Stroking the plumage on his head, Mister Kushlek’zar muttered “Create Water,” producing a blue magic circle in his other hand. slowly poured water onto the ground. “Custom spells. I’ve asked Miss Tasianna about what she thought of you. Is it true that not only was she your first magic tutor but that you’ve also learned the basic four phases of magic casting from her?”
Forming a wry smile, I nodded in response.
“… I’ve promised not to ask about your circumstance, but my curiosity grows ever more the more I learn how ignorant I am. As God Istari has instructed us, we mages must always wish to seek knowledge,” Mister Kushlek’zar said with a short sigh, almost in a preachy way in the end.
If I remembered Tasianna’s theology lessons correctly, then this god should be a member of Aurena’s pantheon. He was known as the God of Knowledge and Magic.
Despite only being a subordinate god, Istari was considered an incredibly important figure among mages, embodying all the values that one should uphold as a practitioner of the arcane.
Mister Kushlek’zar might be a priest in the service of Plesia and Xohulotel, but it seemed he valued Istari as much as Tasianna mentioned. to the point he was using him in his sentences.
“I really wish to question how you grew up to be such a fine young lady with such extraordinary amounts of talent in the arcane arts while knowing barely anything about the world. I had about the same evaluation of your friend Saori, although I found her maturity quite fascinating. You two mystify me,” he remarked, still stroking his plumage.
Unable to break my wry smile, I could only nervously swallow my spit as I stayed silent before the saurian’s inquisitive glare.
Once he noticed he was making me feel uncomfortable he quickly apologized, “Well, that was terribly rude of me, apologies, Hestia. Do not worry, I’ll keep my word to not push you into elucidating it. I very much sympathize with you concerning your ignorance of the world.”
“You do?” blinking my eyes in surprise, I reflexively asked him about it.
Nodding in confirmation, he continued, “I’ve overheard Krim speaking with you, so you should know about the saurian's history, yes?"
I nodded.
“Good, then this should make it easier for me to explain. You see, the ships from the Caedhulen expedition did not have enough space to transport all of us to Altrust. Every half decade, ships meant for our migration would come, but even now, many of my fellow scale-kins are still in the vast jungle of Aelozonia,” he explained. “I was among the few who had to wait a few decades to come over here, but once I did, I had to say it was worth the wait. There is more to this world than trees, swamps, and far-too-eager monsters.”
Hehe, I can relate to that.
He then took out his ID again and even revealed the party bracelet under the sleeve of his robe, "I was amazed by the technology. How could mortals create tools which complement the Divine System? Simply astounding. Compared to saurian society, we were embarrassingly behind."
He then packed everything back into his robe and stroked his chin, looking like he was reminiscing. "I've learned here how traveling from Altrust to Aelozonia took time and money, and this money doesn’t come from thin air. Many of us saurians have joined the Depth Guards or Tide Watchers for this very reason. When I served the Depth Goddess as one of her priests, I felt honored, however, I wanted to learn more about this world while earning the funds to help my fellow saurians.”
“So when you mentioned that you sympathized with me…” I muttered as I glanced at his party bracelet which bore the symbol of Plesia.
“I meant that I also once felt overwhelmed by everything. As if I was transported into a whole new world, with how different this continent was to mine,” he admitted, tugging a few of my heartstrings as I clenched my hands into a fist. “If you wish to blend among society, then remember the information I share with you, young scale. That also includes the magic lesson that I will give you in a moment. Teaching is an elder’s duty, after all, ha ha ha! “
Listening to how much he had revealed about himself, I followed along with his laughter with a giggle, feeling a bit of a kinship with him.
Although my circumstances were a bit more complicated, I understood what he meant by it. Whether it was the System or the magic or how beautiful my first flying experience was, I could vividly remember all the “WOW!” moments I had in this world that just blew my mind away.
“Yeah, I guess I was acting a bit childish today when you showed me your ID. That emblem change was a real surprise,” I admitted with a grin, scratching my cheek in embarrassment.
