A few moments after Zephyr fell asleep, he found himself in a familiar place.
Sigh… I'm here again. His thoughts resounded through the white open space—his mana core.
After surviving the terrible ordeal that brought them here, he had found that whenever he slept very deeply, he somehow ended up here. Other times, he could just be having a rare moment of silence, not really thinking about anything, when he'd get sucked into this space abruptly. The only way to leave the space being to approach the far edges. That would jar him awake and would be enough to prevent any other entry within the same night.
He didn't understand the logic behind it or the reason for it, but it just did. There were times he would leave immediately, needing rest, and there were times he would explore within the limits he could; other times he would try out new things. This night though, he was tired, immediately walking out of bounds and jarring awake so he could sleep normally.
He woke the next morning with plans for the day, eager to continue his research into understanding the locals' spell models. He had asked the old apothecary for details about the spell drawn on the scroll, and he claimed it was a simple fire spell. He was even eager to talk, asking Zephyr to come around anytime he wanted clarification. Zephyr had simply grunted a response back then—the cold, detached, and uncaring persona he portrayed prevented him from acting otherwise. But now, he was thinking of taking the man up on his offer. There were so many questions he wanted to ask.
Today he was taking Smiling Devil out of the cave. It was a cycle they repeated frequently, or else the constant dampness would cause severe issues to Smiling Devil's already weak body. As a tier five, his body was many times stronger and more resistant than the average person. He would've long been past the danger zone and on his way to full recovery if it weren't for the nature of the spell Mistress Alyra had cast on him.
After breakfast, Zephyr gently carried him, walking further into the depths of the cave. The path leading out of their safe haven was riddled with steep nooks and crannies that sloped straight down the whole way. It was a very tedious descent, and one could easily get lost within the network of similar-looking paths, but that was why their safety was assured.
Eventually, they came up to a more spacious path where Zephyr stopped to bring out a well-concealed wooden wheelchair.
As they got out into the open—after Zephyr had made sure the coast was clear—they both sucked in deep breaths, savoring the clean, fresh air after spending a night breathing very damp and humid air. They donned their usual black cloaks and gloves as Zephyr started the long journey towards a spot he had discovered: a secluded grove. Well-concealed, but still open enough to give Smiling Devil enough freedom while Zephyr was off doing his own… things.
Smiling Devil hated the place. But he hated the damp cave even more, so he let Zephyr do as he pleased. To Zephyr's credit, he had tried to make the place as comfortable as he could for the man. He'd even gotten books there for him to read… yay!
"So, how far along are you in learning the local language?" Zephyr asked, trying to make small conversation. But he was met with the usual silence he had come to expect as Smiling Devil brooded. He kind of felt bad for the man, living like a prisoner in his own body, requiring assistance to do even the most basic of tasks. His ability to cast magic, reduced nearly to nothing because of grave injuries to his mana core and mana pathways. And to top it all off, he had to be brought here regularly lest his condition worsen. It was mind-numbing. Sitting among trees for the whole day like he was some fucking centenarian.
At first, Zephyr had tried keeping him company, if only for the possibility of the man talking. He seemed to know so much, but he was unwilling to give Zephyr any concrete information, only throwing out a bit or two when the need arose. Zephyr was content to play his game though. The longer time he spent with the man, the more use he could get out of him.
"Well, I'm off to earn some money. Got a job I need to complete…" Zephyr said after settling Smiling Devil into the grove.
"Right…" He nodded his head before leaving when Smiling Devil refused to respond, simply staring into the distance vacantly in his wheelchair.
After walking a safe distance away from the grove, Zephyr burst into a sprint, heading straight for his personal hideout, eager to continue with his research. It was a spot up atop the waterfall's peak, a long way from the river that led to the fall, free of any moisture.
He scanned the surroundings cautiously before bringing out a scroll from where he hid it within the trunk of a tree.
"Where were we, Aegis?" Zephyr asked, unfolding the scroll and revealing the diagram etched onto the parchment. The fire spell model was an intricate arrangement of concentric circles. At its very core lay a spiraling mark. Encircling it, several more concentric patterns were meticulously inscribed with arcane symbols.
However, one particular pattern, etched further out from the core, was fundamentally different from the rest, appearing counter-directional to their flow. This pattern resembled an inverted-V shape, like a small triangle with a line intersecting it, pointing outwards. It sharply contrasted with the patterns found in the other circles. And according to Aegis, it looked like it was there to function as a negation gate. He'd gotten a brief rundown on Boolean Logic Gates, and it looked like a NOT gate—down to the last detail. Like a filter that allowed some quality to pass while systematically rejecting others.
That was the only thing Zephyr could confidently decipher from the spell model so far. The others seemed more like pathways or channels for mana to flow, but he didn't understand why they were shaped the way they were. Aegis could try running some analysis, but without actually testing the spell to see it in action, the results would be too far off the mark to get any reliable result. And Zephyr couldn't test the spell himself. He'd tried. But his mana core ran on a fundamentally different process, refusing to channel mana outwardly like the people here did.
Mages from his world didn't need to go through the trouble of drawing out any spell model. In fact, the term 'spell model' could be replaced by 'visualization' for them because all they required to cast a spell was a deep knowledge of how the spell looked, and the effect it was supposed to have. Chants, hand gestures, and even wand usage were all methods to break this visualization into sequences that were easily repeatable and less taxing to the minds of fresh mages.
The heavy-duty work was done within, by their mana nodes like there was some sort of auto-translator on.
Zephyr knew this because he had seen it in action. But back then he didn't understand what he was seeing.