Tales of Revenants

Chapter 77 – Testing Magic

The running water carried away the fallen leaves, down to the surface drifting off the small rocks where river crabs are taking shelter.

The kind of magic Alisa wanted to teach Luciella this time is an advanced chanting practice that should be hard to master.

It's the ability to understand various magical combinations with the changes of words and conjugation. An ability that focuses on magic manipulation through imagination and appreciation simultaneously producing a much better spell output.

After accumulating enough mana to produce dark magic, it was the time Alisa chanted her necromantic spell, "Death won't hinder the living, from bone to existence, arise my loyal servant! Summon Undead: Skeletal Knight!"

She repeated the same magic she used for the first lesson. The ground rumbles slightly and an ironclad undead knight has arisen from the soil to take command from his necromancer.

"As you can see I summoned this skeleton just like my usual servants. Now don't pay attention to the structure, but heed closely by listening on the words with my second spell." Alisa reminded her before she prepares for another spell.

"I shall not leave a piece of single information unwritten!" Luciella surely is a diligent and sedulous student. The study of magic isn't hard by itself, but by how an apprentice is willing to learn from their master.

The mana she gathered is now enough for another spell, Alisa circled the fallen tree branch in the air. She gestured a different combination accompanying the spell.

"Death won't hinder the living, from an arrow to destiny, arise my loyal servant! Summon Undead: Skeletal Archer!" Alisa chanted her spell. The air began to compress in an imaginary vacuum space.

An undead skeleton appeared out of nowhere carrying a bow and has arrows on its back manifested in their presence. The excitement Luciella felt as her sparkling eyes blink form astonishment was something that Alisa wanted to see.

The idea of undead summon is rather complicated because Luciella thinks that skeletal servants can only be called from the soil. It turns out with proper training and different use of words, a necromancer can call a skeleton almost everywhere.

From land, water, air, and existence; It comes down to how the spell caster can wield such knowledge. As Luciella diligently writes down on her notes, Alisa had to explain what causes the varying effects of a simple Summon Undead spell.

"As you heard before, my Undead Summon has two small breaks before the actual chant of the spell. It may sound different, but the last part of the spell is roughly just the activation and doesn't affect the output," Alisa explained to her.

Contemplating for a second, Luciellla frowned thinking and looking at it from a different perspective. She meticulously identifies why the actual chanting words couldn't affect the spell itself.

Luciella had no idea anymore and asked, "How is that possible?"

"We should analyze it step by step so you won't be confused about it. Let's first talk about the image of words," Alisa began to tell her the description.

"I'll write it down!" Luciella's energetic and calm at the same time.

"Before the first break of the sentence, the first words I used were the clarification that my spell came from necromancy. Now here's where it gets tricky, after the first break, the words should be something that connects on one's mind," Alisa described to her.

"Connect one's mind..." Luciella strokes the feather of the pen through her nose, "What does it mean?"

"The first break and the last chant are the words that constitute the appreciation and foundation, while the second break must be visualized inside the caster's head as a different aspect creating an entirely different effect." Alisa expounded.

The surprise face of Luciella was priceless. She just learned that breaking the chant into different parts could drastically change the entirety of the magic spell without actually explicitly controlling the magic itself.

"What about those mages that use single chant and castless spells?" Luciella asked what she doesn't understand.

Indeed the mages that have uses less chanting words and those that don't chant anything at all are considered to be adept spell casters.

They can utilize the secrecy as an advantage before the foe could even react, preventing the enemy to think rationally as they think of a plan to predict the caster's magic instead, making them vulnerable by having a limited set of moves.

It's like a battlefield checkmate strategy. Most of the skilled mages, witches, and wizards practice fewer words when chanting spells.

"Good question Luciella, it's where the power of imagination comes in. Just because a caster chants less word or even nothing in some cases, it doesn't mean the mage actually doesn't say anything at all," Alisa said another mystery.

The idea still circulates within her head. Luciella plays around the feathered pen and spins it around her fingers while contemplating. She didn't notice a tad of ink got on her cheeks.

Alisa wanted to mention it but Luciella looks occupied so she decided they'll take a bath in the river water after the lessons. By looking at her study with the limited time she had, Alisa thinks how adorable she can be when she displays a serious attitude.

"If the mage doesn't say anything... does it mean the caster is using the mind?" Luciella guesses the answer to her own question.

"You're right Luciella. They actually chant the words by imagining the spell itself. Thus, they cast magic without the enemy knowing what spell they are chanting." Alisa gave an explicit answer.

"Now before we eat and take a bath, let me see what you learned today by applying your knowledge of understanding from our first lesson to the last," Alisa beckoned Iser who's hiding and secretly guarding them above the branches.

After Luciella finishes writing down all the information she needed on her notes, she ecstatically picks up her wooden wand and stood up full of enthusiasm, "My heart, soul, and body are prepared!"

