Four Steps of Spellcasting.

Maria Aes Alcia arrived at the courtyard of the Berion Manor.

It was a spacious place with enough room to engage in magical training. As you would expect from a family of mages. 

She was preparing for magical training with Fabian. In order to do so, she was mentally going through all the needed theory and techniques.

Maria's specialization was complex cast: magic that demanded long, arduous incantations; high focus; and incredible precision. It was a relatively unique style, especially for a younger noble.

Usually, the knowledge required for such spells was something built up over years of practice. As a result, most of the users were older members of aristocracy who specialized in magical research. In fact, she barely knew anyone from her generation that could actually utilize complex cast.

For the first time in a while, she was thankful for the fact. For it was precisely such magic, that her fiancé needed right now.

For now, this was all she could do.

***

When Ayumu arrived at the courtyard, Maria already stood there, waiting. And by her side was a young girl. To Ayumu, she looked about twelve years old, and her ebony-black hair was tied in pigtails.

That's Fabian's little sister, right? What's her name again? Wait, I don't know her name in the first place, Ayumu thought.

When she saw Ayumu and Lucia approaching, Maria turned towards them with a smile.

"Fabian, Lucia—finally you're here! Today, little Viv is going to be joining us," she explained and hugged Vivian by the shoulder with her left hand. She also put her right hand on Vivian's head.

"I'm not little," Vivian complained with a displeased expression.

"Oh, come on, Viv, for your Big Sis, you will always be little," Maria replied and patted her on the head several times.

 "You're not even my sister."

"Not yet! But I will be soon, right?" Maria said and turned to Ayumu.

"Y-yeah, I guess..." he stumbled, caught off guard by his fiancée's sudden remark.

"See?" Maria smiled and turned back to Vivian.

Vivian, meanwhile, looked at her brother with exasperation.

"He's such a wimp... I feel bad for you, Big Sis," Vivian said somewhat sarcastically.

"Aww, you called me Big Sis! I always knew you loved me," Maria said and put her hands in front of her chest as if she was touched.

"I was being ironic," Vivian replied.

"Not for long though!"

"...You know, I do find your endless positivity somewhat enviable. Is that why you're fine with someone like him?" Vivian said and directed her gaze at Ayumu.

"Hehe, what? Are you scared I'm going to take away your Big Bro?" Maria asked teasingly. "Don't worry, I'm not going to steal him!"

"...Not at all. In fact, please, be my guest. I would appreciate it," Vivian stated after a small pause.

"That won't do," Maria denied her, "I get that your love is prickly, but he's dense as a rock so he won't be able to understand it. If you keep this attitude up, Fabian will actually think you hate him!"

"..."

"Don't worry though, Big Sister gets it so you can be as prickly with me as you want—I allow it!" Maria exclaimed and hugged Vivian tightly.

"...Hmph, just what is there to like about this doofus," Vivian replied, somewhat sulky.

"Mhm, a lot of things. But for one, who would teach you magic if he wasn't there?" Maria asked, "after all, he's someone who is considered a magical genius. Think about it—you get free teaching from a genius! Right, Fabian?"

As she finished her explanation she looked at Ayumu.

What the hell is this all stuff about magical genius? They're talking about Fabian, right...? So he's handsome, has a beautiful fiancée, cute loyal maid, and he is supposedly a genius mage? I can't even be jealous at this point... Jokes on you, I can. Damn you Fabian!

Ayumu was busy cursing Fabian, but still had enough wits about him to nod in agreement.

"Y-yeah."

"See. So you can't belittle him until you become at least as impressive as he is," Maria concluded.

"...Genius this, genius that—it's nothing that special. They also called you a genius, didn't they?" Vivian countered.

"Oh, wow, you know so much about Big Sis, Viv! I knew you liked me!"

"I don't like you."

"Your prickliness aside, I might have been considered a genius, but only if you were being generous,"  Maria explained with a slightly wistful smile on her face, "generational talent is one thing, but Fabian's magical achievements can be considered downright unprecedented. Depending on how you look at it, of course."