"Oh, really? Well, speaking of surprises, did you know that saurians aren't considered beastmen?" he casually dropped.
“Hmm?” I uttered.
Where did that come from?
“Beastmen are children between humans and monsters. We saurians do not share that link. We are spawn of the jungles of Aelozonia,” Mister Kushlek’zar mentioned. “Also, I was also pretty intrigued by how varied the males and females are among the races of Altrust. Saurian males and females all look the same, among our three races.”
“… U-uh, yeah? Okay?”
“And then there was that-” he was about to continue but I quickly interrupted him.
“W-wait, please, wait. I am very thankful you’re helping me patch up my lack of general information, but sometimes too much is too much? We can continue this at another time, so could we stay focused on magic, please?” I demanded in a rush, trying to keep myself from sounding too rude. Trivial Pursuit was nice and all … but magic! More magic lessons!
“Hmm, a bit impatient, aren’t you, lass? Ahhh, youth. However, I must reiterate that mages should always seek more knowledge, for with information, you can act on them. Whether on the battlefield or at home as you create more spells, don’t underestimate the sin of ignorance, young scale.” Seemingly quite disappointed at my abrupt stop to his trivial session, Mister Kushlek’zar gave an elaborate sigh before looking at me with stern eyes. “Still, very well, I shall do as you wish! First, I require you to show me your full status board. No [Identity Blocker]. I cannot determine your current strength without all the information.”
He had a point. Without showing my draconic skills and [Toxin Secretion], he wouldn’t be able to fully know what I could do. Still, I shouldn’t show my titles, [The Light]'s spells, nor the SP System to him, right now. As pleasant as he was, trusting a stranger right away might not be the best, even if it felt deceptive.
After tweaking my status board, I nodded to his request, allowing him to use [Identify] on me again. Needing a moment to process all the information, I waited for him to finish his thinking.
"Hmm, alright. Besides your draconic skills and abilities, you didn’t hide many skills at all. Although, that [Toxin Secretion] sounds pretty dangerous. Do mind your sweating," he said with a grim expression before shrugging. "Anyway, it seems you really do not know the advanced magic techniques. How fascinating. So the reason why you could cast so many spells this morning was due to [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 9]. Hmm.”
Stroking his raptor-looking head’s jaw, the elder scale took another moment to think before he corrected his posture and stared at me with sharp eyes. “The four processes of magic casting, recite now!”
“Huh?! Wha-?! Uhm," staggered by his sudden demand, it took me a second to wake up my brain.
"Invocation, Incantation, Activation, and Release!" I responded, reluctantly remembering why I always hated teachers flash questioning you for random reasons.
“Good. Invocation to command which spell you wish to use and how it should be molded, Incantation to prepare the spell’s chant, Activation to fuel the magic circle of your spell, and, finally, Release to cast your spell. This is the foundation of magic casting. Proper mages can repeat it the second I ask for it,” he scolded me.
Urgh, give me a break, I haven’t been to school for seven months now.
“The reason why I am emphasizing this so much is if you wish to become a better magic practitioner, you need to learn how important they are to your continued growth. Magic is as fluid as water, ever-changing and always adapting, like mana itself. There is more to magic than simply slinging a System spell at your opponent. Spells come in so many forms.”
He emphasized the last bit before conjuring [Create Water]’s magic circle again and just holding it in the air, not casting it all before materializing two more. One kept pouring water like a water tap, while the other was dropping balls of water, instead of a stream. All three were [Create Water], undoubtedly, but they were all functioning differently.
“Each magic casting process has a different advanced skill associated with it. That is why I am telling you to master the basics. Invocation for [Fluid Cast], Incantation for [Multi-Cast], Activation for [Delayed Cast], and Release for [Continuous Cast]. I have those skills in my status board, so look the descriptions up.”
Identify, I diligently listened to my magic tutor.
