"Let's get this over with." He thought to himself.
Then he picked up the first memory crystal and digested the information within. It is actually a spell catalog with over a hundred different spells. Absorbing the catalog has made him learn over a hundred spells just like that. Not that he needed them, but it will be a proper cover for his future spell usage.
In ancient times, people were killed for a single spell and they spend days and weeks trying to learn it. Spells are still rare outside families with a great heritage like the Ghastorix family but learning has become too easy.
To the Ghastorix family, spells of this level, well any spell in general is worth less than the memory crystal that holds them. Spells start to become irrelevant at the transcendent level because they start to pursue laws and spell matrixes instead. A family like the Ghastorix that only considers transcendents and those with the potential to reach it significantly, will not care about spells at all.
But while spells are easy to acquire and even easier to learn, the need for proficiency still remains relevant. There are several areas of proficiency like casting speed, multicasting, amplified casting, delayed casting, silent casting, and many more, but the battle academy focuses on the first three. These three are the most important because they focus more on visualization.
The proper casting regimen is all about practical spell casting. Learning spells is very easy, casting them is another thing entirely. Learning spells entails becoming aware of the requirements in mana weaving and the various components of the spells. You also acquire the knowledge about the proper hand gestures and magical phrases that help with spell visualization. Casting spells requires you to use the information you have by carrying them out in order to cast the spell. Knowing about something doesn't mean being able to do it.
Soverick is required to cast 10 spells of choice out of the list of spells. The array within the training room will grade his performance until it reaches an acceptable level of performance. A fireball spell has to be able to do a certain amount of damage instead of winking out, for it to be considered practical. Ideally, it takes a week of constant practice to get a spell to the level of practicality that is required to pass the challenge and that's for bloodline geniuses.
"Reminds me of when I was learning spells casting when I was younger." Soverick began to reminisce about his younger years. The high elves were in a period of peace by the time he was born. They had the realm lord and they didn't want for anything. High elves were carefree and could train or not. Their bloodline will help them to grow powerful without much effort and the small effort they put in will have amplified effects because of their natural affinity.
If their decadence had been allowed to continue, high elves will become too lazy to do anything. It's not their fault per se, they have just been highly influenced by their ancestor. The ancestors of high elves were trees and trees don't like to move even if they are capable of it. They like to stay still and enjoy the wind blowing through their branches. They don't have to work for their food either, there's water and nutrients from the soil, and there's energy giving sunlight every day. They can stay in a single spot all their lives since they want for nothing. High elves are much too alike to trees in that aspect. They can also be stubborn and tenacious, but they have to be forced or faced with the necessity for them to show that side of their personality.
"That's probably why the realm lord allowed demons to attack us occasionally." He shook his head and began to concentrate on the matter at hand instead of thinking about his useless past.
He selected 10 spells and spent one minute on each one of them for a total of 10 minutes. He thought it was ample enough time to tone down his ability. He spent 10 minutes on it while others spend 10 weeks. Then he moved on to the second regimen.
The casting speed regimen entails learning spells and becoming so proficient in them as to cast them in under a second. Anything over a second of casting time is considered sloppy. The spells are rudimentary for this stage because true spell casting begins at the mana entity stage. Only then is instant casting possible.
"Too easy," Soverick commented.
He needed to choose 10 spells of the 100 and perfect his understanding of them enough to cast them in less than a second.
Even though the spell has been learned, casting it isn't easy. Spell casting at this stage is rigid. There are short phrases, hand gestures, and visualization required to cast spells. These rules have to be followed properly or the spell won't be able to function.
Using the spell Mana Shield as an example, it is a spell that takes 10 seconds to cast if the spell nuance is followed to the letter. An amateur will always be able to cast the spell as long as they follow the various steps. Better proficient casters will be able to skip some steps and have success in casting it. Each step that is skipped will lead to a reduction in casting time but will also increase the difficulty of casting it successfully. Experts will be able to cast it in a second by visualizing all the steps instead of actually performing them or performing some steps together by using mind division.
In ancient times, becoming an expert is something that takes years of effort, study, and practice but thanks to the intellectual advantage of bloodlines, that time has been cut down significantly. Nowadays, the journey from amateur to expert can take weeks of dedicated effort depending on elemental and spiritual talent. That's if they focus on a single spell and succeed in it.
Sometimes the trainees might fail in becoming proficient in a spell or give up. Then start another spell, they have many options to choose from. And that's for a single spell. There are still nine more spells to become an expert in.
Soverick didn't need weeks or months. It took him less than five minutes to completely relearn the spells and become an expert in them. He cast all of them silently, without words or gestures, and even then he still held back a little.
He didn't even pay attention to Wendy as she congratulated him. He didn't care about the record and she wasn't truly impressed by it either. She can't feel anything and is just going through the motions. In a way, her presence was soothing to Soverick.
He picked the next memory crystal and went back to train. The next regimen is multi-casting. The memory crystal contained visualization techniques to perform it. It can only be performed by experts, they are already well versed in the art of visualization. That's why 4 of the 10 spells that the trainee has chosen will have to be cast simultaneously to pass this regimen.
Multi casting is the benchmark of a master mage. A master mage must be able to use mind division and impeccable visualization to cast spells simultaneously. Casting two spells at the same time is the lowest requirement and each subsequent addition becomes more difficult to achieve. To cast four at a time is a feat that would have been considered impossible in ancient times.
While it is possible today, some spells cannot be cast together. These spells will interfere with one another even though the mind has been divided. Water whip and fireball cannot be multicasted. It is a matter of elemental opposition. The earthen shield and water whip cannot be cast together because of visualization problems. Earthen shield and mana shield are very compatible, mana shield and water whip are compatible, but the three of them cannot be cast together. Fireball isn't compatible with the earthen shield, but it can be cast together with the mana shield if the mana shield is used as a buffer. These are just a select few situations that only experience in multicasting can acquire.
This will require the trainee to fumble in the dark a bit because they aren't informed of which are compatible or not. They will have to discover these peculiar phenomenons between spells on their own and probably return to their list of 100 spells to learn more in hopes of finding compatible ones.
This will make them experts in more than 20 spells and maybe up to 60 if they are unlucky in finding four compatible ones. This will turn their weeks of training into months and maybe years. It all depends on their talent. Soverick finished it in 4 minutes. He chose water whip, air bust, wind cyclone, and ice shards, then he dedicated a minute to each of them.
"That's the highest time I can go." He grumbled.
He couldn't wait for this experience to be over. It wasn't training to him, more like an examination he has to pass before he is allowed to be promoted. He just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible.