"Perfect timing, come in and take a seat." 

Once Gael had finished his morning shift, he headed directly to Sera's office. 

I hope it isn't too difficult. I'm all for a bit of trying, but given how Sera downplayed it yesterday, at least when compared to the Antorians' magic, it made it seem much weaker.

"You said you wanted to learn Benefaction magic first. It's a finicky magic, you know. Among the many different branches of magic, only it and Malediction are the ones tied to a sense of morality."

"What this means is–the strength of your invocations is tied directly to how much the magic deems you as "good." If you're righteous, lawful, and virtuous, you'll find your Inveridium strengthened. If your magic deems you neutral on its alignment scale, then the magic will come out as normal. If it sees you as evil, it will strongly resist any attempts of invoking it, perhaps not even appearing at all."

"...that sounds like a hassle."

"That's because it is. In exchange for being able to quite literally manipulate luck and imbue people with blessings, the person casting them needs to be good as well."

I don't consider myself good by any means, but I'm not bad either. Having to put up a front just to be able to maximize my magic is a pain. 

"So how am I going to convince it that I'm good? I can't imagine it reads my mind all the time."

"It reads your actions. The choices you make during your time here in Antoria might affect your invisible disposition. Something as simple as stealing a loaf of bread from a vendor, even when unseen, will mark you as a potential evil."

Talk about standards. 

"And I'm guessing it isn't as easy to make myself good?"

"Obviously. For both Benefaction and Malediction, it is much more difficult to appeal to their respective alignments. If you want to do so, you'll need to accomplish something worthy–for instance, saving a village from a bandit raid."

I can already see hundreds of players choosing Malediction just for the sake of causing chaos in Antoria. 

"Now this is just pure curiosity, but what's the meta like? Surely there's a certain branch that people love using in PvP."

"As much as the forums would have you believe, there is no such thing. The meta doesn't exist in Antoria Online, simply because of the wide variety of playstyles available. Even the most basic classes that the majority tend to play as, like Fighters, all have their own unique sub-classes the community name."

"I see, I see. You can continue."

Sera nodded. "Anyway, as I was saying, Benefaction thrives when it is used by good people. Let's say you manage to get yourself seen as a good person, through whatever method you use. The next step is, like with any other branch of magic, is memorizing the phrases."

"To make this easier on you, I'll personally Message the relevant information."

Gael raised his hands in protest. "Wait, wait, that's gonna hurt! Don't you have a book somewhere?"

"Hah! If you're terrified of a spell that isn't even designed to damage, you're going to break once you feel your flesh burn from a Fireball."

"If it'll help your wimpy behind, it makes the memorization process easier." Sera continued. "This way, it'll enter your head directly, and you won't need to waste time understanding it."

Before Gael could understand what was happening, Sera had already begun chanting in Inveridium. 

Realizing he couldn't do much but prepare for the pain, he braced himself. 

Immediately after, a rush of information flooded into his mind. Words of an unknown language seemed to ingrain themselves in his psyche, establishing immediate familiarity. 

He could tell Sera had only Messaged him the first level of Benefaction spells. Still, the images in his mind… they played constantly, showing him how to invoke the spells, even guiding him through the correct intonation, pronunciation, and the way to deliver them.

Along with this, the effects of the spells reverberated within his head, attaching themselves to the information they were assigned to. Suddenly, he felt an urge to speak within him rising in his throat. His pupils retreated from his eyes, and his vision blanked out for a split second. 

All through this, Sera watched with an amused expression, arms crossed. 

"A–ad…hauser."

Crack. Out of nowhere, the ceiling seemed to start breaking apart. A subtle hole seemed to form, shaped like a cylinder. 

The roof shattered in an instant, giving way for a beam of light to pierce through. Bright, radiant. The light seemed to emit a holy energy, turning Gael resplendent. 

Then, the next moment, the beam disappeared just as quickly as it came. 

Gael's irises seemed to revert to their original positions. His vision returned, albeit slowly. 

What the… what just happened? I could swear I was in the middle of understanding the phrases. 

"You muttered "ad hauser." Sera marveled. "That's Inveridium for Moonlight Beam. What a surprising spell to think of as your first."

"Was that what I did? I managed to invoke a spell?" Gael asked. 

"Indeed. Good job, newbie. Most players don't get it right the first time, and the few that do manage to only keep it up for a split second. You kept it for a whole three seconds."

"And… That's impressive how?"

"Outworlders use their voice to use Inveridium. Without it, they cannot invoke any spells. Outside factors are included as well, of course. For instance–the amount of authority you radiate from your voice."

Sera then went on to explain the gist of Gael's first time. In summary, Gael had managed to invoke Moonlight Beam, a first-level Benefaction spell that allowed the user to send down a holy beam of light to any location within a certain distance. 

Gael's invocation seemed to have an air of "authority" to it, which caused the world to more easily adhere to his commands. This was how invokers used Inveridium, through the use of their authority. 

It just so happened that Gael's voice seemed especially worthy, or at least powerful enough that the world decided to listen to his command. 

"Your invocation was shameful during the first half of the phrase, but I could feel it was a bit more commanding towards the end. Maybe that's why the world listened."

"What should I do next? Do I just memorize the phrases and mutter them whenever I'm in battle?"

Moonlight Beam was just one of the spells that Sera had Messaged Gael. Among others, there were spells that protected, spells that inflicted damage, and spells that buffed. Gael was eager to test them all out right away. 

"It's not that easy." Sera shook her head. "I'm sure you already understand how important every aspect of your phrase is when you try to invoke a spell."

"For instance, most spells have a certain "feeling" to them that you have to follow in order to make it more likely to follow your command. Tell me, newbie, what's one defining trait of humans?"

"If I had to guess…" Gael's voice trailed off for a second. "It'd be our adaptability. Unlike most creatures, we are able to adapt to most, if any given circumstances. It's what makes us harder to kill than cockroaches."

"Perfect answer." Sera smiled. "That's right. The same thing applies to Inveridium. Some spells might prefer being completely dominated by authority, while others might be coaxed to follow your invocations if you adapt to their intended effect. Let me show you an example."

"Viyah, husu!"

Gael watched every movement of Sera's lips. At first glance, he noticed the very dramatic way she seemed to voice out the last word, "husu." A rising intonation was included, making it sound powerful. 

Immediately after, a small, compact bolt of fire ignited itself directly on top of Sera's palm. 

"That was the incantation for Fire Bolt. Let me expl–"

"No, could you allow me to try?" Gael interrupted. "I'd like to see if I understood it."

Sera shrugged but smiled. "Go ahead, then. Explain why I voiced out the phrase the way I did."

I think I understand where this is going. In order for an invoker to properly achieve the effect that they want on a spell, they need to embody the characteristics of the spell through the way they vocalize the phrase. Then in this case…

"Fire has numerous characteristics. It can burn, it can destroy, and it can rampage. The reason your voice suddenly heightened in tone was to depict how a raging fire would be, thereby invoking the Fire Bolt spell."

Sera's smile widened. "You get it, newbie. That's how it is. If you can understand what a spell seeks to do, and adapt your voice in order to appeal to it, it will be easier to successfully use Inveridium."

"We'll end our first lesson here. You've already understood Inveridium perfectly, and now all you'll need to do is memorize the phrases I've Messaged you by heart. Make sure you remember it so that even when you're in the toughest of situations, you'll always be able to maintain a level head and invoke a spell. Who knows, it might just save your life."

"I'll also send a message to the party. They probably won't return until the Autumn Festival ends, so until then make sure you train as much as possible in the magic I'll teach you."