Chapter 202 - The Insane Soul Golem of Nathan

  "Alractice ting spells in your free time and do it safely, along with mana manipution. This is crucial for training your mind to divide attention in bat."

  The professor turhe page, and the board dispyed a mage surrounded by rge fming spheres of earth, h in the air around him.

  “Only a few mages are skilled enough to use spells above the Epic level. If a mage without enough mana tries to t a powerful spell, they will fail. Even for those who perform spells at this level, it’s crucial to uand the risks involved. The more powerful the spell, the higher the mana cost. If you exhaust your mana, you’ll be uo perform magid, depending on how draining the spell was, you may faint or, in the worst cases, die.”

  Professor Obana looked around at the students, the mix of anxious and curious faces as she expihe plexities of advanced spells.

  “It’s possible to shorten long spells,” she began. “First, you o master the long t, uanding each sylble and eling your mana steadily. With time, you’ll be able to dehese phrases into a shorter, more effit form—what we call a ‘standard phrase.’ This phrase acts as a mental shortcut, so to speak, allowing you to have half of the spell ready even before you fully t it.”

  I khis cept well. Both Adrihna and my family had taught me this method. It was one of the erstones of being an effective military mage.

  “Powerful mages often ‘lock’ this half of the spell into something called ‘Elemental Art,’” Obana tinued. “It’s simple: you ihe desired element and t the spell’s name. For example, the crow spell I demonstrated earlier would be called Pnt Art: Green Bde Ravens.”

  The students started taking notes hurriedly, some with expressions of enlighte, as though they had just uncovered a hidde.

  “This is how mages of the past mao reduce ting time, turning plex spells into something practical and swift without sacrifig potency. They densed years of knowledge and practito simple phrases, which proved crucial in intetles, where every sed ts.”

  She emphasized the importance of correct ting: “You t a spell either mentally or aloud. But keep in mind, if you do it mentally, the spell es twice as much mana and loses half of its potency.”

  The professor pared this process to sword practice: “Just as every sword movement requires the coordination of body, joints, and muscles, ting a spell involves both the body and voice. Skipping any part of this process lead to a spell that is either disastrous or less powerful. For that reason, speaking the spell is practically essential to achieve maximum effectiveness.”

  Her words underscored the plexities involved in magical practice. Mana’s nguage is a tinuous flow of mind, body, and spirit: the way you shape your mana, how it moves through your energy els, how your mind recalls the exact steps of the spell, and how your mana gem pumps energy through your body—all of it forms an interected cycle, like a spark igniting a fire.

  She cluded with a practical sario: “Imagine a mage in the heat of battle, trying to cast a powerful spell. If they t mentally, they’ll lose a precious amount of mana and weaken their spell. In bat, aloud ting is an integral part of ‘Elemental Art.’ Without it, magic will never reach its full potential.”

  Her words reinforced what I already knew: magic is as much a strategic discipline as it is a force of power.

  The professor flipped ane, and the board dispyed the image of a boy fallen on the ground, with someone armed with a sword standing close by.

  "Using a powerful spell in battle requires caution. If it fails to achieve its purpose, you’ll be left pletely exhausted and vulnerable to enemy attacks. Your weakness will be such that you may not even be able to move, making you an easy target. This is how enemies kill powerful mages: by waiting for their mana to run dry. Therefore, it’s crucial to manage your mana effectively so that you cast plex spells without promising your safety."

  Professor Obana turo the page, and the image on the board ged to show a sinister figure lurking in darkness.

  “Before we move on to the opic, does anyone have questions?” the elderly elf asked.

  Several students raised their hands, most of them excited that the academy was finally c advanced magic topics. The elf poio one of the students.

  “Professor, why did it say ‘banned’ o the mythical and legendary level spells?”

  The old elf smiled as if she had been expeg this question.

  “That’s an excellent question and directly retes to our opic. Let’s discuss the dangers of using magialicious purposes. But to answer your question,” she gestured with her hand, causing numerous leaves to fall around her, “these leaves are sharp and represent a forbidden spell. This spell is used exclusively to kill. Now, imagihat instead of raining bde-like leaves around me, I could make this happen in aire vilge or city. The chaos aru would be devastating for those who aren’t mages and couldn’t protect themselves,” she expined.

  The professor sed the students' faces, and with anesture, she gathered all the leaves into a green sphere that floated around her.

  “The moment a forbidden spell reaches a level of power so extreme that its potential for destru could cause mass casualties, it is automatically cssified as ‘banned.’ Such spells bee ons of war, and their use is sidered a crime in all realms. Mages who master mythical and legendary level spells are fully aware of the responsibility and the weight of possessing such power. However, if they misuse it, they are immediately apprehended due to the threat they pose to society.”

  This is one of the reasons my mother scolds me so much…

  "Banned spells don’t just pose a dao people; they also threaten nature itself. A banned fire spell could wreak havo a city and its natural surroundings, wiping out all life, including pnts. Even they would perish, and the soil would bee iile. Unleashing a mythical endary-level spell needlessly is a crime against humanity. ons of war should not be at the whim of just anyone.”

  Her sphere of leaves vahe professor studied the students' faces, some curious, others diligently taking notes.

  "Do not worry too much about the danger. A banned spell is not easy to perform, and very few mages in the world are capable of exeg one," she reassured them.

  My spell, the one my aunt forbade me to use, is a banned spell…

  I actually had two banned spells, and casting them was dangerous even for me due to their destructive range.

  The first was the spell that nearly killed me two years ago, which my aunt banned me from using again. The sed spell was my own Soul Golem—a creature that sought to destroy everything in its path.

  Soul Golems occupied a delicate area in magical legistion, simir to a demi-human’s bestial form—a true gray zoween being sidered a banned spell or not. This was due to their massive destructive potential. When a summoner activates their Soul Golem, it’s akin to unleashing a demi-human’s bestial form, where trol bees challenging, and the power is overwhelming.

  Just like a demi-human’s bestial form could unleash chaos aru, Soul Golems represented a simir threat. If left unchecked, they could devastate eies, being an immeasurable danger. However, uher banned magic, a summoner who could fully master their Soul Golem had the power to tain this destru, restrig the creature’s power within acceptable limits. This trol is ces Soul Golems in that ambiguous legal zone.

  While the risk was high, the potential for trol made the use of these Golems a practice that, though reguted, was still permitted—but o be used lightly. Only exceptional mages, those with deep mastery over their magid themselves, could summon and maintain these creatures without causing massive destru.

  Despite being sidered talented, I was far from the natural aptitude of Chloe or my mother. The truth is, no matter how much I train, trolling a Soul Golem is beyond my current abilities. anding such a creature requires almost tractual magical ditions—a profound boween summoner and golem that goes beyond mere skill. Perhaps when the academy delves deeper into summoning, I’ll be able to help you uand this topic better.

  The irony is that even with one of the greatest summoning mages on the ti as my personal tutor—Adrihna, who also wields the light element—she hasn’t been able to help me with this. The reason is simple: mastery over the Soul Golem depends solely on the summoner. It’s a direct refle of the soul of the one who jures it, and as you already know, my soul has harbored destru and chaos in the past. trolling something that mirrors a soul like mine... is no easy task.

  This is the most terrifying aspect of handling a Soul Golem. It embodies both the strength and the shadows of its summoner, being something that pletely slip out of trol if there isn’t bance.