"Why did you even let me eat something like that? You definitely knew what could have happened. I could have died," Luz cursed after his temperature returned to that of an average person.
"Yes, but in that case, a strong kick to the stomach would have been enough to save you. If the potent meat is no longer in your body, then it can't hurt you badly," Jodoc replied calmly, as he pulled out pieces of meat from his inventory and ate them with relish.
"I am intrigued to see how much such a meal will affect your body," Jodoc
casually replied while rubbing his head against Luz for no reason.
"Why are you rubbing your head against me? And I think it's time you tell me more about space magic," sighed Luz, who was still leaning his head on the table.
"Well, your hair is spiky and well suited for scratching," Jodoc commented calmly, before continuing with, "Space magic is one of the strongest and weakest magic disciplines of all. If you were to choose between a space spell and a fire spell in a battle, which one would you choose?"
"To be honest, I would rather choose a fire spell," Luz answered, sighing while staring into the parrot's eyes.
"And why is that? You have a spatial talent, after all," Jodoc asked with a nod as he stopped rubbing his head against Luz.
"Because space spells are too mana intensive, and it's an all or nothing with spells like that," Luz replied as he slowly lifted his head from the table.
"Right. Even with a space talent, spatial spells are far too risky for lowly mages. Space magic, in general, is a magic discipline that very few mages can wield, let alone master." Jodoc told Luz as he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.
"Sure, Master Simon can perform space magic, but his level is at the intermediate level at best. Master Brian, on the other hand, probably scratches the surface in space magic when it comes to the master level. And then, there's you...," Jodoc told, taking a deep breath for a moment.
"What's about me?" asked Luz like a young child.
Jodoc laughed lightly before continuing with, "Well, you're the only exception to the rule of whom I know of. You've mastered space magic as much as you could have before advancing. You even tried to use a space magic spell well above your league. That's also why Master Simon and Master Brian wanted to heal your Mana core so badly."
"Why do you even know space magic? It's one of the hardest disciplines to learn. You never had a teacher who taught you space magic. Wait, how did you even get, awakened in the first place? People with a space magic talent actually awaken quite rarely natural, as the theories are way too complicated behind it," Jodoc asked.
"You're asking too many questions at once." Luz sighed before starting his narration: "Everything happened around a month before the destruction of my village. The tax collector was the only one from the outside world that visited my quiet village once a year. He was a magician, and after we showed him footprints belonging to a dragon, he rewarded the village elder. Every child under the age of 20 got an awakening pearl."
(Author comment: An awakening pearl helps you with awakening. It does that by identifying which elements you should research upon.)
After stating that, Luz closed his eyes briefly.
'Come to think of it, I was way too busy learning magic back then... Maybe I should have spent more time with my parents.'
A single tear rolled down his cheek before he continued his narration:
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"My village elder gave me a book about space magic after I talked with him about my potential talent. Unlike my siblings, I never got a book for mage apprentices. I got a book which one of my former ancestors owned. It was called Space Magic for advanced (Master Mage)."
After stating it, Luz laughed while looking at Jodoc's horrified expression.
"Did you really teach yourself magic from a book for master mages?" Jodoc asked calmly.
"Yes, even though I only understood the introduction halfway. But I never had a choice out of pride. I had to prove myself. The tax collector would have never taken me if I told him something like, [Yeah, I think my talent lies in space magic]," Luz sighed and became quiet for a few seconds.
"But even after awakening, a prideful older brother such as I had no other choice than continuing to study that element. Which older brother would like to be left in the dust by his siblings? That's certainly, one of the fears no older brother wants to face, which is why I forced myself to continue that route instead of focussing on an easier element such as fire." Luz told Jodoc as he laughed.
"I can understand you. Incredibly, you were even able to reach such levels while only being left to yourself. You can be proud of yourself," Jodoc commented as he cracked a nut with his beak.
After eating it, he continued with: "I finally understand your situation. Well, you were definitely lucky to still have all your limbs. Most apprentice mages with a spatial talent and without a mage teacher tend to lose their limbs while experimenting with spatial magic," told Jodoc, who visualized the scenario in the air.
Compared to Master Simon, his visualizations were of stick figure quality. But it was enough to show how someone wrapped a mana membrane around their body incorrectly and how the spell tore the respective limb into pieces.
A shiver ran down Luz's spine. 'Thank God I didn't touch magic until I fully mastered the mana membrane.'
Jodoc just laughed when he saw Luz's horrified expression and continued his narration, "Before I tell you how space magic spells work, I want to test how big your mana reserves are. Please use the spell [Spatial Disorder as many times as you can]."
Luz nodded before creating a mana membrane around his body.
In amazement, he looked at his mana membrane. It seemed easier to conjure if you were to compare it to when he was an apprentice mage, and it had a light blue color resembling a dense gas.
Luz was excited about his mana membrane and muttered the spell [spatial disorder], which surprisingly lasted for even half a second.
'The mana consumption was less than before, and the spell is also much easier to use' went through Luz's head before he tried the spell several times, even on both hands at the same time.
One could hear the words "[spatial disorder]" being shouted several times. Jodoc only commented, "I see you found a new toy," while looking at Luz's spell.
After the tenth time, Luz began to sweat, and after the 13th time, he could not summon a complete mana membrane.
"Thirteen times is way above average. Normally, a beginner mage such as you should be able to use it anywhere between 10 to 12 times at most. Alright, time to start with our theory lesson," the parrot stated with a yawn.
"Let's briefly address your current level in space magic. What can you do by now?" asked Jodoc while running his claws over his beak.
"I can make ehm destabilize space around my hand," Luz answered with a bit of uncertainty.
Jodoc nodded with satisfaction and added: "Exactly. The only thing you know is how to destabilize space in a primitive way. Spatial stabilization and destabilization are the cornerstones of spatial magic."
Luz noted Jodoc's words. The parrot, on the other hand, continued with: "Teleportation magic, for example, is destabilizing two separate spaces and linking them together before you stabilize them again."
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(Author note: I haven't put much effort into thinking it through, but my idea was the following. The space around you is connected with the environment. By destabilizing the space volume around you, one automatically weakens the links between the environment and the space volume around you. If you now were to destabilize two different spaces of the same volume, one could interlink them or swap the spaces.
If you were to teleport yourself, you would connect the space around you with a different place before you either swap them or insert your space volume into it.
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"But do you want to know what one of the most feared existences are? Mages who became one with space. These are monsters who cannot be killed unless your understanding of space is better than theirs. But to be honest, I can't even explain what becoming one with space means," sighed Jodoc.
Luz, on the other hand, stood there silently while eating popcorn. "Interesting… continue," he commented with big pupils.
"I'll continue in the next chapter," Jodoc replied.