Chapter 16

“Do that again, Basara?” said Lord Ling

I then summoned the orb of black magic, I can’t feel the usage of this thing, though it feels truly ominous and threatening it is barely of any danger whatsoever.

“This is death magic indeed, but it lacks a fundamental element…” said Lord Ling as he pressed his hand into the floating orb

“If this was truly fire magic I should have sensed heat coming from it, but though it has the appearance of flame, it is as cold as death. Yet… like you just said it is useless. It lacks killing intent. Without it is not so different than a magic trick.” Said Lord Ling.

“Indeed, that what you called, killing intent… How do you develop it?” I asked

“Simple. You must kill for it to take its truest shape, and for it to be of any usage. However, are you sure you can unleash this magic’s potential? Wouldn’t you rather refrain from using such ominous magic?”

“I don’t think I have the right nor the ability to take another’s life. So I believe that it truly is useless”

“Hmm…” said Lord Ling. “Well then I can only but show you what you should learn to be able to caste regular fire magic, this is the least I could do.”

“That would be most welcomed sir, Thank you,” I replied while slightly bowing my head.

“first of all, it seems that you affinity toward death is far superior to that of other types, so no matter what kind of magic even if you know the formula you will not be able to cast it properly, so you must somehow seal it or at least reduce the release of it. Can you differentiate between the different types?” he said

“I have not met many that used different types of magic but if you could show me I will try,” I said

“Alright I will then, now look closely,” he said as he summoned a ball of water that began to float atop his left hand while one of air rose on his other hand.

“Hmm, you seem to be able to use both magic didn’t you just tell me that it was impossible?” I asked

“No, I never said it was impossible, it is just really hard to manage, but as you can see with practice you can manage multiple magics but the potency will be far lower than when one has a higher affinity towards that same magic. Now of these can you read the pattern? Or manage to do the same as you just did to that black fire orb?”

“I will try,” I said.

Then used Monochrome vision to see the difference between the two orbs.

Apparently, they are derived from the same energy, Qi particles are swirling around to create the same phenomenon. Yet something that is at the base is different, it is as if the will of the invoker changes the very substance and nature of this Qi, one to water and one to air. But how does he do that?

“I don’t think I will understand with just observation, though, may I?” I asked as I got closer to Lord Ling.

“Can you press one of these orbs into the pages of this book?” I asked

“Heh? Won’t that ruin it?” he said

“No, it is a rather resilient book,” I said

Then he pressed the airball into the pages of the book.

Yet nothing happened, the ball disappeared but no text was written. It seems that for it to absorb the magic something need to trigger.

“Well, that is a closed end, but anyway I will am needing to ponder over it. So how can I seal or reduce the effect of death affinity over other magic so I can use them?”

“I don’t really understand the concept of Death magic exactly, but what I do to invoke other magic is that I focus on changing the energy to match a ‘feeling’ of sorts, it is rather hard to explain with words, it is as if I try to harmonise the energy to whatever sentiments that are closer to the said element, like I said, water is subtle, wind is fickle, earth is concrete, and fire is proud. I would have been much better if it was just fire, but you somehow still regard yourself as proud-less, that is something that you need to take care of yourself. You are a part of this household, you need to derive a bit of pride in that, and in doing so you may manage to conjure this element”

“I understand, then it is probably why my own magic is useless, it seems that Death magic without killing intent which is probably the accompanied feeling to it useless. Now that I think of it, perhaps white magic as in healing is derived from being pious… and Blood magic… I can only think of bloodlust.”

“Indeed, and exactly so, now you begin to understand the crust of magic. If you manage to understand your own self more you will be able to use better grads of magic.”

“Very well,” I said “ It is going to be very hard to manage multiple magics at once, I will be needing to focus on just one for the moment”

“Not necessarily,” said Lord Ling

“How?” I asked.

“There is a way to use other types of magic but it is a bit… well it is rather not so efficient in combat as you will probably not have enough time”

“What is it? It might prove helpful in some situations”

“It's about incantations, here look,” said master ling as he dissipated the waterfall

“The waterfall spell was the most I could do even with years of experience and knowledge about magic, though I am not proficient in water magic I can still cast the base form, however if I use incantations I can drastically change the effect of the spell, but it comes with an equivalently high cost due to the lack of affinity. Look”

He said then pointed his hand at a faraway tree.

“Water that submerges all, Water geyser!” he spoke then a huge torrent of water shot out from his palm enough to look like a dam broke loose as the bursting water flew forward and destroyed the tree that was more than twenty meters away.

“Holy shit!” I said surprised to what just happened

“Mind your language child. But like you see the effects change drastically, although a person with water affinity can cast this same spell without incantations. You can see for your self. However, there is a problem in using this.”

“I think I understand,” I said

Due to me still having monochrome vision activated I saw the change and then began to explain.

“The first would be the cost, as I can clearly tell that it must have required a substantial amount of energy.”

“True then what is the other reason?”

“It is the incantation itself, it will reveal the spell that one would use, though I still don’t understand how mere words change the spell to this degree if anyone was to hear you spell the incantation they will make immediate countermeasures.”

“Precisely. That is the reason why casting spells with incantations are really dangerous especially in battlefields. But you are making a mistake. Though they might sound like normal words the incantations require great focus and concentration so that you can conjure the Natural energy to do your bidding.”

“Hmm. Should I try it then?” I asked

“Well, would you be able to use it?”

I beckoned the same black of before then used the same incantation.

“Water that submerges all, Water geyser!”. However, nothing happened.

“Well, this doesn’t seem to work”

Nocturne then emerged into my consciousness and said.

‘Of course, it won’t, you are using a water incantation to force a death magic mixed with a fire formula to launch a spell you don’t understand anything about…’

‘Ah… that, I didn’t think about.’

‘Sigh, sometimes I don’t know if you are a genius or an idiot.’

“Well, it seems that the incantation it is not compatible to the affinity I am using”

“I can give you a book about different incantations to different affinities of magic. You can read them, but do know that they are all just the basic spells and most of them are at the level of the water geyser that I showed you before.”

“That would be wonderful.”

“Very well, this is all I have to teach you, I was truly wanting to show you more but you are fundamentally lacking the appropriate mindset, that I cannot help you acquire, you should do it on your own.”

“I don’t think that I will be able to do that within these few days I have left here. It is a shame I won’t be able to learn more magic from you, Lord Ling.”

“That is not a problem, the teachers at Visania are more than competent in showing you the basics, though I would rather that you refrain from showing anyone your affinity to Death magic. You must learn to use at least the basic fire magic if you are willing to learn more about it. So try and study whenever you are alone and away from prying eyes, once you manage your flame then the teachers will guide you the rest of the way. Shen will be there in three months time, he will be taking a teaching position, but for now, he will be undergoing another mission from the king”

“Ah, master Shen will be there, that is reassuring. But a mission from the king himself that sounds rather important.”

“Yes, you must know, Shen is one of the elites forces of the Enforcers, he is always given special tasks,”

“So he goes out there, to hunt them?”

“Yes. And you must know the objective of Visania.”

“Yes, it is to train the strongest enforces, those that fight for the wellbeing and survival of mankind right?”

“Yes, that is. And if you manage an honorary position you can be one of the selectees to defend the country. You will be able to remove yourself from the shackles of the society. Once you join the elite force you will be able to establish your own house then you will be able to grow in this world without the need for any backing. However, do know that it is most difficult with your current situation, there are only ten chosen people from the entire school every year, they are mostly composed of senior students, in three years if you manage to get in one of these positions you will be fated to greatness, but you must hide you ability for now, it is still not fully developed so, train harder than anyone else, and bring pride to you, and to this house.”

“I will my lord,” I said in a bow then followed Lord Ling as he handed to me the book about incantations.

It was an omnibus covered in an old leather that had several different sections on it. Each represented a type of magic. Mostly composed of light, water, earth, and fire. There was also a section that was fully torn… I don’t know what was here but it seems that it was not meant for anyone to read.

While handing me the book Lord Ling had a serious look on his face and said

“Don’t ever show this book to anyone, if anyone knows that you have it then only trouble will follow, I trusted you with it due to the fact that you showed great honesty and dignity so please don’t let anyone find this with you. If worst comes to worse, then destroy it.”

“Thank you for trusting me with this,” I said as I was carrying the book with care.

“Then off you go.” Said Lord Ling.

“Thank you,” I said again as I left

There was no need for me to go to Master Shen to resume training, he already said that I won’t be able to manage the following forms in whatever remaining time was left so I better just use the time left to learn as much as I can about this.

Once inside my room and of course after having my fill with eating I began reading the book.

