CHAPTER 170: ARCANE TOOLS

Delia’s answer was expected. It was never unclear how much she disliked Combat Magic and the ways of a ’Traditional Mage’.

Eloise was not as expected but not all that surprising when one takes into account how averse she was to combat situations.

Caius felt she wouldn’t be dropping Combat Magic though. She only said that because she was currently in the Combat Magic Classroom. There were other subjects Eloise wouldn’t mind doing away with. Subjects she had even less of an interest in compared to Combat Magic.

That was how it had been in [To Kill A Demon Lord...] anyway so Caius couldn’t be entirely sure how it’d turn out this time since his interference in the story might have caused things to change.

Moving away from that train of thought, the Mid-Semester Test and the implications it had for their future were the least of Caius’s worries. Not in the academic sense anyway. He looked off to the side to where Aurelius was sitting with Doran and Baler Khione.

Within the Lochxen Forest, Aurelius was going to be tested on more than just Academics and Caius was intent on being there for it.

"You can’t drop Combat Magic," Kaya said then, pulling Caius out of his thoughts to see that the half-elf was talking around him with Eloise.

"But... It’s hard," Eloise said with a silly pout.

"No it’s not. You’re not dropping it," Kaya insisted.

"But, I don’t like it," Eloise said.

"You’re not dropping it," Kaya insisted once again.

"It’s not your decision. It’s mine," Eloise said confidently.

Kaya just smiled for a few seconds and then said,

"You’re not dropping it."

She and Eloise held each other’s gazes for a minute before Eloise let out air in a breath as she rolled her pretty amber eyes.

"Fine," she said.

"Good girl," Kaya said with a smile that caused Eloise to blush.

"I’d probably drop Theory of Magic then," Eloise said with a sigh and grabbed Caius’s arm to pull it hard into the middle of her breasts, as she added,

"That way Caius and I can have a period free to spend together."

"So long as you keep with Combat Magic, do whatever you want, sweetie," Kaya said casually and leaned back into a proper seating position.

As far as Kaya was concerned, Eloise had the potential to become a capable Combat Mage. It just needed to be nurtured which wasn’t going to happen if she just gave up now.

Caius simply looked amused by the interaction. He had assumed Eloise wouldn’t drop Combat Magic. He just hadn’t known this was how she’d be convinced to keep at it.

’Was this how it happened in the original story?’ He asked himself.

Kaya and Eloise’s friendship was a thing in the original story as it was now. It had just started earlier in [To Kill A Demon Lord...] because then, Caius hadn’t grabbed and kept all of Kaya’s attention for himself on the first day of school.

Anyway, the original story never actually said the reason Eloise kept with Combat Magic despite her disinterest. Caius assumed it was just a natural conclusion when she truly gave herself time to look through all the subjects to see that Combat Magic was the least of her worries. Of course that could still be true but, what if...

Caius wondered if his presence and his actions had made Kaya and Eloise’s friendship stronger or if he had no impact at all and this was always how they were going to be. Even without their relationship with him.

"Now, unto our topic of the day..." Professor Kragsten said after she had given her class the time to truly take in her words and discuss them for a few minutes afterward.

Today’s class was a lot like it usually was which was discussing combat strategies and what makes a good Combat Mage, except there was an included element in the Form of the topic of ’Arcane Tools’.

Arcane tools are equipment such as Wands, Rods, Staffs, Crystals, and Orbs that are used as conduits of Magical power and are meant to help focus one’s magic.

All are useful in varying ways.

Wands are nimble but cannot channel as great a power as Staffs when they are on the same level of power. But they require fewer grand gestures to be used.

Rods are somewhat of a middle ground between wands and Staffs and can even be fitted with additives to sometimes become a scepter and serve even better use. They are usually ignored in favor of either a wand or a Staff though because those two have perfected whatever path a Rod user might want to sway in favor of.

Staffs are the powerhouse of Arcane Tools. Grander gestures and more powerful conduction.

Crystals and Orbs are quite similar. Except that crystals are usually more fitted into other Arcane Tools like Staffs and Rods to improve their power and are hardly ever used on their own.

Orbs, however, stand on their own well enough. They are charged with spells to require less casting time which can be very useful in a pinch.

Tomes are essentially Grimoires that have been enchanted to hold magical power. When a spell is prepared into a Tome, it only needs to be activated to be cast. Of course, once cast, the spell within the tome is gone and would need to be re-prepared to be used again.

At the end of all her explanations of the Arcane Tools, during which she made it clear that they were all meant mostly for Combat Magic, Professor Cynthia Kragsten went on to explain that no Combat Mage worth their salt bothers too heavily with Arcane Tools. Not unless during a true emergency.

"Your primary goal as a Mage is to improve your enlightenment. To bolster your Mana reserves and also learn to manage them. You are meant to never truly become tapped out. You must be like an Ocean whose depth can never be seen.

That comes first before amassing Arcane Tools. You are required to learn to wield these tools and they are useful, but they can never become your crutch.

You should also approach every enemy with the thought that they possess an Arcane Tool they are keeping ready to use. Your goal should be to put an end to the fight before they get a chance to do something as silly as ’pondering their Orb’ in the middle of your fight.

As I’ve made clear in the weeks of lectures thus far, distance may be the way of a Mage but it’s not a useless untenable distance. It’s a smart distance where you never lose sight of your opponent. One where you constantly keep up the attack and never give them enough room to contemplate a proper counterattack.

After all, as I’m sure I’ve said once or twice already; The best defense is a smart, deliberate, and efficient offense."

On the topic of Arcane Tools, Caius’s mind turned back to his battle with Kerwin Leopold and what the Vampire had used to try and turn the tide by unleashing Tenth Circle Mana. That device was obviously made with an Arcane Tool—likely a crystal—and it had indeed been used as Cynthia said it was meant to be used: In an emergency.

That said, who waits for an emergency to retrieve their wand, staff, or Rod to start brandishing and letting loose? It seemed like common sense to him that, at least, wands and staffs be more commonly used.

But that wasn’t really the case.

Maybe it was a cultural thing that [To Kill A Demon Lord...] never really explored all that in depth. But most battles happened with more traditional spell-slinging and weapon brandishing from Mage-Knights. Arcane Tools only came into play in cases of genuine stress or fear of failure.

It could have been a monetary thing since Arcane Tools have to be replaced very often. But even then, the extremely wealthy still use them sparingly.

Of course, in narrative, this didn’t put Mages at some massive disadvantage. If anything, they have thrived so well that someone like Cynthia can argue that the way of a ’Traditional Mage’, where you rely only on enlightenment and quick normal spell casting was better than the aggressive weapon-swinging way of Mage-Knights.

In essence, the narrative seemed to point out that not relying too heavily, or at all, on Arcane Tools made Mages better at what they did and supported Cynthia’s stance on the ways of a ’Traditional Mage’ all the more.