Chapter 157 5 Component Hybrid Spell
"What difference would it have made if I had told you?" Magnus didn't let it bother him. There wasn't a shred of guilt in his voice.
'Please, I can't wait to hear your lame excuse.' Ikaris snorted telepathically.
'Very simple. Not to burden you with unnecessary information." The old Vampire retorted numbly. "If I had told you all this from the beginning, with your big ego you would have refused to practice your most useful spells like your Appraisal Spell. You would have focused on creating hybrid spells that are too tricky for a beginner who didn't even know magic existed a month earlier. You have to learn to walk before you run. This saying is true in every world. Even the prodigies of the Confederation spend years practicing meditation and all sorts of visualization drills before moving on to actual practice. Their Divine Sparks are often sealed until the age of 12 or 13, precisely to give them time to develop their concentration skills. Even if the first Spark they create is a hybrid spell, they've rehearsed it tens of thousands of times in their imagination before moving on to practice. You don't have that luxury."
" ... " Ikaris still resented him.
Sensing that the teenager was in a grudging mood, Magnus, who could smell gunpowder in the air, attempted to coax him out.
"Hey, stop complaining." Arch Magus exclaimed. "The truth is, you've done very well for yourself. Almost all of your spells are either already hybrid, or have nice potential for fusion hybridization."
'Fusion hybridization?' Ikaris furrowed his brow.
"Did you think this Iannaril guy had time to tell you everything in one lesson? Don't make me laugh." Magnus sneered. "When a spell is too complicated, we break it down into simpler steps. That's what we did with your Enhancing Strength Spell by gradually increasing the percentage of strength the spell grants you. And that's while being extraordinarily gifted. You even did it yourself without anyone telling you. Your System Spell and your Appraisal Spells are two different spells, but they form a unified whole. Now that you can cast both spells effortlessly, you could include this feature in your System Spark. Also, some of your current Sparks have good hybridization potential. Take a good look at them and tell me again I was wrong if you dare."
Ikaris pursed his lips, but still listened to the ghost and acceded to his Status.
[PRIMARY SPARKS:]
[Life Spark lvl1: 20.65 points]
[Soul Spark lvl1: 101.6(+1%= Elsisn Temple's blessing) points]
[Divine Spark lvl1: 0.007 points]
[SKILLS:]
[System lvl2: 3.56>3.88 points. Passive Effect: The System can now be accessed subconsciously at the cost of immense concentration]
[Appraisal lvl2: 3.35>3.72 points. Passive Effect: It is now possible to roughly Appraise the targets of your choice]
[See-Through Vision lvl2: 1.55. Passive Effect: It is now possible to peer slightly through objects with proper focus]
[Stealth lvl2: 1.72>1.81. Passive Effect: Presence can be consciously increased or decreased to a certain extent]
[I Am Me lvl2: 2.34>3.55. Passive Effect: You are anchored, and your personality is less vulnerable to external or internal mental alterations whether magical or physiological].
[Black Veil lvl1: 0.99 points]
[Heart Puncturing: 0.71 points]
[Necromancy lvl2: 1 point. Passive Effect: You have an innate facility for learning and mastering new Death Spells. Active: When the spell is activated via Divine Spark you temporarily gain the knowledge and skill level of a Necromancer Wizard, including several Death Spells with the standard of a Secondary Spark of the same value]
[Black Magic lvl2: 1 point. Passive Effect: You have an innate ease in learning and mastering Black Magic Spells. Active: When the spell is activated via Divine Spark you temporarily gain the knowledge and skill level of a Black Sorcerer, including several Dark and Curse Spells with the standard Secondary Spark of the same value]
[Enhanced Strength (35%) lvl1: 0.25 points]
[Self-Healing lvl1: 0.02 points]
[Assimilation lvl1: 0.12 points]
|Blood Fasting lvl1: 0.03 points]
The first evidence that dawned on him was that his Divine Spark had not grown since the day before. Even after almost a month of diligent magic, it was still smaller than the ones most Sorcerers were born with.
