The new semester ushered in a fresh wave of classes, and with many of the more basic ones now completed, more advanced subjects became available.
One such class was Magic Smithing, a discipline that taught how to forge while infusing mana during the hammering phase. This enchanting technique bypassed the need for runes, circuits, or schematics by relying solely on the power of one's spirit. In essence, it was a form of intent infusion.
This was the most common method of enchanting currently flooding the market. Crafters would focus their intent on making their creations more durable, sharper, or more flexible, and the result would be armor with durability enchantments, swords with sharpness enchantments, and so on.
Another class was Enchanting. It covered the foundational elements of a wide range of enchantments. The curriculum went beyond simple intent infusion and included the study of common symbols that produced effects greater than the mana invested in them.
It was a class Bastion had been excited about, especially with the development of his new Art. It offered him a structured way to advance his Enchanting Art while expanding his flexibility in crafting more diverse forms of magical technology.
The final class was Rituals, which focused on the design, preparation, construction, and activation of ceremonial processes. These included offerings to deities, invocations for blessings, contract formation, and summoning magic, among others.
Summoning magic was actually a type of ritual. The initial summoning required a ritual circle that would locate a suitable entity based on the summoner's affinity. Once a match was found, a contract would be formed, allowing the summoned being to send a projection of itself to fight on the summoner's behalf.
Classes that included summoning skills came with a contract already in place, so no ritual was required.
Bastion was excited for all three classes. The first would teach him how to imbue his creations with specific enchantments, even when their mathematical equivalents were unavailable. The second would broaden his understanding and enable him to craft a wider variety of magical devices as needed. The last would grant him access to additional summons for various utility purposes.
Steve might have been the best boy, but he couldn't fly. In Bastion's opinion, taming a flying mount required more effort than it was worth. Thus, summoning a flying mount was ideal.
When Bastion arrived at the Magic Smithing class, it was exactly as he had expected. The room was filled with burly men and dwarves. Although the class was only half full in terms of student count, the space still felt completely packed.
To his surprise, there were finally some women enrolled in the course. In fact, there had always been women in Bastion's previous Smithing classes. He had simply never realized they were women. Damian had not been joking about how difficult it was to tell female dwarves apart from the men.
The class itself was fine, though it took an odd turn when the topic shifted to intent, imagination, meditation, and willpower. Strangely, this became very physical, as the dwarves began punching each other to stir their spirit, even the women.
Bastion, on the other hand, simply meditated as usual and then produced the required intent.
Enchanting, meanwhile, began with the basics such as runes, magical script, and magic circuits, before briefly touching on intent infusion. Then, rather abruptly, the focus shifted to the great ancestors of the distant past, specifically those who were confirmed to have passed on.
The course moved away from simply infusing power into objects and instead explored how to prepare them as vessels suitable for ancestral presence. It covered drawing spiritual tattoos, carving and empowering totems, and crafting trinkets imbued with mystical resonance.
It was a completely different discipline from what Bastion had expected. Technically, these topics all fell under the scope of Enchanting, but he had never imagined the class would explore them with such prominence.
The class on Rituals was a somewhat similar experience. The first lesson began with an overview of magic circles, the six basic elements, and their roles in rituals as both stabilizing forces and sources of energy. However, the lecture quickly shifted into an in-depth discussion on symbolism. In essence, attracting the appropriate divine entity hinged entirely on the use of the correct symbols.
For instance, summoning a pegasus required symbols associated with purity, the color white, cleanliness, and the element of wind. In contrast, calling forth a dragon demanded themes of chaos, power, dominance, and alignment with the summoner's preferred element.
It was a fascinating subject that leaned more toward theology than science and offered a fresh perspective on the mystical foundations of magic.
Most intriguing of all was the fact that the most common target of rituals is Gaia, the planet itself. Gaia served as a conduit through which rituals could manifest their intended effects. She grants blessings or punishments based on an individual's impact on the world. Although the most common result is purely neutral. This is why every ritual begins by establishing the balance of the six basic elements.
