I checked in with my friends, they were happily going through their spells and practicing the motions without actually casting it. Darksider seemed to be getting pretty close to giving a cast a go.

  I dropped down into the cross legged position and started meditating. I let my mana regenerate for a bit. Using meditation was considerably quicker than the natural regeneration I had been relying on before.

  What had that poster said though about a different style?

  I brought my hands down into the circles, and envisioned the mana flowing out of my core, down my arm, circling my fingers and then back up the other…

  I felt it speed up… that excited me, meditation wasn’t just a passive state…

  I imagined another wave doing it.

  That one was even faster. It had built upon the last. Good.

  I did another… with the speed the mana moved through my body, another benefit became apparent, my mana regen was nearly twice what it had been just before.

  I did another cycle of it and saw the regen rate increase to two and a half times what I was getting from meditation alone…

  That was four cycles. Five was supposedly the limit… Not wanting to push things so soon, I switched back to the original method and brought my palms up and flat in line with my shoulders.

  Ahh the regeneration rate is falling back down…I let it go down to almost baseline and repeat the process, after four cycles I was up to two and a half times.

  I smiled to myself, this was fun to do.

  I wondered what was causing it to increase, maybe the tighter spirals created pressure which is why it sped up and generated the mana? Or it pulls in more mana… I was just guessing at this point… I needed more data points.

  I tried pushing it to five cycles… Ahh yeah. The speed is on the edge of uncomfortable… and it only added about 40% of the base amount extra. No, the cost of my last bit of experimentation was a big chunk of my health pool. It wasn’t worth screwing things up when I didn’t need to.

  I tried switching every couple of cycles and found a happy medium where I’d let it drop down to half the extra bonus and then did two cycles to speed it back up… it felt more comfortable than trying to keep it constantly higher.

  I wanted to get this to be subconscious and then I could use the meditation time on other things, like studying the spells. I was close to figuring something out, I knew it.

  I settled down to another cycle and then lost myself to the flow.

  -- Darksider --

  Damian stood up and brushed his trousers off. He had taken Vax’s advice and got his head around the spell. He felt confident he wouldn’t mess it up too badly, so headed over to join the back of the queue.

  Thinking of his friend, he looked over at Vaxil’s avatar. She was standing out again. He couldn’t help but chuckle, especially considering, if Vax had realised just how many people were staring at the redhead, he’d have run a mile.

  Damian’s eyes went wide when he realised what he was seeing. He was only able to see it because of being in the same party, Aenara’s mana bar was flashing. An indication to the party when it was regenerating. Every time she brought her arms down into that more traditional meditation pose, the flashing would speed up… did Vax have a better meditation technique and hadn’t shared? The barsteward.

  -- Aenara --

  Mana fully regenerated, I stood up and stretched my back out. That felt good. I’d spent the last ten percent just reviewing the fireball spell. I wanted to get this one right the first time.

  It looked like all my friends had joined the queue for their turns. Peachy and G were both at the melee booths, and both seemed to have got their heads around the spell enough to successfully cast it at least once.

  I joined the back of the queue, just behind Darksider.

  “How’s it going?” I asked him, raising my voice over the sounds of spells going off more rapidly on the range.

  “Not bad. I managed to get the spell right just as my time ran out, I think I understand what you mean by the shape of it now… To be honest though, I think it would make more sense if I had tried to cast the spell from the instructions first, and then we had had the conversations about the shape and feel of the spell…”

  “Ahh… fair,” I replied… it was kind of hard to explain something you just have to have a feel for… like kickjumping a skateboard. “What about the others?”

  “Jacobs’ first attempt’s coming up.” he nodded to our friend who was waiting behind one of the booths. “Kenda successfully cast her spell on one of the melee dummies, but got told off by the professor. Despite it being close range, it’s still a ranged spell.” A cheer rose from the crowd as one of the players managed to cast the spell for the first time.

  I looked over to watch Peachy and G. She was taking about five seconds to cast the spell and then punching the dummy, which would then shake as if stunned. G on the other hand, seemed to focus his blade for about five seconds and it erupted in flames, he’d lash out a couple of times and then step back and let the flames die out. Then repeat it.

