As I moved deeper into the basent following Ryone, the scene rapidly shifted. The floor marked with countless diagrams smoothed out into stone tiles, and a wooden table with two chairs rose from the ground ahead. Compared to Bihena, who seed to have trouble making a basic stool, Ryone seed much more adept at controlling the Admin Room. With a slight motion, the elven goddess turned and sat at the seat on the far side of the table, leaving the other one to .
“Okay, there’s not a lot that I can teach you about the magic system, aside from the spells already discovered. But, with this new fire spell, I might be able to uncover a bit more of the secrets.” She made a satisfied smile, waving a hand to create several sheets of paper on the table. Each one had a detailed spell diagram drawn on them in glowing red ink.
“These are so of the more important spells I’ve identified, as each one has unique aspects. First, starting with the basics. Terra said she wasn’t able to teach you much at the ti, due to her restrictions, so let’s start with what I’ve learned.” As she spoke, she lightly tapped the table with her slender hand, causing one of the papers to rise into the air. With the diagram facing , I could instantly identify it as the basic fla spell.
Seeing that I recognized it, she continued her lecture. “Every spell discovered so far is contained within a circle. Why, though? The circles themselves aren’t needed to form the basis of magic, as we saw with the enchantnt diagram. While that does have circles, it does not have a single circle that encompasses the entire diagram.”
I hadn’t actually thought about that, so I lowered my head in thought for a minute. However, I couldn’t co up with a proper answer. What significance did the circles themselves play in the magic? When I looked up, Ryone saw my questioning gaze and smiled.
“My conjecture is that circles represent a ‘variable field’. Patterns stored inside of a circle are subject to change, while those not in a circle have to stay in a constant, fixed form. That’s why you can draw custom shapes in the center of a fla spell to direct it.”
I nodded my head slightly as I considered that. “Then… why are circles needed for all of these spells?” I motioned to the other papers present on the table.
“Hmm. Well, this is just my suspicion, but I think that part of the circle’s functions are to help solidify the patterns you put into it, and help them conform to the proper shapes. People rarely have a perfect ntal image, so the circle helps to correct things. But, this ans that there are also spells that could work with pieces outside the circle, or without a circle at all.”
With Ryone’s excited hypothesis, another piece of paper appeared in midair, this one holding an unfamiliar design. It looked in many ways similar to the basic shield spell, but there were four triangles along the outside of the spell’s outer circle. “This is sothing I found that the elves had discovered a few decades ago. The spell itself isn’t important, but this extra addition on the outside gives it a new purpose. When this shield spell is cast, the spell itself does not activate imdiately, but imbues itself onto the target surface. Then, whenever that particular area is given a strong enough shock, the spell automatically activates. I’m calling this design feature the ‘alarm trigger’. From a brief experint, the length of the individual triangles determines the amount of force needed to activate it, as long as all four are the sa size.”
I could only nod as I looked at the different diagrams she had laid out. Before she got carried away with her explanations, however, I wanted to cut in and ask sothing. “Then, how do you use multiple patterns for a single spell, like you did with that new fire spell earlier?”
Hearing my question, Ryone’s smile only grew wider. As the two pieces of paper floating in the air fell down, three more rose up. These seed to make up the sa spell she had recently displayed for . “That’s actually really easy. I’m not sure if it will stay true later on, but for this level of spell all you need to do is picture all three diagrams in your mind. Then, place them in any order you wish, as long as the ‘primary’ spell is placed last. From there, run your mana through each diagram in turn, before settling it on the final one.”
“And… the controlling aspect? How does that work?” I glanced at the two unfamiliar diagrams.
“Well… I haven’t had ti to study the specifics on what makes them do what they do yet. But, from a practical standpoint, you are able to ‘feel’ the spell with your mind, as well as the options you have to work with.” After that, Ryone helplessly shrugged her shoulders. “That’s really the best that I can do to explain it. I’ll need more ti to study and experint in order to get detailed information.”
I nodded my head again. From there, Ryone began to give a much more detailed lesson on the various aspects of magic she had discovered. However, unlike Terra who had given the spells directly, Ryone only gave the individual pieces. Though, she did explain in as great of detail as she could what each piece ant, and how it could change depending on where it was placed in a diagram.
To compare the two, Terra was having dissect a complete puzzle to figure out where the pieces fit, whereas Ryone was giving the pieces of the puzzle and explaining what to do with them. The two of them were teaching in pretty much opposite directions, but I honestly found it easier to understand Ryone’s thods. Maybe that was because she was able to give more direct help than Terra was, but it was easier to rember.
I lost track of just how long I spent down there, but after we were done studying, we naturally spent so ti ‘playing’. What? I hadn’t been able to have any fun with her or Terra since before we even gave Ryone her personality! Anyways, after that was done, I got what she had asked for to make the special enchantnt.
All in all, it was roughly a day or so before I was ready to get back to check on how the world was faring after the ti skip. Judging by the information window, it had been roughly a hundred and fifty years since the last ti I looked, and had only stopped because one of the alarms had triggered. Which, of course, ant that soone was about to get the short end of a very big stick.
Tsunami detected, traveling towards inhabited continent.
Sapients within path of tsunami: 1,390
Yikes. Why did it have to be the elves… I wasn’t really playing favorites with my concern, but the elves were really the worst ones to get hit by a natural disaster. After all, they had the lowest population of any race. The problem was… how am I supposed to save them from a giant wave of death?
Opening up the map, I saw that the aforentioned wave was only a couple miles out from the continent at the mont, but its scale was simply massive. In length, it had to be thousands of miles long, and at least five miles tall. If not for the fact that the southern tip of it was striking the northernmost area of the elves’ explored continent, it might still be bearable. But as things were, they had an hour at most before the wave breaks through the coast and reaches them.
