Chương 161: Staying On

Back in his dormitory, Damion began reviewing the tier 2 magic seals he knew in his mind with the Magic System's assistance. He could see similarities between Ice Shield and Ice Wall as well as some things they had in common with the tier 2 spell he stole from Gene, Earth Prison. A key difference Damion noted was that Gene's spell did not create. Earth Prison manipulated the earth.

Ice Shield and Ice Wall were both barrier spells that relied on Damion creating the ice for them to function, which was why they cost more mana. At least, that is what Damion surmised. Ice Shield technically did not cost more, but for a tier 2 spell, Earth Prison was quite cheap on the cost of the mana. Damion also noticed similarities between Ice Sword and Ice Shard.

The Ice Sword spell would let Damion create a sword of whatever length he wished, and he could even use it like Ice Shard, though to his surprise he could do much more than just send it straight out. He now technically had a flying sword. As Damion continued to study the glyphs of the magic seals and how their meanings and interactions changed as the magic seals rotated Damion began to understand more about the Nashto language.

Sadly, despite his understanding growing, he did not receive that elusive 'quest completed' notification from the Magic System. After about an hour of studying the magic seals in his room, Damion headed outside to the grassy patch where he always practiced his magic. Since he had checked out Ice Sword, Damion intended to only practice it for now, he could practice Ice Wall in the future once he was free of the prying eyes of the academy.

Damion started off just by casting Ice Sword and getting used to it as he would any other weapon. With his Ice Sword in hand, Damion started going through the practice routine Mage Teft had drilled into him for years. The sword he formed with his spell was identical to the spatha his parents had gifted him when he passed his licensing exam, so the weight and balance were familiar to him. The only difference in the blades was that on Damion's Ice Sword there were no glyphs.

The Ice Sword had no need for enchantments to make it stronger or sharper, Damion could change those things with a thought as he cast the spell. And of course there was no fire attack glyph. Even if Damion could recreate the fire attack glyph on the sword, there was no chance that it would work. Enchantments needed materials imbued into the creation of an artifact to function. The glyphs were just the control for the enchantments wrought on the blade as it was forged.

Perhaps one day Damion might be able to cast Ice Sword and imbue it with an enchantment to cast additional spells through it, but his knowledge of enchantments and the ancient language was still too shallow for him to accomplish such feats. Once Damion felt comfortable with the Ice Sword in his hand, he began to practice controlling it from a distance. He tossed the Ice Sword out and it began flying through the air, Damion found that the closer the sword was the easier it was to control.

The further the Ice Sword got from him the harder it was to impose his will on the blade. After a while Damion began to feel comfortable with controlling the Ice Sword from a distance and had a good understanding of how far he could send the blade before he lost his connection to it. His range was not great, only about 10 meters, but within that range, Damion could weave the Ice Sword through aerial maneuvers and could quite possibly hold an all-out sword fight with someone from a distance.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Elicia, try your Wind Slash. I want to try and block them from a distance."

"Okay," Elicia said as she began casting Wind Slash. Each attack Elicia unleashed Damion intercepted with his Ice Sword from a distance. Very quickly he felt he was mastering his new spell. A number of other students who had been passing by had stopped to watch as Damion and Elicia practiced. Most were used to the pair's afternoon practice, but today he had a new spell and his control of it was hard for them to believe, especially those who were in his class.

"One last thing to check," Damion said as Elicia sat on the ground and started to meditate to recover her mana. Damion released his current Ice Sword and summoned a fresh one in his hand. He wanted to make sure there was nothing that could interfere with his experiment. He willed his Ice Sword to be wider than before and then had the sword hover parallel to the ground. Damion then stepped onto the hovering Ice Sword. For a moment he did nothing after stepping onto the blade.

The Ice Sword did not falter or sink to the ground, it held its position, just as Damion had willed it to. Once he was confident in his balance he willed his Ice Sword to fly forward. A split second later, he was lying on the ground while his Ice Sword had flown off. Luckily, his Ice Sword had stopped its motion as soon as Damion had hit the ground and not flown off and hurt someone, but it was still a few meters away.

The crowd that had gathered to watch Damion's practice all burst out laughing at him landing on his backside. There were only a few in the crowd that recognized what Damion was trying to do and though they still laughed, they at least appreciated his ingenuity and attempt. Damion was not put off by his initial failure. He knew there was a chance he would not be able to use his Ice Sword as a flying sword, but he now knew he could, as long as he could stay on.

The Ice Sword held his weight, and did not fall to the ground when he stood on it, the problem Damion faced was staying on. Calling his blade over, Damion looked at it and tried to think of how he could further modify the Ice Sword so he could use it to fly. He thought back to Earth and people who would ski or snowboard. Sure, they were not flying, but they had footholds on their skis and boards that held their feet in place.

Stepping up onto his sword again, this time, instead of willing it to fly forward, Damion willed the blade to encrust his boots in ice. After a few seconds Damion's boots were securely fastened to the Ice Sword and he decided another attempt was in order. Willing his Ice Sword forward, Damion started moving forward with the blade. After a few moments he called for the sword to stop.

The blade froze in place, but the sudden change of momentum left him off balance leading Damion to fall flat on his face, eliciting another chorus of laughter from the onlookers. Despite landing on his face, Damion's feet were still secure on his Ice Sword. With a quick thought, he willed his blade higher into the air, lifting him off the ground. For a moment he dangled precariously under the blade, but Damion quickly rotated the blade and righted himself.

Now that he was upright, he willed his Ice Sword to space his feet better apart to give him more balance. Once Damion felt comfortable with his stance, he willed his Ice Sword into motion. This time he did not just will it to fly forward. He focused his mind on controlling the Ice Sword as if he were controlling himself in a video game. After a few awkward turns, Damion was very quickly performing aerial maneuvers in the sky to the amazement of the students below.

There was, however, one person below that looked extremely worried. Elicia sat on the ground watching as Damion zoomed around the sky, faster and faster and could not help but worry what would happen if he lost concentration or ran out of mana.