Origin ARS 5 (5 page)

He tried a few other things. Most efforts
lead to results that were nothing special. A few, not nearly few
enough, resulted in extreme pain.

Eventually, he hit on a worthy thought. What
if he focused on using the mana in the same way as the lightning?
Instead of a solid knot of concentrated mana, he would focus on
sending it along his arms. The worst thing that could happen was
that he might die horribly. It was worth trying.

Scott drew on his mana and concentrated it
within his chest for a moment then began to strike the air with his
palms without connecting to the lightning. As he punched the air,
he focused his mana in a slow circulating pattern that mimicked the
arcing lightning. It was much easier to manage as he did not need
to keep his hands moving at a high rate of speed. The mana in his
body wanted to circulate, to flow. It was natural to move instead
of sit in one spot.

His arms began to move faster and then faster
still. His palms moved in a rotating manner, fluid, powerful. When
one palm struck out in that circular motion, the other had already
begun its backward movement. His entire body easily moved with this
flow.

A circular flow of mana appeared within his
mind and the blurring hands image from before shifted form to
match. It was no longer a frenetic attack at the air. It was a
rhythmic motion that was simple to maintain.

Once he felt comfortable with that rhythm, he
connected with the lightning element once more. It took a moment to
properly synchronize the mana and the lightning, but once he did
there came a moment of realization. He was definitely on the right
track, but for the wrong spell!

As the lightning and mana circulated, an
electrical discharge built up before him. Lightning flowed between
his arms, a small amount at first, but with greater force after a
time.

It was more by some sudden instinctual
awareness than practiced skill that he worked his body into a
different movement pattern. He stopped trying to move his arms fast
and instead focused on the intensity of the building energy. Scott
slowed his motions to a casual speed and then shifted his hands at
the end of the movement so that his palms faced each other instead
of punched at the air.

A sphere of mana and lightning began to form
between his palms. He slowed his motions even further. The sphere
grew in intensity as more of the energy was collected there. It
radiated a soft, gentle, light.

The little ball of lightning and mana grew
slowly from the size of a volleyball to the size of a basketball.
Scott thought about the situation for a moment then made an attempt
to concentrate the energy. It resisted his attempts at every turn,
but he slowly did just that. The soft light increased to a bright
light, and then became a brilliantly luminous object so bright that
he could not look at it.

That was when something undesirable happened.
The mana flow cut off. He had ignored the growing sense of unease
and the gnawing emptiness that had begun to appear within him in
favor of working on his spell. His mana had run out. For a brief
second nothing but pure elemental lightning flowed through the
bright sphere of light. It began to shake violently and looked as
though it might explode.

Scott instinctively threw his hands over his
eyes, but the expected explosion did not occur. The ball of
brightly shining energy merely flickered and shook violently in the
air. He lowered his arms and looked at the ball of energy. He
studied it for a moment then stepped back a few paces. It followed
after him in a sluggish manner.

“Congratulations.” said Mid in an amused
tone.

“Huh?”

“You created a spell.” she said. “Let it run
its course and then go check the mirror. You’ll see what I
mean.”

“How long do I have to wait?” he asked.

“Let me check. You’re a little lacking in
knowledge of such things at the moment.” She walked over and
eyeballed his new spell. “About three more minutes with the amount
of mana that you used.”

“Thanks. I wish I knew how much of my mana I
have to use to make spells work.”

Mid chuckled. “Doesn’t everyone? You have to
feel it out and practice. Over time you will be able to do this
same spell both better and with greater efficiency.”

The violently shaking ball of light continued
to float in the air. Scott chose to walk around and watch as it
followed him about the area. It was kind of neat. Once it dissolved
in the air, he walked over to the mirror and checked it to see what
had happened.

The first thing he had noticed was that his
unarmed combat skill was still at two, but his twilight sorcery had
increased to three. “Skills level quickly, don’t they?”

“Early on they do. Your stats are much higher
than a new level one character, so it’s easier to train. Your class
level will act as a bottle-neck once you leave here.”

“Yeah, I see your point. There’s no way I
would have developed that spell already if I’d been stuck with the
stats I had the first time I was level one.” he said.

“Probably not. Rather, it would have taken a
lot longer to do it. There are reasons that the sorcerer class is
not that popular on this server.” said Mid. "Most who try it
actually do what you are doing, and reincarnate into the class in
order to make it a little easier to train. Even basic sorcery is
mana intensive during spell development."

“I never understood why it wasn’t popular
before.” he said.

“On the casual server it is unpopular because
it requires too much effort in the late game in order to stay a
threat. At the level you were at, it is actually a little
overpowered. It is almost the opposite of this server. Some choose
to be a sorcerer first in order to become more capable at a
different hybrid class like a dark knight or a paladin, even a
monk.”

Scott nodded. “It’s not popular here, either
though?”

“Not at all. Most people go for the simpler
classes that use incantations. All they need to do is project a
proper image, create a proper chant, and use their mana to fashion
it into reality." She tapped her chin. "That is all class dependent
of course. There are rules about what can be created as well, but
generally speaking magic is a bit more freeform here.”

“That does sound easier!” Scott had to wonder
why anyone would be a sorcerer in that case. He liked the class,
but a little mental masturbation and a few pretty words sounded
like a much easier magical practice method.

“Yes, but it is flawed in a critical
way.”

“How so?” he asked.

“Those classes can use magic, but they don’t
develop the fundamental knowledge necessary to truly master it.
They end up with dozens of spells that each do one specific thing
and they have to remember the exact words and imagery for each
one.” said Mid.

“How is that different than what I do? I have
to remember the image I use and how to make the energy flow.”

