Chapter 37: Of Magic and Mana.

“To me, gather my embers, to me

From shadows to embers

From embers to flame

From flame to inferno

Cast away the darkness, burn brightly, oh, dear flames

Arise inferno hellfire, engulf the world in a sea of flames

For that is my Decree!

Imperial Hellfire!”

…

Nothing. Not even a spark appeared when I finished my incantation. The magic circle that always appeared when I would cast a spell just vanished into thin air. The mana I invested into it? Wasted.

It was a bit of a hit to my pride as a mage, but I just have to bear with it. This is expected for somebody without formal magic education. I have to look at it as an adult and take it as a stepping stone towards my magical greatness!

[“Taaaaassiaaannaaaaa. It didn’t work, again!”] however, that didn’t stop me from whining, calling for my newest companion, Tasianna, for help.

[“Princess Hestia, you constructed the magic circle wrong again,”] from the cover of a giant boulder, Tasianna came flying to me, evaluating my execution. [“I can’t understand the words you spoke, but there seems to be no problem with “Incantation”. Your “Activation” requires more practice though.”]

[“I guess?”] resting one hand on my hip, my whole body slouched in exasperation. [“Doing all of this without the help of the System is really hard.”]

Nodding to my complaints, Tasianna further added, [“It was also hard for me when I started, but this is how you start learning magic.”]

What I was currently doing is magic practice with Tasianna as my instructor.

During breakfast, Tasianna gave a short lecture on magic theory for Saori, who needed it urgently. Tasianna, being a resident of this world, had more basic knowledge of how magic should be used, making her the perfect magic teacher for Saori.

Me? I too listened to her lecture. I am inherently a better mage compared to Tasianna if you only looked at the stuff on my status board.

However, Tasianna has 87 years’ worth of experience living in this world. Fairies belong to the Faefolk, a mana composed race, so her magical knowledge should be superior to mine.

I’ve only used magic for less than a year, and most of it was gained through the system with my cheat-like titles and skill points. I’m essentially a newb that got lucky with her starting gifts. My ignorance of what magic really is, is baffling considering that I've been using it for six months now. My pride as a mage meant nothing if I'm not willing to improve. So, that's why Tasianna is helping me out.

Anyways, let me summarize the content of the lecture.

When it comes to magic, there are four parts to the whole process: Invocation, Incantation, Activation, and Release.

Through my own trials and errors, I kinda had a basic idea of how magic worked but it’s just a crude understanding. I didn’t know the details.

My lack of experimentation is really coming back to bite me. It’s embarrassing to think that I was acting like hot shit back then, despite how lazy I was.

First things first, Invocation. This is what I referred to as the “imagination” phase. The formal explanation would be “choose your spell and control how the spell should be used”. The more detailed the image, the better.

The second stage is called Incantation. As you might have guessed, this is the one stage that I never, ever had any experience in. [Casting Nullification] from [Primal Magics], now [Draconic Magics], allowed me to skip this whole part. It’s a given that I couldn’t explain it to Saori when she needed me to.

Simply put, in this phase, the System transmits a text into your head, which you must recite. The problem is that you require quite a bit of focus to fully chant the whole text. It’s even more difficult if you have to do this while you’re engaging an enemy, multitasking dodging, attacking, and casting a spell.

The issue can be mitigated with the skill [Concentration], or you can just avoid it completely with my favorite multitasking skill, [Parallel Thoughts].

The third stage is Activation, the phase where you start using your mana to form the spell. This is where I pour my mana to create those magical circles that the System uses to change, order and materialize whatever I wanted during the Invocation step.

Tasianna told me that the amount of mana needed to fully form the spell depends entirely on how detailed I was during the imagination phase. How large should it be? What should I heal? Be as specific as possible, essentially. That is how you can cast super cost-effective spells while maintaining the strength of it.

Of course, that only determined the base amount of mana you have to use to cast it. Like I have done until now, you may also add more mana into to strengthen the spell.

If you want to only heal a bone, then your [Minor Heal] will only heal that bone, ignoring any other parts like the nerves and flesh.

Magic isn’t some kinda party trick in this world. It is a divine skill that is governed by god’s System. If you have the skill and knowledge, the System is smart enough to accommodate you here.

Admittedly, I never went into detail about how my spells should behave. I always said, “heal me” or “burn that”. This meant that the System always had to accommodate my vagueness, resulting in using unnecessary amounts of mana. And the more mana you used; the more arcane corruption will be accumulated.

Honestly, it’s embarrassing how pitiful my usage has been up until now; it was so bad that I actually got affected by [Arcane Corruption (Minor)] once, despite how resilient I am to it.

I like to consider that I’m a pretty decent mage, but this really stings my pride. It’s the same terrible feeling when somebody was to tell me that my singing sucks

The last part is Release. This is the easiest part. You simply have to let your spell work.

During three out of four phases, focus is a prime resource. Having skills that help you concentrate like [Battle Mind] and [Concentration] allows you to perform more effectively.

