Chapter 14: The First Spell.

The next few days, Vaan followed a fixed schedule.

Wake up, read, learn the basic theory of magic, walk out of his room, and 'experience the world'. Honestly, he wasn't getting anything out of the 'experiencing the world part', it could be because whenever he goes out to experience, his mind always keeps thinking about the Magic theories he had read that day.

Since his mind was preoccupied, he couldn't gather much from going outside, and truthfully, Vaan had already realized that 'experiencing the world' didn't matter.

He had realized how his memories were working.

Every time he interacts with someone, he regains his memories of the said person. Of course, the more recent this memory is, the more clearly he remembers it.

The most interesting part about this memory doesn't affect his emotions or personality, he just 'knows' about the said person, he doesn't 'feel' what previous Vaan felt about the person. Because of this, Vaan was now sure that his personality won't be overpowered in any way, the previous Vaan was gone for good.

Therefore, focusing on magic became his priority.

Of course, spending some time with his mother once every two days, telling her about what he had learned while learning some points the book missed from her was one of the motivating factors that pushed him to do all this. The smile on his mother's face... it filled his heart with a strange sense of relief and contentment.

He felt like he was back in his 20-year-old self where he didn't have to worry about the different problems he and his men were facing.

'Alright. Let's do this.'

Vaan muttered in his head as he closed his eyes.

It had already been 12 days since he came to this world, he had learned most of the basic theory related to magic, now, it was time to actually implement it.

Vaan took a deep breath, then, he recalled the content he had read and started.

Casting a spell was divided into 3 steps.

First, a Mage has to absorb the Mana in their surroundings through the pores in his body, the Mana they absorbed is then collected into their Mana Veins, then, to strengthen his control over this Mana, a Mage needs to move the Mana stored in his Mana Veins all around his body, then, he needs to release the refined Mana and form a Circle.

This process of taking in the raw Mana and refining it to make it useable is called Initiation.

This was the step Vaan had already mastered since his body already remembered this process because of previous Vaan.

What troubled him was the second step, Forming the Circle.

This is where previous Vaan and his thoughts collided.

Every Mage had a different interpretation of their Magic Circle, a Mage cannot simply copy another Mage's Circle, therefore, Vaan had to create his own Circle.

Of course, after working relentlessly, reading all the theories about how Circle worked, how to create one, and other magic theories, Vaan had already prepared the Magic Circle that would work for him, however, the problem was, while his brain remembers the Circle he had created, his body remembered the previous Vaan's Circle.

Whenever he tries to form a Circle, his body moves on its own and forms the Circle created by the previous Vaan.

And since he had less than a second to create the Magic Circle, this clash between the Body and the Brain made it impossible for him to create the circle in the set amount of time.

Today, however, Vaan was confident.

No matter what, today, he was going to form his Magic Circle.

Once he was done moving the Mana all around his body, he released the refined Mana, he glanced at the Magic Circle that he had drawn on the paper in front of him.

This was the Magic Circle he had prepared after studying for 10 whole days, a drop of sweat appeared on Vaan's forehead.

He imagined the Mana in the air moving and creating the Magic Circle that was in front of him, a blurry magic circle formed in front of him, then, without waiting for a single second, he released the Mana he had refined just now into the Magic Circle.

The Magic Circle became clearer and clearer, and soon,

A perfect Magic Circle was formed.

Vaan's eyes shined in excitement, however, he didn't lose his composure.

So what if he succeeded in the Second Step?

It didn't mean he was going to fail in the last step and try everything later, he was going to succeed in one go!

With that thought in his mind, Vaan proceeded with the last step,

Execution.

The first two steps, Initiation and Forming a Circle were something that after some practice, the Mages simply ignore because those steps never change.

A Mage gets habitual and after some time, these two steps almost come instinctively.

The Last Step, the Execution, however, was different.

This was where a Mage has to concentrate since this is the step where what kind of spell a Mage would cast is decided.

Vaan moved his refined Mana into the Magic Circle, this time however, he didn't just blindly inject the Mana inside, this time, he injected the Mana in a form of pattern, in simpler words, he was using Mana as ink and was drawing patterns inside the Magic Circle he had created.

Mages call these patterns the Language of Magic, or Magic Language.

Each pattern had a different meaning, a Mage first imagines what kind of spell he wishes to cast, then, he researches and finds the correct pattern he would need to use to cast what he wishes, then, he uses Mana to draw these patterns inside the Magic Circle he had formed, and that is how a Magic spell is cast.

The chances of failing in the last step are high, especially for a new Mage.

Of course, all the Mages know what Pattern they need to Cast the Spell, however, the problem was drawing the said Magic Pattern inside the Magic Circle.

This process requires an extremely high level of Mana Control and new mages often get stuck in this step, for years even.

Honestly, although he didn't wish for it, Vaan knew the chances that he failed in this step were high.

However,

'Hm?'

The moment Vaan released his Mana, it moved freely and started forming the exact same pattern that he was thinking in his head.

Vaan frowned.

This...

Wasn't this a little too easy...?

Soon, the 'Drawing the Magic Pattern inside the Circle' part was completed...

That meant,

The famed last step, the 'Challenge' for the new Mages, Vaan completed it just like that.

The surrounding Mana moved, the temperature rose up,

And then,

*Flicker*

From the center of the Magic Circle, a flicker of Flames was created.

Vaan Astra Vesta,

Had successfully unleashed his first spell!