Lily chapter (Could've just been a Kat one but I thought, why not?)
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Lily pretended to crack her neck as she stepped forward and said, "Well, with that working I feel like it's my turn to show off. I'll just quickly run through the basics that I've got down for paper magic, then I have a few questions for Mint about shadow magic,"
"Oh… well… I don't exactly know much about shadow magic. Thyme did cover it a little in their lessons but I don't know anyone with that affinity," said Mint with a pout on her face.
Lily just waved it off and said, "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm just wanting to check a few things that are probably super obvious for someone who lives in a world where magic is more common,"
"Alright," said Mint, not entirely convinced. *Naw, Mint's so earnest and adorable. Makes me want to give her a cookie. She's like… a little cousin perhaps? Sure we're trying to befriend her, but I feel more like I need to protect her. *
[I do understand the feeling Lily. Though, counterpoint. Thyme is protecting her, and her tree is likely somewhere very safe. I suspect she doesn't really NEED the protection. Though, I do agree that she's adorably earnest. A bit like Kamiko was before she met Sue.]
*Kamiko is still a bit like that… but she's a bit too embarrassed you know? She's earnest sure, but it's not her defining trait. Though, yeah they're both adorable. Now, stop distracting me I want to show off properly to the adorable Mint and my lovely girlfriend.*
[Of course girlfriend.]
Lily let out a full body shiver that went all the way through her tail, and set it fluffing up slightly. Mint raised her eyebrow very slightly at Lily, but it went unnoticed. "Right, so first off," Lily summoned up a single circle and let out a swarm of paper, "Is something the book calls 'papercut blast' but I sort of think of it as 'paper blizzard'. Regardless of the name, it's a really neat first circle spell.
"It will keep going as long as I give it mana. The paper is decently sharp and it's just a good spell to blast off in a panic. After seeing the basic shadow stuff, and how… rigid and unintuitive it is, I realise now that this is a masterwork of spell craft. It also has a second tier version," Lily flexed her mana a bit and a second spell circle appeared around the paper, "which is nice, but it doesn't add too much. It's just a better version of the original spell, which just shows how good the original is,"
"Next is my 'Paper wall' spell," said Lily as she dismissed the first circle and summoned another. In front of her was a wall of paper. "Now, the nifty thing about this one, is that it doesn't require constant mana, it summons a sheet of paper, roughly where you want it, and then end. But there was a trick in the book…" Lily then quickly summoned three more sheets of paper, in a row, "If you sort of 'pulse' your mana through the sigil as it's fading you can cast the spell again, summoning more paper.
"The great part though, is that your mana stays connected to them all, and while you can't pump energy into the spell, you can push it into the sheets of paper to give them extra durability. It's not a perfect defence, but it is nice. Furthermore, it also has a rank version but it's kinda lame," Lily explained as she cast the spell at a Rank above. She was right, it just summoned a wall of five sheets of paper.
"Honestly? Unless you need to spam out constant sheets of five, it's better to just quickly cast the tier one version of the spell. Technically the tier two sheets are sturdier, but after a bit of testing? The durability increase is miniscule. Not really worth it. The only upside I can really see, is that the way the mana cost works out, it's five sheets for like… three and a half sheets worth of mana…
"But it's not like they cost much mana anyway. I can summon dozens of them without too much issue. It just comes back to the whole 'unless you NEED the five' might as well just stick to quickly casting the Rank 1 spell," said Lily.
"Now, for the dedicated Rank 2 spells. There were a few more Rank 1 spells, but they're all utility spells, not combat ones, and I can see why. The two the Paper Mage focused on are all you really need in combat. The first one Rank 2 exclusive is called 'paper shell'." Lily let the spell wash over her, and suddenly she was encased in a dome of paper.
From inside the dome Lily continued, "This is made up of a bunch of interlocking paper sheets and it can do a proper sphere if you're in the air. Additionally, if you keep supplying it mana, the dome keeps fixing itself. It's a very good defensive spell for paper magic… but it's horrible mana efficiency wise. If you can keep this up, nobody your rank is getting through…"
"But they don't need to, they can just wait you out," finished Mint.
Lily dropped the dome, and let out a long breath. Her face was covered in sweat, and even though she hadn't sounded too put out from inside the dome, it looked like she'd just finished a hundred metre dash. "Yup, even just those few seconds took half my damn mana pool. The book Thyme gave me labelled it a 'Panic Button' spell. One you practice and practice over and over so that if you're under attack and panicking, you throw that it up to block the attack,"
"It's very impressive looking from my perspective," said Mint. "I can see how it would protect you from near anything, eating momentum from stone or ice, simply letting fire burn unimportant stuff, and water would just soak in without too many issues. I think only the more exotic things like space… but I'm not sure if you can even attack with that at Rank 2, so it does seem really good,"
Lily nodded, "Yup, now for the next spell, it's called 'paper minefield' and well," Lily cast the spell and suddenly the area in front of her was filled with floating paper balls. "It's somewhat cool… but it doesn't know friend from foe, or even foe from ME which is listed as a major downside of the spell. The other problem is it's always in the same configuration. Not a major issue, but something better combatants will notice,"
Kat nodded, already seeing a few paths through the floating mines. If she watched her wings it wouldn't even be an unreasonable ask. Perhaps for people with lacking flexibility, or wide frames it would cause issues… but then Kat realised something. "It's an anti-monster spell,"
"What?" asked Lily confused.
"IT IS!" said Mint in shock. "Oh that makes so much sense,"
"I'm confused," said Lily.
Kat jumped in to explain, "I was wondering what idiot would be stupid enough to just charge into a clearly trapped minefield… but most monsters don't know what paper is, and even if they do, there's nothing to give away the fact they explode. Heck, if a monster is charging they'll go straight into the mines without being able to stop if you time it well. The lower mines can cut up a soft underbelly if they have them, and if not I'm sure it would still hurt exploding in their faces,"
"Huh," said Lily as she looked over the spell again. "It's odd the book didn't mention that use specifically… but now that you say it, I can see the use. The paper blizzard seems better against people, but for monsters? Those bombs pack a punch and might be enough to penetrate thick hide…"
"I think I might know," said Mint.
"Oh?" intoned Lily as she gestured for Mint to go on.
"If this book is written by a paper mage as wise as they seem, I suspect that they were attempting to either discourage fighting against monsters, or they were giving you everything about the spell they could… except how best to use it, just in case they stifled your creativity. If the mage in question missed an obvious use of their own magic, and then taught it poorly that would be really bad,"
Lily nodded, "I… I guess? I'm not totally satisfied with that answer but I can admit that even just with the two main spells and the 'panic button' spell you can get by so… maybe it's a good explanation? Depends on the rest of the book I suppose…"
Mint shrugged, "Well I've never read it so I was just guessing. It just seems like the type of thing Thyme would do if they wrote the book, and well… Thyme is the most eccentric mage I know, so having an eccentric paper mage act similarly would make sense,"
Lily nodded, "Indeed, it does make sense,"
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