It makes sense, right? Just like in a video game, mages aren’t supposed to be in the thick of a brawl, and instead should be relaxing on the sides. Bad focus means more mana will be used, leading to needlessly generated arcane corruption.

Looking back, I really have been blessed by a wonderfully, perfect skill set. My parallel minds helped me cast spells, [Battle Mind] kept me focused on the battle, and [Absolute Pain Tolerance] prevents my action from being dulled by pain. Calmness is invaluable for a mage, and panic is a fierce enemy.

Anyways, that was it about magical theory.

Now, comes the part about “custom spells”. The usage of magic without the help of the System. [Imperial Hellfire], [Create Water], and all spells not gained through leveling your magic skills are ones that were created by the people of this world.

Compared to the System made spells, these ones had to be learned through studying. Through using these easy to learn custom spells, any aspiring mage may learn a magical skill.

Despite being made outside the System, once the System registers it, it will be affected by your skills and stats like any other spell. The System shows its adaptability here.

However, there seems to be a problem with my [Imperial Hellfire]. Tasianna mentioned that she never heard of a spell like this before, which means it was my very own custom spell; a fact that was proven correct when I mentioned that there was no Incantation nor Activation phase.

I was essentially just throwing a large flame onto the ground. There was no finesse nor technique. Nothing.

It’s funny that the System registered this new spell, even though it wasn’t completed yet. Tasianna had no answer to this but implored me to complete it saying, “The System has acknowledged your spell. It’s the only proper way to show respect.”.

And that’s why I’m doing this magic practice.

Creating an Incantation was simple, it was just like writing song lyrics. However, the problem lies with the magical circle.

The letters, or runes, are written in the lingua franca of this world, “Common tongue”. However, I can’t speak nor can I read a single word.

["Yes, learning how to speak, write, and read is something that you must do, post-haste,"] Tasianna’s words are indisputable.

Remember the books I found in that one elven shack in the Belzac forest? I showed them to Tasianna and asked her to teach me and Saori how to read them. Regardless of my troubles with magic, learning the language of this world is not only important but essential.

I’m planning to debut as an Idol in this world and the last thing I needed was for people to think that I’m an uneducated freak that can’t speak a single word. It’s a necessary preparation before we reach civilization.

It shouldn’t be a problem for me if I put my mind into it. I knew how to speak four languages fluently on Earth; English, German, Japanese, and Korean.

The former three were due to living in America and having parents of those ethnicities, but I learned Korean for the sole purpose of singing their songs properly.

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[“Anyways, Tasianna? I got a question for you,”] having practiced enough for today, I decided to take a break and ask Tasianna a question that I have been longing to ask. [“How does it feel to be made out of mana?”]

Hearing my surprising question, Tasianna’s quizzical face wanted to know why I was interested in this.

I told her about two of my evolution options when I was evolving into a C rank monster. These two dragons were called [Young Mana Dragon] and [Young Arcane Corruptor Dragon], both options would turn my body into one composed completely out of mana if I were to believe the description.

I was already uninterested in [Young Arcane Corrupter Dragon] as it would prevent me from casting spells, something that I can’t accept. I will not give up being a mage. I have invested too much SP and training into this combat style that losing it would be a horror.

However, [Young Mana Dragon], on the other hand, sounds like an incredible choice. I can only die when my mana drops to zero, and considering it's triple the amount of my Health, I will essentially be harder to kill.

[“Hmm, I understand,”] Tasianna thought for a moment before speaking again. [“Well, it’s not as different as you believe it will be, Princess Hestia. Yes, your Mana will become your new “Health”, so even if your Health drops to zero, you won’t die.”]

I gave a small nod, [“My mana is quite large, so I thought it would be a great way to help my defenses? Especially, when I don’t have to deal with stuff like bleeding, decapitation, and other stuff that would cripple my current body.”]

However, contrary to my expectations, Tasianna just shook her head, [“Mana will be your body; bleeding means leaking mana from your body; decapitation means losing a huge part of your maximum mana until you can regenerate it.”]

She held up three fingers, each one an argument against a mana body, [“Mana is our life, so you can’t heal yourself using healing spells anymore. The miraculous spells of the Goddess of Light, Aurena, can only heal Health; and us Faefolk merely become tired when our Health drops, dropping unconscious if it reaches zero.”]

Urgh, that is a bit of a bummer. That would kill my heal tank strategy, but it still isn't a deal-breaker. I can simply have my mana regenerated through skills. There must be more mana regeneration skills in the shop, and I might be able to gain some evolution bonuses after evolving.

[“Secondly, our lives are threatened by inventions that drain mana, like that mana battery those trolls were using. I can’t fathom the dreadful ingenuity of the humans so I’m not sure if they have created an even more devilish way to drain mana.”]

[“However, can’t you protect yourself with [Mana Leak Resistance]?”] I gave out an argument to rebuke her point. ["With access to the skill shop, we can both buy and upgrade the skill to its max level. Maybe at level ten, it will completely prevent mana leakage?"]

