Finn left.
In Finn's mind, Alice was already a new member of the Loki Familia, and with her considerable strength, her joining was nothing short of a blessing for the group.
Right now, Alice and Lefiya were deep into studying magic. Whatever kind of magic it was, whatever form it took—so long as it made either of them stronger, it would mean the Familia as a whole grew stronger too.
The thing was, Finn didn't know much about magic himself.
So he decided to go find Riveria and fill her in about the two researching spells together. With a top-class mage overseeing things, their magical studies were bound to go a lot smoother.
After Finn left, though…
Alice and Lefiya just stared at each other.
"Was our fighting really that childish?" Alice asked, looking puzzled.
"Ahaha…" Lefiya laughed awkwardly.
She might not know much about other people's business, but she knew her own. She was fully aware of just how lacking her combat experience was.
Most mages from other Familias didn't still get so nervous against monsters that they'd bite their tongues at Level 3. Usually, by Level 1, they'd already learned how to evade attacks while chanting properly—mastering the most basic form of simultaneous chanting.
So yeah, Lefiya knew exactly where she stood.
Concurrent chanting was an advanced magical technique, but also a fundamental one.
It wasn't a Skill or Magic granted by the Falna—just a pure combat technique for mages.
The reason it was considered advanced was because casting magic required deep concentration and immersion during the chant. A spell needed the caster's full attention to succeed. If the mind wandered, the chant broke, and the magic failed.
So pulling off concurrent chanting was incredibly difficult. It meant staying focused on the fight while also pouring all your attention into the spell—multitasking of the highest order.
And yet, it was also called basic.
Because for any mage, concurrent chanting was a must-have skill. A mage who could do it was a huge asset to any team.
For one, it meant they didn't need a dedicated guard, freeing up other fighters. It also made the mage more flexible—since the angle of release could be crucial for some spells.
"So the essence of concurrent chanting," Alice said, after they'd returned to the study and Lefiya finished explaining, "is to deepen your impression of the magic so thoroughly that you can cast it successfully even while reciting the chant casually. Right?"
Releasing magic was all about the mage using mana to construct and release what they envisioned. Chants were just a tool to reinforce that mental image.
In Patchouli's knowledge, there was a book titled [A Detailed Analysis of Incantations, Mana, and Magical Construction] that explained why chants existed in the first place.
Lots of people had vivid imaginations, but everyone's mental images were somewhat vague and blurry. Human thought was swift, but rarely clear.
Casting magic required a sharp, precise impression.
Once a mage learned a spell, its structure was engraved clearly in their mind, allowing the magic to take perfect form.
The imagination was there—the next step was to direct mana according to that mental blueprint and construct the spell.
And that part was tough.
Because while controlling mana, you had to maintain that clear image of the magic in your head.
The original creator of a spell could probably cast it without a chant—since they made it, their impression was crystal clear.
But for those who learned it later, it wasn't so easy. Everyone thought differently, so their mental image of the magic wouldn't be a perfect match.
That's why chants were invented—to help those later learners successfully associate and release the magic. After all, words had power to deepen impressions.
"Lefiya," Alice said with a smile, "how about we try modifying your magical chants?"
"Modify the chants?" Lefiya looked puzzled.
"Mhm." Alice nodded. "When you get down to it, simultaneous chanting is all about deepening your impression of the magic so you can chant smoothly even in the heat of battle."
"Which means," she went on, "that in this world, once the impression is strong enough, it should be entirely possible to cast spells without chanting at all."
"So based on that idea, we could actually rewrite the chants required for magic."
Alice spoke with seriousness.
Lefiya listened in a daze.
This was way beyond anything she'd ever considered.
Seeing how lost Lefiya looked, Alice smiled wryly, then pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of thin air and slapped them on the table.
"Lefiya, could you tell me the incantations for the magic you know?" Alice asked, poised to take notes.
"Huh? Y-yes!" Seeing how determined Alice was, Lefiya straightened up.
She might see herself as a mere apprentice mage, especially compared to someone like Riveria, and Alice's ideas were stretching her understanding to the limit…
But she knew perfectly well that all this was meant to make her stronger.
"I know three spells. Two are offensive: a single-target homing spell, and a wide-area fire spell. The chants go like this…"
Lefiya recited the incantations for both spells.
Alice wrote them down carefully and began studying them.
"First, the single-target attack: Arcs Ray."
"Let's head to the training field again."
Alice was buzzing with excitement. She was doing something she loved, and she could feel she was on the verge of a real breakthrough.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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