“First off, magic is everywhere in our world, as you all may know. Every single thing in our world is made up of magic. Water, air, fire, light, dark, heat, cold, the suns and the moons are all made from magic. The gods developed these magics and expanded the world until we are here now. To do this at a quick pace and cycle magic throughout the world, the gods created the first living beings. These living beings did not live for long however, they required a way to supply themselves with magic. To do this, the gods developed many ways to produce and share magic to the world. One such method was by supplying magic directly into the air for all living beings to use. This is called ether. Can someone tell me what ether is most used for?

Leah raises her hand. Noriko points at her with a finger.

“Alright you’re up Leah.”

“Ether is used to produce magical effects. By absorbing ether, spells are activated.”

“You’re right. All spells need a source of ether to produce a magical effect. Now all spells aren’t the same however. There are many categories of magic, all whom belong to a certain type of element or concept. From there these spells are split into different applications of magic. Most of you know how to use basic magic activation, but can you tell me how you translate the magic activation to the magical effect?”

Aldrich raises his claws,

“Aldrich you go.”

“Magic activation is the source and “instruction” of the spell.”

“Could you give me an example?”

“Um… I think for an example a basic chill enchantment spell you draw the magic symbols that describes the location, the effect of chill, and the intensity.”

“Correct! But you’re missing a piece. For the magic symbol to work you need to transform ether into the effect. It is mostly ignored for basic spells because ether fills every part of our world and basic spells would activate on their own but for higher level spells and magic activations you’ll need to understand when and how to transform the right amount of ether to each spell. Almost all advance level spell requires several layers of magic activation.”

“Now can someone tell me what the different types of magic activation are?”

Raising his hand Hiram explains,

“The most common types of magic activation are voice spells, spells that activate by the visualization of a magical effect and then takes form instantly when announced. This generally requires absorbing ether into your own body to “voice” the spell into reality. Another type of common magic activation are written and drawn magic effects, also known as symbol magic. These are often used to enchant something to have an effect.”

“Could you tell me what’s the most common usage of these types of spells?”

“Hmm… voice magic is very good in emergencies and for convenience. In a fight, voice magic is good at doing what you want right away. At home if you simply want to start a fire or put one out, you can just voice “water”. For symbol magic, it is installed onto every aspect our lives. Even the most basic symbol can have a prolonged magical effect on something such like the hot water I use at home. Creating a symbol spell that creates heat can turn flowing cold water into hot water.”

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“Correct again, you all are getting so good at the basics of how magic spells work. If you’re this good then I’ll up your knowledge. Who here knows how to use layered magic?”

Looking at the crowd of children shaking their heads except for Aldrich, Noriko announces to the children,

“Would someone like to try to explain what they think it is?”

A few of the children look interested, but many are quiet while Leah raises her hand,

“I think layered magic is putting magic on top of magic.”

“Well that’s the basic idea but why would you do it?”

“Umm… I think you said that advance level spells require several layers of magic activation?”

“Correct, so then how do you add several layers of magic activation to a spell?”

Leah thinks for a bit but then shrugs. Noriko, impressed with her though process and knowledge rewards her with the answer.

“Watch carefully at the symbols that I draw.”

Extending her finger, Noriko points it up and chant “Draw” before drawing out two symbols, both of which are attached to smaller symbols. The symbols appear as white markings floating in space from where her finger traces. Completing the symbols, she points at one of the large symbols.

“This is the “major” symbol that defines the element or concept that is used in the spell.”

Pointing at the smaller symbols that are attached onto the main symbol, she say

“These are the “minor” symbols that defines how and what a spell does.”

Moving her hand towards the second major symbol she says,

“Now this major symbol is what defines what layered magic is. As you can see this symbol is smaller than the other major symbol. It is a support major symbol that adds more elemental functionality to the spell, even more so that minor symbols. For example, the large major symbol here represents “fire”, which when powered alone it makes a single flame that burns for a single moment. The minor symbols here add additional effects to the single flame, such as pushing it in a direction, adding more flames, and determining the duration that the flames burn.”

Looking back at her crowd of children Noriko asks,

“Is there someone who knows why you wouldn’t simply use a lot of minor symbol instead of using a second major symbol?”

Kyrie raises her insect arms before being picked and responses,

“When a spell is activated through symbol casting, the major symbol is responsible for absorbing the surrounding ether before being casted. It is also the location from which the ether spreads to the rest of the spell. If you have a spell that is drawn too big then it will take a while for the magic to spread to the rest of the spell.”

“Excellent answer Kyrie, now by layering the two major symbols on top of each other you can duel cast both spells at the same time which makes it easier for a full spell to be casted. This is the added effect besides the addition of another element to the spell.”

“Now watch again, the second symbol here represents “stone”. By adding these together and instructing the spell to explode after being launched, you get the advanced spell “simple fireball”. With the proper timing during activation, a spell will effectively compile and cast.”

As she says this, she fully casts the spell by enabling ether to flow through it. A stone on fire manifests itself before the spell and follows the movement of Noriko’s hand as she waves it in a slow circular manner before launching it into the sky and exploding it. The fallout of the explosion scatters the stone outwards before disintegrating into nothing.

“As you all saw, by combining the layered spell and activating the spell at the right time, you can cast high level magic and have it properly activate.”

Quickly making the same symbols again, but not connecting them, Noriko casts the now 2 individual spells. First a fire starts but quickly disappears and then a stone appears but doesn’t do anything. Wiping the spell away with her hands Noriko explains,

“Without layering, you can’t cast an advanced spell, or rather you can but it’s not going to work like you think.”

“Voice magic is also able to cast advanced spells but they require a better sense of understanding and feeling of the said advanced spells. For now today though we will practice casting wards and shields.”

Slight disappointment can be seen from the children as their excitement for learning cool and flaming advance spells are quickly put down. Organizing the children into groups, Noriko spends the rest of the day teaching the children about protection spells.