So its been a while, sorry I've been really busy and a hell of a lot has happened in my life. So to that one person who was saying that I dropped the story. Jokes on you. Lets get on to it now ye? Italics, as usual are a memory and there's gonna be a lot of em this time.
Shallow breaths sound out in a pristine white room. The room being a simple fare, merely a bed, an extra chair and a small bed stand. In the room is three people, a young woman with short black hair holding a clipboard, a tall, broad shouldered dwarven woman with brown hair and eyes.
Finally, is a young man resting in the bed. Between his snow white hair and pale skin he almost blended in with the white sheets of the bed. His breath rising and falling at a steady interval despite the shortness thereof.
All things considered, he looked to be sleeping peacefully.
"So how is he?" the gruff voice of Mia Grand asked the healer.
"He should be okay, his wounds are healed, nothing permanent, all he needs to do now is wake up." The healer replied.
Mia nodded "Alright then, when he wakes up make sure to send him straight home." She said glancing at her sleeping employee "Get well soon Kid, we've got lots to talk about."
As she left the room, Mia shook her head in amusement "Magic eh? You really are something else…"
Indeed, Mia had learned of his escapades, at least somewhat, from the Loki familia when they'd brought him here, to the Dian Cecht Familia that is.
Granted they hadn't come out and said that he was using magic, but between the rune carved on his only surviving piece of armor and the fact Gareth had pulled her aside to ask him when she had 'taught the boy the Father's Tongue' Mia had been able to put two and two together.
"…The only question is how you did it?" Mia whispered, the words barely a sound as she left the Dian Cecht Familia behind her and returned to the Hostess.
"Alright Brat, you know how to copy and draw magic sequences perfectly, now its time for you to learn what they mean." Aunt Alfia's words were spoken in a harsh tone as always, but I was far too excited to care.
"FINALLY!" my younger self shouted, a few pieces of paper flying off the table as I threw my arms up.
My aunt merely glared at me in response "OH!" I shouted, slapping my hands over my mouth before whispering an apology and cleaning up the small mess.
When I finished, Alfia coughed into her closed hand "Now then, as I was saying." I had the decency to blush at the reminder "I've had you study this spell circle for a week now…" she said, flicking her hand and creating it in thin air out of her gorgeous blue mana, something that always made my young mind pay rapt attention, the color familiar somehow "This spell is made of seven layers, each working with the others to create the actual spell."
Sure enough the overly complicated circle was made of seven circles spinning inside the others like a bull's eye. I bobbed my head "What does it do?" I asked.
Alfia looked a little peeved at the interruption but continued her lecture nonetheless "The symbol at the center is called the core and it defines the nature of the spell. In this case it is using the symbol for fire in spirit script." I nod again. I could recognize it from when Alfia forced me to learn the whole alphabet, which is comprised of symbols for various elements and effects, in a single day.
The spirits apparently only used writing for magic so they didn't really need any single letters like common does.
"The core of the spell is directed with more specific instructions with the other rings." She said as a tiny flame the size of a match lit on her finger, the symbol glowing brighter at the same time, "This second ring surrounding the core is a specific instruction to transform the Mind created by my Falna into mana, an energy that isn't produced in the bodies of adventurers." The second circle started spinning faster and the tiny flame suddenly grew to the size of my head.
She must have caught the look of awe in my eyes since she smiled, something I rarely see unless I look extra impressed by what she's showing me "You may never need this circle." she suddenly said. Snapping my eyes away from the fire.
"What do you mean master?" I asked her. She insists that I call her master when we're studying.
"The Falna…" she began, sounding like she'd just bitten into something incredibly sour "It changes the human soul." What? "Humans produce mana, but the energy is absent in adventurers. Instead their Falna produces Mind and creates spells for you. The mage development ability renders it possible to manipulate the spells slightly but it doesn't have the same versatility as mana does."
My head rang as my child self failed to understand what my now older mind understood. Something Alfia clearly realized if her sigh is any indication.
"If its easier, think about Mind as a more potent but rigid form of mana." My head bobbed once more, seemingly satisfying my instructor "Now," she said, returning her gaze to the circle "The third through seventh ring of this spell can be anything at all as long as it does not conflict with the core or any other runes. It describes the basic function of the spell itself."
The circles start spinning as well and the fire shrinks down and begins burning a silver color "The third ring simply draws more oxygen so the fire burns hotter, it is what gives the fire its whitish silver color. It accomplishes this with the runes to absorb air and repel water." She said causing me to tilt my head.
"Aren't those opposites?" I asked.
She nods "They are opposites but they don't conflict. The elements are both connected to a single function. If I connected water to the absorption rune or the fire rune they would conflict."
My young self seemed to realize what she was trying to say "but if you reject water you're making the core stronger!"
Alfia nodded once more "Good job, that's exactly what happens here. Rejecting water is in line with the core of the spell, and absorbing air only feeds the fire. It is worth noting however that rejecting and absorbing air on the same circle, or instruction, will cause the spell to fail." I nod, that makes sense.
"This fourth circle is to allow me to directly manipulate the shape of the fire, which I am currently making into a ball. Care to guess which runes I used for this instruction?" she asked me while changing the fire's shape from a ball to an oval and back again.
My young self racked his brain for a solid minute before coming up with an answer "Is it shape and fire?" I asked hesitantly.
Clearly the workload had been getting to my young mind as there's no way I would normally take that long for such an obvious answer. I hope.
"Exactly. Despite only using two runes, is one of the most important parts of this spell. Because it lets me manipulate the shape, it also allows me to change the fire's shape to one that can benefit more from the spell's chant, but we'll get to that at the end." As she finished speaking the ball started moving up and down in a weird curve. "The next instruction applies motion to the flames in this case to follow a particular curve. This part involves math so I won't bore you with the specifics of it."
Oh gods I'm going to need to use math in my magic?! Is it too late to give up on magic? Wait of course it is. This is my only path forward…
"The sixth circle is crafted with the runic sequence 'create - force - downwards' twice mirrored over the Y axis. It does exactly what it sounds like, obviously…" Alfia, even with an extra 8 years of life under my belt my brain is already hurting. This isn't as easy as you seem to think it is. "it creates two identical downward forces on opposite sides of an imaginary mirror going straight up and down."
Sure enough the ball of fire split into two balls preforming the same movements as though in a mirror causing the dust on the floor to be pushed outwards from the floor.
"Finally… the seventh circle is composed of three runes." She said, and I can feel my excitement at finally seeing the full spell in action, "The sequence is as follows 'Self - bind - body'. It serves to bind my own body to the movement of the fire." The pair of fireballs shifted position. One over each shoulder. My eyes widened as it finally clicked in my head what the motion of the balls were.
With a smug smile and a step through a suddenly open door Alfia started speaking once more "Now the spell's chant influences how powerful a spell can be, typically through resonance with the words you speak" the fire slowly spreads into beautiful silver wings "It also applies a greater purpose and special affects onto the spell. In this case…"
"Oh great wings of the fire bird, allow me to soar on the eternal winds."
With every word I felt the air grow heavier and hotter.
"Manifest and incinerate the unfaithful so that I may be reborn as a envoy of the Great Mother."
I had already figured out what the spell was for but I still couldn't believe it as Alfia called out:
"Wings of the Phoenix!"
And with a mighty flap of the burning wings Alfia took flight leaving the ground behind as she soared above the trees. Stopping some hundred feet up she turned on the spot, the embers from her burning wings falling as silver crystals of destruction. This is incredible… and I'll be able to do things like this someday?
Maybe math isn't so bad…
Just when I thought it couldn't be more amazing Alfia flapped the wings stronger than usual, creating a feather made entirely out of fire below her. A feather that on the next wingbeat rocketed towards the ground, exploding into a massive ball of steam when it impacted a nearby river.
"Incredible…" I mutter. My aunt is, without a doubt, the most incredible person I've ever seen. The effortless grace in her every action, the devastating might and brilliant mind to have even come up with this spell to begin with is just so far beyond anything I've ever even considered that I can't help but be enthralled with her performance.
