“Very good, Derek. Congratulations.” The Primordial Sage praised as Derek finished showing all five elements. “If I was to give any advice at all, it would be that your wind mana could use some slight refinement, but you clearly have met the expectations as one would an apprentice elementalist.”
“Thank you.” Derek smiled. “I’m going to get started on the external casting now.”
As the Primordial Sage faded away, Derek paused, his gaze lingering thoughtfully on the space where the figure had stood. The wind mana’s complexity gnawed at him; it was like a puzzle missing a crucial piece. He let out a measured breath, not so much in frustration but as a reset, a mental shift from the theoretical to the practical. His eyes then turned to the stack of books with a renewed sense of purpose, a silent acknowledgement that the answer lay somewhere within their pages.
Programming wind mana to ‘blow’ was bloody ridiculous on every level. Somehow in all of those books he had to re-read because he thought he missed something, no. They were all being damn stupid with how wind mana worked. They glazed over it like it was the simplest thing in the world. No, there had to be something more to it than just ‘blow’. He refused for that to be the answer. Obviously, the Primordial Sage understood there was something more to it, but he wasn’t ready to give Derek the answer.
Frustrated, but changing his direction to something less… frustrating. He turned to the next pile of books and started reading.
Journal Entry #462: The Dualism of Internal and External Mana Manipulation
By: √≠↑↓÷~•Φ
---
My research has brought me face to face with yet another conundrum in the dualistic nature of magical practices: Internal Casting vs. External Casting—what I’d term as the “Intrinsic Harmonics” and “Extrinsic Rites” of spell formulation. I’ve reevaluated this entry, oh, perhaps a hundred times, toiling over every syllable, every jot and tittle, to distill the essence of my findings. Even the paper upon which I write has been alchemically treated for maximal ink-to-fiber absorption, a matter not to be taken lightly!
---
Intrinsic Harmonics (Internal Casting)
The internal channeling and alignment of mana with elemental energies occurs at a bio-energetic level within the caster. These aren’t merely spontaneous processes. Nay, they are the result of years of training, with the caster attuning their very cellular makeup to resonate with the aethereal forces in question.
Considerations:
1. Bio-synergistic Alignment: One cannot underscore enough the importance of attuning the intracellular mitochondria to the elemental focus.
2. Mana Pool Stability: Fluctuations in the internal mana pool must be minimized, or the aligned mana will revert to a non-aspected state.
3. Casting Thresholds: Surpassing the biological limitations for mana expulsion could lead to catastrophic backflows, a topic for another obsessively detailed entry.
---
Extrinsic Rites (External Casting, Rituals)
In stark contrast, the external casting involves the formulation of a complex matrix of sigils, inscriptions, and possibly somatic components. They provide a shell, a lattice structure, so to speak, to hold the aspected mana as it manifests into spell effects.
Considerations:
1. Somatic Precision: A millimeter deviation in the inscriptions could result in spell failure or, worse, unintended consequences (recall the Fiasco of 14,821).
2. Harmonic Resonance: The vibrational energies emitted by the sigils must be in harmonic correspondence with the elemental focus.
3. Environmental Variables: Humidity, barometric pressure, and ambient mana fluctuations are not to be ignored. I spent three years on this topic alone.
---
Despite the disparity in methodologies, the two are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, a masterful mage will seamlessly blend the internal and external casting mechanisms to produce spellwork of extraordinary potency and finesse. However, the perfect integration of the two remains an ideal, a chimera that haunts my sleepless nights. It beckons, ever elusive, but I shall grasp it—oh yes, I shall.
---
End of Entry.
Derek scanned the text on Intrinsic Harmonics, his brow furrowing at the abstract and complex terminology. As he delved deeper, but nothing caught his attention or provided any insight into the text. Was there something here that he had missed? Could there be a missing piece in his understanding? Definitely. He leaned closer, tracing the lines with his finger, mulling over how this could apply to his own spellwork. He pondered whether the key to the problem lay not in the force of the mana, but in its rhythm and flow.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
SCENE 3
What felt like months later, but had probably only been a few days or a week at most, Derek spun together a magical formation. An overly large magical circle made of a magical dust that the Sage provided was constructed before him. There were several rings to the array, each ring being a set of repeating runes based on a runic dictionary he had logged on his interface that he kept referring to when building the array. An internal spell linked himself to the formational circular array on the floor and it held the instructions on how the spell was supposed to perform. This wasn’t his first spell, but it was the first one that he had the Sage on standby for his own protection.
