My Ultimate OP System: Summoning All Dragons, Gods, Heroes & Villains-Chapter 33: Spell Comprehension

Eduardo watched Ethan go back upstairs with a worried expression on his face.

Francesca walked to his side and noticed the look immediately.

"That look on your face," she said. "Is there a problem with our boy?"

Eduardo sighed. "No, no. It’s just..." He paused, then continued quietly. "His parents entrusted him to us. I just hope this is the right decision."

Francesca’s expression softened into the same worried look. "I know we’re both doing our best."

Eduardo sighed and said nothing more.

"Now stop standing about idly you tin can and move out of the way," Francesca shot at him, walking past with a smile on her face.

Eduardo looked amused and shook his head, whispering, "Silly old woman."

——

Later that evening, around the hour of five, Elizabeth arrived.

She came for the tutoring session with Ethan, who didn’t mind, given he still had to wait on Valerie to complete her preparations for nightfall.

He and Bettie made their way down to the basement, the special training room within the manor.

The first time Ethan had brought Bettie down here, she’d been genuinely terrified, especially when she saw all those swords and various weapons stacked along the walls.

She actually thought the worst and almost refused to continue with the whole arrangement, until Ethan had to repeatedly explain that this place was built specifically for training.

He’d pointed out the mana-absorbing crystals embedded in the walls, which absorbed mana surges and allowed people to train to their heart’s content without causing damage.

Now, she was used to this place.

As soon as they reached the ground level, Bettie walked over to a table and placed down her box. The same large one she always carried to class.

She unlocked and opened it, revealing stacks of papers and various notes inside.

Then she reached into a specific compartment and pulled out a few torn pages that had magic circles and diagrams drawn on them.

Bettie always got straight to business whenever she came for her magic lessons with Ethan.

"I came with an upper-tier spell as promised," she said.

Ethan nodded. "I’m ready."

Bettie raised a finger. "But first, show me how good you’ve gotten with the last one."

Ethan nodded and stretched his hand forward. A purple magic circle appeared in the correct geometric pattern, glowing in front of his palm.

"Air Bomb," Ethan whispered.

From the circle released an explosion of compressed air that struck the walls of the basement with force.

Bettie nodded in approval.

To understand and learn how to cast a spell, one simply had to study and memorize the geometric patterns that made it up.

And to cast that spell for the first time, the caster had to visualize and recall those patterns in their mind perfectly.

The magic circle that manifested outward was a side effect of mana being shaped according to that mental blueprint. Once formed, the intended spell would unleash from the circle.

But then, of course, there were also talent level limitations.

For casters, your talent level was essentially your IQ for magic. It determined how much you could memorize, how clearly you could visualize patterns, and how complex those patterns could be before your mind simply couldn’t process them anymore.

Which was why when someone with C-level talent looked at, for instance, the geometric patterns for a Tier 6 spell, they simply wouldn’t be able to comprehend it. The part of their mind meant for that kind of understanding was too limited to grasp it.

Bettie spread out the papers on another part of the table and gestured for Ethan to come closer and get a look at the spell patterns for the new spell she wanted him to learn.

"This is a Tier 5 lightning spell," she began. "It’s one of my father’s spells."

"Hm," Ethan muttered, nodding his head.

She continued, "I don’t understand the pattern myself, but I know what it looks like when it’s successfully cast. And since your talent is actually S and not B, you should be able to learn this."

Yeah, She had learnt of this fact the first day their magic lessons began. The mystery behind that was what she never questioned as she decided to simply remain on task on their business.

Bettie stepped aside to let Ethan have a closer look. But right as Ethan moved into place, she added, "Oh, and this time, without those eyes."

Ethan chuckled lightly and turned toward her. "Hey, c’mon Elizabeth. They make things a lot faster."

"I know," Bettie replied with a small smile. "But you’ll get too dependent on them. So this time, no eyes, Stark."

They were referring to Ethan’s Eyes of the Sage perk. Due to its nature of letting him see and absorb every minute detail at once, it made his memorization of spells significantly faster than normal.

The first time Bettie saw him use it, she assumed it was some kind of special spell that enhanced the eyes, one that only people of the Stark family had access to.

Special spells or traits known only to certain bloodlines weren’t uncommon in this world.

And so it began.

For the better part of two hours or more, Ethan studied the patterns normally and tried to memorize them.

Time and again, he made unsuccessful attempts at proper visualization and casting. Most of the time, it was just a few symbols or patterns throwing him off.

At some point, he took one slow breath in, then tried one more time.

And he got it.

A glowing purple magic circle with the correct patterns formed in front of his arm. Purple lightning streaked at edges of the circle while swirling purple energy danced around its perimeter.

There was a grin on Ethan’s face and a smile on Bettie’s as she watched him finally get it right.

Right then, streaks of lightning released from the circle and spread forth, striking violently at the walls of the basement.

"Congrats, Stark," Bettie said. "You just successfully cast my father’s Lightning Fury Bolts spell."

Ethan turned to her with a smile. But at that moment, Eduardo walked down the stairs and said, "Miss Valerie is ready."

Ethan nodded at him, and Eduardo nodded back before heading back upstairs.

Ethan then turned toward Bettie. "We’ll have to end our session here today."

Bettie nodded. "That’s fine." She walked over to her box to pack it up. "I’ll be leaving you with the spell pages containing the lightning spell. Remember, casting it the first time isn’t mastery. So take some time practicing, and once that’s done, you can return the pages to me in class."

"Thank you, Elizabeth," Ethan said.

But right then, a thought crossed his mind, and he decided to ask the one person he knew was the most knowledgeable on these things.

"Hey, Elizabeth. I want to ask something."

"Sure, go on," she said while still organizing her papers.

"If this lightning spell was, let’s say, a Tier 6 spell, how long do you estimate I would be able to learn and master it?"

"Hmm..." She stopped to give it careful thought. "Given your talent level, you should naturally peak at comprehending Tier 6 spells, so a straightforward spell like lightning bolts would probably take maybe a day or two."

"Would you have an idea what kinds of Tier 6 spells aren’t straightforward enough for a day or two?" Ethan asked.

"Well, I haven’t exactly seen Tier 6 spells in use. We’re still just students, you know. Maybe when we get out there, we’ll see more. But what I do know is this: not all spells on the same tier take the same amount of time to learn and master."

There was a pause before she added, "Some spells could take much more time to really grasp, and it all depends on what problem the spell is trying to cause or fix."

"Hm..." Ethan muttered, looking thoughtful. Then he whispered to himself, "I thought so too." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

He raised his head toward Bettie and said, "Thank you once again."

She nodded and returned to finish packing up.

Ethan then walked toward her while digging his hands into his pockets.

By the time Bettie was done and ready to go, Ethan extended his arm out to her.

He opened up his palm to reveal five gold grits.

Bettie was taken aback. "But we didn’t spend that much time on the session today."

"I know," Ethan insisted. "I just want you to have them."

Bettie looked at the coins in his hand, then back up at him, and asked again, "Are you sure, Stark? This is really too much for the work done."

Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes. He gently took her free hand and placed the five gold grits in her palm. "I really have to go now, Elizabeth," he said with a smile before turning away.

Bettie stared at him for a while as he walked off. Then she looked down at her palm again, and for a moment, her eyes grew slightly emotional as a smile appeared on her lips.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​