Study Hard

After finishing the book, Zheng Yichen had gained a basic understanding of this world's "magic." Spells generally didn't require chants. Instead, a caster had to master something called a Magic Array Pattern—or, more simply, a magic array!

That was why learning magic in this world didn't require choosing a school. What mattered more was a person's mental aptitude. The greater their aptitude, the easier it was to master magic arrays. To a complete beginner, after all, an array just looked dazzling and beautiful...

But when they tried to draw one themselves, all they felt was endless dizziness.

To gain an initial grasp of a spell, a caster had to understand its Magic Array Pattern well enough to inscribe it in their mind. Then, when they wanted to use the spell, they simply filled the pattern with mana. Didn't that sound a lot like activating a skill?

Zheng Yichen couldn't shake the comparison.

Of course, that was only the most basic way to use magic. It meant a person could cast a spell, not that they had mastered it completely. The pattern was merely the switch that activated the spell; fine-tuning or improving it required further control from the caster.

Simply activating an inscribed pattern and blasting a spell into someone's face was the crudest application. The advantage of learning magic this way was that spells could be used immediately in battle. There was no embarrassing inability to cast after being silenced, and casting was more efficient, too.

That didn't mean every spell could be cast instantly, of course. The more advanced the magic, the more complex its pattern, and the longer it took for mana to fill the whole thing... In Zheng Yichen's terms, it had a cast time!

A sufficiently powerful supply of mana could shorten that cast time. After all, filling something through a narrow pipe was nothing like filling it through a sewer main. Skilled mages could also draw on their experience to keep making subtle adjustments to the patterns inscribed in their minds, optimizing them to suit themselves.

That spared them some of the fine-tuning after casting and reduced both the time and mana needed to fill a pattern. In game terms: more power, faster casting, lower cost.

"Seriously..." The Primer wasn't complicated. It contained little detailed magical knowledge, mostly basic introductions. Still, by the time Zheng Yichen finished it, his understanding of this world's magic had moved beyond spells cast by chanting.

Compared with all that chanting, pattern-based magic felt much more practical.

"Well?" Lolise asked.

"It's a little different from the magic I had in mind."

"Tell me." Lolise settled herself on Zheng Yichen's outstretched claw.

"I thought mages had to chant and use spellcasting materials."

"Some spells do require materials. Magic exclusive to certain other races can only be cast with their aid, because other factors are involved. True Dragon Breath, for example, requires materials taken from a member of the Dragon Race. Only then can it match the power and effects of Dragon Breath."

"Uh... Taken how?"

"Flesh and blood, powdered teeth, or powdered dragon horn would all work. As for chanting, how did you think it worked?"

Zheng Yichen thought for a moment. How did chanting release magic? Was it just one of those fictional rules? Going by the novels he'd read, the likeliest explanation he could come up with was...

"Maybe the sound of the chant and the caster's mental power create a special resonance, which combines with their mana to move elemental energy?" He had made that up entirely. Still, transmigrators weren't short on imagination. If crossing into another world was possible, perhaps magic really did work that way somewhere!

"What you described might be possible, but its drawbacks would be severe. Lose the ability to speak and you'd be helpless. It would also be easy to interrupt. Speaking would be an unnecessary step."

"That's why I think pattern magic is more practical."

"Pattern magic?"

"Ahem. It's just a shorthand I made up. 'Magic-array magic' sounds strange, so I went with 'pattern magic.'"

Lolise nodded lightly without commenting further on Zheng Yichen's name for it. Magic was magic. No matter how distinctive or appealing the name of a system sounded, if its essence remained unchanged, it was still magic. She had never heard of the other casting method Zheng Yichen described, but she could use what she knew to work out how it might function.

His method wasn't impossible. Among the races she knew, some could affect elemental energy with sounds at different frequencies, producing effects akin to magic. Combining sound vibrations with other factors really might allow someone to cast spells...

But such a method would never gain much standing in this world, which already had a well-developed magic system. Leaving aside how long it would take to research the system Zheng Yichen had described, casting through chanted incantations struck her as far less adaptable than using patterns.

Pattern magic allowed a caster not only to fine-tune a spell after casting it, but also to adjust or even substantially alter its pattern, transforming the spell they knew beyond recognition... That was not something just anyone could do.

"You don't think I was talking nonsense?" Seeing Lolise consider his idea so seriously made Zheng Yichen feel a little awkward. He had invented the whole thing in his head.

"Even if you were, it's still possible," Lolise said calmly. "Pattern magic also shares some of the features you described."

Activating pattern magic required mental power and mana too. It just didn't require speech. A caster could announce a spell's name if they wanted, but when they didn't even need to chant, why would they? To make sure everyone knew what was coming?

"I still prefer pattern magic." Zheng Yichen scratched his head. Once he mastered a spell, he only had to inscribe its corresponding array in his mind. Unless he erased it himself, he wouldn't forget it. Even erasing the array wouldn't forcibly remove his memories of it; he could inscribe it again. To truly forget a spell, he would probably have to erase every array in his mind and then have the rotten luck to develop amnesia...

That was why Zheng Yichen thought pattern magic was so good. He certainly had no intention of memorizing an entire "dictionary."

"Then study hard." Lolise noticed the odd look on Zheng Yichen's face and continued, "Being by my side doesn't mean you're safe, though I don't mind always protecting the weak little pet I keep around."

"..." Given that his current body had no hope of looking cute, he had better work hard after all...