Chapter 14: Class about magic

There soon came a day when Lucas was asked to give his opinion on magic and its properties to the entire class full of mages. This class also held people who come from the second mages tower with the second tower's archmage taking a peek.

Lucas was hesitant, but since the professor was begging for Lucas to come, he finally caved in and went and held the class. Lucas did not know why the professor was so adamant on Lucas being the teacher of an important class, but he went to teach anyway.

When Lucas got to the class, he saw that the second tower's arch mage was an old human man who held the power of rank S. Lucas was a bit intimidated by his aura, but he got hold of himself.

The reason why Lucas was worried about holding this class was because, while he could use powerful spells, he wasn't exactly an expert in magic theories. He had mimicked people who knew a lot about magic, but he wasn't confident that those would be enough to impress the mages of the mages tower.

He was surprised to see Jarim, Lucressa, Victoria and even Annerose. Lucas didn't know that Jarim was part of the mages tower, but while thinking it more clearly, it kind of made sense for him to be associated with them.

Lucas began his lecture by saying "My name is Lucas Knave and I'm here today to teach you what I know about magic theories. First question, what is the difference in how demons use magic and how other races use magic? Any takers?"

A student raises their hand and says "Does it have to do something with the core that demons hold?" Lucas says "You are on the right track. Demon races, while they hold magic cores, aren't attuned with the magic around them. Their focus in magic is solely based on the mana that comes from the core itself. The mana outside is something foreign to us that we can't use initially. This is different from other races who are born without any sort of magic core. This makes the non demon races become attuned with the surrounding mana and thus making them able to use and absorb mana around you. The non demon races have evolved to be able to hold a certain amount of mana inside them for them to be able to use more powerful spells that they couldn't do with the ambient mana alone. The amount of mana that people can hold is hereditary, which means the more mana the parents of the child can hold, the easier time it is for the child to grow their own mana pool. That also means that if your parents learn to store much more mana than they initially had before conceiving you, that means that the next child they might conceive should have an even more easier time to grow their mana pool than you. Are there any questions so far?"

Victoria asked "Can demons grow their own mana pool like the other races?" Lucas says "We can, but as far as I have come to understand it, the process is a bit different. Where other races can meditate or eat certain ingredients to grow their mana pool, demons and monsters can only grow their mana pool by eating or absorbing the magic core of other demons or monsters. So for demons, it is a bit more tedious to raise their mana pool than it is to the other races. Any more questions?"

Annerose raises her hand and says "What will happen to the child between demon and non demon? Will they have a magic core or will they be like other non demon races?" Lucas says "That highly depends on which is the mother. Let's say that the mother is a human and the father is a demon. In this case it is more likely for the child to be born without a magic core in them. If the situation is reversed and the mother is a demon and the father is a human, then it is almost certain that the child will have a magic core. As to why this is, it has to do with the fact that demon and monster mothers give their child a part of their magic core that will grow to be the child's core itself. The magic core is transferred to the egg of a demon, which means that yes, female demons and monsters do become weaker in terms of mana the more periods they have. Which sucks for demon mages. Which means that it sucked for my wife. And probably still does since somnums only have a period once in every twentieth month and they regenerate new ones as the time goes by.

Back to the topic. Why did I bring out the talk of magic core, you may ask. Well let me bring you the idea that demons and non demons can become stronger by imitating the other. Demons can learn how to absorb the ambient mana around them by attuning it with the mana that comes from their cores. And non demon races can implant a magic core to themselves and start the process of cultivating it to become attuned to the surrounding mana. The implantation of the magic core makes the non-demon races' growth in this way a bit more complicated than it is to demons, but it can be done.

And now you may ask, "Why would I want a monster core in me?" and the answer is simple. You don't if you trust your own ability to grow your mana pool. The end process is the same either way you choose. For example, if you implant a dragon's magic core to a human who hasn't trained for their entire life to grow their mana pool, once they manage to cultivate the magic core to themselves, they can have the mana pool of a dragon and gain some of the dragon's skills and abilities.

Do I recommend you do this? If you are confident in your body's ability to handle the magic core you are given and that you have a person that knows how to do the implantation correctly, then, and only then, can I give you a go ahead. If you aren't confident in one of those things or neither, then just don't do it.

If any of you want to implant a magic core to themselves, then you can come to me and I will help you if I think that your body can handle it and if you pay me enough. Personally I don't know anyone else in this city who can do this process. That is if you don't count Luciana Tyrp. I wouldn't count her out since she is highly against this process since it actually can prove fatal to people who overestimate their endurance."

