The Word

The Nox.

My conversation with Lance and Zeke left questions that lingered in my head throughout the night and the following day.

Even with a distracted mind, however, I was able to make the most out of Doyle's class and train almost without pause. Due in no small part to the party's strong grasp on the beginner and intermediate levels of mana molding, netting an abundance of points for every individual.

Weary and curious, I went straight to my room after class to take note of the small grow room next to my office while I replayed the talk from yesterday in my mind.

He was awkward for sure. Also indecisive, self-conscious, and had low self-esteem. All that made it difficult to see where his allegiances sat. After all, it was exceedingly difficult to pry information out of someone who couldn't articulate their words. Not without having the ability to read their mind at least.

Regardless, he seemed strong and level-headed enough to keep within arms reach. If only to keep an eye on him. But I didn't deny the possibility of him becoming a healthy rival or a deadly enemy in the future.

After all, I did intend to do some dastardly things in the near future.

And then there was Zeke. I had a strong assumption as to what he truly was, but I didn't want to speak or act on it without concrete proof. That aside, it was obvious that he was more knowledgeable about the old world than I or possibly even Lance. Not just about the runes that were mentioned in their rumors, but about the origins of our sorcery.

In the end, I was forced to compile my questions and assumptions in the back of my second mind and recall them whenever I got the chance to commune again and sat atop my pillow for some sleep.

***

"I hope you enjoyed your lunch! Welcome back!" Zeff clapped after we'd gathered around him. Then spread his arms in a gesture to the similar, yet smaller version of Doyle's training annex. Complete with the walled booths lining the perimeter. "With our lectures on the subjects complete, we'll begin our first practical exercises in Casting and Spell Development!"

"Now!" He clapped and scattered us to the annexes with a wave of his hands. "Since the lot of you are already adept with Hand Casting, we'll start with the most challenging way of all. Mental Casting. The task is to cast ten spells with the mind alone. Refer to your notes if need be. And, begin!"

Before starting, I waited a moment to look around and see how the others were faring, and unsurprisingly, many of them were struggling to form a simple bullet spell.

Winston was able to more or less do it if he concentrated and Zakira could do it with only small signs of straining. But the only one who could cast as easily as I was Urshure. The rest were simply standing in place, comically groaning to themselves and making faces.

"Very good!" Zeff clapped to gather our attention. "Now that you're aware of how difficult the practice is, many of you can put this as a goal to move towards. Our next practice will be Visual Casting. Whether you need to create a spell or have one developed. The task is the same. Ten spells, cast with the eyes.

"Begin!"

Again, I looked around to study before practicing for myself. And, as suspected, many of the non-human students were unable to do anything more than enhance their visual acuity with mana. The ones that could, seemed to produce either an environmental effect that encompassed their field of view or focus an effect on a single target. As was the case with Samson producing a dense fog in front of him while Winston formed a skintight barrier around a wooden dummy.

Turning to my target seemed to catch me in the dilemma that'd been plaguing me since awaking my cores. I hesitated. If only to choose which core to draw my mana through and channel it into my eyes.

In the end, I closed my eyes and chose to pool a small amount of Space-Time mana in them before they opened. Ejecting a web of crystal-white lines that cut through the dummy, walls, and jungle stretching before me. Leaving in its wake, offset branches and stone collapsing under its own weight and distorted lines of space imploding on themselves. Sending a rain of snow and live fauna raining to the ground. Adding to the percussion of shock waves to make a symphony of destruction.

'Jesus Christ!' I laughed in awe at the exotic aftermath. But, as per Zeff's instructions, I went on to repeat the spell nine more times and gave it a name to seal it in my grimoire.

[Spatial Spell Created - Shattered Realm.]

"Excellent work!" Zeff corralled us with short applause, ripping me away from my grimoire for the time being. "Next is a simple, but often unused form of casting, one which involves the legs. Now." He shooed us away with his hands. "Off you go. And then we'll continue with the interesting ones!"

This time, I approached my annex without looking back. As I had a strong idea as to what spell I wanted to try for this exercise. So, without pause and with hands in pocket, I stopped before my dummy with my leg raised high. Then slammed my gravity-infused heel into the ground sending out a shockwave that thumped the rocks, dirt, leaves, and anything else unattached to the ground springing into the air.