I continue to watch her for who knows how long until she finally once more lands before me, not a single strand of hair out of place.
She took a moment to smooth out her perfectly proper gray dress before she resumed her lecture, something I had honestly forgotten about "This spell seems simple when you look at it divided into components, but because its written in spirit script the runes themselves are far more complex than any other language, this is by far one of the most complicated spells you could ever draw." She explained "and you Bell, can replicate it perfectly by hand."
Suddenly the ease I had to draw Ryuu's magic circle made sense. It was composed of runes from the Futhark alphabet. The straight and simple lines are far easier than the complicated swirls and flowy spirit script. Compared to Alfia's "Wings of the Phoenix" the spell circle for "Noah Heal" may as well be a simple square.
"Now," she continued "Spirit script is especially powerful, and in exchange for that power it requires far more mana to cast spells written in it. Simply activating it would drain a level two adventurer to a mind down, which is to say nothing about maintaining the spell or using it's offensive capabilities."
I see… so that's why she taught me Futhark as well…
"For reference, a similar spell written in Futhark would require three separate spell circles of seven layers each overlaid in a way that no overlapping runes conflict. But then even a level two could use the spell although it would be less powerful." My mind stopped 21 spell sequences? That's just absurd!
*snrt* "Judging by the look on your face I assume you understand the absurdity of having that memorized at all times." I nod "Good, then that puts a wrap on today's lesson. Tomorrow you have the day off. Shall we spend it together?"
Now I remember what day this was… it was the day before Alfia left… what did I say though?
!SPLITTING POINT!
"Ah sorry master! I already told Gramps I'd spend the day in the fields with him!" I apologized, a sad smile passing over her lips.
"**k* U* Be**"
"I see, then I'll see you tomorrow evening brat."
As I watched her walk away I couldn't help wondering how my life might have changed had I taken her up on that offer. But, what's done is done.
"W*ke Up Be*l"
And now I need to…
"Wake up Bell!"
In the pristine room of one Bell Cranel within the Dian Cecht Hospital, there sits an elf. An elf who had spent close to a week interacting with the boy laying in the bed, having narrowly escaped the jaws of death mere weeks into his time as an adventurer.
An elf who had been intrigued by the boy's curiosity and innocent nature.
An elf who had found herself enjoying his company, reminding her time around a woman with crimson hair.
An elf who, while staring at her co-worker or perhaps even friend, whispered a single phrase "Wake up Bell." Her azure eyes steady.
And so, when a pair of Ruby eyes opened to meet her own, she allowed herself to finally relax. This friend may have brushed with death, but he had not been taken just yet.
Well my dear readers, this is a splitting point. From this point the story branches. If you want the harem version for this world's Bell, I'll be posting the first chapter of that story very soon under the title "Is it Wrong to Have a Familiar in the Dungeon?" that story will contain spoilers for this one and will start before Alfia leaves for Orario. Basically, it'll be living through a world where Bell stops Alfia from leaving and all that that entails. I'ma be blunt, there will be parts of the memory sections that will be copy pasted from this story as it happens before this decision, but that will quite literally only be for the first chapter
Anyways, shameless plugging aside, I'm finally back to writing this story. Big thanks to Blazeburn006 for inviting me to a writer's discord that got me back into this story.
Sorry about the short chapter length but we should be back to 5k after this. I hope I can finally return to my previous schedule of updates from when I started, or otherwise Bi-weekly since I'll be working on the harem version as well.
Thank you to everyone who reviews and enjoys this story apparently when I was MIA it hit 500 follows and that is so much more than I ever could have expected when I decided to start writing this.
Fun Fact about the last three chapter titles were actually a little bit of a hint as to what might happen written in flower language. Lily of the Valley is a symbol for purity, new beginnings and love where as the Spider Lily is a symbol of death and betrayal. Since those chapters were sorta revolving around Lily, I found it fitting.
Anyways, I'll be writing to you all again very soon. So, as always, see ya next time!