"So, at it's most basic, magic is simply mana manipulation. Obviously, anyone can tell you that. However, over the years, many magicians have tried to quantify their findings to create a comprehensive theory which can explain exactly how we use mana to influence the world...now the four elements are the simplest magic but there are many other types as well...for instance do you see how my hair floats? That's the innate magic of my people, the Half-Wraiths..."

My lesson with Glacia in the afternoon is the highlight of my day. You have no idea how weird is to someone like me, who cheated his way through every class by peeking at the future, to actually enjoy learning. Magic...is infinite...and vast. That is the first thing I come to understand from listening to Glacia's lecture. However, there is something else, that makes me excited about magic.

I'm good at it.

Mana control, manipulation, whatever you want to call it. Just magic in general. I'm actually a genius apparently. Glacia herself was considered a student good enough to be given a special exemption to teach other students at her school, Teirn, but she can only shake her head when she hears that I'm five years old.

"Insane...and you say that you first learned to cast Chill at age three? Did the Blood Warlock do something to help your development or..."

"No, it was natural."

"Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. You must tell me more. This Bloodstone you speak of, can you show it to me."

"Absolutely. It's right here."

"Oh my gods...the old bastards at Teirn can't deny me my degree this time! I actually found real data this time! Ahahaha finally, I'll get to graduate for real! They can't keep enslaving me for cheap lessons!" Usually Glacia is shy and demure, but she suddenly bursts out saying some strange things whenever I tell her something cool about Mephis. That's fine with me though. I love talking about Mephis!

After she examines the broken Bloodstone, she nods happily.

"This appears to be a simple ruby that has been imbued with high level magic to create a sealing formation which doubles as a magic amplifier when needed. However, it is as you say. The seal has been broken and thus its power has been greatly reduced. Even still, it's a very good tool for a beginner." Glacia's explanation lines up with what I already know about the Bloodstone. She tells me that it's best not to use it while I'm still an amateur at magic though. "Unless you need the extra power, I suggest learning to cast magic without the aid of tools. Despite what many new magicians think, your fundamental control of the arcane is far more important than raw power. Rarely is the biggest spell the one which is best for the job. As a matter of fact, since our mana pools are limited, generally, you want to cast the smallest spell possible."

Glacia's right. If I hadn't used so much mana practicing Chill that day, then I might have been able to deflect the dagger from Mephis during the ambush. In the future, if there is ever a chance of danger approaching, I need to keep some power in reserve!

"Now, it sounds like you have inadvertently been on the right track. To be honest...if it was any other student, I would tell them to give up on casting magic without incantations. But somehow, it's worked for you. Which is convenient because practicing the basic spells is also one of the things a proper mage needs to be good at. I doubt you know this, but generally before one masters Advanced Magic, the way most of us defend ourselves is to rapidly cast the basic spells in succession. If you can say the chants fast enough, or better yet, switch between them midway, you can surprise your opponents! Let me demonstrate!"

Glacia lifts her hands and stands up from the chairs we've brought out to the front yard.

Huh? Switching between casts midway? I guess that would work as a sort of mind-game. The opponent would have to react quickly if you changed from Burn to Gust. I think it'd make more sense just to use Disguised Casting in my case though.

"Okay, imagine your opponent is an archer. They send an arrow at you. The first thing you need to do is deflect it if you can't dodge, right?" She looks my way to see if I'm paying attention and I nod. The spikes in her white hair wave around and grow excited as she begins to channel mana, "So...to deflect, the obvious answer for a beginner is Gust."

"Got it, Gust."

"Right, you know what, this isn't a very good demonstration. Usually, when I do this at the school, we have someone shoot at me to make it easier to understand. But we don't have a bow. Mmm..." It's a bit weird to listen to an eighteen-year-old talk about being shot at with a bow. However, in this world, humans often begin adventuring and fighting at thirteen so that's actually quite normal. I couldn't contain my curiosity and asked. Apparently, Glacia really is eighteen already, despite her youthful appearance. Half-Wraiths develop slightly more slowly according to her. Though even amongst her people, she's considered a little on the small side. "I know! Throw a rock at me!"

"Huh?" I bend down and look for a stone on the lawn. However, the only one I can find is pretty big, the size of my fist. "Uhh...will this work? I won't throw it very hard..."

