Chapter 72: Intent Casting
"One question at a time, please," he said, not at all offended by her enthusiasm. In fact, he found her excitement cute in a nerdy way. Her reaction surprised him, though. Normally, she was composed and reserved, but she clearly couldn't contain herself when new knowledge was involved. It occurred to him that while she loved reading, what truly captivated her was learning new things. Her reaction at the library and now in the training room only reinforced this realization.
"The explosions are created using fire—" he began, patiently explaining the process. Lyra took diligent notes, her expression becoming more impressed with each detail. The technique was not only incredibly difficult to perform, requiring precise control over both the strength of the explosion and one's own body—without which, one might stumble instead of moving faster—but the unorthodox ideas behind it were also remarkably innovative and expertly crafted.
The conversation naturally shifted from Explosive Style to a broader discussion about magic. Even though Mikael didn't have Lyra's depth of knowledge—she had studied magic much longer—his unconventional approach and unique ideas added fresh perspectives.
Both of them gained something from the exchange. Mikael learned valuable insights about magical theory, while Lyra discovered new concepts and creative applications she hadn't considered before. Their conversation lasted longer than expected. Despite sitting on the ground, which wasn't the most comfortable, neither seemed to mind.
Their time together was both pleasant and productive, a win-win for them. Eventually, they decided to wrap up the discussion but agreed to meet again outside the library to continue their conversations. They realized that the library wasn't the best place for extended discussions, and renting private training rooms just to chat felt wasteful.
As they went their separate ways, Mikael suddenly realized that their planned future "meetings" bore a striking resemblance to dates. Lyra, however, didn't come to the same realization at the time. It would only hit her later, in the quiet of her dormitory, when she was more composed and reflective.
After parting ways with Lyra, Mikael returned to his dormitory. He headed straight for the training room, his thoughts racing. 'These past few days have been enjoyable, but I feel like I haven't progressed much. Of course, it's just an illusion—my knowledge of magic has grown a lot during this time.'
'But now, I think I'm good enough at magic to be considered at least a decent mage. I can start addressing the issue of spell diversity that I noticed during the ship protection military mission.'
With that thought, he picked up the book on the Heal spell, a second-circle light magic spell. Skimming through the sections on the spell's history, he quickly reached the part that interested him: the spellcasting process.
Spellcasting, as the book explained, could be broken down into several stages. First was converting one's mana into the necessary element; in this case it was the light element, as the Heal spell was a light-based spell. This step wasn't necessary for neutral spells.
The second stage involved manipulating the mana to achieve the desired effect, in this case, healing either the caster or another person. The book also described the intent required for the spell to work properly.