Nick was moving so fast that he had already moved a few kilometers from where he started in just over a minute. He mused:
(I call this magic formation the Speed Bubble Formation. Its foundation is based mainly on space path principles with rule path principles of 'light' and 'engine' complementing the space path elements. Using the power of space path, a vacuum is created inside and outside the speed bubble that removes air resistance and manipulates the gravity in and around it. The rule path principles of 'light' minimizes the acting mass of anything contained within the speed bubble and the speed bubble itself and the rule path principle of 'engine' allows the speed bubble to consume the magic materials that I fed it as wells as my own magic energy to propel the speed bubble constantly and automatically, according to my will. Although this magic formation doesn't manifest like typical space path formations would during operation, it is still a magic formation. The shape and characteristics of this Speed Bubble Formation probably has a lot to do with my combined master attainments in space and formation path.)
Nick soon thought about the students that were at the starting point even an hour after the race had started and reasoned:
(They were probably preparing their methods like me. One thousand kilometers is a long distance to travel using just your own magic energy reserves. I estimate that if I tried to do it by flying using just Absolute Push and Absolute Pull, I'd need at least a day to cross that distance because I cannot move too fast while my body has to deal with the surrounding air resistance as well as there is the accumulated fatigue of maintaining the spells indefinitely. I could use other space path spells to deal with the air resistance but that would distract from my flying. The Speed Bubble Formation makes it easy to move quickly while insulating my body from the air resistance and pressures of high speed movement and it also economizes the magic energy consumption. Although the drain on my own magic energy reserves is significant, I can deal with that by meditating midflight and the rest of the magic energy required to maintain the formation's operation comes from magic materials that I can feed it every once in a while. In other words, I really do have an 'engine' helping me along.)
Nick saw glimpses of the other students moving along and over the terrain but rarely was anyone flying as high as himself and when he did come across someone who was flying just as high as the speed bubble, they were not moving nearly as fast and from their perspective, the Speed Bubble Formation went by like a blurry streak.
Soon, the students who noticed Nick's speed bubble moving by at incredible speed began asking around since many of them were still relatively close to each other:
"What the hell was that, a UFO?"
"It was probably someone's method. Comparisons really are odious. I don't know how any of us are supposed to compete with that speed."
"Dammit, my magic energy reserves are almost empty! I have to stop and rest."
"Sigh, mine too."
...
An hour after Nick had started flying, he no longer came across other students and so just cruised by. Nick soon noticed that another good thing about the Speed Bubble Formation was that he was moving too fast and too high for others to interfere with or pester him. Nick floated inside the formation meditating while also making sure that the formation moved in accordance to the direction of the red heat qi that was flowing near to the clouds.
Two hours later, Nick felt self-assured:
(I didn't even have to worry about terrain problems from this height. I've seen deserts, forests, cliffs, lakes and flown past hills and mountain ranges. Although there were a few close calls when it came to the latter two since I was sometimes forced to make sharp turns and detours, I've had almost no obstacles. Magic formations are the best! No wonder Formation Magicians are so highly valued.)
Not long after, Nick reached the end of the red heat qi and thus the end of the race. He quickly discovered a reception area situated on a wide, grassy field below. Nick willed and his Speed Bubble Formation stopped in midair and descended towards the ground thereafter.
When the Speed Bubble Formation hovered only a few inches above the ground, Nick had it self-destruct and so the speed bubble degenerated into free flowing magic energy and Nick landed on the ground safely. He then walked three meters to his front to greet two grey robed, male Magicians that both had short, blonde hair and blue eyes. Nick greeted them, saying:
"Hello, sirs. Does the fact that the red qi end here mean that I've completed the race?"
The two Magicians looked at Nick weirdly in response to his arrival. The actions of all the competitors had been monitored and broadcast since the beginning of the event so these two were aware that Nick had designed a magic formation to get here, a space path magic formation at that.
The two Magicians were impressed but a little doubtful. The Magician on the right with a full mustache and beard thought:
(This one isn't from one of the academies that our family supports. How can he just design a formation from scratch so quickly? Did Richter Order Academy always give out such good instruction?)
