Chapter 431 – Spatial Awareness

After processing Damion’s revelation, the Atlantis City Council adjourned, with many of the S Rank mages clustering together to figure out how to challenge the floor they were currently stuck on in the Avalon labyrinth. They typically only went into the labyrinth one at a time, maximizing the defense of the city and school by having most of their S Rank mages available. If they went into the labyrinth as a team, then they would surely be able to at least progress for a few floors, perhaps even reach the SS Rank floors. But what would they do when they reached that depth?

While many of the S Rank mages were still discussing their options and strategies for challenging the next floor of the Avalon labyrinth, Mage Fletcher caught Damion’s attention.

“Mage Wells, I wonder if we might chat about your spatial affinity.”

“Sure,” Damion answered, feeling a bit nervous. Mage Fletcher had said she had forgiven him for tricking Arica into sharing her Spatial affinity spells, but he was still a bit wary of the S Rank mage.

“The strength of your Spatial affinity has increased remarkably. If I am not mistaken, the Rank of your affinity now exceeds my own.”

Damion swallowed hard. This might be worse than a conversation about stealing Arica’s spells.

“Maybe, from what I can tell my Spatial affinity is now just as strong as my Ice affinity.”

“Being able to share the method for such an increase, especially since Heavenly Enhancement Fruits are not able to boost an affinity above A Rank, would allow our students to greatly surpass the other magic academies.”

“It isn’t that simple,” Damion told her. “I don’t know exactly how it happened and even if I did, I doubt the method would work for someone else.”

“Pity,” Mage Fletcher said, clearly disappointed. “My family is not as large or as old as most noble families, but since we are typically born with the Spatial affinity, we have been blessed. Unfortunately, very few of us have a high Rank affinity.”

“I had no idea,” Damion said, wondering if it was just bad luck or if the Mage Association’s testing crystals had something to do with it.

“It is what it is. Perhaps Avalon will give our next generation a better chance to reach a high level. I really don’t blame you for tricking Mage Miller,” Mage Fletcher told him. Her admission brough a sigh of relief to Damion. “You know, if I had known you had the Spatial affinity, I would have sought you out to instruct you and gifted you those spells, just as I gifted them to Mage Miller. However, since you have not received formal training as a Spatial mage there are a few warnings I should give you.”

“Don’t open a Portal in a Breach?” Damion joked, remembering how the A Rankers had acted when he once suggested such a thing.

“That is certainly the most important one,” Mage Fletcher laughed. “Breaches, while very similar to the normal world, do have certain governing laws that are different, such as how you are able to ‘see’ beyond the edge of a Realm Breach, but cannot actually pass through it, while the Demonic Beasts birthed by the Breach can.”

“I’ve always wondered about such things, but never the opportunity to really test any theories I came up with.”

“Breach boundaries have been studied by Spatial mages for quite some time, but with your track record you might just find something new, so give it a go if you have the time. As I was saying, laws of the universe don’t always apply in Breaches. The same can be true for the Spatial pockets we create when making a spatial artifact. Have you tried to make a spatial artifact yet?”

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“I studied the theory a bit, but I don’t have the right materials and since I have a really good spatial artifact and my personal storage space, I haven’t tried.”

“Understandable,” Mage Fletcher told him. “When making a spatial artifact it is possible to will the space you construct to operate on a different set of rules. You are basically a god to the space you are creating, and while not even I can make a spatial artifact that can contain life, I can at least change the rules of the spatial artifacts I create.”

“By change, you mean you can make the laws of the universe work differently in your artifacts?”

“Precisely. It is possible to make it so that time inside a spatial artifact slows down, or speeds up. You can even have it hotter or colder, this allows you to create a specific environment inside the artifact. But it is not easy to do. Creating an artifact with the same laws as our world is like snapping your fingers. Making one with different laws is like trying to hold water in a fist, more often than not, the laws you try to create will slip through your fingers.”

“One more thing for me to practice I suppose,” Damion told her. “Are there any other warnings I should know?”

“Typically, I warn new students to never try to Blink further than they can see, or into places they can’t see. Trying to occupy the same space as another object is not pleasant and might be the worst way to die. Portals opening in occupied spaces is also a danger, but I think you have figure out most of these things yourself.”

“Yes, while I was Mage Picard I was able to freely use my Spatial affinity and was able to increase my mastery of the spells I have. Though, I am wondering, are there other Spatial spells? Just the few there are, with the exception of Exile, they are not much use for combat, mostly just for evading.”

“Well, you already know the Portal trick with the volcanoes and other natural aids. Most Spatial mages are not talented enough to even use Portal effectively, the focus to open the passageway during a fight is difficult to achieve. Truthfully, most Spatial mages simply use a strong artifact and Blink. Pop behind their target and stab them in the back. It is crude, but effective.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that strategy. What about creating new spells? Or your own version of Exile?”

“As you know, creating a spell requires two things, a deep understanding of Nashto and an equally deep understanding of an affinity. Did you know that last I checked no one had been able to modify the spell you made for other affinities?”

“Really?” Damion was surprised that no one had managed to achieve that. It had taken him a few months to craft the spell, but in two years no one had managed to modify it? That should have been much easier to do.

“If you want to make some money, you should hurry up and modify that spell of yours for your other affinities. Then you could turn a tidy profit.”

“I think we have a few other things we need to take care of first.”

“Fair enough,” Mage Fletcher relented. “Is there something particular you are wanting to know about Spatial magic?”

“I’m curious about the difference between Exile and Portal. Exile can connect to the Mother World effortlessly, but Portal requires, well, more mana than I have.”

“I don’t have an answer for you, other than that the spell constructs are different. Exile seemingly folds space and then rips through to the other side. Portal opens a tunnel between the two locations, which is why I think you can’t use it in a Breach, but you can use Exile.”

“That was my assessment as well,” Damion told her. He had been spending time studying all his magic seals whenever he had free time. Despite his advanced understanding of Nashto and his growing understanding of each spell he knew, he was still unable to complete the quest from the Magic System for completely mastering Nashto. If he could take that final step, then perhaps he would finally be able to freely create spells and possibly even use the grimoires to pass on passive spells.

“I was hoping though, that you perhaps had some insight I had overlooked. I mean, you’ve had more time to study the spells than I.”

“Sorry, Damion,” Mage Fletcher told him. “While I might have a greater understanding of Spatial spells than you, I don’t have an answer for you. There might be something hidden in the meaning of the glyphs, but I have yet to solve their mystery.”

“What of the Nashto itself?” Damion asked, he was still hopeful he might get some guidance to advance his understanding and quest. “I’ve reached a plateau in my understanding of it. For some time, I have not been able to advance. Do you have any advice on what I can do to improve my understanding of the ancient language?”

“The same way you improve your understanding of anything else. Practice. If you have reached a roadblock, make sure you are practicing all aspects of it, perhaps your roadblock is because just one area is lacking.”