Spell 05 : The Incatations

'I see you have managed to obtain the Codex. That is admirable, to say the least.'

The moment I pushed open the gigantic doors, I could hear his voice already. And, sure enough, Ghanda was waiting in the center of the chamber, with his hands at his back.

'Yes, master. And might I add, I nearly almost died. Would it not be a stroke of luck, I probably would not be able to stand here now.' I said with a voice full of resentment.

'Apprentice, as you should have realised by now, you chose a path not sought by others the moment you stepped into this chamber. Were it as easy as what most other juvenile mages are doing to learn simple magics, I would have taken in more students. You have shown apt, and a strong determination to succeed. You have to realise, your path is much more dangerous than your other peers. You subdue dangers they can only hope to conquer. That is because you are different. And I, I have shown you different.' Ghanda finished.

I bit back a retort. I knew Ghanda was right. Though the trials he set for me are always dangerous and that the difficulty level always precedes the previous, Ghanda has always equipped me with the skills I needed to overcome those trials. And while I have always been focusing on clearing quests, I have neglected the fact that I was, in fact, progressing much faster than other mage character classes. It was all thanks to Ghanda.

'Now, I sent you to retrieve the Codex because it is rightfully yours to keep. It is to you, as a mage, like what water is to fish. Without a Codex, a mage of a higher order is unable to manage his spell library properly. As you become stronger, you will learn many new spells. It will not do for you to forget the spells you learnt. Also, since the Codex will never run out of pages, you are able to learn an unlimited number of spells. While other mages are hindered by their amount of Wisdom and Intelligence, you will always learn a spell whenever a situation arises to allow you to do so. I now bestow upon you, your very own Codex.'

*DING*

[p=center]Quest Completed!

You have braved the dangerous guardians of the Enchantium's basement, and escaped barely with the Codex in your hand! You are, without a doubt, Ghanda's apprentice!

Rewards : Your own Codex, +5 Intelligence, +5 Wisdom, +50 Fame[/p]

'I have been holding back myself from teaching you the two other laws of magic because I did not think you were ready then. However, you have come today with your very own Codex. You have proven to me that you are ready to learn the two laws and that I must not delay your training any further. Now listen up! This next law is crucial if you want to survive in this continent!' Ghanda said, with a fierce look in his eye.

I leaned in and listened earnestly. This must be pretty good.

'How does one prevent a mage, or any other magic user, from casting spells? Simple. There are two ways. One is, you eliminate the magic user's mana. You prevent the magic user from drawing from his mana pool, and therein prevent him from casting spells. The other way is to silence the magic user. When one is unable to chant the incantations of his spells, it is believed one is unable to cast the spell.'

'However, such a belief is wrong. You must never forget how one uses magic. It is by the magician's WILL, and not his WORDS, that magic is cast. Shouting the incantations of a spell only serves to ease the load of a magician's mind by giving the magician's mind a break by giving another bodily function to express the will to cast the spell. As a result, many magicians have thus grown completely reliant on their sense of speech to aid them in casting spells, and when silenced, are unable to concentrate using their minds to cast the same spell without muttering incantations. I have unlocked the ability in you to cast spells while being unable to speak. Try it, and see.'

I tried to ask Ghanda something, but to my surprise, I could not talk! My lips were forming the words I wanted to say, but there was only silence!

So I all have to do is to formulate the incatation in my head, and will the spell to be formed? Sounds pretty simple to me.

And so I tried. Well, for half an hour I tried until I finally managed to form an Ice Bolt in my palms without saying anything. I also gained 5 Concentration stats after I managed to form the spell. Excited by what I just did, I tried casting my other spells in succession. I also gained 5 Concentration stats for each new spell I managed to form. It was slightly easier to cast the subsequent spell as my Concentration stats had improved. From then on, I realised Concentration helps to improve silent spell-casting.

Feeling satisfied with myself, I logged out. Ghanda promised to unveil the last law when he came back, so I pretty much had nothing to do in the game now.

I sat on the sofa in my room, and checked my phone for any messages. Other than the random spam mails I've received, there wasn't really anything else that was worth reading. Then, I saw a mail that caught my eye. The sender was my school's e-mail notification center.

[p=center]Good day to you, fellow traveller![/p]

[p=center]The school invites you to join its 25th anniversary! But hold on, not just any anniversary, but an anniversary to be held in the Versailles Continent itself! On the 29th of this month, if you wish to attend the school's anniversary, visit the Gloucest Castle located just East of the Citadel of Serabourg. That is where the school's own guild, the Nanpolo Guild, will host the event at! Be sure to be there![/p]

The school's anniversary was a rather major event in my school. Because the school's spirit was so strong, the school's events were always very popular. Students and staff alike are very fond of the school, and for an event such as the school's anniversary, no effort would be spared.

Something like this, every student will be there for sure! Vanessa will probably be there too...

The event is going to be at the end of the month, three days after which my one month confinement would be up. I have to find some way to get to the Citadel of Seabourg by then!

It was night time already, so I went to sleep. The next day, I immediately logged into RoyalRoad after I brushed my teeth.

Ghanda was there in the Enchantium already, mixing what seemed to be flasks of potions. The moment he saw me, he smiled.

'Apprentice! Today, I shall reveal to you the last law of magic. Once you have come to understand this law, you will have become a mage of your own calling. With your Codex, and your understanding of the three laws of magic, you will walk your own path of the magi and discover the many hidden secrets of magic. I look forward to the day I shall greet you as a fellow archmage as well.' He said heartily.

