The whole dorm was silent, mostly because they were scared of what would happen next.
The next day came and I barely had any sleep. At most it would've been around 3 hours. Most of the night the images of Luna's body and head overwriting the image of the man I killed kept lingering in my thoughts.
We headed out to class and soon enough it was time for magic training. Everyone assumed their places in the training grounds and practiced their new spells primarily on their main elements.
I walked up to Instructor Brandon. "Instructor Brandon, aside from the main elements, are there different types of magic?"
Instructor Brandon looked surprised as he heard my question. "Yes, there are different types of magic. However, they all fall into the categories of those 4 elements."
"For the wind element, you are able to cast lightning if you are proficient enough. Fire doesn't have a direct name but once your fire becomes more intense, it turns blue. Water would be ice and Earth would be steel or metal. All of these things are properties you could see within these elements. Although it isn't hard to learn these sub-elements, one must have the talent to be able to use them, hence why most people would focus on the element they have talent on." He added.
"Although these are called sub-elements, they are naturally stronger than the 4 basic elements. They are only called that because they are under that elemental tree. For example, I have talent in fire, wind, and water." He said as he casted spells showing off lightning, ice and the blue fire.
I stared at him as he casted his spells. "Is there any way you could teach me? I need to get stronger… and the Duke has allowed me to join the expeditions of the upper years."
"He actually allowed you to join those expeditions?" He said as he put his hand on his chin, thinking. "I can teach you, but normally this is taught for when you reach your third year here in the academy. The first two years are mostly training your focus and increasing your proficiency with your spells." He added.
"Thank you, Instructor Brandon!" I replied.
"Don't get your hopes up. Although you have talent in the four elements, it doesn't mean you have it easy. Truth be told, things will be harder for you. You have four elements you can master, and your time might be split amongst those. You can be a jack of all trades but a master of none." He warned.
'It looks like the news about me having talent in light and dark magic hasn't spread yet… It's a good thing that my proficiency in magic doesn't go down and the spells I've learned are saved within this system. Also, since the magic here is based on imagination and creativity, I have an edge due to the technological advances in my old world.' I thought to myself, realizing the worth of the system that was given to me.
"I shall try my best…" I said as I looked at him. "Is there any way that we can start now?"
"Okay. I shall give you some tips you could work on to cast these spells. First of all, you must commune with the main element and the spirits and mana that corresponds to that element. You will need to focus on that element and give birth to the new spell." He said.
I walked towards the training grounds and aimed my wand towards the target dummy. I called upon the wind element and imagined a bolt of lightning shooting out from the wand as if it was some sort of tesla coil.
[Lightning] spell learned.
[Lightning]
Shoots out a bolt of lightning. 20% chance to stun the enemy.
A bolt of yellow lightning shot out from my wand and hit the dummy square in the chest, crackling noises were heard as the spell was casted.
'That wasn't so hard.' I thought to myself. I disregarded the stares of my classmates and the low murmurs and proceeded with the next element.
I focused on the earth element and raised a chunk of earth and let it rest on my hand. I remembered that there would be metals mixed in with the soil and decided to compress the chunk of earth. Soon enough, as I casted my spell, the chunk of earth started to compress on my hand and the dirt fell off, revealing a ball of metal. I used my magic to shape it and shoot it out like a bullet.
[Metal Bullet]
Shoots a concentrated ball of metal with a pointed edge. Piercing increased.
I went closer to the training dummy and realized that the hole was cleaner and smoother compared to when I just used the basic elements. I turned back to walk to the same spot where I shot the spell out and realized that everyone had stopped casting and all eyes were on me.
Instructor Brandon walked up to me, sweat forming on his head. "H-H-How were you able to grasp it so fast?! You're a genius!" He exclaimed.
I felt slightly embarrassed from having everyone stare at me and I started to scratch the back of my head. "Before I went to join the academy, I was strictly trained on magic focus… I guess this kind of increased my proficiency?" I said shyly.
"How long did you train to reach this level of proficiency?!" He asked.
"About a month, I think?" I said looking at him with a blank face.
"A month?!" Instructor Brandon's legs went weak but caught his footing. "Okay, I'll stop asking… You're making me feel like I slacked on my own training…" He said.
"Hahaha…" I gave an awkward laugh and after a while, everyone went back to training.
I took a look at my own status again to see the collection of my new spells.
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[Status]
Name: John Colton
Age: 14
Level: 5
Experience: 450/500
HP: 150/150
Mana: 60/80
Strength: 17
Intelligence: 16
Dexterity: 15
Agility: 15
Wisdom: 16
Unspent points: 0
Skills: Identify, Intermediate Magic Focus, Primal Instinct, Indomitable Will, Sword Training - Intermediate, Magic Creation - Beginner, Pain Resistance - Beginner, Overcome the odds - Beginner
Spells: Fireball, Light, Aqua, Wind Slash, Raise Earth, Blind, Fire Bullet, Earth Bullet, Wind Bullet, Water Bullet, Wind Sword, Fire Sword, Earth Sword, Water Sword, Metal Bullet, Lightning
Boons: Wadur's Blessing
Curses: -None-
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'Huh, so it took 10 mana each to cast those spells… Compared to the basic spells that would normally just take 2-5 mana depending on the power, these new spells really do take a lot more.' I thought to myself.
Training went on as usual and I learned more spells with the new sub elements. I was so focused on the training and casting the spells that I totally forgot to check the notifications. I put up my status screen and checked the new spells
[Ice Lance] spell learned.
[Blue Fire] skill learned.
[Ice Lance]
Forms a spear of ice and shoots it towards the opponent. Piercing increased and 20% chance of inflicting slow debuff on the enemy.
[Blue Fire]
You became more proficient in the fire element. Your fire attacks have grown stronger.
'So the blue fire didn't directly affect the mana cost, but instead turned out to be a new passive skill!' I thought to myself.
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[Status]
Name: John Colton
Age: 14
Level: 6
Experience: 350/500
HP: 150/150
Mana: 25/80
Strength: 17
Intelligence: 16
Dexterity: 15
Agility: 15
Wisdom: 16
Unspent points: 3
Skills: Identify, Intermediate Magic Focus, Primal Instinct, Indomitable Will, Sword Training - Intermediate, Magic Creation - Beginner, Pain Resistance - Beginner, Overcome the odds - Beginner, Blue Fire
Spells: Fireball, Light, Aqua, Wind Slash, Raise Earth, Blind, Fire Bullet, Earth Bullet, Wind Bullet, Water Bullet, Wind Sword, Fire Sword, Earth Sword, Water Sword, Metal Bullet, Lightning, Ice Lance
Boons: Wadur's Blessing
Curses: -None-
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