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A Forgotten Soul
Chapter 21: Training

Chapter 21: Training

Satou's P.O.V

I’ve been here for a while, maybe a few hours. There aren’t that many elementary spells in the first tier and I don't think I should mess with the higher tiers too much, well right now at least. But as I've been playing with these spell I noticed there's more than meets the eye here. I made a few mental notes about some of these things, but maybe I should go get a paper and pen.

Let's see I've been playing with water magic for a good bit, just trying to change the water into different shapes. Using the Tier 1 Spells were relatively easy, so I thought maybe I could try out some of the Tier 2 spells in the Water Element. So I opened up the book, and choose a spell to practice. It was the Tier 2 Elementary Water spell, [Aqua Sphere].

[Aqua Sphere] is a sphere of water formed with [Aqua Forma], which is then compressed and pressurized into a dense ball of water. It seems that it's possible to change even the pressure of water without using anything else, it's doesn't even seem to use the air around it to apply the pressure, I suppose this is because it's water formed out of mana.

When I shoot [Aqua Sphere], the ball of water isn't just thrown, rather it's more like a water gun and shots forward in a line. Only by compressing the water to a small enough size would it be launched completely at once. And the smaller you compress it, the greater the pressure builds up, leading to a stronger attack. When I condensed a cup of water to the size of a marble and shot it at the wall, it was strong enough to put a small dent in it, which automatically repaired itself.

Anyway it seems like Water magic is a lot stronger than I thought, but it takes up a lot of mana to cast it. I'd probably only be able to cast an [Aqua Sphere] of that level twice. If I got stronger I could probably transform a large quantity of water into a sort of water cannon, or maybe I could pressurize water so such a level that It could cut steel. I remember watching a video where manufacturers had an incredible powerful water jet slice through steel like it was nothing.

Man, magic sure is something. I mean, if I could do this much as a beginner, imagine what a more powerful mage could do. I can just imagine a water mage creating a tsunami, or making  it rain at such a speed that it cuts the people under it. That's, well that just terrifying, I really wouldn't want to be on the other end of that.

Afterwards I already practiced the Tier 1 spells, and Tier 2 spells were too much so I decided to try out another element. Besides the Water Element was getting a little boring after a bit.  So I opened up the Elementary Spell book again, and went towards the Fire Element category. Under the Tier 1 spells I found two spells, one of which I already knew: [Ignite] and [Heat].

I already learned how to cast [Ignite] from Azule so I was planning on skipping it, but it wouldn't hurt to read about it a little. But when I read about it a little I was confused. [Ignite] was refereed to as the base spell for all Fire Elemental spells that is partially dual-natured. It's a spell that possess the odd property of being able to exist without mana, yet requires mana.

Honestly the writer of this book shouldn't be writing cryptic messages for a book for beginners. So I decided to play with [Ignite] a little and figure out what the hell this guy was talking about. So I cast [Ignite], but I couldn't figure out what he was talking about.

I understand what he means when he says [Ignite] requires mana, but I didn't get what he meant when he said it can exist without it. Whenever I stop supplying [Ignite] mana it just disappears, just like water does when I use [Aqua Forma].

So I thought about it, and thought about it, and it went something like this. [Ignite] is dual-natured, but Ignite is a Fire Elemental spell and it shouldn't have anything to do with any other element. There was a possibility the Wind Element was involved, but I didn't think that was it. So what nature could it be talking about?

And I suppose I wouldn't have figure it out if I almost didn't accidentally burn one of the books. As I was pondering I thought if I just kept casting [Ignite] it would have come to me one way or another, and besides it made me familiarize myself with the spell. So I accidentally set a book on fire, so naturally I released the spell and put it out with [Aqua Forma].

But the fire kept on going, even after I released the spell. The fire should have gone out once I released it, just like water I used to put out the fire. All the moisture, and water that covered the book disappeared as soon as I stopped supplying it mana, but the fire didn't. The fire just kept on burning.

The dual-nature of the spell refers to the fact that this spell isn't just a spell that creates, or manipulates. It's duality is due to the fact that [Ignite] is capable of doing both. I intentionally set the book on fire again, and cast [Ignite] and manipulated the flames, and as soon as I moved the flame into the air it started burning far more mana.

