Chapter 19: Chapter 18 - Pay Off
Close your eyes.
...
Breathe in...
...
Breathe out...
Now, concentrate.
Imagine the shape, a bird, its wings, beak, and feet. Every feather.
Size: small, around the size of my hand.
Trajectory and position: circling above my head.
Duration? 10 seconds ought to be enough.
"'WIND'"
Now it's time to put everything into motion. First, building the shape. It's easier to picture it if I imagine it large.
Second, the size. Now it's time to shrink it from it's larger version to the size I want.
The trajectory and position is the easiest part, I simply need to imagine it circling above me.
Finally, the duration. All I need to do now is channel the appropriate amount of mana into the spell and then finish casting. After so many years of practice, I've developed a good sense of how much mana is required.
Once all the steps are complete, it's time to activate it.
*WHIFF*
'How refreshing.'
I can't help but think so every time I cast a wind spell.
As the bird materializes out of thin air and circles around me, it leaves a breeze of air in its wake. I turn to look at Alexandra and she holds up four fingers.
I see, forty seconds huh?
Sigh.
It's been three months since my sixth birthday, and I've reached a bottleneck. Despite my efforts, I can't seem to break past forty second mark. I've been stuck at this amount of time for what feels like forever.
There must be something I'm missing.
I refuse to admit this is the limit of my mana control.
If I fail here, what will happen to my dreams of slinging mythical creatures made of elements at my foes?
Not that my practice hasn't been fruitful. I can now cast a wind blade spell in around three seconds, three times quicker than when I initially started practicing, and the amount of mana I use on a spell has been cut down significantly thanks to my precise measurements and refusal to waste mana.
But according to Serena, apparently there are countless Elves and Demons who are capable of casting spells like wind blades almost instantaneously.
Yet why does it take me three seconds to cast one? Is it because I don't have a mana organ?
I suppose that's a benefit of runes. The visualisation of the spell can be done during the carving. All that's left to do after that are the trajectory and position, and then the runes do the rest.
If I had to describe runes, they would be like a spell mould. You fill the mould with mana rather than moulding it yourself.
Thinking about it like that, aren't runes quite overpowered?
Certainly, if a mage came prepared with runestones it would be easy to overpower another one who hadn't. It wouldn't matter if that mage had poor mana control, so long as he had enough mana to use his runestones.
Well, who knows if one day I'll end up in a situation without runestones. I'll treat this skill as a lifeline in case such a situation ever occurs.
Anyway, enough lazing around. Time to get back to practice.
I seem to have ended up lying on my back while I was thinking over things. As I open my eyes, I'm greeted by the sight of an orange sky.
It's already been so long?
Damn, hopefully tomorrow will bring better results. Though I'm doubtful since I haven't figured out what I'm missing.
We head back inside and have dinner before retiring to our rooms.
*CLICK*
Though I usually feel relaxed in here, my mind is plagued by thoughts on how to solve the issue of mana control.
'Should I just give up? Is it impossible to advance further? Have I reached my limit?'
Thoughts such as these haunt me, and I can't help but agree with them. Though I try to calm my mind and sleep, it's a fruitless endeavour.
Unfortunately I'm no monk.
Trying to empty my mind of thoughts only causes them to multiply.
Finally, I pass out from exhaustion.
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In my dreams, I'm a legendary archmage in a grey hat and robes, wielding a wooden staff that holds my pipe, stood on the back of an enormous eagle. As I battle with my nemesis, a huge flaming eye, I'm casting a myriad of spells with no delay in between.
This is what I aspire to be.
However unlike in my other dreams, this time I notice something.
Even though I'm not using runes to cast, I'm using the same method. I fill a mould with mana to cast a spell.
Is that possible?
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As I open my eyes, the sun is shining. The room is illuminated by its natural glow, bringing warmth to the room. Hurriedly, I make sure to remember my dream and my findings.
Let's try it out.
Over the next few weeks, I began to see some progress. Though, not exactly how I intended.
It took a while to get used to imagining the outline of the bird, rather than the bird itself, but eventually after a couple of days I managed it. It was far faster than having to build the spell from scratch.
The only thing I needed to do really was create a thin outline of the spell.
Sort of like when I tried carving a runic array for the first time.
After a few weeks of practice, it started to come more naturally to me, and once I'd gotten the hang of making the mould, it was time to start practicing casting spells with it.
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...
Breathe in...
...
Breathe out...
Concentrate.
"'WIND'"
First, draw the outline.
Done.
Now shrink the mould to the desired size.
Perfect, this should be around the size of my hand.
Time for the easy part. I've done this so many times before that it barely takes a second to imagine its flight path and position.
Don't get complacent now.
I channel enough mana that it should last around ten seconds as long as the spell is kept fairly weak.
And now for the final step. Activation.
I feel the familiar breeze blowing through my hair.
'How refreshing'
Thankfully it was a success.
But how long did I take?
I turn to look at Alexandra.
Please let this be a success.
I see her holding up five fingers.
Sigh.
I failed again huh? And it took 10 seconds longer? What a waste of time.
It seems I've reached my limit.
As I'm wallowing in self pity, I hear a quiet voice whisper out to me.
"Five seconds"
'What's that?'
I tilt my head that had been looking at the ground in resignment up to look at Alexandra.
"Say that again? I'm not sure I heard you."
"It was only five seconds."
Five? Not fifty?
The meaning of her words suddenly dawns on me.
I can feel the dopamine rush through my body as a wave of euphoria overtakes my mind. I'm so happy that I can't help myself but pull Alexandra into a hug.
It worked!
I did it!
After all this time, I've finally figured it out.
As I'm jumping around in joy however, I notice Alexandra is burning up in my arms.
Ah.
I got carried away.
"Sorry about that, I guess I got too excited."
Thankfully she doesn't seem too mad, as she shakes her head to tell me that it's okay.
But to think, the solution to my problem wasn't split between either choosing runes or casting.
It was a compromise between them.
It sounds simple now, but in the past I never would've thought about it.
Even though five seconds is a great improvement from forty, It's still nowhere near the supposed instant cast that Elves and Demons have.
Luckily this was just the first trial.
I feel like there's a long way to go before I reach my limit.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone