Marc was about a hundred meters from the cabin. He had decided to move away to avoid causing an accident while practicing magic; the need to protect his new dwelling from an accidental fire was his main motivation. It was noon. He had gotten up a few hours later than he had intended, but he had already been practicing for several hours in a secluded corner of the field.
That damn bed really is comfortable; it's going to be hard to get up early. In my old world, I used to wake up at five in the morning to go to work, but here I don't feel that urgency. I think knowing I have a hundred years to train might work against me a little.
With one hand, he held the open grimoire, reading the spell section, and with the other, he applied the magic. He had been concentrating for several hours, repeating the simple Fire spell he had mastered the day before, over and over. His first great victory of the day, however, was also being able to invoke a jet of water by reciting the basic spell of the Water element.
I'm inclined to two elements. Good, let's go for the remaining two!
He had read a bit more of Zylos's book before starting to train, but given the complexity, he had decided to practice first with verbal spells.
The way Zylos explains magic is different. He calls magic a "power learned" and describes what he did and the feeling it provoked. It's like trying to explain the taste of a certain dish to someone who has never eaten it: you can tell them about the ingredients and the feeling it gave you when you ate it, but that person won't truly know how the food tastes until they try it. For me, it sounds impossible to learn magic that way if you have never personally felt the sensation that invoking a certain type of magic provokes in your body. But at the same time, according to Zylos, experiencing that sensation in your body is key to only having to replicate the magic without the need to recite any "phrase."
Marc had decided to start by invoking magic through spells. His goal was to experiment with the sensation that each type of magic provoked in his body so that later, following Zylos's methods, he could replicate it without needing to recite incantations. Because of this, he had set out to repeat the same spell countless times, concentrating on the internal sensations. He wanted to create a true "body memory" of the magic.
Another difference between the grimoire and Zylos's "teachings" is that both described Magical Power in their own way. According to the grimoire, you have to be born with Magical Power to be able to use magic, and the more advanced the magic is, the greater your power has to be. But according to Zylos, that power is only the mental ability and willpower a person has to invoke magic. As he describes it, in theory, all people could actually possess that power, but their "limited" mind doesn't allow them to use magic. Furthermore, it's not necessary to increase that power, as it is only a mental limitation: you could conjure a fireball the size of a shack on your first try using magic, if only you possessed that mental ability. Although he himself admitted it is almost impossible, since no one believes themselves capable of performing such a feat in their mind on their first try, and it had taken him decades to remove that mental limitation.
If it took the genius of magic decades, I don't think I'll be capable of anything similar. This contradicts what the God Amir told me, though: according to him, he would give me a Magical Power greater than most, and I had to train to increase it. But Zylos says it's only a limitation of the mind. There are many things I still don't fully understand.
There were also differences regarding Maná. The grimoire explained that every person has a limited capacity of Maná in their body: the more magic you use, the more it is spent, until it is completely exhausted. When that happens, you have to wait for your Maná to restore itself, but with training, you could increase that capacity to perform more spells before running out. Zylos agreed that Maná resides in all living beings and what surrounds them, but he argued that the Maná in the body is not spent or depleted, since if that were the case, you would die, and what truly exhausted you was using magic without knowing the internal sensations it provoked in you.
Zylos said that by being accustomed to using magic through spells, people didn't notice the sensation that magic provoked in their bodies. Therefore, if they continued using magic without paying attention to how their body actually felt, it could lead to fatigue or even fainting. An analogy he made was: it's like using some kind of drug that made you feel no pain. You could run for miles without stopping, feeling nothing, but your body would actually be wearing down and you would eventually collapse on the ground because your body couldn't resist anymore. Something similar happened with verbal spells and the body. The true way to perform magic repeatedly without getting tired is to train your body and mind simultaneously. Because of this, he said you must meditate using magic and train your body's resistance to it, since concentrating on the internal sensations that magic has on your body is crucial so that at some point you never get tired of using it.
Never getting tired of using continuous magic? If someone achieved that, they would be too powerful.Marc smiled. I like that.
Marc began to repeat the jet of water spell, concentrating on how his body felt and responded when using magic. After a few hours and after lunch, he decided to try Earth magic. As he did with the previous elements, he sought the simplest spell; this consisted of creating a small earth wall. The grimoire explained that beginners usually managed to create a wall between fifteen to twenty centimeters high.
He closed his eyes, concentrated, and inhaled and exhaled deeply several times. He opened his eyes and repeated the spell contained in the grimoire:
"Oh, silent spirit of the Earth that holds the world. Petra, form my shield!"
He felt a deep pull, and a mound of dark, compact earth erupted from the ground a few meters away, rising about fifty centimeters.