It seems that [Ignite] is a little different from [Aqua Forma] not just because it can manipulate, but in the way it creates it's element. [Aqua Forma] creates water out of mana, this water will fade as soon as mana is released so it's Magic Water. But [Ignite] doesn't create Magic Fire, it's a real flame that is simply being fed mana to keep it burning. As long as there is another source the flame can feed off of than it will keep on burning.

I walked out of the room, and quickly grabbed the Guide to Magic before going back inside. I flipped towards to Fire Elemental section, and It turns out that I was right for the most part. Though I did miss a few points.

First off, flames fed with magic are a bit different from normal flames: they are far harder to extinguish. Even if you were to dip the flame underwater as long as one supplies it with enough mana, then it will stay lit. I even tested it out, and dipped a finger casting [Ignite] into the cup of water. It became far harder to maintain the flame, but it definitely wasn't going out.

The other point was in regards to Magic Flames, it seems there are Special Flames that are formed from mana and not just real flames created by mana and then fed mana to exist. It seems like there's a distinct difference between them. Though these Flames are all apparently above the 5th Tier.

By the way the Fire Elements other Tier 1 spell [Ignite] also happens to be dual-natured ,however unlike [Ignite] [Heat] is considered a true dual-natured spell instead of a partially dual-natured spell.

Unlike [Ignite] which creates real flames, [Heat] functions like a mix of [Create Water] and [Aqua Form] by both creating heat from mana, and manipulating the surrounding heat. While [Ignite] can create a flame, it's not a magic flame so it can only be partially dual-natured.    

When I cast [Heat] with the intention of creating heat, I raised a part of the room temperature a little. And when I cast [Heat] with the intention of manipulating heat, one part of the room became hot while the other cold. This was the difference between creating heat and manipulating heat through the spell.

Anyway according to the Guide to Magic the reason that heat is so vital is do to [Ignite]. [Ignite] creates the flame, and having flames are vital for nearly all Fire Elemental spells, but these flames don't discriminate from friend or foe like normal flames. It is possible for a Fire Mage to even burn themselves with their own flames, and constantly using high temperature flames to attack can put a toll on one's body due to the intense heat.

In other words, if you're a powerful Fire Mage who can create flames that can melt even steel if you didn't master [Heat], than the likelihood of dying from heat stroke is tens of thousands of times higher than a normal person. Besides being under so much heat constantly will naturally damage your body.

So as to protect themselves from their own flames, Fire Mage's cast [Heat] in order to protect themselves. And if a Fire Mage is capable of reaching a high enough mastery of [Heat], then they wouldn't even have to think about being burnt by flames or anything at all. It's possible to even swim in lava as long as you have enough mana and possess a high enough mastery over [Heat], apparently.

Not only that, but by simultaneously casting [Heat] and [Ignite] you can drastically increase the strength of your flames, and since every spells is based around [Ignite] it's possible to boost nearly every spell by using [Heat]. [Heat] also makes it so a Fire Mage has to worry less about friendly fire as their control over the flames increase.  

Also while I was reading about [Heat] in the Guide to Magic, I learned that [Heat] is unexpectedly related to a certain element, Ice. So I took a look over the Ice Element in the Elementary Spell Book and I found the Tier 1 spell, [Chill]. I read it over a bit, and it was basically the same as [Heat] except it was decreasing the temperature instead.

One can see how these two elements are related by looking at their Tier 1 Spells, [Heat] and [Chill]. But there was an interesting tidbit in the Guide to Magic. Apparently when the Ice Element was created it didn't have a spell that could be considered a Tier 2 spell, in fact the first Ice Elemental spell was the Tier 2 Spell [Freeze]. It was created through a mix of the two spells [Aqua Forma] and [Heat]. And apparently only after years of studying [Freeze], and [Heat] did they manage to create the spell [Chill].

It's funny how Fire and Water came together to make Ice. And it seems that the elements don't exactly interact with each other the way I thought they did.  I decided to skim through the Guide to Magic again, mostly because it's way to large, to find out the relationship between each elements.

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I thought that each element had an element they were both strong against and weak against, while having an element they can interact with in order to mutually benefit.  Something like this: water > fire, fire > earth, earth > wind, wind > lightning, lightning > water, and light and darkness oppose each other equally. While Wind would Amplify water, or something like that.

But it seems I'm not exactly right. Apparently the elements all exist together harmoniously, even if one element holds an advantage over another, these two elements don't completely oppose each other. If you were to break down those specific elements into multiple aspects, they will at some point find a common ground and work together to amplify each others strength.  

