"Are you sure you aren't mistaking this for another spell?" William asked, excitent in his voice. He was hoping to get Jinra's help to learn the spell faster, but if what Jinra said was true, things were going even better than he'd hoped.
Jinra read the spell again. "Uh, yes, yes. I am old but not crazy. This is the spell I know."
Many thoughts were racing through William's mind at that mont, but he just asked one thing. "Can you help learn it in one month?"
Jinra got up from the dining chair and started pacing through the hall, both hands behind his back. "I can help you learn it, yes, but I think one month might be too short. This is not a simple spell. In fact, only a handful of people know this."
In the current state of Aethel, only eight people knew it, and apparently, it wasn't that different in ancient tis. The only difference was that the spell to was much better written. Jinra looked at William and saw his eyes fall.
"Don't look so sad, kiddo. Let's do our best so that you can learn it in one month, alright?"
It wouldn't be an easy task, and for Jinra, it would be impossible if not for William's talent for learning magic. But ti was still short; therefore, they started the training right after breakfast.
Jinra searched his entire house for sothing, and after about an hour of searching, he ca back with an ancient scroll in hand. "This is the Magic Mind I know," he said, handing the scroll to William. "Take a look."
The scroll had far less information about the spell, but most of the information there was not present in William's Magic Mind to. It still had the 192 runes, but they were better explained and not filled with useless words.
William now agreed with Jinra. "My to feels like soone tried to make it harder so that no one could learn it."
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Jinra nodded. "Yes, correct. This is not sothing new, you know," Jinra explained. "It's normal for very good spells like this one to change throughout the years. Sotis people lose track of how the spell was originally cast, or they try to fool you with an adulterated version."
William knew that Tholfnir or the magic academy wouldn't provide adulterated spell tos for their students. The Magic Mind to William had was the sa one everyone else had, but if that was the case, then what happened to the original copy? Did sothing happen to humanity, and had they lost their knowledge?
William was certain that sothing had changed throughout history simply because the greatest mages of all ti were in the past. After eting Jinra, soone incredibly powerful who knew many spells, William was sure that the ancient mages were far stronger.
However, the reason for humanity's decline was still a mystery to him, sothing unknown that he wished to uncover in the future.
"Let's start your training then," Jinra suggested. "This is not easy, and you might not succeed, but like I said, let's try our best."
They went outside the house, into the open area to feel the fresh morning breeze and hear the distant sounds of the river and the singing birds. That brought a sense of inner peace that helped with training, or at least it seed to.
"You know there are plenty of runes for you to master, right?" Jinra said. "192."
"Yes, I know, and the effect is always on, right? So this must make the spell much harder to learn."
Jinra confird, "You are right about that. Let's start with the first 50 runes, shall we?"
The spell was divided into four parts: 50 runes, 50 runes, 50 runes, and the remaining 42 runes.
Whoever created the spell believed it was a way of making it easier to learn, as the student could first learn the first 50 runes, add them to their body, and experience minor effects of the Magic Mind spell without completing it entirely.
Well, that was what the to Jinra had explained. The one William had was not like that, and perhaps that was what made it so much harder.
"The idea behind completing the first set of runes is to experience the minor effects of the spell," Jinra explained to him. "You know one of the effects is faster learning of other spells, right? So, you can learn the remaining parts more easily."
When the training started, William regretted choosing that spell. The runes were overcomplicated, and the first set already contained 50 for him to master! It was incredibly difficult. Jinra demonstrated the runes, creating them effortlessly.
Despite having soone to guide him, William had a hard ti recreating them. That's when Jinra decided to try sothing different.
"Are you up to try sothing dangerous?" Jinra asked him.
"Sothing dangerous?" William repeated, stopping his practice and staring at Jinra.
Jinra nodded. "I can help you unlock the mana points inside your body, making it easier for the mana to flow. This will make it much easier for you to learn any spell. But the thing is, it's dangerous. If it fails, you could be crippled."
William wasn't a particularly brave person—most of the ti, at least—and the idea of being crippled wasn't appealing. What if things went wrong? Would he ever have the chance to get his revenge?
"I'll think about it. For now, let's just keep practicing as we are."
"Sure. No problem."
They kept practicing the runes for hours. William managed to create the first five—for a short ti—but that was already sothing. Jinra helped him in any way he could, whether by demonstrating how the spell was cast or helping him guide the mana. But he also seed distracted, as if he was thinking of sothing else. He was trying to find a way to help William learn faster without the risk of crippling him, like his previous suggestion.
At the end of the training day, William was covered in sweat. He was sitting on the grass outside, with Jinra right in front of him.
"Kid," Jinra said, "do you think you can stay here alone for a few days?"
"I guess. But why?" William asked him.
"I need to go find sothing, sothing that might help you. But it will take a few days..." Jinra said.
Considering William's situation, he was more than willing to stay alone for a few days if Jinra brought back sothing that might help him. The Magic Mind spell was incredibly difficult, and he only had one month to learn it if he wanted to pass the exam.
"Sure."
"Alright," Jinra gestured for him to follow him. "I'll show you the house."
William got up and followed him.
Jinra showed him all parts of the house—with the exception of a few locked doors.
"You can stay in this room; don't sleep in the barn again," Jinra said. "Before you ask, the house and the surrounding area have magical formations to protect you. The only reason you got close to the house the day we t is because I deactivated them; otherwise, you would be dead."
"...Right, that's good to know," William said.
After the house tour, Jinra packed a few things into a backpack and left, leaving William alone in the house. William, the disciplined student that he was, started practicing Magic Mind again. He couldn't afford to lose any ti.
When night ca, he went to the bedroom to sleep—and then return to his present ti in the magic academy—and that's when he heard a strange noise coming from one of the locked doors. It sounded like a voice.
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