Chapter 93: Collecting Spells

"Try to form the force mana into a ball, then launch it at me." Headmaster Iltani said.

I compressed the force mana into as tight a sphere as I can, then sent it towards the headmaster. The ball dissipated halfway through, not even getting close.

"Use your mana manipulation to keep the mana together. Right now, this primitive kind of attack is the only thing we can use to get the system to grant you a proper skill."

I tried again, making the same compressed ball, then launched it at the headmaster. Even though control got a little harder as the ball flew away from me, the distance wasn't big enough to be a real hindrance.

The force ball hit the headmaster in the stomach and shook her robe like a weak gust of wind, but otherwise did no harm.

Skill obtained: [Forceball Lv. 1]!

"I got it! I got a force skill!" I yelled in celebration.

The headmaster grinned.

"Why don't you try it? Let's see what you've got."

I took aim at the floor a dozen or so meters away, then activated forceball.

An elementary magic circle appeared for a short moment then vanished. In its place, a forceball rushed towards the floor. The only hint of the forceball's existence was the air it was pushing, as it whistled on its way to the target. With my mana vision, however, I could clearly see the tightly condensed pack of force mana inside it.

The moment the forceball crashed into the floor, the floor cracked, and obsidian shards flew all over the place. In their place, a crater remained, as if someone struck it with a sledgehammer.

"Forceball is one of the most fundamental combat spells relating to force magic. Like its cousins, fireball and earth shot, it can deal good damage for the meager cost you put into it. That said, there's much more we can do with it. This time, I want you to use mana manipulation to make the forceball chase me."

Skeptical, I did as she asked anyway and aimed at her with my hand. I fired another forceball, and the headmaster began running backwards, slowly inching to the right. With the use of mana manipulation, I started to push the forceball to redirect it towards the headmaster. Seeing my success, she stopped and allowed the forceball to strike her. Once again, it dealt essentially no damage.

Skill obtained: [Homing Forceball Lv. 1]!

"I can't believe getting new spells is this easy..." I wondered out loud.

"It isn't, young dragon. Do not get complacent. Just because you managed to get the early skills of a magic attribute doesn't mean that the rest will be that easy. Moreover, manipulating your spells becomes more difficult the more advanced they are and the greater the amount of mana they hold. Most mages do not manage to obtain spells that would allow them to compete with other combat classes down the line for that reason – at least not without getting decent skills from their class to compensate for it."

"Huh. Interesting..."

I'll definitely have to mess around in an arena on my own later to discover some new spells.

***

For the rest of the class, Headmaster Iltani taught me how to use my elemental converters to create elemental mana from the other base attributes. It was a little tricky, but each of them could create elemental mana from the attributes adjacent to its type on the elemental chart, giving me full coverage.

Mixing and matching elemental mana from adjacent attributes was apparently a good way to create and empower spells. She also went over some ideas to create force spells for me to go through on my own and said that the next class will go over how to use force magic effectively.

When we were finished for today, I bid her farewell and headed back to the reception in hopes of finding Durreg.

Luckily enough, I found him sitting at one of the tables, and across him were the Regillus twins. Atria noticed me, then started waving excitedly, so I decided to go and join them.

"Kiara, glad to see you again! Where have you been?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I was attending a class on force magic. My 'favorite' cousin was supposed to be with me since it's my first day in the Hall, but he ended up leaving me for the wolves." I said, staring pointedly at the boy.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Wolf, not wolves. There was no one else in there but the two of you, so you're being a little overly dramatic."

"Yeah, and you ran away and left me with her alone all the same!"

Atria looked intrigued as Durreg raised his arms up in surrender.

"Hey now, you've absolutely no idea what she'd put me through when you were off on your little adventure to the Serpent's Throat. That woman haunts my darkest nightmares. I'd be happy to face any number of dungeon monsters by your side, but Headmaster Iltani is another story entirely." He shivered, then shook his head.

"You received instruction from the headmaster herself...?" Silia muttered to herself, but Atria responded anyway.

"Well, yeah, it seems strange, but it's not surprising. There aren't any other force mages besides her in the academy, at least none that I've heard of. It makes sense she'd be the one to teach Kiara. Maybe she's hoping you'll share what you learn about force magic with the academy down the line."

***

The conversation went on for a while then reached a dead end, so I changed the topic.

"What were you guys talking about before I showed up, and how long have you known each other?"

"We met Durreg in one of our classes shortly after we entered the Hall, and we ended up getting along well." Atria said.

"More importantly, we were talking about going to 'the club' tomorrow. Want to join?" Durreg asked.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You still haven't told me what this 'club' is all about."

"Yeah, but the first rule of the club is that you don't tal-"

"The club is short for fighting club. The rule about not talking about it is a leftover from a time when the club's legal status was in question, seeing that it was an unsanctioned arena involving the academy's students. God-King Katu tacitly approved of it, so the academy's leadership reluctantly had to let it be."

Silia interrupted Durreg, and Atria started laughing.

"A buzzkill as always, Silia!" she said.

"I am not dignifying that with a response." She answered.

Durreg turned to me as the sisters began bickering again.

"So, are you coming with us? The club's running all day tomorrow, so we can go before or after your class is held."

"Sure. Why not? It sounds like fun to me." I shrugged. ***

Durreg was walking with me on the way home as the sun reached its zenith, since mom's magic lesson was about to start. I jogged ahead and started walking backwards to face Durreg.

"Mom said we're going to start learning how to casting spells with apprentice-grade magic today. I can't wait!" I said with glee.

"Well, I can't deny that I am interested as well. I am looking forward to the day where the two of us can cast mighty, terrain-altering spells like the rest of the dragons can." He said with a hint of pride.

"You mean like the Draconic Isles? Maybe we should make our own isl-"

My eyes widened as a pillar of mana of truly titanic proportions rose from beyond the horizon and through the sky, tearing apart the clouds that stood in its way.

"Kiara, is something... wrong...?" the boy asked, turning behind me to see the same jaw dropping scene.

The pillar was angled at a slight tilt, as if it launched at an angle from where I stood. My mind raced to make sense of the phenomenon before me.

That direction is directly west of here. The only notable landmarks are the small port-town and the Serpent's Throat. Where could such a mass of mana be coming fr-

The Unfathomable Abyss!

As soon as I made the connection, a mighty thunder and shrieking winds struck the city, shaking trees and toppling street stalls. People tried to take shelter, and a woman held on to her son to shield him from the winds.

No, it wasn't just wind!

Using my [Draconic Vision], I realized that truly tremendous amounts of mana were rolling in right behind the winds, saturating the air and the soil with enough mana to be comparable to the second layer.

Kiara, drop everything and come home immediately. Bring your cousin with you.

Mom's voice echoed in my head, her tone brooking no argument.

Durreg must've heard something similar since he looked to me immediately afterwards.

"Let's rush to your home, Kiara. Mother will meet us there as well." He said tersely.

I nodded and we picked up the pace to a sprint back home. People on the street were in a panic, moving about all over the place. We did our best to avoid them as we began to approach my home.

What the abyss was going on...?