Chapter 422: Fantasy and Hope
Euphilia made her request clear, a faint smile dancing on her face once more.
“What I just performed was a little show to give everyone a more intuitive understanding of my grasp on magic.”
“Although I’m classified as a member of the Classical School, there’s a distinct difference among Classical Mages, each with their own interpretations and theories on magic.”
“And in my view, magic is simply a means to change and create worlds as one wishes. The most essential point is imagination.”
“What do you want to do? What kind of effect do you want to achieve? What kind of accomplishments do you seek?”
“How do you want it? Then that’s how it is. That is magic.”
Suddenly, a student raised his hand.
Euphilia gestured for him to speak.
“Euphilia, according to your idea of ‘How you want it, that’s how it is’, can I use advanced or even ultra-advanced magic right now to smash a mountain with one blow?”
Euphilia nodded, “Theoretically, yes. Because the essence of advanced or ultra-advanced magic is no different from basic magic.”
“In my eyes, there are no levels in magic; what we refer to as high or low levels is merely a human classification. It is entirely possible to achieve the same effect of high-level magic using low-level spells.”
“Th-that’s…”
The student was somewhat at a loss for words, unconsciously glancing toward a certain teacher.
Euphilia smiled and indicated for him to sit down.
“I also looked over the existing curriculum at the academy. What I’ve said might differ from what you’ve learned before, but as long as one belongs to the Classical School, there’s still a lot of common ground.”
“I haven’t had the time to understand the Modern School yet, so let’s put that aside. Speaking purely from the classical perspective, I think the so-called Classical School in our academy isn’t classical enough.”
This stirred everyone back to life.
She was going to criticize, oh boy!
Euphilia didn’t stop there, continuing, “Many people learn magic through a simple process: first, find the structure of the magic circle you want to learn and write it down.”
“Then you begin infusing magic power to practice. The first release, the initial adjustments, starting to control, beginning to utilize it, and perhaps later there might be personalized improvements.”
“This entire process can be boiled down to imitating predecessors, then making it your own. That’s why it’s called the Classical School; first, it’s about tradition, and second, practice makes perfect. This falls under the stream of consciousness; perhaps during one practice, a light bulb moment will hit, and suddenly you’ll master it.”
“The reason I say it’s not classical enough is that, since it’s about the stream of consciousness, why not carry it through to the end? If we’re imitating predecessors, it’s known that the original magic was learned from the Divine Beings, who didn’t use magic circles.”
Her words left everyone in the classroom silent.
Was she wrong? Not at all.
But the question remains—can this really be done?
In fact, many people can indeed skip the magic circle steps after mastering a spell, and that’s the pursuit, but it’s not something beginners can manage.
As for the stream of consciousness, it was already so abstract; how would that even work out?
Imagination? Going with the flow? They couldn’t even begin to wrap their heads around it!
“Clap… clap…”
A round of applause broke out with one person standing up, “Euphilia, your lecture was amazing, but I…”
“This student, please don’t speak out of turn. Raise your hand to maintain order.”
“I… I’m actually a teacher at the Magic Academy, too, from the Classical School.”
“Teachers should also raise their hands to speak.”
“…”
After thinking it over, he sat back down, raised his hand, and tried to speak again, but this time he lacked his earlier momentum.
“Euphilia, I understood what you just said pretty well. But I have a question that I believe many here share.”
“Please go ahead,” Euphilia replied nonchalantly.
Euphilia recognized him; his name was Brook, a Human.
He’d been teaching at Saint Felis Academy for decades, holding considerable prestige in the Classical School.
And now, here she was, a newcomer, stepping on his toes in the first class, saying all this, naturally, he wouldn’t be too pleased.
“What you talk about should be simple for someone as powerful as you, but for so many students, especially beginners, it might be completely incomprehensible, let alone practical. Do you have any solutions for that?”
“Of course there is.”
Brook smiled, clasping his hands, “I’m all ears.”
“Let’s skip that for now. This is just the first class, and we’re discussing overall concepts; the specifics will be addressed in the following classes. If this teacher is interested, he can come audit the class later. Please sit down.”
Brook’s smile froze.
What did she just say? Come audit later? Does she think I’m a student? Am I just twiddling my thumbs here?
But being in her class now, saying anything wouldn’t be appropriate, so he could only obediently sit back down.
With Brook put in his place, everyone else who had been thinking of speaking up also quieted down, content to listen.
Euphilia scanned the room and continued, “As this teacher pointed out, my concepts are indeed a bit hard to grasp. So let me provide a few examples.”
“What is imagination? You’re in a rush, about to be late for school, and you want to run faster—that’s imagination.”
“You still won’t make it; you see the birds on the tree beside you and wish you could fly like them—that’s imagination.”
“You’re still not fast enough; you think about instantly appearing in the classroom—that’s imagination.”
“Many of you must have experienced this kind of imagination, right?”
A few chuckles echoed through the classroom.
Euphilia raised her hand, a small flame appearing in her palm.
“This is fire, but since it’s a hot day, I want to cool down, so I turn it into ice. Too icy, so I change it to water.”
As she spoke, the fire transformed to ice, then to water in her hand.
“I can also, according to other imaginations, change it to wind, to earth, to lightning, to light and shadow.”
That little ball kept morphing, but it always remained a tiny ball.
“This is going with the flow.”
With another wave of her hand, elemental light began to sketch patterns.
“I want to eliminate this monster.”
“I want to become a hero in fairy tales, defeating this vile dragon.”
“This world is hit by natural disasters; I want to change the heavens and the earth, to protect all life.”
“The products of fantasy and hope possess infinite miracles and possibilities. This is what I believe magic is.”
“I wonder how you all, students and teachers alike, perceive this?”
After a brief pause, a round of applause erupted, quickly followed by a cacophony of applause.
The clapping roared like thunder, relentless and mighty.
