Pascal pushed his mana into the wand. A faint magic circle appeared at the tip. Unlike the previous instances, the magic circle was barely visible. The thin lines formed small dashes, each line broken up into several parts.

Narrowing his eyes at the spell circle, he furrowed his brow and pushed more mana into the spell. The gaps in the lines closed slightly, but huge parts of the spell circle were still missing. Despite pouring in so much mana, he had barely filled even half the mana required.

"This is tougher than I thought."

He grit his teeth and poured even more mana into the wand. Sparks spat out of the tip, and mana crackled through the air. He poured as much mana into the wand as he could, yet the circle remained incomplete.

"How much more mana could you ask for..."

The spell circle was barely large enough to fit a plant pot in. He could always go back and make it smaller to decrease the mana requirements. However, he had already poured most his mana into it. He couldn't stop now.

"Just a little more..."

The lights in the room flickered as extra mana saturated the environment. His own mana tingled against his skin, rippling through the air. A sharp pain in his chest warned him he had reached his limit, but he refused to stop. Even after exhausting his mana, he continued to feed the spell circle. As fast as he could regenerate mana, he fed his excess magical energy into the circle.

Little by little, the lines continued to fill in. When he first started, they had inched closer, but now they had slowed to a crawl. Slower than molasses drips off a spoon, the gaps in the lines continued to knit together. All he had to do was be patient, or so he thought.

The wand he held began to vibrate. The wooden handle shook in his hand, but he only tightened his grip. Warmth swelled in its base, but he ignored that too. Eventually, the vibrations increased to an audible buzz. The end of the wand blurred as the tip rapidly trembled back and forth.

"Just a little more..."

The gaps in the spell circle were nearly closed. Each rune contained only a few broken lines. The flared line endings reached towards each other, beginning to interweave. However, the whine from the wand grew to a higher pitch. It screamed in protest like a chirping grasshopper.

The wand snapped. He blinked in surprise, then the blowback from the spell crashed through the room. All the mana combined into a single point, then a flash of light burst out. A flurry of air crashed into Pascal, knocking him from his feet.

He landed on his back, sliding a few meters out of the lab and across the hall. The world seemed to spin and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust.

A layer of black soot covered the insides of the lab. He stumbled to his feet and stepped back inside to survey the damage. "This might have been a bad idea..."

[ Explosion Confirmed. Beginning cleanup. ]

The white ball of light descended from the ceiling. At the same time, knee-height emerald golems tottered out of the walls. They began wiping down surfaces and cleaning up the soot. A few of them tottered between tables, picking up wooden splinters.

"Sorry, Dia. I messed up."

[ Apology Confirmed. Assigning disciplinary points to User Pascal. Continuing recovery mode. ]

Balls of light appeared in the corners of the lab. His loose papers and the vine plant floated inside of them. The balls of light deposited them on the newly cleaned lab tables.

"Oh, my things survived. That's fortunate."

[ Negative. At the time of the explosion, shields were deployed to preserve the contents of the lab. Their survival was not left up to chance. ]

"You couldn't spare a shield for me too?"

[ ... ] The white ball of light seemed to sigh at his words. [ A shield was deployed around User Pascal at the time of the explosion. ]

"Oh..." The lab had actually protected him. However, if he had gotten knocked that far even with their protections, the explosion must have been truly powerful. "Thank you for protecting me."

[ Gratitude Confirmed. ]

The white ball of light spun and disappeared back up into a gem in the ceiling. The remaining golems finished cleaning up and tottered back into the walls. Panels closed back in, sealing them inside. No trace of the explosion or cleaning crew remained.

"What did I do wrong, though..." He stared down at his notes. The spell circle he used still sat at the top of the pile. He took a seat while beginning to analyze it once more.

—

Kres sat in the library, as usual. Several old spell tomes piled up around him. Dust covered their covers, but he dared not return them. Slips of paper jutted out of their pages, marking his important notes.

He finished reading a chapter from his current tome when a stir rippled through the library. The other mages studying Space Time magic began to group up and he sighed. With his trusty bookmark, he stuck it into his book and put it aside.

"What is it this time?"

He headed towards the small huddle. His colleagues got excited at the smallest of things. It was unlikely to be important, but he headed over anyway.

