Victor stood at the front of the meeting room, which had been turned into a classroom, his blue hair shimmering in the light as he looked over at the eager faces of his acolyte students or players. Behind him was the magic-enchanted board adorned with intricate magic diagrams and illustrations, creating an ambiance of arcane wonder.
“Starting with the basics,” Victor began, “casting a spell might feel tricky at first. Visualizing the flow of inverted mana in your body can be challenging. But it’s easy when using an analogy. Imagine a tub of water in front of you; that's your inverted mana. Now, picture yourself holding a bowl. This bowl represents your spell model. With the bowl, you decide which part of the tub to take the water from. And from the water that you took in your bowl, magic can be activated.”
The moment he finished with that sentence, a magic flame appeared on his palm, shocking all the players in their seats. “You’ve all seen magic in action, but understanding the mechanics behind it is crucial to becoming a proficient Magus.” By quickly clenching his fist, the flame vanished into nothingness.
Pointing to a projected diagram, Victor continued, “In this visual representation, you see a basic elemental spell model — {Heat Wave}. The core idea is to construct a mental model with your inverted mana. Then, using the nature of your mana, you attract external energy particles and transform them intricately, turning them into a spell.”
Much like the principles behind meditation techniques and Primordial Nexus, inverted mana and magic spell models had a lot of connections and intricacies. Without understanding these basics, even casting the simplest spell would be all but impossible.
“In simple terms, think of inverted mana as the primer and the spell model as the catalyst,” Victor explained, his gestures tracing the lines on the diagram. “The primer remains constant, but different catalysts attract different energy particles, shaping a distinct spell. This connection is what fuels the magic and gives it shape!”
Walking along the aisles, Victor maintained eye contact with the players, ensuring they understood everything he just said. “Constructing a spell model is a complicated matter, and casting a spell requires a clear understanding of these components. The more you study and understand what each sequence corresponds to, the easier it will be to deal with the applications. In addition, you must be cautious of misaligned focus or flawed models; they can impair your mana and take weeks to recover.”
As Victor resumed his place at the front of the room, his posture emanated an air of authority. “If you have anything you want to ask, now is the opportune time to voice your questions before I continue.”
“Yes, Sir Astralium!” Mike eagerly raised his hand, his curiosity evident in his expression. “Er, you mentioned that creating a mental model with our inverted mana is a requisite for casting spells. Are there any alternative methods to bypass this requirement?”
Victor offered Mike a nod of acknowledgment, recognizing him as a dedicated RPG gamer. With a wry grin, he tailored his response to suit Mike’s perspective. “Good question, Mike. Indeed, the path of spellcasting doesn’t always rigidly adhere to that single approach. In certain exceptional circumstances, Magi might resort to the use of substitute magic items to help them cast spells.”
Leaning into his explanation, Victor elaborated, “These substitutes can encompass a variety of options. They range from magic scrolls that carry the encoded essence of a spell to specialized magic tools designed to aid in the casting process and even sigils — a realm of mystical symbols that are, admittedly, far beyond your current purview.”
To make things clear, magic tools, for instance, span various grades and capabilities. The defensive magic tool that had protected Victor when he was being betrayed previously was a superior-grade magic tool. Even the acolyte robes worn by the players were essentially magic tools, albeit a low-grade one. However, Victor wouldn’t teach them this right now, as it was not yet the time.
Similarly, magic scrolls were tiered according to the spells they contained, which was something that he would explain shortly. As for sigils, they represented a deeply profound aspect of magic — one that only Elemental Adept Magi and above have the qualification to explore. Victor must admit that he didn’t know much about this.
“Do you have anything else you want to ask?”
Yet, as his words lingered, the room remained hushed. The players appeared to be following almost everything he said. Perhaps it was because this was still the basics of the basics when it came to magic, or they were used to hearing similar things from the media on the internet. Either way, this suited well for him.
“Alright, moving on to tiers of spell models.” Victor drew a steadying breath before explaining, “Parenthetically, magic spells are divided into several tiers based on the Magus’s ranks of power: Aleph (1), Bet (2), Gimel (3), and so on and so forth. Magi have named the spells that acolytes are able to cast Aleph-tier spells. No matter if they are a second-stage or third-stage Initiate Attunement acolyte, they are only able to use Aleph-tier spells! This means that the subsequent names correspond to spells that only official Magi can cast.”
He held their attention as he forged ahead, emphasizing, “Remember this: the higher the tier, the more intricate and complex the magic spells become, and the more inverted mana will be consumed to cast them. It’s crucial to recognize that only first-class Magi can cast Aleph-tier spells without injury, and this is often a sign of becoming an official Magus!”
