Free Web NovelChapter 355: Chapter 352: Fulfilling a Teacher’s Duty
"Enough about that. Guess why I brought you here," Rorschach said to Andre, pulling out several Learning Scrolls as he spoke.
Andre scratched his head. "Hmm... Master, are you planning the second phase of the factory?"
"No. We’ve both been so busy with trivial matters lately, it’s time I taught you some Magic." Rorschach looked a little sheepish. He had once thought Andre had no future as an apprentice under Bart, but in the end, Andre hadn’t had much time to advance his Magic Skills under his tutelage either.
In truth, Andre’s Alchemy hadn’t been neglected during this time, but hearing the words "learn Magic" after so long was a welcome change, and his spirits lifted. He watched as Rorschach telekinetically pulled over a dry twig and snapped it in two with a CRACK.
"You know the most basic Repair Skill, right?" Rorschach asked. "It’s just a Zeroth Ring Trick."
"Like this?" Andre took the two pieces of the twig from his master. After fitting them together, a flash of Spiritual Light flickered across the seam, and the dry twig became whole again.
"Not bad. Now, use the Fireball Skill to hit the tree next to me." freёwebnovel.com
"Master, what if my aim is off?"
"It’s not like it would kill me!" Rorschach told his Apprentice not to be nervous. After chanting and gathering his Magic Power, Andre successfully launched a small Fireball.
’The speed and power are nothing special... Is he holding back for my sake, or is this really the extent of Andre’s Casting ability?’ Rorschach wondered, assessing his student’s performance.
The Fireball struck the trunk precisely. With a wave of heat and a loud BANG, the point of impact—from the bark to the core—was instantly carbonized and blown into splinters. At the same time, the entire top half of the tree began to topple toward Rorschach.
But Rorschach had already prepared a Technique. Just like with the explosion during the vehicle test at the ammonia synthesis plant, the entire scene of destruction froze in time. The light from Andre’s Fireball died out, the heat dissipated, and the splinters flew backward, returning to their original positions and re-forming a solid tree trunk.
"I think it’s essential for you to learn this Magic. Not only is it useful on the battlefield, but it can also protect you and your fellow workers during an industrial accident at the factory. After all, I can’t be there all the time."
In reality, Rorschach hadn’t cast a single spell, but a combination. Much like linking keywords, he had compressed multiple spells together in preparation, then rapidly triggered them in sequence the instant the Fireball struck the tree.
He began to explain the principles behind the spell to Andre. "The Repair Skill I had you demonstrate at the start is actually the final step. First, you have to establish a Force Field that screens for any object exceeding a certain threshold of temperature and velocity. Then, you continuously sap the kinetic and thermal energy that the Fireball Skill has imparted to these objects."
"The Fireball Skill is a good way to simulate an explosion, as it provides both heat and kinetic force. In the future, you can use the same principles to deal with projectiles, even cannonballs, as well as close-range sword attacks and some simple spells from the Shaping Power Energy System."
"How do you screen for objects with high temperature and high velocity?" Andre found what Rorschach had just done to be unbelievable.
Rorschach threw a punch directly at Andre. "You can see this fist, can’t you? Even if you can’t make out the details as clearly while it’s moving compared to when it’s still, that doesn’t stop you from judging its position relative to you and dodging it.
"Your eyes are one of your senses. Most animals have evolved dynamic vision, which prioritizes tracking moving objects, making it easier to hunt prey or escape danger.
"If you treat the feeling of manipulating the surrounding Magic Power as another one of your senses, you can gain a very faint, yet useful, ’sense.’ It’s blurry and can’t perceive fine details, but with training, it can become sensitive to these high-energy objects.
"Next, you need to mobilize the surrounding Magic Power and pre-set a Slowdown Skill and a ’freezing’ effect." As he spoke, he tossed Andre six Learning Scrolls, for the Slowdown Skill and the Cold Ice Beam. "The underlying principles of these two spells are the same: using Magic Power to counteract an object’s energy. One counteracts kinetic energy, the other counteracts thermal energy.
"And thermal energy... if you’ve read my paper, you’d know that it can be seen as the kinetic energy of a macroscopic object’s microscopic structure. Sigh, it’s my fault. I didn’t go into enough depth during the basic Alchemy lessons.
"In short, they can effectively be combined into a single Casting action and applied to the spell I just used."
Andre’s head was spinning from that single sentence, so Rorschach had to pause and explain some simple basics of thermodynamics. After he finished, Rorschach said with concern, "Future improvements to the factory’s manufacturing processes will require this theoretical guidance. If you can’t even learn this Magic properly, how will you learn the principles behind those processes?"
’Huh? So in my master’s eyes, manufacturing processes are even harder than Magic?’ Andre’s temples began to throb. He desperately wanted to say, ’Master, please, no more lecturing.’
But his enthusiasm for learning Magic won out over his dread. Andre opened a Learning Scroll, activated it, and began to study.
Rorschach quietly observed, sensing Andre’s clumsy manipulation of Magic Power. ’Yes, clumsy.’ From his perspective, the Apprentice’s command over the ambient Magic Power felt sluggish. In contrast, when Rorschach himself acted, he was like a king with absolute authority; the slightest stir of his own Magic Power could cause the surrounding Magic Power to resonate in response.
But regardless, after using up all the Scrolls for the Slowdown Skill, Andre managed to learn it. His method of testing and practicing was simple: he would just toss a pebble into the air, slow it down, and then gently catch it.
In practice, it looked just like the Feather Fall Skill. But in reality, Andre was cutting corners, because the pebble’s trajectory was predictable, especially since he was the one throwing it.
So, after confirming that Andre had mastered the first spell, Rorschach interrupted his Apprentice’s "game of catch." It was time to ramp up the intensity.
"You’re not going to get any real training benefit from that. Come." The words had barely left his mouth when dozens of small twigs and pebbles rose into the air around Rorschach, taking aim at Andre.
A cold sweat broke out on Andre’s brow. He hastily began to make the motions for Casting (Rorschach, adhering to the philosophy from Empire College, only used Scrolls and hadn’t taught him any related chants).
Once Andre was in position, bits of debris began to shoot out at random, flying swiftly toward him. At first, Rorschach launched the projectiles one by one, and Andre was able to track them with his eyes and cast his spell to catch them. But then Rorschach released multiple Projectiles at once. Now the Apprentice was overwhelmed and was struck repeatedly.
"Work on expanding the range of your perception of the ambient Magic Power! Any change will be reflected within your sensory field. Then, speed up your Casting and respond faster." Seeing that Andre’s cheek had been grazed, Rorschach healed the scrape and immediately resumed the training.
Under the threat of pain—or perhaps thanks to a surge of adrenaline—Andre’s Casting motions grew much faster, and he barely managed to meet Rorschach’s standard. freёweɓnovel.com
"This same principle can be applied to self-defense. In addition to the standard Spirit Armor Skill, if you master casting the Slowdown Skill this way, you can restrict an enemy’s weapon movement when they get close, compensating for a Mage’s greatest vulnerability." After this summary, Rorschach signaled for Andre to begin learning the next spell.