"A new Space Time spell just got registered." One mage in the circle looked up and smiled back at him. "Kres, you're gonna want to see this."

"From your tone, I definitely do not want to see it." He rolled his eyes. If the spell was impressive enough to warrant such excitement, the group of geeks in front of him would not be smiling. Instead of looks of interest, they wore ill-intentioned smiles.

"Some Green mage registered a Space Time spell, look at this!"

Before he could even protest, the others drew out the spell onto paper and the face of the author covered several tablets. He recognized the face as the Green mage that had wandered up to the library the day before. That they had created a new spell in only a day was very bad news. The smiles of his colleagues were only present because they had a new toy to mock.

"Look at these side effects... Even if someone had enough mana to cast this, the feedback would deafen you."

"The duration is crazy... What are they trying to do, grow grass faster? Who would need a spell that lasts this long."

"These idiots think Space Time magic is so simple... Another spell entirely made up of greedy runes. Can't we just ban them from coming up here? They're just wasting our time with this crap."

Kres listened to their complaints and sighed. From a brief glance over the spell circle, he knew their complaints were valid. However, he found their comments distasteful.

"No one asked you to review the spell, you know." He picked up a spare sheet containing the spell and looked it over more closely. "This is clearly tailored to their needs..." The duration of the spell was far longer than normal, almost as if the author specifically chose runes to prolong the effects.

"Except it doesn't work."

"It does work. It's a valid spell circle." He shook his head at them.

"Except the active feedback is too large. The mana requirements also make it unusable to over ninety-nine percent of the city. Practical, theoretical, it fails both ways."

Kres sighed, looking over the spell. "They did make a spell circle, though. That's pretty impressive in itself. They made it in only a day, too."

"Kres, bro, don't defend that garbage spell. Everyone knows that Space Time magic is suited for circuits, not spell circles. I'll give them credit for not spamming runes in a circuit, but the spell itself is an insult to our research."

(The author never asked to be compared to your research.) He thought to himself. However, he bit back his complaints and shook his head. "Whatever."

"All done."

"Me too."

"Me three."

Several of the other Space Time researchers held up the copies of the spell. Red pen marked the sheets of papers, covering the spell with notes. However, they tossed the sheets of paper on the ground. After finishing, they just got up and left.

"Don't litter in the library."

"Dia will take care of it eventually."

Kres just shook his head at them. He walked over and picked up the loose sheets of paper. With one last sigh, he returned to his desk with them.

Out of habit, he began aggregating their notes. He organized them into lists and pulled out the ones he thought were useful. Without thinking, he began making the adjustments. By the time he finished aggregating the notes, he had a completely new spell circle.

The main issue with the previous circle was the use of so-called 'greedy runes'. They were highly effective, but came with nasty side effects. Only those greedily making a spell without thought would use them, or so the saying went.

He gathered up the loose sheets and filed them away in a spare folder. The author of the spell was unlikely to desire such harsh feedback. However, as he began to file the newly completed spell circle, he paused.

The words of the Green mage came back to him. "I have no interest in Space Time magic."

The author of the spell wasn't someone with even a casual interest in Space Time magic. They clearly didn't make the spell for prestige, or to claim a title in Space Time magic. So why did they make the spell? If they didn't make it for fun, perhaps their spell was needed for some extrinsic utility. In that case, the modified spell circle would doubtlessly be useful to them.

Kres sighed and shook his head. "This is going to give me a headache, I can tell. Don't get into it, Kres. This is only going to end badly."

Those with only a passing interest in Space Time magic never lasted. The families of runes were far too complex, and the interactions too many. He had helped countless newbies only for them to give up and never return. He shouldn't involve himself with someone who might just waste his time.

He looked back over at his pile of research books. He had worked on this problem for several hundred years by now, but he was no closer to the solution. Perhaps one could blame his propensity for getting distracted, but what was one more distraction?

"I mean, they said it themselves... They have no interest in Space Time magic."

Trying to reach out to help them would be futile. The modified spell would probably just offend them . However, Kres just couldn't escape the nagging doubt in his mind. If he could help them even a little, he wanted to do it.

(If they have no interest in Space Time magic, then this won't take long at all. I can just hand over the modified spell and leave.)

He picked up the modified spell circle and headed towards the library stairwell.

"Where are you going, Kres?"

