Chapter 31: Brand New Spell

Miss Leslie took the seat opposite him and set a small metallic cube onto the desk. With a tap, it opened like unfolding paper, revealing thin glass-like sheets glowing with faint blue light. Basically, a digital catalogue encoded in runes. "We don’t have an unlimited list of B-rank spells present in the school." She said, adjusting her sleeves. "Some affinities don’t have any spells at this level available at the moment. The Academy restricts higher-tier spells to certain branches and reserves others for upper years or staff. We’re also limited by licensing from the mage guilds." She looked up at him. "So, tell me. What affinities do you possess?" Noah glanced at the glowing cube, then back at her. "Darkness. Fire. Void. Decay. Hunger." There was a beat of silence. Miss Leslie blinked. "Five?" Noah gave a small nod. She narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly trying not to let her surprise show. "That’s... uncommon." She turned back to the catalogue, fingers tapping through the glowing panels as she filtered the school’s inventory. "Well," she said after a few moments, "we don’t have any spells in Void, Decay, or Hunger. Those are extremely rare affinities. And even if we did, it’s doubtful we’d have anything below A-rank for them." She paused, reading the display. "However, we do have three B-rank spells in Darkness. Two in Fire." She turned the catalogue so he could see. "You may select one." Noah leaned forward, eyes scanning the glowing rune screens Miss Leslie had turned toward him. Each spell was neatly categorized with its name, rank, affinity, and a brief description. [Darkness Spells — B-Rank] [Shadow March] [The caster merges with surrounding shadows, allowing for near-invisible movement within a large radius. Greatly reduces presence and physical sound. Can be used in combat to reposition or escape. Loses effect in bright environments or under radiant-type spells.] Noah narrowed his eyes at the description. A powerful movement spell. The radius might be a mile or more. That meant unrestricted movement. But the drawback of losing effect in bright environments and the fact that it had no offensive power, which was what he really needed. He moved to the next spell. [Veil of the Forgotten] [Shrouds the caster in a cursed veil of darkness that erases the memory of their presence from targets exposed to it for more than ten seconds. Time of exposure can be reduced by physical contact. Only affects targets of equal or lower mental resistance than the caster’s magic control level.] Noah’s brows rose. That was... powerful. A spell that had the ability to erase the memory of another mage just by touching them. And there was also the fact that for the person to resist the effect, their stats would have to be at least S-rank. But it was also a utility spell. Not offensive nor defensive. He’d reserve judgement for now. [Devour] [Unleashes a sphere of sentient shadow that consumes matter and energy. Absorbed energy temporarily boosts the caster’s core attributes. Larger and more complex targets require more mana to fully devour. Cannot be maintained indefinitely. Caution advised, prolonged use may attract attention from unstable abyssal entities.] Noah’s eyes widened on Devour. ’It eats things and turns them into power...’ he thought. The idea of converting anything, spell, object, maybe even another mage’s magic, into raw energy that strengthened him stirred something deep in his chest. A flicker of hunger. Of something that matched him. This was an offensive, defensive, and utility spell, all rolled into one. And he could use it to temporarily boost his attributes. But that drawback... His eyes roved over it again. ’Prolonged use may attract attention from unstable abyssal entities.’ That begged the question... ’What are abyssal entities?’ He scrolled down to the Fire spells next. [Fire Spells — B-Rank] [Hellspike Barrage] [Fires a volley of molten spikes in a wide cone, each one capable of piercing heavy armor and melting targets to slag. The spell scales with the caster’s intent, and more rage equals hotter fire. Overuse may cause backlash burns on the caster’s hand.] Sounds powerful. Basically a machine gun fire spell that could melt anything. But he had Fireball for that right now. Fireball was weaker, but it was basically a smaller caliber version of the same spell. He moved on to the last spell. [Brand of the Martyr] [Imbues a target with a mark of flame. If the caster is downed in battle, the mark explodes, destroying everything in a large radius around them. Can also be used on allies. Spell makes use of the caster’s remaining mana reserves.] Noah blinked at the spell’s description. This was basically the magical equivalent of a dead man’s switch. He definitely didn’t want that. His gaze returned to Devour. It felt... right. He didn’t need a movement spell, a memory erasing spell, or a dead man’s switch. While the Hellspike Barrage looked attractive, power didn’t just come in the form of a machine gun. Besides, if someone used the spell against him, he could just use Devour to devour the spikes of fire, and defend himself. What he needed right now was true power. A way to climb. Something to match what was inside him. The burning hunger, the gnawing drive. And Devour fits the bill. He could use it to destroy and threaten, giving it offensive power. He could use it to devour attacks, also giving it defensive power. It also had the utility to temporarily boost his attributes. It was the best of both worlds, and frankly, should’ve been an A-rank spell. But spells in this world were ranked not by their power, but by the least rank you need in mana capacity and magic control to cast them. He tapped the screen beside Devour and looked up at Miss Leslie. "I want this one." Miss Leslie gave a faint nod of approval as Noah confirmed his choice. She reached forward, sliding the panels back towards herself. She tapped her fingers against the glowing screen beside Devour, and the light pulsed once, then faded into rippling darkness. A narrow rift opened in the air beside her desk, a slit of black space, no wider than her wrist, yet deep and shifting like a living shadow. Without hesitation, she slipped her hand into it.