Nick took out a packet of scroll writing papers that he kept in a neat pile in one of the corners of his room and returned to his desk, spending the next thirty minutes writing a copy of the beast capture scroll. When he was done, the scroll emitted a feint magical aura that made it evident that it was not defective.
Nick took out another scroll writing paper from the packet and this time he placed it beside his already produced magic scroll. Nick closed his eyes and his consciousness entered his mindscape where he began to form the laws for Copy, the symbols appearing as dull red light; Nick slowly formed the symbols in order to make sure that he did not make a mistake that could result in a backlash.
"Forming the laws of a spell the first time is always the hardest but becomes much easier afterwards. I wonder why that is?"
A few minutes later, all of the laws had been formed and the spell was ready to be cast. Nick willed and watched as the field of ice that replaced his magic sea cracked in various places and released small crystals of magic energy into the air which flowed towards the spell's laws that suddenly burst out in blinding light when fed with the magic energy.
Nick's consciousness left his mindscape and after examining his magic scroll once again, Nick placed his right index finger on the scroll and uttered:
"Make Copy."
Then he placed his right index finger on the blank scroll writing paper and uttered:
"Produce Copy."
Copy was a two part spell that had sub-spells, which was a term that Nick arbitrarily called them, one to copy the magical laws and one to project the laws onto a medium. Theoretically, the concept of the spell should work fine but without a test, Nick would not know how effective his concept was.
The blank scroll writing paper lit up with a dull red light and when the light dissipated, the formerly blank paper now had symbols drawn with a red hue. Nick became momentarily excited before calming himself down and carefully comparing both magic scrolls.
"The symbols are identical and the magical aura they are releasing are nearly the same but why only nearly?"
There was a slight difference in the magical aura released by the scroll that Nick produced by hand and the scroll produced by the spell. Nick did not understand why there was such a subtle difference but he ignored it for now. Nick picked up the two scrolls and went to the outside of his dorm where by this time of the day there would be pigeons perching on the tree branches and pecking on the ground, looking for food.
Nick first used his hand written magic scroll to capture a pigeon with unsurprising success and then used his magic scroll that was produced by his spell. Nick willed and the symbols on the page moved around to form a cage and a moment later, a fat pigeon sitting on a branch disappeared and reappeared as a red inked drawing on the scroll page.
(Success! It actually works.)
Nick knew that it likely would but to see his hard work finally pay off gave him an indescribably good feeling. Slade commented:
[Hmmm, kid, do you realize that your spell mimics information path which is the retrieval and manipulation of information.]
Nick replied in agreement:
(I'm starting to notice a trend, the concepts involved in rule magic are so rudimentary and vague that when applied to spells, they end up producing results that mimic other magical paths, like how my spell, Big, produces the effect of transformation path, Growth produces the effect of food path and transformation path, Sever produces the effect of blade path and sword path and now Copy produces the effect of information path. Rule path seems to be very versatile and practical as long as you can apply its principles correctly.)
Nick felt like his understanding of rule path made a big leap and he immersed himself in the intoxicating feeling of improvement.
Slade spoke:
[You sure catch on quick when things involve rule path which probably has to do with your high affinity for it.]
Nick was about to head back to his dorm when he heard someone say:
"Those are some neat little tools that you have. Where did you get them from, did you create them?"
Nick turned around and squinted his yes when he saw the person who spoke.
"Don Bartholomew."
Don smiled and said:
"Glad to know that you still remember me neighbor, it has been a while. I've heard that you've been eating with little Marcia lately but she's started talking shit about you the moment she got involved with Kevin Stalwart. You sure have a way with the ladies."
Don said that last part with a sarcastic tone and continued:
"So, like I was asking before, where did you get those scrolls?"
Nick spoke dismissively in reply:
"That's none of your business, Don."
After saying that Nick began making his way back to his dorm room while Don spoke with a grudging tone:
"Fine, don't tell me but don't forget that one day I will be in charge of the Bartholomew family and I will remember your disrespect."
Nick replied:
"If you say so."
Nick was not worried about Don's threat because he knew that Magicians could generally rise above the strength of a group as well as the fact that Magician families rise into prominence and fall into obscurity almost every day so the Bartholomew family may or may not be relevant by the time Don graduated anyway.
When Nick got back to his room, he spent the next six hours copying the beast capture scrolls in order to familiarize himself with the spell and to begin fulfilling his contract with the General Beast Store.
"Copy is a rank 2 basic grade spell with the ability to copy magical laws and reproduce them on a medium. Its consumption should be based on the power of the laws that it is copying, for example, each scroll that I copy requires 1200 magical units and with my magic energy holding capacity of 45,000 magical units, that's 37 scrolls per session. Hmmm, I am not exactly sure why the spell is only basic grade but I'll try to figure out the reason later."
