R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 62

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 62 

(Ch 62 got to be so long, I ended up splitting it into Ch 62 & Ch 63)

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Time seemed to slip by inside the First Gate as Micheal studied, gradually making headway.

Micheal was 18 years old when he was first transported into the 7 Layers. He had just recently graduated from highschool, without yet having the opportunity to attend college or any sort of upper education institute.

In the 10 years Micheal spent inside the 7 Layers during the first timeline, studying up on math and physics had not exactly been a priority of his. Much of what he had learned in highschool had faded to the back of his mind, old, dusted memories that hadn’t proved relevant in his first life.

Thus, here, inside the First Gate, Micheal spent the first 4 days of his stay refreshing himself on the subjects he had already learned.

“Woah, there. You almost got me.” Micheal ducked his head down and slightly to the left as he read from a textbook labeled ‘Calculus 2’ held in his left hand.

Facing Micheal was an irate Shadow Seeker, floundering as it missed its attempt to lunge at him. The angry creature immediately turned around and threw itself at Micheal again, attempting to take out his legs.

A quiet ‘swish’ sound echoed out as Micheal’s right hand cut forward, the gleam of his sword Lightshorn slicing through the air in an instant.

The Shadow Seeker’s angry cries grew still as it fell to the floor, split in twain.

“Series and Sequences…” Micheal muttered as he stepped over its shadowy bits with a frown.

“Why does becoming a Wizard have to be so annoying?” He sighed to himself.

The past 4 days had been trying on Micheal’s mental patience. Cramming years worth of education into a few short days was no easy task. Thankfully, Micheal managed to remember most things as he came upon them, his perfect memory thanks to his Eyes of the Deep Ability coming in extremely handy.

Here inside the First Gate, his mind and body were automatically restored over time. Thus, while mentally taxing, Micheal’s superhuman body was able to bear the brunt of mass re-learning in a short period.

“That’s enough.” Micheal shut the book he was holding as he returned to his desk, eventually storing the book in his Spatial Ring.

“Probably.” Micheal muttered as he shut his eyes, taking a few seconds to organize his thoughts.

After re-learning essentially his entire highschool math and physics curriculum, with the knowledge and processes fresh in his mind, Micheal was now well equipped to begin the basics of Magic.

“This should be enough to last me till the 3rd Circle.”

Micheal clapped his hands together loudly. In the next instant, he reached out with his right hand, his eyes glowing with light as he spoke aloud.

“Listea Agur.”

For a split second, nothing happened…

A couple of seconds later, however…

A small, glowing yellow hand appeared, unstably floating in the air.

“Got it.” Micheal winced as his concentration slipped, causing the Hand of Light to instantly falter and disappear.

“It’s difficult… but doable.” Micheal remarked, his face impassive.

The process, from the outside, looked identical to Micheal’s first attempt. On the inside, however, was a different story.

“Listea Agur.”

In his head, Micheal plotted a 3 dimensional plane centered on himself. His keen senses took in the world around him, approximating the distance around him down to the exact centimeter. He then calculated the exact amount of Mana he would draw upon, causing it to condense just in front of his left hand, and cast the Spell forward towards the coordinates he plotted.

This caused the ‘Hand of Light’ to spawn into the air, floating unsteadily.

When his concentration slipped due to his joy at casting the Spell correctly, the flow of Mana from his Soul was disturbed, causing his calculations to fail and the Spell to destabilize.

The practice proved valuable, confirming what he had learned about Magic.

‘Spells that I have to maintain are difficult.’ Micheal nodded to himself.

The 1st Circle Spell Hand of Light created a floating hand made of yellow light. This hand could be moved about, into various nooks and crannies, shining light upon the dark. It could also be used to move light objects that weighed only a few pounds.

After the Spell was initially cast, Micheal had two ways to maintain it.

The first way was relatively complex: update the equations that guide and form the Hand of Light continuously, precisely controlling its positioning and power relative to the world around you.

Even for experienced Wizards, calculations like this were draining, and what led to most Advanced Wizards taking the second approach:

Controlling the Spell relying on intuition, instinct, and experience.

It might sound contrary that Magic, a power regulated strictly by rules and careful approach, could have parts that rely on intuition, but that was nevertheless the reality.

‘They called this part Magic Control.’ Micheal recalled from his studies of Magic in his first life.

Magic Control, controlling a Spell through pure Mana, adjusting its coordinates and acceleration or direction off-hand after casting it, was considered an advanced skill that most Wizards only learned after forming their 3rd Circle.

“After casting enough Spells, the process of calculating and controlling each Spell becomes ingrained.” Micheal spoke aloud from his memories, bringing up the relevant portions of knowledge dredged away in the depths of his mind.

The first method of controlling a Spell, updating one’s calculations over and over in real time, was the most Mana efficient method, but also the most mentally laborious.

The second method was much more popular, but required more Mana, the specific amount depending on the tier of Spell cast, how much the Spell needs to be manipulated, and other relevant factors.

“Before I can do any of that, though…” Micheal whispered quietly, his eyes staring at his left hand intensely.

“Fyra Agur.”

Micheal’s eyes glowed as he cast another 1st Circle Spell, feeling the flow of Mana from his Soul. His eyes twitched as he made rapid-fire calculations, trimming the time to cast down as much as possible.

A bright orange-red hand of burning fire spawned into the air, dropping red embers upon the ground just to the right of Micheal’s desk.

“Woah there.” Micheal slid his desk to the side, storing the notebooks he’d left on it in his Spatial Ring in one smooth motion.

That distraction cost him as his Spell immediately collapsed, the burning Hand of Fire dissipating into ash and smoke.

