Supreme Magus

Chapter 4379: Shared Root (Part 1)

”It’s how Lith managed to conjure holograms long before he could produce heat rays or form constructs. Quylla followed his same path, and now it’s our turn.” Friya said.

”Yeah, but while Lith and your sister had to work on a single element they practiced daily, we have to work on six elements at the same time and weave them in ways we never did before.”

”What kind of exercise would this be otherwise?” Tezka snorted. ”Stop yapping, and start practicing!”

”Yes, Master Tezka.” The two women did as bidden, sitting on the stone floor while staring at the white crystals in their hands.

They were so close to the finishing line, yet they had no idea how to cross it.

’I wish I studied Light Mastery better.’ Friya inwardly sighed. ’Maybe, if I learned to conjure holograms and constructs on my own instead of just following Nalrond’s teachings, I would know how to find dimensional magic’s tier zero rune.’

Faluel and her Harbinger used their multiple heads to brainstorm the problem, keeping the crystals white until they believed they had found a solution.

’Tezka’s explanations always contained hints, and this time is no different.’ Faluel thought. ’The parallel with Light Mastery wasn’t a history lesson. It was his way to point us in the right direction.

’We already know tiers four and five dimensional magic. We must work our way down from there and deconstruct them until we find the common root all dimensional spells share. The question is how do we do that?’

Friya followed the same line of reasoning, but brought it one step further.

’Tezka said we have to weave the first magic rune because any complex spell would limit the resulting dimensional crystal to one purpose. It means that all kinds of dimensional spells can be woven inside the crystal.

’Everything he said during the lesson, including the mention of the Spirit Crystals, was a hint!’

Friya focused on the gemstone between her fingers, splitting its energy into six elemental streams and weaving them into her tier five dimensional spell, Dimensional Ruler.

The crystal turned purple and golden sparkles appeared all around it, yet Friya barely noticed. Her mind was elsewhere, fully focused on the gemstone’s depths. For one split second before the Dimensional Ruler spell took form, she had seen something there.

Friya repeated the spell over and over until she confirmed that she wasn’t imagining things. Then, she moved down to her tier four spell, Dimensional Blade. The space around the crystal became unstable, triggering the defensive arrays of Faluel’s lab.

Yet Friya paid the alarms no heed, focusing once again on the luminous rune that shone far in the background for a single heartbeat. It was different from the one that preceded the Dimensional Ruler spell, yet they were similar.

Once she memorized the hidden rune, Friya moved on to Warp Steps, Blink and then to Switch. Each time she found a different rune, but they all had something in common. A shared root.

It was then that Tezka spoke.

”Time’s up. We’ll resume this tomorrow. Remember what I told you about not sharing anything you might have learned.”

Faluel was deeply frustrated, and also exhausted. She was still thinking about getting some extra practice on her own when she tried to stand up and almost fell face-first to the ground.

”Take it easy.” The Fylgja’s strong arm saved her. ”Crafting a dimensional crystal is much harder than it seems. Just conjuring the prismatic vortex is akin to weaving six tier five spells and keeping them active together.

”It takes a huge toll on both the body and the mana core. You need rest, or you won’t be able to get anything done tomorrow.”

Faluel blushed a bit and nodded. She was too busy catching her breath to say anything. Friya found herself completely drained and drenched in sweat.

”I don’t think I can get up.” She said, feeling her legs wobble and her body as heavy as lead. ”I need help.”

”You need rest.” Tezka put Faluel down gently and offered the two women tonics and food.

Friya’s condition recovered quickly, but for someone with Faluel’s mass, those rations were just a drop in the ocean. She took barrels of nutrients from her dimensional amulet and gulped them down from six of her heads, keeping the seventh to breathe.

A few minutes and a darkness spell later, they were up and clean.

Tezka left as soon as they returned to the Mansion, leaving Faluel and Friya with their doubts. The Hydra said nothing during or after the dinner, but Friya could feel how troubled Faluel was.

The telepathic walls they had erected suppressed their bond, but couldn’t completely erase it.

”Take this and ask me no questions.” Friya handed her Grimoire to the Hydra. ”I’ve been a dimensional mage since I was sixteen, whereas you’ve become one a few weeks ago. I don’t want to have an unfair advantage.”

Her words puzzled Faluel until she opened the book and discovered it contained solely Friya’s dimensional magic spells.

’I never studied them because they made no sense to me before.’ She thought in understanding. ’Now that I am a dimensional mage, I can use them, but I never asked Friya to share her dimensional spells with me because I thought it could wait.

’Friya must have given me her Grimoire because she thinks that I need it to complete the exercise. She must have understood something I’ve missed.’

Faluel planned to think long and hard about the issue once she returned home, but she was so tired that she fell asleep in the Mansion while sitting in a comfortable armchair.

”The good news is that I don’t have to call you this morning.” Friya woke the Hydra up as soon as she slept enough to reset the effects of Invigoration. ”The bad news is that you snore.

”Also, you have only until breakfast to take a second look at my Grimoire. Tezka will be here in less than an hour.”

Faluel had yet to read the Grimoire once, so she thanked Friya and put her seven heads to work until Elina called her. The Hydra would have loved to keep reading at the table, eating with only one head, but that would have been rude and unsettling to her hosts.

Faluel ate as quickly as etiquette allowed her to and went back to studying. By the time Tezka reached the Mansion, she had finished her first reading.

Once they reached her lair, Friya kept conjuring dimensional spells inside her crystal while Faluel tried to make heads or tails of what she was supposed to do with Friya’s Grimoire.

’Good gods, now I understand!’ The Hydra had been practicing with Dimensional Ruler and Warp Steps, but she had failed to notice the runes hidden in the background of her spells.

’When we call upon the elements to conjure a spell, we tap into the primordial forces contained in the world energy via the first magic runes. Yet Mogar is vast and what we need is just a speck of the immense power that surrounds us.

’The abundant world energy makes it easier to cast spells, but it also eclipses the first magic runes the spells conjure. A mana crystal, instead, contains a finite amount of world energy.’