"The Saturn Rings...What a grandiloquent name," Nelg laughed, openly mocking Glenn's naming sense. The young man couldn't care less about the mockery as he concentrated on the spell, grinning in appreciation. Saturn Rings was the perfect spell for him. The way he figured out how to create it was pretty simple. So far, he had tried not to go over a certain limit in Mana consumption, but due to that limit, he couldn't exactly play with the spell as much as he'd have liked.
Nevertheless, Glenn couldn't allow the shield to be too expensive, as he had to constantly feed it with Mana. The longer he kept such a powerful but costly shield, the sooner his Mana reserves would run out. And running out of Mana practically meant death, so he had to avoid it at all costs. What's more, if he made the shield too powerful, it could block and tear apart every incoming attack, be they projectile or hand-to-hand, but he'd also end up in tatters. Not exactly a pleasant side effect of using a spell
So, to overcome these issues, Glenn had an idea based on Nelg's suggestion: layering. He summoned multiple layers of the gravitational shield, but all at their minimal Mana consumption. Of course, the shield in this state was useless and wouldn't block anything. But, by carefully controlling the Mana flow going to each layer, Glenn was able to modify the layer's defensive strength manually, adjusting them for the situations and adapting the Mana cost to be the most efficient.
A hail of bullets? Medium strength for the inner layer, to block the attacks, and minimal strength for the outer layers, to move them in the gravitational pull, so he could use them later. A powerful, piercing projectile? Maximum strength for the inner layer and medium strength for all the other layers, to slow the attack. Then, increase the speed of the gravitational pull to destroy the projectile and make it into something he could throw back, like many stone bits. And finally, a melee attack? Get rid of the gravitational pull and only use a strong pushing force in front of the attack.
A sword would try and carve through the shield, but would eventually be bounced back at their user. It wasn't exactly like the idea of taking a spell and sending it back to sender, since he had to process the projectiles, but it was still a really good defense. Additionally, Glenn was almost certain that if he fine-tuned the Saturn Rings sufficiently and trained himself for their usage, he'd be able to reach his vision of sending back attacks perfectly. But he would need more knowledge on gravity, movements of mass, and much more knowledge he probably didn't know he needed to perfect the spell.
Anyway, it was an excellent progress! Glenn smiled and rubbed his hands together, taking a quick second to judge how much Mana he had left.
...Around 47% of his maximum capacity. He could still try some things out, but he'll soon have to Meditate his Mana back.
'So, what are we going for next?' Diamanes asked curiously. Glenn moistened his lips, thinking. Having a strong defense was one, if not the most important project he had in spell creation, but it was now checked off. The next magical thing he could focus on was either dimensional magic, be it for storage or teleportation, or more attacks with different attributes. So far, if he classed them by elements, he had Gravity Manipulation for...manipulating things? It was a neutral spell, with many applications, but it didn't have an attribute. Gravity wasn't an attribute, was it?
Glenn frowned and headed for the stone terminal, wondering if he could get some classifications of all the attributes, elements, or whatever they called it in the Magi Brotherhood. It didn't take long to find free, basic documentation available for every member of the Brotherhood. The young man almost wanted to slap himself for not taking the time to check for those things, but could he fault himself for having such a hectic life? When did he even have the time to get this kind of information? Now that he was here, he certainly was going to make the most of his time!
The young man asked for a chair from the terminal and sat to read the documentation, which came from some very, very basic child book for the studies of aspiring Magis. Glenn ignored his shame from reading a children's book and concentrated on it.
There were many, many elements or attributes, (apparently, he was free to call them as he liked), but all came from six elements: Chaos was the surprising one, while the other five, Light, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth came almost like cliches. All of the other elements could be created by combining these six primordial attributes; Fire and Earth made for Magma magic, while Water and Air made for Mist magic. But, depending on the ratio of elements in a spell, (and that's what Glenn found interesting), the produced element could end up being different. Fire and Earth could be mixed again, but to become then Ash magic. Same for Water and Air, depending on the ratio, Ice magic could be made. Of course, this all applied to classical applications with the School of Words, where spells could be created just by infusing Mana through a spoken sentence.
Nevertheless, spells could be made without using any of these attributes: the example noted in the book being Cleaning Touch. A single word, Mundare, and the spell was summoned, costing practically nothing while being one of the most useful of them all. These were called Neutral spells and simply didn't have any attributes. They could be mixed to create new spells; to go back to the example of Cleaning Touch, it could be combined with the Water attribute. The outcome would be an already existing spell named Cleaning Water. The caster could create an orb of water that would clean everything it touched, getting rid of the need for him to touch things to clean them.