[“I see!”] Tasianna face was in awe, once she realized that using SP could possibly remove her biggest weakness. [“I’m not a very good fighter, but I will do as much as I can.”] Clenching her hands together, Tasianna seems to have found a goal for herself. My cheeks couldn’t help but loosen up, silently cheering for her success.

[“Oh! My apologies.”]

A cackle escaped my mouth as I waved her concerns away, [“Don’t worry about it. So, what’s the third point?”]

[“Ah, yes! The last point would be how it would work with [Humanize],”] I tilted my head at this point, not knowing what’s she trying to point out. [“I know that the royal family Iggdrasyl, the royalty of us fairies, are capable of humanizing into elves using the skill [Elven Transformation], the elven version of [Humanize].”]

I looked through my skill shop, but the skill couldn’t be found. Maybe I locked myself out by buying [Humanize]?

Tasianna continued, [“You lose a certain amount of your stats whenever you humanize, don’t you, Princess Hestia?”] I nodded to this question. [“When smaller creatures, like Faefolk, use [Humanize], we grow in size and our stats adapt to our new body. The only exception would be for mana. The amount will stay the same, but it spreads around our transformed body.”]

In other words, fairies that use [Humanize] will, instead of losing a percentage amount, gain stats. Fairies, being made of mana, will also keep this trait in their humanized form; the only difference is that the condensed mana will be spread around the body.

[“Wait, doesn’t that mean that you don’t have to pay mana to sustain your humanized form?!”] Tasianna gave an affirming nod, confirming my suspicion. A mana dragon would follow this exact same rule, which means that I could keep all my mana in human form.

[“However,…”] like a wrecking ball, Tasianna interrupted my daydreaming. [“I don’t know what would happen if somebody with huge amounts of mana would turn into a smaller being. It might be dangerous.”]

Wait, what? That’s the reason? That’s stupid!

[“Wait, Tasianna, that sounds like you’re just trying to find a reason so I wouldn’t turn into a mana dragon. That’s not a real reason!”] my assertion forced Tasianna to make a wry smile, while she kept flying in front of me.

[“I have no knowledge about it, so it might be dangerous, Princess Hestia.”]

["Mana dragons should exist in this world,"] I argue. [“I think it would be weird if they had these problems in the first place. There has to be a way.”]

[“Maybe, but I haven’t seen a mana dragon in my life before. You will walk into the unknown if you choose to switch to a mana composed body. I just wished to inform you of this, not persuade you.”]

[“…Well, I guess.”] I gave a sigh in resignation while massaging my temple. [“I guess there is time until my evolution. Thanks for your insight, Tasianna. It’ll help me make a decision in the future.”]

[“I am in your service, Princess Hestia,”] She bowed, hiding a smile that formed after I thanked her.

[“Well, I guess this is enough for today. We need to start being productive.”]

Turning my whole body around, my eyes caught the sight of a giant rock cube that was constantly moving up and down.

Looking under its shadow, a giant monster was lying there. That was Saori and she is currently doing a reverse push up using the rock as her training partner. She wanted to push herself with her new body and asked me if I could create something heavy, which was simple.

She’s been doing it for a while now, so she must be enjoying it. Just in case, I’ve set up a trap using [Trap Creation] that will automatically activate when the rock falls to a certain distance, to stop its fall.

Using [Telepathy], I shouted to her, [“Hey, Saori! I’m finished. How much longer do you still need to train?”]

No answer came from my wolf friend. It was likely that she didn’t have any concentration to spare for any pleasantries.

[“Uhm, this is a surreal sight. I hope Madam Saori will be alright,”] Tasianna said worriedly.

[“She’ll be fine ~”]

I hope she’s enjoying it.

“Wruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!”

…I hope she doesn’t spend the whole day on it…

Hestia's skill update

Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Draconic Barrier Lv. 4] [Poison Creation Lv. 4] [Noble Aura Lv. 4] [Mental Stability Lv. 4] [Mental Warfare Lv. 4] [Probability Correction Lv. 4] [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 4] [Draconic Fangs Lv. 4] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 4] [Leadership Lv. 4] [Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4] [Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4] gained. 9750 SP remaining

Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Prediction Lv. 8] [Presence Killer Lv. 8] [Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 8] [Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 8] gained. 8950 SP remaining

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 7] evolved into [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 8] gained. 8650 SP remaining

Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 10] [Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 10] [Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 10] [Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 10] [Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 10] [Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 10] gained. 3550 SP remaining

Skill requirement fulfilled. [Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 10], [Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 10] merged into [Arcane Conduit Lv. 1]

Skill requirement fulfilled. [Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 10], [Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 10] merged into [Sorcerer’s Power Lv. 1]

Skill requirement fulfilled. [Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 10], [Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 10] merged into [Speed of Sound Lv. 1]

You have bought [Mana Leak Resistance Lv. 1]. Your current SP is 3300

You have bought [Dark Resistance Lv. 1]. Your current SP is 300

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Humanize Lv. 7] evolved into [Humanize Lv. 8] gained. 0 SP remaining

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