The result was a whole page written with an outstanding calligraphy, even copying illustrations when necessary, in perfect English. All in just a second.
Ah ah ah! Lith inwardly laughed. "I don't need a secret code. I am the only one that speaks English in this world. My secrets are safe with my grimoire."
They would be safe either way. Don't forget my pocket dimension. Solus chimed in.
One more layer of protection never hurts. There is no such thing as too careful.
Lith found the sections about fire, water, air, and earth quite bland. He already knew almost everything written in the book, but he read carefully every word.
Nana allowed him to read only until lunchtime, then he was forced to go back home and resume his previous routine, switching the hunting time from morning to afternoon.
It took him three days to get to the juicy part. Lith was aware that being a self-taught, light and dark magic were his weakest subjects. They were the only two elements that didn't exist on Earth, after all.
He spent a whole week on the light and darkness section, taking countless notes and finally understanding how shallow and rough was his mastery over those elements.
"Amazing, simply amazing. It never ceases to impress me how profound is Lochra's understanding of light and darkness. Her description of the mana flow in the patient's body is just peerless. I would have never thought of that on my own.
Only now I finally understand why she wrote about them in the same section. Light and darkness are not separate elements, but two sides of the same coin. Darkness is of paramount importance for healing diseases and congenital conditions.
Once I have fully absorbed all this new knowledge, I might even be able to cure Tista for good. If I really manage to do that, I will rethink my view about being a Magus."
Lith read that section again and again, until he became certain to have not missed anything. His magic power hadn't increased much, but his comprehension was now on another level for all the six elements.
Lith was sure he would be able to achieve even stronger foundations, also improving his spirit and fusion magic. But with his confidence, also new doubts arose.
"The more I learn the less it makes sense. How is it possible that with all this knowledge in her hands Nana didn't manage to cure Tista over the years?
Why she needed both hand signs and a magic word to kill Baronet Trahan and his son? A finger snap should have sufficed."
Lith decided to postpone those question until he had fully understood Lochra's book. Maybe he was missing some key element, or maybe it wasn't as easy as it appeared.
Nana was delighted learning that he had finished the whole book in just a week, and immediately gave him his first tier one magic spell book.
Let's see if you are good at practicing magic as you are with its theory.
Lith took the book from her hands, treating it like a precious gemstone that could easily break. He walked solemnly to his desk, opening the book full of anticipation.
He would have never imagined being disappointed to such an extent.
What the fcking fck is this? Is this how a spell book is supposed to look like?
By my core, what is this cr*p? Solus cursed for the first time in her life.
Both Lith and Solus were too flabbergasted to make any further comment. So, they closed the book, re-opened it again, discovering it was unchanged.
They had expected for it to be filled with instructions about how to manipulate the mana flow in the mage's body, how to better connect with the world energy to obtain spells whose power was incomparable to those they already knew.
Instead, all they found was an odd mix of a spelling book and a hand signs instruction manual. Not to mention that they already knew all of those tier one spells, just with different names that Lith had invented over time.
Blasting Sphere is just a Fireball, Piercing Ice is identical to my Ice Spears, if not worse.
Lith did go back to the foreword, noticing that this book had not been written by a Magus, and was just a collection of the most common spells.
By reading the instructions for Blasting Sphere, Lith noticed how the author stressed out the importance of executing the hand signs in the proper order with precise movements.
Even the magic word was split into syllables, to help the student learn the correct pronunciation and accent. After skimming through the whole book, Lith couldn't find any mention of how to perform them with silence magic.
Becoming more and more confused, Lith went to Nana for advice.
I'm sorry Lith, I had forgotten how frustrating and painful is going from the simple and easy silent chore magic to the much more complex real magic. Only tier zero magic can be silently cast. All the superior tiers of magic require both hand signs and proper spelling of the magic word.
Lith's head was spinning so fast he had to sit down for a moment.
This makes no sense at all. He thought. "I use silent magic with my ice spears and fireballs all the time. I wouldn't be alive otherwise."
Then a sudden thought erupted in his mind.
Maybe I am special, after all. Maybe I use a different kind of magic because I came from Earth. Maybe I am some sort of chosen one! Lith was both scared and flattered at the idea.
None of the above. Solus words abruptly doused his enthusiasm.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Much appreciated. What's your explanation then?
Lith could feel Solus's mind spinning so fast that it was hard for him to follow her reasoning.
If my hypothesis is correct, then you, like Lochra Silverwing and all the other past and present Magus, are one of the few people in this world to actually use true magic.
Chapter 29: True Magic and Fake Magic
What do you mean with 'true magic'? Lith said.
At this point is still too early to tell. Of course if you are too curious you can look at my mind right now, but I don't know how helpful could it be.
Lith merged his mind with Solus, discovering she wasn't exaggerating at all. Her mind was full of 'ifs' and 'buts', constantly examining facts, revisiting memories, making one speculation after the other before dismissing them.
