Chương 185: Chapter 171-Chosen Magic Circle

Sunbathing, coconut drinking, and rhyming. All the things I'm going to do today and have been doing since we basically got here. Not that I'm complaining. I needed to be a darker shade of purple. It really brings out my red eyes. Well, most things bring out my red eyes. They're red. Anyway, today will be another carefree and relaxing day.

"Chosen One, I was hoping to catch you," Professor Stargazer says as I happily step out of Daisy Hall.

"Ah, I… I'm not here," I [Lie].

"Charlatan, did you really think that was going to work?" Penelope asks as she pops her head out from behind the Professor.

"No," I [Lie].

"As much as I would like to spend the rest of the day dealing with the two of you bickering, it's time for your group to learn about magic circles."

"I see. So, no more beach for me. I guess there's really nothing I can do," I say with a dejected smile. Penelope looks around.

"Where's Hopper?"

"Oh, don't worry about him. He'll be here any second," I say with a devilish smile.

"What did you do, Charlatan?" Hopper hops from the roof of the second floor, landing perfectly in front of me.

"You," he says with vitriol.

"Me?" I ask, feigning cluelessness.

"You know what you did. Where are they?"

"You're going to have to be more specific, Hopper. Where are who?" Hopper gets right up on me with a crazed look in his eyes. Ok, maybe this was a bad idea. No. This is for his own good. He needs to kick this nasty habit.

"My carrots, CJ! Where did you put them?"

"Oh, your carrots?! Gods, I have no idea where they might be," I [Lie]. Penelope looks between us.

"You brought carrots? You said you wouldn't."

"You can never trust an addict, Penelope. Never."

"They were just to help me with the cravings. How else do you expect me to survive out here?" Hopper asks as he taps me on the chest.

"Okay. Tell you what. Let's play a game. You beat me, and maybe I know where your carrots are," I say as I slip a carrot out of my pocket and take an audible bite out of it.

"Fine, but I choose the game. I'm not going to let you cheat me out of this one." Professor Stargazer gives a worried look.

"I don't think this is a good idea, and we really don't have the time to do this."

"Don't worry. This isn't going to take long," I say as Hopper glares at me.

"The game is simple and entirely dependent on your ability. Whoever gets cut first loses." Hopper gives me a confused glare as I say the last part with him.

"How did I do that? I'm The Chosen One." Hopper shakes it off, grabs a knife, places his hand on a tree, and then stabs around it. With blinding speed and accuracy, he stabs and stabs, but not a single drop of blood is spilled. As expected from someone with a high [DEX].

"Hopper, Hopper. You really underestimate me," I say as I grab the knife, look at my hand, and then [Throw] it at Hopper. The knife cuts the very edge of Hopper's cheek before landing in the sand.

"You son of a-" Penelope stands between us.

"Hopper, as much as I understand how much you probably want to hit him right now. He won. Try to have some dignity." He lets out a long sigh before wiping the blood from his cheek.

"Ah, I have a carrot problem. Don't I?"

"Yes, you do. Which is why I ate all the carrots last night," I say as I tap him on the shoulder.

"You did what? No, you're lying. What about the one you just took a bite of?" Hopper asks in desperation.

"Was the last one. You know I'm not a fan of carrots?" I ask as Professor Stargazer shakes her head in disappointment. Hopper falls to his knees in an overly dramatic fashion.

"All is doomed." Penelope pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Professor, I think we're done."

"Ok. Then let's get going." With a wave of her wand, a white light surrounds us. The moment the light fades, we're somewhere new. From the looks of it, it's an alcove of some sort. A big one at that. I wouldn't be surprised if you could fit a whole boat in here. The sound of the waves echoes through the alcove as Penelope helps Hopper up. Huh, I guess this is a pretty nice spot to do potentially dangerous training.

I doubt any explosion could put a dent in these stone walls, and at the same time they'll protect us from any outside effects such as… tornadoes. I guess they did put a lot of thought into this. Who would've thought. Professor Stargazer waves her hand, causing a table, chairs, and crystals to appear.

"Okay. Take your seats, and we will begin our lesson." One by one, we shuffle over to our seats. Penelope hands me my pack in the process. Damn it. Now, I can't use that excuse. Maybe learning something won't be a bad thing.

"We have spent some time on the different runes that make up a magic circle. What are the three main types?" she asks as she makes a chalkboard appear. Hopper lazily lifts his head.

"Initiators."

"Correct. Those include clock runes, event runes, and connector runes. What about the other two?" Penelope takes out her chalk.

"Inhibitors."

"Very good. Those include targeting runes, mana runes, and time runes. What about the last type?" she asks, looking at me.

"Impacts," I say. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Some might say the most important. Those include power runes, scale runes, and effect runes. Initiators, Inhibitors, and Impacts. Also known as the Three I's of magic circles," she says, drawing an empty circle inside of another empty circle. We follow suit as we draw on our personal chalkboards.

"This is the basic shape of a magic circle. Two circles inside of each other, but as one of you already knows, that shape isn't the only type." Hopper squirms as the Professor draws an empty circle with a point in the middle.

"So, the shape of a magic circle isn't important?" I ask in confusion.

"The shape itself can be anything that follows the basic principles." Further down the chalkboard, she draws an empty triangle, then, below that, she draws an empty S.

"What do these have in common?"

"They enclose a space," Penelope answers.

"Correct. Then what if I add this one?" Professor Stargazer draws an infinity symbol with one side broken open. Hopper cocks his head.

"There is an enclosed space with at least one point of intersection?"

"Impressively observant, Hopper. Yes, the basic principle of a magic circle is that it must have at minimum one enclosed space and one point of intersection."