'System and Appraisal are hybrid spells with two Arcana.' Ikaris mentally analyzed. 'Since there's a mental interface, Knowledge as the main Arcanum and Psychism as the support Arcanum, correct?'
"Exactly." Magnus confirmed.
From the late Vampire's perspective, he wasn't even on the starting line yet. So what did it matter if he wasted a few spells? They had plenty of time to get it right.
'See-Through Vision... a Body Spell?'
"Depending on the intent and logic behind the spell, it could also be a Knowledge, Creation or Psychism Spell." The Vampire corrected patiently.
"How so?
"If your eyes become able to see through objects permanently, the magic will have to transform your body or mind accordingly. "Magnus continued to answer. "I'm not a scientist, nor a biologist, but it seems difficult to change only the anatomy of your eyes to achieve this result. But if your eyes can emit some spirit power, it becomes easier to explain. If you ignore the logical aspect of the spell and just focus on the intent to see, in the sense of knowing what's inside or underneath something, then it becomes a pure Knowledge Spell functioning much like your Appraisal Spell."
'Oh, I see.' Ikaris had finally figured it out. Following this logic, most spells could indeed be hybridized or fused. It was really just a matter of perspective.
"On top of that, you already have a 5 component hybrid spell: Assimilation." Magnus revealed triumphantly. "Those who absorb a Bloodspark usually just inherit a few spells, but you're also stealing their bloodlines. On the surface, it looks like a Knowledge and Body Spell, but there is a predatory intent akin to Destruction. In order for your body to integrate and harmonize these Cursed Bloodlines and all these magical abilities, you need Creation, while your mind also undergoes alterations, which immediately engages the Arcanum of Psychism. Your I Am Me Spell is just a Psychism spell for now, but eventually you can integrate it with your Assimilation Spark to kill two birds with one stone. I wouldn't recommend it for now, since you need to practice this spell separately to strengthen your mind before the next Bloodspark assimilation."
Ikaris regained his smile at last. Seeing, the corner of the boy's lip curled up for no reason, Iannaril raised a puzzled eyebrow and checked the time again. Only two minutes left... Why was he smiling when he was one of the few who still hadn't written anything?
At that moment, the teenager suddenly grabbed his pen and scribbled two words on his blank sheet. Iannaril, who was standing in front of his desk, read what was written upside down and shook his head.
"Arcana: All."
The professor had expected this given the young man's Soul Strength, but he still found it cocky. He was glossing over the fact that he himself had made the same choice at the same age.
"Turn in your papers. Your time is up." Iannaril declared two minutes later.
With a wave of his hand, the sheets and pens vanished, reappearing in an orderly pile on his desk. Ikaris thought this magic trick was pretty cool, but seeing the flabbergasted expressions of the other Lords he realized it wasn't a magic everyone could pull off.
"You can tear up your current schedules." Iannaril said as he put away the pile of sheets that lay on the desk. "Come back to this room at the same time tomorrow and your respective new schedules will be distributed to you. You have no more classes today after me, so take this opportunity to acquaint yourselves with your classmates. You will be spending a lot of time together in the future, so try to get along. See you tomorrow."
The students got up from their seats and made their way to the door. When Caim and his gang were about to leave, the teacher exclaimed,
"Oh, I almost forgot! Today will also be your last day of idleness for a long time. So make the most of it..."
The students all cursed him in their heads. With a stiff face, Caim forced himself to smile, then left the room without looking back. The other Lords and their retinue walked out one after another, and a short while later Ikaris and his group were standing in front of the building, hands in their pockets. f𝘳𝚎𝑒𝚠𝑒𝚋𝘯o𝘃eƖ.co𝓂
"What do we do now?" Kellam asked, not expecting to finish class so soon.
Taguchi and the others shrugged, but Ikaris decisively declared, "Let's go find our Healer."
When they were about to set out on their quest, Asselin and his retinue, who were also in their class, called out to them as they came out of the building right behind them.