At around 8 pm, Nick was finished producing over two hundred and fifty magic scrolls and he stored them in a corner of his room.
"I'll have to get boxes for them tomorrow."
Nick meditated until midnight and after setting his alarm for 6:00 am, he went to bed.
..............
During his next combat class, Nick practised the Waiting Viper for two hours and became noticeably better at performing its movements. Varrow even commented on Nick's improvement:
"You really do seem to have some talent with learning sword play. Do you have a high affinity with sword path or blade path?"
Varrow referred to 'path' instead of 'magic' because after speaking to Nick a few times, he realized that the young man was well learnt and could discuss magical topics at a high level, at least far beyond the level of his peers. Nick thought a little about how to answer and decided that it was in his best interest to be a little truthful if this man was going to instruct him properly:
"I actually do have a high affinity with blade path."
Varrow nodded in understanding.
"Now I understand your preference with a sword as a weapon but you do know that unlike sword path, blade path has the advantage that it makes it easier to use all sorts of bladed weapons that aren't necessarily swords."
Nick wore a thoughtful expression and then replied:
"I figured that but swords are such classic weapons. I remember watching films with guys using them to chop off the heads of dragons and the like. I want to be that cool too."
Varrow looked at Nick with wide eyes, not expecting such a childish response but he could also understand. When he was younger, he also wanted to become something akin to a hero using magic.
"Fine, we'll continue focusing on the sword for now, you can go. Oh, by the way, aren't you a bit bothered by the gossiping and foolishness of your classmates; it was hard to ignore their little performance the other day?"
Nick replied indifferently:
"I wouldn't say that I'm unbothered by it but acting against them over it seems like a foolish endevour, one where I don't gain anything of value."
Varrow nodded in approval:
"Well, I like the maturity in your analysis."
Varrow said that and left as a gust of wind. Nick headed to the spell creation club to receive his tasks from Norman. When he got there, he noticed that Derek and Lana were the only ones in the room and so he greeted them respectfully:
"Greetings club mates, is Norman around?"
Derek turned away from the white board that he was writing Valteesian symbols on and answered Nick:
"He isn't around but he left those notes for you to work through; he said to bring them back by the end of next week."
Derek pointed to a large stack of documents on the desk that was beside of Lana's and so Nick picked them up and placed them into his backpack and said his goodbyes, leaving the club room and heading to the convenience store near to his dorm where he picked up three basin sized cardboard boxes and then returned to his dorm room.
As soon as he but down his backpack, Nick used his spell, Big, on the three cardboard boxes, enlarging them to a size that could still fit through his room door. He proceeded to pack all of the scrolls that he had already produced into the boxes, filling up one box and only half of another.
After that, Nick started producing more scrolls and this went on until midnight at which point he had produced nearly four hundred more beast capture scrolls. Nick meditated before going to bed.
.............
Over the next three weeks, Nick continued to attend combat classes where he practised that Waiting Viper sword technique, then he would visit the spell creation club to hand in or receive tasks or just to show his face. During the afternoons, he would produce magic scrolls and meditate, falling asleep well after midnight; Nick did the same thing everyday except on some days where he would review his mathematics texts before combat class and on weekends when there was no class, he would practise his space path spells and review his soul path inheritance; he would also study his rule path spells and Malevolent shrine to gain a better understanding of how they worked.
Nick's life was very busy but he enjoyed improving himself everyday, even if sometimes he made a fool of himself or was confused or didn't know what to do. Every challenge gave him the opportunity to find a solution which he thought made him better, even if many of the things he had to do was painful.
.............
On the combat field, Nick moved swiftly using the first seven moments of the Waiting Viper sword technique before his opponent used one swing of his wooden sword to disrupt Nick's momentum and send him sprawling on the ground.
Thompson Varrow nodded his head in approval and said:
"Although your movements are still a little rough, you have been making steady progress and before long, you should be able to learn more basic sword techniques."
Nick picked himself up with and exhausted expression and dusted off his bare chest since he usually practised sword play shirtless, feeling that this opponent of his was unfathomable.
"Thank you for the assessment, I can feel my muscles getting more and more use to these kinds of movements, making my practising much easier."
Suddenly, there was an uproar from the other students who were supposed to be sparring as Kevin Stalwart unveiled a new spell. Kevin stood surrounded by three, three meter tall human figures of blue light which basically trampled his opponent into submission. After losing miserably, his opponent forced a smile and stood up while, saying:
"That rank 2 advanced grade spell of yours is really something Kevin, what did you say its name was again?"
Kevin replied with a satisfied but humble expression:
"Oh, this. It's name is Light of the Three Muskateers. It is a rare advanced grade spell that not only uses light magic, but also enslavement magic. My family spent millions to get their hands on it for me."
