The Replacement of the Sword Hero

Chapter Seventeen: Learning

I left Naofumi to break down and store the remaining materials in his shield, and went for a walk outside the village with Zaifa who suggested I practise my magic further.
"So you've already mastered the first water magic." Zaifa stuck his Dragon Slayer into the ground and leaned against it. "Now, I'm going to teach you how to attack with that magic, and if you pick that up quickly, then I will teach you how to nullify an opponent's magic attack and we will practise exchanging magic." Zaifa assumed the role of a teacher quite well. "The prefix 'First' is added to the invocation to select the power and scale of the magic you are trying to cast. 'First Water' is a perfect example. 'First Water Shot' is an example of beginner attack magic. Allow me to demonstrate." He waved his hand in the air and began chanting. "I am the source of all power. Hear my words and understand them. Strike my enemy with a jet of water. First Water Shot." An arc of water appeared in the air from his raised arm and fell to the ground.

I began to recite the invocation for the spell immediately. "I am the source of all power. Hear my words and understand them. Strike my enemy with a jet of water. First Water Shot!" A jet of water leapt from my outstretched hand and flew towards Zaifa who twisted his upper body to avoid it and let it splash onto the Dragon Slayer behind him.
"Whoa there. Good thing that was only first magic. Mr. Wilkinson, please don't designate me as the target until I am prepared." He stepped out of the way of the sword still standing stuck in the ground and said. "First magic is relatively weak, and safe to practice for beginners. Normally it would take a while to learn how to use this magic but the king was generous enough to gift you with a crystal ball so you should be able to learn all types of magic up to Drifa class very easily." He waved his hand at the sword. "This will be your target." He said. "Try attacking it as quickly as you can. For magicians, the speed of their invocation determines how effective they are in a fight. You should practise chanting as quickly as possible, even with the help of your sword that allows you to skip the invocation entirely. There may come circumstances where it will not be practical to fight while using that particular sword."

Zaifa's words had merit. Aside from the instant casting effect, the Crystal Powder Sword had relatively weak stats. It would do me no good to switch to this sword mid fight just to speed up my casting. I practised chanting the invocation over and over, repeatedly splashing water over the Dragon Slayer sword as it stood upright in the ground. Eventually my chanting became smoother and I didn't stumble over my words when I increased the speed.
"That's good enough." Zaifa said, stopping me. "Now, for defence magic. You already know 'Dispel' to erase your own magic. However, when facing an incoming magic attack, your chant should reflect your intent to nullify their attack. So if the attack was 'First Water Shot,' and the invocation used the command 'Strike my enemy with a jet of water.' Then the command to nullify the attack would be as follows: Stop the jet of water. Anti-First Water Shot!"

Zaifa began to explain some magical theory to me. "You can modify the words of your invocation to some extent to counter any offensive magic. The most important thing to remember is to keep it short and simple to speed up casting time, and to always counter with the same tier of magic as the attack. 'Anti-First Water Shot' will not be enough to stop a 'Zweite Water Shot.'" He pointed to the sword once again. "Attack." He ordered.
"I am the source of all power. Hear my words and understand them. Strike my enemy with a jet of water. First Water Shot!"
"I am the source of all power. Hear my words and understand them. Stop the jet of Water. Anti-First Water Shot!" Zaifa nullified my attack as soon as I had finished my chant. The jet of water hung in the air for a second before falling to the ground short of its target.

"So you see." Zaifa said, flapping the long sleeves of his robe. "Of course, for precision magic attacks like this, you could always just deflect them with your sword." He pulled the Dragon Slayer out of the ground. "Or if your sword is a large as this, you can just hide behind it." When he stood sideways, the blade was wide enough to shield his entire body. "Nullification is best used against destructive magic with a wide area of effect which is much harder to block. Or if you are trying to defend multiple people." He grinned at me. "Try deflecting this one with your sword." He cast First Water Shot at me. I switched to a sword with good magic defence. The Magic Steel Longsword, with the magic severance bonus and swung the sword at the incoming attack. The blade sliced through the jet of water, instantly nullifying the attack and causing the water to splatter onto the ground. Zaifa raised an eyebrow. "I thought I asked you to deflect it. I didn't know you could cut magic." He said, surprised.