Study Hard

After finishing the book, Zheng Yichen had gained a basic understanding of this world's "magic." Here, magic generally didn't require incantations. Instead, a mage had to master a kind of "array pattern"—or, to put it simply, a magic circle!

That was why learning magic in this world didn't require choosing a particular school. What mattered more was a person's mental aptitude. The greater that aptitude, the easier it was to grasp magic circles. After all, to a complete novice, a magic circle just looked dazzling and beautiful...

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

Only when someone understood a spell's array pattern well enough to inscribe it in their mind could they claim an initial grasp of that spell. To cast it, they simply filled the pattern with magic power. Didn't that sound a lot like using a skill?

Zheng Yichen couldn't shake the comparison.

Of course, that method of casting was only the most basic application. It made someone a "caster," not a master of the spell. The array pattern was merely the switch that released it; fine-tuning or improving the spell afterward still required the caster's control.

Activating an inscribed pattern and blasting a spell straight into someone's face was the crudest way to use it. The advantage of learning magic this way was that spells could be used at once in battle, with no risk of being silenced and left unable to chant. Casting was more efficient, too.

That didn't mean every array-pattern spell could be cast instantly. The more advanced the spell, the more complex its pattern, and the longer it took for magic power to fill the whole thing... Zheng Yichen knew what to call that: a casting bar!

If his magic power was strong enough, he could shorten that time. A little water pipe and an underground main hardly filled things at the same speed. Skilled mages also drew on their experience to make constant, minute adjustments to the patterns inscribed in their minds, optimizing them to suit themselves better.

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

"Seriously..." The Primer wasn't complicated. It contained little detailed knowledge of magic, mostly basic introductions. Still, after reading it, Zheng Yichen no longer thought of this world's magic as something cast through incantations.

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

"Well?" asked Lolise.

"It's rather different from the magic I imagined."

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

"I thought mages had to chant spells and use casting materials."

"Casting materials, I can understand. Some spells belonging exclusively to other races require materials to cast, because other factors are involved. True Dragon Breath, for example, needs materials taken from a member of the Dragon Race to match the power and effects of Dragon Breath."

"Uh... taken how?"

"Flesh, powdered teeth, or powdered horn would all work. As for chanting, how did you imagine that worked?"

Zheng Yichen thought about it. What was the principle behind chanting to cast magic? Was it just a convention? Thinking back over the novels he'd read, the likeliest explanation he could come up with was...

"Maybe the sounds you make combine with mental power to create a special resonance, which then works with your magic power to move elemental forces?" Zheng Yichen had made that up on the spot. But a transmigrator was hardly short on imagination. If crossing into another world was possible, perhaps magic really did work that way somewhere!

"What you've described is possible, but it has serious drawbacks. If you can't speak, you're helpless, and a chant is easily interrupted. Speaking at all is an unnecessary extra step."

"That's why this 'array-pattern' magic feels more practical to me."

"Array-pattern magic?"

"Ahem. I shortened the name myself. 'Magic-circle magic' sounds a little strange, so I went with 'array-pattern.'"

Lolise nodded lightly and offered no further comment on Zheng Yichen's new name. Magic was magic. However distinctive or pleasing the name of a system might be, if its nature remained unchanged, it was still magic. Lolise had never heard of the other casting method Zheng Yichen described, but she could work backward from her own knowledge.

His method wasn't impossible. Among the races she knew, some could influence elemental forces by producing sounds at different frequencies, achieving effects much like magic. So sound vibrations combined with other factors might indeed be used to cast spells...

But such a system would never hold much standing in this world. Its existing magic system was already well developed, and there was no telling how long Zheng Yichen's proposed system would take to research. Besides, casting through chanted incantations struck her as far less flexible than using array patterns.

With array-pattern magic, a mage could fine-tune a spell after casting it. They could also adjust the pattern itself, even alter it on a larger scale, transforming a spell they knew beyond recognition... Not that an ordinary person could do such a thing.

"You don't think I was talking nonsense?" Seeing Lolise ponder it so seriously made Zheng Yichen a little embarrassed. He'd made the whole thing up, after all.

"Even if you were, it's still possible," Lolise said evenly. "Array-pattern magic shares some of the traits you described."

Array-pattern magic also required mental power and magic power to cast. It just didn't require speech. Of course, a mage could call out a spell's name if they wanted—but when chanting wasn't even necessary, why announce it? Were they afraid their opponent wouldn't know what was coming?

"I still think array-pattern magic is better." Zheng Yichen scratched his head. Once he mastered a spell, he only had to inscribe its circle in his mind. Unless he deliberately erased it, he wouldn't forget it. Even erasing the circle wouldn't forcibly wipe the knowledge from his memory; he could inscribe it again. To truly forget his spells, he'd probably have to erase every circle in his mind and then have the rotten luck to lose his memory...

That was why Zheng Yichen liked array-pattern magic. He had no intention of memorizing an entire "dictionary."

"Then study hard." Lolise noticed his odd expression and continued, "Being by my side doesn't mean you're safe, though I don't mind protecting a weak little pet I keep with me forever."

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