Rather than hand signs and incantations, the book highlighted that all one needed for a spell was the proper imagination tied to the spell.
The use of incantation comes in only as spells became increasingly difficult, and your imagination couldn't hold up anymore.
When it came to magic, there existed a few tiers of spells. There were one-star spells, the simplest of all, spells used for basic chores and stuff. Then there were the two-star spells, stronger, more combat- or defense-oriented, used for more taxing activities. Then there were the three-star spells; mages that could use this type of spell were considered decent and well respected.
Then it moved on to the four-star spells. At this realm of casting, only those with immense talent and solid backing could walk here. They cast spells that were extremely powerful and were never used recklessly.
Then there were the five-star spells, also known as war spells. They were heavily regulated by the kingdom due to the fact that they were extremely powerful.
These were the few most commonly known spell levels. But Raze knew of two still above, the sixth star and the seventh. He had read the book near to the end, so he saw all the big reveals and the use of such destructive spells.
He lit a flame in his hands, reading the content of the book. "All I need is the intent and will," he muttered. Looking at the flame, it shook erratically, as if trying to change shape, but then it stopped.
"Tsk, this is a lot harder than I thought," he muttered. He looked to his left and realized Elaine had gone to sleep, resting her head on a log. He let out a soft smile and focused back on the spell.
This time he put in more focus. He tied the existence of the spell to the mental image of an arrow, and finally, the flame shifted into an arrow.
His eyes grew wide in happiness. He had made a spell, all with his head. He felt like leaping for joy, but the process wasn't over yet, so he focused again, this time trying to fire it.
Whoosh. Plop.
The flame arrow flew half a meter away from him and plopped to the ground.
"Ack," his mouth opened in shock, but no words came out. He took a deep breath and got on his feet. He tried again, and again, and again, but after more than fifty trials, his mana was half depleted and he was exhausted.
But if there was something that he was good at, it was getting better with understanding. He realized that for the spell to move the way he wanted, it required more than his will.
It also required the mental calculation needed for its path and journey. And after so many tries, he had come up with the perfect calculation.
He lifted his hands once again, sweat dripping from his face. He stretched out his hands, "Brain, don't fail me now," he muttered and then cast.
The flame arrow formed and shot forward almost immediately. It ripped through the air, moving in a straight line and penetrating right into a tree, leaving a deep burn mark there.
Raze looked at the attack and the mark it left, his eyes shined. That tree had been at least fifty meters away, and he managed to get it.
Excitement rushed through his body, washing away all the fatigue.
"This feels better than reading. Being able to put into practice what I study feels great. I want to learn and try everything," he thought to himself.
He continued using the flame arrow to attack until his mana was extremely low, and by that time, the tree was about to break due to its trunk being burnt away.
[Congratulations, you have increased your understanding of the laws of fire. Current understanding: 0.1]
[More books on Fire have been unlocked in the library]
He read the messages with a smile. This was all progress, and now he had access to more books. He hadn't even gone through all the available ones and yet more was coming, but it didn't matter, the more the better.
Since he had learned the flame arrow down to almost muscle memory, he decided to head into the library for a bit. He looked at Elaine, unsure if he should leave her here.
But theoretically, he was still here, just in another dimension, which was the library.
"If anything happens, I'll come running," he muttered and then vanished into the library. He immediately looked around and found what he was looking for, basic swordsmanship.
Knowing magic was good, very good, but self-defense with a sword or something was also very important. He picked up the book, about to go read.
[You are advised to not read that book. You are currently too weak to train in it.]
[Recommending beginner body training volume one]
"Huh? Who the hell are you calling weak?" he yelled while swinging his hands.
[You.]
"Arghhhh, you weren't meant to respond, you, you whatever you are." He raged, then calmed down. He took a deep long breath. "Fine, where is it?" he asked.
Plop.
A book fell from the shelf. He walked over there, picked it up. He didn't even bother to read the back. He walked to a chair, placed the sword training one to the side, and opened the body training volume one and started consuming.
It explained how the body was a machine that could grow. And with the right techniques, this machine would be capable of destroying a mountain.
But it all started from the fundamentals, learning the uses of the internal energy known as Qi, channeling it through the body as you trained, giving the best possible result that could be gotten.
Before Raze knew it, he was engrossed, drawn into the new world that he had opened. Not long after—
[Skill seed detected]
[Qi sense unawakened]
He shut the book immediately after, a cold look in his eyes.