Groaning as her muscles protested, Amara managed to get out of the broken bed. Standing next to it, Amara let out a sigh as she took in the sorry sight.

Shame. The bed was really comfortable. It was much better than any bed I tried on Earth.

Didn’t the princess on Ramay have one just like it? 

I guess she can get another one. She’s a princess after all, and she’s gotten a new bed once before.

Though I would feel bad if she lost her bed a second time…

Amara sighed as she went to the kitchen and started boiling tea. As she waited, Amara’s eyes fell on the pile of books that was left by the printer. 

What about…

Yes. I’ll return the books at the same time as I swap the beds. As a way to show I’m sorry.

Maybe the princess won’t mind that much. After all, she seems to be a fan of Ezme.

I wonder how her ‘work’ has progressed? I should get myself a copy while I’m at it.

Oh! I could give her a copy of some of the pictures I took of Ezme!

Ezme wouldn’t mind, right? After all, they even have pretty detailed statues of her outside the temple and everything already.

A smile spread on Amara’s face.

Besides, the mortals on Ramay seemed to be favouring the idea of me and Ezme getting together. 

Did Ezme tell them? I doubt she did. Ezme would deny such claims fiercely...yes. Too fiercely. That’s what must have happened.

Amara let out a content sigh as she put the hot water with the tea in a cup and walked to the printer.

If Ezme won’t confirm anything for them, I guess I’ll have to. Time to make Ezme recognize that she’s mine.

Let’s finish copying the books and provide the princess a little fanservice.

 

_______________

Aah. You never realize how important it is to have a bed until you’re lacking one.

Amara let out a sigh as she laid sprawled out on her new bed, staring up at the canopy with a small pile of paper copies beside her. 

The princess has an interesting take on my and Ezme’s relationship. She makes it sound like Ezme seduced me, and that I’m a clingy kept woman.

Tsk, as if. If anything, I’m the one doing the seducing. Shame I’m not allowed to correct her.

But maybe I shouldn’t get annoyed. After all, it’s just fanfiction. The adult content was pretty good though. 

Amara let out a sigh.

Let’s see what the new training Ezme designed did for me. Status.

Looks like even running around with toy weapons can level up weapon skills. Makes some sense, I suppose.

I’m level twenty five now. All I need to do is level up Magic Circle to level 10 and I’ll be able to evolve my class to Enchanter. 

Guess I should just practise magic for a while from now on.

Amara sat up and raised her palm towards the alcove, as she activated her class skill. 

In an instant, a bright blue magic circle started to form in front of her. Amara watched as the symbols she thought of began to appear within it to form the spell.

As Amara could read the symbols of the angelic language, she could easily memorize the chant that needed to fill the magic circle. Although Amara still considered herself a novice, she felt that there were certain similarities between the different spells. 

Symbols that detailed the name of the spell was always in the center, and the parts that seemed to detail things such as what the spell should do and mana cost always appeared in the same section. 

Further out was always the more complex details regarding appearance and conditions of the spell.

‘Fireball:

Once invoked, distribute mana into the two tiers by the following: 

First tier: Fifty-five percent. Fifty percent: force the matter in a ball at the focus point to vibrate. Five percent: display a ball of flashy flames of fire at the focus point of the mental image. If not supplied, draw an image of flashy flames of fire based on the caster’s subconscious preferences and double the mana required to invoke.

Second tier: Forty-five Percent. Thirty percent: launch the ball towards the designated target in the mental image. 

Five percent: stop maintaining the matter in a ball upon impact with non-gaseous matter. 

Ten percent: exchange the image of a ball of flashy flames of fire for the image of a flashy flame explosion at the focus point. If not supplied, draw an image of flashy flame explosion from the caster’s subconscious preferences and double the mana required to invoke. 

Mana required to invoke: 20.’

Fireball.

Amara watched as the yellow fireball, the size of a tennis ball, emerged from the magic circle and launched through the air like an arrow, exploding upon contact with the wall in the other room. 

[Ding!]

Amara frowned as she read the announcement.

Still no level increase in Magic Circle. It seems that it only levels when I learn to draw magic circles for spells I don’t know, or significantly improve the cast of spells I already know.

Amara used Farsight to get to Ramay and used Mana Funnel to begin recovering her mana before she laid down on the bed. Looking up at the canopy above the bed she sank into contemplation.

I should try and fiddle around with the symbols at some point. Maybe I could create completely new spells?

The book did mention that fiddling around with them have unpredictable results. Maybe they have a record of failures so I can see what they did wrong?

Though if anyone has them, it would be magic researchers. You don’t exactly publish your failures. Guess it might take some searching.

Amara thought about what kind of spell she should make. 

I can just try and use the Flame spell, and change the mana distributions? 

I suppose the greatest drawback of the spells might be the mental image required for the effects that are displayed. Is it possible to set a fixed image for it?

Let’s see what Ezme knows.

Make A Call: Ezme.

Within moments Amara heard Ezme’s relieved voice in her head.

[Amara! Are you okay? What did Alarice say to you?] (Ezme)

Nothing, if you discount the threat and condescending remark.

[I’m fine, nothing much to be concerned about. Where are you now?] (Amara)

[I’m on the battlefield. There aren’t many demons here yet, so I’ll probably go to my domain soon and then come back for a visit. But...] (Ezme)

Oh boy, here we go.

[Alarice told you not to come by anymore?] (Amara)

[...She did....] (Ezme)

Bitch being a bitch. Why am I even surprised?