Glenn groaned as he read that. He could have just Cleaning Touch this way?
"...For real? What was the word for water already..." Glenn looked at his right hand and spoke the words; "Aqua Mundare... Oh shit, it works!" he laughed as a ball of water surged in the air, probably two meters in diameter. The spell barely cost anything more than the original Cleaning Touch, which was excellent news. Glenn played with the spell for a second, before frowning, finding it weirdly complicated to control the spell. If usually he could control them like they were part of his body, this spell felt like he was using a game controller to do so.
"...Ah," Glenn muttered in realization. He was using a game controller; only they were called words. No doubt that if he used more words, like something for more precision or control, he'd be able to get what he wanted.
So that's exactly what he did. He quickly checked over the terminal for the word for precision, and summoned the spell once again, dismissing the previous one.
"Let's see...Aqua Mundare Praecisio!" The ball of water surged once more as he spoke, before shaping into a hovering spear. Glenn looked at the spear confusedly, before glancing around for a target. He looked at the other users of the Savant Room, but the effect of the place made it so that all the users could see each other if they wanted to, but didn't allow for contact. The young man smacked his lips, finding to find anything dirty, before sighing. He already knew what the best target was, it just felt dumb. He looked at the water spear and shot it at his left, purple hand.
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'...Wait, why is there a spear coming in my direction? Hey, Glenn, wait, what the f— ' The water spear collided with the hand, blasting it away. Glenn winced and took a step back, before looking at his hand. It was still there, thankfully, but was a little bruised. On another note, it was completely cleaned. The young man shook his head. There certainly were things he didn't understand when it came to the School of Words. It used much less imagination and much more testing, playing the Mana roulette to come up with a powerful, cost-efficient spell.
Speaking of cost, this one was very extravagant, as much as his casual utilization of Shooting Star, while keeping the same strength as Cleaning Water. What should he even call it? Water Cleaning Spear? Way too long, but it was a lame spell, so maybe it was fitting. Yeah, whatever. Glenn inputted the combination in the stone terminal, finding out that it had already been created.
Of course. Well, it was an easy one, after all. The young man took a step back and began reflecting on the attributes he could use without the School of Words. So far, he had Fire, with Sun Touch, Infernal Blackhole, and, of course, Shooting Star. The latter two were the product of a combination of the first with other spells, though, so maybe they didn't count? Saturn Rings was a Neutral Spell, as was Gravity Manipulation. Blackhole, though, the pure Blackhole was certainly not a Neutral spell. Maybe it entered the Chaos category? He'd have to find some kind of professional to figure that out for him.
He also had the spells Diamanes gave him access to, like Nitrogen spells, which had the attribute of Cold, Ice...or Very Cold Ice? Nitrogen might be its attribute. Carbon Blade would be...Earth, maybe, but another connected attribute? Carbon might be its attribute too! Silence was a Curse, and came from worshipping Epinos, the Thorn's Cult God, so it couldn't have an attribute. Or maybe it would be categorized as Chaos? Chaos could be used to describe a lot of things, after all. Holy Blessing was the same, it was Divinity, not magic, so it didn't count... Same for C.P.R....Wait, was C.P.R. a divine spell? But from which divinity? Who did Javier believe in?
Glenn shook his head and hurriedly took a step back from the tangent, coming back to the main subject. What about Implosion? Implosion was definitely Chaos. Or Light?
"...I need some teacher for all this shit, to tell me where I'm wrong. It's not with the two idiots in my head that I'm going to come up with anything..." Glenn sighed. Diamanes suddenly exclaimed, angry.
'Hey! Don't you dare act as if you just used me as a test subject! This was very degrading! Why don't you use Nelg for these kinds of tests, huh?'
Glenn looked at his left hand for a few seconds, before shrugging.
"Because Nelg is my favorite. Now shut up and let me concentrate."
Diamanes gasped, speechless, while Nelg was laughing his ass out. Glenn ignored both of them and looked back at the stone pedestal. Where was dimensional magic in this whole mess? He didn't take long to find the answer, for it was written on the next page of documentation.
"Teleportation or storage magics are both very advanced, but for learning purposes, here are some explanations of how they work. Teleportation will take an individual or an object, and transport them at a certain coordinate, for an expensive Mana cost. If the coordinates are obstructed, the spell will attempt to push back the obstruction, before exploding. Some mages use teleportation as a means to attack, but dispelling these spells is quite easy. The teleportation point will appear like a Rift, and it only needs to be attacked with Mana or Aura to be destroyed without causing an explosion."