‘Don’t forget your Cultivation training’ said Nocturne

‘I never forgot, I was using the technique to assimilate all day long even while I was walking’

‘Sigh, I don’t know why you call it assimilation… anyway, that book looks interesting, the last torn pages must have contained some secrets but you can read through it first’

‘Well, I was wondering, shouldn’t you be able to know of these incantations though?’

‘I know of but the ones that are related to death magic, and a few that are too much to your current level. These will prove a good source of information to you in the future so learn as much as you can, then I will go over it with you once you are done’

‘Alright I will finish it quickly’

‘How long will it take you to read the book?’

‘Something of this thickness will probably take all night to read’ I replied

‘It will be difficult for you to memorize all the incantations in the few remaining days we have left before you move to Visania, you should probably just focus on one type.’

‘Don’t worry about memorizing stuff, I only need to read through it once and I will be able to fully remember it.’

‘Just once?” said Nocturne in disbelief

‘Yes, Just once and I will be able to fully memorize it. That was the talent I have, I never forget a passage I have read. So it enabled me to learn how to read and write much earlier than my peers at the orphanage, I finished the books in the orphanage library in two months, and most of the available books in the city library. It was really hard to find new material, but I guess Visania will have an abundance of new books to read from.’

‘Interesting…’ said nocturne and fell silent

And there I spent the entire night reading the book under the flame of a flickering candle.

It was dusk before I could finish the Omnibus then I decided to sleep for few more hours. I never stopped Assimilating the entire night, it was like if I was in an autopilot mode the entire night but reading this book was fun.

It mentioned many people that were able to harness the power of the elements, however, most of the spells and incantations were just basic stuff, however, it gave me great insights on how to properly use incantations.

Simply put, the words that are used will empower the magic cast depending on the will and imagination of the caste, this comes with a huge cost of natural energy or Qi. Like what Nocturne called it.

Interesting enough, that both mages and swordsmen rely on the same element to empower themselves. Mages use this Qi to change its form to that of miraculous nature bending spells. While swordsmen and warriors use it to reinforce themselves and become inhumanly stronger.

It is the same energy, but it is used differently depending on the user’s affinity towards it. That is why it is hard to find both a mage and a swordsman in a single body, the probability of a master swordsman that uses magic is very low, some swordsman however still learn magic to boost their attacks, but not its entirety. And vice versa.

This was very insightful.

Once I woke up, it was almost noon, I should probably watch my manners I shouldn’t show myself to be a useless person.

I got to the showers and took care of myself, then went to have breakfast. None of the other maids or servants gave me a second glance and I didn’t really bother with it. It was better this way.

I took my leave then went back to the courtyard where I began the multitasking training, I tried my best to not overdo it so that I don’t end up in that state again.

Once I felt satisfied I took a look at my Sea of consciousness and saw the huge ball of dark energy swirling alone.

‘It will take a lot of time to get to the fifth level by this thing’s size… and the levels above it are far greater than this…sheesh’

However, the difference was showing, ever so slightly I was feeling that I was becoming stronger, much more than what I used to be. With more diligence, I can probably be able to achieve Lord Ling’s request. To establish my own House… probably a family, huh…me with a family that is a funny idea…

I then went back to Melinda who was waiting for me with more tips on how to better myself in front of others.

Due to me following most of her tips to the letter, she could barely spot any lackings in my ‘butler behavior’

“You barely look like a proper butler now, very well this shall do.’ She said with a satisfied smile on her face.

I then left after having lunch and went back to magic training.

‘Nocturne’

‘Yes?’ he said

‘Let's try then’

‘What do you want to try?’

‘To cast real magic!’ I said

‘Very well, but you do know that you still lack the necessary tools like that Lord had said, you need to develop your personality, you still lack pride.’

‘Well let's just try something first’ I said

‘very well, then try. And I shall observe’

I then spoke in a deeper tone than I used to

This was also mentioned in the book, even the tone mattered.

“Fire that incinerates all, Fireball!’

A black orb of flame soon appeared on my palm, ti was quite larger than the one I used before but

‘A failure?’ said Nocture.

‘No!’

The black orb soon turned red and an infernal heat was soon felt seeping from within it. The blackness of fire dissipated and the heat of a true fire began to warm my face.

I had a grin on my face before something unexpected happen, the spell on its own shot forward out of my hands.

‘You idiot!’ shouted Nocturne as the fireball landed on a bush.

I barely managed to avoid being scolded for having ruined the garden using death magic before and now…I just sat the garden on fire…