There were too many examples but I'll just this one example. There's Light and Darkness, these two elements naturally oppose each other.  Light Magic attempts to cover everything in light allowing one to see everything, while Dark Magic attempts to enshroud everything so no one can see anything. But if these two elements are to be fused, several of their aspects will naturally cancel each other out but the rest of it will simply amplify each other. And in most cases this forms an entirely new element, like the fusion of Dark and Light into Void.

Void is an element whose sole nature is to devour, and return to nothing. It takes the aspect in which Light will cover everything in it's colors, as well how Darkness will attempt to return everything into it's shadow.

Anyway after reading I moved on to the next Element, the Earth Element. Earth is similar to Water as it has [Terra Forma] and [Terraform] which by the way incredibly confusing. Their descriptions are simple and you could easily differentiate which one was which, but if you were to hear someone both of them three times quickly, you'd have a hard time differentiating the two.  

Anyway [Terra Forma] is like [Aqua Forma] it creates Earth out of mana, and it’s not just limited to dirt or stone. Apparently [Terra Forma] can be used to create all sorts of metals, and gems and the like as long as one can supply enough mana. It’s also possible to easily manipulate whatever is formed, you can change it’s shape, how much of it is there, and how strong it is.

As for [Terraform] it is basically Terraforming, it manipulates the earth in the surroundings. However the harder the material, the harder it is to use. I tried using [Terraform] on the stone floor, but it seems I’m not capable enough to use it on stone.

As for the Lightning Element I practiced the Tier 1 Elementary spell [Spark]. Unlike Earth, Water, and Fire natural electricity is rather difficult to gather in a natural form, so even though it is possible to manipulate electricity, gathering it is so difficult that the spell was excluded from the spell book.

[Spark] is of the same type as [Aqua Forma] and creates electricity out of one's mana. It’s quite tasking creating even a small amount of electricity, and controlling it is quite difficult actually. When I first cast it I couldn’t really do anything with it other than shoot it against the wall. Though to my surprise, the small amount of electricity I shot at the wall managed to crack and leave a small burn mark.  

Naturally this healed, but the amount of damage I was able to do with only that much electricity is quite something. No wonder Lightning is known as the element with the greatest burst damage. The amount of mana to required to cast even it’s most basic spell is quite large, but the amount of damage it could inflict is also by far the largest. I really wonder how much damage Intermediate and Advanced level Lightning spells could do.

Afterwards I moved onto the Wind Element’s spells [Gust]. And unlike the Lightning Element the Wind Element only has a Tier 1 spell that manipulates air instead. I mean with all this air around us is there really any need to create air? Or at least that’s why I think they didn’t create a spell for creating air, I didn't really feel like looking it up.

By the way it seems like the wind element might be one of the easier elements to control. It’s far easier to shape Water and Earth, but that’s only water or earth formed from mana. On the other hand if I were to cast [Gust] or [Create Water], it would be far harder to control than [Gust].

[Gust] doesn't seem to have to many uses, it's main use is to serve as a base for higher tiered Wind Element spells. For example there is the Tier 2 Wind Elementary spell [Feather Foot] and [Wind Blade]. [Feather Foot] utilizes [Gust] to decrease or completely nullify wind resistance. While [Wind Blade] transforms the air controlled with gust into a sharp blade. [Gust] is the least taxing spell I've used so far. It was easy enough that I might be able to use the Tier 2 spells of the wind element already.

Though I was quite tired after casting spell after spell, so I decided to leave that for later. I've been in this room for a while, and magic is mentally exhausting, I've been taking breaks but I suppose it's about time I stop.

I hear my stomach growl in protest, telling me to go get something to eat. Yeah, it's about time to stop. decided it’s about time to get out of here. I need to get something to eat. I stand up to stretch, and cleaning everything up.

As I awkwardly open the door with several books, and a cup in my hand I see Rosalie standing at the corner of my room. That reminds me Rosalie is a vampire maid, and even if she’s a maid she should have learned some magic right? And even then she should know what magic everyone else uses to an extent.

I drop the books by the small stack of the other books on my desk, and ask Rosalie, “Hey Rosalie are you capable of using magic?”

