Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 40 - Alternate Trigger

In the previous Episode:

Elaru dupes Deora into allowing the usage of alternate triggers in the test. He makes Elaru go up first and take the test. Elaru manages to cast the trigger spells so quickly that the speedometer becomes unable to take the heat. The hourglass filled with jelly cracks from the heat, spraying hot jelly all over the speedometer, carpet, and Deora, setting them on fire.

Deora flips out, igniting his own flames, and kicks out the examinees from the room. Since his clothes weren't fireproof, they get disintegrated by the flames.

* * *

Luckily, all of the examinees had retreated from the classroom and loudly closed the door even before Deora's clothes completely disintegrated.

One-third of the examinees ran away from Red Quarters, completely abandoning the exam. The remaining examinees were hesitant to leave because that would most likely be the end of their dream of enrolling into Muni.

As they heard the sounds of stuff breaking inside the classroom, more and more of them retreated further away in alarm.

All throughout their retreat they could hear noises and Zerel's playful voice coming from the room:

"Don't be mad little Dei. We'll get you a new uniform."

"Don't worry about the carpet. The room looks better without it. The carpet makes it look too...red."

"Careful you'll break..." Crash! "...never mind."

"Oh wait! I have a great idea little Dei! You can use those curtains to cover yourself up."

"No. Don't come any closer. You'll set the curtains on..."

"Not to worry little Dei. They were red anyway, no one will notice if they are a bit burnt."

With every crash, the examinees cringed and took a step back. They looked at Elaru with hate, blame, distress and hopelessness in their eyes. Elaru shrugged her shoulders, smiling wryly. "It's not my fault he is a firecracker."

As a response to her words, a furious bellow erupted within the room. "What did you just call me?!?"

The examinees shivered.

What a good hearing!

It's like he is an elibu!

Elaru didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This whole event quickly went out of control. When she decided to crack the spell she had no idea that the glass wouldn't be able to take the heat. She might have a lot of knowledge in various areas, but the breaking temperature of glass wasn't among it.

And even if it were, she still wouldn't have known what exact temperature the glass would reach when she used the artifact. So how could she possibly predict that her attempt at showing off would end this badly?

Only when the glass shattered did she realize the danger and her monstrous reaction speed kicked in making her dodge the hot jelly.

Elaru sighed. If this accident didn't happen, she would be explaining her brilliance right now. Explaining how she activated the artifact with a different trigger spell than the one they were given.

To make an artifact react to a trigger spell, the enchantment on the artifact needed to recognize the trigger spell. And there were only two ways of making a spell recognize another spell.

The first way was to contain a copy of the trigger spell pattern within the main spell. The main spell would just compare the copy inside of it with the one cast outside. If it were similar enough, the main spell would activate.