The basics of teaching magic is this: always know your students’ levels of mastery. Beyond the basics, there are so many directions that one can take magic that you would need eons to understand it all. Due to short lifespans, humans are some of the most prolific sharers of magical knowledge, only beat out by the communal insectoids.
The second thing you need to know is to ask what the student wants to study. If you’re a fire, water, and emotion mage, then you won’t have much in common with a magical engineer beyond the similarities between sigils and runes.
The final thing to keep in mind is that you should always respect a student’s intellect. If an accident happens, it is both a lesson and an opportunity to create something spectacular.
-Excerpt from ‘Teaching the Arcane’, by Dan Rilig
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“The first thing you need to know is this,” Mori said, holding her palm up and conjuring a light above it with a spell, “Even if you aren’t aiming to become a mage, runeslinger, or the like. The main benefit of learning magic is the versatility of using it. I mean, someone really strong with a stick can’t really compare to someone who can shoot fireballs. The only way for someone with a sword to compete is to use enchanted weapons and armor. It’s the thing that you always have to keep in mind, be it from your allies, your tools, or your enemies. Now then, how much do you know about magic?” she asked.
They were in the library, the severe lack of books and tomes obvious with how her voice echoed off of the walls. Jel and Pride were both standing off to the side, working on a project between each other but still keeping an eye on the visitors. The visitors, for their part, were either ignoring the undead or giving them nervous looks. Luckily, none of them had voided their stomachs yet, but Mori was under no illusion that such a thing would change if she showed them her first splice between Clockwork and bloody undead.
Looking around she saw how they were hesitant to respond, eyeing her flaming sockets with more than a little fear. Before she had to start calling on them like a grade-school teacher, Natalia spoke up, “We learned a bit about magic,” she said, “Bella taught us how mana needs to go through the soul in order to be under our control, how you need to put a concept into it to make it do something, and how to cast some basic spells.”
Mori nodded, “Alright then. Have any of you cast a complex spell then?” she asked. They shook their heads, “Alright then. So you have cast a basic spell, right?”
They looked unsure, but Bella took Natalia’s place in responding, “What do you mean by a ‘basic spell’? I thought that it was just… all spells.”
Mori shook her head, holding her palm up again, “See, the difference lies in the amount of mana types you use. If I were to create a little light mana,” she said, showing a small dot of white mana glowing on her palm, “Then all I would do is make my palm glow with light. It’s only when I add another concept like, say, ‘Lance’ where something interesting happens.” To demonstrate, she added another glowing ring of mana around the first one. With a small gesture for dramatic effect, a solid beam of light shot out and landed harmlessly on Jel’s forehead. The undead smiled and waved her hand, the limb glowing with mana, making the light bend around her hand and go around her.
Some of the visitors gaped at Jel’s odd use of magic, but they quickly returned their attention to Mori, “What was that?” Bella asked, waving to Jel.
Mori shrugged, “Dunno. I haven’t tried to study her mana types yet. She recently got a Trait, [Chaotic Adept], that changes how she thinks a bit. Because of that, she can understand certain things and turn that unique understanding into mana types,” she explained, waving a hand, “Anyway, that’s not what’s important. What is important is that the difference in spells relies entirely on what mana types you put into it. That may sound obvious, like saying that the difference in cake taste is what fruit you put into it, but it’s important to remember. With that framework light lance, I can burn someone, heal them, give them more speed, affect their mood, or any number of other things. Of course, if you wanted to do that, then you’d need the associated mana type, but you could get a similar effect to a certain mana type if you chain different mana types together. For example, if you wanted to make a… let’s say a self-repairing sword, then you could either make a mana type that keeps an object in a constant condition from whenever you cast the spell or you can get something like a ‘sharp’ mana and a ‘regrow’ mana. Both work, but the first would be preferable.”
Someone from the back of the crowd raised a hand and Mori pointed to them, “Why would the first one be better?” he asked.
Mori had to hold back a smile, as it would tip them off as to her plan of making them engage with the lesson, “The reason why you want the first one is because of space. I’ll be honest here and say this: Despite my soul being rewired because of a magical deal, I can only handle six or seven mana types at a time. Back when I uplifted these guys,” she said, gesturing to the two death knights, “I was using nine different mana types and it all put a pretty big burden on my mind. For you… well, that’s the question. Some of you might not do well with more than three mana types and others may be fine with ten. Again, I don’t know for sure, but that’s what I’ve gathered,” she explained.
A sudden thought came to her and she rested a finger on her chin, “Huh. I just thought that a Trait that increases the amount of mana types you can use would be pretty useful. Well, I’ll have to look for one once I level up. Now then, let’s get you guys practicing,” she said. After collecting a few books, meaning half of their books not written by Jel, Pride, or herself, she led them up to the top deck and had them sit on the ground.
“Alright, I want to know how many mana types each of you know,” she said, receiving an answer in the form of shrugs and nods, “Do all of you have [Multi-sigil Casting]?” They all nodded, “Good. If that’s the case, then I want you to make a spell with as many mana types as you can in it. They all have to serve a purpose and you have to think about it first; adding mana types willy nilly could make someone turn purple or break someone’s arm. Now go!” she shouted. Most of them began to visibly concentrate, but others simply looked at her with a bit of annoyance. She regarded them the same way, glaring at them with her eye-flames. The obstinate ones soon fell in line and she had a yard full of practicing earthborn. She did not want to send them into a warzone without proper training, but if they refused to learn she would get others to teach them. And she doubted Zubov or Pride would be as soft as her when dealing with someone like that.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
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Fara did not like the new additions to the crew. She knew thinking that was a bit rude, but she did not like them at all. They acted like wyrms during an earthquake, shuddering and glancing around as if they were about to be attacked. On top of that, they were below most of the death knights’ levels, only outleveling Crave, their chef and librarian. Despite that, they decided to tag along for a Creators damned Hive extermination.