The spell would summon a fireball at the center most circle, the second circle would concentrate the ambient mana to fuel the fireball with as much mana as possible, the third circle would summon a twisting typhoon of wind magic that expanded from the floor to the ceiling, the fourth circle would slowly convert the wind magic to non-aspected mana while adding fuel to the now fire typhoon, the fifth circle would add lightning mana and earthen mana creating a tornado of fire, thunder, and rubble, and the final circle would introduce water mana to the formation while shutting down the inner circles leaving everything a pool of water. A seventh circle surrounded the entire formation and was a shield and would protect everything from the devastating ritual.
There wasn’t much difference between external casting and ritual casting, but there was a major difference, and that was the amount of preparation required. Derek was already mostly familiar with external casting. It took a whole lot more time than internal casting, but it wasn’t overly complication once Derek finally understood the concepts. Ritual casting was an entirely different beast, requiring lots of preparation of both the environment and formulation. It wasn’t likely that Derek would use external casting when he was back on Earth and he certainly wouldn’t be using ritual casting, but it would be good to know for when James got himself into trouble with it. Here, though, it was an important step in the elementalist path to mastery.
Derek activated the circle after a glance at the Sage, who was usually a blob as still as if it were frozen. The magical chalk on the ground started glowing blue as Derek’s internal spell linked to the external formation that linked to the activation circle. The shield appeared like a snap as the chalk line started burning blue, like a fuse burning toward dynamite. Each circle activated with a dim blue glow as the energy slowly flowed into each ring before advancing inward toward the next.
A fireball the size of a basketball appeared as the inner ring did its task as programmed. When the spell completed and entered the sustainment stage, the next ring activated. Fire mana turned the fireball into a huge blazing sphere of raging fire. Then the next ring activated. Wind slowly spun up, creating a faint wind typhoon as fire mana poured into the circle, turning the wind typhoon into a raging firestorm. Flames and wind slammed against the barrier as the storm increased.
There wasn’t much regulation spellwork added to the array. It was designed to burn as hot and fast as possible, in this case, literally. The fourth ring activated as the third ring entered the sustainment stage. The typhoon started increasing in density and the vortex was established as fire was the only thing remaining. If it wasn’t for the barrier, Derek would probably be a puddle on the floor. The fifth ring activated, which activated a spell created stones from the void only to be picked up by the fire typhoon. The stones glowed from the heat slightly as the hot flames burned and tried melting the rock. Then lightning and thunder were added to the mix. Streaks of lightning shot across the storm as it spun, creating a terrifying tornado. Rocks slammed into the shield, falling several feet before being picked back up by the spell.
The sixth ring activated, causing all the previous rings to deactivate by having it pull the mana from the stability part of their spells. There was a long wait as the fire and all the energy was expended. Then water was introduced to the mix, super-cooling the super-heated air as explosions of steam shook the floor, creating a massive rumbling earthquake, but the effect was more destructive than Derek expected. The super-heated floor exploded from under the spell destroying every single ring he created, including the shield ring and the energy slammed against him turning his body to liquified paste only for it to be immediately reformed and liquified over and over again until the spell lost enough energy that he melted slower, which was its own stage of agony and suffering. Eventually, he was simply receiving third-degree burns as the heat from the floor cooked everything.
Once the Sage was able to maintain its form, everything reset and the library was back to normal. Even his array was restored, though the activation line was removed.
“That was highly unpleasant.” The sage remarked.
Derek groaned as he laid on the floor while his body rapidly healed from the destruction. “That’s one way to put it.”
“I would call that a success, though let this be a lesson for you to add limiters and safeguards to your rituals.”
“Noted.” Derek said, closing his eyes now that he had eyelids… and eyes. “Fuck.”
“Regardless, a success to be counted as your first major ritual. Not perfect, but that’s expected.” The Sage seemed incredibly happy about Derek’s progress. “At this point, you are experienced as you can be in spell formations, elemental mastery, external casting, and rituals as I can realistically expect you to be. Now, for the final stage of your training. Combat.”
“What about the rest of those books?” Derek asked, almost hating himself for directing the training away from the main reason he was here.
“Most of those are way under your level. On your arrival, you already had sufficient knowledge in spell formations, alteration, and creation. You even knew the basics of mana aspectation. That encompasses… well…”
With a wave of an appendage over three quarters of the library rose into the air and vanished leaving only four shelves packed with books. From those shelves most of the books that he had lying on the floor had been pulled.
“The books you have read are more of the same as what remains on the shelves. They aren’t helpful learning material, as the authors tend to ramble more so than usual. If you needed additional resources, I would have pulled them for you, but the stacks that you have read so far are only what you needed. So, combat. Since I’m not completely unkind, I shall provide you with instruction. You will have two minutes to prepare for the army you will be fighting. If you can’t wipe them out before they touch you, then the simulation will restart. And please, use no physical force. That will interfere with your training.”
Derek nodded. “Alright, go ahead.”