[Well, you shouldn’t mind her. Besides, I’m going to need your help with something.] (Amara)

[Oh?] (Ezme)

Yeah. Cheering me up and warming my new bed, amongst other things.

[You found a replacement for your bed?] (Ezme)

[I got it from the princess-wait. You heard that?] (Amara)

[Yeah…saw it, too...] (Ezme)

Oh no.

[...Sorry about that. Please don’t misunderstand, my intentions are pure.] (Amara)

[Tsk. I don’t believe it for a second.] (Ezme)

Damn it.

Amara let out a sigh. [Anyway, moving on. I have a question for you: do you know anything about magic circles? About how they work and how you would go about modifying them?] 

[Sorry, I don’t. We can’t use magic circles, so we haven’t exactly any reason to learn anything about it. Besides, using divine power is superior. But you should still be able to cast spells the same way with mana as you do with divine power if you want to do something specific? It’s just going to be less efficient, and much more likely to fail without a complete mental image. It also won’t be added to your register of spells that way.] (Ezme)

Damn. Oh well.

[Alright. I’ll think about it some more. Remember to call me, okay?] (Amara)

[Tsk. Fine.] (Ezme)

Still not honest, huh?

[Don’t forget to try out your new toy!] (Amara)

[Toy? ...Right! The...rifle, you called it? I’ll try it out!] (Ezme)

[Remember to tell me how it works against demons, okay?] (Amara)

[Okay!] (Ezme)

Amara sighed as the call ended and stared up at the canopy.

Should I try to use the Flame spell without a Magic Circle?

 

_______________

 

I give up.

Amara sank back on the sofa with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Trying to cast a spell without a magic circle was more difficult than Amara had expected. While she had managed to successfully get a flame to appear several times, it almost instantly disappeared when her concentration broke. 

At least it’s possible, but so not worth it.

I’m out of mana again. Guess I’ll search for notes on failed spells again while it's recovering.

Using Farsight and Mana Funnel in succession, Amara managed to get her mana to begin refilling before she moved on to search for notes by magical researchers on Ramay. 

Neither the libraries, royal treasury nor the temples held any books on failed spells. With a little bit of detective work, she managed to find that the magicians occupied their own research mansion on the palace grounds.

Directing her sight into one of the offices, Amara managed to find a desk full of notes that held information that she was looking for. 

After snatching them through a Realm Gate, she started reading through the loose papers while sipping on her coffee. One of the papers stood out from the ones with scribbled angelic symbols and magic circles on them that made up the majority, as the paper seemed very carefully written and had intricate stamps on it.

Hmm...a royal directive, huh? So the king wants to find new and more powerful spells. Interesting. 

Reading through the notes, Amara saw that the researcher had probably attempted to mix different sets of symbols from existing spells. 

The reason for some of the failures were obvious, such as the total mana distribution exceeding a hundred percent or the complete description simply lacking coherence. In some cases Amara found pages of existing spells, but the name that was supposed to be in the center of the magic circle was missing.

Are they casting spells without a name? But doesn't it serve as an invocation? How do they cast the spell without it?

Amara skipped through the papers with magic circles until she found another paper with only written text on it in the same language as the royal directive had been. 

Interesting. 

Can’t the angels just...tell them what it all means? Another question for Ezme.

Let's have a look at those discovered and invented spells.

Looking through the next few pages, Amara found magic spells that seemed to be a mix of different existing spells with researchers’ notes detailing the specifics of the spells. 

One of them included an altered version for Fireball, where the part related to mana requirements had been exchanged for what existed in the Flame spell. The notes scribbled afterward detailed how the spell worked, but was far less efficient than a regular Fireball, and required far more mana to activate.

Strange, but maybe not surprising. When I tried to cast a spell with too little mana, the spell wouldn’t work. 

I guess there are some hidden functions that prevent a spell from being cast somehow if the mana provided is too low. 

Amara continued looking through the discovered spells until she found something that made her even more interested, combined with the notes from baffled researchers.

‘Heat:

Once invoked and while channeled, distribute the mana by the following: Ninety percent: force the matter at the focus point of the mental image to vibrate. Mana required to invoke: 10. Minimum upkeep: 1 mana per second.’

That looks awfully much like the Flame spell. All the parts related to what should be displayed are gone. And it isn’t even completely efficient.

Reading through the notes, Amara realized that the researchers had no concept of the link between what a fire was and heat. They had thought they had discovered a spell for invisible fire, but the system had clearly told them that the spell was called Heat. From there the notes began discussing as they weren’t sure if all heat was simply invisible fire, or what the possible links between the Heat and Flame spells could be.

It really sucks if you try to research new spells and don’t have a general concept of science nor a skill to read the angelic language it seems. 

Seeing the spell that only worked at ninety percent efficiency, Amara couldn’t help but feel bugged out.

Let’s try changing it.

Amara put down the coffee cup on the table and began forming the magic circle for the spell she found, with the small modification of changing the mana distribution to a hundred percent instead of ninety.

Heat.

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

Amara cancelled the spell as the coffee began bubbling inside the cup. As she stood up and walked to the kitchen to get a fresh cup of coffee, she sank into contemplation.

So what’s displayed can be completely ditched, at least in some cases.

Would it be possible to set a fixed image as well? Just like with the mechanics of the spell, so that the mental image of what is displayed is no longer required, like Heat completely disregards it?

Pouring a new cup of coffee for herself, Amara made the decision.

Let’s try to make a new spell.