I put Albert’s pencil on the table after copying all of the twenty pages that Albert gave me. The pencil should have been smoking thanks to the number of letters, circles, and lines that I drew on my grimoire. I only manage to gather three spells from that utility section, and that’s around thirty pages in total.

[Small Ice Machete]

Activation: Swinging motion to the right or left lower part of the body using one of the hands while shouting “Elemental Machete!”

Deactivation: Sheathing motion to the hip while holding or dropping the machete.

One thing that I notice, besides the complicated rune, is that the activation command for each spell seems to be customizable for each person. I just copy what is written by Albert in his grimoire. I swing my left hand to the bottom of my body while shouting, “Elemental Machete!”

A machete made from ice appears on my hand. It’s very sharp at its edge, far shaper than any knife that I can think of, probably equal to those Japanese sushi knives or something like that. It isn’t heavy nor giving me any frostburn when I hold it in my left hand. It is very convenient to have.

I then drop the machete to the ground. The machete dissipates into tiny particles from my hand. That’s one hell of a good utility machete, I will not lie. The ability to create a machete out of nowhere is rather convenient.

However, I doubt a machete made from ice will be as durable as a machete made from steel. Does it drain more magical energy as long as I sustain the ice machete itself? Is it simply a one-time consumption for the spell itself? Well, I can find out about it later.

The next spell is not something strange. It’s another fire spell, but I think it’s rather more useful than a basic lighter spell. It’s called [Fire Pit] which main purpose is to probably make fire. Trying to create fire from the previous spell will be a bad idea.

[Fire Pit]

Activation: Open your palm while chanting “Fire Pit.”

Deactivation: Close your palm

I open my palm, “Fire pit.” A flaming ball appears in my hand. I then close my palm and the ball disappears. Can I throw this flaming ball, anyway? I should probably try to do it outside of this library, but well, this is quite a helpful utility spell anyway.

However, all of those spells are nothing in comparison to the next spell. In fact, I doubt whether this utility spell should even be categorized as a utility spell whatsoever. It’s practically an ice lance, and Albert writes it in his book as one.

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[Ice Lance]

Activation: Close your palm and chant “Ice Lance”

Deactivation: Throw the lance or drop the lance

I close my palm and chant, “Ice Lance.” Slowly, an ice spear appears on my hand. The ice lance is only a pointed ice stick at the end of the day, and not much else. I drop the lance and it disappears into thin air. Why would I need an ice lance for utility purposes, though? For hunting, perhaps? But I already have my M4.

I inspect the rune. Ice machete is pretty simple and straightforward and only consists of continuous three pages of runes. A fire pit is only slightly longer, and only takes five pages in total with circles, lines, and words. However, ice lance takes twenty-two pages in total.

Does it mean that the more complicated a magical spell is, the longer it will be? Fire Pit is a fireball with extra steps, but ice lance is the same at first glance, isn’t it? I look at the wall of the library, I create an ice lance on my right hand.

I then throw the ice lance to the wall of the library. The ice lance flies out of my hand at a quite high velocity, and the lance hits the wall. The lance dissipates as it hits the wall. There is no hole in it, but it definitely hits the wall really hard.

“A hard-hitting spell with low penetrative power, huh?” I comment as I look over the spot at which I throw the spear. It creates a slight bulge on the concrete wall and people will get hurt if they aren’t wearing any armor. However, it’s not that much powerful in comparison to a 5.56x45 NATO. Why magical spells are still prevalent in this world, though?

I sit down back at the chair and close my grimoire after that. Even if I don’t hold it in my hands, the spell still works, so I think grimoire is really user-bound. Is there any spell for dimensional storage, though? It’ll be rather useful, to be honest.

Albert realizes that he is dozing off. “Young miss, I’m sorry, but I’m too sleepy.”

“Why don’t you go home, Albert?” I ask him.

“Is that a good idea, young miss?” Albert asks me back.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” I reply.

I doubt Albert can teach me when he is barely awake, nor do I think it is a good idea for him to stay around here while being half-awake. I doubt someone like my father will like to see him sleeping in the middle of the library when I am writing magical spells.

Albert put his small grimoire back into his leather bag, “Alright, young miss, I’ll see you later.”

He puts his revolver back into the holster and left the dark library. After he closes the library door, the quietness of the library becomes my only friend. Rachel is in her room, probably making some chemicals. She already helps me create smokeless powder and I have enough bullets, I guess.

Still, with how little time I actually go outside, I have no chance to actually shoot the rifle in the first place. I doubt my father will be excited to see me shooting the rifle in his own mansion because I will also be angry if I were him.

Well, lessons for today are over, time to pack up and return to my room.