Naturally these men had the information for the various students and they both knew who Nick was and the academy that he was affiliated with. The man on the right said:
"We are administrators for the competition and yes, this is the end of the race for you. Nick Capitol, you have achieved first place."
Nick replied:
"Oh, do I get a beer bath, now?"
The right eyelid of the Magician standing on the left twitched a little when he heard Nick's question; he had no facial hair and had a scar on his chin. He still answered the young Magician politely:
"No, but we can send you back to Garden Isle to prepare for the next event or you can stay here and wait for the rest of the students along with us."
Nick thought about it and decided that he would wait for the event to end before leaving.
(I might as well since I want to compare the performance of my Speed Bubble Formation with the methods of others.)
Nick replied:
"I'll wait here for the event to conclude."
After telling the robed Magicians what he intended to do, Nick moved a few meters away from them and summoned a non-magical armored vehicle from his space band and went into the driver's seat, following which, he began thinking about the Cross Stream sword technique. He had not given up in thoroughly learning the technique but did not have sufficient time to practise it since he came to Garden Isle.
(I've seen the technique practised hundreds of times within the dream state and I can remember its movements vividly like I, myself, practised it without stop for a long time. The dream states are powerful in that way at least, but it's not like I can control the kinds of dreams that I experience. I wonder what would happen if I tried to get my hands on the corpses of powerful Magicians. Hmmm...logically, I think that my rank 2 Manifest Soul spell would have difficulty constructing the pseudo-souls of powerful human Magicians...)
Nick sat in his armored truck for hours and no other student showed up until around the eighth hour after the race had started. At that time, a torrent of blood appeared on the horizon and sped across the grassy field until it arrived in front of the two grey robed Magicians.
When the blood torrent dispersed, a man with short, blonde hair and blue eyes was revealed. Nick squinted his eyes and observed the man for a while, thinking:
(Isn't that the guy that asked me about my magic formation at the starting point?)
The bearded Magician on the right said:
"Kirst, how comes you took so long to get here? Someone already beat you to first place, you've come in at second."
The blonde haired student that was apparently named, Kirst, replied:
"I waited a while at the starting point because I discovered an interesting guy and I wanted to see what he was doing as well as fine tune a certain magic tool. Achieving second place during this event is no big deal."
The two Magicians who seemed to know Kirst spoke to him a little more in a familiar tone before letting him do whatever he wanted, like Nick. Kirst also decided to wait on the other competitors and soon noticed Nick's armored truck that was parked some distance away. After some slight scouting, he recognized Nick's identity as the man who designed the space path formation hours earlier.
Kirst ran over to Nick's armored truck and knocked on the closed window. Nick rolled the truck window down and Kirst immediately greeted:
"Funny seeing you here. I knew that your magic formation was fast but I didn't think that you would ride it all the way here to victory."
Nick could appreciate Kirst's clear interest in magic so Nick spoke to him more than he usually would with strangers:
"Apparently, magic formations are great for achieving simple objectives efficiently. It was no big deal. My name is Nick Capitol of Richter Order Academy by the way."
Nick thought that he might as well introduce himself since remaining anonymous with this eager man felt awkward. The blonde haired student introduced himself in turn:
"My name is Kirst Eltshire of Great Overlord Academy. Mind if I join you in this sweet truck? I got some great Japanese candy."
Nick thought for a bit and then replied:
"Well, if it's Japanese, sure."
Nick actually wanted to try the candy because when he was younger, he did hear that Japanese candy was something special.
(I'm not too worried about this Kirst fellow succeeding in doing something funny. That's the confidence that I have in my own strength. Hmmm...that movement spell from earlier does suggest that he might be a blood path Magician...)
Kirst walked to the other side of the truck from the front and got into the front passenger seat, closing the door afterwards and summoning multiple bags of candy onto the dashboard from his space band. Nick then uttered:
"Well, don't mind if I do."
Nick picked up a bag of gummy candy, opening it with his hands before starting to eat the candy inside. Kirst did the same thing and both men sat in the armored truck doing nothing but eating candy for almost an hour. During that time, other competitors appeared; some decided to go back to Garden Isle while others waited around to see the outcomes personally. The students that remained noticed the armored truck but did not pay much attention to it.