Stroking the plumage on his head, Mister Kushlek’zar muttered “Create Water,” producing a blue magic circle in his other hand. slowly poured water onto the ground. “Custom spells. I’ve asked Miss Tasianna about what she thought of you. Is it true that not only was she your first magic tutor but that you’ve also learned the basic four phases of magic casting from her?”
Forming a wry smile, I nodded in response.
“… I’ve promised not to ask about your circumstance, but my curiosity grows ever more the more I learn how ignorant I am. As God Istari has instructed us, we mages must always wish to seek knowledge,” Mister Kushlek’zar said with a short sigh, almost in a preachy way in the end.
If I remembered Tasianna’s theology lessons correctly, then this god should be a member of Aurena’s pantheon. He was known as the God of Knowledge and Magic.
Despite only being a subordinate god, Istari was considered an incredibly important figure among mages, embodying all the values that one should uphold as a practitioner of the arcane.
Mister Kushlek’zar might be a priest in the service of Plesia and Xohulotel, but it seemed he valued Istari as much as Tasianna mentioned. to the point he was using him in his sentences.
“I really wish to question how you grew up to be such a fine young lady with such extraordinary amounts of talent in the arcane arts while knowing barely anything about the world. I had about the same evaluation of your friend Saori, although I found her maturity quite fascinating. You two mystify me,” he remarked, still stroking his plumage.
Unable to break my wry smile, I could only nervously swallow my spit as I stayed silent before the saurian’s inquisitive glare.
Once he noticed he was making me feel uncomfortable he quickly apologized, “Well, that was terribly rude of me, apologies, Hestia. Do not worry, I’ll keep my word to not push you into elucidating it. I very much sympathize with you concerning your ignorance of the world.”
“You do?” blinking my eyes in surprise, I reflexively asked him about it.
Nodding in confirmation, he continued, “I’ve overheard Krim speaking with you, so you should know about the saurian's history, yes?"
I nodded.
“Good, then this should make it easier for me to explain. You see, the ships from the Caedhulen expedition did not have enough space to transport all of us to Altrust. Every half decade, ships meant for our migration would come, but even now, many of my fellow scale-kins are still in the vast jungle of Aelozonia,” he explained. “I was among the few who had to wait a few decades to come over here, but once I did, I had to say it was worth the wait. There is more to this world than trees, swamps, and far-too-eager monsters.”
Hehe, I can relate to that.
He then took out his ID again and even revealed the party bracelet under the sleeve of his robe, "I was amazed by the technology. How could mortals create tools which complement the Divine System? Simply astounding. Compared to saurian society, we were embarrassingly behind."
He then packed everything back into his robe and stroked his chin, looking like he was reminiscing. "I've learned here how traveling from Altrust to Aelozonia took time and money, and this money doesn’t come from thin air. Many of us saurians have joined the Depth Guards or Tide Watchers for this very reason. When I served the Depth Goddess as one of her priests, I felt honored, however, I wanted to learn more about this world while earning the funds to help my fellow saurians.”
“So when you mentioned that you sympathized with me…” I muttered as I glanced at his party bracelet which bore the symbol of Plesia.
“I meant that I also once felt overwhelmed by everything. As if I was transported into a whole new world, with how different this continent was to mine,” he admitted, tugging a few of my heartstrings as I clenched my hands into a fist. “If you wish to blend among society, then remember the information I share with you, young scale. That also includes the magic lesson that I will give you in a moment. Teaching is an elder’s duty, after all, ha ha ha! “
Listening to how much he had revealed about himself, I followed along with his laughter with a giggle, feeling a bit of a kinship with him.
Although my circumstances were a bit more complicated, I understood what he meant by it. Whether it was the System or the magic or how beautiful my first flying experience was, I could vividly remember all the “WOW!” moments I had in this world that just blew my mind away.
“Yeah, I guess I was acting a bit childish today when you showed me your ID. That emblem change was a real surprise,” I admitted with a grin, scratching my cheek in embarrassment.