The archmage himself raised his hand and asked "Can you plant another magic core to a demon or to a non demon who already has one?" Lucas says "It is dangerous to mix two different cores together, but in theory, it can be done. Personally I don't think it is a risk worth taking, but if you have nothing else to lose, then do go ahead. The matter becomes a bit difficult to handle, since there is so much foreign stuff you can put on a person's body and expect it to be able to handle it."

Then Lucas pauses and thinks for a moment. Then he says "I think that is enough about the differences between the ways demons handle magic compared to other races. Let's get to an actual magic theory. I'm going to focus on Vert theorem, so if there are any questions about Lost theorem, Pion theorem or Inertia theorem then ask about them when I give you an opportunity to ask them.

Now then, Vert theorem, the most common type of magic used in the world. In Vert theorem, there are five types of magic. Elemental, light, dark, imaginary and void.

Elemental is further divided into four subtypes, which are wind, water, fire and earth. Not every person is good at using each of them equally. Mixing any of the elemental subtypes with another makes people able to make more specific types of magic. For example, specializing in water and earth magic elemental mastery makes you able to control plants and trees, specializing in wind and water makes you able to control weather to some extent, fire and earth specialization can make you able to have more control when making a weapon and if you specialize in wind, fire and water, you can make a thunderstorm provided you have enough mana. There are more different paths you can take, but I won't go through every one.

Light magic is often used to heal people and provide boosts. Dark magic is often associated with curses and illusions. Usually light and dark mages don't mix well together, but if a person can master both types of magic, they can reach the imaginary magic.

Imaginary magic makes you able to summon things from other worlds for a brief moment in time. With enough concentration and mana, one can even summon a mythical hero from a legend that may or may not be true. All in all, imaginary magic is often associated with summoning magic, which is very sought after. But don't be fooled by imaginary's only being able to summon things. They can actually mimic the elemental and void magic almost perfectly if the user has enough wit and willpower.

And now let's get to the void magic. It is associated with magic that doesn't belong in any of the other magics. For one, there is explosion magic. Then there is soul separation. And a spell that can make you levitate objects similarly to "Telekinesis" skill. There are many things that void mage can use. Some often mistake void magic to actual skills that the mage has, which isn't that uncommon.

Now that we got through all that, is there anything any of you want to know?" A student asked "Is blood magic considered dark or elemental magic?" Lucas says "Both. By using the sacrificial properties of dark magic and water magic for the control of the blood, you can cast spells that can be only casted by a blood mage or a vampire. Tenrir raises his hand "Do all vampires possess the ability to use blood magic?" Lucas says "They are inherently more capable of doing it than other races, but it isn't necessarily the case for all vampires."

Then Lucas said "I think it is high time I talk about actual spellcasting. The general idea when casting spells from Vert theorem is that you imagine a spell in your head. This is done often by chants, but it can be done by picturing the whole magic circle in your head and channeling the consequences to happen in real life. The latter part is difficult for most people, since silent casting requires you to have a clear vision without any aid of words. With chants, you help your brain to connect the dots of the magic circle and hence you can cast spells more easily. The more complex the spell, the more complex the magic circle is. And the more complex the magic circle is, the more difficult it is to form in your head clearly without words.

The skill "Silent casting" makes you able to make a clear picture of the said magic circle with the aid of the skill more clearly. This means that if the owner of the skill "Silent casting" doesn't try to figure out how it is done without the skill and one day they lose their skill, they can no longer cast spells silently.

Why I bring this up is because the skill "Silent casting" makes the training process so much easier since you have the clear picture already in your head. What they can do is that they lessen the impact of the skill and slowly learn how to do it without a skill. And the other reason why I bring this up is because your skills can be stolen by someone who has skills such as "Skill thief" or "Skill taker". There are more skills with similar effects, but those aren't important now.

What casting a spell actually does, in terms of Vert theorem, is that you transform the mana particles that you have access to to a wanted result. Once the mana has been transformed properly, it will stay in that form depending how much mana you used.

This indicates that you can spend more mana on a spell than it initially needs. This can make the spell stronger in some aspects, but it requires a great deal of control. This can be done in the other way, meaning that you can use less mana to get a smaller outcome. The downsizing is a more complex matter, that makes you shift the balance of the spell much more than adding extra mana to a spell.

Let me give you all an example. But first, does anyone know what the spell "Hellflame tornado" is? Victoria answers "Isn't it a spell that makes a tall spinning flame that consists of hellflame? The flame that can reach much higher temperatures than regular flames." Lucas said "Correct. Usually the flaming tornado reaches the clouds, but with some minor adjustments and great deal of control, "Hellfire tornado"."

Everyone in the room panicked for a moment as they expected a giant fiery tornado to appear, but once they realized that there wasn't one, they looked closer and saw that there was a tiny spinning flame tornado that was the size of a pencil. Lucas continued "You can greatly downsize something that can erase an entire city to the size of a pencil." Lucas then snapped his fingers and made the pencil sized hellfire tornado disappear.