“Experience. That’s what I lack.” Micheal stated.

He was at most, a half-baked Wizard that could barely cast a Spell at the moment.

The undulations of Mana in his Soul told Micheal he could cast twelve more 1st Circle Spells before he would exhaust his Mana, for a total of 14.

Considering most new Wizards barely had the Mana to cast three 1st Circle Spells in a day, it was a prodigious amount. The Echoes of the Eternal was a Mana Breathing Method that well deserved the rank of ‘SSS.’

“No, not just 14.” Micheal shut his eyes for a few seconds, spreading his senses inward.

“It should be closer to 20 or 21 because of my Physique.” Micheal smiled.

His Heartflame Physique gave him the ability to more easily absorb latent energy in the air, and this included his ability to replenish his Mana. The boost in recovery speed was especially noticeable.

“Cast speed is a problem.” Micheal pulled out one of the notebooks he had stuffed into his Spatial Ring, grabbing a pen and starting to take notes.

“The shortest Spell I’ve cast still took roughly 5.1 seconds to complete. Calculation speed and Spell ignition points need to be centralized and enhanced…” Micheal wrote down his experiences in casting his first Spells, as well as a list of issues to focus on.

After a few minutes of work, Micheal looked up from his desk with a drab look.

“...”

“...life was easier when I just had to swing a sword.”

Micheal grumbled to himself.

The work and effort he had to put in was daunting, but the feeling of active, newfound progression was incredibly exciting.

“Let’s get to work.”

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Time flowed like a river.

Soon, a month had passed for Micheal inside the First Gate.

In that time, the First Gate had radically changed.

Micheal’s desk was now planted in the midst of a large, grassy forest clearing. Several days ago, the First Gate had shifted from its blank white room appearance to the terrain of a large forest.

“Listea Trugar.”

A brilliant spear of yellow light burst into existence, slamming into a tree a dozen meters away from Micheal.

“How deep was that?” Micheal muttered as he lowered his left hand and took several steps forward.

The glowing spear had sunk a full foot (0.3m) into the trunk of the tree, its bright, glowing outline contrasting with the dull brown of the tree’s bark.

“Decent.” Micheal waved his left hand, causing the glowing spear to destabilize and fall apart, showering the tree with bright yellow sparks.

As he watched the tiny bits of energy bounce off the tree before dissipating into the air, Micheal donned an almost child-like smile.

“It’s fun.”

For the first time in a very long time, here inside the First Gate, where murderous Shadow Seekers spawned each day trying to kill him, Micheal had finally obtained a chance to relax.

Outside of the Soul King’s Inheritance, Micheal was fighting in a race against time to revert the disasters that would bring about the downfall of the Human Race.

Inside here, however…

Time was transformed into a boundless, ephemeral concept.

No longer was he in a mad rush without time to spare.

Now, he could take his time to ensure he did everything properly. There was no dragging sensation sinking into the pit of his stomach at night, urging him to move faster and work harder.

It was a nice change of pace that did wonders for his mental health. A weight had been lifted, if only temporarily, from his shoulders.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was taking it easy inside the First Gate either.

“Bleau Bore.”

Micheal chanted a second Spell, gathering the Mana at the tip of his left hand, and casting the Spell forward.

A bolt of water rapidly condensed into existence from the palm of Micheal’s hand, shooting forward at blinding speed. The blur of water slammed into a tree roughly 10 meters to Micheal’s left, sending up a faint shower of water into the air.

“I’ve gotten the basics down.” Micheal’s smile widened as he relished the feeling of progress.

He had just cast two 1st Circle Spells, Light Spear and then Water Strike, in quick succession. The cast time for Spell had been shortened dramatically compared to when he first started, from 5.1 seconds to 2.2 seconds.

The feeling of controlling Mana was a whole new field for Micheal to explore. It was similar to Ki, in that it was a stable energy source that moved as he willed it, but at the same time distinctly different.

Mana was a very cool and precise energy. It followed his commands in exact detail, with nary a margin of error. However, unlike Ki, which could be manifested physically, Mana only manifested after Micheal cast a Spell by drawing on his Mana Circle.

Without the Language of Magic, Mana was an almost dormant energy in his Soul, passively enhancing his Soul stat and the health and sturdiness of his Soul.

“Well… not quite dormant, but close to it.” He corrected himself.

It was possible to manipulate Mana without casting a Spell, but only to the effect of creating glowing blobs of energy that did little. If he wanted anything more than minor telekinesis without casting a Spell, he would need more than a single Mana Circle to support him.

“Hangor Dul.” Micheal muttered, his eyes glowing with cool energy.

A moment later, a small stone wall jutted upwards from the earth, coalescing just 5 meters away from Micheal, in between a pair of trees.

Micheal walked up to the 2 meters high wall and lightly jumped, gracefully landing atop it.

“Neat.”

After a month of constant practice, Micheal had internalized much of the math he needed to perform for each Spell. Weeks of practice calculating distance and energy ratios paid off, allowing him to mentally overlay the 3D plane he formed in his head to the world around him.

“My Magic Control is still a bit clumsy, but I can fix that with more practice.” Micheal stared at his left hand.

“I should be able to integrate this if I can drop my cast times down.”

There was a good reason why Micheal was practicing his Spellcasting while using his left hand.

Micheal was a Grandmaster Swordsman. While he could use a blade with both arms to a formidable degree, he preferred to hold his main sword in his right hand.

Casting magic from his left hand while cutting apart the air with his right – This was how he envisioned his development of Magic combining with his mastery of the Sword.

“A lot of work lies ahead of me.” Micheal muttered before shrugging.

“Let’s enjoy it!”

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