Oath Of Iron And Fire

Chapter 4 Antoine Laurent and his magic system (Part 2)

Winters was having a blast talking, but Ike was already drowsy. Seeing that Ike had become like he was in his magic class, Winters thought that if he continued to talk according to the magic textbook, Ike would fall asleep immediately.

"I still need to demonstrate some spells with more obvious effects!" Winters thought to himself, and he thought carefully about what other spells could be conveniently demonstrated.

So Winters plucked a few hairs from Ike's arm, and the pain made Ike shudder and become much more sober.

"Watch carefully." Winters warned Ike. He used the thumb-on-index-finger gesture again and entered the casting state. The familiar and strange squeezing and tingling sensation appeared again.

The hairs on Winters's hand changed. Just like when an arm is accidentally burned by fire, the hairs shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving only a little charcoal black.

Ike finally saw the wonder of magic because he didn't see any open flames.

"Does this hair look like it was burned by fire?" Winters showed Ike the remaining carbon black on the hair.

"This kind of magic that turns hair into charcoal black is fire magic. This spell is called fire magic, and the spell that turned water into vapor is called vaporization magic."

"These two spells are the most basic fire spells. Now you understand why this kind of magic is called fire magic, right?" Winters seemed to be inducing Ike to think actively like a teacher.

"There's no flame, but there's an effect that looks like flame, right?" Ike answered as he digested it. He now understood a little better.

"Yes, for example, I use the fire magic on the wick. Although there is no open flame, the wick will be lit as if it has come into contact with the flame." Winters gave another example of daily application.

He said self-deprecatingly, "To be honest, doing small tasks like lighting lamps is the most practical use of fire spells in my opinion."

"And the vaporization spell. I have received ten years of spellcasting training, but I can only vaporize a small amount of water. So my ability to cast fire spells is really poor."

Winters thought about the current status of fire-related spells and continued to laugh at himself: "If one day people can carry fire with them, fire-related spells may be eliminated."

Ike's eyes were about to close again. But Winters didn't notice at all. He said to himself, "I have imagined that if the ability to use fire spells is strong enough, it may be possible to directly vaporize the blood in the enemy's body. But I don't know which Alliance spellcaster has this ability..."

"You really fell asleep!" Winters found that Ike had closed his eyes, and angrily said, "You wanted to see magic, I showed you, but you still fell asleep."

"I've explained it to you in such a simple and clear way, how can you still be sleepy? Why don't you go to the spellcaster class when you can't sleep? I guarantee you'll fall asleep as soon as your butt hits the stool."

"Wait, this is magic? Don't we have to chant some super long and complicated spell? Don't the magicians in the stories all become super powerful after learning an ancient spell?" Ike seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and he suddenly raised his head and looked at Winters.

"What the hell are you singing for? Who are you singing for?" Winters said angrily, "Everyone in the Alliance speaks the Imperial language. The accents of the Sea Blue people and the people of the Federation are different, right?

The imperial nobles do not speak the imperial language, but the old language; the people of the ancient empire speak the ancient language; the Fremen (Fremen, meaning travelers) speak Fremen; and the people of the Silk Country speak the language of the Silk Country (Serica).

Different languages are used around the world. Chanting? Chanting in different languages, who is singing correctly? Who is singing incorrectly? Do we need to invent a special language for chanting? Do you think it is possible for the Silk Country mages and the Empire mages to use the same chanting language when they are thousands of miles apart? "

"What about the staff? There must be a magician's staff, right?"

"Why would I practice this when I have a staff?" Winters raised his sword and gestured: "Why don't I practice with a staff? All abilities of a spellcaster come from himself and are not affected by external objects. Don't imagine that you can become a great magician by getting some secret treasure. It's impossible. If you give an ordinary person a peerless sword, can he become a swordsman as good as you?"

"Okay, okay, don't be angry. Think about it, you've been taking spellcaster courses for ten years, and I just heard you explain what a spellcaster is today. How can I understand it all at once? Let me digest it slowly." Ike tried to comfort Winters kindly. He knew Winters's hot temper very well, and knew that this donkey could only be stroked in the right way.

Winters also felt that he had spoken too aggressively just now. He felt a little ashamed but couldn't say it out loud. So he thought about it for a while and continued to explain to Ike: "However, the story of the mage's chanting may be groundless. General Antoine Laurent believes that for magicians, chanting may be a means of self-suggestion."

"The general believes that the magician's chanting is just a ritual. 'The ritual is not important, what is important is the sense of ritual.' To use a certain spell, one chants a specific sentence and uses the sense of ritual to generate self-suggestion." Winters used Ike as an example: "Just like archers believe that certain rituals can make arrows more accurate, don't you lick your palms vigorously before every sword duel?"

"I'm not licking my palms to suggest something, it's just a habit." Ike blushed: "Besides, when did I lick them so hard..."

"If you say it's a habit, then it's a habit. Your so-called habit is just another way of saying self-suggestion."