"To get some fresh air," he replied.

He cursed himself, but didn't let it show. Holding the page of notes, he headed down to the floor containing books on Green magic. He headed out through the exit on the same level.

A wave of muggy humidity hit him. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of freshly cut grass and hurried down the hallway. The vivid greenway was unpleasant for a researcher like him.

"Perhaps I should have left from a higher level and taken a side path to the Green section..."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

He crossed a bridge over a small pond. Just having streams and ponds in a hallway was crazy, but Lazulite golems swam in them, too. Several of the blue golems splashed water in the air as they trundled along.

He tucked the page under one arm, protecting it from the water. By the time he reached the end, sweat covered his brow and several water stains covered his dark robes. "This was definitely a mistake."

However, he was committed now. He stepped through the end and sighed. Dry air poured in from vents, giving much needed relief.

He found several farms in the next hallway, but he ignored them. The author had just developed the spell. They were unlikely to be in a farm. He continued walking down the hall until he came to a branching hallway.

Kres clicked his tongue and came to a stop. He didn't know which way to go. However, he had a hunch.

"Dia, where is the nearest lab?"

A speaker crackled to life on the wall. The white ball of light wouldn't appear outside of set areas, but it could still respond to questions from anywhere in the city.

[ Query Confirmed. Lab G01 is to your left. It is the first door on the right. ]

He nodded and headed down the left hallway. He found an enormous wall of glass with a single doorway in the middle. Lab tables dotted the room and the person he was looking for sat at one of them.

They still wore the same green robes as when he saw them last, the signature of Green mages. They had short brown hair, but features fairer than any of the researchers he worked with.

"Yo." He called out to them as he entered the lab.

—

Pascal heard someone call out to him. He looked up and tilted his head at them. "What do you want?"

The man wore the dark gray robes of the Space Time mages. He opened his mouth to respond, then frowned. Despite coming all the way to the Green sector, he remained speechless.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

The sooner he could get this weirdo out of here, the sooner he could return to studying. However, the weirdo started shaking his head.

"Actually, I wanted to see if I could help you. I saw the new Space Time spell you came up with." The weirdo sat down across from him and Pascal tilted his head.

"You saw the spell I made..? Are you some kind of pervert?"

"P-Pervert!?"

"It's not like I shared it with anyone. Were you looking at my file or something? We only briefly met yesterday, but now you're stalking me."

"I-I'm not! I swear!" The weirdo clasped his hands together and lowered his head. "Wait- You remember me?"

Pascal blinked back at him. "I'm not into dudes, if that's what you're asking."

"That's not it at all!" His shoulders slumped in defeat. "I thought I might show you some improvements to the spell you made. Space Time researchers are crazy about optimization, you know?"

Pascal's eyes narrowed at his words. "I see... Then what is it you wanted to show me?"

The weirdo pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on the table. Pascal picked it up and looked over the notes. It contained a modified spell circle and words in the margins explaining all the changes to his previous spell. In all honesty, so much was different that barely any of his spell remained. Only the runes shaping the output remained unchanged.

"See, these runes have a lower feedback. These ones will lower the amount of escaped mana, and these amplify the time dilation effects a hundredfold."

"I see..."

Pascal didn't respond immediately. Instead, he pulled up a holographic rune terminal. He began manually entering the runes to confirm their effects. However, they had all the effects listed on the paper. Just as the weirdo said, it reduced the initial mana cost and increased the time acceleration factor. Just to be sure, though, he called out to Dia.

"Dia, analyze the spell circle to confirm its validity." None of the unconnected runes could interact, or the spell circle wouldn't work. It was common sense not to present an invalid spell circle, but he didn't trust this weirdo.

[ Query Confirmed. Analysis Complete. The spell circle is valid. ]

"You don't trust me, huh?"

"Obviously. Thank you, Dia. You may go."

[ Gratitude Confirmed. ] The white ball of light twisted and spun up into the ceiling crystal.

"You know, there's nothing wrong with keeping her out. For that matter, they don't expect thanks."

Pascal blinked at the weirdo, then shook his head. "Don't distract from the problem at hand. This spell sucks."

"Wh-What!?" Weirdo's eyes widened and his mouth opened in surprise.