It had to be mentioned that it took Victor more than half a month to master a spell to the point where no backlash occurred. You could imagine just how tricky it would be for these players to learn to cast spells for the first time. However, death was hardly a concern for them, as they were essentially immortal with the ability to revive unlike him.
Ultimately, Victor had imparted a glimpse into the broader realm of magical possibilities. By breaking down the complexities and offering relatable examples, the players would appreciate the multilayered avenues that spellcasting could encompass and, therefore, appreciate how much the “game developers” had sacrificed to make this “game.”
Having covered all the material for this session, Victor opened the floor for questions. No players raised their hands this time, however, as they seemed hard at absorbing the information that he had dumped into their heads. It seemed his information-packed session had left them momentarily speechless.
With a sense of accomplishment, Victor knew that he had virtually covered the essentials. Anything else, he doubted that the players would have the patience to learn them all. When dealing with something out of the ordinary, he must also use an out-of-the-ordinary tactic. Although players were curious beings, they would prefer discovering the intricacies of the game on their own rather than being spoon-fed with them. That was why his class had always been to the point.
Honestly, there were many other subjects that a Magus academy usually covered, such as the study of elemental manipulation, alchemy and herbology, magic artifacts, the history of magic, and the basics of the ancient Seraphian language, to name a few. There were more advanced and complex subjects other than these, but he would save himself and the players from exploring those.
Victor turned his attention toward the window, gauging the time remaining before the players had to log out — there should still be some time remaining. Aside from that, the session this time was recorded by Lizbeth, so he wouldn’t need to reteach these basics to the next batch of players. Maybe he should consider letting his assistant handle these fundamental teachings entirely.
Hmm, I guess all the players have to learn this much to understand the basics. Well, let’s make this into a two-day mandatory class, then. Victor planned ahead in his mind. Still, something feels lacking if I end it like this… Right, he-he, how could I forget?
With a sly idea in mind, Victor stated with a nonchalant expression, “All right. This will be the last class I’ll be giving to you, my dear acolytes. But before we wrap up, I have a little test for all of you. Let’s see just how much you’ve absorbed from these two sessions.”
“A test? This game has a test?! Oh my god!”
“Whaat…? But I haven’t studied for the test!”
“Damn! I haven’t had test anxiety in ages, and now this…?”
“Uh-oh, if I fail this, will my parents get mad at me again?”
“Respected Headmaster, can we negotiate a rescheduling of the test for tomorrow?”
A mixture of reactions erupted from the players. Obviously, they were caught off guard by a surprise test that was the nightmare of their school days.
“Silence!” Victor released his mana force to encompass the whole room to calm the panicked players and explained, “I will grant you twenty minutes to review and revise everything you’ve learned so far. If you are able to pass the test, I shall bestow upon you a reward — you’ll get one hundred merit points!”
The instant the words “merit points” left Victor’s mouth, it triggered a remarkable transformation. The once gloomy visages of the players briskly turned into radiant expressions of excitement. There was nothing better than this to lure the enthusiasm of the players, even though it didn’t have much inherent value at the moment.
“I suddenly have a burning desire to take the test.”
“Me too! Bring on the questions!”
“Same here.”
“Test? Why, that’s my middle name — Test Enthusiast!”
“Anyway, what can happen if I fail this test? Nothing at all! Hahaha!”
“…?”
Despite being a gamer himself, Victor couldn’t entirely grasp the minds of these players. Regardless, their reactions aligned perfectly with his design, so he made swift work of drafting the test questions while waiting for the allotted twenty minutes to pass.
Once the time was up, Victor sent the test to each player’s Shadowlink Marks. It was similar to how colleges do pop quizzes these days; the questions were digitally presented.
“Begin with the test!”
The test only consisted of ten easy questions regarding the basics of magic, meditation techniques, spellcasting, and spell models. Any acolytes in his past academy would likely breeze through these fundamental questions with their eyes half-closed.
Not even half an hour later, the first player — Storm — signaled his completion, triggering a domino effect as the remaining players submitted their answers. Victor then graded all the players and was surprised to see all of them pass the mark, with the lowest answering 70 percent correctly. Guess the desire to learn for something they don’t have on Earth pushes them to be serious. I wonder if this is the case for everyone else…
Satisfied with the result, Victor honored his promise, awarding each player the coveted one hundred merit points before dismissing the class. Of course, he didn’t forget to give these players extra reward by giving them cooked boar meat — the last few pieces he had on hand.