Vivian looked like she wanted to retort but, after seeing Maria's face, decided to let it go.

"...I get it already. Can we just start training," Vivian replied as she slightly pouted.

"Haha, you're so cute, Little Viv. Sure thing," Maria replied, "Fabian, would you like to do the explaining?"

"Ehm, c-could you do it instead? I think you will do a better job." Ayumu deflected the responsibility with no hesitation.

"Mhm, sure thing. Okay, Viv, as of today, you're starting your magical training. Are you good with magic?" Maria asked.

"...Pretty good for my age. Probably," Vivian replied somewhat hesitantly.

"Alright, what kind of spells can you cast?"

"I can do all main elements. Projection, enhancement, and creation—all the basic stuff," Vivian elaborated.

"Wow! You are a prodigy yourself, Viv! Just because your standards are high, doesn't mean you have to sell yourself short," Maria said and threw a glance at Vivian's big brother. She spoke the last words gently and reassuringly.

"...I'm just not comparing myself to riff-raff. That's it."

"Sure thing. Just know that Big Sister thinks you're pretty awesome, alright?" Maria answered.

"..."

Maria didn't get a response but continued regardless.

"Okay, quiz time!" Maria exclaimed, "now, Little VIv, what do you think makes up a magical spell?"

"...It's the incantation, right? You offer your prayers in Spiritspeak, and the spirits in turn bestow you with a spell," Vivian answered after a bit of thinking.

"Correct! But only partially. In fact, there are more steps to spellcasting than just the words you use. In fact, there are four steps in total. Can you name all of them?"

"...Incantation, and then discharge? I can't think of anything else," Vivian replied after a short pause.

Maria nodded.

"You got two of them right. And yes, technically most people just go through those two stages without noticing the rest, but there are two more steps that are important—they are called visualization and coloration," Maria explained.

After seeing a look of confusion in her disciple's eyes, Maria continued.

"At first, even before we begin casting a spell, we have to imagine the effects it will have on the world. The words aren't the only thing that defines the nature of the spell's effects—our imagination and perception also plays a part in it," Maria spoke slowly and calmly, making sure Vivian could keep up with the explanation.

"This is why people can't utilize spells they can't imagine or use words they don't understand. Even with the exact same spell, results can differ. And sometimes significantly," Maria elaborated. "For example, when you use basic enhancement on yourself what changes does that entail? Almost everyone becomes stronger, faster, and more durable to some extent, but what about other effects? Some people, like Lucia, even gain slight special buffs: decrease in their presence, an increase in their thinking speed, or something else."

So even if the spell is the same, some people's casts are still special, huh? Ayumu thought, even in this world there are some things you just can't overcome. That's talent for you.

Maria paused here to make sure that her listeners had enough time to process what she said.

"In reality, you can't know for sure what will happen just based on the incantation. It all depends on the meaning you put in your words. In the example from before, different people imagine different things when they think about 'enhancement'. What would a better version of themselves be like? The answer to that question differs depending on the person. And that difference is what causes the change in the effects of the spell," Maria concluded.

I see, so imagination can make or break a spell, Ayumu noted.

While Ayumu and Vivian had their brows furrowed, doing their best to acclimate themselves to the newly received knowledge, Maria added an important note to her explanation.

"Well, in reality, most people understand the same words in a pretty similar fashion. And remember, this is a prayer to spirits around us. Your definition of the word does impact the spell, but at the end of the day, it needs to be close enough to its original meaning for spirits to understand. You don't get an additional special effect for learning a word's definition wrong. In fact, not knowing the meaning of a word can easily backfire and make the entire spell malfunction."

By this point, Ayumu was nodding along, eerily similar to a training dummy that got punched in the face and was flinging back and forth from the momentum of the punch; and Vivian was listening attentively, her eyes locked on Maria. 

As for Lucy... Well, she was as expressionless as always. That's how it seemed at least, but in reality, she was using her special technique: Open-eye Standing Sleep! OeSS for short.