"Oh, really? Well, speaking of surprises, did you know that saurians aren't considered beastmen?" he casually dropped.
“Hmm?” I uttered.
Where did that come from?
“Beastmen are children between humans and monsters. We saurians do not share that link. We are spawn of the jungles of Aelozonia,” Mister Kushlek’zar mentioned. “Also, I was also pretty intrigued by how varied the males and females are among the races of Altrust. Saurian males and females all look the same, among our three races.”
“… U-uh, yeah? Okay?”
“And then there was that-” he was about to continue but I quickly interrupted him.
“W-wait, please, wait. I am very thankful you’re helping me patch up my lack of general information, but sometimes too much is too much? We can continue this at another time, so could we stay focused on magic, please?” I demanded in a rush, trying to keep myself from sounding too rude. Trivial Pursuit was nice and all … but magic! More magic lessons!
“Hmm, a bit impatient, aren’t you, lass? Ahhh, youth. However, I must reiterate that mages should always seek more knowledge, for with information, you can act on them. Whether on the battlefield or at home as you create more spells, don’t underestimate the sin of ignorance, young scale.” Seemingly quite disappointed at my abrupt stop to his trivial session, Mister Kushlek’zar gave an elaborate sigh before looking at me with stern eyes. “Still, very well, I shall do as you wish! First, I require you to show me your full status board. No [Identity Blocker]. I cannot determine your current strength without all the information.”
He had a point. Without showing my draconic skills and [Toxin Secretion], he wouldn’t be able to fully know what I could do. Still, I shouldn’t show my titles, [The Light]'s spells, nor the SP System to him, right now. As pleasant as he was, trusting a stranger right away might not be the best, even if it felt deceptive.
After tweaking my status board, I nodded to his request, allowing him to use [Identify] on me again. Needing a moment to process all the information, I waited for him to finish his thinking.
"Hmm, alright. Besides your draconic skills and abilities, you didn’t hide many skills at all. Although, that [Toxin Secretion] sounds pretty dangerous. Do mind your sweating," he said with a grim expression before shrugging. "Anyway, it seems you really do not know the advanced magic techniques. How fascinating. So the reason why you could cast so many spells this morning was due to [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 9]. Hmm.”
Stroking his raptor-looking head’s jaw, the elder scale took another moment to think before he corrected his posture and stared at me with sharp eyes. “The four processes of magic casting, recite now!”
“Huh?! Wha-?! Uhm," staggered by his sudden demand, it took me a second to wake up my brain.
"Invocation, Incantation, Activation, and Release!" I responded, reluctantly remembering why I always hated teachers flash questioning you for random reasons.
“Good. Invocation to command which spell you wish to use and how it should be molded, Incantation to prepare the spell’s chant, Activation to fuel the magic circle of your spell, and, finally, Release to cast your spell. This is the foundation of magic casting. Proper mages can repeat it the second I ask for it,” he scolded me.
Urgh, give me a break, I haven’t been to school for seven months now.
“The reason why I am emphasizing this so much is if you wish to become a better magic practitioner, you need to learn how important they are to your continued growth. Magic is as fluid as water, ever-changing and always adapting, like mana itself. There is more to magic than simply slinging a System spell at your opponent. Spells come in so many forms.”
He emphasized the last bit before conjuring [Create Water]’s magic circle again and just holding it in the air, not casting it all before materializing two more. One kept pouring water like a water tap, while the other was dropping balls of water, instead of a stream. All three were [Create Water], undoubtedly, but they were all functioning differently.
“Each magic casting process has a different advanced skill associated with it. That is why I am telling you to master the basics. Invocation for [Fluid Cast], Incantation for [Multi-Cast], Activation for [Delayed Cast], and Release for [Continuous Cast]. I have those skills in my status board, so look the descriptions up.”
Identify, I diligently listened to my magic tutor.