Everyone gasped at the cost. Although most of their families were well off, hardly anyone of them would spend millions of pounds on one rank 2 spell. Marcia spoke at this time, trying to please Kevin:
"The price of the spell is not the most impressive thing; that would be your skills in using it just now. In the next special exam, you will receive a high rank for sure. I bet that you are the strongest Magician in this class."
Everyone shouted cheers in agreement, that is, until someone threw a fly into their soup:
"What about Nick Capitol?"
Everyone stopped cheering when they heard that, most just looking at each other with a wondering expression. The person that had spoken continued:
"Well...he was ranked 9th within the entire year last semester."
Kevin's expression became unsightly for a moment but it quickly became humble again. He spoke, not wanting to confirm or deny who was the strongest:
"Since we can't determine that right now, I guess we'll have to wait for the next special exam."
When he finished speaking, a voice sounded from an fair distance away, it was clearly magically amplified:
"Who said that you can't determine that right now? Nick Capitol is right here, why don't you and him have a little spar?"
Nick looked at Varrow with raised eyebrows when he heard the words coming out of his mouth, not understanding what he was trying to do. Varrow discretely winked at him and continued:
"You can determine who is the strongest with just a little spar, besides, Nick here hasn't sparred with another student and I don't want him getting rusty. Since you are one of the best in the class Kevin, why don't you critique Nick's skills for me?"
Kevin now wore and awkward expression and said humbly:
"Sir Varrow, Nick has not been sparring with us for a whole two months, I don't want to hurt him, you should let him spar with someone else."
Varrow visibly frowned and replied:
"Young man, if I say that I want you to spar with another student, that is what you will do. It wasn't a request."
After hearing Varrow's tone, Kevin quickly changed his attitude, saying:
"I misunderstood your meaning, sir Varrow, my bad. I'll spar with Nick but if he gets hurt badly, I don't want to accept the responsibility."
Varrow replied:
"Hmph, I will accept all the responsibility, now prepare yourself."
Kevin stood in his spot recovering his magic energy while the other students were clamoring:
"Who do you think will win, Nick or Kevin?"
"I don't know but Nick hasn't been sparring with us for so long so his skills must have become rusty. It should be a close match"
"You're wrong, Kevin has an advanced grade dual typed spell while we have never seen Nick use one of his own. He'll definitely lose this match."
Nick looked at Varrow with a questioning gaze but said nothing. Varrow simply said:
"Go on Nick, I need you to disrupt that boy's influence over the class so that the other students will focus more on improving themselves rather than kissing Kevin's ass, just treat this as payment for my special instructions to you. Oh, and make sure not to kill or cripple him or we will both be in trouble."
Varrow was sure that Nick was proficient in combat based on the fear inducing aura that he released in the second class; Varrow knew that one had to be either an extremely powerful Magician or possess powerful combat traits to produce such an aura.
Nick didn't say anything and just moved towards where Kevin was standing.
(Sigh, I did not want this to happen but this idiot just had to make himself an eyesore. Under the circumstances, I can't refuse to spar but I do not want to spend much time on this either because today is the day that I produce the last of the beast capture scrolls that I owe the General Beast Store.)
Nick stopped walking when he got to six meters of Kevin who was standing directly opposite of himself; the other students were standing at a fifteen meter radius to Nick's and Kevin's right and left sides. Marcia looked and Kevin and then looked at Nick, her stare remaining on him for a few seconds before she turned away and kept her eyes on Kevin; her movements did not escape Nick's peripheral vision. He spoke to Kevin while shaking his head:
"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down first."
Kevin sneered and used his most powerful spell right away:
(Light of the Three Muskateers)
Three human figures made of blue light appeared standing in front of Kevin; they were three meters tall and while they were made out of light, they could obviously affect their surroundings and had weight as they trampled the grass beneath their feet.
Before Kevin could give his commands for them to attack Nick, however, Nick traced a horizontal straight line in front of himself and cast his spell:
(Sever.)
A moment later, the skin from Kevin's left pectoral to his left pectoral as well as his shirt was cut open, spraying blood like a fountain and Kevin fell to the ground, rolling in the grass, covered with his own blood and screaming like a small child. Everyone present except Nick were shocked at the scene.
"What happened?"
"I think that Nick cast a spell on Kevin."
"How comes I did not see the spell."
"Are you an idiot? There are many spells that don't have a flashy display but are effective but I could not tell the nature of the spell that Nick used, I only know that before Kevin went down, Nick exuded some magic energy."
Varrow quickly reacted and suddenly appeared at Kevin's position and began to perform a healing spell on him.