Glenn nodded slowly, before doing a double-take.
"Surcharging the Rifts with Mana or Aura? So that was the correct way to do it?" The young man glanced at his left hand with a slightly amused look. He had always been feeding the Rifts to Diamanes, and since this method worked perfectly well, he never tried to find out the normal way. Well, that was good to know. He looked back to the stone pedestal.
"Storage magic, while also being an application of precise arithmetic, is mostly a product of ALL the elements, and needs a particularly precise control over the Chaos attribute. It's only by using Chaos that weight suppressors and compression filters can be created, hence the need for this element's mastery. Both teleportation and storage magic users are highly paid by their corresponding guilds, the Travelers and the Stockpilers. Expect a bright future if you can master one or the other, and to create your myth if you can master both!"
The encouraging words of the author stopped there, for it was the end of the introductory book. Glenn rubbed his forehead, lost in thoughts. He already knew Teleportation was a big deal, since he only saw it in the hands of the Magi Brotherhood, except for the Skinner guy who used an artifact to create one-way portals. There were barely any explanations on Storage magic, though, besides the very repeated point that Chaos was needed for it.
"...Things are clearing up little by little, though, so that's good..." He muttered while leaning on the pedestal.
He'll put all kinds of dimensional magic to the side, for now. These would need someone to teach him properly, and he didn't trust any of the loser mages in the Fringe. Perhaps he could ask someone of the Magi Brotherhood? Meh, they'd probably ask for some exorbitant payments, so that was out of the question.
Well, it wouldn't cost him anything to try and ask around, so he'll do that. Glenn couldn't see any other way to dabble in dimensional magic, so the thought was laid to rest— Wait, no, he had another way to use magic. He grimaced and forced a smile as he looked at his left, purple hand.
"...Diamanes, ah, my absolute favorite entity, how are you doing?"
Diamanes grunted back, not even bothering to reply. Glenn's fake mask crackled but he still kept it up.
"Diamanes, you wouldn't happen to have a way to take dimensional magic, right?"
The entity grumbled something intelligible, which was weird for something spoken inside Glenn's mind, before sighing.
'Right now, you're too weak of a loser, but once you're stronger, your body will probably be able to accept at least Storage magic. Or you could get rid of C.P.R. and get it now, your choice.'
Glenn's pleasing mask broke down and his eyes widened exaggeratedly.
"What do you mean I'd need to get rid of C.P.R.? There's a limit on how much you can take?"
Diamanes smacked his lips, annoyed.
'No, the two powers are simply not compatible. Ah, now that I think about it, Divine Blessing would also have to go, and Silence too.'
The young man sat and rubbed his temples, faced with a difficult choice. There was no doubt that dimensional magic would be extremely useful to him. That meant a portable inventory with unknown limits in terms of space at all times, with no risk of losing it. But in exchange, he would lose three, very powerful spells. Glenn then suddenly frowned.
"These are all Divine spells if C.P.R. is indeed a Divine one. Isn't Nitrogen in the same situation?"
Diamanes sneered before replying.
'Nah, the Heart of Darkness wasn't producing Nitrogen back then. You processed whatever that cold black stuff was, and transformed it into Nitrogen. It's wholly yours, and perfectly integrated with your body and Mana Heart. Power that is sourced from the Divine cannot be integrated perfectly, though, and they are not a good mix-up with Chaos attribute, or whatever they call it.'
Glenn heaved deeply, struggling to choose. Suddenly, he shook his head and pushed the issue away for now. He'll have to see later how hard acquiring dimensional magic was in the normal way. Only then he'd be able to know. Following that line of thought, Glenn checked the terminal up to find out the cost of unlocking the more Advanced Knowledge. He frowned as the only requirement was to be a Magi, a Fourth-Circle individual.
Something he wasn't yet.
"...Alright, let's forget dimensional magic entirely for now. Too bad..." Glenn shook his head with disappointment. The young man took his Exan Egg out of his dimensional pouch and checked the time. His eyes stretched open slightly when he realized he had already spent a dozen hours playing around with magic. Time went fast when having fun!
When should he leave, though?
...He could probably wait a little longer until he completely depleted his Mana, right? That'd probably take a few more hours, nothing too crazy, and it would help him toward his new goal: creating a spell for each attribute. He already had Neutral, Fire, and maybe Chaos.
Glenn couldn't call himself a proper mage if he didn't have access to all the attributes, right?
And it was probably going to take a little time to get them all right, anyway.
Probably.
Yeah, it was going to be simple.
Yeah.