By this time, Kirst made a few comments:
"Most of the students that showed up after me are from aristocrat academies like my Great Overlord Academy. That is not surprising since they are likely to have legacy methods and magic tools to help them cross the one thousand kilometer distance efficiently."
After Nick munched on a piece of candy, he asked:
"How did you get here so quickly? Last time I checked, blood path was specialized in combat, not movement."
Kirst rubbed his nose bashfully and replied:
"You know too little about blood path, and if you were subtly asking, yes, I am a Blood Magician. Blood path may be well suited for combat but that is because it is capable of pushing all battle attributes to the limit and that includes speed, so in a way, blood path is very...speedy. That being said, I had a little help keeping up with the constant expenditure of magic energy."
Nick thought for a moment and soon realized that what Kirst said made sense. Both Magicians stayed quiet from then on and watched as other students arrived. At around the 98th place, Nick finally saw William appear and noticing Nick sitting in the armored truck, he came over, at which point, Nick rolled down his window. William asked:
"Looks like you got here before me, Nick. What position did you arrive in?"
Nick replied indifferently:
"I came in at first."
William slightly raised his right eyebrow in surprise since he knew that he ought to be faster than Nick; he reasoned:
(During the race, I was held back by the need to restore my drained magic energy reserves through meditation after moving one hundred or so kilometers, there was also the problem of dealing with different terrains along the journey and I came into conflict with a few students along the way because they attempted to create obstacles. If I had all these problems, shouldn't Nick's experiences have at least been around the same? How did he beat me here?)
Nick already knew what Williams expression meant so he offered an 'explanation':
"I just got lucky, I remember picking up a four leaf clover on the way to the arena."
William's eyes opened wide in response to hearing Nick say such a shameless thing and then he chuckled and shook his head. He replied:
"Well, I guess your win is a win for Richter Order Academy. Good work."
William then noticed Kirst in the passenger seat and thought that he looked familiar. Within a few moments, William recognized the blonde haired man:
"Aren't you Kirst Eltshire of Great Overlord Academy? Nick, since when do you know someone from the royal family?"
Nick already figured that Kirst was affiliated with the royal family once he heard his name but he did not care at the time and didn't care now.
"I don't really 'know' him but we did enjoy some great candy together during the past hour."
Kirst spoke after hearing William identify him:
"I recognize you from certain family tournaments. You are William Rollins. There are many Magicians that are impressed by you."
William replied:
"Not as much as those that are impressed by you, though. I heard that you became a blood path master at the age of twenty-two and are only a short distance from becoming rank 3 at twenty-six years old. That's some serious talent."
Kirst shrugged off William's praise by saying:
"I had a lot of help along the way and besides, how can you be impressed by me when you have such an incredible Formation Magician in your ranks."
William's expression became slightly confused and he asked:
"Who is the Formation Magician that you are referring to?"
Now it was Kirst's turn to be confused as he asked in turn:
"Aren't you aware that Nick is a Formation Magician? Probably the whole world saw him design the magic formation that he used to win the race."
William didn't know what to say because as far as he was concerned, what Kirst was saying could not be true. William asked with obvious doubt in his tone:
"Is that true, Nick?"
Nick internally sighed:
(I really don't like explaining myself so I don't plan to.)
Nick maintained his indifferent expression and replied:
"I just made use of a good method. No big deal and I'm not really a Formation Magician."
Kirst clearly didn't believe Nick and William, realizing that Nick wouldn't easily admit to anything, didn't bother probing about the subject anymore. William just asked:
"Can I join you in the truck?"
Nick unlocked the back right door and said:
"If you want to, that is no problem."
William joined Nick and Kirst and sat in the back seat behind Nick while observing the rest of the students that finished the race. In the meantime, Nick continued thinking through the motions of the Cross Stream sword technique.
At around the 115th and 213th place, nine to ten hours after the start of the race, Victoria Nelson and Jet Kawasaki finally appeared but instead of staying within the artificial realm, they each had the bearded, grey robed Magician send them away amidst a flash of silver light by waving his right hand.