“Yes, but look at what you did. Mid-training
you shifted from one pattern to another and created an entirely
different spell. Most classes simply cannot do that. It’s one-shot,
all or nothing, for them.”

“I think I understand, but…”

Mid smiled at him. “When most other classes
create a spell they literally do that. They make a spell. You,
however, generate a flow of mana and elemental energy that can
become literally any related spell you want simply by mastering how
that energy flows.”

“Wait, I get it…. You’re saying I could start
casting a spell, see that I need to do something else, and shift
the pattern to generate a more relevant attack as long as the
energy flow is similar. But other classes can only cast the spell
they are casting.”

“Hey, he gets it! Good job. Yes, once a class
other than those related to monks or sorcerers begin to cast a
spell they either finish it or lose the mana they drew up.” She
pointed her staff at him. “You can do a lot of damage to a caster
if you interrupt their casting. The concentrated mana would flow
through their bodies.”

“That’s why mages stay in the back and don’t
fight upfront! Interrupt their spell-casting and the mana
concentrated to power the spell erupts and damages them!” Scott’s
eyes widened and he grinned like a moron who had finally learned
something cool.

Sorcery was difficult, but once he mastered a
spell he would be a lot harder to interrupt since the main game
related purpose of his class was to develop the ability to actively
fight in hand-to-hand combat while powering up his spells. It would
also be harder to defend against properly trained monks and
sorcerers, since it was more difficult to determine what sort of
spell he was creating since he did not need to chant.

“The easiest way to kill a powerful magic
user is to goad them into using a strong spell then interrupt their
concentration. They can resist minor distractions if they are
high-level and well trained, but there are few pure mages capable
of maintaining their focus when they take a boot to the head.”

“I would wager a guess that they use a lot of
shields and things like that to prevent people from putting their
shoe upside their head?” he asked.

“Absolutely. Shields, wards, guardian beasts,
mercenaries. Anything to give them the time needed to charge their
mana and blast the landscape.” she said.

They chatted amiably about the path of
sorcery and other magical paths. Mid played as a great sage, or as
a lore sage in the casual server, so she had great knowledge of the
non-sorcerous path. She liked incantations as a means of playing
around, but she had long since moved to silent casting if she had
to do anything serious. She basically willed her most practiced
spells into being with a thought.

Scott looked at the mirror then rubbed his
chin. “That’s the name the system chose for my spell?
Seriously?”

[Spell]

Scott’s Unstable Orb of Brilliance

A lightning spell that is created in the shape of a
sphere. It provides moderate levels of illumination and follows the
caster.

Spell Type:
Twilight Sorcery

Mana Drain:
High

Efficiency:
Low

[—]

Mid glanced at the mirror then chuckled.
“Yes, that’s how the system shows things. You can change the name
any time.”

“I see.” He rubbed his chin. He knew how the
spell was done now. Should he try to create more spells, or
practice the one that he had? “Man, I wish I had more spell
slots.”

“You only use those for your most commonly
used spells anyway. You can cast any spell that you can remember
step-by-step, you just won’t have any assistance in its creation.
In that regard it is similar to the casual server. Call out the
spell name while focusing on the pattern. The system takes care of
most of the necessary work.”

Scott liked the sound of that, though he
would still practice and train his spells without the assistance so
that he would master their usage on the fly. During an actual fight
it would be useful. He had to be certain that he was right in his
current training plan, however. “Is it like the miscellaneous
skills?”

“Hmm?” she asked.

“Can I switch them in and out of my spell
slots whenever I want?”

“Ah yes, but only at a salvation mirror.
Think of those slots as sort of like hot buttons, or quick slots in
a console game.”

“That’s good to know!” Scott liked that
answer quite a bit. He could rotate his spells into and out of the
slots at need.

“Yes it is, but you’ll probably want to write
your spells down in a notebook or something. If they are not
slotted, they aren’t held in memory by the system.”

“Oh! I see, so I need a grimoire.” That made
sense to him. The spell slots held information about his spells and
if he concentrated on those spells that were slotted he could use
them easily. His other spells would need to be done step-by-step.
It would be both inefficient and mana intensive, but he could have
access to all the spells that he wanted.

“How does that work though? The new spell
isn’t in a slot. It’s still up there, though.”

Mid shook her head. “Add it to a slot and
you’ll see the difference.”

Scott did as prompted and the spell
information changed. The basic blurb was the same, but there was a
short section regarding the various bits of information that he
need to know in order to cast it properly. There was even a little
video of his creation of the spell for the first time.

“That’s definitely an improvement.” he
said.

“Yes, it is. Non-sorcerers merely need to
write down information about the projected image and their
incantation. You need to remember each body movement and the way
that the power flows. You have a lot more versatility, but it is
more difficult.”

Scott nodded. The lack of popularity for
sorcerers was starting to make more sense. It was a class that
required perfection of mind and body alongside great personal
effort in order to advance. Most people just wanted to get on with
things and go on an adventure, probably.

“Thanks for putting up with all of my
questions.” Scott smiled at Mid then yawned a little.

“Dear childe, it’s what I do. I answer these
questions frequently.”

“You don’t ever get tired of it?” he
asked.

She smiled beatifically at him. “Not if the
one asking the questions is reasonable. Unfortunately, I do
occasionally have to deal with unreasonable people.”

He could understand why that would happen.
Not everyone would be willing to treat her respectfully. Her
position was basically that of a tutorial sage. They were often
considered annoying because they wanted to force-feed a lot of
backstory. Players might not care for it, and even treat her like
some sort answer machine without any concern for her feelings.