There was no way creating a spell directly inspired by a solar flare wasn’t a ginormous task to achieve; there was also the fact that she had to create a barrier to keep it in as one of the requirements. In fact, she had said it herself that it would be kind of hard to achieve. And now, Yuri was claiming she had completed it in, what, almost thirty minutes?
She had to be joking.
Merlin jumped up from the mat. “Say that again.”
Yuri frowned. “I said I have completed the spell.”
“That’s quick,” Jaehyun blurted Merlin’s thoughts. “I expected it to take longer.”
“Yeah. Me too,” said Yuri as she tapped on her smartwatch and the mana-surge barricading the ring fell apart. Since she was the one who had requested to use the White Room; the control was given to her as a result.
The ring retreated into the floor, and the stage in the center of the White Room returned.
Merlin and Jaehyun stepped down from it.
“It turned out to be quite simple, once I understood the concept.” Yuri continued.
A few seconds passed and she didn’t add anything. Merlin raised a brow.
“Well, are you gonna explain?”
The shadow of a smile appeared on Yuri’s face. “I thought you would never ask.” Merlin snorted. “I’ll start with the barrier since it isn’t something exceptional compared to the Solar Flare spell. Fire doesn’t work like other elements, so I decided to think outside the box. Since I can’t create a barrier like the usual, then what I did was focus on the underlying concept of what my fire spells did, or, technically, what my Solar Flare would do.”
“And that is?” Jaehyun asked.
“Explosion,” Yuri replied. “More specifically, the mass release of K.E.” She stared at them, blinked, and added, “Kinetic energy.”
“We know what K.E is,” Merlin said. “How does your barrier stop kinetic energy from being released then?”
“That’s the neat part.” She walked closer to them, tapped on her smartwatch and a projection of her scribbles on the note app appeared. “It won’t block it, it’ll absorb it, store it, and split it into tiny parts. So think about it like taking the kinetic energy from a bomb’s explosion and splitting it apart into tiny pieces until it’s converted into fire crackers.”
Merlin blinked. That was a rather creative way to create a barrier. Technically, it wasn’t a barrier, but it would serve the same function as a barrier was meant to.
However, it still had some problems to consider when he thought about it deeply.
“Even if you split the kinetic energy apart, they’ll still be close to one another, won’t they? Won’t the damage still be as impactful?” Merlin asked.
Yuri nodded. “That’s why I’ll be sending them to the sky.”
“The sky?” Jaehyun inclined his head. “Splitting the kinetic energy generated from the solar flare’s explosion could generate a million split parts, depending on how big you make each piece. Casting the solar flare spell, splitting the kinetic energy it generates, turning it into a spell, and sending it to the sky. That sounds like an awful lot. Will you be fine?”
“When you break it down like that, it makes it sound like I will be casting up to four spells, when in reality it’s only two,” Yuri said. “Of course, I’ll be fine. Who do you take me for?”
Merlin gulped.
“Well, we’ve only just concluded the theoretical aspect of creating the spells,” he said. “Now we have to test it.”
Jaehyun flinched. “I won’t lie, I’m having second thoughts about this.”
Merlin nodded. “Me too. But it’s either she tests it here, or risks destroying the whole school on Sunday.”
“Have you thought about the possibility of her destroying the whole school today?” Jaehyun asked with a raised brow.
“I thought about that as soon as I proposed she created the spell,” said Merlin. Jaehyun’s eyes twitched. “At least this way we won’t have to yell at the top of our lungs to get her to stop. And, besides, I’m here if anything goes awry.”
Merlin said that with a smile, but he wished from the bottom of his heart that everything would go smoothly. Solely from his assumption, he felt like the spell would be at least an Advanced, Tier I spell. Since Yuri was an A-Class Mage, he would be able to deconstruct it. But he was certain it wouldn’t be without sustaining an injury. After all, in the dropdown of what spells he could deconstruct, the Advanced, Tier I spell of an A-Class Mage came just right after the Novice Tier III spell of an S-Class Mage.
He looked at Yuri who was staring at them silently as they decided for her what she was to do with her own free will.
Now that Merlin thought about it that way, it was a bit funny. He suddenly chuckled.
“What is it?” Yuri asked. “Is there something on my face?”
Merlin shook his head. “Sorry. I just had a funny thought.”
Yuri’s brows fell. “Weird.” Merlin wanted to say something but she cut him off immediately. “If you guys are done, then can we begin?”