"That's the spirit Luciella! Iser will be your training dummy. Give your best shots and never hold back yourself." It was easy for Alisa to say that, but despite Iser being undead and can be summoned many times, she still feels a little worried she has to hit him.

In spite of the situation, Iser went beside her, and with a handkerchief at hand; he wiped the random scribbled ink that she inadvertently got from her face.

However, Iser didn't anticipate the ink was smeared further on her face. He believes it must be a kind of high-grade ink that never gets dry and at the same time, it's troublesome to wash when spread on the skin or any kind of fabric.

Meanwhile, Alisa just facepalmed as Iser wanted to remove it for a second time, but that will make him look like he's being presumptuous of himself.

No plans up his sleeves, he just went to his initial position for Luciella's training and said, "Don't mind me princess Luciella, I became undead solely for this reason. The honor of becoming your stepping stone towards your improvement is my delight."

Even if guilt is taking over Luciella, there's no way she couldn't show him what she learned from his summoner, Alisa. The honor of the undead knight keeps is a thing she respected notwithstanding the choice Iser accepted.

The wind gusts and overlaying warmth it brings ushered the spirit, Luciella circled her wand just like how Alisa did it as she chants her magic, "Flames of fury; answer this call and spiral at my will: Fireball!"

The Fireball is a lower type of fire magic that an apprentice mage learns first in order to grasps the idea and concept of magic as a whole. It should be the basic of basics and it can be easily countered by the opposing element, which is water.

Fiery flames of fire in the form of orb were invoked at the tips of her wooden wand. The plan is to train Luciella the combination of magic from her learnings, and Iser, a wise swordsman shall intercept her spell.

It's undoubtedly the plan, but when her magic spell is about to collide on Iser's Durandal, ready to block the projectile, both of him and Alisa didn't foresee Luciella's Fireball ricocheted midair.

It exploded right on the spot. The scattered fire fragments still darted where Iser is standing. The pride of a king won't let Luciella to not be entertained.

The undead king had no choice but to unsheath the Holy Sword, Fertious, to skillfully cut all incoming fire projectiles at once.

It left Iser in a tough spot. He thought that was all when he saw Luciella chanting another spell imbued with flames. He confirmed from the circling red magic circle below her.

"Flames of fury; answer this call and burst at my will: Fireball!" Luciella's voice and determination resonated the moment she invoked her spell.

The way she improves is too unbelievable even for Alisa. She can grasp the entire idea and cultivate it as one of her skills. The way she can change a single word on her spells to take advantage of her foes is truly a talent Alisa sees in her.

This time, the Fireball didn't ricochet or changed direction, it directly hit Iser as he couldn't elude faster. He was vaporized completely without any trace of his dust nor his swords.

"No?! What have I done? I'm very sorry sir Iser!" Just when Luciella thought she did something unforgivable, Alisa just kind of flickered her fingers, and Iser once again manifested from his form.

He bowed down like the knight he is with respect and said, "I apologize for causing you distress princess Luciella. As long as my necromancer is alive, I shall forever reborn."

"Is that so...?" Luciella stops sobbing.

Alisa pats her head to comfort her, "You did your best. So with that, it concludes my lessons. Ask me anytime if you want to learn something new."

"Really? I will ask if there is something I don't understand comes to mind!" With just that, Luciella is back to her enthusiastic form.

Since they got sweaty, Alisa ushered Luciella to take a bath but then she heard her rumbling stomach. Luciella hid her face with her long blonde hair from bashfulness.

"Well then, why won't we take a bath in Tetra's house and eat afterward? It's been hours. We lost awareness of time." Alisa suggested.

"Y-Yeah, we should return for now." Luciella agreed.

They canceled their ruins adventure because Alisa passed the test. Her plan was for Iser to disguise and assault them inside the ruins, and Luciella shall use her newfound knowledge to defeat him.

The only problem is that she didn't just defeat the undead king, but she also obliterated his entire existence with the most basic magic spell.

The elven are known for having a high volume of mana the moment they are born, though Luciella had an exceptional talent and blessed with magic despite her being half-elf.

It must be overwhelming for Alisa imagining just how powerful she can get if she wielded the shards. Maybe it's the sole reason in the first place why the Shards of Creations is answering her call.

Concurrently from the distance, Thalfeur was hiding from a tree where Iser couldn't detect him. He's too disappointed they didn't take a bath in the river water. He decided he should return before they suspect his mischievous attempt.

They went back to Tetra's home to take a bath and to have a late lunch. Luciella was glad she's able to learn a lot of things in just a limited span of time.

There's no more doubt looming in her heart. That day Luciella is confident she's ready for tomorrow's ordeal of helping the empress of the Balakh Empire, and most importantly to stand beside Laken who gave her the reason to fight the darkness.