“In short, it is to connect the difficult behavior A with the simple behavior B, and then assist the difficult behavior A to be completed better by performing the simple behavior B.”

"You don't have to be embarrassed if you like licking your palms, right? I always wear the same pair of shoes for every exam."

"It's that pair of old shoes with worn-out soles!" Ike suddenly realized, "I was wondering why you refused to throw them away..."

Winters accidentally exposed his secret, but he was thick-skinned, so he ignored Ike and continued to popularize magic knowledge: "It is precisely because chanting is just self-suggestion that General Antoine Laurent invented the spellcasting gesture instead of chanting."

"The general summarized magic into three major categories, which represent three different spellcasting abilities. Spells in the same category are very similar when used, but spells in different categories are as different as wrestling and sword fighting."

"Wrestling is part of sword fighting. Marshal Ned's swordfighting atlas contains a lot of chapters on wrestling." Ike immediately stood up and refuted Winters.

"Wrestling is part of the (expletive) sword fight, stop interrupting," Winters said angrily.

"This is the gesture used when casting fire spells." Winters raised his left hand and pressed his thumb against his index finger.

"This is the gesture used when casting acceleration spells." He pressed his thumb against his middle finger.

"This is the gesture used when performing sound spells." He finally pressed his thumb against his ring finger.

"This is your time to wrestle." Then he raised his middle finger.

Winters continued to explain: "In fact, it can be replaced with other actions, pulling hair, rubbing eyes, touching nose, any action will do, as long as an action is associated with a type of spell."

"The hand gestures invented by the general are relatively simple. All you need to do is move your fingers. That's why Alliance spellcasters generally use this hand gesture."

"Of course you can cast spells without using gestures, but if you suddenly switch from one type of spell to another, your brain won't be able to wrap its head around it."

"It's like asking you to play a round of swordplay first, and then suddenly play a chess game. Then play another round of swordplay, and then come back to play the next chess game. The caster's magical cognition will be confused."

"Especially when using a compound spell that combines two types of spells, it is almost impossible to switch spells smoothly without using gestures. If you bind the casting gestures, you won't feel dizzy when switching back and forth."

"So our Alliance spellcasters don't chant, they only use spellcasting gestures."

It was another long speech, which made Ike feel dizzy. He digested the content for a while, and then said seriously: "Although I didn't understand much, I at least heard one thing: General Antoine Laurent created many things, discovered a lot of knowledge, and was a very great man."

"Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is the father of the Alliance's magic system. Although he doesn't know magic, I would like to call him the greatest spellcaster." Winters also put away his frivolous attitude and said solemnly: "I think he represents our human spirit of courageously exploring the laws of all things."

"It's a pity that General Antoine Laurent passed away too early. He was only 51 years old." Ike also sighed: "Do you know how the general died? I was just in the Army Junior School at that time and didn't know anything. I just remember that one morning the teacher said that General Antoine Laurent had passed away and asked us to mourn in silence."

"Headache." Winters answered briefly, "It is said that the general finally redefined magic in the research society, but unfortunately he died young and his manuscripts were lost."

"So being able to turn water into steam is considered a talent for magic? Let me give it a try. Maybe I also have a talent for magic." Ike quickly changed the subject. He also dipped some water on his hand and dripped it onto the stone bench. Then, he imitated Winters and exerted force on the water droplets out of thin air.

"It's very difficult to vaporize water." Seeing Ike trying to vaporize water, Winters quickly reminded his friend: "The ability of an untrained spellcaster is very weak, almost the same as that of an ordinary person. It's impossible to vaporize water.

Let me give you an analogy. If the essence of magic is fire, then an untrained spellcaster is not even a flame, but just a spark struck by a flint. It takes a long period of training to gradually turn it into a flame and finally into a flame.

If you want to test the little Mars, you have to use the equipment invented by General Antoine Laurent. Besides, you have tested it, haven't you? "

"When did I take the test?" Ike was shocked.

"Didn't you take the test when you entered kindergarten?" Winters was also surprised: "Didn't everyone take the test when they entered Luyou? I was tested when I entered Luyou."

"I was only nine years old when Lu You entered school. I really don't remember whether I took the test at that time. How did I take the test?" Ike thought about it carefully and indeed had no memory of taking the test.

"I can't remember either. It seemed like there were several glass instruments in one room." Winters scratched his hair. It was all ten years ago and he couldn't remember it.

"It seems that a woman gave me a test. I did whatever she asked me to do, and then I left. Later, the teacher said that I was a spellcaster, so I took an extra spellcaster course."

Ike shook his head and said regretfully, "I really have no impression at all. Maybe I was not tested, or maybe I was tested but I forgot."

But he said cheerfully: "It doesn't matter, I will try to see if I can make water vapor now. Haha, what if I am a genius who has been missed? It's not against the rules to try."

After saying this, he dipped a little more salt water and dripped it onto the stone bench. Then he held his hands around the water droplets to prevent them from being blown away by the wind, and stared at them intently. Winters sat aside, not making any comment, waiting for the result with interest.