A New World, an immersive game experience

Chapter 199: Trying to explain

"Umm... How should I even start to explain?" Eldrian asked after spending some time to accept her words. "How do you use magic?" He countered, hoping for a place to start.

"Well, simply put, I focus and create the spell module I want. Once this is done I would let my mana fill it, and from there I would change the module as I wished to control the spell." Myropsis replied, "So what do you do?"

"I actually never really did that, though I have found that if you change the flow of your mana inside the spell module before casting it, that it would change how the spell works."

As he said this she mumbled softly; Of course you never did, it is only required for Tier 5. Once he finished she replied,"That is the first step when trying to learn how to control spells. Though it is generally not possible for lower spells as all you can change is the flow. Higher Tier spells actually have different spell modules."

"Well, it affects even Tier 0 spells, so I won't say it is impossible. But why don't you just control your mana directly?" Eldrian asked the same question Zamia had asked him when she had helped him learn.

"Because I can't. I can only let it follow my will inside a spell module, I can't move it outside."

"Do you know that spell which allows you to see mana?" Eldrian asked, to which she nodded in reply. "Use it and you should likely see why I won't really be able to teach you." Again she nodded.

Once she did, Eldrian called his mana to his hand. It took some effort to do this without actually wishing it to form a spell, his new mana flow reluctant to simply let his mana go free. Thanks to the constant practice he had done while traveling, he managed to form it into a ball not much bigger than his fist. He then willed it to become water, never letting it go through any nodes or pathways of a spell module.

The spell he managed to cast was similar to Nidia, except that he had full control of the entire mass of water, not just the ball. He had found that when casting the same spell through normal means, he would only be able to control it in its natural form.

Through this method, he could split the ball into many other smaller ones. He had yet to find a use for this, but having discovered this Eldrian hoped to master more useful applications. Casting it took barely any mana, the same went for controlling the balls as they did not lose any energy.

"I have no idea if this is even a spell. I managed to build it thanks to knowing how Nidia works, knowing how the water element and mana interact. I can also do this with a flame, though it has little use as these would do no damage."

"But the problem is that this is all done through controlling my mana. If you can't copy that, then I don't think you will be able to do as I do." Eldrian said awkwardly, hoping she would still give him some spell modules even if he can't help her.

"Maybe, maybe not. This is fascinating though, how did you first learn magic. It is clear that you are self-taught for the most part." While she said this her thoughts were actually in tatters, His mana moves, and so vigorously. How on Gaia is that possible, mana should be static in one's mana pool. And when he willed it to move, it was like tendrils delicately leaving its flow. Slow at first, but once the ball started forming it became like a magnet.

"In a magic tower with the help of a Magic Crystal." Eldrian replied to her question, not knowing her thoughts. As he replied he let the balls of water evaporate so as to not ruin any of the books in the room.

"A Magic Crystal, really? Who on earth would let someone just approach a Magic Crystal?" Myropsis murmured aloud, surprised again as Magical Crystals are generally a tool of war. Normally under strict guard and only know off by those strong and important enough.

"Someone who also wished to figure out the trick behind dynamic magic." Seeing her frown when he said dynamic magic, Eldrian quickly explained that it is what races who can cast this type of magic called it.

"Why do you want spell modules if you can form spells on a whim?" She asked, believing that if he can move mana and change its form at will, then he should be able to cast any spell he wished.

"I can't. It takes a great deal of effort, and while I might be able to actually make it a spell. It will take some more time and this is just a derivative of Nidia. Like I said earlier, I want to get access to more spells so that I can study them. Not to actually try and cast them all, but rather to figure out how they work and hopefully be able to copy it into a dynamic form."

"I believe spell modules are more than just a way of casting the spells. They are more like a stepping stone to allow one to learn how the spell works. I believe they are in a form that is easy to cast and does not take too much to learn."

"How do you plan to learn from spell modules then?" She asked, while again shocked at his words. She had never thought of spell modules as a starting point. Rather they had always been to her, and all others she knew, the endpoint. While spells can have derivative modules, they would all share a core and still be part of the same spell.

Is that the part he wishes to learn?She wondered once her thoughts reached this point. However Eldrian did not know of this, as all the spells he knew were too simple to actually have derivatives. Rather he thought that the pathways and nodes themselves were the core of the spells.

"If I can study the pattern I will already learn a great deal. If I manage to actually cast the spell, I will be able to truly learn how my mana needs to flow for it. As well as how it should change."

"So simple?" Myropsis eyes flew wide open in surprise, again.

"Well, actually managing to feel the composition isn't that easy."

"What are you talking about?" After a slight pause she suddenly laughed, "Oh right, you don't know Magic Inspection. That would indeed make it far more difficult."

Not knowing what to say now, Eldrian just watched her as she closed her eyes and evidently concentrated. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked at Eldrian strangely.

"How on earth do you control your mana? I can feel mine, but it simply won't budge unless I use some sort of module."

"I don't really know. At first, it took a great deal of effort to learn to actually feel it. I had no way to even sense my mana at the start. With the help of the Magic Crystal, I slowly learned as it forced my spells to cast, ripping my mana from me."

"Ouch, that could not have been fun." She quickly interrupted, shocked by such a crazy way of training. It was well known that simply failing to cast a spell would result in your mana going wild for a while. This would lead to some pain, mana being ripped out of you would be unbearable.

"True, it sucked. But after a few times, I managed to fight the pull; through sheer willpower. This is how I managed to feel my mana, and from there I learned how to will it into a spell module. It took a bit and the teaching of an Alicorn before I could actually truly control my mana. Though I am sure I can still improve greatly."

"Do you maybe have a Magic Crystal I can use?" Eldrian suddenly asked, catching Myropsis completely off ground.

"Why?"

"I want to see if I can enter the magical abyss again."

"You what!?" She was left without words after hearing Eldrian's hope.

"If that isn't possible, can you give me the spell modules?" Eldrian asked, hoping that he would get at least one of the two.

"Fine, though I did not really learn much I think I understand what I need to do. Do you have any tips for learning to control your mana?"

Eldrian thought for a bit before replying, "The higher Tier you are, the more difficult it will be. So I would recommend trying to discard all you know. Try to feel the mana in your spells, simple spells. Don't use magic inspection. And if you can, enter the magical abyss to help you in feeling your mana."

What the hell, does he think it is so easy to enter the magical abyss? She grumbled mentally, saying instead, "Let me go get my basic spells compendium. It has around thirty Tier 1 spell modules inside of it, I believe this should be enough for now."

Eldrian hurriedly nodded, glad that she would actually still hold up her part of the deal even when he could not help her at all.

"Come back in a week, I'll organize things so you can join as a normal member and not a recruit. Also, I will have some more spell modules for you."

"Are you going to try and learn how to control your mana?" Eldrian asked, wondering if it would even be possible for races that are not known for this.

"Of course, why else would I have made this deal with you. As I understand is it all comes down to this, and I can already guide my mana in spells. So why won't I be able to control it outside of them?" She felt there was no reason she should be unable to do this.

"I think you shouldn't rely on what you know. When I finally managed to control my mana, I had found it hard to shake my habit of using spell modules first. Your habit will be far harder to drop."

She sighed long and hard when hearing this. Quickly leaving and coming back, handing Eldrian a book of around a hundred pages. "There is also a bunch of notes, you can ignore them or read them. I have no idea if they would help you."