I was thankful that the elves hadn’t yet explored all the way to the coasts, otherwise the people in danger would be much greater. Still, I couldn’t help but send a ntal page to Ryone, which likely ca across more like a blaring alarm. At least, if her wincing appearance a mont later was any indication.
“What’s going on, Dale? Also, you really need to practice thought transmitting. Oww…” She reached up and rubbed her head, as if it was hurting.
“Sorry, but we’ve got an issue.” I moved my chair aside to let Ryone have a look at the screen, letting her see the situation with the tsunami.
“Oh… wow… uhm… okay.” Her eyes went wide as she saw the massive wave frozen in ti, heading towards her own people. “So, is there so special Keeper option you can use to make that go away? ‘Disaster be gone’ or sothing like that?”
“Maybe? But, I was hoping we could do sothing different. Sothing less cheat-y?” For the first ti, Ryone sent a rather fierce glare at . Obviously, she didn’t like the idea of not sparing her people from an imminent disaster. “Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting we simply abandon them. Maybe warn the people that you can to get out of the way, first. After that… do you feel like showing off?”
Ryone stared blankly at my question, before turning back to the screen. “You an…?”
“Well, you are the Goddess of Magic, after all. Do you have any spells that you could use to slow the tsunami down, just long enough for it to wear its energy out before it has the chance to reach them?”
Ryone took a step back, and crossed her arms in front of her, lowering her head in thought. “Hmm… maybe. From what was explained to , each god or goddess should have ‘near limitless’ ability in their domains. For Irena, that ans she can do pretty much whatever she wants in the underworld. For , that should an that my mana pool should be practically unlimited if I descend. But, I haven’t really tested it out much, yet.”
She seed to be running a few different scenarios in her mind, before she looked at and resolutely nodded her head. “Okay, I think I’ve got an idea. Give a couple of minutes to prepare, and then you can restart the world.”
_______________________________________________________________
In the city of Hyren, several hundred elves ca together to enjoy a fairly peaceful life. Monster attacks were few, and the air had a certain quality to it that couldn’t be enjoyed in other cities. Due to this, Hyren was one of the most populated elven cities, but it had also been one that hadn’t imdiately recognized Gandor’s rule. This could not be entirely blad on them, however, as they were several month’s travel away from the capital city.
This seed to be a normal day, when suddenly birds could be seen taking to the sky en masse. Animals and monsters alike panicked, going so far as to ignore the hunters to run in a particular direction. Many residents saw this as a bad on, and were preparing to follow when a voice appeared in their minds.
Do not flee. You will be safe within your walls. Though they had never heard this voice before, everyone knew who it belonged to. With the assurance of their goddess, nobody dared to leave the city.
Soon, people could be seen scrambling towards Hyren’s walls, hoping to make it inside as quickly as possible. Anyone that had been out of the city for hunting, or farming, or even people that the residents had never seen before. Amidst the chaos, few people noticed a lone woman standing atop the walls, wearing a pure white dress.
However, soon they noticed. Everyone in the city had their gaze drawn to that woman, as torrents of magical energy surged around her. Those particularly sensitive felt as if they were suffocating under the pressure of this power, while others questioned if such a level of power were even possible.
As if in response to her power, the very ground itself shook in defiance. In the distance, a massive shadow covered the horizon, slowly growing larger as it approached them. At this ti, a soft-spoken voice echoed mysteriously through the city, its origins clearly the sa as the one that spoke into their minds a mont ago. “Stand behind .”
As the power surrounding the woman--no, the goddess, grew even stronger by the mont, so too did the impending shadow of destruction. Within monts, it had grown to a size that everyone could clearly make out what was causing the shadow. Water, on a scale that none of them had ever known.
Raising a hand that seed as if it would break from the slightest touch with that ever-growing wall of water, Ryone released the power she had been storing. Part of it surrounded the city, forming into a translucent shield of light, while the rest shot towards the wave in scattered blasts. Explosions could be heard within the wave as her spells impacted, blowing sections of it back. Still, more and more could be seen as it drew closer.
“Raw power won’t work, huh?” Barely anyone could hear the voice that sounded from the woman on the wall. “Guess we’re going to have to do this all at once.” Again, unimaginable power erupted from Ryone, far quicker than the previous spells.
This ti, when she released her spell, there was no explosion. There was only silence, as the encroaching wave had stopped in its tracks. As far as the eye could see, the towering wall of water had been frozen into a solid sheet of ice. However, that ice was still crashing towards them, albeit without much of the driving force it had before.
As if to relieve their fears of being crushed to death by the wall of ice, it exploded into shrapnel a mont later. As the shards of ice rained down from above, they crashed into the shield of light protecting the city, shattering harmlessly and falling off to the side. So people thought that the crisis might be over with this, but the shield remained standing.
Minutes passed before they had their answer, more waves crashing towards them from every direction. Although these waves were far smaller, and carried far less force than the one that had terrified them previously, it was still enough to strike fear into their hearts. Thankfully, Ryone simply remained on the city wall, pouring more and more power into the shield to prevent it from collapsing.
Soon, it seed as if the entire city was underwater, the dod shield being the only thing between them and a quick death. This continued for several long minutes, before finally the water started to lower. When the waters around the city barely reached the elves’ ankles, the barrier disappeared, and so of that water poured in.
Still, getting their feet wet was nothing compared to what would have happened had their goddess not appeared to protect them. Looking to the walls, people soon discovered that she had vanished without a single trace. Though she may have left quietly, her actions would be rembered forever.
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