Only to fall slowly, or not at all. As if the shockwave had spread across a verdant moon. Leaving the aftermath suspended in the weak gravity.

In other words.

[Gravity Spell Created - Moon Quake.]

"Alright then! Gather round!" Zeff clapped. "The next type of casting is available only to those possessing multiple affinity cores or magical abilities. That is Dual Casting. Its counterpart is much the same; only, those affinities must be compatible with each other in order to be Fused. Which is the final and most complex casting type, but not the final one we'll be practicing for today.

"For those of you that are able, spend the next several minutes practicing Dual Casting or developing a Fusion Spell while the rest of you keep practicing what we've learned thus far." He sent us off with a wave. Then sat down with an eager eye to see what we came up with.

As did I. Although I didn't sit down. I just sat in place and fought back the nearly irresistible urge to use all my False Life to facepalm myself.

'I'm fucking stupid.'

I snorted in embarrassed despair as I turned to see brown and infernal blue mana congealing in Peter's throat before he leaned forward to mimic Urshure's roaring pose to spit out a cone of blistering lava.

'I'm so fucking dumb.' I snorted again. And watched Peter send out a bullet of air and fire mana to make a combustive spell that obliterated the dummy and much of the area around it.

'I'm a fucking idiot.' I sneered to myself and turned to grab the nearest thing I could see- a stick, and pulled twin streams of arcana from my Well. With a bit of focus, I led one through and out my shadow core and sent the other through the space-time core. Then, I sent it into the stick and tossed it before activating the spell.

And in a puff of umbral smoke, the stick vanished and came clattering to the ground a few meters away. Fully intact.

'Oh, hell yeah!' I laughed maniacally. But just to be sure, I tried it again on an apple pulled from my storage. And like before, It came rolling to a halt a few meters away. Fully intact.

And the [Bamf] was born.

Rather than play around with dual casting, I bamfed around for a long while before blending my magics with my spatial dimensions to allow me to withdraw anything from either storage dimension in either a cloud of smoke or a wave of low voltage electricity.

"Excellent displays everyone! Excellent displays!" Came Zeff's round of applause and comically excited bounces. "Now, we'll end the day with the most taxing way of casting there is. That'd be Curse Spells. I'll only ask that you make one. But you have to do at least that or face a deduction in points. So, get to it!" He clapped and took his seat once again.

'Curse spells, huh?' I slowed on my way to my annex.

As I understood it, which was probably wrong, casting a spell in spoken word imbued it into the minds of all who heard it. Intensifying the overall effect. The voice simply summoned the thing in the mind of the collective, thus I had no control over the result. Only in the complexity of words I speak.

I supposed it would be good to use in a pinch when one's hands were bound. But I didn't exactly like the idea of using preprogrammed spells.

But then there was the art of necromancy to consider. Specifically, raising dead.

If curse spells were truly the way to raise them, then my hypothesis was utterly wrong. On top of that, there was that old question. The one about trees falling in the woods. If the effect was dependent on the collective, then the absence of the collective would make for a weak spell.

Knowing all I could do was test and test and test some more. I looked up to the sky and imbued my voice with EM magic before shouting. "I summon the chaotic, stubborn, and unruly god of storms, Susanoo!"

I felt more than ridiculous saying it, but regardless, a massive lightning bolt arced through the sky and fell right on top of me. Siphoning the majority of the arcana from my Well and sending it up to the sky.

That chest-pounding thunder was followed by a cascade of others that then began heating the air above. And within seconds, the pressure dropped, sending a chilled wave of silence across the students. The winds began picking up, eventually rising to a speed high enough to bend and coil the trees around us like spinning tops running out of momentum. Streaks of lightning began to pierce the sky, illuminating toiling storm clouds that expanded at an unnatural rate to block out the sun.

"I've never heard of such a deity before." Zeff's voice came from behind me, his eyes trained up to the livid sky. "Susanoo, was it? You think you have enough power to summon a God?"

"I already have," I stated simply, not averting my gaze. "Don't you see it? The storm itself is Susanoo. The Storm of Storms."

"And what pantheon is that from?" Zeff asked with a hint of amazement.

