Fireball

Artus finished the preliminary course classes. Today, Professor Elowen talked about the nature of Aether and how one can feel and preserve its existence. He also gives them some books about the basics of magic.

He then headed to the dorm, entered his room, and closed the door behind him. Inside the room, there was a closet and other furniture. But what caught his attention was the two beds; each room in the dorm had two beds. It was initially designed to accommodate two students, but luckily for him, the other slot in the room was vacant now, and they had yet to find another student to be his roommate, so he had the whole room for himself.

"To have this large room for myself alone is almost the size of my parent's house…I wonder how they are doing…. Regardless, I don't believe I got all this room for myself with luck alone….it seems that Aunt Seers had arranged things for me".

Artus sat on the chair and put the books that he obtained from Professor Elowen on the desk. He focused his attention and opened the first book; after around an hour or so, he finished reading the first book; his speed was really fast, and with the help of NuroFusion, he could comprehend everything in the book.

After he finished the first book, he put it aside, then opened the second book, and so on till he finished all the books in just a few hours. Not only that, but he was also able to understand everything in them, including the minor details. It was all possible with NuroFusion's ability. Even though they were all introductory-level books, they deepened his understanding of Aether, spells, and magic.

"It is already evening; I was absorbed in studying these books to the point that I lost track of time."

"Now that I have finished the appetizers, it's time for the main course."

Artus brought the fireball spell book and placed it on the desk. He opened it slowly and started reading it.

***********************************

After the classes, he headed to the training arena the next day. He chose a secluded corner on the backside of the buildings where no one usually came.

"To cast the fireball spell, first, I must have enough mana. I have already become a level two apprentice mage, so I have already fulfilled this requirement."

"Then I have to channel the mana towards my hand in a certain structure and formation, which will ignite a tiny spark of fire in front of my palm."

"Third, I will keep channeling mana to fuel this tiny spark, causing it to increase in size while also concentrating on keeping it balanced and stable in the shape of a sphere."

"Last, I have to channel mana again in a certain formation, causing the sphere of flame to launch forward from my hand."

Artus stood with his left arm extended and palm facing forward, mimicking Seer's pose. He then started channeling mana, following the instructions that he had read in the spell book.

A tiny ball of flame manifested in front of his palm, which then started increasing in size until it reached the size of an adult fist. He waited for a few moments, stabilizing it in the shape of a perfect sphere; he then launched it forward; it traveled three meters in the shape of an arc before hitting the ground.

He repeated the process again, and with the help of NuroFusion, he was able to optimize things more, so the casting time was faster, and it reached a distance of three and a half meters.

He then wanted to repeat the process again, but this time, after manifesting the tiny spark of flame and fueling it with mana to increase its size, he started feeling the flow of mana that he was channeling through his arm getting weaker, the growth of the fireball halted then it disappeared into thin air.

He then closed his eyes and concentrated on his inner world to find that all the light blue colored dots that had been roaming there had disappeared.

"It seems with my current level, casting the fireball two consecutive times is my limit."

He then sat on the ground and closed his eyes, once again activating NuroFusion to gather Aether into his inner world.

When he had enough mana, he stood again and cast the fireball spell, optimizing it further, then again sat down to replenish the energy he had consumed.

He kept on reaping the process; his casting time decreased, he was able to form the fireball and launch further using the least amount of mana in the fastest time, and he was able to estimate how much mana the fireball spell needed.

*********************************

After a week, he visited Seers in her office.

"Aunt, I want to go to the nearby forest to try hunting monsters."

Seers was surprised by his words; she did not think he was ready for something like that. She thought he was impulsive and wanted to rush things.

"Artus, it is still too early for you to do so. I know you want to experience fighting, but you are not ready yet; when you have learned any attack spell or even mastered a combat technique or a weapon, I will take you there myself. You should take things slowly".

"But Aunt Seers, I have already learned an attack spell."

Seers gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?"

"The fireball spell book that you gave me... I have already learned that ... I can cast fireballs now".

"Artus, stop messing around. There is no way that you have learned the fireball spell in one we-."

Even though it was past evening, the sun had not sat down completely, so the light in the office was dim. Suddenly, the office became bright, as if a small sun had manifested inside.

Artus knows that no matter what he says, Seers will not believe him, so he proceeds to cast the fireball spell directly, proving his words with action.