The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

                                                    Zaos returned home feeling a bit depressed since the journey ahead of him wasn't much better than the times he stayed in the north. He had a lot of research to do and too little time, considering that his goal was to improve his mother's health. As if things weren't bad enough, several things were happening lately, and they were decreasing his free time.

"I guess I will write a letter to Tyra and ask her if she can do some research using herbs and try to find some way to help me with this," Zaos muttered.

                                                    Zaos routine continued like that after he wrote and sent the letter. Still, then things changed once again when Zaos received the documents from Edea. They were too old and too little. When Zaos frowned while looking at her, she just shrugged. A lot of time had passed since someone tried to make a breakthrough in that field. It was no wonder, considering how expensive magic books were.

                                                    After studying the documents for a few days, Zaos realized that the people before always stopped after hitting the same wall on their paths. There were too few magic symbols that could help in the development of those spells. They tried to mix certain parts of different formulas, but they never made any real progress. At best, they discovered how to decrease the mana consumption and cast two spells at the same time. Like the spells that decreased fever and headaches go away, but Zaos already knew how to do that. He just had to draw the symbols of both spells at the same time and one above the other. It was the same thing he does to cast multiple elemental swords at the same time.

"I guess the problem here is the number of symbols for this type of healing spell," Zaos nodded to himself. "The only way to solve this issue is to find other similar symbols and then try all of them."

                                                    Naturally, that was easier said than done. Zaos certainly wasn't the mage who knew most spells by a large margin, and yet, he knew and had memorized over two hundred magic symbols to be able to use magic. Those symbols were like another language, so it wasn't like…

"Waif, if those symbols are from another language… I just have to find some books where I can find the same alphabet," Zaos said.

                                                    Zaos immediately tried to find books in his home's library that mentioned anything close to an ancient civilization or a lost alphabet. Still, in the end, he didn't find anything. His family had a history of thousands of years, but the books they had weren't that old.

"Shit…" Zaos muttered.

                                                    Before Zaos could notice, it seemed he lost the notion of time and skipped lunch… he was already late to teach Ameria and Drannor. Still, that might be a good opportunity. Maybe he can find some books that might help him in the royal library. With that in mind, Zaos headed toward the castle, and once he arrived at the garden, he found Ameria about to try her spells.

"What did I say about practicing while I am not here?" Zaos asked.

"You are late," Ameria said.

"Don't ignore my question," Zaos frowned. "Anyway, why are you trying to cast the spell, didn't I tell you to practice mentally until you can draw the symbols fast enough?"

"I already can do that," Ameria said and then cast Wind Sword.

                                                    It was true… Ameria managed to cast the spell in less than three seconds. That was a lot of progress for only two weeks of practice. Although it was weird considering she dropped magic academy. Apparently, Ameria had some talent when it comes to magic. Perhaps even more than Zaos.

"What about you?" Zaos asked Drannor.

"If I try really hard, I can cast the simple healing spell before it fails, but I fail two out of three times," Drannor said while scratching the back of his head.

                                                    At least Drannor succeeded in casting the spell, but it was only obvious since he wasn't a kid who was good at concentrating while sitting still. Regardless, now he could heal himself and get rid of simple wounds that might bother him in a long fight.

"I can't believe that you survived until now after getting beaten up like that using just this spell," Drannor said.

"I used the strongest version and there are other spells that can help mend bones and make sure that your wounds would get infected," Zaos said.

"Did you get beaten down in the last three years?" Ameria frowned. "I thought this magic helped you win all the battles easily."

"The battlefield isn't a place a ten years old boy can survive easily just by relying on magic," Zaos said. "Did you show her those spears I gave you?"

"No," Drannor said. "I felt like I relied on them too much in that battle, so I decided to stop using it."

"Anyway… it is important to become excellent at simple things when it comes to combat," Zaos said and then showed the scar on his left arm. "Perhaps if I were a little better and had practiced more, I wouldn't have this scar right now. Continue practicing."

                                                    The scar wasn't so ugly anymore, but Ameria couldn't help but feel shivers. Imagine what passed through Zaos's right arm and opened a wound that big. Although Zaos tried to motivate Drannor, Ameria soon began to meditate again. Zaos told her that she should be able to at least cast the spell in three seconds, but that was just the minimal requirements. Besides, she could feel her magic getting better with each passing day.

"You can practice drawing the symbols later," Zaos said. "Right now, you can try to customize the spell."

                    Although it would take a while for Ameria to finish the mental training and then put it into practice, Zaos decided to teach her how she could customize that kind of spell. Once he did that, he entered the castle and looked for the king.