All three classes were deeply rooted in the mystical side of magic. They involved unexplainable phenomena that simply worked. It fascinated Bastion endlessly, as it felt like the pure essence of magic itself.
Classes continued as scheduled until the middle of the semester, by which point Bastion had grown accustomed to keeping his intent active and his mana flowing steadily while working in Magic Smith class. He was that much closer to strengthening his defenses and making sure another banshee scream potion wouldn't knock him out with a single use.
Meanwhile, in Enchanting class, Bastion struggled to master the artistic side of the course. It turned out the ancestors placed great importance on tribal markings, flowing lines, sharp edges, and ink patterns that resembled blood splatters.
Fortunately, not all was lost. Many ancestors only required their relatively simple sigils to be marked before they would grant their power. This allowed Bastion to create basic tattoos that enhanced his strength by a miniscule amount, as long as he kept a skull and crossbones on the back of his hand.
Finally, in Rituals class, they had moved past the rote memorization of symbolic meanings and were ready to conduct their first ritual. It was a simple one, designed to enhance health, stamina, and mana regeneration for an hour.
Bastion was thrilled. It was exactly the kind of buff he could benefit from. Unfortunately, the materials needed for the ritual were too expensive to allow for regular use during dungeon runs.
"What are you thinking, Seraphina?" Bastion asked.
She wore a stern, angry expression that Bastion had learned to recognize as her pensive look. Whenever she had that expression, she was usually lost in thought about magic formulas, potion recipes, or what she would cook for dinner.
"It's a good ritual, but a waste of materials. It would have been better to use this on a summoning instead," she replied.
"The symbolism wouldn't summon more than weak sprites, though. A powerful catalyst would be necessary to improve the offerings," Lilia added from the side.
"I think sprites are cute!" Aurelia chimed in.
Among all the magic-focused students Bastion personally knew, most took Rituals, while only he and Lilia were enrolled in Enchanting as well.
The group was currently in a ritual circle waiting for the professor to activate it.
Finally, after the professor finished double checking the ritual, he tossed in the final catalyst, a dark red crystal that symbolizes health, before activating the ritual.
The different components of the ritual began to glow before an explosion of mana erupted from them enveloping the entire class in an iridescent magic circle. The students began to glow faintly from the emanated mana as power coursed through them.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Bastion spotted Seraphina throwing more catalysts, symbolic materials, and magic crystals in different places in the circle before quickly resuming her wide-eyed expression similar to the other students.
As expected, the mana being emitted intensified until a cascade of power overwhelmed the entire class. Chaotic red hues consumed virulent green that continued to expand, while calming blue attempted to suppress them both. Yet the green expanded beyond the blue's hold, forming a turbulent blend of colors that surged through each student.
Bastion immediately felt a surge of empowerment from the ritual, much like leveling up his status. The increase was significant compared to the steady growth he had experienced in his youth. He could clearly feel the difference.
With a quick check, he noticed why he felt so powerful.
[Health]: 110/110
[Mana]: 95/95
[Strength]: 90
[Dexterity]: 75
[Vitality]: 110
[Intelligence]: 95
[Wisdom]: 110
[Charm]: 60
[Intuition]: 90
All of Bastion's stats increased by ten points. Even Intuition, a stat that had always remained a mystery to him, was affected.
This was one of those legendary rituals known to grant significant empowerment similar to mythical natural treasures or elixirs only spoken in legends.
Normally, increasing stats outside of excavating potential or using status points was impossible. Not even a king could leverage his kingdom to achieve it.
Elixirs in school, while capable of enhancing stats, could only raise a single attribute by one point, and each person could only take one in their lifetime.
Rituals like this were legendary not only because of their power, but because of their scarcity. Most people would never experience one in their lives. At least, that was what Bastion had learned from all the books he had read so far.
There was no doubt the reason this ritual had changed was because of Seraphina and her game knowledge.
He glanced over his shoulder at Seraphina, who still played the part of an innocent, clueless student. He had questions he wanted to ask, but first, a suspicion stirred in his heart.
'Could the professor have really been a demon worshiper?'
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