"We've always considered Spirit Magic the sixth tier of magic and Blade Magic the seventh." Solus said. "Is Void Magic so powerful when applied to Dread Magic that it deserves the same ranking?"
"This is the first time I've heard about this classification, Solus." The Maiden replied. "My answer is yes and no. Yes, Void Magic holds great potential. Switching between two Cursed Elements in battle can deal great damage and bypass many protections.
"Moreover, according to your own definition, Spirit Magic is tier six and is required to apply Void Magic to Dread Magic, so it should have the same rank.
"For the same reason, if you conjure a Dread Magic spell with two Cursed elements and you can switch them both, it has higher destructive potential and deserves a higher tier as well."
"No, they are not on the same level. What Dread Magic gains in raw strength, it loses in versatility. This is especially true when you pare Spirit Magic with Dread Void Magic.
"Spirit Magic can do everything all other spells can do. Attack, defense, and even dimensional magic. It's a branch of magic in a league of its own with no weak points nor limits. It's what makes white cores like me nigh-omnipotent.
"We produce enormous quantities of pure mana that Spirit Magic allows us to shape however we want and cast even plex Gravity Spells that would otherwise exceed our dimensional awareness.
"Dread Void Magic is indeed more powerful than elemental and Dread tier five magic, but it can only destroy. Maybe, once we get good enough with it, we'll also be able to shape it into barriers, but always of the destructive kind.
"You can't use them to protect the weak, trap your enemies, or build something. So no, Dread Void Magic isn't at the same level as Spirit Magic. Switching two Cursed elements at the same time would be much more powerful and deserve an upper tier, but only pared to tier six Void Dread Magic.
"We'd call it tier seven to distinguish the two, but it would still be below pure Spirit Magic in terms of versatility, let alone Blade Magic."
"What if I managed to cast a Tower Tier Dread Magic spell that uses three Cursed elements and their counterpart scattered elements?" Lith asked. "Once I apply Void and Spirit Magic, I would obtain a flow of mana where all elements have been replaced by their Cursed version.
"How powerful would that be?"
"Honestly, I don't know if that would be even possible." Baba Yaga shrugged. "Once you remove the elements in the Spirit Magic, you also remove the buffer area that kept your Dread Void spell stable.
"Cursed elements are volatile and react violently to each other. I don't think a spark of your life force would be enough to isolate all six of them. I'm not saying that's impossible, just that it would be incredibly dangerous."
"Life force?" Solus echoed. "That's how you had the idea to use Spirit Magic to convert a Cursed element into its opposite. You treated them like your Void Flames."
"You got that right." Lith nodded. "When I conjure my Void Flames, I don't just inject a spark of Chaos into my Origin Flames. It would upset the balance in the world energy, and the resulting Flames would explode in my throat.
"What I do is coat the elements of the world energy with my human life force so that when the spark of Chaos replaces the darkness element, it cannot reach the light element and stable Void Flames are born.
"I applied the same principle to Dread Magic, but since I can't inject a spark of my life force into a Cursed element without it getting destroyed, I used Spirit Magic because it already contains a spark of my life force."
"It is a brilliant stepping stone in the development of Void Magic, but a stepping stone nonetheless." Baba Yaga patted his shoulder. "It's not something you can use in battle, but it will make an excellent training tool for you and a teaching tool for others."
"I agree with Malyshka, Lith, but I think you've bitten more than you can chew." Solus said. "Your understanding of Dread Magic is shallow. You are still stuck at the lower tiers and can't even shape the Cursed elements according to your will.
"The only thing you can do right now is shoot them at your enemy. Void Magic is a plex discipline that requires plete mastery over the elements to which it is applied. I say let's forget about it for now.
"Focus on tier four and five Dread Magic, and once you've figured out what they can do and what your limits are, we can give Void Magic another shot."
"You're right, Solus, I did get carried away, but put yourself in my shoes." Lith said. "I discovered a new branch of magic, and one that's almost exclusive to me. I was excited from learning something new every day, and I needed to test how far Void Magic can go."
"I'm not scolding you, Lith. I understand how you feel." Solus sighed. "If anything, I'm envious of you. I love magic as well, yet I'm forced to sit on the sidelines and watch you have fun.
"To make matters worse, Dread Magic makes your bond with Ely even more special, and ours feel of secondary importance."
"Says the woman who has access to my head 24/7, has Dragon Scales, and most of my life force." Lith replied. "Think about how Kami, who has none of that, must feel. She can't understand Ely half as well as we do.
"Dread Magic just rubs salt on her wounds since it adds one more thing from which she's left out."
"By my Mom!" Solus went pale at the idea. "I'll try to keep my whining to a minimum and away from Kami's ears, then."
"If you don't need me anymore, I'm going back to practicing Dread arrays." The Maiden said. "It's the best way to build up my resistance to the fear effect and expand what we know about Dread Magic without endangering anyone."
One of the advantages of conjuring arrays with true magic was that the Dread Runes would exist solely in her mind. Until Baba Yaga injected them with mana, the Dread Runes would manifest their aura of terror but hold no real power.
Failure meant that she would lose her focus and the runes would fade away. If she practiced Dread Arrays with fake magic, instead, each rune would be filled with mana and go haywire the moment she lost control.
"I'll keep practicing regular Dread Magic, instead." Lith said. "I'll move up to tier four only after I can shape the Cursed Elements according to my will. Solus is right. Lacking such a basic ability means my mastery over Dread Magic is lacking.
"I need more robust foundations."
"And I'll go back home and ask Ryla to train me." Solus replied. "I can't help you anymore, and my Indech form needs some serious work."
***
Meanwhile, in the Verhen Mansion, everyone was following their morning training routine. Aran, Leria, Lilia, and Leran had moved to the Blood Desert to receive their magical lessons from Salaark's instructors.
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