What can I do to help you?
I need two things. First, all the books about the history of magic you can find. Second, we need to get out of here and do some experiments. I'll explain everything later.
Lith went to Nana, asking her for help.
Sure, I have a magic history book. But is not such an interesting topic, so I only purchased one covering the last couple hundred years. Is that enough for you?
Lith shook his head.
Can you please contact Count Lark and ask him if I can borrow some more from him?
You sure are an oddball. First you beg me to teach you magicâ¦
I never begged. It's you who offered to teach me and I accepted.
Nana pretended to not have heard anything and continued.
⦠and now that you get an opportunity to practice real magic, you want to bury yourself in history books?
After pondering about what you told me and what Magus Lochra wrote, I understood that I need to understand the past to comprehend the present and plan for the future. Lith improvised, digging up an old family motto.
Makes sense, sort of. Nana conceded. "I'll contact Lark via the communication amulet and see what I can do."
The Count has one too? Lith asked in surprise.
It's not some sort of secret or anything. Nobles, merchants, soldiers, no matter your background, as long as you can afford the price, you can get yourself one.
Lith thanked Nana before returning to the study room. The book was very detailed, recording both historical turning points and lore.
Lith didn't know what they were looking for exactly, so he read carefully, skimming only the parts about conflicts between countries or Magic Associations. Instead he focused on studying the life of influential mages, archmages and Magi.
After spending a f
ew hours researching the past, he had already found a recurring pattern in the rise of the Magi. Some were recognized as geniuses at an early age.
But most of them had started being considered mediocre at best, never achieving noteworthy results until at some point their talent simply skyrocketed.
It usually happened between the thirty and the forty years of age, well past their supposed prime, when the magical community had pretty much forgot about them.
Of course, the author had no idea of what happened to cause such a turnaround, so he just presented the theories most popular at the time. Too bad that those paragraphs resembled more a work of fiction than history reports.
According to some rumors, Magus Elista had married in secret the god of magic, while others claimed that she had found a mystical amulet from a lost civilization that was able to grant her unlimited mana.
The same had allegedly happened to Magus Morgania and Frejik. An obscure start, followed by a sudden rise in power and glory, with no plausible explanation outside fairy tales and divine encounters.
Could this be what Solus was looking for? Maybe what changed them wasn't some insane stroke of luck, but the discovery of the 'true magic' Solus mentioned before.
Lith was about to close the book, having ran out of Magi, when Solus stopped him.
Turn the page, please. Lith had no idea why, but did as instructed. By quickly reading through the page, he noticed it was about some disorders in a faraway place, during which several low ranked mages had died.
Solus had him flipping every page until the book ended.
It was already lunchtime, so Lith started walking back home.
Did you find anything important?
"Yes, I think so. I just need us to perform some experiments to put my theory to test. If I am right, once you experience the difference between fake and true magic, you'll be able to understand my reasoning.
I hope that once you do, you can help me fill the holes I am unable to explain."
Lith's mind and heart were in turmoil, the road seemed to stretch endlessly in front of him. Even when he sat around the table together with his family, he was unable to hide his unpleasant feelings.
"Dammit! Dammit all this cr*p! First my real origin, then spirit magic, fusion magic and now this? How many secrets do I have to keep to protect myself from this world, to protect my family from me?
Couldn't I just find a magical hammer or something, granting me godlike powers? Or maybe just be handpicked by an ancient magician, to become the champion of order just by speaking one frigging word? Why does everything have to be so complicated?
I really love my family, except for Trion, but I can't be honest with them. At this rate, I will never have friends, a lover, anything. I will be forced to spend my life alone with my secrets."
No. Not alone. Solus's voice resounded in his mind, full of kindness and affection. The tower core around Lith's neck pulsed, releasing gentle waves of mana that enveloped his body like a warm embrace.
Lith's mood lightened a bit, allowing him to have a pleasant meal and conversation with his family, telling each other the respective day's work.
After doing the dishes, he was finally able to leave home and go to the Trawn woods. Lith had his own special glade, deep in the woods. A place spacious enough to train his magical skills without endangering trees or wildlife, away from prying eyes.
Lith and Solus double checked their surroundings for intruders or magical beasts. Finding none, Lith could finally take out his grimoire from the pocket dimension and start memorizing the simplest tier one spell he had found in Nana's book.
We don't need something powerful or complex for our experiments. Only something to compare with your own spells. The faster you master it, the sooner we'll have our answers. Solus explained.
The spell was Piercing Ice, a watered-down version of the Ice Spears spell that Lith used against huge opponents like the Ry or the boars. Its magic word was "Joruna Lituh", with accents on the u for Joruna and the i for Lituh.
