Chương 187: New Spells

Elder Blanche left after storing his family's ancestral armor in his own spatial artifact, leaving Damion and Mage Teft alone in her office.

"That is one hurdle down. Now to discuss the spatial artifacts you took from the Fontane brothers."

"Are you telling me I need to ransom them back to the Fontane family too?" Damion said as he rubbed the spatial ring on his finger.

"The Fontanes are able to easily replace the artifacts you claimed. Instead, I'm suggesting you sell them."

"What? Why?" Damion could hardly believe Mage Teft's suggestion. He had been desiring a spatial artifact since he was a kid. Now that he finally had one, he did not think he could part with it, even if he did have the Magic System's Inventory, the spatial artifact was just too useful.

"Because the Fontane family has leaked word that you have not one, but two of their spatial rings."

"I don't understand. You want me to sell them because people know I… oh."

"Yes, oh. You are only C Rank and not a noble. Plenty of people will take you as an easy mark to steal your spatial artifacts and make a quick fortune."

"So, not only do you want me to sell them, but publicly, so everyone knows I got rid of them."

"Precisely. I know this hurts, but it is for your own good. If you try to keep these spatial artifacts, someone is going to try and steal them."

"What if we just claim I sold them to the school, but I keep them?"

"There are plenty of noble families right now that are looking for a way to hurt you. They can easily find out if that is true or not and pass it on to others who are more than willing to take direct action. You need to rid yourself of the danger."

"What if I sell them, and the sale gets recorded, but then buy one back secretly?"

"Damion, this isn't a game. You know full well how many people would kill for a spatial artifact. If you don't get rid of them you are asking for trouble.

"I'll think about it," Damion told her.

"It wouldn't be believable if I just got rid of them right away. I'm safe here in the school. I'll make a decision before the next time I go out."

"Fine. But make sure you are careful. Just because you are in school, doesn't mean someone won't try to steal them. Don't go showing them off either. Maybe, just maybe, if we don't do anything, people will believe you secretly sold them off." Damion left shortly after that with Elicia, who had waited outside Mage Teft's office during the meeting. While they were walking back towards the dormitories, Damion had his tablet out looking at the magic seals and smiling as the notifications from the Magic System rang in.

Ding {Magic seal recorded} [Frost Over - Active - (F Rank 200 Mana) Send out your ice to coat your surroundings. Can slow enemies weak to cold. Repeated uses can freeze things solid. Effects a 20-meter spherical radius centered on the caster. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Ding {Quest Completed} [Quest: Learn a Tier 3 Magic Spell – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 1, 000 Store Credit] Ding {New Quest Available} [Quest: Learn a Tier 4 Magic Spell] [Description: Mastery of Magic is key to moving forward. Learn a Tier 4 or higher magic spell.] [Reward: 100 Experience, 5, 000 Store Credits] Ding {Magic seal recorded} [Ice Clone - Active - (F Rank 500 Mana, 25 Mana p/s) Conjure a clone of yourself made of ice.] Ding {Quest Completed} [Quest: Learn a Tier 4 Magic Spell – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 5, 000 Store Credit] Ding {New Quest Available} [Quest: Learn a Tier 5 Magic Spell] [Description: The pinnacle of magic is at your fingertips. Learn a Tier 5 or higher magic spell.] [Reward: 1, 000 Experience, 50, 000 Store Credits] When Damion saw the notifications he almost broke out in tears. 6, 000 store credits. Once again he had been granted an enormous sum of credits for the Magic System Shop. He was still far from being able to afford the Anti-Regression potion, but he was getting closer bit by bit. Seeing the reward for learning a tier 5 spell was enticing, but Damion knew he was far from being able to accomplish that feat. Despite the sudden wealth of credits and that as he mastered these spells he would get more credits; Damion was keenly aware his momentum would not last. There were only so many spells he could learn and even if he mastered them all, he would still be well short of the 100, 000, 000 credits he needed. Damion's only hope was more quests. Now that he knew there were hidden quests, the possibility of him unlocking more of them or just getting ordinary quests appeared to be essential to progressing. As good as the rewards were, Damion knew he needed other quests before the well of quests for magic seals dried up. Once Damion and Elicia reached the patch of grass near his dormitory, he sat down and started practicing his new spells, which shocked Elicia and would have shocked anyone else had they been around. No one should have been able to memorize a tier 3 spell in just a few minutes and now here Damion was casting the spell and coating the area around him in a layer of frost. After a few casts, Damion understood that while the spell was useful, it was extremely mana intensive. If he could master it, perhaps the effects would be more pronounced, but right now, the layer of frost Damion created on things with one cast was hardly impressive. If he cast the spell four times in a row he could begin to freeze the environment but spending that much mana for such a small benefit seemed like a waste. For the effect to be like Mage Blanche's in the labyrinth, completely freezing over an entire area, Damion figured Blanche must have raised the mastery of the skill quite high. Just slowing enemies down did not seem to be a good enough effect to warrant the mana cost. For Blanche to have spent time mastering the spell there must have been some other benefit from the spell, but Damion was not seeing it right now. Damion's other new spell seemed more readily useful. Ice Clone allowed him to create a copy of himself made of ice. The Ice Clone could not cast spells, but when Damion conjured it, the Ice Clone formed with a sword and shield in hand. The spell would be great for sending in first or even for evening the odds in a fight. As a tier 4 spell, Damion understood why the mana cost was high, but he was troubled by the constant drain on his mana too. Keeping the Ice Clone up and fighting ate into his passive mana regeneration, he had enough to keep an Ice Clone up, but once again, Damion found himself with the ever-increasing issue of mana regeneration versus expenditure. Damion knew other mages dealt with these issues by keeping a supply of mana potions handy so they could refill their reserves in a fight. And with these new spells, Damion was wondering if he would need to start doing the same. The rest of Damion's break week was spent on his normal training routine. During his spell practice he added the use of his new spells and took to sparring with his Ice Clone self. Elicia also made use of sparring with the Ice Clone. While she was not a match for it, she quickly found that sparring with his clone was less humiliating than being trounced by Damion, since he could force her to concede from range. At least the Ice Clone had to catch her before the spar was over.