Runes - A Tale Of The Abyss

[Like a Blizzard. Never ending. That's what you have to become to surpass whatever stands in front of you. A natural disaster that cannot be compared to man.]

"...Contradiction Magic... it definitely is never ending in terms of possibilities."

Griff squeezed his fist. He was pretty far away from his friends. He didn't want to get caught up in their current gloomy state. He had to push forward.

[You can only manage level three magic perfectly right now, but you're not satisfied with that are you?]

'What's the highest magic tier Caph?'

[...World Class Magic. The 10th tier.]

'Do you... um... know any spells of that magnitude?'

[Yeah... this feels a bit nostalgic. The last time I saw one of those must have been a very long time ago. It was a spell known as Dark Snow Falls... a Blizzard Attribute spell. It had brought darkness and storm to the northern part of the world, but I don't know if it's still active.]

'You're telling me that thing can still be active??'

[How could I know! I was trapped, remember? It's possible though. World Class Magic is something even the gods find troublesome to deal with.]

'Then it's decided! I'm going to learn World Class Magic!'

Caphriel facepalmed internally.

[Try to actually step out of the Master class and reach the fourth tier first.]

'Minor details! Whatever, let's get this over with!'

"Contradict... Re-shape the mana to it's anti-thesis."

The mana that was being generated by the fire lacrima started to turn blue as a small waterball appeared in Griff's hand.

'My control has certainly improved... Come on Caph! I think I'm ready for other attributes.'

[Not before you can cast a simple Fourth Tier spell using the mana you just created.]

'Fourth tier water spell...'

Griff closed his eyes as the blue ball danced around his palms. This had become a bottleneck to him for a long time, but today was the day he'd surpass his current limits!

Last week in one of Professor Julius's lectures he had talked about fourth tier spells. He said that they were normally their subject for the second term of their first year, but Kato's pegging had caused him to slip up and talk about a couple spells. One of them had caught Griff's attention specifically, and NOW was the time for his memory to go overdrive!

-Flashback-

"Alright fine... I'll give a couple of examples, but only the basics!"

"This is the concept behind the fourth tier, or better known as the Grandmaster Class."

He cleared his throat as he read out loud what he had just written.

"Magic is not what we shape with mana, nor is it what we conceive it to be. Magic is ever-changing like a fluid. It depends on one's imagination. Now then, I think a demonstration is in order."

Slowly the water particles in the air started to gather around Julius's body. Slowly they started to condense and cover his body.

"Now what I'm currently doing is known as Mana Body. I'm using the water element to cover my body. This is normally a third tier spell, but with a little imagination and individuality..."

The water started to get thicker and suddenly a large water bubble covered Julius. A few seconds later the water ball disappeared, leaving Julius standing there with a full body armor made out of condensed water mana.

"You can make something that surpasses your tier and gain your own style. It's always the fourth tier where chants and widely known spells become mostly obsolete. This is where your own style is born. Now, back to the current lesson..."

-Flashback End-

Griff was trying his best to do the same, but with a different element. That armor he had created... he'd done it twice now, but the third would no longer be uncontrolled. It would be something he created willingly. He closed his eyes and gripped his fists. A few seconds later black flames bursted from his body, but a few more minutes later they stabilized.

'Imagine. What do I want this to be? My first, controlled fourth tier spell. I want to be strong. That's my d.e.s.i.r.e, and I'll create something to suit that!'

The flames started to dance around him gently as they started to take a peculiar shape. That of armor. However, unlike the previous two incarnations of this armor, this version was more bright and detailed. More solid as a concept. That was what magic was!

Black wings sprouted from Griff's armor's back. A final touch to this armor that had defined him so far.

"Heh... I did it... I actually did it! This armor... I called this something whenever I manifested it, but I don't know how I even named it before."

He pondered for a second.

"...the empyrean body of the forge. That was what I called this spell. . Yeah... that pretty much suits me."

He stood up, encased in the black foaming ominous armor. He was grinning. This... THIS was the power of fourth tier magic!

[I guess I'll be teaching you more about magic huh... I was actually expecting you to fail on this one.]

'World Class Magic! Here I come!'