The hand signs required to start with the indexes' fingertips touching themselves, before pulling them away, drawing in the air a 7 with the right index while the left one had to execute mirrored movements at the same time.
After that, the left hand had to stop, while the right index had to rotate, drawing a full circle before pointing at the target.
The expected result was conjuring and shooting a giant ice shard against an enemy.
Holy sh*t! And this is a simple one. So much effort for so little return.
At his first try, Lith managed to conjure some kind of giant fork that travelled forward for a couple of meters (2.2 yards) before crashing on the ground.
You did not aspirate the h. Solus remarked.
Then it came a boomerang that almost chopped his head off.
It's Lìtuh, not Litùh!
After a series of non-life threatening failures, Lith had to admit he wasn't able to learn both the pronunciation of the magic word and the hand signs at the same time. So, he had to sit down and recite the spell until he got it right.
After that, he had to face head on his poor hand-eye coordination.
That's not a seven, more like a one. Do the second line steeper!
You are supposed to draw a circle, not an egg!
Will you stop your left hand during the last movement, please? Otherwise we'll never see the end of it.
Failure after failure, Solus kept nagging in Lith's mind, correcting the many mistakes he did during each try.
If you are so good, why don't you do it yourself? Lith rebutted, bursting with frustration.
Sorry, I do not have a body. Not to mention I cannot perform any spell unless a) you first know how to do it and b) you give me the permission for it.
It was a long afternoon for Lith, full of cursing, sweating and casting, not necessarily in that order, before he finally managed to get Piercing Ice right.
He kept repeating the spell until it became a second nature to him.
I can't believe I had to work so hard for the simplest spell. I have barely an hour before the sunset. Hey, Solus is it enough time, or do we wrap things up for today and go back home?
Is more than enough. Tell me, how does it feel using magic that way?
To be honest, it does not feel at all. I'm so focused on all that cr*p that I can barely breath.
Solus mentally nodded.
Perfect. Now cast your Ice Spears spell, shooting only one spear.
Lith was so tired to need to actually use the magic word.
Jorun! With a flick of the wrist, Lith conjured a slender, sharp ice javelin that struck the nearest tree faster and harder that the Piercing Ice.
Now focus, how did you do it?
Lith couldn't understand all those apparently stupid questions, but he trusted Solus enough to know she wasn't just trying to piss him off.
"Like usual. First, I mentally visualized the effect of my spell, things like the shape of the spear, the trajectory, etcetera.
Then I used my mana core to generate enough mana to support my spell, taking in account the size of the spear I wanted to conjure and how strong I wanted it to strike.
Finally, I projected my mana on the outside, mixing it with the world energy to have access to the water element and voilà ! Order up."
Okay, now use Piercing Ice, again. This time do it slowly, try to feel how your mana flows according to the spell.
Lith needed a few tries before succeeding in the task Solus had assigned him, the result was astonishing.
What the heck? As soon as I start with the hand signs, a portion of my mana leaves my body. And there is more. The magic word determines how my mana interacts with the world energy, in this case the water element, while also giving the spell its shape and size.
Lith could tell that if Solus had a face, now she would have had a smug grin from ear to ear.
You are almost at the finishing line. Do Piercing Ice again, but try making the ice shard bigge
r.
I can't. Lith was flabbergasted. "If I try adding more mana the spell becomes unstable and dissipates."
Solus asked him to try generating a second ice shard, then to make the single shard faster and finally to alter its trajectory right after it materialized. Lith's answer was always the same.
I can't. The whole spell is set in stone. Once I learned the proper signs and pronunciation, I became nothing more than a mana source and a targeting system. My mana core and imagination play no part in this type of spell casting.
Lith suddenly reached enlightment.
And that's why you consider it fake magic!
Calling it fake magic is a little extreme, but for simplicity's sake let's call it that.
Lith could sense Solus brimming with pride.
Now I can finally share my theory with you. First of all, I'd like you to think back about all the steps necessary for you to use true magic.
Solus paused for a moment, giving Lith time enough to think.
What's your point?
My point is that what you so casually dismiss as 'usual', is actually a really complex feat, much harder than fake magic.
Hmmm. Sorry, I still can't follow you.
Solus mind-snorted in frustration.
"True magic isn't as simple as you make it out to be. It requires to be aware of your own mana core and to be able to generate the right amount of mana for each and any spell. Too much mana and it would backfire on you, too little and it would not succeed.
It also requires to be able to project your mana outwards, reaching out to the world energy by yourself. I doubt even Nana would be able to do that."
Lith found that last part hard to believe.
When you put it that way, sure, is not an easy feat. But is what everyone does with chore magic. What's the difference between true and chore magic? Why no one else uses it?
The difference is in the amount of mana required. Chore magic needs little mana, so you can use it even without activating your mana core, while true magic may require great amounts of mana, according to what are you trying to accomplish.
Fight for a Living Page 18
