Chapter 4547: Desperate Plea (Part 1)
Chapter 4547: Desperate Plea (Part 1)
With his bright orange mana core, Raaz couldn’t conjure anything more powerful without using Invigoration every other minute.
Tier one spells’ low degree of complexity and cost-effective mana requirements offered him the perfect challenge for his current skills.
"Without the Rune Stores, I can only double cast. Also, I think I’m getting the hang of the core principles of multi-casting."
"Only double cast?" Elina wiped the sweat dripping from her forehead and snorted.
Any attempt to double cast resulted in her losing control of both spells and wasting her mana.
"Yeah, Dad." Rena panted like a bellows. "Have a little mercy on us puny mortals still stuck at one element."
"Don’t look at me." Senton said. "With my dull orange core, even casting a single tier one spell is an amazing accomplishment."
"I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean to brag." Raaz scratched his head in embarrassment. "Here, take the Rune Stores. You need them more than me."
"Was that sarcasm, Dad?" Rena asked with an edge in her voice.
"No." He grunted at the allegation. "Gods, someone is cranky today."
"I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean it." Rena sighed. "It’s just that when I pictured myself becoming a mage, I always skipped the training, the sweat, and the failures. In my dreams, I was already as good as Lith."
She followed her brother’s teachings and focused on mastering the elements of balance: water and air. Rena could already perceive all elements in the world energy, but controlling more than one at a time was a different story.
The Rune Stores helped her harness the water element as she also conjured a small air vortex, but Rena’s grasp on the blob of liquid was clumsy. To make matters worse, she knew that without the support of the Water and Air Stores, even that would have been beyond her.
"When do you think we can get a few more sets, sweetie?" Elina asked. "Surin’s Rune Stores aren’t enough for everyone, and Dripha doesn’t let anyone but her parents touch hers."
Jirni in particular used the Rune Stores to play with her daughter and improve her Light Mastery. The light element was still too complex for Dripha, and she rarely used its corresponding Store, giving Jirni and Orion plenty of time to practice.
"As soon as Ryssa is in the mood for visits and I get the occasion to ask Dhiral for a few sets without sounding, well, like myself, Mom." Lith replied. "Congratulations, Dad! Way to go!"
A bubble of water, a sphere of air, and a clump of soil now orbited Raaz even without the Rune Stores. The three elements wobbled as they moved and fell apart from time to time, but it was a significant improvement.
"Congratulations, dear." Elina said, proud and envious of her husband in equal measure. "You are the most talented among us."
"I wish." Raaz lost control of the spells that fell on his head and covered him in mud. "I’m not that talented. I just reached enlightenment once, and that changed my approach to magic. I wish I could share my understanding with you."
"I wish that too." Elina sighed.
As the gap between Raaz and the others kept widening as they practiced magic, the Verhens asked Lith to take them to Jambel’s twin lakes and repeat his fishing lesson word for word, hoping it would help them as much as it had Raaz.
They had learned the water bubble technique, but enlightenment had eluded them.
"I’m with Elina." Kamila said when her turn came. "We need more Rune Stores, and lots of them. Look!"
She took control of the Earth, Water, Fire, and Air at once, flooding them with the power of their respective elements. The four toys spun faster and faster around her until Kamila Blinked away and the Rune Stores bolted to her exit point.
"I’ve almost graduated from my dimensional magic course. I can even do this." She added the Light and Darkness Stores, and the six foam constructs moved back and forth from her position to a space a few meters away with increasing speed.
It took her almost a minute of grunting and effort, but she managed to Switch successfully.
"Impressive." Lith whistled in approval.
"It consumes a lot of focus, but I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own, yet." Kamila panted. "Also, I’m learning something new with every attempt."
"Yeah, these things are a cheat." Selia used the Air, Earth, and Water Stores to perform the dimensional magic teaching spells Loop and Pilfer effortlessly.
Then she also used the Fire Store to open a Warp Gate. It took her almost five minutes, the edges of the dimensional door flickered dangerously, and it led ten meters away, but for someone with little magical aptitude like her, it was a resounding success.
"We want our sets too, Uncle Lith." Aran and Leria said, and the triplets joined their plea.
"I’ll do what I can." He replied.
’Too bad they don’t work with Dread Magic. It would be of a huge help to complete tier four Dread Magic and to teach Solus the first Dread runes.’ He thought.
’Yeah, too bad that perfection doesn’t exist and we have no idea how to create Dread Stores.’ Solus replied via their mind link. ’We’re almost done here as well.’
It had taken Fyrwal and Menadion a lot of effort to convince Tessa to come to the Mansion for a social visit, but all the persuasion on Mogar hadn’t sweetened the Titania’s sour mood one bit.
"I’m going to show you the Murder array as I learned it, Solus." Fyrwal said. "You can use any recording device you want."
"Thank you, Auntie Fyrwal." Solus said, and Tessa parroted her words with a mocking tone.
"Nothing speaks gratitude like calling us only when you need something, kid." The Titania crossed her arms. "You’ve got your violet core and lots of floors back, yet you didn’t bother informing us or inviting us for a tour. You’re a true friend."
"I’m sorry, Aunt Tessa." Solus turned beet red and bowed so deeply that her hair swept the floor when she straightened herself. "I have no excuses."
"You can say that." Tessa scoffed. "Yet you’re the one who disappointed me the most, Ripha. We haven’t seen each other for centuries, I gave my all to rescue your daughter, and this is how you repay me? By ignoring me for months?"
"That wasn’t nice of me." Menadion raised her hands in apology. "To my defense, Solus and I had a lot of catching up to do, and being forced to travel around with Lith gave me much less free time than you might think."
"Eyes on the prize, kiddo." Fyrwal performed the magical formation with both true and fake magic, but always with six elements. "Do you need to see it again, or was this enough?"
"The Grimoire recorded everything and will complete the Murder array in a few days, but I could use a second demonstration." Solus replied.
"Let these ungrateful midgets sweat, Filly. I want to see them squirm." Tessa clicked her tongue. "Leave the center stage to me. I’ll show Solus my version of the Murder array so that the Grimoire can learn it and we can stop bothering the great Ripha Menadion with our presence."