“It’s about time and effort. Put enough into a spell and you can master it. But there are limits. If I wanted to learn a spell like [Grand Fireball], it would take me years even if I knew how the spell was supposed to go. My magic isn’t at the level where I can understand it yet, and I’m not well-versed in fire magic anyways.”
Too late. The [Grand Fireball] spell shot through the forest and burst across the walls. Goblins screamed and disappeared into an inferno and the flash and smoke blinded everyone for a second. When it was over, a huge hole had opened up in the thick walls and thousands of Goblins were suddenly afforded a spectacular view of the Rose Knights. And vice versa.
“Archmage Feor is a generalist. Quite boring, don’t you think? He wants to be like a proper [Archmage] of old, but he doesn’t have the class. Not yet. And I say generalist, but he prefers to use big spells in battle and everywhere else. Big spells. They take too much time. I like spells to be quick! I learned that in Baleros. You can’t cast [Blackflame Fireball]—silly spell, by the way, why is that considered an upgrade of [Grand Fireball]?—when people are trying to hack your tail off with enchanted swords! Anyways, I specialize in enchantments. I can do artifacts, but I’m best at making scales harder than mithril or casting mass-[Invisibility] spells. Actually, I’m probably the best in the world at it. Aside from this guy in Pallass who’s crazy about physical enchantments…”
This was no ordinary fireball, the size of a torso, or even a [Grand Fireball], which was a ball of roiling flames as tall as a Human in every direction. This was like a second sun. Rags had seen it once before. It was falling towards her tribe, almost lazily. Her eyes widened.
“The problem that Falene has yet to point out, Olesm, is that linking does not allow [Mages] to cast spells they do not already know. They could boost an existing spell several times over—the classic example is using [Siege Fireball], which is simply an overcharged version of [Grand Fireball]—but unless the lead mage knows a Tier 6 spell or higher, the effort is usually pointless.”
“Truthfully, Miss Yvlon, that’s an insulting offer. [Lion’s Strength] is a Tier 4 spell, but it’s an enchantment, which you could call Tier 5 since it’s not as simple, as, say, [Grand Fireball]. If I were selling my knowledge of the spell and time it would take to train your companions—which I am not since I’m rich enough—I’d ask for at least nine thousand gold pieces. Minimum.”
“Like I said. Experience. Just…experience. And common sense in battle. Oh, they may be fully-accredited [Mages] with over half a decade’s worth of studying, but that amounts to little field experience in most cases. Sometimes when we have to clash with Humans in the north or fight off a Terandrian fleet, I meet Wistram graduates fresh off the boats. They can cast [Grand Fireball] and link spells in practice, but in an actual battle?”
“…By that, you mean a fake mouse with [Grand Fireball] worked into it? There are cats in the city. Blowing them up is discouraged. We had a [Druid] lay down several spells, and we have a [Detect Life] spell calibrated to several species like that.”
