NOVEL FROG Chapter 16 - Victorious Grin
“I refuse to allow you to feel any amount of responsibility for my actions.” Celeste spat, nursing a cup of fragrant tea, and holding a tiny star of ice mana against her temple.
The four students sat around the cafeteria table, embodying various states of ‘worse-for-wear’
Sapphire was head-down on the table, clinging to a frothy beverage of green herbal goo, and Chandrika was scarfing down a bowl of oatmeal.
Gio, while not hungover, wore a face of discomfort as he addressed the elven girl.
“You’re very kind, Celeste… but you didn’t have to defend me like that. I’m aware of what certain people think of the working class.” Gio replied.
“Well, then consider it me taking a stand against prissy nobles. I refuse to let some uppity new-money jerk say whatever he wants after a few cocktails. I’d slap him again. The Inquisitor let me off with essentially a slap on the wrist for conjuring an offensive construct in a no-sparring zone. I just have to clean the Grand Hall for a few weeks, no big deal.” the girl said.
Chandrika finished her oatmeal and was looking better already. “Jean should be ashamed, keeping company like that. Roddy Wisterleist is a first-class nob. Jean’s endless desire to be loved by everybody is pathetic. And did you hear him? The guy doesn’t even seem to like Jean all that much. They deserve each other,” she chimed.
“Charity case” resounded in Gio’s head endlessly, depriving him of the ability to even attempt to defend Jean. Gio was supposed to meet with Jean later to spar, but he wasn’t sure if he could face the taller boy today.
“I think I might bury myself in some books today,” Gio stated, receiving knowing nods from the others, spare Sapphire, who may or may not have been asleep.
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Hours later, Gio looked up from his notes, having covered a large table in the Owl’s Respite.
I think I am ready to try crafting my next spellform.
Having received permission from the Librarian, Gio laid out his materials. He still had a plentiful amount of ink from his test batch and had even invested the time to gather some [Garuda’s Fern]. The plant was a weed, but even weeds have their uses. The small plot he had planted a few days prior had now required extensive pruning every day, so Gio had more than enough material to burn.
Having calcinated some of the lamina (the leafy bits) of the bunch he had, Gio was left with a glittery powder, dense with a few types of mana. Gio processed the dust further, maximizing the purity aspect to the detriment of air and wind. He was left with a gleaming product that emitted a small amount of white light, and would happily waft through the air if given any chance to do so.
[Scrivener’s Charm] danced out a clean sigil in swooping, bold lines, as Gio triple-checked each of the references he had in front of him. Chanting, he imbued the ink with mana at practiced points, feeling the lines absorb the varying types of mana in sequence, forming a bridge to something beyond space and time.
Gio had a special stencil he had prepared before and had placed it over the sigil. Happy to see that everything lined up perfectly, he re-wet some areas with a bit of ink and dusted them with the shimmering white powder.
As the powder set, Gio imbued the spellform as a whole with more mana, in well-researched pulses.
Once the spellform had set, he waited for a breath and channeled mana through it.
“[Cleanse]” he intoned. Feeling the construct flare to life with a sheen of milky-white magic, the spellform responded. Dust that Gio was unaware of began to shake loose from the table, swooping itself into a tiny pyramid. Grease from his pores evaporated, and he felt almost as if he had just taken a shower. A stray marking on the table that Gio hadn’t noticed lifted itself off, in a tiny line of white sparks.
“Oh, I love you already. We’re gonna be best friends.” Gio stated lovingly to his new spell.
Examining the tiny pile of dust, Gio raised an eyebrow.
Now why are you the only thing that the spell didn’t destroy?
Gio cast [Detect Magic], feeling his perception shift slightly and feeling the aspects of the space come to life. Combined with his [Mana Sense] skill, Gio felt that he was combing through a multitude of different aspects in a small zone around him. He focused on the small pyramid, looking deeper.
The pile appeared to shimmer under his refined gaze, eliciting a small gasp from Gio.
Refined knowledge mana! It’s… very, very weak. [Cleanse] must have recognized the dust as a reagent!