I nodded and emotions swelled up within me. This was it! I was about to graduate from becoming an apprentice to an accomplished mage! All these hardships I have endured from reading countless tomes to escaping swarms of monsters will finally come to fruition!

'Right. Let's begin, shall we? The last law of magic that I am about to teach you is a hidden secret only to High Elves. No other races that I have seen have come to understand the basic principles of this magic. This law is what we call as the Invocation Law. It speaks of elemental magic being combined to give a more complex form, one more powerful and possessing the principles of the elements being combined. However, to achieve this, you must be able to satisfy two conditions. One is, you have to simultaneously cast two spells in order to Invoke them. Secondly, you must reach a level of concentration sufficient enough to Invoke two completely different spells. There are other limitations that I have found as well, but I shall let you know later. It is not easy, but given your ability now, I believe you can invoke the two simplest of elemental magic, the Fire Strike and Ice Bolt. I want you to try Invoking Fire Strike and Ice Bolt, and see the result of it.'

*DING*

[p=center]Gained new ability : Invoke

You have gained the ability to combine up to two basic elements together to form a stronger spell!

Note : Your Invoked spell's level will always be equivalent to the spell with the lower level between the spells combined. While using Invoked spells, the individual spell will also gain experience and level up.

Mana-cost : Zero[/p]

When Ghanda finished speaking, I was at a loss of words. What he was telling me to do was something that should have been impossible! The idea of casting two spells simultaneously was something unheard of, let alone the idea of combining both fire and ice together! But if I am able to do this, I shall be the first mage on this continent to be able to perform magic of such complexity!

'Cast Fire Strike!'

The fireballs were conjured at once. This was the easy step. Now I had to conjure Ice Bolt, while holding Flame Strike in my hand! I looked at Ghanda for help, but weirdly enough, he wasn't saying anything.

Looks like I'm on my own this time...

I thought to myself, I had to apply whatever I have learnt so far into this. First, I have to get at least one hand free. It would not do to put Ice Bolt and Fire Strike together without Invoking them first. I looked at the flames in my hand. Subconsciously, I did not realise I was actually using Mana Manifest to hold onto the spell. It then struck me. If I could use Mana Manifest to hold onto the spell, could it be possible I could transfer all the flames to just one hand, keeping the other free? I closed my eyes, and looked within myself. I could feel mana coursing through my body, and flowing rapidly into both my hands where they are channeled into the Fire Strike. Slowly, I tried to control the course of the mana flow, and edge it away from my right hand.

It worked! Mana was now only flowing into my left hand! I opened my eyes, and tried to detach my right palm away from the flames. The flames were still alive! Normally, if I had done the same thing without controlling the flow of mana, the spell would have just launched itself straight.

Now, the next thing was to conjure the Ice Bolt. The tricky part about this was that I have to conjure another spell in my right palm, while maintaining the mana flow to my left hand. Multi-tasking of this level would not be easy, and this was just the conjuring of two simple spells simultaneously. I firgured it would be easier if I used silent-casting for this since I do not have to use another bodily function. In my mind, just like I practised, I tried casting Ice Bolt.

Nothing happened. I tried again. There was nothing. Frustrated, I tried to examine the problem. Then, I realised that I forgot to channel the mana back into my right hand! Once again, I looked within myself and saw the mana flow coursing in my body. I willed it to flow back into my right hand, and tried to cast Ice Bolt again.

It worked! I had managed to cast two spells at the same time! Well, technically, I did not cast them at the same time, but having two elemental spells active at once was by no means an easy feat.

Now was the time.

'Invoke!'

The Fire Strike and the Ice Bolt shot towards each other and exploded! After the smoke dissipated, the result of the collision was a projectile of some sort. It was made up of blue and orange flames, and it felt cold and hot at the same time.

*DING*

[p=center]Gained new spell : Frostflame Bolt (Invoked)

Frostflame Bolt Beginner Level 6.

Shoots a ball of frost and fire at a target. The target will be stunned at a chance based on the level of Frost Bolt and will also take periodic fire damage based on the level of Fire Strike.

Mana-cost : 70[/p]

'Wonderful! You have successfully managed to achieve the Invoking of spells!' said Ghanda belatedly.

*DING*

[p=center]Class Change!

Congratulations!

Your class has been changed to Hidden Class : Invoker.[/p]

[p=center]Quest Completed!

You have graduated from apprenticeship and you are now a fully-fledged mage! You are now ready to take on your own adventures!

Rewards : +1500 XP, 1 Ghanda's Ring, + 10 Intelligence, + 15 Concentration, + 40 gold[/p]

'I have given you a ring as a mark that you were once my apprentice. Other magi who have heard of me will recognise that mark. Now, I do have something else to tell you. Once you have Invoked a spell, you do not have to keep Invoking it to use that particular spell. You can cast a combined spell straightaway if you have Invoked it before. Your Codex will contain all the spells you have learnt as well as Invoked.' Ghanda said, before vanishing again.

He had a parting message though, in the form of his usual echoes.

'I shall not show you to the door, Magi Crow. Your apprenticeship with me has met its inevitable end. Though there's still more for me to teach you, I believe you will learn them better yourself. Come back anytime and give this old man a visit. I am sorry I am unable to say this in person, but there comes a point in an old man's life where parting goodbyes are inexplicably hard.'

With that, the chamber doors behind me swung open, with a portstone on the floor just outside of the chamber. I walked forwards towards the chamber doors. Before I stepped out of the chamber, I turned my head around.

'Goodbye, Master Ghanda. I will always remember what you have taught me.'

I could have sworn I heard a sob before the doors swung shut again.