novelraw Book 2: Chapter 62: Spell Prototype
Book 2: Chapter 62: Spell Prototype
Book 2: Chapter 62: Spell Prototype
The Cornflower Witch
Vol 2 Chapter 62: Spell Prototype
Glittergold Plains, White Stone Fortress.
As Sylutia lived and studied here for a long time, she gradually became familiar with the apprentices of her same cohort and age group.
"Senior Apprentice Sister Tia~"
Walking on the road, two apprentices wearing deep brown uniforms greeted Sylutia.
"Hello."
The young girl nodded. Seeing that the edges of their clothes were still stained with some grass seeds and mud, she guessed they had just returned from the fields outside the city.
"How are things recently? Has the previous black ant disease recurred?"
Some time ago, a large-scale disease had appeared in the fields they were responsible for. Many crops developed small black spots on their leaves, which then became diseased and withered. In the end, it was Sylutia who helped them solve the problem.
"The situation is normal for now, it hasn't recurred. Thank you, Senior Apprentice Sister Tia." The two nodded gratefully.
In truth, they appeared older than Sylutia on the outside, probably in their twenties. It was just that Tia was indeed stronger in terms of gardener and Transcendent tier.
Afterwards, the two said their goodbyes, and Sylutia continued on her way back to her residence.
Nighttime, Sylutia and Sophitina sat at the dining table eating dinner. Today, Tia had made chestnut chicken soup.
"Recently, Tia is being mentioned more and more among the apprentices." Sophitina lightly bit her fork, chatting about the recent situation.
"Is that so." The silver-haired girl beside her continued drinking the slightly sweet chicken soup, taking small bites of the chicken.
"Yes. Several people even specifically asked me about your situation. They came from other outposts."
"Occasionally, apprentices come to the 'Holy White Knight Hall' to take advanced courses and practice horsemanship. I've seen several batches recently, almost all of them children of nobles."
"Is something about to happen?" Sylutia inquired.
"Tia is so clever." Sophitina lightly raised the fork in her hand.
"It's probably that the surface world is about to go to war. Learning horsemanship well is very useful, whether for going to the battlefield to kill enemies or for escaping." Sophitina began eating the chicken in her own bowl, taking a sip of soup along the way.
"What about Tia, which country are you from?"
"Me? The place I woke up was in the south of Regas. Later, I also took the assessment in Scorchstone City."
"Regas, huh..." Sophitina recalled.
"That country is relatively small and also quite far south. It probably won't be involved in the main battlefield, but small-scale skirmishes are likely unavoidable."
"You can remind familiar people to be as careful as possible these next few years. But during this period, nowhere is really safe."
After the two finished chatting about matters of daily life, they moved on to academics.
"How far along are you in Basic Runes, Tia?"
"Basic Runes is almost finished, probably ending next week."
"Mhm, I guess dad will give us an assignment next week." Sophitina was familiar with her father's style.
"I need to review it again too."
...
Five days later, Seraph called the two young girls before him.
"Tia has finished Basic Runes. Tina, I taught you before too. This is a good time to complete the assessment trial together." The scholar pushed up his glasses and handed a piece of paper with a long string of symbolic formulas written on it to the two.
"I'm giving you five basic formulas. Then, using the rune arrangements you've learned, combine them with the formulas to construct a spell model with an attack effect."
"The power requirement is 0.3, which is 30% of a normal First Tier ability."
'Understood.' The two nodded, then took the page with the five formulas and left.
For the next two days, the two stayed in the training ground, constantly debugging the basic spell model, using formulas to combine runes to bring about multiple effects such as absorbing mana, circulating mana, gathering mana, converting power, and shaping attacks.
Inside the firing range, Sophitina stood, raising her right hand. Two pale purple rings emerged from her wrist, then the rings expanded and grew larger. The rune Brands arranged on them also manifested.
'Green Branch Flower Brand'... 'Spark Brand'... 'Rotation Brand'...
Multiple rune Brands appeared. They overlapped and combined with each other, then a pale purple radiance flowed within them.
Finally, a small, pale purple diamond shape floated in Sophitina's palm. It still looked somewhat illusory and unstable.
"Test Model One, fire!"
Sophitina used an incantation to give herself a suggestion, strengthening her mental power. Then this pale purple diamond shot out. Unfortunately, its trajectory drifted and it didn't hit the target 50 meters away, instead striking the wall and scraping off a streak of gray dust.
Seeing the result, Sophitina couldn't help but cover her face. Such a result was truly embarrassing.
A spell attack condensed with so much effort was less effective than casually throwing a stone. No wonder everyone chose mature spell models instead of creating their own originals.