In other words, she was dozing off. Yes, with her eyes open. That's why it's called a special technique. Because humans normally don't do that.

You see, matters as complicated as magic theory were a bit beyond Lucy. And also, probably above her pay grade; she was an attendant, after all, not a researcher or a student.

Looking over her actual students (and confused that Ayumu somehow ended up as one of them), Maria nodded satisfied, if slightly puzzled. She did, however, throw a cold glare at the sleeping maid before continuing her lecture.

"Anyway, that does it for the visualization part. We call it that, because, for more complex casts, people have to visualize the effects the spell will have overall, instead of just knowing individual words. If they don't do that, they risk their magic misfiring entirely," Maria concluded and then moved on to the next part of her explanation, "now, let's talk about coloration!"

"Coloration received its name because during this stage, the caster brings his own colors onto the spell. Unlike the visualization part, which is mostly dependent on your understanding and ability to visualize, this one is much less consistent," Maria began.

Bring your own colors, huh? I wonder what my colors would look like... Probably some lame ones. Or even no colors...

While Ayumu was busy getting an identity crisis (normal state for him), Maria continued.

"Whenever you draw a picture, you can use different dyes to paint it, right? This is a similar concept. Except that most people don't really get a choice in what colors end up on their canvas," Maria brought up an analogy to better illustrate the process of this step, "in the case of magic coloration, however, your thoughts and emotions play the role of the dyes."

Once again, making sure that the audience (Lucy aside) was following along, Maria paused.

"This step begins slightly before you start your incantation and continues until after you end it. However, most of the colors get added during the chant, so it's not wrong to think that the length of the incantation and how much coloration you can get are dependent on each other."

By this point, even Ayumu stopped nodding along as he felt somewhat sick from the constant flinging of his head. Instead, he stayed still, fully focused on the contents of Maria's lecture.

"In other words, spells that have shorter incantations get less opportunity for coloration, and it affects them much less. Meanwhile, the longer casts are significantly changed by your thoughts and emotions," Maria stated.

Seeing that her students were still following along, Maria continued.

"That can be either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how good you are at it. Most of the time, casters try to suppress their emotions in order to make the spells consistent and avoid any negative consequences, but some try to make use of this step to customize or even further enhance their spells."

"Ehm," Ayumu interrupted her, "and what do those negative consequences entail?"

Maria smiled, happy to have such an engaged audience.

"Well, that depends on the coloration in question. Some of the effects, however, could be uncontrollable spells that affect more than just their target or even blow up right in their user's face."

"Oooh, I see. That's sort of terrifying. No wonder people try to minimize the coloration," Ayumu nodded.

"Hehe, Fabian, you really do a good job of playing the role of a student for Little VIv's sake," Maria said and smiled teasingly.

"Oh... O-oh, yeah, o-of course! I'm her Big Brother after all!" He exclaimed no doubt driven to that answer by love.

"...Just die," Vivian mumbled. Sadly, his familial love wasn't reciprocated.

"Remember, Viv, less prickly!" Maria reminded her.

In response, Vivian's expression grew grumpy, but she nonetheless went quiet. Seeing that, Maria moved on to conclude her lesson.

"Well, even with other steps there are important factors to consider. For example, your pronunciation during incantation can affect the success and consistency of the cast. Also, how you physically use your spell during discharge can impact its potency. But I'm sure you've encountered those already, Viv."

"...Yeah, of course I did. I'm not a total beginner," the little girl grumbled.

"I know," Maria reassured her with a kind smile and then turned to Ayumu, "now that we've discussed some basic theory, it's time to show some more advanced magic in practice. Fabian, would you be so kind?"

"Yeah, su—Huh?" 'Fabian' replied absentmindedly. That is, before he realized the implication behind her words.

Wait, am I supposed to be the one giving a practical showcase?! Oh, on a second thought, they did call him a genius so it makes sense—

Damn it, stop trying to be sensible, Ayumu! You're in deep shit. Think. Think. Think!

It seemed it was finally time for the "magical genius" to show his excellence...