Sweeping the tiny dust pile into a little rubberized satchel, Gio spoke to the air.
“Excuse me, Librarian? I feel silly even asking this… but would you mind if I… dusted the library?”
After a short trip around the neighboring shelves, Gio had a pouch full of library dust. There were a couple of centipede corpses that were, unfortunately, also identified as reagents, carrying a small amount of disease and insect mana, which Gio was very displeased with. Gio, not having an incredible amount of resources to work with, decided to take the pragmatic approach and store the desiccated bugs in an oversized beaker so that he didn’t have to touch them.
Insect and disease mana can both be reduced down to nature mana… I think. I will convince myself that this is a good thing for when I make the plant magic spells, I hope. Please, spirits, I hope.
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Hours later, Gio stood in front of a now-familiar mirror.
“[Cleanse]” Gio chirped, feeling the grime of a long practice session against his mirror image melt away into the ether.
I’m glad apprentice mage detritus isn’t considered a reagent. I’d have to figure out how to change the spell. Cleanse, you are my beloved.
Letting the magic sweep over him, Gio allowed his magic to expand outwards, toward the tarnished mirror. He watched as spots of decay shimmered away.
He watched as his reflection did the same, but noted a peculiar disparity.
The hand of his reflection was not holding the magic in the same way that Gio was.
Gio was holding his palm facing outwards as if propelling the white light of the cleansing spell forward- similarly to what one would do with a sustained damage spell like a flamethrower.
Gio’s reflection was holding the light aloft, the way one might hold a light-producing spell like [Lantern].
Gio shifted the positioning of his hand and instantly felt the difference. [Cleanse] was not a flamethrower. The soft light intensified, bubbling forth over the room everywhere it touched. The effort that Gio was expending on the spell previously to try and direct the spell was instead restricting the amount of surface area being affected.
You… taught me how to use my spell better? But… our game is over, so what… oh, you devil. You’re winning at cleaning right now.
Gio did see a smirk on his reflection’s face. He wasn’t certain if the smirk started with him or the reflection, but he returned it anyway.
Gio had a particularly intrusive thought. He thought back to the rare synergy that Nyara had talked about months ago at the Frill and Wattle. Gio had tried on several occasions outside of the mirrored chamber, to no great result. Every time, the mirrored plane would shatter, causing a bit of uncomfortable feedback where Gio winced as his spell construct fell apart.
“Okay, then. If you’re in a teaching mood today, let’s see what you’ve got for me.” Gio proclaimed, watching his double mouth the words along with him.
Gio focused on three entries in the spellbook at his side, straining against his [Multitask].
Firstly, the dull grey outline of [Hairline Fracture] lined his non-dominant hand. Gio watched as his double’s hand did the same.
Secondly, Gio summoned a ball of light with [Prismatic Shape], lobbing it easily at the mirror.
Thirdly, he readied [Reflect], waiting for the ball to be returned to him.
His double returned the ball, not using [Hairline Fracture] at all.
Alright, Let’s try this.
Gio waited for the ball to reach him, and then tried casting both [Hairline Fracture] and [Reflect] at the same time.
The spells fell apart in spectacular form. Gio hit the floor, earning a small scrape as fragments of illusory mirror cascaded over him. The resultant feedback rang up his arm like a brass bell, stinging his reservoir. The failed spellcast left Gio out of breath and sore.
Somehow, Gio’s improving sense of timing did manage to return the ball, albeit at a bad angle. Gio watched from the floor as his double ran across the room, meeting the ball that had veered from its course. Pivoting his body, Mirror Gio put his hand forth, centering his aim at Gio.
The mirrored surface shimmered as the familiar feedback of the reflecting spell took place, but a grey flash issued out as Gio watched the image of the ball in the double’s [Reflect] shatter, the shards of the plane each glowing with a bright light. The resultant burst caused sunspots in Gio’s eyesight.
A scattershot of at least ten balls issued forth from the reflection, peppering a prone Gio with bruises.