At around the 300th, 349th and 372nd places, Patrice, Pearl and Jessica appeared respectively and also left the artificial realm. Edward and Calder appeared soon thereafter amidst a crowd of students and each managed to survive the first event by Edward placing 401st and Calder placing at 408th.
Once the twelve-hour time limit had expired, Nick and everyone else were teleported back to the arena, within the grass lined field at the ground level; everyone only saw their vision enveloped by silver light before the scene of the arena appeared in front of them. Nick, William and Kirst then exited the armored truck, following which, Nick stored the truck within his space band.
Immediately after the students appeared on the field, a holographic list of the participants in the race as well as their final placement and the academy that they attended was projected, detailing all eight hundred and thirty students. Nick saw his name at the 1st position and that guaranteed him a place in the following event.
Soon after, Ralph Eltshire appeared standing above the spatial sphere that had yet to dissipate and announced:
"These are the rankings for the completed race event. Only the top four hundred and twenty students will be advancing to the next event. The rest can watch from their academys' sections or join the spectators in the stands."
After Ralph said that, hundreds of gold coins suddenly appeared in midair, hovering at the same level as the spatial sphere, each having an eye imprinted on one side and a double-edged sword imprinted on the other. Ralph snapped his fingers and all the gold coins disappeared as if they were never there. He then said:
"All the disqualified competitors have now lost the gold coin belonging to Might Eye so you know yourselves clearly. Moving on, the next event will begin in eight hours so please rest up."
Ralph said that and then disappeared amidst a flash of silver light. After Ralph disappeared, conversations could be heard developing among the watching audience:
"The race went well enough and we got to see very famous students from the aristocrat academies."
"If you say so. I don't like the fact that none of the students had a really good brawl that resulted in bloodshed. Where are their guts? "
"Did any of you notice that the person in first place is not from the aristocrat academies. Richter Order Academy...that's an academy situated in London, right?"
"Yeah. I know that there are really over two hundred academies within the United Kingdom but only eighty-three of them opted to participate in the competition. Richter Order Academy is ranked in the top one hundred and twenty overall. I didn't expect their student to out compete those from the aristocrat academies but stranger things have happened."
"Hmph! You're all old farts. What does academy ranking have to do with individual ability? Did you see the magic formation that Nick Capitol used to win the race? The man's skill rivals licensed Magicians."
"It's not only Nick Capitol that showcased great talents. Many of the younger generation are promising. It is truly the case of new trees rising up to replace the old."
...
Nick looked over to the section reserved for Richter Order Academy and cast Space Rift, following which, he walked into the space gate that formed and walked out of another space gate that appeared within the section. Kirst observed Nick's space path spell and was impressed once again; the magic power that he sensed from it felt different from the typical rank 2 space path spells that could be bought on the market. Kirst knew this because the royal family often trained Space Magicians in order for them to manage many of its operations.
Nick's space gate soon closed and no sooner, William disappeared from the field amidst a flash of white light. Kirst smiled and simply walked away from the field towards his own academy's section.
As soon as Nick appeared within the Richter Order Academy section, Varrow greeted him with squinted eyes, saying:
"Well, here is the winner. That was some magic formation that you designed and don't bother trying to play it off. I could tell that you made that formation from scratch. Spill, who taught you formation magic?"
Nick maintained his indifferent expression and asked:
"Does someone have to teach you formation magic?"
Varrow raised his right eyebrow and replied:
"How else would you be able to learn it?"
Nick then cheekily asked:
"But then who taught the first Formation Magician formation magic?"
Both Varrow's eyelids twitched when he heard Nick's ridiculous question; Varrow soon spoke, clearly annoyed by Nick:
"Good, good, good. One day I will give you a good smack for each one of your absurd remarks."
Nick's indifferent expression momentarily broke while he chuckled and said:
"Be careful. Who knows how powerful I'll be by then."
Varrow snorted and afterwards, William appeared within the section amidst a flash of white light. Varrow turned his attention to William and said:
"You did good William, considering the circumstances. I expect great things from you."
William rubbed the back of his head and replied:
"Understood, sir Varrow. I'm tired, so I'm going to rest before the next event begins."