  “G’s spell is a channel…he’s just practicing recasting…”

  “It’s quite light on mana usage…” I comment looking at how little his bar was dropping.

  “Cost on hit, he went through a third of his bar wailing on the dummy the first time and then became more cautious…with how bloody minded he can get about pvp, it’s easy to forget how smart he can be at times…” Darkside said.

  “We are never to let him know.” I said. “It will just go to his head.”

  “Agreed. Maybe just give him a cookie later.”

  “So now you have managed to cast a spell… thoughts?”

  “You were right. This is interesting. You were saying about the patterns?” Darksider asked.

  “The start of Ball Lightning is very similar to the start of Spark. The middle section is almost identical in them and Shocking Grasp. Spark and Fire bolt are practically the same spell. I feel like I'm just a few more pieces away from understanding it…”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Be able to craft your own spells?” he asked with surprise. “That would be pretty huge…”

  “Not sure if to that extent, but I’m hoping I can say change the element… be cool if I could though…maybe the higher tiers become more scripting languages…”

  “Spell coding…” he said with a contemplative tone in his voice.

  “Queue’s moving quicker.” I say as we shuffled forward again.

  “People are burning through their mana quicker than they can regenerate it.”

  I watched one of the players cast a spell every three seconds or so, a rapid increase over the one spell every ten which had been the norm. After about forty seconds he stepped back with a huge grin on his face, and fist pumped. The Mage called him over. We were too far away to hear the conversation, especially over the spells being cast. Judging by the look of chagrin and then the even more ecstatic grin as he was given a slip, he had been told not to burn all his mana, and then been judged good enough to pass.

  Jacobs stepped into his booth, Darksider and I let out a rising “Wheeeerrr,” anticipation building as he aimed. Jacobs turned and gave us a scowl, before turning back and releasing his . We turned our sound into laughing cheers. As usual, he delivered.

  “Never underestimate my pocket healer!” declared Peachy, then stuck her tongue out at us. Which made Darksider and I laugh even more.

  I fist bumped Jacobs when he joined us, after a series of rapidly faster .

  “Good job.” I told him. Which got me a smug grin and a finger nail buff.

  He joined us in waiting for Kenda’s turn. She walked up, took a deep breath, and then leaning forward breathed out a fifteen foot cone of fire. This was the first time I had seen her spell, but from the reactions of the crowd they had been eagerly awaiting it. The cheer started quiet, but built up as she continued to breathe out flame. At the ten second point she was down to half her mana bar, at fifteen the breath stuttered and then a ring of fire came out of her mouth, followed by another. Then a thin stream shot through the middle of the two and she stood up.

  Kenda turned to the crowd, blew out another smaller ring of fire upwards, and then did a low bow.

  “Show off!” Jacobs shouted out to her.

  “Where did that come from?” I asked as she joined Jacobs on the other side of the queue’s barrier and met his waiting hand with a high five.

  “It felt too much like blowing smoke to not give it a go,” she said with the biggest grin on her face. She met my fist with her own. “Misspent youth giving me super powers! Muhahaha!”

  By coincidence, Darksider and I stepped forward into our booths at the same time. I finished my last review of and started casting it. Three had come from Darksiders booth before I finished casting, and released the small orb.

  I heard the sighs when the small like pellet came out of my hand and flew towards one of the dummies thirty feet from me.

  I’d been expecting it, but even I wasn’t properly prepared for the loud KABOOOOM! that occurred when it hit the dummy I had aimed for, and had expanded out to fifteen feet from that spot.

  Yep, as is tradition be stronk.

  My second one took only 4 seconds to cast…but then it also took another twenty percent of my mana, so I wouldn’t be learning how to spam this any time soon.

  I stepped away from the booth, high fived Darksider’s outstretched hand as I walked past him and headed over to one of the empty melee dummies.

  I just needed to demonstrate , so I pulled my Tempest Battlestaff from my [Inventory], finished casting the spell into it and just thrust forward into the dummy’s face. I gave the Mage a questioning look, and got a barely perceptive nod in response.