Rosalie nods her head, “Yes, any Imp who is able to evolve into a vampire is trained at the castle in both housework, magic, and combat. This way every vampire maid can serve as the final line of defense, as well as serve the elders and guests to the best of their ability.”

So they’re the final line of defense. That doesn’t seem like the most reliable final line though…

Those guards I saw roaming around the castle looked more like a reasonable final line of defense to me. Though you never know they could be the second to last line of defense.

I ask her, “What magic can you use then? Oh, and do you know what everyone else uses? How ‘bout Nevil, Garius, Tristan, oh, and how about the lord?”

“What type of magic can I use? I’m a Knight so the amount of magic I’ve learned is sparse, but I’m capable of using Arcane magic, as well as most Elementary level spells in Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. Specifically I use the Enhancement-type magic, and Barrier-type magic. And as a vampire I’m capable of also using Blood Magic.”

Oh, so she’s a knight. She honestly doesn’t look like it. I feel like a maid would be more suited towards magic, but then again they all seem to be able to pull weapons, and items out of their nowhere.

“As for the Lord he is a Blood Knight like his grandfather, and his father before him. As a Blood Knight he only uses Arcane Magic and Blood Magic, but by doing so he is capable of utilizing our Vampire Race’s greatest advantage”

Our race’s greatest advantage?, “What’s that?”

She proudly replies, “Our vitality young master, our vitality. Our race at one point fought with one of the Seven Great Clans over who possess the greatest vitality. Though that was several tens of thousands of years ago, but we were able to match up with the the Clan of Wrath, the Berserkers. Berserkers are considered the strongest humanoid demons, with the most monstrous physique holding both the greatest strength, and greatest vitality.”

Berserkers?, “How powerful are these berserkers exactly?.”

“Well the Berserkers are a clan or rather a race similar to that of God Beasts and Dragons. There’s only enough of their entire race to fill a single clan, but they are extremely powerful. They are a clan completely inept at magic, so they focus solely on close-quarters combat as well as their Sin of Wrath. The more one delves into their sin the stronger one becomes, and this can also be divided into a few levels: Sinner, Embodiment, Personification, and Manifestation. A majority of the Berserker clan have all reached the Personification level, and a few have even reach the Manifestation level. It is said that you would require more than a thousand mages of the same level to take down a Berserker.”

Well damn....

I really don’t have anything else to say about that.

Rosalie puffed up her chest,and proudly said “But as if Berserkers are the only ones with immense vitality, we Vampires also have a large amount. And besides it doesn’t matter how much damage a Berserker can take they’ll eventually fall given time. As long as a Berserker is not given time to rest then it’s still possible to kill them. Us Vampires however can remain at perfect condition at all times even in the battlefield.”

“Huh?” I ask her,“How?”

She replies, “With Blood magic of course. Even if a Berserker has immense vitality they don’t possess immense regenerative capabilities. We Vampires however possess great regenerative capabilities and great vitality, and without our blood magic as long as there is blood to absorb we can remain in top form.”

Ah, Vampires have a decent amount of health, and a decent amount of regeneration allowing them to stay alive. This normally wouldn’t be able to match a Berserkers immense health, but with their lifesteal that’s another story.

“Rosalie how about the others? What magic can they use?”

She replied“Let’s see, Sir Nevil is capable of using a number of elements at their Elementary Level, but his focus is on the subcategory of Darkness, the Death Magic, and Arcane Magic. Necromancy is actually a mix of Summoning Magic and Death Magic, and Summoning as a magic under the Arcane element’s subcategory Spatial Magic. As for Sir Tristan he specializes in Spatial Magic and Barrier Magic, but he is most a close quarters fighter. And Sir Garius uses Fire Magic, Blood Magic, and Arcane Magic.”

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Author Notes

When was the last time I posted? I don't remember I've been sick. Sorry for that, I've also been rather busy. Anyway it's late, so I probably won't see any replies till the morning. Anyway, I really don't have any excuse, I said I'd post a chapter in 3-4 at one point but it's way past that, and I had this chapter done yesterday, It's just that I fell asleep. And I only got home a bit earlier so yeah...

It's my hibernation period. Anyway Tell me if there are any errors, suggestions are welcome, and again sorry!

Also it's kind of short, should I just merge this with the last chapter, they're both info-dumps anyway.

Oh, and I decided to switch it to First Person instead of Third Person, I might switch it again though, I'm playing with it.