"You know, I never really understood the appeal of those. I hear it got popular in the Rem Republic, but it never really took off here. Why do you want one?"
I glanced at it, then back at her. "Are you asking why I would want to wear that?"
"Yes," she confirmed. She began to explain herself. "To me, the wide brim and the long pointy end looks a bit silly. Well, I guess the traveller’s hat does have a wide brim. And pointed caps aren’t too uncommon. But still… y’know…"
I laughed.
"I know. It does look a bit weird if you think about it. But I have to wear those."
The milliner blinked.
"Why?"
"Because," I started, turning around to leave.
A small smile spread across my face, as I answered her question.
"I’m a [Witch], after all."
Chapter 4: Alleyway Meeting
The ball of light danced on the palm of my hand.
I brought it up, and it shifted; its color changed from blue, to yellow, to purple. Then it expanded.
It grew larger and larger. Until it was about the size of a soccer ball. And it began to split: from one to two; then from two to three.
The three balls of magic hovered next to me. I smiled, as the magic circle dissipated yet the spell stayed. I began to move it, and it obeyed.
I started spinning it around my shoulders. Gently at first. Then faster. And faster—
I felt my control over one of the Explosive Orbs slip out of my grasps.
It flew out of control. Straight at the walls of my room. But I was prepared for something like that to happen.
I brought a hand up, and without even pointing:
Dispel Magic.
The spell gave in without any resistance. All three orbs vanished, leaving nothing behind. I sighed in relief as I wiped sweat off my forehead.
That was close.
I knew something was going to go wrong; I was practicing pre-casting spells— a type of spellcasting that allowed me to go into an engagement with magic at the ready. There was no need for a magic circle to control it after it’s been cast.
Normal spells could not do that. They required you to concentrate on maintaining the magic circle, which would prevent you from casting too many spells at once.
It was different from keeping a spell at the ready— pre-casting would already have the magic out, whereas the former would simply lessen the time it took for the spell to form.
A perfect example of the difference between the two was what just happened earlier: Dispel Magic was prepared on one hand, whereas I had the Explosive Orbs pre-cast and flying around the room. I specifically made sure I had Dispel Magic at the ready since I was not experienced with pre-casting, and knew something would go wrong.
That was because pre-casting required a lot of refined control over magic; something which I was still lacking as of now. I could cast Fireball and even stronger spells after much studying over the months— but that was simply brute force. There was no elegance to it.
This was different. I could not master it instantly; it still required actual practice, despite my magical abilities. And while it was an incredibly useful skill to learn, it was also completely circumstantial, and could not be done for all spells.
Just like everything else, it had its own drawbacks. Only certain spells worked well with pre-casting, such as Geomancy and Necromancy, or Hydromancy while near a body of water. Things which leaned more towards manipulating what was already there, rather than creating something magical, were better suited for it.
Pyromancy for instance, would typically conjure up magical fire that still required a lot of focus to maintain the spell. While pre-casting took away some of that focus, it was not enough of an advantage to make pre-casting effectively useful.
The same rule generally applied to Thaumaturgy. But the Explosive Orbs were made to suit pre-casting. Like a mine that exploded on contact, or a grenade which you could pull the pin whenever. It functioned as a proper explosive, unlike Magic Bolt or Magic Missiles. Which was why I was practicing my pre-casting with that spell.
Another downside to pre-casting was demonstrated just earlier. Without the magic circle— without direct control over the magic— spells could be very easily dispelled by another person. There was almost no resistance when one tried Dispel Magic on a pre-cast Stone Wall, for instance. The barrier would just come tumbling down back to the ground.
As such, coming into a fight against another powerful spellcaster with dozens of pre-cast spells was not always the best idea. Because it could be very easily dispelled. Not that it was even easy to pre-cast a dozen spells in the first place.
Regardless, it was just another thing to add to my inventory of skills; something I could possibly use to defend myself with. Not that I was looking forward to fighting anybody anytime soon. I just had to be cautious.
So I reached for the grimoire. The book on spellcasting. To read the chapter on pre-casting again; to try to understand where I went wrong. But as I did that, something made me blink.
A beam of light filled my vision, as I shielded my eyes from the window. The curtain was drawn, yet the sun’s rays still peaked through. It was… noon?
No, not yet.
But it was definitely long past sunrise. Which meant I had been studying for at least four hours, considering that I woke up at dawn.
It was a habit I gained from travelling: get up before the sun rises, and make camp before the sun sets. It had forced me to fix my internal alarm clock to wake me up early
