Lowlife, Scoundrel, Bandit Queen

Chapter 169 - 169 - Team effort

I exchange glances with Brygida who seems as uncertain as I feel. Finally I reach for the pair of compasses though. At the same time the young witch grabs the wooden ruler. We both grab a piece of chalk too.

Rysia seems quite pleased with this development. She flashes us a pleasant smile anyway.

"Very good. We will do this more than once anyway. Both of you will get to draw each part of the spellcircle at least once. Let's see if we can get a drawing skill unlocked for both of you."

I lick my lips, my gaze wandering, first to the tool I'm holding, then to my partner in crime and finally to our teacher.

"Will it be really that easy? And how do we get started anyway? How do I determine the radius of the circles I need to draw?"

The witch mother perks up even more at my questions. Those apparently are the right things to ask. Before she can answer though Brygida adds a comment of her own aswell.

"Yes, and I can't get started on the triangle encompassing the circles until I know how big they are. And how do I space the vertices apart neatly like in the book? The triangle in the example has such neat sides, all of equal length. Does it have to look like that?"

Rysia doesn't seem to mind the interruption. No, quite the opposite is true. If anything, her face brightens up even more!

"Well, my dears, lets get started with the radius of the circles you need. Obviously those will depend on the length of the descriptive incantation you use. For our practice tonight we will use one for a spell you both know. The very simple and basic light spell."

She flips to another page marked with a slip of paper in her book to show us the incantation we need.

The radius of each of the two circles I have to draw is already helpfully noted right next to it. I guess this assumes a certain font size too, which really isn't surprising since I'm already drawing two circles in between which it will have to fit. I nod and set the pair of compasses to the right radius with the help of Brygida and the ruler she is holding. Without delay I draw first one and then the other circle. This is pretty easy so far.

"Is this alright?"

The elder witch nods and starts to explain how to draw the triangle next.

"Very good. Keep that radius! You will still need it."

My mind gets a little fuzzy during the following steps. She first makes us construct a triangle inside the circle and from the tangents through its corners we draw the triangle around the circle. It's not really hard but it's not the kind of mental exercise I'm used too.

Before long we are done though and there are circles and triangle drawn on the floor in front of us. Well, no we aren't really done yet. There is still too many lines! The interior triangle and the other supporting lines shouldn't be there.

Rysia, without much ceremony hands us wet rags. It's almost as if she can read my mind. Except, she doesn't have to. This is only the logical next step after all.

With great care we start erasing all the construction lines without ruining the actual drawing. The latter is the tricky part, as there are intersections at several points. Still we manage. It's this point where apparently both Brygida and I get rewarded with a notification.

[*Ding!* You have unlocked the Magical Drawing general skill at Level 1!]

This one counts towards the progress of my hedge witch class. It makes me wonder if I might be able to merge it into the class should I eventually be able to unlock a class upgrade. It would make sense, wouldn't it? At the same time I'm already wondering how I'll be able to practice the skill in the future beyond the scope of my lessons with Rysia and Brygida. I'm not sure there will be many opportunities. And I'll need tools too. Unless I want to risk doing drawings like this free hand, which I probably shouldn't.

Rysia lets out a happy little sigh too.

"you both unlocked a skill? Very good! Let's keep going. You still need to write the actual incantation into the circle. Brygida, why don't you go first. Viviona, you do it on the second attempt."

I have no problem with that and take a step back to make room for the younger witch. I'm watching her closely though, as she writes the spell formula within the two circles. It's a surprisingly difficult task, considering it sounds so simple in principle. Writing neatly on a curved line is not quite trivial though. The exact spacing of each letter has to be minded too. As it turns out the circle's circumference and the spell description are very closely matched.

In the end Brygida manages though without having to start over and without smudging up any of the already existing lines.

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Rysia takes a moment to check everything one last time. She doesn't find anything wrong either it seems, as she nods in satisfaction.

"Very good, my dear students! Now for the last touches."

Even as she says that she hands both her daughter and me a small needle. The kind that would usually be used in sewing. She motions for us to take positions at a corner of the triangle each and demonstrates how to proceed, by pricking her thumb ever so lightly and letting a few drops of blood fall into the circle positioned at her corner.

Both Brygida and I follow suit and the effect as the last drop of blood hits the ground in the intended spot is immediate as well. I don't receive a notification, but I'm pretty sure anyway that I just lost a point of health. There is no more need for any additional action, as I can feel a drain on my Mana reserves. The light spell doesn't usually take a lot of power but this time around the drain is even slighter, as it's spread in between the three of us. A moment later a bright sphere of light springs into existence right under the ceiling and over the very center of the spell circle we drew.

The [Light] skill for the spell improves a little. That isn't all though, as I'm rewarded with another notification whispered in the voice of Fox.

[*Ding!* You have unlocked the Ritual Spellcasting general skill at Level 1!]