(That was a very interesting attack that Nick just used. It seemed like a sword path spell but the magic employed definitely did not feel that way. Hmmm...it is not convenient to assess this boy's wounds right now to figure out what kind of spell was used so I guess I'll have to wait for an opportunity to ask Nick.)
While Varrow was healing Kevin, Nick walked up to the three figures of light that were produced by Kevin's spell.
(Light path and enslavement path...it seems that they cannot act without instructions from Kevin and they are in a state of rest.)
Nick touched one but his hand moved right through it.
(No wonder that it was so hard for the other students to deal with this spell today, these things are made of light so physical attacks can pass through them but they can attack with a certain amount of hardness. This is a nice spell, hmmm...when I touch them, I can feel the magic power used to create them because they still require Kevin's magic power to keep them going since he has not dispelled them yet. I wonder...)
Nick once again placed his hand on one of the figures of blue light and when his hand went through it, he immersed himself into getting a good feel for the magic power involved in the spell and then cast his own:
(Make Copy.)
(Produce Copy.)
Nick cast both sub-spells one after the other, using his own mindscape as the medium for which a copy of the laws of Light of the Three Muskateers was produced. The laws glowed with a dull blue light within Nick's Mindscape.
(Well...this is a surprise, I can actually copy the laws for spells that I come in contact with using my own spell, Copy. How...convenient)
Nick smiled and took a note of the laws involved in casting the Light of the three Muskateers and dispelled them from his mindscape since he would not be able to cast a light and enslavement path spell anyway.
When Varrow was done healing Kevin, they both stood up and Kevin looked and Nick with intense displeasure while canceling his spell; Varrow looked at Nick with approval while the other students looked at Nick with suspicion. Nick did not care about anyone's approval or disapproval so he just waited for Varrow to dismiss them. Slade asked:
[Why did you use Sever instead of your space path methods, see how you've made everyone suspicious?]
(My space path methods are not suitable for attacking, you know that and I wanted to finish the spar quickly while Rumbling Pillar might not have gotten the job done with the same efficiency. Sever is great for killing an enemy but also great for causing a deep wound if I hold back, even more important in this situation, I could cast it quickly before that idiot realized what was going on. Besides, for all anyone here knows, that was a space path spell, considering that they probably can't identify that it was rule path or any other path. The rest of the details, I can just explain away.)
Slade replied with a half impressed tone:
[Shrewd...]
Varrow spoke loudly:
"That's all the time that we have for class so you can all leave now."
Varrow motioned Nick to move to the side with him and said:
"Tomorrow, I have a kind of gift that I would like to give you in recognition of your hard work so be here on time."
Nick was confused about why Varrow wanted to give him a gift since he had done nothing special but he nodded his head and left. While he was leaving, Nick saw Varrow speaking to Kevin who had his head lowered.
Nick put the events of today's combat class out of his mind for now and returned to his room. He sat at his desk and produced magic scrolls with his spell, Copy, until midnight, finally completing the General Beast Store's order. Although he was tired, he spent the next two hours writing the laws for Light of the Three Muskateers down on paper with the intention to find out how much this spell was really valued at. Nick went to bed soon thereafter, excited about the events that would unfold tomorrow.
...........
"£6,000,000. That's how much I will pay for the complete version of this spell."
Nick stood in front of the clerk of the Rip Rudy Spell Store, who after assessing the initial portion of the Light of the Three Muskateers spell that Nick had given him, valued the complete version at £6,000,000.
Nick excitedly asked:
"Can we complete the transaction today?"
The clerk responded:
"Sure, but why are you selling this spell, this is definitely a rare one? Won't your family be upset when they find out that you sold it, after all, every spell that is bought by a store like ours has to be reported to the Magician's association and you should know the saying, the walls have eyes and ears."
Nick replied with a cool expression:
"Don't worry, I received this spell as a gift to do with as I please, there will be no repercussions for me."
The clerk did not really care and was only warning the young man as a courtesy because most families deeply treasured the powerful spells that they possessed and if one of their relatives sold it to a private buyer, that relative might be disowned.
(I wonder what face this clerk would make if he knew that I was practically an orphan?)
Nick internally chuckled and handed the clerk the documents with the completed spell on it. The clerk looked it over and spent the next hour verifying its authenticity and after discovering that it was authentic, made Nick another offer:
"I will add £1,000,000 more on my buying price if you do not sell the spell to other stores."
Nick quickly accepted:
"You've got yourself a deal, sir."
Nick understood that intellectual property was truly valuable if very few people owned the rights to it so he had no intention of selling it to more stores for now.
The clerk went ahead with processing the sale and half an hour later, Nick had £7,000,000 sitting in his bank account.
"Becoming a millionaire is so easy..."
Nick said this and chuckled.