AstraMagically
Meme for this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pu2Oxm533xg
Victor stood at the front of the meeting room, which had been turned into a classroom, his blue hair shimmering in the light as he looked over at the eager faces of his acolyte students or players. Behind him was the magic-enchanted board adorned with intricate magic diagrams and illustrations, creating an ambiance of arcane wonder.
“Starting with the basics,” Victor began, “casting a spell might feel tricky at first. Visualizing the flow of inverted mana in your body can be challenging. But it’s easy when using an analogy. Imagine a tub of water in front of you; that's your inverted mana. Now, picture yourself holding a bowl. This bowl represents your spell model. With the bowl, you decide which part of the tub to take the water from. And from the water that you took in your bowl, magic can be activated.”
The moment he finished with that sentence, a magic flame appeared on his palm, shocking all the players in their seats. “You’ve all seen magic in action, but understanding the mechanics behind it is crucial to becoming a proficient Magus.” By quickly clenching his fist, the flame vanished into nothingness.
Pointing to a projected diagram, Victor continued, “In this visual representation, you see a basic elemental spell model — {Heat Wave}. The core idea is to construct a mental model with your inverted mana. Then, using the nature of your mana, you attract external energy particles and transform them intricately, turning them into a spell.”
Much like the principles behind meditation techniques and Primordial Nexus, inverted mana and magic spell models had a lot of connections and intricacies. Without understanding these basics, even casting the simplest spell would be all but impossible.
“In simple terms, think of inverted mana as the primer and the spell model as the catalyst,” Victor explained, his gestures tracing the lines on the diagram. “The primer remains constant, but different catalysts attract different energy particles, shaping a distinct spell. This connection is what fuels the magic and gives it shape!”
Walking along the aisles, Victor maintained eye contact with the players, ensuring they understood everything he just said. “Constructing a spell model is a complicated matter, and casting a spell requires a clear understanding of these components. The more you study and understand what each sequence corresponds to, the easier it will be to deal with the applications. In addition, you must be cautious of misaligned focus or flawed models; they can impair your mana and take weeks to recover.”
As Victor resumed his place at the front of the room, his posture emanated an air of authority. “If you have anything you want to ask, now is the opportune time to voice your questions before I continue.”
“Yes, Sir Astralium!” Mike eagerly raised his hand, his curiosity evident in his expression. “Er, you mentioned that creating a mental model with our inverted mana is a requisite for casting spells. Are there any alternative methods to bypass this requirement?”
Victor offered Mike a nod of acknowledgment, recognizing him as a dedicated RPG gamer. With a wry grin, he tailored his response to suit Mike’s perspective. “Good question, Mike. Indeed, the path of spellcasting doesn’t always rigidly adhere to that single approach. In certain exceptional circumstances, Magi might resort to the use of substitute magic items to help them cast spells.”
Leaning into his explanation, Victor elaborated, “These substitutes can encompass a variety of options. They range from magic scrolls that carry the encoded essence of a spell to specialized magic tools designed to aid in the casting process and even sigils — a realm of mystical symbols that are, admittedly, far beyond your current purview.”
To make things clear, magic tools, for instance, span various grades and capabilities. The defensive magic tool that had protected Victor when he was being betrayed previously was a superior-grade magic tool. Even the acolyte robes worn by the players were essentially magic tools, albeit a low-grade one. However, Victor wouldn’t teach them this right now, as it was not yet the time.
Similarly, magic scrolls were tiered according to the spells they contained, which was something that he would explain shortly. As for sigils, they represented a deeply profound aspect of magic — one that only Elemental Adept Magi and above have the qualification to explore. Victor must admit that he didn’t know much about this.
“Do you have anything else you want to ask?”
Yet, as his words lingered, the room remained hushed. The players appeared to be following almost everything he said. Perhaps it was because this was still the basics of the basics when it came to magic, or they were used to hearing similar things from the media on the internet. Either way, this suited well for him.
“Alright, moving on to tiers of spell models.” Victor drew a steadying breath before explaining, “Parenthetically, magic spells are divided into several tiers based on the Magus’s ranks of power: Aleph (1), Bet (2), Gimel (3), and so on and so forth. Magi have named the spells that acolytes are able to cast Aleph-tier spells. No matter if they are a second-stage or third-stage Initiate Attunement acolyte, they are only able to use Aleph-tier spells! This means that the subsequent names correspond to spells that only official Magi can cast.”
He held their attention as he forged ahead, emphasizing, “Remember this: the higher the tier, the more intricate and complex the magic spells become, and the more inverted mana will be consumed to cast them. It’s crucial to recognize that only first-class Magi can cast Aleph-tier spells without injury, and this is often a sign of becoming an official Magus!”