Varrow nodded in agreement and said:
"Go ahead. Remember, you have less than eight hours to do what you need to before the next event begins."
William immediately left the section through the metal door at the back. Soon, Patrice, Pearl, Jessica, Edward and Calder appeared one by one a few minutes spaced apart. Nick remained in the section in order to observe the other competitors' actions after the event; his Spatial Awareness talent gave him many depictions of what was happening within the different sections.
The other present competitors from Richter Order Academy each looked at Nick's back momentarily while he faced the field before greeting Varrow and telling him of their intention to excuse themselves from the arena so that they could rest. Victoria and Jet seemed to have left the arena without returning to the section to report to Varrow, which slightly irritated him but he soon let it go. Varrow eventually spoke to Nick:
"You should go rest up too. I didn't say it before but I expect great things from you too."
Nick turned around and awkwardly replied:
"You know, you're the first person that's ever said that to me. It feels weird."
It was now Varrow's turn to feel a little awkward and he replied:
"You really are a strange man, you know that."
Nick turned his attention towards the field again and absentmindedly replied:
"Lucky for me, being strange in the Magician world is a good thing."
Varrow remained silent in response to Nick's words. After speaking, Nick turned around and told Varrow that he would be returning to the hotel until the next event started. Nick then left the arena and cast Grey Room in order to make his way, undisturbed, to his hotel room.
Once he entered the room, locking the door behind him, he started speaking to himself about magic formations:
"What I did in the first event gave me all sorts of ideas on how to make use of magic formations. Formation path is, after all, a huge field by itself and I can definitely use it to do amazing things that I cannot do with the other paths. During the race, I actually used formation path to create a formation in the form of a structure purely made out of magic power. I wonder if I can create a similar magic formation by having its visible structure made out of magic materials instead. Doing so would allow me to create magic formations that are more robust and persistent than normal magic formations. The Speed Bubble Formation was a great example of how a formation could manifest as a complex three-dimensional structure but it is relatively primitive."
Nick thought about what he needed the most in terms of his overall benefits and then he remembered the large pieces of bones that he had picked up in the unknown realm that he had traveled to using the spatial coordinates derived from the DNA of the jade-green wyvern. He also remembered the soul path magic beast that he encountered within that realm and the item that had fallen from the sky that he could not search for because of the danger involved.
"I need a way of traversing dangerous realms like that one even while at my low rank. Hmmm...the bones from the unknown magic beast...I could always try to use it to manufacture blood in order to use the blood to create a pseudo-soul but considering that the magic beast was probably high ranked and I don't know what laws might still be on the bones, I should avoid trying to mess with them using my low ranked methods or my actions might backfire."
Nick didn't bother getting any sleep and just sat at the dining room table, following which, he started conceptualizing a magic formation that could act as a physical structure with abilities that could allow him to explore realms more easily by himself.
Nick worked on his notes for over six hours up until near the time that the next event would be starting. Nick quickly stored his notes within his space band and left his room and cast Grey Room, soon making his way to the arena. At that point, he cancelled Grey Room and entered the arena through the pedestrian gate. He didn't need help to find Richter Order Academy's reserved section again, so he walked straight there. When he entered the section, Varrow and all the other competitors were waiting patiently for the next event to begin.
Everyone noticed Nick's arrival but no one bothered to greet him. Nick wanted to continue working on his notes from earlier in quiet so he quickly sat at the back seat, to the far left of the room and summoned some of his notes and a clipboard from his space band. He then proceeded to ignore everyone else and focus on his notes.
Despite Nick wanting to mind his own business, Pearl soon came and sat beside him. She then spoke, obviously wanting to get his attention:
"Stare..."
Nick's right eyelid twitched because Pearl not only stared at him intensely, she even said her action out loud in an obnoxious tone. Nick stared back at her and asked indifferently:
"What do you want, Pearl?"
Pearl replied:
"Nothing much, I just wanted to ask what it was like coming in first place in the first event? You must have been going pretty fast. From what I heard, you were the person controlling that UFO that I saw while moving toward the goal and that the UFO was actually a magic formation that you designed."
