Truffles had babbled a lot about meeting a weird woman in the forest, who, apparently, invited both of us to the nobility’s party. Honestly? I had no idea what that meant and how that could have even happened. But the great thing was that he was okay, and I got my hands on some nice truffles.

I had a few pans with a spread of ingredients ready. I had already chopped what needed to be chopped. Now, was I a bit nervous since this was an actual date with a person? Maybe. Like, how did it even happen? Sure, I set up dates even more casually back on Earth. Hell, sometimes, I scheduled enough dates in a week that I needed my mom to keep a schedule for them. Had I ever been scared that she would have sent investigators after these girls? No. Not scared. More like, certain. Well, at least after a few dates, I suppose.

It’s funny how dramatic my mother could be when it came to me going out with girls. She would be insanely unconcerned by them unless things started to get serious. Like, how does that make any sense? Wouldn’t you be more interested in having your child date one serious person rather than have a bunch of flings? But you know what? I better understood this aspect of her personality after spending time in Italy with our Italian family.

While a more Puritan mother, like your average Protestant American mom, would be absolutely putting the fear of God in her children, Catholic moms from Italy were much different. Especially with their sons. Male children, for a Southern Italian mom, were the epitome of happiness. So, while an American mom would be like, ‘Hey, don’t go messing around with all those girls, but find a good one and settle down,’ a Southern Italian mom would be like, ‘Yeah, sure, go mess around with all those girls, but make sure to come back to your mother for dinner time.’

Marvelous.

Anyway, it must have been the nervousness about my first official date that I am four hours early. I sigh. I put a bowl over all the ingredients to prevent them from drying out.

It was more natural with Lucinda, you know? Fewer expectations and pressure; just sharing food. This? Oof, this felt official.

Ok, calm down, Joey. We have top-notch skills at the tip of our fingertips—and no, I’m not talking magic. I can handle this smoothly. So what if I have literally zero pop culture references, no cultural understanding, and a massive racial divide to bridge? My solid fundamentals should be more than enough.

Well, if I don’t have anything better to do, I might as well just work on the Cantrips.

Also, I cut my finger a little while chopping—I was distracted thinking about magic. So, I might as well focus on it all together before I cut off anything else of mine.

“Hey, book,” I say to the tome on my bed, “what’s up?”

The Omnium Compendium floats right in front of me, fluttering its pages until they stop on the two short paragraphs I saw the last time I was doing any magic.

‘Congratulations on completing the First Cantrip. Beware, the second one is much more difficult than the first.’

‘For the Second Cantrip, Magister Mulligan wants you to make a [Light] spell spin on itself for ten seconds.’

Well, let’s get this over with.

[Advanced Mana Sense]

Immersed in a world full of energy, slowly, I start drawing a spell matrix. But then, I get an idea.

“Book, before I move on,” I say, dispelling the matrix with a wave of my hand, “how exactly does visualizing a spell work? You have so far generated the ‘perfect’ spell matrixes for me. But… how do I do that by myself? I know that perfection is the enemy of efficiency, but isn’t there a way to use it as a reference?”

‘Your spells reside inside of you but also out in the world. Even though the Reductionist approach to magic is supposed to simplify the matrix of a spell, you can summon a matrix as long as you are familiar enough with it.’

“Summon?”

‘Focus on the [Light] spell while your vision is affected by [Advanced Mana Sense]. You will feel the spell calling to you. Bridge the gap of the matrix. While [Archmages] can create their own spells, it is an exhausting process that often relies on the great work of their predecessors. But once you learn a spell properly and you are familiar enough with it, you can summon its spell matrix.’

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Huh.

That is… weird. So far, the book has always taught me magic in quite a scientific way. This summoning of the spell matrix seems like… magic. Yeah. Just magic.

Let’s try it, then.

I focus. No, you know what? I [Deep Focus].

Exhaling, I concentrate on the [Light] spell.

Immediately, my skin starts tingling, and I feel as if there is a bubble around me. I move to poke it with my mind, and as it pops, the same spell matrix that the book had shown me the first time around appears in front of me.

It is exactly the same spectacle of squiggly laser lines that hunch, curve, and tumble. There are three for the basic version of [Light]. Wait. Can I try to visualize the spell matrix for [Lightbolt]?

I focus – well, [Deep Focus] – again.

This time, the bubble feels much thicker than before. Nonetheless, with some good ol’ elbow grease, I managed to materialize the spell I got after discovering how anti-matrixes actually work.