"An ancient one called Shinto," I said. "The Gods; or Kami, are present in all things. They are the living and the dead, the ground beneath us; the seas around us and skies above; the sun and stars beyond; plagues and earthquakes, even living beings or spirits."

"I see." Zeff nodded. "I think I understand. But…" He looked back up to the roiling storm. "What happens now that you've summoned… Susanoo?"

"Don't know." I shrugged. "I did this on a whim. Didn't think it'd actually work. I guess… I guess I'll try something else."

Redirection, Circulation, Dormancy. These techniques all fascinated me. But I felt as if there was more to the picture. I felt as if they were meant to be combined into a unified system.

With that in mind, I focused to imagine what I wanted to accomplish. The word I chose would already do most of the work, I was sure. But I wanted to double down on functionality to ensure I wasn't discharging electricity wherever I went. So I focused and again thought about the specific outcome of my spell before imbuing my voice with EM mana and shouting. "Charge!"

Instantly, a column of lightning rained down on my head. Though I felt the concussive force, it was more like a gentle push followed by a tickle as the energy cascaded into me. From within the bolt, I could see nothing but white, could hear nothing but the crash of energy against stone, could feel nothing but a distant heat and the cool feeling of air touching my skin through the burning and restitching patches of clothes on my body.

After a while, the lightning dissipated and the storm clouds cleared. I looked down to see a crater of simmering rock that constantly melting my reforming shoes. Though I couldn't exactly act on removing them, as my thoughts were entirely consumed by the energy coursing through my body.

The image I pictured was two circuits within my body. The first was a loop that ran just outside my mana well, completely isolated from the organ itself while the second spread through my body like a ghostly nervous system. And like a battery and circuit, they were linked via a switch. Enabling me to fill my body with this abundant energy at a moment's notice- which in itself felt like electricity reinforcement on steroids.

With a deep breath, I drew the energy into the inner circuit and closed it off. Feeling the faint prickly feeling slip away only a few seconds later.

"Well done," Zeff said after snapping back to. "One hundred points to you. And… see me after class."

I squinted in confusion but he walked off before I could inquire further. As party leader, it was somewhat customary to speak with the teachers after dismissal, but there was something off about him just now. Regardless, I couldn't ponder on it as the party was approaching me to either be dismissed or accompany me to train. And after belaying the necessary information, I turned from the crowd to approach Zeff, still sitting under his tree.

"How are you enjoying life at the Bodhi Tree?" Zeff asked.

"The people are interesting and the lessons are great. But, I can't help but feel frustrated."

"And why is that?" He turned with an excited smile.

"I struggle to fully exert my power here," I said. "The training dummies are weak and I'm hardly allowed to use my Doppelganger in class. Besides that, I lack both the privacy and freedom needed to develop my magic or learn anything. Unless, of course, I wish to spend points."

"You have more than enough to pay your way in." Zeff shook his head. "What's the problem?"

"The very idea is disgraceful." I spat. "Paying for knowledge. At a school of all places." I spat again.

"That's to prevent people like you from learning everything at once and skipping classes." Zeff chuckled deflatedly.

"The Bodhi Tree's inability to prevent students playing hooky without promoting greed is faulted by either the staff, the headmaster, or both." I nodded. "Besides, if a student wanted to skip out on class, that's their loss. Missing out on these lessons would be a waste."

"I see." Zeff chuckled as a wave of conflicting emotions passed across his face. "Out of curiosity, what are you most interested in, I'm well versed in many subjects."

"Dragons." I bluntly said, frankly growing impatient with the small talk. "Specifically about where the closest one lives and how old it is."

"I know they're fearsome creatures that you're better off staying away from." He huffed. "No matter how strong you are, stay away. But the word is that a red dragon sleeps under the mountain border to the north. And yet another story of a dragon that lives beneath Lake Mirror- where the portal to Maru is sealed. If you want to know more, I'd consult Olga."

Interesting.

"Very well." I nodded. Then looked around at the empty field before turning my gaze to his. "Anything else?"

"Yeah." He slowly nodded. "What do you intend to do after finding one?"

"Trade secret." I grinned. "Now, tell me what you really want."

'Uh- nothing. You may go."