Chapter 156 Hybrid Magic
"I have one more question." Ikaris spoke up again. "From what you said, hyperspecialized Sorcerers have a major advantage in their preferred magic. To use the image of a pie divided into many parts with different flavors, can't a pie have all the flavors at once?"
Iannaril's gaze became sharp and beckoned him to continue. "Expand."
The youth was unfazed and reasoning aloud, he laid out his thoughts to the entire class,
"If I create a fireball to attack someone based on my anger, then that spell logically falls into the Destruction Arcanum. But what about hybrid or emotionally neutral spells? For example, if I am training to manipulate fire in order to perfect my technique, and then attack my own body in order to temper both my body and soul at the same time. What kind of intention is that? How does my Divine Spark interpret it when it comes to awakening my Specialization?"
The Sacred Magus smiled approvingly against all odds.
"It's called the Hybrid Specialization. It's what the six Ruling Houses and all the influential Sorcerer families use to train their descendants. In fact, even ordinary Sorcerers often do it without realizing it. Basically, with this logic your pie no longer has many different flavored slices, but one complex and unified flavor. Instead of being 80% Destruction and 20% of the other Arcana like in the previous example, you become 80% Hybrid, whatever that means, and 20% of the rest.
"However, while it's possible to develop a single Hybrid Specialization with 2, 3, 4, or even 5 components, in practice it's not so easy."
"Meaning?" Danchun asked unprompted. Somehow, she had an inkling of the answer Iannaril was going to say.
"Because the requirements on the Sorcerer's talent are high, especially their Soul Strength." The Fae spread his arms matter-of-factly as he turned to the young woman. "Can you even imagine how difficult it would be to perform a hybrid spell that includes all five Arcana? It would have to have obvious offensive properties, solicit and promote the strengthening of your body and mind, have a creative dimension not motivated by the will to harm, and the ability to form a system of knowledge beyond the spell itself. Not only must your mind include all of these intents at once, the emotions required are complex as well. The Sorcerer's concentration and visualization skills must first reach a high standard and even if the spell succeeds and a matching Spark is born, it will grow exceedingly slowly. If the talent is insufficient, that Secondary Spark will never reach level 2."
Some scions and daughters of influential clans raised their chins pridefully as they heard the Sacred Magus extol their virtues. By practicing their family's secret techniques, they had proven that they had the talent to become exceptional Sorcerers.
"You said that ordinary Sorcerers often resort to hybrid spells without realizing it." Taguchi raised his hand. "Can we have some examples. If it requires a high level of talent, shouldn't it be impossible for them?"
The Fae stared at the otaku with a slightly bemused expression. These guys might have shown up late to his class, but ever since they sat in the front row they had been asking all sorts of pertinent questions.
"Awakening a 5-component Hybrid Specialization is very difficult. So difficult, that even the most arrogant geniuses won't risk it." Iannaril explained in a pedantic tone as he glared at the students with a smug smirk on their faces. "But the same cannot be said for two-component hybrid spells. You must know some. For example any punching spells. If you use your Divine Spark to become physically stronger, you are in the Body Arcana. If during a fight you use your magic to have your fist annihilate your enemies, you are in the Destruction Arcana. But if you use magic both with the intention of increasing your destructive power and strengthening your arm, then you are using a hybrid spell with two Arcana. Many spells are like this. The Black Veil, the first spell most Novice Sorcerers learn, relies on Creation, but affects the enemy's senses, which is more about the Body, or even Psychism if you add a mental component. If you add an intent to harm, it can even turn into a Destruction spell. Does that answer your question?"
Taguchi fell silent for a while, narrowing his eyes in an intense effort of self-reflection, then nodded. "I think I got it."
He had already begun to think about the way he planned to proceed in developing his future Sparks. At the same time, Danchun had also gotten the answer to her questions.
A hybrid spell with 4 or 5 components, it was roughly equivalent to a Cultivation Technique from her home world. She knew hundreds of them and all of them had high requirements on the cultivator's talent.
One famous technique, for example, required one to visualize a furnace within oneself, whose flames would continually refine one's body and soul, while nurturing them. The resulting torture was excruciating and would only worsen as the cultivation of this technique advanced. At a certain stage, the practitioner even had to use a real furnace and actual flames to temper his or her body and mind.
Of course, in her old world there was Spirit Qi to make this possible. But in the Forsaken Lands, didn't they have their Divine Spark and the Elemental Mana that Iannaril had mentioned earlier? If Ikaris knew this technique, he could even tell that it also included the Principle of Sacrifice that Magnus had taught him when they first met. Inflicting pain on oneself that was proportional to the level of advancement of a technique was the most direct way to increase its power.
Seeing the students' distracted faces, Iannaril knew they were all trying to think of a suitable hybrid spell, and he felt obligated to knock some sense into them.
"Don't overthink it. The best is the enemy of good. Most, if not all of you, don't have the talent required to awaken a 5-component Hybrid Specialization. You would be wasting your best years. Today, I just want you to choose a direction. If you choose Destruction, that doesn't mean you shouldn't train your body or your mind. If you fight with your fists, your Destruction Specialization will also be somewhat hybrid.
"Actually, I lied a little bit earlier. Although my Specialization is balanced, each of my Arcana is actually impure. I'll show them to you a second time. This time pay attention."
The five speck of light of different color and aura reappeared before them. At first, Ikaris and the others didn't notice anything different, but since they knew what to look for they quickly found it.
The black speck of light representing Destruction gave off a hostile aura, but as they really focused on it they began to perceive a softer, more grounded aura. The white light of Creation floating next to it was warm, but as Ikaris probed deeper into it, he sensed a trace of danger.
Each of these 5 Arcana were indeed more intricate than they appeared at first glance. Iannaril had a balanced Specialization, but each Arcana was somewhat hybrid.
The Sacred Magus recalled the 5 rays of light in his body and concluded, "I'm not good enough to pull off 5-component hybrid spells. At least I wasn't when I was your age. I was good enough, however, to delve into all of the Arcana and I was very diligent. When I practiced Destruction, I would always have fun shaping my fireballs into different animals to develop my artistry and creativity. It was to kill and destroy, but it was also art to me. When I trained my body, I would cover my body with stone to make it heavier, but I would give these stones the shape of a complicated armor making me look like a golem. My intentions were never simple.
"Practice magic as you please and it will be fine. There are no right or wrong choices. Only the one that suits you best."
Iannaril glanced at the wall clock above the door and clapped his hands. A blank sheet of paper and a pen appeared in front of each student.
"Enough talk. There are ten minutes left in class. At the end of those ten minutes, I want the name of at least one Arcanum written on your sheet. Tomorrow, the content of your school curriculum as a Sorcerer student in this Academy will be decided based on what you have written on it."
With time running out and their teacher's ultimatum, the students reined in their questioning and began to write. While the scions of the six Ruling Houses and his companions wrote down their answers with mixed feelings, Ikaris remained motionless with his arms crossed on his seat.
He was undecided and a little frustrated. He had just realized that he had been doing everything wrong since the beginning. And for that, he needed someone to blame.
"Magnus...!!"