Nick spoke impatiently in response to Pearl's interest:
"Pearl, we are Magicians. It should be no surprise that I can do magical things. As for me coming in at first place during the race, anyone could have done that if they had put in the right effort. Do you mind if I get back to minding my own business now?"
Pearl was displeased by Nick's indifferent tone and affect but she could not pry if he was unwilling to converse more with her so she moved a few chairs away from Nick to give him space. Everyone else who had the intention of questioning Nick quickly dropped the notion since Nick was even so cold to the beautiful Pearl Wiles.
Jessica smiled and came over to Nick to hand him something. Nick looked at the object and recognized it as a coffee strip snack. Nick then weirdly pointed at himself with his right index finger and asked Jessica:
"You want me to have it?"
Jessica silently nodded her head in affirmation.
Nick was always a sucker for people giving him good food so after getting Jessica's response, he took the coffee strip without asking any more questions and started eating it. He then spoke while his mouth was partly full:
"Thanks."
Nick then summoned a bag of butter bread from his space band and handed it to Jessica. Jessica accepted it silently and went back to her seat in the middle of the front row. Nick then returned his focus to his notes while he finished the coffee strip.
Almost an hour later, it became time for the next event to begin and the spectators had mostly returned to their seats after having left for a few hours. The space orb from the previous event was no longer there so Ralph Eltshire appeared amidst a flash of silver light, floating in midair, about fourteen meters above the center of the grassy field.
Ralph then wordlessly snapped his fingers and twenty stone tablets emerged from the ground all along the perimeter of the grassy field. Each stone tablet was about twelve meters high and five meters wide. They all had laws drawn in Valteese carved across their surfaces. At this time, Nick raised his head from his notes and stored them within his space band. Close up images of many of the stone tablets appeared within his mind due to his Spatial Awareness talent.
Nick then got up from his seat and slowly walked to the left end of the section railing so that he could have a better view of the entire field. Varrow saw Nick's movements but did not say anything to him. Ralph began speaking about a minute after the stone tablets appeared:
"The next event of the competition will be comprehension based. Each of the competitors will be required to study the spell on one of these stone tablets and then enhance its effect successfully by altering its laws. You will then demonstrate the spell at the center of this field for all to see, at which time, using the magic power of the arena, your alterations of the spell's laws will be made visible to everyone present. You will be scored based on the extent of your alteration of the spell's laws, how much of a practical improvement that you have made and the quality of the magic power that your altered spell emits, which will be judged using the power of Might Eye that exists within the gold coin that you have in your possession; Your overall score will be made visible to everyone present as well. Be aware that only the competitors that score an average of 50% will be allowed to move on to the next stage. You have ten minutes to prepare before you have to come to the field and the duration that you will have to work on your spells is ten hours."
Ralph went silent after explaining the details but the spectators, including the students that were already disqualified from the competition discussed:
"Comprehension based events like this one are common during magic tournaments so it is no surprise that the royal family arranged this."
"Looking at all those spells, I estimate that each one is rank 2 advanced grade."
"I would like to say that those from the aristocrat academies have the advantage but there are probably students from other academies that have high attainment in their path and can handle this sort of challenge."
"This event will naturally be difficult since altering spells successfully is never an easy thing. The task will be even more difficult the more alterations that you try to make. A newly altered spell could easily fail or backfire in these circumstances."
"Is the royal family really letting us view these advanced grade spells for free? Damn, what a thing it is to be wealthy. I'm going to copy them down to study later when I get back to the academy."
"But with everyone being able to examine the laws of these spells, would they be of any use? Someone could create ways to break each one by studying its laws. Remember that the competition is being broadcast all over Grand Earth."
...
Nick had no opinions about this kind of event being included in the competition but he did realize that this sort of event played to his strength - spell making. Not to mention that these twenty tablets each represented a spell from a different path or a mix of paths. Nick already identified a stone tablet that detailed a space path spell that he planned to alter. Of course, there were also stone tablets that detailed soul path and blade path spells but Nick had his reasons for sticking to space path:
(I already showed the world that I could design a space path magic formation so it's best not to give them anymore surprises at this point. Altering the space path spell will seem more natural to these people and I will avoid having to give explanations when I come in first place in this event too.)