"Please, Myrr, have a little faith in your teacher. I may not look very impressive, but I scored top marks in defensive evaluations!" Glacia has taken to shortening my name to Myrr from Myrrdraeyal. I don't mind, it's a lot easier to pronounce. Hopefully Mephis wouldn't be disappointed! "Alright, ready? Throw!"

*Toc*

I let the rock go, and though Glacia told me not to, I make sure not to throw with deadly force. Eager to see what she'll do, I keep my eyes wide open. The results don't disappoint me. Glacia Dicentia is a deadly force when she wants to be.

[Stormy Breeze of My Loneliness, Gather Forth-Gust]

First, she starts with a regular Gust chant. Except, it comes out so fast that the words practically blur together. As a matter of fact, if I didn't know what it was, I'd assume it was in another language. A tornado as thick as her waist forms in her hands. She raises them and the tornado sucks in the stone. Then pointing away from me, she instantly switches chants not once, but twice in rapid succession!

[Flaming Ember of My Desire, Burst Forth-Burn]

[Muddy Stone of My Endurance, Move Forth-Meld]

*Pwhoosh!*

*Phua*

*Kacha*

I thought Glacia was going to demonstrate faking a chant and switching to another, but instead she does three in a row in the time it would take me to do one! The stone goes flying out of the tornado while igniting on fire. At the last second, her Meld spell causes the rock to transform into shrapnel-like pieces. To be honest, she spits out the words so fast it's like listening to a world class rapper or something. The flaming bits of rock scatter into the ground and I can only imagine that anyone hit by them would have a very bad day.

"So that's how mages fight. So fast..." I mutter and the white-hairs on her head stand up as if pleased. Coughing into her small fist, Glacia hides a little smile under her witch hat.

"Ahem, so that's how it's done. As you can see, magic has an infinite number of combinations. So long as you practice, your enemy will never know how you will attack. Thus, your mastery of control, and the speed of your chants is more important than raw power! Got it, Myrr?" She asks me and I nod slowly, still admiring the sheer brilliance of her technique. How long did she spend practicing the chants to get to that speed? Those words weren't even human at the end. I guess you can contract certain syllables if you're advanced enough. Or maybe it's almost like how I silently invoke spells? But a less useful version?

"Hmm, Professor, errr can I call you that?" I scratch my head, wondering if that's quite right for this world. It feels weird to call someone who looks fifteen a professor, but technically she is a guest lecturer so I'm not sure, "I have a question."

"Uh, Glacia will do. Teacher if you insist." She replies. "What is it, Myrr?"

"Your chanting speed is very fast, but is it necessary to say the chants for all three spells to get their effects? Why not combine the chants to create one spell which can do the same effect with a much shorter cast time?" I voice the goal which I've been trying to work on in private. Of course, my method is not really the same since I silently chant one spell while saying the other out loud. But in theory, it should be possible to do more.

"Oh...you're asking if there is a way to combine the invocations?" Glacia seems a bit surprised by this question, "I believe that some of the ancient elvish spellcasters were said to have a technique that could multicast basic spells a few hundred years ago. However, in the modern era, that technique has been lost. What is possible is to shorten the chants to a very short length and then cast them one after another however. My demonstration is still a bit lacking, but it's said that if you reach the highest tiers of magic, you can invoke a basic spell with just the name. Thus, a single sentence could produce some miraculous effects!"

"Huh..." It's a bit hard to understand everything that she's saying, but fortunately Glacia doesn't mind repeating herself so I'm not worried if I miss something. "So even at the highest levels of magic, technically you're not casting two spells at once? You would cast them one after another very quickly so it seems like one spell but it would still be two?"

"Exactly. That's why it's so important to shorten your chants. Even someone like you who can silently invoke them needs to work on your speed to create as many combinations as possible. Or else you'll be countered by more knowledgeable opponents!" My teacher waves a finger in the air, "Never get arrogant. In the world of magic, there is always someone better, trust me!"

"I understand. However, it seems a bit wasteful to cast two spells at once. Maybe it's not possible without silent chanting, but I feel like if your mana manipulation is good enough, the chant doesn't really matter. Shouldn't it be theoretically possible to cast one spell while creating two effects?" At first, Glacia seems about to dismiss my words. Perhaps its because I'm saying something very outlandish. However, suddenly her eyes narrow.

