Chapter 133: Authority style~

'Hmm. I could try snapping different fingers for different spells… but I should also be mindful of the fact that I will need to fight with a weapon sometimes… Well, I'll first try out snapping, since it looks cooler,' Evin thought and tried snapping each of his fingers… but the only finger that made any sound was his right-hand middle finger. His ring finger and index finger would just rub the base of his thumb soundlessly.

He tried his left hand and the result was even worse: none of them made any sound.

'Guess I should first practice snapping my fingers, then' Evin smiled and practiced till his fingers were sore. He especially trained his left-hand middle finger.

Finally, he was ready. Evin decided that when he would snap his left hand's middle finger, the floating spell would be activated. There wasn't much to think about more. Evin snapped his fingers and then constructed the floating spell in his head. After which, Evin would disassemble the spell and repeat the process.

Nasst said that every mage had a different way of approaching this problem. Evin decided on the stupidest method. Endless practice.

In the evening, Evin was so spent and disgusted from endlessly casting the same magic, he set up an alarm on his magical clock and went to sleep. He had some trouble setting up the thing, since clocks on Alvox had 26 and a half hours and every one of the numbers were on display, unlike the clocks on Earth which only had 12 numbers. 

…

The next morning, Evin groggily walked into the Test room. On the ground, Nasst was sitting in a lotus position and seemingly meditating. There was also a small wooden stool in front of him with a scroll placed on top of it. 

Since the elder did not show any reaction, Evin picked up the scroll and sat down. The scroll had though imprints on it, but from a cursory glance, Evin couldn't tell what World's spell it was. He was usually able to distinguish the different Worlds which were depicted in scrolls.

'I thought we were going to learn martial arts?' Evin thought with confusion, before delving into the scroll.

Thought imprinted scrolls were like guidebooks. Although it couldn't cast a spell, in any useful manner at least, it could be reused quite a few times depending on the quality of the paper. Evin could tell that the papers used to make this scroll was very pricey. 

'Either whoever made this thing is a complete wastrel, or the spell is very difficult to use…' Evin thought with dread. 

Sighing, he directed some mana to the scroll. Surprisingly, he found that the scroll described a type of martial art. Another thing that shocked him was the details and clarity of the scroll, which even included some context in the beginning. It explained that certain mages preferred a martial art that was in line with the main World they used. A high-level World of Fire practitioner's punches and kicks would be flashy and flourishing like fire, while a World of Water mage would be soft like water. 

The scroll's basic idea was to embody the Darkness in one's martial art. And surprise, surprise, the Dark mages liked ambushes and killing moves the most. Looking through the list of moves and the general philosophy, Evin felt that it was pretty similar to Mixed Martial Arts back on Earth, but this one didn't even bar one from attacking someone's neck, spine or even eyes. 

The martial art's creator seemed to drill this one idea into Evin's head constantly: "Kill your enemy as fast and efficiently as possible!" 

Evin didn't know how this was 'embodying the Darkness in one's melee combat', but he did like what he was reading. Sadly, the scroll's contents abruptly cut off at one point, like it was locked behind something.

'What is this?' Evin wondered and realized that it felt very similar to the spell that Kena put in his mind. Kena's quest still lingered in his mind and would pop up randomly if Evin thought about it.

[ Find Selat and inquire about the origins of the Horn, as well as the battle of the Fourteen Heroes ]

Evin shook his head and looked at the silently meditating Nasst. 

'Mood,' Evin commented in his head and focused on practicing the martial art.

Trying out the moves, Evin found that it really was a perfect fit for him. Simple, efficient, and very deadly. He was so absorbed in the training, that he didn't even notice Nasst who had finished meditating next to him. After seeing Evin finish a set of moves, Nasst chimed in with a laugh.

"I pulled many strings to get that scroll for you, but looking at you now, it was definitely worth it," Nasst said with a smile and nudged Evin here and there to fix his posture.

"How come I see such a small amount of people using these kinds of martial arts?" Evin couldn't help but ask.

"Seriously, you're so ungrateful. Most mages have wet dreams about these things, you know?" Nasst shook his head exasperatedly. But instead of feeling gratitude, Evin felt fearful.

"I don't really understand why you're spending so much resources on me," Evin asked warily.

"The answer's quite simple: Remember that not everything has to revolve around benefits and profits. But if you want an acceptable answer to yourself, just think of it as me investing in you," Nasst replied like he was hurt by Evin's attitude.

Evin was a bit worried still, but he had made a proper Contract and everything, so he could only close his eyes and hope for the best. To be completely honest, the treatment that Evin was receiving was very generous. 

But since Nasst said that it was an investment, Evin couldn't help but think that Nasst wanted something from him at the end of it. Though he couldn't think of what. 

'Well, if it's something I'm able to do, I should at least give it my best,' Evin concluded. One couldn't always receive things in society. Evin would eventually have to give back.

"Also, why do I feel like this scroll isn't complete?" Evin asked.

"Oh, there are four levels in that scroll. The Thought imprint on it is quite perceptive, and it can distinguish if the reader can perform certain moves or not. It's one of the very special types of martial arts called the Authority Styles. As you get better and better at the martial art, you will be able to see the other moves on that list. Currently, you can only see the first level, which are the fundamentals of that martial art," Nasst began explaining.

According to the old man, at level 2 Evin would use weapons and at level 3 Evin's attacks would start to involve some Dark spells in it. And finally at level four... well, even Nasst didn't know much about it. 

Nasst explained that these scrolls are actually a copy of a set of moves that the Authorities bestowed upon the World. There was only one original copy of each World in Tower City, and it was possible to copy it using some rather expensive methods.

Realizing that he was holding a small treasure on his hands, Evin sighed gratefully and diligently began to focus on the martial art. 

There really weren't many super interesting or complicated moves in the first level as it heavily leaned towards efficiency, so Evin could only practice them endlessly, while focusing on getting his body familiar with the moves. 

Afterwards, Evin's days became abnormally busy. In the morning, he would spend most of his time practicing martial arts. At around noon, he would spend most of his time inside his shadow, teaching the World Sprites how to recognize other World energies. In the afternoon, Evin would practice his gestures like his mind was replaced by a machine. Endlessly casting one spell after snapping his fingers. 

Evin could work like this, because he was diligent in resting. 

'Train day and night like a maniac? Are you crazy?'

In good days, he could keep this monotonous training regime for up to 8 hours. The rest of the time, Evin would either go drink coffee at Rhea's stall or perform some odd missions. He would also bother Arza at appropriate timings.

…