I head into the classroom area in the trench before Thomas arrived.

A few minutes later, Thomas walks through a portal in the middle of the room, holding a thick folder under one arm and a mug in his other.

"Good morning." He says while sipping from his mug. "Good morning. I have a question." He sets his stuff down on his desk. "Ask away." "Why can you use space magic if that's primarily your wife's thing?" He springs up at this. "Oh, so, fun fact: Sophia learned it from me. The affinities that she normally uses are all darkness based, healing, and poison, so yeah. Technically, my thing." He's an inch from my face at this point, but he realizes this as he clears his throat and backs away.

"Ahem. Today we will be learning about spellcraft and the like. Now there are many, many different ways of casting magic, but we will just be covering the basics today. Now, last class I tasked you with learning life magic, but some…events have happened, so we'll save those plans for another day. Of course we will still get to them though. Eventually."

"Now, the first type of magic is body enhancement. This is either internal or external. External would be like your Rock Hand that covers part of your body in some element. This is done by shifting mana to a part of your body and coating the outside of your body in mana. Internal would be infusing mana into your bones causing them to be as tough as rock."

"Next is chanted magic. A chant requires infusing mana into your vocal cords as your words literally form the instructions for spells. This method has some pros which people prefer, such as exact mana requirement, and only requiring memorizing some words. However, this type is also long as it typically uses flowery language or an extreme amount of words as some words have multiple meanings and can cause the spell to cause the wrong effect. Which has lead to some deaths." He gives a quiet sigh at the last sentence.

"We also have intent magic, something that I prefer using. It allows for you to force mana outside your body and use pure willpower to create spells. This method however uses an unknown amount of mana each time you use it, and requires a strong will and imagination. But, it can be cast with incredible speed, and a degree of accuracy based on your mental image." My Transcription skill is tracking all of his words perfectly as he continues his lecture.

"Sophia uses shaped magic. Typically, one would shape threads of mana into runic circles to create spells. This would require a strong will as the last one, but instead of imagination requires memorization. Sophia can circumvent the requirements for this one a little as she can excrete threads from anywhere on her body and control them from a distance, and with extreme efficiency if they are still attached to her, so the portals she creates are mana infused physical threads shaped into runes. Just really small runes that one wouldn't be able to see." This shocks me as I didn't expect those thin threads used for portals to be small runic circles which I guess attributes to spatial magic's complexity.

"Shaped magic has a cousin called carved magic, or enchantment magic. People can refine magic into a point and carve certain runes with types of magic into places and objects. Now these can be activated on will, or have non-attribute magic to create an effect. The most common example of this are enchanted artifacts, or alchemical equipment."

"The final magic is the most complex. Ritual magic, or contract magic. This is a magic that not many would use in battle. These things have heavy requirements such as environment, objects, speech, imagination, memorization, willpower, and a price. The price is the most demanding requirement. To perform some magics require permanently giving up something. The outcome, on the other hand, is…explosive. I don't recommend using this. At all. If what you're offering for the spell isn't enough, the magic can forcefully take anything from you."

"There is a theorized branch of magic called Calculation magic, but I'm still researching it. It basically states that one can use calculations to influence magical particles to influence the world. It's actually used as the basis of the magi-tech I invented, but it has two major issues. One, it requires fast paced calculations. Two, it requires exact magical pathways in the body which is biologically impossible. Only something artificial, like technology can use it."

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"Your assignment today is to use an internal body enhancement. Sophia has told me that you're more aligned with physical altercations than magic, so this is our most likely course. For now. Also, word of advice. Be careful of what mana you infuse into what. Don't what to accidentally infuse water into your bones and turn them into jelly."

At the final statement, Thomas sits down at his desk and starts going through that file he brought. Looking over a document and then signing it and stamping it. Makes you remember that he's in charge of several companies.

Since my best skill is in Earth Magic I try reinforcing my body with it. Since Thomas mentioned bone reinforcement, I might as well try that. Channeling the mana through my body is an easy effort. Channeling it into my bone is a different matter though.

The mana seems to resist my bone. I don't know why, but this seems expected. Else why would it be something I have to learn. I forcefully try to shove more into my arm and this almost succeeds when a hand firmly grasps my shoulder.

"Don't do that. Forcing mana directly into one point like that will cause more damage than good. Mainly due to the earth element encompassing all minerals, which means it reacts with the calcium in your bones. Forcing that much earth into one point will not just give similarities to rock, but will actually convert the calcium into a random assortment of minerals." He shakes his head. "Which would cause many medical problems."

He pulls a chair up opposite of me. He moves the jacket of his three-piece suit aside as he sits down. "Watch this." He commands as he pulls off a black glove and rolls up his sleeve to reveal a fully metal arm with metal plates shifting with his movements. Though you could hear the whirs of the motors and creaking off the metal. Soon a blue light flows up and down his arm and gets absorbed into the arm. Then when he moves his arm it no longer creaks and instead moves smoothly like a real arm.

"Now, I just used water magic to increase the flexibility of the metal on my arm. Normally I don't need this, but I turned off the stabilizers to prove a point. What you need to do is spread your earth mana up and down your bone. You need to goad it, coerce it into your bone. Then it will be spread out enough to work and not kill you." He leans back in his chair as he fixes his clothes.

I follow his advice, but the mana still seems to reject going into the bone. Or maybe? Maybe I just need to coat my bone in earth, similar to external enhancements. Perhaps direct infusion isn't the way. Indirect infusion by letting it sit in earth mana. And there could be other medical problems with direct infusion, like bone marrow. Isn't that stuff supposed to be springy?

So I coat my bone in earth mana and let it sit. The bone slowly absorbs the mana, like a waterlogged sponge trying to absorb more water. Slow, but it can be done. Thomas just stares daggers into me throughout this whole process. "You figured it out." He whispers.

[ Through repeated actions you have unlocked the skill: Earth Bone Enhancement(Minimum, Active) ]

[ Earth Bone Enhancement - A basic reinforcement spell for those that use Earth Magic. This spell gives selected bones a hardness of 4 on the Mohs scale. Cost: 3mp per sec ]

Oh, this one has less mana cost than Rock Hand. I might use this one more.

"Okay, so you should have it now. Do keep in mind that this spell only protects bone, unlike Rock Hand which covers the entire hand, but it allows for more speed in your punches. Do you know what the rank does for those spells actually?" He asks with concern in his eyes that grows when I shake my head.

"Okay, that minimum, minor, medium stuff basically states how powerful and easy it is to use a skill. Maximums can evolve the skill or unlock new ones. Hell, ranking up can sometimes change the description for a skill. Rock Hand starts at a mineral assortment with a 4 on the Mohs scale. Getting to maximum only gets the hardness to 6, which is just about stronger than steel, so not great, not terrible. Though do keep in mind that it is a random assortment of minerals it mimics, hardness does not equal toughness, like I could take a diamond and smash it with a hammer. Crystals are not good to get. Probably want to work your way towards the metal magics." He ends. "Well, you finished and it's near midnight. You should probably head home. Though one thing to note. There are more to spells than just forcing a single type of mana around. I'll leave you to figure that one out." He opens a portal in the middle of the classroom and leaves.

It's already midnight? And did Thomas leave me again?