Colen opened the book on the table and slid it toward Maxi.
Maxi raised an eyebrow when he saw it.
It was a spellbook.
He could tell immediately from the flowy, almost dancing way the letters flicked across the page.
The letters of this world—at least in this section of it—were usually rigid. In the BloodHeart Kingdom, their alphabet never flicked or curled. Instead, the letters stayed locked in a hexagonal rhythm: narrow, wide, then settling evenly in the middle. There were exceptions, of course, but rules always had those.
Magic letters, however, were different. They leaned toward triangular shapes, sometimes even squarish like Chinese characters.
Maxi had been studying magic under Colen's supervision for almost two years now, so he could identify this book for what it was with ease. Still, he frowned.
Something about it was strange.
The book didn't actually contain spells—no incantations, no diagrams. It only had descriptions.
Of fire.
The way it moved, how it turned things golden before reducing them to ash. How its heat was both physical and metaphorical.
If Isaac Newton had been burned instead of struck by an apple, then turned into a philosopher who quoted Shakespeare in his free time—this was the kind of writing he would have left behind.
Colen's cold voice broke through Maxi's thoughts as he sat down.
"As you know, this is a magic book. But it's different from the books you've been studying. Those books tell you how to do magic without you actually doing it. This one is the opposite. You use it to actually perform magic. I know it sounds confusing, but there's no better way to explain it."
Maxi nodded slowly. "So the books I've been reading… help me prepare. And this book… actually lets me do it?"
"Exactly," Colen confirmed.
Maxi frowned. "So how does this help me cast magic?"
"Simple. Just memorize it."
"What!?" Maxi shouted.
Colen straightened his posture, folding his hands together.
"You don't even need to understand what it means… not yet. Whether you'll need that depends on if you choose to continue down this path. But for now, your task is simple. Memorize it. That's all we'll be doing this week."
Maxi groaned. "That's all? Just memorizing?"
Colen nodded without hesitation.
Maxi sighed, but unconsciously begans to slowly note the information.
---
A week later, Maxi returned to the castle's main library and sat down.
Colen was already waiting across the table.
"Good," Colen said. "Now that you've memorized the text, we can move to the easier parts. It will still take time, but this is where the real training begins."
Maxi leaned forward. "Okay, I'm ready."
"The first thing you need to do is open your mana core."
Maxi did as instructed, breathing slowly the way Colen had taught him while memorizing the spellbook.
Colen raised his palm. Rainbow illusory stars shimmered into existence, but one by one they dimmed—until only a single red star remained. It shined brighter and brighter until it burst into flame, consuming the others in its blaze.
Colen inhaled deeply. "The difference from last time is this: instead of cutting off all your senses, you must focus on one. Let it overwhelm the others. Fire is the easiest sense to train, because pain is… difficult to ignore. This process will take a week, but by the end, you'll no longer need to burn yourself. You'll be able to summon the feeling of fire on command."
Maxi grit his teeth, bracing himself. A week of being burned…
---
When it ended, Maxi sat slumped in his chair, both arms wrapped in bandages.
"'Easiest part,' you said," Maxi muttered bitterly, looking at the damage.
Colen nodded. "It was. Thank the gods for your mother's blood, or it could have taken far longer. That might have been the easiest—or the hardest—depending on who was attempting it."
"So this is the hardest part?" Maxi asked.
Colen smirked faintly. "That depends on how well you can control your imagination."
Maxi straightened. "Alright. What do I do?"
"Open your core again. Focus on the feeling of fire. Once you've locked onto it, we move forward."
Maxi obeyed. His core flared, and all his senses rushed through him in a flood. He drowned his hands in the overwhelming sense of warmth—warmth that became heat, heat that became embers, embers that became flame, and flame that became fire.
His eye twitched at the rising heat, but he endured.
Colen's voice cut through the haze.
"Now, imagine your symbol for fire. Draw a circle. Perfect. Then another inside of it, leaving enough space between them. Within that space, you must place three more small circles. Position doesn't matter, but optimally, they should be opposite each other.
"One circle defines the element—draw a star in it. Another determines the type of spell: grounded or free. Grounded means the circle activates only when triggered, stationary. Free means it follows you and can be released at will. For grounded, inscribe a '1.' For free, a '0.'
"The last circle is direction. If free, leave it empty—the spell will follow your intent. If grounded, you must know precisely where it will fire before completing the circle. Otherwise… disaster."
Colen's tone sharpened.
"Finally, place your fire symbol in the center. Then, recall the spell text you memorized. Your mind will do the rest."
It took Maxi another week—and a day. But finally, he succeeded.
---
Maxi mind was blank, it was temple, and with in that temple, he summoned a match
That match, then flicked itself in a circle mostion, as it lit itself a small blaze.
The match then, like pen writing on it's paper. Draw a circle of fire in the dark temple.
The match then flicked itself against, as the embers of fire on the match went out
Leaving a circle of fire
The match lit itself again, as it drew a small circle against the first circle.
The matches light then went out and lit again as it drew another small circle
And in the same pattern as before it drew 3rd circle
Then within the first circle, and against all three small circles, a new circle was draw not as big as the first circle but also small as the three
One of the small circles needed an element so it star
One of the small circles needed a rule so it was told to be free
The last circle needed a direction but it was given none
And finally the match the, symbol that was used to draw all of this was placed in the middle of it all, and lit itself one last time
And like the key of a piano slowly being played, magic letter started appearing in the rhythm of, a beautiful, fast placed, Symphony of a song. Patterns was drawn, letters where used, fire was described, and fire was wanted..... so fire was given
Maxi slowly breathed in, as he slowly opened his eyes, to see in his hand what he created
A magic circle made of fire, pluraly made out of Maxi mana, and imagination
Maxi sighs a heavy breath
As he looks at camp fire sticks frame
Maxi takes a deep breath as he feels the energy being drained out of him and being but into the magic circle
It feels like his blood is being drained out of him while his out camping, and his blood is being drained from his palms, which is exactly where his warming his hands near a fire camp
As Maxi breaths out he shouts out the fire ball
The way the fire ball shots out, reminds maxi of a magical 20 shooters
Maxi still feels the lingering heat on his palms
The fire hits the branches and makes a camp fire
the magic circle disappears into the air soon after
Maxi lay on the ground exhausted
Tengen looks down at him and smirks as he gives him a thumbs up
"Good job master Maxi"
"Thanks" Maxi panted
as he spent the rest if the day just look up at the sky listean the flowing of wind as it made the leaves jingle like Chimes
Maxi then saw the sky slowly darken giving way to the stars, which replaced the suns light with thiers, as the 4 moons slowly rised up to, replace the spot which the suns once filled.
Maxi sighed enjoying his first taste of freedom in seven years .