"I'm more confused at your reaction. This spell circle's effects are completely different from mine. Why would you think it would fit my needs?"

Weirdo shook his head. "It accelerates time faster than yours, and it uses less mana and time."

"Exactly, it's completely different."

"Actually, it maintains the same acceleration-duration ratio. You probably wouldn't understand this yet, but in Space Time magic, we have a concept called Acceleration Equivalence. If you maintain the same ratio of-"

"That's a lot of words that have nothing to do with this. The spell sucks."

The weirdo blinked in surprise again. "Are you criticizing my spell?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Are you saying this is better than mine?"

"Obviously! Even if we ignore the active feedback, this one does the same thing but faster."

"Who says faster is better?"

"It's a time acceleration spell. Are you kidding me?" Weirdo pointed at the paper for emphasis. "Faster is the entire point of the spell."

"You don't understand my spell at all."

"I have every rune in your spell committed to memory." He pointed at his head for good measure. "These runes are actually categorized as 'greedy-runes'. You wouldn't know this yet, but they are well known as practically worthless. If we select more efficient runes-"

"The runes themselves are worthless?" Pascal's hair bristled at the weirdo's outrageous statements. "Said who?"

"As I said, the runes in your spell are infamously bad. Everyone who has ever looked at them knows they're not useful in practice."

"Well, I looked at them, and I think they fit my purposes just fine, thank you very much."

"That's because you don't understand them."

"I understand them perfectly fine."

"You don't understand them. At least, if you understood more runes, you would know that these are worthless."

"Oh, so now you're bringing other runes into this!? You can't discuss my spell without bringing other runes into the picture?"

"No! Your spell sucks on its own. We don't even need to look at other runes."

Pascal trembled at those words. "It sucks, does it? You think my spell that I worked on all day sucks?"

"A normal Space Time spell takes months, if not years to complete. It's obvious you just threw the first runes you found in there. It's completely normal for such a low effort spell to have some drawbacks."

"No, I get it. It's fine. You think you're some hot shot Space Time mage, and you came down here to insult my spell."

"That's not it at all. I just want to help you improve."

"Improve? Like you improved my spell into this?" Pascal picked up the paper, and shoved in the weirdo's face. "You're so stubborn you can't even see the flaws in it."

"What are you talking about? That spell is optimized to high heaven. You won't find another spell that fits your time acceleration better."

"My time acceleration? This is nothing like my spell. It's way faster than mine, and shorter."

"Yes, it uses less time to accomplish a faster time dilation factor."

Pascal took a slow breath. "I'm really not getting through to you, am I?"

"Here, let me show you." The weirdo picked up a pen and began writing on the opposite side of the page. "If you calculate the exact duration of your spell and factor in time acceleration, you get the ratio of mana to time dilation over duration. If you calculate it on the new spell, it's exactly the same ratio, but for less mana and time."

"It's different." Pascal tried simplifying his words so that the weirdo could understand.

"Yes, and that difference makes it better. This is a classic example of time acceleration optimization. If something uses less mana to accomplish the same differences in time, that's good. Especially if the overall duration of the time acceleration is shorter, which this does!"

"It's faster." Pascal again simplified his words, but the weirdo just rolled his eyes.

"Yes. Would you like me to explain again why that's good? That's the whole point of time acceleration magic. Go fast. I don't know how else to put this."

"It's faster."

The weirdo let out a slow breath this time. "I can explain this as many times as you want. It still does the same amount of time acceleration." He picked up the modified spell circle and shook it for extra emphasis. "If they do the same amount of time acceleration, then faster is obviously better."

"It's faster."

"You're a broken record, you know? It's faster. It's faster. Are you listening to a single thing I'm saying?"

"Are you listening to what I'm saying?"

"Yes. It's faster. That's the point of optimization. You get stuff done faster. That's the point of time acceleration magic. That's-" The weirdo froze and looked back at him.

Pascal continued to sit silently. A long pause filled the room, then Weirdo finally spoke again.

"You said you don't like Space Time magic, right?"

"I have no interest in it."

"Then, what is this spell for?"

"I want to watch plants grow."

"Then the modified spell circle is..."

"It's too fast."

"It wouldn't give you time to watch the plants grow. I see..." The weirdo slumped down on the table. He hung his head in his hands and let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We all suck at communication sometimes."