The others from Richter Order Academy had solemn expressions as they thought about their following actions. Varrow looked around and instantly knew that they would have a hard time just based on their current moods. He reasoned:
(These people are very used to obtaining readymade spells and casting them but the notion of altering those spells is a different thing entirely. Most of them have probably never even tried to do such a thing with their own spells much less spells that they are not even familiar with.)
After the ten minutes of preparation were up, Ralph ordered:
"All competitors, make your way to this field immediately. Your ten hours of work time begins now and you may start as you arrive. If you don't get down here quick enough, others will gain a head start on you."
Nick cast Space Rift and walked through his space gate in order to appear in front of the stone tablet that he was interested in, after which, the space gate behind him closed. Ralph noticed Nick's decisiveness and praised him internally:
(One must have a sense of urgency to do well as a Magician or even to do well at any profession. This man seems to understand that...good.)
Nick began looking over the spell carefully. It comprised of about two hundred thousand symbols drawn in Valteese, which was about the usual complexity of a rank 2 advanced grade spell.
(Its name is Space Canopy...it's a spell that covers an area, insulating it from the effects of weather. Hmmm...I can work with that.)
Nick quickly summoned a small desk and a metal, padded chair from his space band and positioned them in front of the stone tablet that detailed Space Canopy; he quickly took a seat. Nick then summoned a few stacks of blank papers and started working on possible improvements. His intuition quickly kicked in since the meanings of the laws of the spell and their important patterns were as clear as day to him; Nick's Eyes of the Fated talent was responsible for the latter.
By the time that most of the other students got to the field, Nick was already wrapped up in his thoughts and ignoring everyone around him. The other students passed him and whispered about him:
"That guy, he was the one that got first place in the first event."
"So what? This event isn't about speed, it's about understanding. We are at no disadvantage when competing against him or anyone else."
"I hope you're right. I'm going to find the spell that looks the easiest to alter. How about you?"
"I'm going to find an ice path spell to improve. That is my specialization, after all."
...
Similar conversations erupted all over the field as the competitors examined the stone tablets. Many examined one stone tablet before moving on to another based on the perceived difficulty of improving the spell detailed on the stone tablet. In fact, most students did this.
Nick noticed this because of Spatial Awareness and shook his head, thinking:
(None of these spells are any harder to improve than the others. You all just have biases based on your ignorance and inexperience. You're holding yourselves back by shifting around so much. It would be better if you all just shut up, decided on a tablet with a spell whose path that you had some interest in and did the necessary work.)
With that thought, Nick stopped paying any attention to the actions of others and continued making his improvements. Six hours later, Nick finally finished improving the Space Canopy Spell. Nick spent an additional hour looking over his altered spell before he was assured of its viability.
(I added a little over two hundred thousand more symbols onto the spell's original two hundred thousand and altered the original laws to increase cast time and magic energy consumption efficiency. It's finally ready.)
Nick got up from his desk, storing the papers, desk and chair within his space band and announcing to the Ralph, who had been hovering over the students this entire time:
"Mr. Ralph, I am ready to have my enhanced spell critiqued!"
The other students heard Nick's words and many of them sneered. They figured that all of them were having a hard time and would need the whole ten hours in order to make significant improvements. In most of their minds, Nick was just foolishly trying to be first to finish in hopes that he would be credited for his speed. someone said out loud:
"He's a fool!"
No one responded to those words but many felt the same sentiment. Nick heard the insult but ignored it. Ralph spoke to Nick with interest in his gaze:
"Come to the center of the field and show us your spell's power. The rest of you can watch or continue to work. That is entirely up to you. Magicians shouldn't need to be told when to prioritize."
Nick cast Space Rift and opened a space gate that led to the center of the grassy field and then stood firmly in place after exiting the space gate and closing it behind him. With Ralph, the bored spectators and many competitors watching, Nick began the process of casting his spell. Casting even a rank 2 advanced grade space path spell was nothing much for a space path master and the improvements that Nick had made to Space Canopy ensured that the spell could be cast in less than twenty seconds by someone not familiar with casting it. When the laws were ready within Nick's mindscape nine seconds later, he cast the spell without hesitation:
(Space Canopy.)