Chapter 225 - Vol. 4 - 24

"Judging by the categories you are looking into," Alys said, "is it fair to assume you are a Moonlight Mage?" He asked. 

"Yeah," Ash replied, leaning closer to listen to what he had to say. 

"Ah..." Alys nodded, before leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. "How long ago did you attune these magical elements?" 

"A few months." 

"So, you remember what it was like?" 

"Yeah," Ash replied. "I got Dark spells shot at me all day, every day, pretty much." 

"Hmph," he snorted. "The first of the spell creation processes falls along those lines. We won't concern ourselves with the others though, as those are far less predictable. Simply put, there are three steps. First, you need to develop a strong connection to your chosen element. No, actually, strong is an understatement," he cut himself off, "you need to make it so that this element, let's say, Light or Dark, becomes a fundamental piece of who you are. For some, this takes years, but, for you, someone who has such a connection with Lumina already, you may have already made short work of this step." 

Well, my connection's stronger with Magia than it is with Lumina, but... I still have talked to her, I dunno. 

"So, it'll be easy, then?" 

"Much easier for you than it is for anyone else, but even then, no," he shook his head. "After you've got that out of the way, you will need to have at least one spell mastered. A spell from any category, actually. The reason is that upon mastering a spell, your mana becomes... different. It is something you only notice when you study the effects intently, but, yes, your magic, in general, becomes more, ehm, focused. Anyway, I had guessed you already did this, but, well, considering you attuned your elements a few months ago, you haven't yet, right?" 

"Yeah, I..."

However, she stopped to think about it. Satsuhiro had explained this idea to her so long ago, that the words he'd said were barely in her memories, but to an extent, she remembered them. He'd told her that after someone used a spell a few hundreds of times, they would reach a point where they wouldn't need to use an incantation to cast that spell. They could just do so with a thought.

And, Ash had exactly such an ability. 

"Hey, so... What counts as a mastered spell?" 

"Any which you do not need an incantation to cast," she replied. "Of course, martial arts techniques, which are gained through increasing proficiency, do not technically count as 'spells' in this case. So, I'm sorry if you know any of those, but..."

"No, that's not it," Ash shook her head. "I have one. I... It's not a martial arts ability or whatever, so I think it should count." 

"Oh? Even though you started so late?" He asked, surprised. 

"The spell was gifted to me," Ash answered. 

"Even then, you still need-" 

"It was gifted to me by Magia," Ash sighed, interrupting him again. "And, from the start, I didn't need an incantation to use it. I just sort of... turn it on." 

"... Oh. I see," he scratched his chin. "Yours is an interesting case. I... am afraid I do not know if it will count or not. You will have to discover that yourself." 

"Okay. Got it. What's next?" 

"Well, after that, come the more practical sides to this process. First, you will need to surround yourself with that element, and then, you need to deplete your mana entirely. Upon doing so, you will pass out. And, when you pass out, in your unconscious state, the spell creation process occurs." 

...

Ash waited for him to continue. He didn't. He remained silent as she made a confused expression. 

"... And what do I do then?" Ash asked.

"I do not know," he shrugged. "I have not created a spell myself. But, I do know that everyone who has created a spell, in this way, at least, reports this as the last step in the process." 

"But, how will I know if I'm doing something wrong or not?"

"I don't know, I'm telling you, this is the one magical venture I have not taken in my career. Actually, I never thought I'd see someone take this path right in front of me either. At that point, you will know as much about the process as I do." 

"Well... That blows," she muttered, but, on the other hand, she was glad she'd seemingly skipped half the steps already. 

"Diving into these steps in detail, I must ask, is your connection to Lumina in particular strong?" He asked. 

"... Not as strong as my connection to Magia." 

"Then, you may have to work on this. I would recommend you visit any of the old churches that surround Amber. Almost all of them belonged to poor Lumina worshippers, so, they will likely all have her energy residing in them. Spend some time there and feel her power." 

Ash had gotten distracted halfway through hearing that because she thought:

RIGHT! The Sites of Power!

It had been one of the steps Lumina had laid out for her. She'd been so focused on gaining levels and fighting that she'd forgotten to visit and activate Lumina's Sites. 

"... In doing so," Alys continued. "You will discover for yourself whether you're ready to begin the next step." 