"Not possible without silent chanting?" She catches onto my slipup. "Hold on, what do you mean by that?" At this, I have to decide whether or not to show her my Disguised Casting. In my previous life, I tried to hold such things close to my chest, and I never trusted anyone. However, I really want to know if what I'm doing is special or not. Besides, Glacia doesn't seem like the kind of person to take advantage of me. Otherwise, she would have asked for more money. Though I'm helping her learn about Blood-locks, there's no need for her to agree to stay all the way until I've mastered her lessons. If I'm going to take on people like Jarold Westblade, I'm going to need to get stronger faster. And it'll be impossible if I'm always holding back information from my teacher. I guess I can only gamble a little bit...

"I have to show you something..." My voice drops and I reach inside myself to find the source of mana within me. There is this well of what I can only describe as...an invisible liquid which I can move with my mind. When I push and pull upon it, it pushes and pulls on the world. I think Glacia described it as manipulating the elemental matter through your Mana Pool. Regardless of whether I chant out loud or in my head, it all comes down to this mana manipulation in the end.

"Oh?" Glacia watches me with interest. She has already seen my silent chanting, and was suitably impressed. Her first instinct was to ask me if she could mention it in her records of my time growing up with Mephis, however, even before I said anything, she discounted the idea because it would draw too much attention. One of the reasons I think I can trust her. "What are you going to show me?"

"Just watch." I open my hand. Right now, Mephis's glove is tucked into my breast pocket, so the power of this spell shouldn't be big. As fast as I can while still being confident of success, I cast the spell I've been working on ever since the night of my failure. Now...let alone Chill, even if it's this combination, I have confidence that unless I'm under pressure, it will usually succeed!

[Frozen Wind of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]

[Stormy Breeze of My Loneliness, Gather Forth-Gust]

"Not a bad chant. But it can be shortened...wait...hold on what are you doing?!" Glacia's mouth drops open as after hearing me chant just the incantation for Gust, an ice crystal forms in the air and shoots out. While it's possible to achieve a similar effect just by casting a strong Chill, the speed is on a totally different level with Gust propelling the ice crystal. Like a mirage, it vanishes from the space in front of my hand and blasts into the ground at my feet. When it impacts, ice spreads from the contact point. A cold wind spreads in all directions and Glacia's hair stands straight up in shock! "H-How?! You casted a Gust but then Chill came out? And then it came out so fast! By Yuel...it even froze the ground!"

"I cast one spell out loud and silently invoke another in my head. If I do it at the same time, it can have some interesting effects. I call it Disguised Casting." Hiding nothing, I watch Glacia's reaction. To be honest, I was halfway expecting her to tell me that I was just doing some form of advanced magic and that it was normal, but her shock seems genuine. I guess this really is not something normal.

"Y-You...you can really multicast? While only saying the incantation for one spell? This is actually possible? Were all my professors wrong?!" Glacia falls to the ground, her face turning almost as white as her hair. The spikey strands are flying everywhere as she tries to come to grips with what I've shown her. Oops...I didn't think it would be this big of a deal. You told me there's always a higher sky and a better mage, so why are you so surprised? "Myrrdraeyal...errr...Myrr, could you show me that again? Maybe a bit slower this time? And tell me more about how you did it. No wait, not just more, tell me everything! I need to properly document this. Wait no...that's no good, those old bastards will definitely try to claim credit for discovering you if they get wind of this. No...better to leave no written records!"

"Sure...here goes..."

*Clink*

*Shua*

The power is a bit lower this time, I still haven't got all the kinks out yet. However, my Disguised Casting goes off for the second time in a row. In front of an audience no less. Glacia doesn't seem to care, she's too busy muttering to herself. Today, I get the feeling I probably will not be the only one learning something. But that's okay, the fundamental theories and knowledge of how other magic users fight are already invaluable for me.

"C-Could you do it one more time? Oh, you must be running low on mana by now! I have some mana-infused grape juice if you need to replenish, so please, just one more time today! Let me see it again!"

"Yea, it's not a problem. I can cast it ten or twelve times before getting tired."

"REALLY?!"