Chapter 28: Chantless Casting
The late spring sun was just reaching its zenith as I stretched out my arms and wiped away the sweat beading on my forehead. Casting Waterball in succession so many times was exhausting, not just on my mana stores, but also mentally. Continually using the Eyes of Fate added to the burden, although that took a lot less strength than Lysander led me to believe.
Despite my fatigue, tremors of excitement shook my hands as I prepared myself. It had been over a month since I last tried casting a spell chantless, but the memory was fresh in my mind. I envisioned the necessary runes and magic circle, then slowly reached for my mana.
The sweet, seductive warmth flowed into my body, renewing my strength and sending a thrill of anticipation through my body. I took a long, deliberate deep breath to quell some of the impatience, as that could be detrimental to the spell. Finally, I was ready.
"Waterball," I murmured.
I directed my mana to move in the same patterns a chant would, slowly Constructing a series of runes and placing them within the magic circle. The manual control took much longer than using a chant, eating up my willpower over the course of several minutes. By the time the last rune fell into place, my arms trembled from exertion, and my legs were ready to collapse. I grit my teeth and persevered, unwilling to let anything disrupt my concentration.
At last, the final rune fell into place. Closely observing the magic circle, I sighed in relief. It was a perfect replication, but I didn't release the spell yet.
Mustering what little remained of my dwindling mana, I tweaked a few runes, adjusting their placement within the circle. After a few other changes, I cut off my mana, watching as a spherical ball of water formed in my palm. It didn't appear any different than a typical Waterball, but it was hard to suppress the smile threatening my lips.
Letting the water drop to the ground, I quickly cast another Waterball, foregoing the chant once more. With my previous experience, I moved through the process much quicker, taking barely twenty seconds to cast both the spell and make the adjustments.
When the spell resolved, I had used barely half the mana required for the Waterball spell. This time, I really couldn't hold back a smile, the corners of my lips twitching uncontrollably.