Chapter 18 Radiant Inscription Blows Through the Tower
The new week has begun, and Ancia has returned to Gracia. During Monday morning's basic magic theory class, Teacher Diana brought some new information.
It seems that in addition to guiding freshmen into the field, another purpose of this course is to inform all freshmen of information as soon as possible.
"Light magic mage Cheryl has returned from the snowy mountains of the North. New students who have chosen Cheryl's Light Magic course, remember to attend class on Tuesday," Diana briefly informed them before the class officially began.
Ancia calculated her current schedule: Monday was "Basic Theory of Magic" and "Nurturing and Rehabilitation," Tuesday was "Radiant Inscription," Wednesday was "Assassination Techniques," and from Thursday to the weekend she would also have to find time to practice and level up in the Monster Mountain Range.
What a fulfilling life.
Ancia wrote a line on the note and handed it to Heligalo.
After glancing at the note, Heligaluo nodded to Ancia and, as usual, put it into his spatial necklace.
Sure enough, Heligalo also chose the Radiance Inscription course.
During the afternoon class at the botanical garden, Airan suddenly stopped what he was doing. "You mean you chose Cheryl's Inscription class?"
“Yes.” Ancia and Erlan’s voices sounded muffled because they were wearing masks.
Erlan took the scissors from Ancia's hand and moved her flowerpot in front of him. "I'll do these things. You can rest for a bit."
Ancia looked at him suspiciously. Why was this elf being so nice today?
Seeing the skeptical look in Ancia's eyes, Ellan Emerald's eyes curved into a smile, and she said with ill intent, "Just think of it as... end-of-life care, so you won't end up like those who chose the Inscription course, staying up all night to cry under the Whispering Vine, wondering if you've been mind-controlled into choosing this course."
"Is it really that scary..." Ancia was also a little scared.
But then I thought, since this course won't affect the main storyline, I might as well treat it as an experience of advanced magic!
"Heligalo also chose this course. If neither of us can understand it, I'll run to your villa in the middle of the night and cry to you."
“I think only you would cry. Even if the Holy See of Light were burned down, Heligalo would only sigh and start rebuilding the Holy See.” Ellan raised an eyebrow.
"Hmph, I used to cry secretly when I was little because of bad grades, but has Heligaluo never cried? I'd like to see..." Ancia's thoughts raced, imagining those calm, deep blue eyes, like the sky, perhaps tinged with a faint red, as tears welled up...
When Erlan saw Ancia stop what she was doing and a blush showing through the edge of her mask, he suddenly narrowed his eyes and lightly tapped Ancia on the head. "Don't get distracted."
Although I don't know what she's thinking, how can I not take my attention away from her when she's standing next to him?
“Oh.” Ancia shook her head, focusing intently on observing the spores of the fluorescent sneezing grass extracted by Airlan.
A steady breeze blew across the grass stems, and spores fell onto the pre-laid moonshine moss around them. Airlan held his breath and placed the spores and moonshine moss into the mortar.
"Ancia, add one-third of the dew to my water."
With slender fingers holding the grinding stick, he slowly ground the moss in a counter-clockwise direction until it melted into a blue-green viscous paste. Then he poured it into a silver sieve to filter out the plant residue.
Ancia poured unicorn jelly into the bottle, stirred it well with a birch stick, and finally sealed the bottle.
"Alright, expose them to moonlight for three more nights, and the light will be set." Ancia carefully lifted the two ink bottles to examine them.
The other students' glow-in-the-dark ink is almost finished. Teacher Yeshika kindly reminds them, "Remember to separate the glow-in-the-dark ink from the regular ink, otherwise when you confess to someone you like at the Harvest Festival, they might see a blank parchment during the day."
Good-natured laughter erupted from those around them; a similar incident had occurred just last year, adding a touch of humor to the sweet and joyful harvest festival.
Ancia took her bottle of glow-in-the-dark ink back with her and placed it on the windowsill to bask in the moonlight. The moon in the sky was very round, like the lightly baked golden cookies that Lulu had given her that night.
Lulu's cooking is delicious, and her desserts are tasty too, but she misses her mother's cooking a little.
*
The main castle of Gracia is very magnificent, and the tower connected to the main castle is the residence of the mages, as well as the place where they teach.
The academy’s tallest tower is called the “Light Dome”. Its semi-transparent dome can bring in the morning light, the sun, the moonlight, and the starlight, and the ground is paved with huge white stone slabs that can absorb light energy.
Cheryl's cuffs were stained with fine, shimmering dust of light, and a moon was painted on the chest of her mage robe, her identity as a magician. She was the only light magician in the world who had no connection with the Church of Light.
Not many people chose this course. Ancia saw at least three-star mage marks on everyone else. It seemed that she and Heligaluo had accidentally entered an extremely difficult class.
Cheryl's voice carried the weariness of a long journey as her gaze swept over the two young, unfamiliar faces—no, only one was unfamiliar.
"Find a seat anywhere. If you don't understand, just drop the class," Cheryl said calmly.
Several senior students with gloomy expressions cast envious glances. Being allowed to drop elective courses in the first month of the first year is a privilege reserved for freshmen.
Cheryl didn't explain why her class was so late, nor did she care whether the new students could keep up; she went straight into her obscure and difficult-to-understand teaching.
