Chapter 73 - Better Late Than Never

When Lily returned to her room, she immediately consulted with Arakil. She was curious about his thoughts about the training and wanted to see if he had any feedback.

She also realized that she hadn't consulted him after the whole bucket fiasco and moved straight to going along with Theo. She nervously asked if her actions were fine and felt a wave of relief wash over her when Arakil saw no issue with them.

[I have no issue with you seeking your own innovative methods. I don't want a puppet who follows my every order without thinking for herself. I'm glad to hear you've made a friend and someone to help practice with.]

"Thanks, Arakil," Lily replied. "I was just worried that I was doing something that might harm my growth. I know you want to ensure I get the best foundation possible."

[If there's anything drastic, I will mention it. But friendly competition drives growth, so I'm glad you won't be alone until Regarth. Just make sure this Theobald doesn't drop any rocks on your head.]

Lily giggled at what she assumed was Arakil attempting a joke.

"I had another question about the spells Instructor Richardus gave us. They seemed too easy?" Lily asked nervously. "I don't want to get a big head or sound blindly overconfident, but I understood them really quickly with only minimal practice. They are way shorter in the chant than the spells you gave me, but that can't be the only reason."

[Well, what you've been given are mere cantrips at best. If you are bad at rehearsing, then the length of a spell's chant is a potential difficulty component; otherwise, it isn't universally a factor. For example, that wind spell is the most advanced of the lot, and even that is beneath the Starlight spell I gave you.]

"Really?" Lily asked curiously. "I thought Starlight was the simplest spell."

[It is. But Astral magic does not really contain cantrips, as those are more of the domain of the basic elements. I hate to do this, but it might help your understanding; some schools of magic like to classify spells into numerical rankings. Now, if we take the Starlight spell, it would start at rank one, while the spells given by Richardus are rank zero at best. Very minor effects, but suitable for an introduction to magic.]

"I think I understand," Lily replied. "And because I asked to learn Astral magic, we started at a bit of a higher level."

[Precisely. I figured you were determined and stubborn enough to start at one rather than zero. Ask yourself honestly if you would have been happy with me telling you that you weren't ready for the most basic Astral spell?]

"No, I wouldn't have been happy," Lily admitted. "I probably would have begged and pleaded. I wanted to make stars of my own no matter what."

[A waste of both of our time and efforts. I thought you would instead channel your dedication into learning Starlight. It certainly helped that it had no conceivable harmful effects if you messed up, so it provided a perfectly suitable learning aid.]

"So, what determines a spell's rank?" Lily questioned.

[If I had to boil it down to the fundamentals: input costs, output levels, required understanding, manifesting your willpower, and lastly, casting performance.]

"It does make sense that the Mana input and spell's output power would rank the spell," Lily admitted. "Like the difference between firebolt and fireball."

[Correct. Although plenty of spells are outside the norm in that regard. Major Mana expenditures but relatively minor outputs. Teleportation requires a lot of Mana but is on a relatively small scale in terms of output. On the other hand, it requires an immense understanding of its principles and an iron will to manifest the results into the world.]

"Teleportation!?" Lily replied excitedly.

[I'm afraid we are far from touching on that subject, my dear apprentice. The risks are immense, and our Mana budget is far from meeting the requirements.]

"Fine…" Lily grumbled. "So the chant is only 20% of that 'fundamental formula', at best?"

[Closer to 10%, I'd say, and that's being generous. Especially since the chant can be substituted with other methods, such as somatic gestures, and eventually omitted entirely, the more substantial your understanding grows. A parrot can recite a chant, but it takes a magus to cast it.]

"I like that," Lily giggled. "Although I'm still surprised to discover Starlight is so advanced, it seems so simple now."

[While its effects aren't reality-breaking, try to consider it from a utility standpoint. The fire cantrip you learned can produce light, a small amount of heat, and kindle a flame. With the Starlight spell, you can increase the number of stars, adjust their brightness and size, maneuver and position them, and so on.]

"Couldn't I do that with the flame spell too?" Lily asked.

[Without changing the chant? Without increasing the Mana supplied? Without casting the spell more than once?]

Lily opened her mouth to respond, then promptly closed it. As if the pieces had fallen before her eyes, she suddenly realized that she had never modified the Starlight spell directly. No extra words were added to the chant; even when she was first starting out, she could direct the spell to move.

The flame spell, on the other hand, could not be moved. It was a fixed point, and even if Lily changed the chant to have a movement component, it wouldn't be like how she controlled her Starlight spells.

Likewise, she could cast the flame spell twice to get two flames or perhaps even add a component to the chant requesting additional flames. But with Starlight, she merely willed it, and there were more stars.

"Huh… I see your point," Lily replied, still slightly in disbelief over the sudden revelation.

[Of course, there are fire spells that have a more complex chant but would allow similar levels of control. But once again, that is the difference in spell ranks, as loathe I am to continue using the term, and you'd find no such thing within the confines of cantrips.]

