Zortex walked slowly in the direction of wizard tower analyzing his situation. In the training center he could follow free lessons on the use of weapons, but he could not get a personal mentor unless he paid money. Now in the wizard tower something similar should happen. Noobs during their trial would have free access to some things he would not.

I wonder what is the process to learn new spells. People just talked about it as if it was obvious, but I don’t know the base. Some more spying would be nice, but at this point I should just learn at the source like other peoples do.

He arrived in the plaza just under the wizard tower. A person could feel right away the difference in the atmosphere compared to the training center. There the people looked more muscular and rough. Armors and weapons were displayed openly, as a source of pride and to show off. Even normal civilians had a bit of that look, almost as if just by being close some of it rubbed off on them. Here instead the people looked more sophisticated and delicate. Individuals passing by were mostly wearing robes or light armor as his own. The shops nearby where mostly selling magic products such as the ones he had just acquired. One thing in particular distinguished the center of magic from the center of warriors…something that drew the attention right away. Here there were as many women as men going around.

In general the ratio between female and male travellers was quite low. Without a doubt, the allure of a fantasy world was much stronger for guys compared to girls. Even more, the physical fighting taught at the training center was not much practiced by women. That’s why there it was basically a convention of dudes, with some exceptions. Magic on the other hand was well seen by both genders, so there was almost a fifty fifty ratio. The dresses of the women were quite modest compared to the little amount of clothes girls used to wear in the real world, but after so many months by himself he certainly found it to his liking. It was also very dangerous for him. Keeping control was much more difficult when he was already straining to balance his senses.

Ok, better to cover my eyes a bit more and focus on my hearing. I should find out how to proceed keeping my distances.

Zortex went to the entrance and met the guards standing in front. These ones were much more alert than the ones he had met before, but in the end, despite his appearance, he just passed through thanks to his status as traveler.

Once inside he started to randomly walk around the corridors and halls. Listening to people he understood that the ground floor is the one where most noobs aggregate during their trial. To access higher floors people needed to pass some sort of test or show some sort of proof of worth. He didn’t get it yet, but anyway he was looking only for the basic.

Passing by, he heard a group of people whose members where all noobs who had not received any training yet. It was exactly where he should be. Apparently the next lesson would start in an hour so they were just lounging there socializing, thus he moved away to sit down on a dark corner. To not waste any time he kept training his Sonar ability, since it showed no effect on the outside and it would not attract the attention of people nearby. Of course he was seen by some people, NPC of travelers alike, but his appearance was enough to discourage any of them to approach him.

Finally a young men entered the hall and called for the attention of everyone. He looked twenty or so, certainly not the stereotype of the old wizard with a long white beard. He presented himself as Nertan and told everyone that for the rest of the afternoon he would explain to us the basic of the art of wizardry.

Zortex and the rest followed him inside a spacious room. There were no chairs or desks, but some mats on the floor. Nertan indicated to his students to sit down on the floor while he would be standing. Obviously Zortex chose a spot on the back as far as he could from anyone else. There were thirteen people on total, seven girls and six guys, counting himself. As he could imagine, most persons had very outlandish looks: hairs, eyes, skin had unique colors, and everyone had added small details to their body to be more distinctive. Nonetheless, if he removed his bandages, he would be the weirdest one.

“Ok everyone. Listen carefully. Each person in the world possesses mana and has the possibility of handling it, but for most it could take a lifetime to reach a basic levels of understanding. In such way you have been blessed by the Gods, given the ability to control it as the most talented individuals. Learning how to cast spells is easily within your reach, but to master stronger and stronger magic it requires lot of effort and work, even for you chosen by the Gods”

I hope the introductory speech will not be too long and boring. Who cares about this stuff, just get to the spells.

Zortex was getting sleepy again. The teacher went on and on about the importance of magic and how it should be used for the purpose given by the Gods. Ten minutes later he stopped ranting and came to the juicy part.

“You will not be able to learn any spell today. I will explain to you the theory to acquire new spells and you will work on it from now on”

Finally we get to the point.

“Mana is present inside each person. Maybe you cannot feel it already, but soon you will understand. Magic is the pattern of mana channels inside a living being. It is impossible to clearly envision these mana channels as their number is infinite as numbers are infinite. Through countless generations wizards have been experimenting with these patterns to research all possible spells. As there are infinite combinations, also the number of possible spells is infinite. The most surprising thing is that different combinations could held the same spell, or so similar that we cannot distinguish the difference”

I think I understand a little. When I first summoned Pravin I felt the mana reserve emptying and the mana flowed to my hand where I released. This mean that the flow was happening inside these channels. All this time whenever I used magic I felt as if I was flexing a new muscle, however probably it means that I was opening a pattern of channels.

“The first step is to feel the mana inside your bodies. Centuries ago, when magic crystals were scarce, wizards had to spend a lot of time and training to find their mana reserve. Nowadays it is just a matter of a few minutes, especially for you travelers. Now I will give each of you a light crystal to experiment with. These are raw crystals infused with a ‘constant light spell’. I will not explain today what spell infusion is, that’s something far in the future. When you hold the crystal in your hand try to envision a ball of light and if you get any sensation from it just go along with it.”

Fuck! Soon this place will become a concert stage with all the lights.

Zortex took out three more turns of bandage and covered his eyes until he could see almost nothing, just some silhouettes. Nertan moved through the people distributing light crystals. When he reached Zortex he stopped a second and then told him:

“You are not on your trial, so you must pay 5 copper coins for the crystal”

Zortex already had too many problems with the abundance of light, so he had no intention of spending money for it, no matter how little the expense. He proceeded to take out one of his red crystals and made a small ball of fire, shooting upward where it dissipated before reaching the ceiling.

“Good enough. You already have the experience apparently. Maybe you could have skipped this lesson, but it is your choice if you just want to chill looking at people during their first attempt. Now relax until everyone else has reached the result”

His little display had not gone unnoticed, and the people who were still waiting for the distribution of crystals to end, decided to start right away the exercise. Soon lights were flaring all around the room and in a matter of few minutes everyone was chatting happily and enjoying their first display of magic. Meanwhile Zortex was covering his eyes also with the hood of his cloak and he was in deep contemplation. Not much time had passed since he came out of the sewers. It was nothing compared to the eight months he spent down there. He was trying his best to deal with the world around him, but he could not go on forever avoiding people at all cost. He needed to find a way to speak again. Not to make friends or socialize, but to be able to interact on a basic level. It should probably more necessary here than in the training center.

“Ok! Very well. I can see that everybody can now perceive their own mana. These are continuous light crystals, so the spell will last the longer the more mana you sent into it. Some of you just poured all of it inside, so they will make light for hours. Better if you put them away or you will go blind from too much illumination.”

This guy understands me. The darker the better. Maybe if we also closed all the curtains it would be perfect.

“Raw crystals can store spells like the one you just used. Low grade spells can be stored in low grade crystals while higher spells need better crystals. These are useful in a pinch, but it is better to learn how to control a spell directly. Crystals will break after a few uses and you will never get better at developing spells if you only use them, because you are limited by the pattern of the crystal itself. Also crystals cost money that you wouldn’t like to lose. Now I will show you how to actually learn a spell. It is a process which requires some time, so don’t be scared if you fail the first few times”

Finally we got to the point I’ve reached so far. Now it is uncharted land for me. I absolutely need to learn some sort of attack. I’m too vulnerable right now. I need something easier than Slimification. Normally people can learn at least one spell during their trial, so I want to learn at least two in the next month. It should be possible with the experience I had with my other Skills, right?

“To learn a spell is to create a pattern of mana channels in your body. The best way to do it is…..