"The first ritual is a conjuration, the kind of ritual most easily understood by most people. This is not only the most easy to understand, but the hardest to master. The problem is that it is incredibly modifiable, having one thing affect the next until you have the item you intended to conjure or a failure that you leave to break back down into ambient magic." Lanetli says, letting his arm fall and putting the book on a nearby bench, and walking closer to Alex.
"How do I start?" Alex asks, gathering the nearby magic and sorting it by type into brightly glowing orbs in front of him, the orb containing Time being the largest by far. This was incredibly taxing on Alex, but he decided that it was worth it for the practice and potential benefits of using certain magics in certain rituals.
"You already gathered the magic, so now it's a simple idea of what you want to conjure," replies Lanetli.
"A sword," he says. In response, Lanetli draws out a large number of symbols in the air by gathering magic to his finger and leaving it there as his finger passes.
"These are all of the symbols used in a conjuration ritual, the basic form of which is this shape bound in a circle, the other symbols populate the outside edge." Lanetli drew out a complicated symbol with sharp edges and encloses it in a circle, then he labeled different areas of the circle in English so Alex could understand. He then separated the other symbols by where they go on the ritual circle. He explained how each symbol is used in each part of the ritual and how the previous symbols used affect the symbol used in that section of the ritual.
Alex had no problem dealing with such a complex ritual. The concept behind it was easy to understand, simply describe the item in a language you don't know, and then add magic. Alex started quickly studying this language, instead of learning ritual by ritual he asked for all of the symbols to build his comprehension of this magical language.
Lanetli shrugs and produces another book, this one simply listing the symbols and their uses. "It's not the best idea, but you will get it eventually I suppose," he says.
Alex takes it and sits to study, circling the orbs around himself as he does to train his control, though Lanetli didn't think this was necessary, all he really needed was to be able to make the orbs, and he had figured that out on his own. The kid would have been a monster on the battlefield. Luckily, that won't be a problem in this modern world without magic.
Lanetli takes to watching the frozen world pass by as they sail off deeper into the ocean, going farther and farther with each passing second.
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Alex, hard at work, had started thinking of the symbols as they should be used, as words. He, apparently, was quite naturally inclined towards learning a magical language. It was hard to tell how long it took in a timeless landscape dominated by time, but it seemed only hours had passed before he felt familiar enough to try making something.
He decided to try to conjure a simple sword again, writing out the ritual on paper first before guiding the steel affinity magic into the right shape, allowing it to flow into the pattern on its own. Alex kept the image of the ritual in his mind, clear as possible as he held the magic in place, not allowing it to waver in the slightest. Alex stopped forcing magic in when he had the ritual drawn out in the air in its entirety, and he started pushing magic into the activation symbol. The magic started flowing, pulsing through each symbol one by one, flowing into the symbol in the middle and around the outside of the circle until the final symbol, when the magic entered that final realization symbol the ritual expanded rapidly, warping and unfolding into a blooming explosion of compressed magic that freezes as it slowly unfolds, leaving a distorted ritual partway through an explosion.
"What the hell did you just do?! NEVER attempt a new ritual without someone to watch your back and keep you safe. EVER." Lanetli says storming over towards Alex, enraged concern written across his face. "What did you do wrong?" he asks, getting closer and looking down at the explosion and seeing the paper underneath it that would surely be destroyed when the explosion does finally get set loose. "This is the ritual you used? It's perfect, what did you do wrong? Deviate?"
"I didn't change a thing from the picture! I kept the image perfectly in my mind, and pushed the magic into the perfect shape!" Alex exclaims, clearly frustrated at the whole experience.
"That's your problem! You have to have the item you want to conjure in your mind, not the ritual. Otherwise, it will try to make your mental image fit those parameters you set for the rest of the ritual and it will go boom! Rituals are circular for a reason, that is the shape that best conducts magic, and that is the best way to make a ritual work, especially for conjuring, the most specific ritual there is. Try one more time before we hit land." Lanetli says, pointing towards the horizon where a line of docks above frozen waves can be seen.
Alex wonders at how long he really was studying to cross an entire ocean in that time before quickly crouching over and drawing his finger through the air, pulling steel-aligned magic through the air around it thinking of every detail of a simple longsword. The symbols write themselves out behind Alex's finger and then they start filling with magic, the image of the longsword with a leather-wrapped handle, a steel pommel, and a long later Damascus steel blade, a fuller down the middle and a cross guard of strong steel. Before Alex had even realized it, he was holding a magic construct of steel, weighing down his arm to the point he couldn't lift it. He looked down and reached with his other hand, brandishing the weapon with a proud expression on his face.
"Well done kid, let's get out and start looking for signs of Major General Bakaw being forgotten while you test out the other rituals. I have to say, you have quite the natural proclivity for this stuff, a talent I could never match, and I'm about to ascend to godhood." Lanetli says, motioning for Alex to leave the sword on the boat as he jumps off, walking down the docks.