"No, I think this is entirely your fault. You didn't explain anything!"

"You didn't ask."

He sighed again, letting out a long slow breath. "I'm Kres, by the way."

"Pascal."

Kres nodded and leaned forward. "I thought your spell circle was odd. It's tuned specially for duration, huh?"

"Yep," Pascal nodded. "The upfront mana costs are a benefit, as the extra magical energy supports the spell circle for longer."

"Damn. I even noticed you optimized it for duration, but once I started looking at their notes-" He paused, then shook his head. "That doesn't matter. I'm sorry I was rude."

Pascal shrugged back. "I don't really care."

"The upfront mana cost is really too large, though. I don't think anyone could cast this spell at its original size."

Pascal glanced over at his notes. He had been searching for a way to reduce the mana cost, but after speaking with Kres, he changed his mind. "I think the upfront mana cost is fine."

"What?"

"If I don't have enough mana, then I just have to expand my capacity. I'm going to believe in the runes I picked."

"Wait, this isn't like some magic girl anime. Things don't just work because you believe in them. Those runes are really bad news. They're infamously bad."

Pascal's hair bristled up once more. "Now you're insulting my spell again."

"It's pretty hard not to-" Kres stopped himself and shook his head. "All I'm saying is, I could help you make another spell with a similar time acceleration factor, with much fewer downsides. It might not last as long, but you'd at least be able to activate it."

"I'll be able to activate this, eventually."

"Maybe in a hundred years." Kres opened his mouth to continue, but paused. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be rude, but that's a poorly optimized spell, in more ways than one."

"No, I get it. Mister hot shot Space Time mage comes down here and thinks he'll crush a newbie for fun."

"That's not it at all." Kres hesitated before continuing. "I despise the kinds of people who do that. I'm just trying to help."

Pascal watched him for a few seconds, then nodded. "I suppose you have been helpful. You gave me a goal. I'll activate my magic circle and prove you wrong."

"Y-You can't be serious..."

"I'm perfectly serious. I'll take your wager and activate that spell before a hundred years is up. In fact, I'll activate it before the week is over."

Kres hung his head in his hands. "I was just trying to help, but it seems I made things worse. Digging your heels in over a single spell is only going to stunt your growth as a Space Time mage."

"I don’t know what you mean by growth, but as I told you yesterday, I have no interest in Space Time magic."

Pascal collected his things and stood up. Kres stared at him silently, but he ignored his gaze and turned towards the exit of the lab. As he began to leave, he noticed Freja standing at the entrance.

"I heard shouting... Is everything alright?" She asked.

"It's fine." Pascal continued on his way out and Freja followed him.

—

Kres watched them go and shook his head. "That's the weirdest Green mage I've ever seen..."

He looked back at the modified spell circle. It was the culmination of all the work he and the other researchers had done. Experts across multiple sub-domains contributed to the optimizations, yet the strange Green mage cast their work aside in an instant, and for good reason, too.

"What a day..." He took the paper and headed back to the library. The rest of the night, he continued working on his own research and did his best to forget the distractions from earlier in the day. However, his new 'wager' would not be so easily forgotten.

—

The next morning, a knock at the door roused Kres from his sleep.

He wiped the sleep from his eyes and stumbled out of bed. The knocking continued incessantly and he struggled to find the doorknob.

"Yes? Who is it?" He opened the door mid knock to find the same Green mage standing before him. "You..."

"Yes. I miscalculated a little. In order to fulfill our bet, I need you to watch Whiskers for me."

"Whiskers?"

Pascal suddenly thrust a squeaking box into his hands. Kres' eyes widened and he looked down at the box.

"This is..?"

"A rat."

"Why are you giving me a rat..?"

"I need you to watch Whiskers while I'm gone."

"Where the heck are you going?! Also, I'm not some pet daycare, you know."

"You're the one who bet me I couldn't activate the spell in a week. So you gotta take responsibility for him during that time. Also, Freja is bad with animals."

"I don't remember making such a bet. I just said it was impossible. Also, who the heck is-" Kres tried to argue back, but Pascal had already begun to wander off. He watched the strange Green mage disappear down the hall and sighed. "What have I gotten myself into..?"

The box squeaked back at him, as if agreeing.

* Up Next: The Troublesome Space Time Spell