The archmage was surprised by how small Lucas actually made the hellfire tornado. Even he couldn't do such a feat. And with such few words as well.

Lucas continued "This is what a great deal of control does when done properly. Now if we were in a practice field, I would instruct you all to try to make as small a concentration of mana in your hand that you possibly can, but since we are inside, I can't instruct you to do it at the moment. The key to control the shape of the spell lies in the process of the phenomenon and the result. By focusing in each part of the process, be it the each mana particle inside you, what each word you say signifies in the spell circle you are forming inside your head to what result it should bring in the end. This may be a bit difficult at the start, but once you get the general idea of controlling the amount of mana you put out, then you can make a spell whichever shape and size you want it to make."

Then Annerose raised her hand and said "What is your greatest spell you can cast?" Lucas says "If you are talking about Vert theorem specifically, then it has to be "Flame of supernova"" Archmage then asked "Then what is your greatest spell you can actually cast in all of the theorems?" Lucas smiled and said "It is a little spell I learned from Legul Ranan himself, the attack called "Welcome of hell"."

The archmage asked "Which theorem did it belong to?" Lucas answered "Inertia theorem." Archmage asked "Can you say what the sacred chant then would say without bringing out the most important parts of course?"

Lucas thought for a moment, then he started writing on the board while speaking its contents. "Qui peris. Ego sum qui veni propter animam tuam. Veni ad te, ut invenias dolorem omnium viventium. Amodo lapsus fies, fiam porttitor peccati. Gratam in infinitum. Infinitus accipient dolorem. Gratus infernus."

Lucas then smiles and says "Did you get all that?" The archmage says "Why did you give it to us so willingly?" Lucas says "Because none of you can actually cast it. Not even the great witch of apocalypse could have casted the spell."

The archmage thinks for a moment "Are we missing something from the chant?" Lucas says "You don't have the clear picture of the spell. It is too alien for you to understand its concept. If you try to use it by force, you will face the might of hell's fury all by yourself."

The room is silent. Then Lucas makes a statement "I urge none of you to actually take any notes. If you try and cast this without fully having the context of the causality, then you will die. Well, that is assuming you can actually cast spells from the Inertia theorem." Lucas then thought to himself "But I suspect at least one of you buggers will attempt this. That is the way mages just are."

Then Drace asked "What does it actually do?" Lucas says "It opens a gate that creates a channel for all the destructive force of hell to come out at once and condenses it to the area in front of your hand. It will destroy everything that was in front of your hand at that moment, since hell isn't finite."

Victoria then said "But the hero Ronan actually withstood the attack." Lucas says "So was the power of the "Legion strike". An attack that can withstand all the fury that hell can put out. Granted, people who would use the "Legion strike" nowadays would not be able to have as powerful of an attack."

Drace then asked "What did the "Legion strike" do then?" Lucas says "That attack wasn't a spell of any kind and more of a technique, so it falls outside of this class's intended scope."

Drace then says a bit annoyed "But when will you say what it actually is?" Lucas says "Who knows. Perhaps I will never actually tell the secret behind that technique. Perhaps some things are best left to the past and be forgotten."

Then the archmage asked "Can you use the technique yourself?" Lucas says "I can, but I would have to sacrifice many things in order for me to pull out as much of an attack that Ronan did back then."

Annerose then asked "So it has to do with sacrificing something, right?" Lucas says "You are correct on that part. I won't say anything further from that. Class dismissed."

People start to whine a bit that the class had ended, but Lucas just wanted to get out of the classroom before more hard to answer questions came to him.

All those who left the class began to wonder why Lucas didn't tell more about the "Legion strike" if he was so willing to say how to use the attack "Welcome of hell".

The archmage of the second mages tower, who's name was Warnas Turious, started his research on the spell "Welcome of hell". He would not let this chance go in order to know the spell that could destroy a whole country. A spell that looked like that only god should be able to cast it.

After he was out Lucas spoke to himself "That attack should be only known to the people that have a heart like him. Isn't that right, my friend." Then Lucas sees a man that looks exactly like him, but instead of black hair and violet eyes, he has white hair and blue eyes. Lucas knows this is only his imagination, for there was no way that his best friend was standing there looking at him. Lucas thought "Perhaps he is looking at me from heaven right now with a small frown on his face since I told them the chant for "Welcome of hell". But he would soon get a smile back on his face, as he is a forgiving person."

Then Lucas walked past the imaginary Ronan and then Ronan disappeared. After that Lucas muttered "Perhaps our paths cross again one day. As you said, we shall be friends till the end of times."