"So, how do I learn Spellcasting?" Kyle asked.
"I will teach you," Theodor answered.
"You can do that?" Kyle asked.
"It's a basic skill," Theodor answered with a snort. "You need basic Spells to create advanced golems. While my Center was not strengthened, due to my Realm, my Center was still powerful enough to support the Spells I needed."
"Sure," Kyle said. "So, how does Spellcasting work?"
Naturally, Kyle had been talking to Theodor in his room. After all, he didn't want other people to think he was talking to himself.
"Whenever you cast a Spell, it goes through five phases."
"Pull, Transformation, Injection, Shaping, and Firing. Every single Spell goes through all five phases. Otherwise, it can't be considered a Spell."
"Pull refers to retrieving the Ether you need for the Spell from your Center. This sounds easy, but it needs a lot of care."
"Ether becomes more volatile the denser it gets. If you pull too much Ether, you need to disperse the surplus or make up for the added Ether during the Injection and Shaping phases later."
"Every phase, except for the Pull, consumes Ether. If you pull in too little Ether, you will waste any invested Ether in the other phases on a weaker Spell. Because of that, you must be very careful about how much Ether you pull."
'So, it's like delivery costs, I guess,' Kyle thought. 'You need to ship three objects. It's better to put them all into one package and pay only one shipping fee instead of paying for each object individually.'
"The second phase is Transformation. Transformation simply refers to transforming the Ether you have pulled into the Elemental Ether you need. It is the simplest and most straightforward phase."
Up until now, everything was basically identical to how Kyle used techniques.
He also needed to pull his Ether and transform it.
"Injection is the third phase, and that's where things become different from other uses of Ether," Theodor explained. "During Injection, you inject properties into the Ether."
"If you want to launch a basic fireball with only Pull, Transformation, and Firing, you would receive a small and weak burst of fire that fizzles out just a couple of meters away from you."
"Even if you hit an enemy from close range, they will just receive some minor burns since the heat is spread and dispersed."
"During Injection, you change the properties. If we now include Injection in the process of launching the fireball, you would launch a thin stream of fire at the enemy that barely heats its surroundings. All the heat is focused on the stream itself. It is compact, dense, and stable."
"The enemy would receive burns on the same parts of their body, but their burns would be much more severe."
"The next phase is Shaping, and it refers to giving the Spell a form. A dense stream of fire is effective, but its potential is still spread and limited. With Shaping, you can turn the stream into a thin beam that will burn a hole into your enemy or into a compact sphere that can fly for over a hundred meters without losing any of its power."
"Firing is the last phase and is also the simplest. At this point, your Spell is ready and can be launched at any time. During this phase, you just need to aim properly and fire the Spell."
"Alright," Kyle said. "Sounds simple enough."
"Creating a good weapon is also just moving metal into a shape and carving a couple of shapes into it," Theodor answered with a snort.
"Yes, yes, I know," Kyle said with a roll of his eyes.
"Pull five Miz of Ether," Theodor said.
"Five what?" Kyle asked.
"Miz," Theodor repeated. "It's the standardized unit for Ether. One Miz represents one Mist Toad's worth of Ether."
"Why are we talking about toads now?" Kyle asked.
"Mist Toads were used for standardizing Ether units due to their unique way of fighting. They launch exactly one powerful ball of water before running out of Ether. The balls of water are all almost exactly the same power each time," Theodor explained.
"Okay, cool, but why are we talking about them, though?" Kyle asked.
"It is history and part of education. You must know the history of things if you want to understand them," Theodor answered with annoyance.
"No, I don't. I just have to know how I can launch a fancy Spell. I don't need to know where the fuck this Miz shit came from. How much is a Miz anyway?" Kyle asked.
"One Mist Toad's worth of Ether," Theodor repeated.
"And how much Ether does a Mist Toad have?" Kyle asked, getting a bit annoyed himself.
"About 1.2 Miz."
"Yeah but- wait. Why does a Mist Toad have more Ether than the standardized unit that says how much Ether it has?" Kyle asked.
"A Mist Toad also has Ether in its body," Theodor said. "It's not much, but we can't overlook it."
"How much Ether do I have to pull?" Kyle asked. "A lot? A little?"
"That's why we use Miz," Theodor said.
"And how do I learn how much a Miz of Ether is?" Kyle asked. "Pull some Ether, and I'll tell you," Theodor answered.
Kyle frowned and pulled some Ether out of his Center.
Silence.
"So?" Kyle asked.
"I don't see any Ether," Theodor said.
"It's in my right hand," Kyle said, holding up his right hand.
"You can't create a Spell inside your body," Theodor said with annoyance. "Why do you think every Sorcerer is walking around with a staff or a scepter?"
"I don't have that," Kyle said.
"You don't need that."
"What? Why?"
"Because you have an improved Soul. Sorcerers don't have that. A Spell needs to be shaped outside one's body, and without an improved Soul, that is very difficult to do. That's why Sorcerers use staves and scepters. A Sorcerer's staff has a crystal in it that acts as a temporary Ether storage for Injection and Shaping."
"Okay," Kyle said. "So, I just have to pull the Ether out of my hand?"
"Correct," Theodor said.
Kyle nodded and did just that.
Pure Ether was invisible, but Kyle could feel it coming out of his hand and then…
It just dispersed into the surroundings.
"You shouldn't let it disperse," Theodor commented.
"I know," Kyle commented with furrowed brows.
"On a side note, that was anywhere between 78 and 80 Miz."
Kyle's eyes widened. "But I barely pulled anything!"
"Mist Toads are not very strong," Theodor said.
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