Lily nodded along as she digested the information and developed a newfound appreciation for her Starlight spell. Sure, it wasn't the flashiest of spells, but it suited her perfectly.

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There was an abrupt knock at the door, causing Lily to flinch and nearly knock over her ink pot.

"Yes?" Lily asked curiously to the unknown visitor.

"I have a delivery for you," Margit's familiar voice came from behind the door.

A delivery? Lily wondered as she got up.

She briskly opened the door to Margit's smiling face, who handed her a relatively thick envelope.

"What's this?" Lily asked curiously.

"Considering it came from Regarth, I believe it's a letter from Rose," Margit answered.

"Rose!" Lily excitedly exclaimed.

Margit chuckled and gave Lily a soft pat on the head.

"I won't keep you then; I'm sure you're very eager to read it," she said with a knowing smile as she began to leave.

"Thank you, Margit!" Lily replied excitedly before racing to her chair.

She tore open the envelope and saw quite a few pages within. At first, she thought Rose might have written an entire essay of a letter, but then she noticed how large and untidy the handwriting was and realized it was primarily due to waste.

I really should have taught her to write better. I hope I don't have any problems reading this chicken scratch. It's almost as bad as Miss Camilla's, and she's got bad hands and eyes!

Sighing to herself, Lily began smoothing and unfolding the papers. She informed Arakil of her actions and excitedly began reading Rose's long-awaited letter.

[Hey Lily, it's been a while! I hope you're eating well, sleeping enough, and yadda yadda.]

Yes, I am. Mostly. Although I bet, I could say the same worries about you. I can't believe you took so long to finally write!

[Sorry it took me so long to write. I wanted to write sooner, but I figured I better wait a bit until you've probably revealed the magic! Apparently, they screen letters to make nothing important leaks? Crazy right? Or maybe Lady Desthu was just pulling my leg.]

They read your letters? I really hope you didn't mention anything about Arakil here… But I'm glad you didn't send one before the magic secret came out; that would have been very difficult to explain.

[After that, if I'm completely honest, I sort of forgot I was supposed to write a letter. Between the [REDACTED] during my first week and the big [REDACTED] shortly after that, I had my hands full.]

You forgot? Lily sighed, feeling an urge to rub her temples.

She then stared at the big black blocks that had entirely covered whatever Rose had written. She sighed again and realized that she must have said something important that Regarth or maybe Lady Desthu didn't want to be revealed.

[The mini adventure was so much fun! I almost didn't want it to end! I got to fight a bear with my bare hands! Get it? There were other monsters, way bigger than the gremlins and wolves we fought, but nothing as cool as the bear, if I'm honest.]

You fought a bear; meanwhile, I befriended one. Lily giggled.

[Also, I found out that I'm apparently a very greedy dragon, and I was sucking up all the monster essence, so… Sorry about that? I didn't mean to take more than I needed from the monsters we killed. Lady Desthu complained about it all the time.]

So that's what happened with those gremlins… Lily hummed in thought to herself.

Despite dealing with one of the gremlins herself, she had always wondered why she had gotten almost nothing from that encounter in the old ritual site.

[The whole dragon stuff is out of the way. My clothes were all ruined, but it was ultimately worth it. It feels great to no longer be angry at everything, although I still have the rare flare-ups—no teacher punching, though!]

That's good… I was worried you would move from bloody noses to turning someone into a barbeque.

[Anyway! I'm in Regarth, and it's even better than I expected! I can't wait for you to meet Alice! She's so amazing and beautiful, I don't know how she does what she does, but I think you'll be a big fan! She's [REDACTED] !]

A massive portion of Rose's writing was blacked out with thick ink. Lily was super curious about what was said but figured she'd find out eventually.

Who's Alice, though? Did Rose make a friend? Or is she someone more?

[Also, I've been dying to introduce you to Puff; he's so cute and adorable that I just love him to bits. I thought I'd run out of cuteness being so far away from you, but then Puff managed to help fill a giant bunny-sized gap in my heart! I [REDACTED] .]

Lily gasped. Her curious worries about this Alice person vanished as her mind jumped between trying to puzzle out who Puff was. Rose had outright written love . Was Puff her boyfriend? Or just her temporary little sister replacement? Lily gulped nervously at her own delusions.

I'm sure she hasn't replaced me, but then she specifically said he filled the gap I left behind! Why would she do that? And why is so much of what she wrote blacked out? I need answers!

Lily was on the verge of tearing her hair out before she finally calmed down. Lily realized there was nothing she could do about it now, and when they finally reunited, she could get all the answers she desperately sought.

[I miss you terribly, and I hope you blow the examiner's mind! It's really easy; all you need to do is [REDACTED] . And when you get into Regarth, make sure you [REDACTED] !]

Even though this section had even more redactions, Lily felt relieved to see Rose plainly write that she missed her terribly. She giggled a bit at her own slightly paranoid delusions.

[Anyway, everything else I want to say in person. I can't wait to see you again!

Your loving big sister, Rose.]

"Miss you too," Lily said softly with a sniffle. "I'll be right behind you."