Chapter 99: Ninety Percent Certainty

  Emilia adored working with talismans and formations. She loved the orderly arrangement of the divine language, the clear and rigid rules of the structures, and the tranquility and monotony of the inscription itself.

  There was a certain magic in sitting for hours, carefully drawing magical lines upon the material. This feeling was similar to meditation and was exceptionally calming.

  "If I had the chance, I would stay here by the window for an entire year, together with Zafira and the other Semeramids. I would learn so much," she dreamed.

  Then, however, she thought of the gift from the Guardian of the Mountain and the first-level glyphs. She could not yet work with them, but every night while they were in the desert, she had studied them, slowly soaking up the knowledge within.

  Even in the first few days, she had established that these glyphs were significantly more complex than zero-level glyphs; it would take a great deal of effort to master them to perfection, first on paper, and then to actually inscribe them into the simplest talismans and formations. Only after immense practice would an apprentice be able to use them with satisfactory accuracy and success.

  Soon, Emilia's thoughts drifted in another direction. To be able to freely inscribe first-level glyphs, she would have to increase her mana significantly and pass through the transforming mysteries toward becoming a first-level mage.

  Emilia had a very high concentration of mana in her body and was almost entirely certain that with the help of an alchemical pill made from the bottomless herb for transitioning to the first level, her chances of transformation would be over 90 percent!

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  This transformation was very interesting—when a being in this world, whether human, animal, or one of the other intelligent races, managed to concentrate enough mana in their body, they could attempt to transform it from ordinary mana particles gathered over time from the external environment into something like an esoteric gas. Thus, instead of individual particles passing through the tiny and narrow energy channels of the body, entire groups of these gaseous particles would flow. At the second level, these gaseous particles would thicken and gradually turn into a liquid state, and at the third and higher levels, the mysteries intensified significantly.

  For every change, besides the long accumulation of mana from the outside world, the mage's body itself had to be altered so that it could hold and manage the ever-stronger and more turbulent energies. Even now, these small energy particles, if used incorrectly, could completely destroy Emilia's channels and even cause serious internal hemorrhaging and death.

  And so, after finishing her meditation and restoring her mana, Emilia worked for long hours. From time to time, she managed to successfully complete another talisman, but occasionally she failed and immediately stopped to rest and analyze her mistakes.

  In such moments, failure often presented an opportunity for learning. Emilia had developed the habit of immediately stopping to visualize every step and every movement of the mana and the synchronization of the auras. Often, not everything was clear and she had to guess, or perhaps her concentration was insufficient and she could not see everything with the necessary clarity—but over time, she was developing this skill and beginning to learn more and more often from her mistakes.

  During this time, Sessia—the Semeramid in the yellow leaves—frequently cast spiteful glances at her, several times pointing toward the failed talismans while speaking loudly and gesturing excitedly.

  Emilia, however, was focused on her work and had no time to think about the petty taunts of those around her.