It’s sporting a much more oblong structure than a normal [Light], made of five squiggly lines that converge at the same point.

Ohhh. Interesting. Can I add even more? Can I get [Light Bazooka]?

But before I try and blow a human-sized hole in Agostina’s condo, I decide that my life is a bit more valuable than my curiosity. That is why I open the door and make a finger gun with my hand to help me aim toward the sky.

Will the projectile come down?

I aim toward the nearest wall, really hoping that the magic just dispels after a while.

It won’t be a problem, right?

I think of [Captain] Drusillus and the fact that the man could probably throw me in jail for this.

Damn it. How is a poor man supposed to kill time before their gal comes over for dinner?!

I stomp back inside the house.

I mean, I could try and make a very thick shield, sort of like Lucinda’s-thighs-thick and then use that to—

You know what? Let’s go back to the Cantrips. I’ll experiment with [Lightbolt] another time. And some thigh-thick [Light Shields] too. Even though… would it be [Light Shield], with the words separated, or [Lightshield]? And who even makes the names for these things?!

…

‘For the Second Cantrip, Magister Mulligan wants you to make a [Light] spell spin on itself for ten seconds.’

Hm.

Do you remember how we anchor a spell matrix? It’s pretty simple.

The primary difficulty I encountered during the trial-and-error process the first time around was comprehending the crucial distinction between the spell matrix and the anti-spell matrix. It is necessary to displace the anti-matrix from the first spell matrix in order for it to work correctly.

You need superimposition with the same patterns but longer. Otherwise, the anti-matrix will just cancel the spell matrix.

To make it spin, we must indeed neutralize the first matrix and kill its momentum. And then, if I give the first spell matrix a different polarity…

I swiftly cast the two spell matrixes and look at the result, satisfied. A small orb of [Light] slowly spins in place. I wonder how one would go about making this second Cantrip without an anti-matrix, though. I mean, that would give me a headache.

“Yo, book. I’m done. Wanna check?”

‘For the Third Cantrip, Magister Mulligan wants you to make two [Light] spells spin on themselves for ten seconds.’

Is this for real?

I push my [Deep Focus] and multi-cast the same matrixes I used for the second Cantrip, just twice.

‘Congratulations on completing the Third Cantrip. Beware, the fourth one tests your casting speed.’

‘For the Fourth Cantrip, Magister Mulligan wants you to cast ten [Light] spells in under five minutes.’

“Book, do you mean multi-cast the [Lights]?” I ask, more conscious about the wording of the damn bundle of paper.

‘No. Multi-casting ten [Lights] is highly discouraged at this stage. It will be one of the later challenges. Worry not; Magister Mulligan has integrated some of his notes in the future Cantrips. His great knowledge of magic shall guide you through the obstacles on the path to becoming an [Archmage].’

I take a deep breath.

I close my eyes.

To hell with this, I tell myself, suddenly snapping into the deepest recesses of my soul. Let’s do it again.

…

I am panting as I stare at ten [Light] spells I multi-cast.

“Done,” I sigh, wiping some sweat from my forehead.

‘For the Sixth Cantrip, Magister Mulligan wants you to make two [Lights] start from the same point, go in opposite directions from each other, and return to the starting point. Get them about five feet apart at the widest.

“This gotta be a joke,” I say, walking to the center of the room.

…

“Done.”

‘For the Seventh Cantrip, Magister Mulligan wants you to make one [Light] spin to form the number eight. Keep the path mostly steady for all its duration. Do three laps.

“Should be easy enough, just a few more vectors.”

…

“Done.”

‘For the Eight Cantrip, Magister Mulligan wants you to get your casting speed of [Light] under ten seconds. Try to create a blinking effect by casting and dispelling your [Light] in rapid succession. To dispel your [Light] more efficiently…

…

“Done.”

...

I sit on my bed. It has been, what, two hours? I completed the Cantrips from the Second to the Eight without a single snag. The eight-figure was a bit hard because I had to adjust the trajectory, but it literally took two attempts before my calculation turned out correct.

“Book…” I say, drained. “How about you tell me the secret to getting more Mana? I think I’m tapped out.”

Even though my proficiency with magic was remarkable, my Mana reserves weren’t anything of note.

‘All descendants of Magister Mulligan have received thorough care based on his own instructions. Growing up in an environment rich with Mana and being subjected to Mana Immersion – that is all you need, on top of normal practice, to let your Mana develop naturally.’

Well, well, well.

Isn’t that a problem?