... Strangely enough, Ash noticed that Alys sounded far more intrigued now than he had at the start. At the beginning of the conversation, he sounded like he was one sentence away from falling asleep. 

Still, what he enjoyed and didn't enjoy working on wasn't any of her business, so, she rolled with it. 

"So, for Dark," she added, "is it the same thing?" 

"Yes, but, well... Considering what the Dark equivalent to this process is, I'd say creating Dark magic isn't really worth the trouble." 

"..." If Ash was understanding what he meant by this, then the issue was that surrounding herself in Dark meant entering a world of pain and death. She recalled what Vermia had told her, about how she'd created her spell while she was dying of starvation. Ash had no interest in going back to that kind of state anytime soon. 

"So, what about these other ways of creating spells? I'd like to know about them, at least." 

"Like I said, they're random. You can't rely on them. For example, one of them is to throw yourself head-first into the element you're trying to create magic in, and hope for the best. No, I'm not joking," he said when a look of skepticism came over Ash. "The most famous instance of this was one time, where a man was being burned alive by Alkoth worshippers for committing adultery almost a hundred years ago. During that, he created the spell  Fire Aegis,  a Fire spell that, ironically, protects you from fire. He hadn't planned for this though, understand? It just, well, it just happened."

Nodding, Ash looked down at the books he'd brought earlier. 

"... Give me a second, I'm gonna check out the Dark spells." 

And so, the half-demon did just that. 

---

Keiko

Keiko wasn't made for this sort of thing. That much was becoming clearer with every cheer the audience behind her gave, as she threw darts at a board in front of her. 

She, and the group, were currently in a large bar of sorts that they had found, where Metsumi had pitched the idea that they should celebrate their good health and drink a little. 

Somehow, someway, they'd ended up with Keiko and Yumi, standing next to each other, as they threw darts while a crowd had formed behind them. 

Keiko threw her third and landed just a few centimeters away from the bullseye. Yumi threw her tenth and landed her tenth bullseye in a row. 

"I-I think I'm done..." Keiko said as Yumi looked over at her and smiled, the sounds of the audience that had gathered faded into the background. 

"All that training led me to this moment, it would seem," Yumi chuckled. "Winning a game of darts in one of those low-end bars I always read about. What a strange road." 

The two of them left the area and a few drunks quickly replaced them. They walked over to their group's table, where Luvine was sitting next to Sinneah, and Metsumi, Opah, and Satsuhiro sat across from them. Keiko and Yumi sat next to Luvine. 

"... This place is loud," Sinneah stated as she kept her hands on her laps, her back straight. "It is annoying." 

"Just give it some time, it gets charming after a while," Metsumi told her. "In its best days, Pearl was like this no matter where you went," she chuckled. 

They waited then for their drinks, or for their water, in the case of the younger ones sitting here. Opah was singing a little song to herself, clearly making an effort to keep herself entertained. Next to Keiko, Luvine looked a little sad. 

"Hey, is something wrong?" Keiko asked her. 

"Uh... N-No..." Luvine shook her head. 

"Aw, come on, you can tell me," Keiko smiled warmly at her. Luvine's violet eyes looked at her for a moment, before looking away. 

"I... I just feel weird..." she mumbled. "Without Ash here." 

At that, Keiko gave the girl a half-hug. 

"She's working really hard right now," Keiko told her. "But, once she's done she'll be with us more often, promise." 

Yumi then leaned forward a little, looking over at SInneah. 

"Sinneah." 

"Yes?" 

"You've been holding something in your hands since we met," Yumi told her, and Keiko looked over at the woman. "Is there something you need to put away?" 

"... No." 

Sinneah said this so firmly that Yumi shrugged and pulled back. Clearly, Sinneah didn't want to leave any room to argue. 

Then, it was Satsuhiro's turn to speak up. The Savior was sitting with his arms crossed, looking like he was deep in thought. 

"... You know, if anyone could teach Ash the top-level magic she wants to learn, it would be the Arcane... Maybe I should check if he's still busy," Satsuhiro said. "It feels strange that we haven't seen him at all."

"Sounds like a good idea," Metsumi replied as their drinks finally arrived. 

In Keiko's heart though, she was only concerned about a few things right now.. For one, she hoped that she and Ash could begin the process of collecting those ingredients soon, and second, she was still keeping Kaori in the back of her mind, hoping that wherever she was, she was doing alright.