"Oh yeah, baby! That makes three elements in a row! Suck that, stupid grimoire."
Feeling a rush of adrenaline, he decided to try one more time. He wanted to see if he could make an even larger barrier. This time, he only concentrated on the pull he had felt to replicate it with greater force.
"Oh, silent spirit of the Earth that holds the world. Petra, form my shield!"
This time, the barrier that erupted from the ground was approximately a meter and a half high. Marc felt that excitement coursing through his entire body again, just like the day before.
"Ha! And this is what I did on my first day of training! This is getting too easy, you aren't giving me a real chall—"
He hadn't finished pronouncing those words when everything went black, and his body slumped onto the ground face down.
After a few hours, he regained consciousness. His head was throbbing with a dull, sharp pain, and it took him a moment to remember where he was. He felt the cool dampness of the grass on his face, and he realized the sun was gone: everything was already dark.
"Oh, fuck, I think I screwed up."
He propped his arms on the ground and slowly got up. Every muscle ached with an unfamiliar intensity, and his head was pounding. He still felt weak and dizzy, as if he had just run a marathon.
Train the mind and body, huh? Maybe that guy Zylos was right after all.
Marc resigned himself. There wasn't much he could do now that it was dark. He slowly walked toward the cabin while his body still protested the excessive effort. He went to bed with a feeling of defeat that day.
The next day, he got up earlier, with an unusual motivation. He would not let the collapse of the day before discourage him. He took Zylos's book and quickly searched for the sections that detailed magic meditation and the body's resistance training to it.
Zylos mentioned that to meditate with magic, you have to induce your body into a state of "magical trance." This was achieved by focusing your mind on the sensation of magic in your body, and it could be done while using any type of magic (for example, when using Fire magic). Sitting on the ground, with your eyes closed, you must concentrate only on feeling the flow of magic passing through your entire body, visualizing how your body and the flames connect. According to Zylos, you must be capable of feeling your body and the flame as one: the magic must feel like an extension of your own body.
Sounds a bit like cheap philosophy, but it won't hurt to try.
Marc sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and cast the basic flame spell. He calmed his mind, concentrating only on the palm of his hand, from where the flames were being conjured. He began to feel a flow passing through his entire body. It started at his fingertips, passed through his entire body, and ended at his toes. He remained in this state for half an hour and opened his eyes.
I managed to feel the flow of magic in my body, but I couldn't feel how it connected with the flames. Maybe I need to meditate more times to achieve it. Anyway, let's move on to the next thing.
The body's resistance to magic was the other aspect Zylos mentioned. To increase resistance, you have to invoke some type of magic and skillfully control its maximum intensity. Unlike meditation, this is done standing up and with eyes open. Using Fire magic as an example, you focus on trying to give the maximum intensity of magic flow possible to the flames. You must feel the exertion in your muscles. You do it for about five seconds and then rest for five seconds, constantly repeating this.
Something like lifting weights with magic.
Marc followed the steps to the letter and began doing "exercise" with magic. The rest of the day was entirely dedicated to magical meditation and body resistance.
In the afternoon, he got ready to prepare dinner. From the garden, he selected potatoes, carrots, onion, and a couple of garlic cloves, and from the sacks of grains, he took a handful of beans.
Marc placed the clay pot on the grill. He added water and, little by little, incorporated the onion, garlic, and tubers. To season, he used a mysterious spice from a jar, whose name he did not know, but which gave off an aroma he liked.
He sat on the oak bench and carefully took the warm bowl. He poured himself a glass of wine from the barrel to accompany it.
It's not a luxurious meal, but I think it's better than the frozen food I used to eat when I got home from work and sat in front of my computer.
He began to recall all those days when he would get home from work exhausted, mentally drained, and with no desire to do anything more than watch a series, a movie, or play games to entertain himself and clear his mind.
I never cared about being alone; I was used to it. I even enjoyed being a recluse and living in my own world. What really made me sick was the monotony and the shitty job I had. I always thought there must be something better for me. And now, this is my chance to have my grand adventure.
The God Amir said that when I defeat the Hero, I can go back, but I'm not sure I want to. Maybe staying in this world wouldn't be so bad.
The combination of the warm food and the strong wine sent a wave of warmth through his body.
It's actually really delicious, but I'll go hunting in the coming days; I'm craving a steak. Although I don't have a bow, maybe I can learn a spell that helps me hunt. I'll look for one in the grimoire tomorrow.
Marc finished dinner and went to bed satisfied with the meal. As soon as his head hit the pillow, feeling the weight of physical and mental exhaustion in his limbs, the mattress absorbed him instantly. He fell into a deep sleep without dreams.