I'm not the only one either, judging by Brygida's wide eyes and Rysia's pleased smile. Well, it really is a pleasant surprise, even though this one counts towards the progress of my scoundrel class. That's just the way it is though. This might just be another skill I might eventually be able to fold into an upgraded witch class. I allow myself a pleased smile as well.

A moment later it becomes clear, that Rysia isn't done teaching yet, as she claps her hands to draw our attention back to her. Once we are focused on her again she speaks up once more.

"Fabulous! It worked like a charm! This reminds me to mention another benefit of cooperative spellcasting. Not only can you share the burden of high Mana drain like this, but the spell will be more powerful or in this case last longer too, as all relevant skills of all participating spellcasters are added up. It's quite convenient!"

Brygida nods eagerly, but, while I'm quite happy with the result, I decide to ask for a little more clarification anyway.

"You said all relevant skills of all spellcasters. Which skills would be considered relevant in this case, or possibly in general?"

The answer comes prompt and without hesitation.

"First and foremost the skill levels of the spell in question, of course. Then the levels of the skills you use for ritual spellcasting, usually the skill of that very name and one supporting skill, like in our case the one used to draw the spell circle."

I nod along and try to crunch some numbers at the same time. It's not an exact result I'm after though, which I can't achieve anyway since I don't know the skill levels of Rysia and her daughter, but rather an approximation in general. That would be seven skill levels from me alone, add that many from Brygida as well and at least that many again from her mother. From what I can tell this means that this light should last at least a whole day? Yes, that sounds like a reasonable assumption.

The older witch clapping her hands once again pulls me from my thoughts.

"Alright! Let's clean up the floor and do it all again! Both of you need some more practice. This time you will do the actual writing Viviona."

Of course we need more practice. Thus I offer not protest as I'm handed a cleaning rag to wipe away the chalk and minor blood stains on the floor. Someone has to do it after all.

A little later we are ready to get going again. Brygida and I exchange tools as we each plan to perform the parts the other did the first time around to get the full learning experience. That's the point after all. Thus it's the young witch's turn to draw the circles this time around, while I get to construct the triangle around it. And of course I get to write the incantation this time around as well.

Doing my best to achieve neat calligraphy apparently is good enough to make my [Syld] language skill improve some. After finishing with the spell circle another whispered notification brushes through my mind.

[*Ding!* Your skill Magical Drawing has leveled up to level 2!]

This one is pretty much expected. It counts towards the progress of my masked mediator class this time around. More importantly though, this level up earns me some indirect benefits too, as my magic attribute increases to an even level my magic power and my Mana reservoir improve ever so slightly as well. Nice. Very nice even! And we aren't quite finished yet either.

Our teacher, the senior witch of the house, checks our work for mistakes once more and after a moment deems it adequate enough to proceed, thus we do. This is the unpleasant part as it means pricking ourselves with the needles again.

I'm starting to see why practitioners of other schools of ritual magic would go to all the additional trouble of mastering choir singing or intricate dance choreography instead. If you do this a lot your fingers will eventually start to look like the ones of a clumsy seamstress. I'm not looking forward to this part of practicing this skill in the future.

In the end, it's as before. I can feel that I'm losing a minuscule amount of health again at first. A moment later I feel the expected drain on my Mana reserves and then another sphere of light springs into existence, next to the first one as we didn't draw the spell circle in the exact same spot this time. And, of course, I'm rewarded with yet one more notification.

[*Ding!* Your skill Ritual Spellcasting has leveled up to level 2!]

This one actually counts towards the progress of my hedge witch class. And on top my [Light] skill edges a little closer to the next level up as well. If I do a little more meditation later I might just get ever so close to the next level up of the class!

Next to me Brygida lets out a little cheer.

"Yay!"

It seems almost like she actually earned a level up for a class. She certainly wouldn't get this excited for just another skill level notification, right? Her mother certainly seems to see it that way too.

"Congratulations, dear. Congratulations to you too Viviona and thank you for helping me out with creating the learning experience."

I bow my head.

"I'm the one to be thankful. You helped me broaden my horizon considerably. I'm just glad you both got something out of this too. Practicing this won't be easy though, or am I mistaken? I'll need other spellcasters capable of this kind of ritual casting, won't I?"

She nods in agreement.

"It's not easy, but you are welcome to drop by for some practice every once in a while. If you do we should be able to move on to the actual summoning spell you'll need before long. Don't worry. Don't hurry. Take your time to learn and grow."

While Rysia extinguishes the lanterns which are not needed anymore now, I help Brygida clean up the floor once more. I finish my cup of tea too and eat another cookie together with the young witch.

"Well, I'm looking forward to get some more training done with you, but I probably should really get going now. You probably need your sleep. I certainly do anyway."

With those words and one last exchange of hugs I'm off into the night.