"I am confused. How does the circle have a point of intersection?" Penelope asks. Spinning a piece of chalk in my hand, I let out a yawn.

"I can answer that one. The circle itself has an intersection," I say as I draw a circle.

"Correct. Now, as Hopper has shown us. A simple magic circle is capable of being drawn with blood. I would not recommend you do that. Any material laced with rich mana, such as this chalk, works perfectly fine. You need only push some of your own mana in to activate it," she explains.

"I'm confused. What is the point of these runes if Hopper was able to pull off what he did using a simple circle?" I ask with a hint of curiosity.

"Perhaps he would like to answer?" Hopper scratches one of his bunny ears.

"During the fight, I had to mark where the middle of the circle was because that was the only area where my [Freeze] was going to be concentrated. If I wasn't careful, I would have been caught up in it as well."

"If he had an initiator rune like this one." She draws out an event rune on the top third of the magic circle.

"He could have triggered the magic circle the moment Lupin had entered the center point instead of having to be there himself. If he had taken the time to draw an Inhibitor rune like this one." She draws a targeting rune on the bottom left third of the magic circle.

"He wouldn't have to worry about being targeted by his own magic circle.

"Let me guess. If he had an Impact rune like this one." I try my best to draw a scale rune on the bottom right third of the magic circle.

"He would have been able to get him anywhere in the arena." Everyone gives me a surprised look.

"That is correct. I suppose you do more than just nap in my class." Embarrassment graces my face as I sink into my chair.

"What? It was an interesting topic." Penelope gives me a small smirk before turning back to Professor Stargazer.

"Am I to assume that each of the I's gets their own section of every magic circle?"

"Yes, they should stay separated no matter what type of magic circle you create. The effects otherwise are… disastrous, to say the least." My eyes wander over the various magic circles that are on the chalkboard. Obviously, a circle is the best. It has the most room, it's easy to draw, and it's easy to segment. I'm guessing that the other shapes have their own benefits. Maybe one provides more firepower while limiting scale. Perhaps another is more stable while sacrificing the number of runes you can add.

I would be [Lying] if I said I didn't see the potential uses in learning this. In fact, I'm seeing far too many potential uses. It also seems fun.

"Now, to the fun part. Let's make a simple magic circle that amplifies the effect of a [Skill]. Hopper, since you've done it before. Please show us an example." Hopper takes the chalk in his hand and draws a circle inside of a circle. Simple and easy. He then focuses on his palm as the circle glows blue. In an impressive display, a full bouquet of ice flowers is formed.

"Very good. Amplification is not exclusively for firepower. It can also affect control. You may actually have a talent for this, Hopper," Professor Stargazer says as she looks the bouquet over. Penelope squints with a competitive vibe. This should be good. Hopper has seemingly lit a fire in her. In one swift motion, Penelope draws her magic circle. The chalk lines glow white as a large shield appears.

"I can do it when I try," she says, twirling one of her drills. Professor Stargazer walks over and gently taps on the shield. The gentle touch shatters it almost immediately. Penelope looks in shock as the pieces of light vanish.

"For your first time you did very well, but made a common mistake. You amplified the size, but forgot the durability. If you had taken your time, I know you wouldn't have made that mistake," she says with a knowing smile. Penelope lets out a small sigh before nodding.

"I understand. It isn't a race, but it does matter who wins."

"Okay. Chosen One, want to give it a try?"

"Why not?" Don't want to make the same mistake as Penelope. I'll just take my time and draw these circles. Gods, I suck at drawing. Maybe I should ask Viola for help later. As I finish drawing the second circle, I focus on pouring my mana into the magic circle. Okay, let's go with [Clean]. Amplifying the power is a no-go. So, I'll probably go with the scale of the [Skill]. Let's aim for something about the size of the table. Nothing too crazy. The magic circle glows a purple glow before sputtering out. Huh.

Was that supposed to happen? Professor Stargazer gives me an inquisitive look as the chalk burns away. That doesn't seem right.

"Odd. For whatever reason, your mana… broke the magic circle. Do it again," Professor Stargazer says with a hint of wonder.

"Okay." Following the same steps as last time, I draw the magic circle, focus on [Clean], and watch the circle sputter out.

"I may not be an expert, but is it supposed to be doing that?" Professor Stargazer pulls out a pair of white-tinted glasses.

"Interesting. Chosen One, do you ever have a problem using magical devices or magic crystals in general?"

"Not really. I use Stovey all the time."

"Well, that stove of yours is broken," Penelope reminds me.

"She is not broken. Stovey is just different than other magical stoves," I say, offended.

"Could I see Stovey?" Professor Stargazer asks.

"Okay, but only if you give her back and you don't break her," I say as I hand her over.

"I promise." For what feels like a minute of uncertain silence, the Professor looks Stovey over. Then she pinches her brow and hands Stovey back. At the same time, she hands me a small magic crystal.

"Could you pour some of your mana into this?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"My reading light." Without much fuss, I pour some mana- The small crystal immediately cracks. Ah, shit. I broke it. What do I do now?

"Sorry, I broke it. Must have been faulty," I [Lie]. Penelope shares a strange look with Hopper and the Professor. Why does it feel like everyone is staring at me? Is there something on my horn? I hate when that happens.

"I'm sorry to say this, Chosen One, but you can't use magic circles. In fact, you can't use most of any magic item that has a magic crystal inside them," Professor Stargazer says with a hint of worry.

"What do you mean?"

"Your mana is… What's the best way to put this? It's corrosive. The moment it enters a magic crystal or magic circle, you will break it."

"What?" What in the fuck is corrosive mana?