However, this process of exploration was still very beneficial, giving her a much deeper understanding of spell composition.
"Tia, you try." Sophitina walked off the field, letting the silver-haired girl beside her step forward.
"Mhm." Sylutia ended her long contemplation, walked to the firing position, and similarly raised her hand.
'Green Branch Flower Brand'
She silently recited in her mind. Then a pale green ring appeared on her wrist, expanding outward. Green branches, leaves, flowers, and vines appeared on the ring, resonating distantly with the 'Verdant Nectar' Aspect within her body. Like breathing, as she activated the 'Verdant Nectar' Aspect within her, the floral vine Brands on the outer ring of her wrist also grew brighter.
'Spark Brand'
She concentrated again on constructing. The green branches, leaves, and floral vines on the ring stretched out, blossoming into orange-red petals one after another. These petals gradually became clear, transforming into flame Brands, while the original Green Branch Flower Brand Patterns quickly dissipated.
'Rotation Brand'
The flame patterns on the orange-red ring rotated again, presenting small vortexes one after another.
Invisible heat gathered towards the girl's hand, gradually condensing into a small orange-red fireball, only the size of her thumb.
'Wind Vortex Brand'
The ring expanded. The flame vortexes on it gradually dissipated, turning into faint cyan-white Brands. Then this small fireball also began to spin rapidly.
'Shooting Star Brand'
Sylutia silently recited in her heart, then raised her eyes. Two cross-shaped shooting star symbols appeared in her pupils. Then the images of the two distant targets in her vision overlapped, merging into one, becoming extremely clear.
"Fire."
This fireball sped out rapidly. Although it drifted and deviated somewhat while moving at high speed through the air, it overall maintained stability. Finally, it struck the target, exploding into scattered sparks.
'Power 0.273, Evaluation: First Tier Experimental Spell.'
The so-called experimental type refers to spells that do not have practical, widespread effectiveness. Normal spells or abilities generally have a power of 1 or above.
"So amazing, Tia." Sophitina couldn't help but applaud.
Although using 'Verdant Nectar' required three conversions to achieve an effect similar to the 'Blazing Sun' Aspect, with a seventy percent loss in power, at least it succeeded in the end, which was quite good.
After finishing this test, the two gained many new insights and began the next improvement process.
For the next three days, they tried several more combination methods and activation methods. Unfortunately, they still hit a wall. The power increase could only reach 0.29 at most, falling just short.
"I think I understand why Transcendents of the 'Verdant Nectar' and 'Secret Word' Aspects don't learn fireball-related spell abilities." Sophitina suddenly had an epiphany.
"Not only does the conversion consume more energy and waste the structure of the spell model, but even if you manage to cast it, the power is far inferior to that of the 'Blazing Sun' Aspect. There also seems to be a soft upper limit. Once you try to increase the input or output, the entire model's structure can't withstand the pressure and collapses, requiring reconstruction."
"We need to change our approach, Tia."
"Yes." Sylutia also nodded. In fact, she already had some ideas, just hadn't tested them yet.
One week later, the two came to the firing range again to test spells.
'Path Brand'... 'Cornerstone Brand'... 'Lighthouse Brand'... 'Bright Lamp Brand'...
'Test Model Six, manifest.'
Three points of light floated around her wrist, then began to rotate, finally condensing into a single glowing point of light that shot straight out, embedding itself into the target.
'Power 0.376, Evaluation: First Tier Experimental Spell.'
'Barely usable.' Sophitina happily walked off the platform.
Soon after, Sylutia also came to the firing position and began to cast.
The model she was constructing now was completely different from Sophitina's, and the formulas used were also different.
'Cornerstone Brand'... 'Green Branch Flower Brand'... 'Rotation Brand'... 'Sharp Blade Brand'...
Sixteen cyan points of light appeared outside her wrist, then continuously expanded and contracted, connecting into rough lines. Afterwards, these sixteen points of light danced and intertwined like weaving a bracelet, leaving behind the intricate Brand of the 'Green Branch Flower Brand'...
Finally, this cyan 'bracelet' gradually separated from Sylutia's wrist, spinning continuously in front of her palm. The emerald-green serrated edges became sharper and sharper.
'Thorn Ring, fire.'
This ring shot out with an elegant trajectory. Although it traced a long arc through the air, it still accurately hit the target, tearing through the Straw bundled on the target and sending up a large amount of debris.
"Power 0.723, Evaluation: First Tier Spell Prototype with potential."
This should be enough to complete Instructor Seraph's assessment requirement, Sylutia thought with satisfaction.