In a classroom, in a different place, at the same time.

A person dressed in magnificent robes stood in front of a large class of teenage students. One could immediately see the splendor and luxury of the school from the masterful murals, the expensive mahogany wood tables at which each student sat, and the magical constructs and lamps that spread a warm glow throughout the classroom.

"And that is why it is extremely important that each of you constantly practice and develop your meditation skills. Because only in this way can you constantly strengthen your control when casting spells." Spoke the older, gray-haired magic teacher in front to all his students.

"Let's move on to a broader topic, incantations and why they are important. Now look at page 537 in your applied magic textbook for the examples and explain to me what you see and what they are good for."

A rustling sound could be heard throughout the classroom as all the students immediately and without a murmur flipped through their books and searched for the specified page. Some of the elite students instantly found their way around and the gears in some of the teenagers' heads promptly began working to comprehend what they had read.

The first of the students present seemed to have already figured out the answer, judging by the increasing number of hands in the classroom.

The elderly teacher in front of the class smiled benignly when he saw the typical youngsters who always did well, but also some who were behind in the more practical applications but more than shone in the theory.

After enough time had passed, he decided to take the first person. "Yes, Zulu?" He said with a wave and a gesture of his hand towards a young freckled girl sitting in the front right of the class, right by the windows.

The girl was one of those in whom the magic teacher saw a great future in research, because she showed an extremely quick grasp and was a true prodigy in theory so far. If she could get rid of her shyness in the future, nothing would stand in the way of a steep career.

The freckle-covered Zulu stood up and kneaded her hands in front of her, again clearly showing how uncomfortable she was with the attention of all her classmates. Nevertheless, she had volunteered because she was always inquisitive and hardworking.

"From the representations and descriptions, I assume that incantations yield quasi-channels to direct the energy and give it a form. In earlier times, the first intelligent life forms on Aorus tried to reconcile this with rituals and more in religions, which resulted in some powerful results but was also more unreliable."

She paused briefly and looked around nervously, but her gaze shifted back to the mage teacher in front of the class with a bright will, quickly overcoming her nervousness.

"So we are told that we modern mages need incantations to produce the desired effect specifically and without great risk. This means, conversely, that mages with incantations must recite the words completely without being interrupted. However, if you are interrupted while reciting the incantation, all mana invested up to that point is lost and returns to the world origin. This disadvantage is not present when casting incantation-less magic, since the magic is formed at any time and the mana is under the constant control of the caster, but at the same time any deviation, no matter how small, in the will and construct of the spell one wishes to cast can have devastating consequences."

At the end, the young woman hesitated once again and you could tell she wanted to add something, but didn't dare.

The veteran mage had given her an encouraging nod at the end of her list and immediately saw her hesitation as well. "Go ahead, Zulu. You know that I encourage and challenge the spirit of my students. Your thought processes should be stimulated and I want you with all your heart to question, consider and look at everything critically with your own thoughts."

The freckled girl swallowed some saliva that had accumulated in her mouth and then nodded, more to herself than to anyone else. "Ahem... Then..."

"I-I'm of the opinion that incantations are meant to be more of a learning aid than actually being the ultimate goal in spellcasting. If we use incantations too long without learning from them, it becomes more of a crutch as it prevents us from deepening the true form of magic and all of its possibilities and diversity! Spell-less casting should be our primary goal, and we should learn from spells and the study of them, which paths our mana has to take and then learn them by heart to be able to cast it without a incantation. This is the only way we can adapt to any circumstances in a fight or situation and change incantations immediately as we need them..."

The mage in front rose in surprise at Zulu's astute and logical conclusion and tugged at his long dark gray beard. "Indeed... However, this is possible only for the fewest and most talented mages of our time! Someone with normal talent of magic will almost always kill himself, because he simply lacks talent."

"And then there's-" And suddenly the classroom door was ripped open and a sweaty man in horn-rimmed glasses rushed in, his gaze agitated and frantically looking for someone until he spotted the teacher under all the sweat running down his face.

"Master! The king has summoned you! It's about the princess and a magic anomaly in the south of Haipu like none of the other mages have ever seen! It calls for your portal magic to rescue the princess from the danger zone!" Came like a shot from the man's mouth, while the expression on the teacher's face became more and more serious.

Without a word, the teacher rushed past the man out the door, leaving confused pupils and students with their mouths open.

Adventurers, including a delegation of soldiers with mages in tow, ran frantically back and forth. A commander yelled orders to his adventurers, while elsewhere another commanding officer assigned his soldiers to tasks, and all were gathered together, along with the mages, around a strategic table.

"But we have to...!" A mage tried again, only to be interrupted.

"We don't have to do anything! My people are under no contract and the adventurers guild has no responsibility unless its members voluntarily agree to it!" Came the most senior adventurer angrily shouted in between.

At the other end was the third man, who thoughtfully but also visibly frustrated grabbed his temples. Annoyed, he turned to the two people in the discussion, who had already been engaged in a back-and-forth for quite a few minutes. "It is enough! Commander, if the adventurers don't want to agree to help, then they have to go! Quite simply! And not only from here, but completely from the Kingdom of Haipu. This is about the Crown Princess, and not about anything else. If people don't like it, there's always the elf and dwarf territory to the east, or the kingdom of beast-people to the south where they can try their luck!" Came the commanding and authoritative voice from his mouth, his gaze fixed on the commander and spokesman of the adventurers' guild.

A *Tsk* came with a clicked tongue from said commander and he turned to the assembled adventurers waiting for him at the edge of the crystal plane.

*Sigh* was all the officer could say, shaking his head at the stubbornness. Just as he was about to turn around to put the mage in his place, an anomaly suddenly shimmered at the edge of the gathering and grew larger bit by bit. Relieved and also reassured, because everyone knew exactly what the spectacle represented, the officer leaned back. Because after the next figure came trudging through the portal, he could finally leave this kindergarten to someone else and simply follow orders himself again instead of having to worry about pointless discussions.

And indeed, the first figure to step through the now manifested almost black portal was the court wizard and grand magician of the kingdom. Long simple robes, with only a few decorations by means of various runes on the hem of the sleeves and the collar. A dark gray chest-length beard and gentle but determined eyes, and a frown as the just-arrived mage saw the scene deep inside the crystal plane and battlefield with his own eyes.

"What the abyss...?" He muttered, placing a hand over his eyes to shield himself from the blinding light and stare in the appropriate direction.

There, where before the interior of the battlefield had been visible, a disrupted landmass scarred by incredibly powerful mage even thousands of years later, a mountain had emerged. Green meadows and a few isolated bushes and trees were visible, almost as if this sight had always been there.

Because at the place where the small hill had been before, and there where Avan had fought, there was now nothing more to be seen of these scars of the landscape and dried up ground.

On the contrary - an idyllic green area stretched over the entire kilometer wide plain, surrounded only by the crystal formations which testified that there was more here before than now.