9 Chapter9: I survived

"Professor, what if we use a material as a medium, like runes on the ground? Can't we create more space for the spell?", asked Lukas, wanting to know the reason for this.

Upon hearing this, the professor's smile momentarily froze before widening.

'What was I even expecting from him'

However, he knew that he had to respond seriously. He could see that some of the students were also contemplating on the same idea, although not the majority. Approximately one-third of the total students seemed to be considering it.

"If you have enough mana and control over it, you can mix any sigil into it. An example is our aura zone and as we are on the topic, a magician can instantly make dozens of sigils in ones aura zone by having the perfect image of the combinations in his mind.."

He paused for a second before continuing.

"Okay, let's address the actual question. If we engrave on something, like the ground or a rock using a specific ink, we can create as many sigils as we want.

Even though it may seem cool, but it's not very useful unless we're using it for a large-scale summoning or a teleportation spell. The first problem is the limited area as unlike a spell where we can stack sigils on top of each other, we can't do that if we carve them on something. It takes up too much space."

Another student stood up and asked, "But professor, what if we use a small round object?"

Professor Corwin nodded, "That's possible. However, we have to consider that only a few special materials can withstand the force of a sigil. And although it is possible,controlling it will require three times the amount of mana and soul power. That's why we use mana crystals instead of our own mana."

"Okay, another problem is that even if we can activate it, spells that exhaust and have Pathwave sigils won't work upon activation. They will explode."

Another hand went up. It was Mia, the girl with long white hair. She asked, "Professor, is that how spell talismans work?"

Professor nodded with satisfaction, "Yes, very good. You earn 10 credit points."

She was happy hearing that.

"Yes, that's how talismans work. The effect comes from the sigil itself, not the actual material it was carved on. Therefore, when activated, if it's an exhaust spell, the effect will bypass the material and destroy it in the process," the professor explained, looking at Lukas.

"Are you clear, student Lukas?"

Lukas nodded, feeling excited as these problems didn't apply to his soul gear. He could stack up sigils on it.

"Professor, is there a limit to how many sigils we can put on a spell?" Lukas asked.

"The answer is obviously yes, as long you have mana that is. The force field surrounding the whole continent was also laid down by underground channels," the professor replied.

"But it's not limitless as you might think. Each circle has a different type of aura, like frequency. Thus, the restrictions of not being able to use higher-tier sigils still exist."

Mia raised her hand and asked, "Sir, what about when we use lower circle sigils?"

"Well, you see, when we use spells, we use our magical circles located in our hearts. These circles vibrate, giving a specific frequency that activates spells. When mages use their spells, all of the circles spin at the same time."

"I see, professor. Understood," Mia said, sitting back down.

Corwin sighed, realizing it wasn't that of a bad question afterall.

"Might as well give them more" thinking that.

" As we are on the topic, Let's talk about dark magic"

"Dark magic is the bane of humanity and a weakness of our magic. Unlike our circles in our hearts, they practice something called 'sealed hearts'."

"Their circles work similarly to ours, except it's harder to train. They have something called 'noise frequency' that disrupts the existing order of the world. When we come into contact with their magic, instead of nullifying elements like nature does with water and fire, they always have the advantage over us. If we use fire against their fire, there's a high possibility of us losing".

Seeing that the students understood, he decided it was time to end the class.

With a flick of his hand, the small pages on the table started floating and stopped before every single person.

On the small page a number appeared before disappearing slowly.

"That was your dormitory number. I hope not everyone was dumb enough to forget it. If you did, raise your hand."

Seeing no one raising their hand, he added, "One last thing, don't forget to read the rule books. That's your homework. All courses scheduled for today have now been concluded. You will find detailed course information in the books. I wish you good luck, students."

Saying that, he took the files he brought and exited the room. The students burst into chatter.

" Did you see how cool that was! "

" Hehe, behold I have fire"

" Bunch of country bumpkins"

" Hey, don't tell me you weren't surprised "

" Heh, idiots "

" You wana die?"

" I'm Ana, nice to meet you all"

Conversation burst apart on the class as students one by one started heading towards their assigned rooms.

Lukas was confused for a bit as how powerful his soul gear was. But today he completely clarified all the doubts he had in his mind. He was quite happy with it's power.

He'd realized long ago how spells worked by drawing the sigils, some of which he knew from his previous life but he didn't activate them as it was a tabbo to activate a spell before awakening the elements. It was an extremely dangerous endeavor.

Through research he realized that just through mind commands, he could draw and stack sigils together on the page. And the most frightening thing was that he could put as many sigils he wanted, although it was only his conjecture since he hadn't reached a limit on stacking yet.

Even though he didn't know many sigils to begin with but he was able to stack more than 50 sigils together from the 8 sigils he knew.

Just thinking about it, he was excited. Only thing which was limiting him was his knowledge of sigils.

" Oh wait, I do have one more limitation" He muttered realizing that he can't take out his soul gear in public as gaining a soul gear before one reached fifth circle was unheard of.

He could use the pen by calling it a medium, but if the public were to find out, he would be in serious trouble.

"I have to act cautiously", he thought. Then, he realized that someone who had been sitting beside him was now gone.

Lukas muttered, "So she's here at the academy at this time."

Unknowingly, his heart started beating faster and his face turned red. But then he shook his head clearing any lingering thoughts.

"Let's calm down first I will let nature take its course. I'm here to learn magic, I'll only focus on that first."

Although he knew a lot about "The blood Queen" from the future.

His mind turned to a memory of the events after the collapse of the forcefield, he lay in a pool of his own blood on the verge of death when he caught the sight of that long black hair and red eyed figure, massacring the dark forces left and right.

That sight was engraved into his mind that day, especially those deeply crimson eyes glowing even in the darkest of moments. After the dark forces were beaten back, she performed one of the largest healing magic spell he's ever seen,reviving those with even the slightest of breath left in them.

The last day of that same month, after a difficult battle,outside a destroyed fortress, they met again, this time face to face. She was wounded heavily after a great battle nearby. However something was strange, her breathing was ragged, and her face a deep shade of red.

He wondered whether it was poison or some ability from the enemy mages. While he was in thought she pounced on him, biting hard on his neck sucking as much blood as she needed to cure herself, it was an instinct she couldn't control.

Thankfully due to his strong constitution, he survived the severe loss of blood but what came after made even his strong body on the verge of complete exhaustion. Right in front of his eyes she teared up her own clothes and kissed him forcefully...

That was beginning of the journey for the cold him to realize what the warmth of a woman was and how much of a beast one in heat can be.

Back to the present,

Lukas started blushing again after recalling that time.

Little did he know that his sudden blushing face was seen by the students around him.

"He's weird. I shouldn't be friends with him."

They murmured among themselves.

As he was about to exit the room, he saw someone standing right beside the door, looking at him.

It was none other than Professor Corwin. Lukas finally realized what he had been forgetting. He had been told to come to the professor's office.

"Ah, hello professor," Lukas muttered, standing in front of him.

Professor Corwin sighed upon seeing this and felt sorry for the family Lukas belonged to. "No need to come to my office. Just focus on your studies. Your family has high expectations."

"Yes, professor, I understand."

Professor Corwin nodded and then realized something, grabbing Lukas' shoulder. "You can go. Don't forget to read the rule books. You will be the first person I ask questions to."

Just seeing those intimidating eyes sent a chill down Lukas' spine,"Yes! professor."

Feeling pleased, Professor Corwin let him go and headed towards the laboratory in a happy mood.

Lukas sighed and wiped his forehead, "I survived."

With that, he started heading towards the students' dormitories.

[ to be continued..]