  I stepped back, and the munchkin glomped me.

  “Tell me your secrets, Obi-wan, you’re my only hope…” she grumbled into me as I walked towards the assessing mage.

  “It’s practice, Penelope.” I ignored the feeling of her scowling at me. “Mostly through applying it in combat multiple times did it really lock in how to cast quickly.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. Now get off!” I shook the leg she was entangled onto.

  “Congratulations, Storm Mage Ravenscroft. An impressive display of Shocking Grasp. Your Fireball though will need more practice before trying it in combat. You might want to look into shaping meta magic if you intend to use it in group situations.” He offered me a small crystalline token with a slight nod of his head. “Take this to the Arcanum Proctor and he will grant you access to the second floor. Arguably this grants you access to rank five spells, but with your present aether capacity you will find them almost impossible to cast.”

  “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure. It’s also much more enjoyable being able to pass students onto their relevant schools. So for that, I also thank you.”

  I turned away and headed over to where my friends were all in meditation.

  “Should we attend these classes or do more practice?” Jacobs asked as I approached.

  “I wouldn’t mind a bit more practice.” Darksider said. “I’d like it to be a bit more polished.”

  “Practice,” a disappointed Peachy moaned in that tone she used when she didn’t want to do the right thing.

  “I just got a token for a new spell, I’d like to go and collect…”

  “Before you go, what was that different mana pose you used?”

  “Oh, saw it on a poster while waiting for you all to get meditation. There are some limitations to it, but this is how you use it…” My friends are smart, it didn’t take them long to grasp it.

  The Mage outside the Arcanum gave me a snooty look as I approached him, which evaporated when I offered him the token. He reached out and touched my mage ring without taking the token.

  “Congratulations, Storm Mage Ravenscroft,” he said through gritted teeth. I really feel like I upset him somehow.

  So I was expecting upstairs to be a lot like downstairs, empty shelves and a maze to explore. Instead it was more like a modern bookstore or library. Light coloured woods, large windows, a well lit room. There was a elderly female mage in a white robe and large round glasses. Her grey hair tied up in a neat bun. She gave me a big wide grin and I instantly felt like I had just come into my Grandma’s living room and she had been looking forward to my visit.

  “Hello, Deary. Do you have a token for me?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” I pulled out the token.

  “You impressed Kenworth’s boy? Well this entitles you to any spell up rank five. Do you have one in mind?”

  “Is there a list I can peruse?” I asked.

  “Only in my head, sweetie.”

  “What do you recommend?” I asked.

  “What do you have?” she asked back

  “Spark, Shocking Grasp, Ball Lightning, Fire bolt, and Fireball.” I replied

  “A nice selection of spells… Do you want more Inferno to even it out? Arctic to unlock the third school? Or a more utility Storm spell?” she asked rhetorically. “No… you don’t need more damaging fire options… lightning step would be a good movement ability…” she seemed to stop her musings. “For you, I have a couple of suggestions, Lightning step is a Storm movement spell. Short range teleport spell. It’s not cheap on the mana, but there are few better escape spells. You could also round out your simple attack spells with Ice Bolt. Though I think something which rounds out your defences might be more appropriate. Ice Blade. Will give you a sustained melee weapon option.”

  “What is Ice Blade?” I asked.

  “A personal favourite of mine.” She raised a hand and a two foot blade of ice extended from her hand. “If used with a battle staff it can take the form of a scythe or a spear.”

  “That sounds good.” She nodded at me and waved her hand in my direction.

  ‘‘The Librarian wishes to transfer a spell to your spell book:’

  ‘Ice Blade: rank 1’

  ‘Do you accept [y/n]’

  I accepted and my token disappeared.

  “Thank you.” I said to her with a grin.

  “My pleasure young lady. I will look forward to seeing you again.”

  I was on my way back to the Spell Forge, when I received a message.

  ‘Samuel…: Heya! Are you anywhere near the Mage Guild and free to do some content?’

  ‘Samuel…: We’ve found a five man dungeon and could do with a 5th I trust.’