"Do you four want to learn something interesting?"
The students were surprised. They had listened to the principal's information transmission array throughout the academy that Lee had been appointed as the head of the Field Experience department. Since the name was partially confusing, the students were also excited as to what this man could teach them.
"Come here."
Lee turned around and walked towards the training ground, where grass doesn't grow. He called the students and they followed him.
"Stand side by side. Cast the most powerful Fire magic you know of, and fire all at once. Make sure it can hit me."
As soon as Lee finished his instructions, Water element imbued Mana materialised and formed a wall of water in between them. The quick and solid formation of water without chant, stunned the students.
Now that Lee had activated his defense, the four students conjured their fire magic. Three of them were 'Burn Trail' and the fourth one was a 'Giant Fire'.
From the physical sizes of the constructs, the wall of water would easily evaporate at the faintest contact with the fire magic. What Lee conjured was thin enough for the students to see through it and see the wavering outline behind the wall.
*shaaa...*
The fire magic fiercely dashed at the wall of water. And the next second, it disappeared. It should have been the opposite, but the fire magic did disappear.
For second tier spells like Giant Fire and Burn Trail, this result was different, and it made the students frown. They could swear that they saw the fire constructs smashing into the water, but the result was unsatisfactory.
"Once more."
This time, all the four students casted a different spell called Pyro Beam. This spell, which stands with one leg in the third tier, was powerful enough to break the water shield, or the students thought so. But disappointment was the result.
The intense 3 second beam of fire was powerful enough to leave trails on the ground. Yet, it could not scratch the integrity of the wall.
Not that it was not completely ineffective, but the concentration of Mana, and focus of the students were not to the mandatory level. Thus the Pyro Beam from these students conjoined could barely produce half the power of an original and well-executed one.
*huff...huff....*
This spell took a toll on their Mana reserve. These four were not in Official mastery level, and thus began to breath roughly after executing a pinnacle second tier spell.
"Do you know why you four had failed to break the water wall?"
The students regulated their breaths as Lee walked to them. They looked at each other, unsure of what to say.
The concept of Mana and Magic was different in Utopia. There was a belief that the spells could be reduced in the chant length and to almost become chantless, and it was also taught to not fiddle with the formation of spells. The experimenting with shortening and strengthening of the spells were done by the Spell Research department.
The wizards are also restricted from using free-will with the magic spells. To not cause any unwanted results, the Magic research department would cleverly and harmlessly study the anatomy of the spells and the effect of magic with every minute change.
Mana is channeled through the person who casts the spell. The spell is a set of words that help one channel this energy. But, when it comes to spell casting, everyone has an expectation of a set of results.
And this was a flaw, Lee had found.
The very versatility of Mana is underrated when it comes to magic, in Utopia. Thus, Lee decided to incorporate creative magic sessions in his Field Experience classes.
"The reason why I won is not because of spell or experience, but because of the overrated value of spells."
His words made sense to the students. The plain usage of spells had made the battles predictable and boring. Though the students wanted some creative action, they tend to end up failing or exploding when executing the technique.
"Professor Lee, we have tried to be creative, but we have only consistently failed."
The reason why the students have failed, was simple. They tried to use the pre-programmed spells as a base for their creativity. The sensitivity to Mana was gradually being dulled in the upcoming generations. And the head of the Magic Research department was able to pull off many tricks because of her increased Mana sensitivity.
"That was because you used the spells as the raw material for experimenting. Try doing it with raw Mana."
What Lee said was true, but not simple. The Mana is not something that could be easily manipulated, because of its affinity with the nature and the world around us. Thus, intense practice and tiresome sessions would be needed before the students could build their own spells from the energy source.
And it was to eliminate this tedious draining that the spells were implemented. The society of wizards found the predetermined set of instructions much easy and comfortable to handle. The laborious act of voluntarily channeling the Mana was non-existent since the dawn of spells. Likewise, the dusk of the Magic society had arrived.
To take these children back to the stage of Mana manipulation would be fatiguing, and Lee decided to use the system for the betterment of the wizards. Hudson supported Lee with all of his heart, and also transferred every memory of magic and spells to its last bit.
The students were hesitant to act right away, and the professor sensed the reluctance. To invigorate the young mind, Lee also said that they might even be able to produce their own sets of spells, if they can successfully undergo this training.
All four of the second year students were excited to hear this. To be able to make a personalised spell, was equivalent to creating an offensive technique in Qi cultivation. Instantly, they nodded with bright faces, and let Lee know of their interest.
"Let us start by sensing Mana."