Merlin nodded. “Sure.”
Yuri walked up to the stage, and immediately her Grimoire took flight Jaehyun turned to Merlin.
“I hope you’re right about this,” the boy said. “The consequences could be significant.”
Merlin wasn’t, but, like he’d said, it was either now or during the tournament. And he would pick now every day of the week.
“We just have to believe in her,” he said, folding his arms. “She also knows how grand her spell will end up. Yuri will be prepared.”
Jaehyun sighed and focused on Yuri. Merlin did the same.
Yuri was ready now.
She brought her hands together, keeping them just a few inches apart. The air in the White Room turned erratic, and the pressure stiffened. Her Grimoire flipped a few pages before stopping. Mana leaked out of Yuri as sparks appeared around her palms. The sparks were pulled together as they appeared, joined to each other by Yuri’s mana like chemical molecules forming a lattice. Slowly, they grew in size, until what could be classified as a mini-sun appeared in the middle of her hands.
Sweat rolled down Yuri’s forehead as she winced slightly. Merlin and Jaehyun weren’t free from the heat that now plagued the White Room either. They both gulped in unison, emphasizing the sudden dryness in their throats.
But Merlin didn’t let that distort his concentration. He focused solidly on Yuri’s spell.
What she had done was evident. It was similar to what she had described about the barrier, only different in that instead of splitting the particles from one another, she brought them together to successfully create the mini-sun she’d come to call a spell.
“Impressive,” Jaehyun mumbled. “She’s really smart.”
Merlin agreed.
Yuri went further. The mini-sun began to rotate gently, and what she was planning was more than obvious. Despite the fact that the sparks that came together to make the spell possessed their own energy, if she exploded it the way it was, its power would not even be close to even 0.1% of the power of a solar flare. But by making the spell itself move, she would not only be generating energy in the smaller particles that came together to make up the larger spell, but she would be generating energy in the larger spell as well.
An explosion from that would still not be equal to that of a solar flare, but it would be significant enough for a Mage still in their first year.
“No,” Merlin changed his mind, disagreeing with Jaehyun’s deduction. “She’s a genius.”
Merlin, curious as to what the System rated her spell, activated Reader Mage discreetly.
[Perk: Reader Mage Activated]
[Analyzing spell…]
[Analysis complete]
[Spell: Mini-Sun → Solar Flare.
Category: Advanced, Tier I
Spell Wielder: A-Class Mage.
Spell Description: A rather complicated spell as it combines two different mechanisms to work. A sun and an explosion commonly referred to as a solar flare. It is formed by compressing fire sparks into a ball of flames, and forced into motion, converting potential energy into kinetic energy. The explosion of this energy generates a solar flare several times lesser than that of an A-Class flare.]
[Deconstructing Process: Highly advised not to attempt at current level. However, it can be deconstructed by ensuring it loses all of its kinetic energy. Stop the motion of the spell by jamming its molecular structure with your mana. Like two hands holding down a ball in motion.]
[Deconstruct?]
[Yes?/No?]
Merlin’s brows pulled in at the way the System represented the spell, or rather, spells. And then his eyes found the caution and his throat became even more parched. If anything went wrong, he would really end up in the infirmary trying to deconstruct it. He turned his attention back to Yuri, hoping even harder than before that she didn’t mess it up.
The fire alarm in the White Room beeped, and Merlin’s heart skipped a beat. After all, the fire alarm in the White Room was modified way differently from that which was common anywhere else. It only became active when the heat was on a whole other threshold.
Yuri’s green eyes moved from her spell to Merlin and Jaehyun at that moment. She was soaked in sweat, and yet she fed them a calm, confident, and beautiful smile.
Merlin’s racing pulse calmed down.
What was he so scared about? They were fine.
In that moment the mana that coated her spell fizzled out, and with it the mini-sun. In less than a second, the spell Yuri had taken a little over five seconds to make was no more.
The air conditioner worked in full effect once more. Jaehyun breathed a sigh of relief as he took off his tracksuit’s jacket, revealing soaked white tees.
Yuri walked down from the stage. “I think that’s enough demonstration. What do you think?”
Jaehyun chuckled. “Ten out of ten.”
Yuri turned to Merlin.
Merlin smiled and raised a thumb’s up. “A hundred. You were perfect.”
Yuri shrugged. “I am perfect.”