Chapter 5 The Four Elements of Magic

At eleven o'clock in the evening, it was already late for wizards lacking nightlife. But for Tewell, this was just the beginning of his second phase of study time. Habitually staying up late, he habitually took out one of his books from his collection - "Origin of Curse Magic". Since returning from Durmstrang to home, it seemed like the only difference was a change in the location of his reading? Finally realizing this strange phenomenon, he decided to try something different.

The Welfare family's collection of books was still quite extensive, perhaps not as vast as the library at Hogwarts, where he would soon be heading, but there were more books on ancient magic. This was because in recent times, the family had become rather inactive in studying magic. Fortunately, they hadn't produced any wastrels, and the family business was thriving, showing no signs of decline.

Tewell left his bedroom, the house quiet except for the faint glow of candles in the corridor. The study wasn't far from his room, or rather, his room was deliberately chosen to be close to the study. Among the three members of the Welfare family, only he enjoyed reading.

"Creak."

The study door rarely opened; in the past two years, only Jeff occasionally entered to clean. The room was larger than Tewell's bedroom, and there were more books, with two shelves on either side packed with various volumes. So the entire room exuded the scent of old books, like freshly cut herbs, waiting for Tewell's arrival.

The books here came in two types: those written in English or Latin, placed on the left shelf, and those recorded in ancient magical script, on the other. Tewell had already finished reading the first type two years ago, so today his goal was the books written in ancient magical script. Durmstrang offered courses in ancient magical script, and many records of dark magic were written in this language. It could be said that ancient magic, compared to modern magic, was more powerful and less conventional in its usage, hence often considered dark magic.

The books here were fewer in number and clearly more worn out. Some books even lacked covers, boldly displaying their titles—

"The Four Elements of Magic"

A rather peculiar title. The concept of elements didn't hold in this world; Tewell could use water like a spring or flame spells, and their power depended on his understanding of these two types of magic. In other words, while elements existed, they didn't affect the casting of magic. The notion of four elements was even stranger.

In the eyes of Muggles, the four elements were the ancient Greek scholars' understanding of the world, believing it was composed of air, water, earth, and fire. But for wizards, it was a primitive concept of ancient wizards attempting to understand the source of magic, a staple topic in Durmstrang's magical history that Tewell learned in his first year. So, the presence of this book here piqued Tewell's curiosity greatly.

"You've successfully captured my attention."

The book wasn't thick, only a mere dozen or so pages. Taking it out, Tewell deliberately lit the candles in the study and sat down on the floor.

If this book was nonsense, he would just put it back and pick another one.

Opening the first page, as expected, it was entirely written in ancient magical script, with some magical reactions lingering on it. It wasn't that ancient magical script could store magic for such a long time; that was impossible. Over such a long period, even leftovers would have cooled down. The magic on it was because some ancient magical scripts had the ability to absorb magic, drawing on Tewell's magic as he read to protect the book from damage. That's why books written in ancient magical script could be preserved for so long.

Of course, this protection had its limits.

Tewell paused for a moment, recalling the knowledge of ancient magical script in his mind. Since it didn't contribute much to his strength, he wasn't particularly skilled in this area, treating it merely as a tool for reading.

Fortunately, the content above wasn't too complicated.

"Any magic release boils down to four principles: magical power, form transformation, duration effect, and release speed."

"Magical power, referred to as 'earth,' there's nothing in the world more substantial than the vast earth. The ground beneath your feet is no longer a constraint but your loyal servant. Every spell cast carries the weight of the earth."

"Form transformation, referred to as 'water,' water is formless, all within a single thought. Magic is ever-changing, with form transformations akin to water you mold at will. Whether it's fire like water or earth like wind, it's all under your control."

"Duration effect, referred to as 'fire,' the fire of the soul, eternal and unceasing. Those who achieve this level are no longer bound by the physical shell, possessing an almost eternal soul."

"Release speed, referred to as 'wind,' everything moves with the wind, going as the heart desires. Those who excel in this aspect can make their thoughts a hundred times more agile, returning to the essence of magic."

This was Tewell's first encounter with such a theory.

These four principles in the magical world were like the basics of basics, all relying on a wizard's understanding of a spell. The deeper the understanding of magic, the synchronized improvement in release speed, form transformation, duration effect, and magical power.

No one had ever thought to break down these four basics and improve them individually; that would be a waste of time.

But the perspective of this book was more like mastering one key point, which could enhance one aspect of all magic, without the need to understand individual spells. It was like understanding that 1+1 equals 2, naturally grasping that A+A equals 2A. However, the problem was that the '1' and 'A' in magic were not the same!

With curiosity, Tewell continued to flip through the pages. However, the subsequent content didn't provide any explanations or methods to bridge the understanding gap between different magics. It mostly introduced the power of these four aspects, also mentioning that achieving the extreme in all four aspects could break the constraints of space and time, becoming a deity beyond the world.

Tewell immediately lost interest, basically concluding that this was a nonsense book filled with the superficial understanding of ancient wizards about magic.

If he handed it to the History of Magic professor, he could probably come up with a test question, but for him, it didn't even qualify as leisure reading. Yawning, he regretted wasting time on this book and decided it was time to go back to bed. Standing up, he rubbed his slightly sore thighs. The candle on the desk had gone out at some point, and sunlight was streaming in through the window, casting a golden veil over the room. But Tewell shivered. He clearly remembered only seriously reading one page; the rest was just a superficial glance. There was no way he could have spent the entire night on it!

"Master?" Jeff opened the door to the study and smiled when he saw Tewell. "I didn't see you in your room, so I came here. But you should take care of yourself—"

"Jeff, what time is it now?" Tewell searched his memory, effortless for a master of Occlumency.

Jeff paused. "It's seven in the morning. I wake up at this time every day."

Eight hours. He had spent eight hours reading just one page. The last time he had this feeling was when his mind was under the control of a teacher. Back then, his thoughts were sluggish, but the knowledge imparted by the teacher was deeply ingrained in his mind, as if he were born knowing that magic. His brain was being controlled again!

Tewell picked up the book again. The title remained unchanged, but there was an additional line below.

"This is valuable material worthy of a lifetime of study. I leave these words in anticipation of the next person who can understand it. — Rowena Ravenclaw."