It had to be mentioned that it took Victor more than half a month to master a spell to the point where no backlash occurred. You could imagine just how tricky it would be for these players to learn to cast spells for the first time. However, death was hardly a concern for them, as they were essentially immortal with the ability to revive unlike him.
Ultimately, Victor had imparted a glimpse into the broader realm of magical possibilities. By breaking down the complexities and offering relatable examples, the players would appreciate the multilayered avenues that spellcasting could encompass and, therefore, appreciate how much the “game developers” had sacrificed to make this “game.”
Having covered all the material for this session, Victor opened the floor for questions. No players raised their hands this time, however, as they seemed hard at absorbing the information that he had dumped into their heads. It seemed his information-packed session had left them momentarily speechless.
With a sense of accomplishment, Victor knew that he had virtually covered the essentials. Anything else, he doubted that the players would have the patience to learn them all. When dealing with something out of the ordinary, he must also use an out-of-the-ordinary tactic. Although players were curious beings, they would prefer discovering the intricacies of the game on their own rather than being spoon-fed with them. That was why his class had always been to the point.
Honestly, there were many other subjects that a Magus academy usually covered, such as the study of elemental manipulation, alchemy and herbology, magic artifacts, the history of magic, and the basics of the ancient Seraphian language, to name a few. There were more advanced and complex subjects other than these, but he would save himself and the players from exploring those.
Victor turned his attention toward the window, gauging the time remaining before the players had to log out — there should still be some time remaining. Aside from that, the session this time was recorded by Lizbeth, so he wouldn’t need to reteach these basics to the next batch of players. Maybe he should consider letting his assistant handle these fundamental teachings entirely.
Hmm, I guess all the players have to learn this much to understand the basics. Well, let’s make this into a two-day mandatory class, then. Victor planned ahead in his mind. Still, something feels lacking if I end it like this… Right, he-he, how could I forget?
With a sly idea in mind, Victor stated with a nonchalant expression, “All right. This will be the last class I’ll be giving to you, my dear acolytes. But before we wrap up, I have a little test for all of you. Let’s see just how much you’ve absorbed from these two sessions.”
“A test? This game has a test?! Oh my god!”
“Whaat…? But I haven’t studied for the test!”
“Damn! I haven’t had test anxiety in ages, and now this…?”
“Uh-oh, if I fail this, will my parents get mad at me again?”
“Respected Headmaster, can we negotiate a rescheduling of the test for tomorrow?”
A mixture of reactions erupted from the players. Obviously, they were caught off guard by a surprise test that was the nightmare of their school days.
“Silence!” Victor released his mana force to encompass the whole room to calm the panicked players and explained, “I will grant you twenty minutes to review and revise everything you’ve learned so far. If you are able to pass the test, I shall bestow upon you a reward — you’ll get one hundred merit points!”
The instant the words “merit points” left Victor’s mouth, it triggered a remarkable transformation. The once gloomy visages of the players briskly turned into radiant expressions of excitement. There was nothing better than this to lure the enthusiasm of the players, even though it didn’t have much inherent value at the moment.
“I suddenly have a burning desire to take the test.”
“Me too! Bring on the questions!”
“Same here.”
“Test? Why, that’s my middle name — Test Enthusiast!”
“Anyway, what can happen if I fail this test? Nothing at all! Hahaha!”
“…?”
Despite being a gamer himself, Victor couldn’t entirely grasp the minds of these players. Regardless, their reactions aligned perfectly with his design, so he made swift work of drafting the test questions while waiting for the allotted twenty minutes to pass.
Once the time was up, Victor sent the test to each player’s Shadowlink Marks. It was similar to how colleges do pop quizzes these days; the questions were digitally presented.
“Begin with the test!”
The test only consisted of ten easy questions regarding the basics of magic, meditation techniques, spellcasting, and spell models. Any acolytes in his past academy would likely breeze through these fundamental questions with their eyes half-closed.
Not even half an hour later, the first player — Storm — signaled his completion, triggering a domino effect as the remaining players submitted their answers. Victor then graded all the players and was surprised to see all of them pass the mark, with the lowest answering 70 percent correctly. Guess the desire to learn for something they don’t have on Earth pushes them to be serious. I wonder if this is the case for everyone else…
Satisfied with the result, Victor honored his promise, awarding each player the coveted one hundred merit points before dismissing the class. Of course, he didn’t forget to give these players extra reward by giving them cooked boar meat — the last few pieces he had on hand.
AstraMagically
Meme for this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pu2Oxm533xg
