33. A New Spell
Scholar Arc
Day 13
“I think it’s time for you to learn a new spell.” Blazing Inferno announced.
Atlas’s eyes went wide. Ever since he got control over his levitation spell, his curriculum consisted of nothing but magical theories. Sure he powered through them since they were important. But being important didn’t make them any less boring.
“Really?” Atlas asked excited. “Which one?”
“I thought I’d leave the decision up to you.” Blazing Inferno answered with a chuckle. “I have prepared a small list of possible spells, just pick one that interests you.”
As he said that, a small scroll levitated over to Atlas. It came to a stop amidst the numerous notes Atlas had taken until now, before immediately being picked up by Atlas.
He unfurled the rolled up parchment with his magic before he began to scan it’s contents. The first thing he noticed was that they were split into two groups. Two spells from the school of life, and three spells from the school of combat.
Atlas had assumed he’d be learning another neutral spell like levitation, so he was surprised to see his options. He shot a questioning glance towards his teacher.
“You’ll have to learn how to access the different kinds of mana within you sooner or later, might as well begin now.”
Atlas nodded in understanding before he focused back on the scroll in front of him. From the school of life his options were either sense life or stamina boost. From the school of combat spells listed were shockwave, magic bolt, and imbue weapon.
All of these spells, although low level, would come in handy. Atlas had a hard time deciding, but for some reason he seemed to be drawn towards the stamina boost spell. He couldn’t quite explain his interest in the spell, but decided on it anyway.
“I’d like to learn stamina boost then.” Atlas said, as he put the scroll down.
“Ahh, an interesting choice indeed.” Inferno said. “A spell with many uses to be sure. Although most students just abuse it to pull all-nighters or improve performance in…other things.”
Atlas could imagine what the spell was used for by the tone Inferno used. He had to chuckle.
“Well being able to study longer seems like a good thing to me.” He said jokingly.
“Well yes, but know that the spell isn’t without its repercussions. You’ll be able to last alot longer at whatever you do, but the crash after is twice as hard.” Inferno said with a smirk. “That’s why a lot of ponies rely on the higher tier spell ‘recover’. Although only ponies with an affinity to life magic bother learning it.”
“I’ll set that as my goal then.” Atlas said.
“An okay goal for now, but it’ll take you at least a year of heavy studying before you reach mid tier spells of any school.” Inferno reminded. “So just try to focus on things one step at a time.”
“I understand.” Atlas said.
“And don’t forget it. Many a student has had an accident because he was overzealous.” Inferno nodded. “Well then, moving on to the actual spell.”
Atlas sat up straight on his chair and moved his notes to the side, giving his full attention to Blazing Inferno.
“Ever since you started casting almost two weeks ago, you have been defaulting to life mana. As such you won’t have to learn how to switch between mana just yet.” Inferno started his lecture. “What you’ll have to learn though is a new method of channeling.”
“Levitation is relatively simple, since you just have to literally imagine how your desired object should move, but just thinking ‘I want more stamina’ isn’t going to cut it anymore. In fact, you’re not going to channel mana through your horn at all.”
“I’m not going to channel magic through my horn? But how will I cast the spell then?” Atlas asked confused.
“While stamina boost is technically listed as a spell, it’s actually more of a technique.” Inferno explained as he was drawing a pony on the blackboard. “Although there is a spell version of it, that let’s you cast it on somepony else. The actual spell is more difficult in this case, so you’ll have to learn the technique first.”
“So is it like some sort of meditation then?” Atlas asked.
“Close, but not quite.” Inferno was now drawing several lines along the body of the pony, as well as marking several organs with a circle. “You don’t have to sit around and concentrate for it to work.”
Inferno turned around after finishing his drawing, facing Atlas.
“Do you know why I just drew all of that?” He asked.
Atlas thought about all the information that was given to him. Apparently it was sort of like meditation, but not quite. He wouldn’t channel through his horn, instead through something else and Inferno had just drawn a detailed biological drawing of a pony.
He tried to remember everything he knew about the internal workings of living organisms, when he remembered one of his favourite animes. One of the characters used a technique where he forcefully heightened the rate at which his heart pumped blood through his body, giving him a speedboost.
“Do I have to control the flow of magic within me in a specific way?” Atlas asked, wincing a bit when he was reminded that he would never see the conclusion of said anime.
“That is correct.” Inferno said surprised. “The body has to work so that we can function. The more work you demand from your body, the faster it will be exhausted. So you move your mana in very specific ways in order to take some of the workload off your body. Thus it will be able to last longer.”
“That sounds logical, but how am I supposed to move my magic around within me?” Atlas asked, not quite able to grasp the concept.
“Good question, with a simple answer.” Inferno answered. “You probably haven’t realized, but you’re already moving you mana around inside you by channeling it to your horn. Moving mana towards a unicorn's horn comes natural, it’s in our instinct. So now you’ll have to feel it out, and learn how to move mana towards different parts of your body.”
“Could… could it be that I actually picked a really hard spell on accident?” Atlas gulped.
“The most difficult one on the list even!” Inferno laughed at Atlas's expense.
“Which brings me to the actual channeling method.” Inferno continued. “The channeling method associated with this technique is called ‘control’. There are a lot of useful spells that rely on this method, so learning it now will definitely benefit you in the long run.”
Atlas sighed. Of course he’d pick the hardest spell right off the bat.
“Well no use worrying about it!” Atlas pumped himself up. “What do I have to do?”
“That’s the spirit!” Inferno said with joy. “Let’s start immediately!”
-----------------------------------
Atlas flopped down on his bed exhausted. He let out some inhuman sound, prompting Amethyst who sat at his desk to react.
“Hard day?” Amethyst asked, not looking up from the scroll he was currently studying.
Atlas responded by letting a drawn out sigh.
“So what did you do to get this tuckered out? New spell?”
Atlas grunted his affirmation.
“Which one?” Amethyst asked patiently.
“Stamina boost.” Atlas mumbled into his pillow.
“Ohh, control channeling.” Amethyst said with a chuckle. “Annoying to learn. I’m surprised Inferno is teaching you this so soon.”
“He gave me a list of spells to pick from and I chose it myself.” Atlas said with deep regret in his voice.
After he had been so pumped to learn a new spell, reality quickly caught up with him. No matter what he tried, he just couldn’t move his mana anywhere else than his horn. Blazing Inferno had been patient with him all day, he had reassured Atlas that it was perfectly normal, and that it would take quite some time before he got the hang of it.
Still, Atlas wasn’t satisfied with himself. He really wanted to produce some sort of results today. Even if it was just a slight improvement, he wanted to progress. As it stood right now, he felt like he did nothing all day, but was still exhausted.
“You reap what you sow I guess.” Amethyst said.
“Fuck you Amethyst.” Atlas grumbled.
“Yeah, yeah. Tell me if you need help you big foal.” Amethyst said passively. “I’ll be around.”
A moment of silence followed Amethyst’s statement. Atlas was content just lying on his bed, and Amethyst was scribbling something down on a scroll.
“Thanks.” Atlas mumbled before falling asleep.
“Sure thing.” Amethyst replied.
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Gr8 chpter m8
The chapter is good. Also I am looking forward o where you are going with this.
Your social link has evolved!
Have some not German but it is a song about said faction in a game.
Good good good. More ways of controlling innate power is/are never a bad thing.
Chapter needs more Belle though, girl be cute; I can wait.
Can't wait for more. Keep up the good work, Orthoros.
7500720 thx m8
7500725 not really going anywhere with this chapter, just some worldbuilding. It's also a bufferchapter before the... let's say 'main event' *wink wink*
7501470 Belle confirmed for next chapter
7502381 ah. I gotcha.
lets
Why was it that Vibrant could read his notes in the earlier chapters about trying Magic by "hitting his horn" but now no one else can? It seems like there is A bit of an inconsistency there, unless I read wrong/ there is a reason explained later on haha
8946779
confirmed inconsistency, explained away with: he drew pictures.
I'm just too lazy to go back and change things :D
Lol sounds like dnd