A royal pig, a magic hat, a transcendental being inhabiting my soul?

Is this the beginning of a joke? I wish.

I wish.

Research on the gamma attack should be halted for the moment being.

“Yes, Lord Juler, I concur.”

‘I concur.’ God, how am I even talking like this?

But we do have something juicy on our hands here.

Now, we still have to establish the limitations of your new [Dispel] technique. Drawbacks are a natural result. Even the greatest magic has its weaknesses. And it’s better you discover them before any of your enemies do.

“For starters, if the enemy is a very fast caster and uses low-level spells, I’d find it extremely hard to counter that. This technique works better on higher-tiered spells, in my opinion.”

That’s a problem for every [Dispel] specialist, student. Your new technique does solve that problem, actually. No spell has faster casting than [Light]. You can just pepper whatever spell your enemy is casting at an insane speed. You are a [Luxmancer]. Even if you don’t have skills that speed up your casting, your natural affinity for Light Magic will only continue to grow. That makes your intuitive understanding – and, in turn, your casting speed – much better.

“I don’t know, then. Maybe overcharged spells are harder to displace? That shouldn’t be true about [Dispel], right?”

Wrong. The more Mana someone uses, the stronger the natural soul-shroud around the casting.

“Lord Juler, I have no idea, then. My basic knowledge about magic is awfully small. I have done my own studies, but I don’t have enough information to solve this. You are a [Supreme Archmagus], aren’t you? You definitely know the answer.”

Magic is boundless and deeper than any ocean, Joey Luciani. Even at the apex of knowledge, it still eludes the best [Mages]. No one can boast that their knowledge of magic is complete or that it will ever be.

“You don’t know, do you?” I ask, exasperated.

We have been experimenting for a while, but it seems like my technique has no weak points. And that’s kind of absurd. The only real limit is my proficiency with said magic and my mental capacity. Once I get tired, I get sloppy. But if I can keep focused and clear-headed, I can destroy virtually any spell.

There have been great Light [Mages] throughout history. But no one has ever tried this. It is a humbling experience that a child from another world can come up with something so revolutionary. [Archmages] will study this technique in the future, and it will change everything.

It is a bit embarrassing to be complimented like that. At this point, I want to find a problem in this spell before the fame I haven’t yet acquired goes to my head.

[Advanced Mana Sense]

I look at the world made of energy through my eyes, and I use the enhanced mental capabilities from the hat to build a simulation in my head.

I try to visualize greater spells or simply modified spells.

If I had to meet myself on the battlefield, how would I go about this?

A matrix still travels through space, in a way. Maybe in another dimension, who knows. But it does travel; it does move. Materializing a matrix inside a spell is not a thing. There’s a plane, a path, something that allows for such movement to go from one person to another. Whether we can see it or not is inconsequential.

And if a matrix can move, there must be a way to stop it. A soul-shroud is the easiest way to block things, but a [Light] spell is non-invasive enough to ignore most of its effect.

Magic goes through lead as easily as any other thing, though. So, magic is not just massless, but it can also penetrate any matter.

“Does magic go through other magic? I mean, if there wasn’t a soul-shroud around a matrix, would there still be resistance from said matrix to a [Dispel] effect?”

Yes. Overcharging makes it harder to [Dispel] both because of its augmented soul-shroud and the resulting stronger spell. Linked spells, in fact, are almost impossible to dispel for this very reason. [Dispel], as it is, cannot be effectively channeled by more than one [Mage]; it takes concentration and timing to [Dispel] any spell – and that’s impossible to do if more than one person has to set off the spell simultaneously. It has been theorized otherwise, but in practice, it’s just too hard to prove. So, when a Linked spell goes off, it has too much overcharge to be naturally dispelled. The best solution has always been a Linked shield. And that’s because, apart from the soul-shroud of a Linked spell – which is a very interesting topic, by the way – the increased amount of Mana makes it less prone to distortion.

As I have already said, student, your [Light-Dispel], or whatever that spell will be named, can still be effective on that count. It will be slightly less effective but nonetheless better than a normal [Dispel]. And that’s because [Light] can penetrate any part of the matrix easily. And if you create a ‘hole’ in the paths of the power of a matrix that’s being overcharged, the rawer Mana inside such a spell will start pouring out of the path like a waterfall. It’s like having a steel container that you put under intense internal pressure. If there’s even one weak spot, it will explode.

Yeah, that’s a long answer to a simple question.

“Ok, but… what if we blocked the matrix of a [Light] spell with another [Light]? [Light] is the most granular, neutral, and inert spell in existence. However, even so, it must have some substance on a plane. Or, if it does not travel through another dimension, magic simply has slower particles than those known in my world. In any case, wouldn’t a simple [Light] around the spell make it impossible for other lights to penetrate? I know from experience that you can’t put a [Light] spell inside another. You can manipulate their positions, but they cannot exist in the same space. So, what if I just did this.”

[Advanced Hexagonal Three-Folded Shield]

“Oh, and by the way, this reminds me that most of your last Cantrips didn’t make sense. Just sayin’.”

As I’m trying to cast another spell to prove my exalted theory, I get zapped.

Hard.

My body falls to the ground, convulsing.

Oh, look, the book got offended.

I hear Lord Juler snorting.

Old people can be mean, can’t they? That’s my first thought as soon as my body stops—

Zapped again.

Really?

“Ok, ok,” I say, panting. “Can we just try my theory out?”

[Light Manipulation]

I fold the shield—you know what?

I dispel the shield and use a simple [Light] spell that I carve out to form an empty ball. Then, I try to cast a [Light] inside that.

It doesn’t work.

Huh.

Ok, this doesn’t really prove anything yet.

Now, I cast a [Light] matrix very slowly. While the matrix is there, I envelop said matrix with another empty globe-shaped [Light].

This time, I can finish casting the [Light], but I can’t cast more [Lights] in it.

My head is starting to hurt from all the implications.

Student, you should—

“Please, Lord Juler. Give me a second.”

Now, I put a matrix of the globe-shaped [Light] around another [Light] matrix, and then I try to move a disruptive-dispelling [Light] matrix-in-casting inside the [Light] matrix inside the globe-shaped [Light] matrix.

Does this even make sense anymore?

Anyway, the spell goes through.

Interesting. This should be noted down and passed down to scholars. A matrix doesn’t stop your matrix. A fully-fledged spell does. The theory about particulate magic from—

I stand up, open the door, and go down the stairs. I turn a deaf ear to Lord Juler’s rambling. This whole thing is very exciting, sure. But I’m getting a headache—too much magic for today. I need to do something else before I jump out of a window.

“Joey!”

I hear Gaius shouting at me.