"Starry Protection Array - It is effective against shadow magic, mental erosion, and low-level monsters. It achieves protection by constructing a temporary or fixed light shield barrier. The difference between the two lies in the skill of the creator, whether they can purify the evil energy and convert it into light energy to flow back to the light shield, continuously replenishing the magic value lost by the light shield."
Cheryl used light magic to etch two different magic circle structures onto a specially made stone slab. Even the simpler temporary Star Protection Magic Circle was filled with dense lines, and each line connection had a corresponding Radiant Inscription. Not to mention the fixed magic circle next to it, which made one dizzy just by looking at it.
Ancia: "..." She seemed to understand why Ellan had suddenly become so considerate.
The students below began to painstakingly copy down the two magic circles that Cheryl had shown, but the process was full of twists and turns.
Even if the magic circle is not activated by magic, but only recorded on parchment with ink, if a line is copied incorrectly, the parchment will automatically burn. A quick-thinking student grabbed a fire blanket from the side and covered the table with it, the skillful action of which was heartbreaking.
Anciya calmed herself down and slowly ran the quill pen across the paper until the temporary Star Protection Array was finished, without any mistakes.
It doesn't seem as difficult as I thought?
Ancia's eyes lit up, and she tried to draw the fixed star protection array. She was more careful with her pen, and the black ink outlined the complex array on the paper. The array flashed with a pale golden light the moment it was completed.
It went incredibly smoothly.
Cheryl walked up to Ancia at some point, picked up the two parchments and examined them closely. After a while, she put them down without saying anything. Heligalo, who had also completed the magic circle drawing, didn't even get a glance from Cheryl.
The two of them sat in the corner, and apart from Cheryl, the flowing light from their successful magic circle drawing went unseen by the other students.
Cheryl slowly walked away, her indifferent voice echoing throughout the rooftop, "Don't become complacent just because you've successfully copied it, thinking you've grasped the essence of array formations. This is only the first step in learning array formations. When actually inscribing an array, light mages need to perform light etching on a special material that can bear light energy. If they fail, the entire array will explode. Pure energy arrays using light-impregnation have no carrier, making them more complex to inscribe and more dangerous if they fail."
The teacher's admonition felt like triple espresso, leaving the students, who were constantly grabbing fire blankets, with a bitter taste in their mouths. We also wanted to feel smug for once, instead of just getting covered in ashes.
“Herri, this teacher seems very serious, but the course isn’t as difficult as I imagined. We don’t need to drop the course.” Ancia breathed a sigh of relief. Cheryl’s demeanor was too much like that of the head teacher; she would involuntarily become nervous when she saw her approaching.
“Yes, don’t worry.” Heligalo smiled.
Having waited too long for the other students to finish drawing the magic circle, Anciya's gaze fell on two completed parchment sheets. The diagram of the Starry Protection Magic Circle looked somewhat familiar after being shrunk down.
Where have I seen this before...?
Ancia squinted, and after blurring her vision, she finally understood where this sense of déjà vu came from—the shape of the array was extremely similar to the damage reflection shield.
They're both light shields, is there some kind of connection between them?
With a thought, Ancia began to draw the magic circuit for the damage reflection shield on the parchment. As her mental strength increased, she could vaguely see the magic circuit formed just before the skill was successfully cast.
Like other skills that can be upgraded, Intermediate Healing Spell is an adjustment based on the Basic Magic Circuit, adding many complex circuits and possessing more powerful skill effects.
Ancia guessed that the basic damage reflection shield would also behave this way after the upgrade, but she didn't know which circuits would be adjusted for the time being.
Three parchments were neatly arranged on the table. Ancia's gaze moved back and forth between the temporary Starry Protection Array Diagram, the fixed Starry Protection Array Diagram, and the Counter-Damage Shield Magic Circuit Diagram.
Could we refer to the changes made to the Starry Protection Formation to improve the basic counter-damage shield?
Ancia's fingers unconsciously traced lines on the parchment. Lost in thought, she didn't notice that as she continued to try, the active light elements around her gradually approached her and gathered at her fingertips.
Heligalo, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, did not hear Ancia's voice for a long time. He opened his eyes with some confusion. The person who usually couldn't help but pass notes during basic magic theory classes was surprisingly quiet today during the boring wait, and didn't even say a word.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the light spots at Ancia's fingertips condense into half of an array. After adding a new stroke, the array emitted a strong fluctuation, with the light spots colliding and squeezing against each other, exuding a dangerous aura.
The perpetrator, however, was still in a state of flow, completely unaware of what was about to happen in the outside world.
Before he could say a word, Heligalo grabbed Ancia's wrist and pulled her to his side.
boom--
Ancia snapped out of her daze and found herself being held protectively in Heligaluo's arms. In front of them stood a cracked light shield, the Fixed Star Protection Array that had just been demonstrated in class.
Herigalo's embrace was warm and reassuring, as if he could shield her from all danger. When the gale bypassed Herigalo and reached Ancia's side, only a gentle breeze remained.
Wait, the top floor of the Light Dome is sealed off, so where is the wind coming from?
Ancia turned her head stiffly and found that the breeze came from the huge gaping hole that had been blasted open around her. One-fifth of the circular wall at the top of the tower had been blown away.
Cheryl's voice was deep, and it was impossible to tell how angry she was. "Ancia, stay after class."
Ancia tugged at Lahrigalo's sleeve, on the verge of tears, "Herri, are you really not worried?"
A note from the author:
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