She watched from the forward gun tower, a cramped, cozy place, as they sat on the deck with their eyes closed, trying to make a spell under Mori’s watchful eyes-flames. Part of her admired Mori for being soft-hearted enough to take on a literal class full of clueless civilians and try to train them to become usable soldiers. A different, louder part of her felt sorry for the lich as she watched over a group of clueless civilians who thought they were stronger than they were.
Though, there were a few Fara thought had a solid chance of living through the extermination. The peppy woman Natalia showed her supposed military background, being rigid in her attempts to make a spell and faster than the rest of them while doing so. Another stand-out was the ‘old man’ Kevin. He was far from an able combatant, being a bit too round to survive, but he was creative enough that Fara thought that he could make an impact working with the mechanics. There were a few other highlights, like a young man who seemed to understand beneficial spells very well, or a woman who was good at using fire, but they were all lacking in either creativity, strength, or willpower.
She looked at her own Status Screen and wondered if she was missing out on something when she decided against [Multi-sigil Casting]. She took her whole Status Screen in for a while.
[Name: Fara Notchings
Species: Human
Variant: Desertborn
Level: 22(43%)
Traits:
Physical: (Dexterous Muscles V), (Purifying Hand), (Enhanced Eyesight III), (Increased Stamina II), (Increased Regeneration), (Dense Musculature IV), (Reduced Gravity IV), (Free Slot)*2
Spiritual: (Enhanced Mind III), (Multi-rune Casting), (Sole-mana Casting), (Mechanical Affinity X), (Simulation V), (Free Slot)*2
Granted Traits: (Enhanced Beauty)]
In terms of putting slots into other Traits, she had plenty of choices with her physical Traits, so decided against it. Her spiritual Traits, on the other hand, were a different story. She was pretty much stuck in her Traits. If she wanted to choose another Trait, then it would become underdeveloped and tertiary to her overall abilities, similarly to [Increased Regeneration] or [Increased Stamina]; Traits she never regretted picking, but nonetheless unimportant.
She could not upgrade [Mechanical Affinity X] until level 30. [Simulation V] was the same story. [Enhanced mind], while useful when trying to take in every detail of an item, was not very important. She made good use of it when she sniped at Clockworks or pirates, but that was not a situation she liked to be in.
Another glance at the new members of their crew revealed some of them holding up balls of fire or other energies. Mori began speaking to them and Fara decided to mind her own business once more. She had two options: either put her two spiritual Trait slots into [Enhanced Mind III] or choose a new Trait to put them in. For whatever reason, she really wanted to try her hand at sigil magic, but she knew it would not be as useful as she could do herself with [Multi-rune Casting]; she would only use [Multi-sigil Casting] to make moving things around easier or heal a cut. She would be better off by spending the slots elsewhere.
So, she delved into the Trait list. She was hoping for a Trait that could supplement [Mechanical Affinity] while not branching her abilities too far beyond her interests. For many long minutes, she scrolled through pages and pages of random abilities that seemed ill-suited to her desires. Even when she actively narrowed the list down with her thoughts she still found nothing. Just as she was about to give up, something caught her eye.
[Manatech Affinity: Gives a supernatural understanding of technology integrated with magic. Can be upgraded by using another Trait slot.]
“What the…” she muttered under her breath. Something stuck out to her about the Trait. It seemed too… useful. She had never even heard of such a broad and useful Trait, but it sat in front of her as if a shy maiden awaiting the approval of her one true love.
Fara suddenly wondered why she was thinking of a system Trait as a ‘maiden.’ To her, the box, floating in front of her, seemed shy. It did not move, nor blush, nor fidget, but she still had the impression that it was shy. Shrugging, Fara selected the Trait and put her other Trait slot into it. Pain followed, but it did not throw her into unconsciousness. Instead, it was a sweet kind of burning, like a tiring exercise that stemmed from [Mechanical Affinity X]. When the pain was gone, everything changed.
All at once, the world around her seemed to burst with new meaning. The gun besider seemed far too drab. The bulbous turret she sat in felt boring. It was as if she were blind her whole life and then suddenly began to see color, only to realize she had been painting her house a neutral beige.
She looked around, searching for something, anything, that was actually pretty to her new senses. She quickly found it, encasing her best friend’s body in a cold, metallic grip. She laughed, quietly, and leaned back, looking up at the assembler’s arms that seemed so much more pretty than they just were. Basic things like ropes, ladders, or floors were just neutral, like they always were, and she could appreciate Mori’s carved armor for more than being manatech, but something in the back of her mind spoke out against her devices, like the turrets or the lathe in the workshop.
She was about to get up and leave when she saw something out of the corner of her eye on the deck. An unfamiliar orc was speaking to Mori as she looked over the mostly-incompitent learners. Her eye-flames widened as she shouted at them, “All of you, go back to Eaner’s place and get your stuff. We’re leaving soon!”
As they began scrambling around, Fara mumbled to herself, “No rest for the wicked, huh?” she muttered, “Didn’t Mori say that one? Whatever. Time to get to work.” She climbed down the turret, blueprints erupting and fading in her head so fast she almost missed some of them.
Almost.