The Black Iron Glory
The spell is harmless

Chapter 89

The spell is harmless

"I understand why the Magus Hand is forbidden, but why are the Eye of Appraisal and Fine Control forbidden? Both should be harmless, right?"

"I don't know why the Eye of Appraisal is banned, but we magi listed are only allowed to learn the simplified version of – Appraisal. This is one of our basic spells. We usually use it to check if an ingredient has magical properties, and you already know it can be used to check for ripples.

"Apotek can also use it to check if our herbs are up to standard. Sometimes we may check if the food is toxic or has been damaged. But it is more difficult, and it requires a lot of practice and experience.

"Eye of Appraisal is a more advanced version of the original. I wish this was much more effective, and, although I don't know why, banned. I doubt it's banned for no reason."

Maria sipped her tea again.

"Regarding Fine Control, I've heard rumors that it's banned, but I don't know if it's true. Rumors say some thieves broke into the castle on Stellin VII's 50th birthday using Hand Control and Fine Magus, and cleared the treasury. The king was so angry that he vomited blood and fell ill. The theft caused a huge commotion, and the king made every magus listed be captured and interrogated. It took half the protest of the nobility for him to surrender and release them. "

It felt like Claude was a little boy again, sitting on his mother's lap while he told a fairy tale. While it made his life more difficult, he was content to know there were at least a few other intelligent people in this world.

"And Decomposition and Reconstruction? It was a pure alchemy spell. Why are they banned?"

It was the weakest spell and the narrowest use he encountered, they could not even be used without a proper array. There is no reason to ban their learning.

"They have been banned for as long as the kingdom exists. The kingdom was established in the middle of the dark ages. One of the independent dukes was struck down by alchemy. He dedicated his entire domain to learning his secrets and making his people into slaves.He went on for decades to build a giant array that he used to conduct large-scale experiments. He eventually creates a poisonous gas that he can release on his rivals and kill their entire army. He did so to one of his neighbors who stormed him shortly after he first managed to create the gas.

"He carried out an attack soon after and conquered a large plot of land. However, the gas seeps into the ground because it is heavier than air and is bound to the ground, killing plant life and making the soil barren.

"His land, all exposed to gas during his experiments, and his new land, exposed during his conquest, was barren, and famine soon took over his territory. He turns to his new neighbor for help, but no one believes him and his evil magic weapon, they seal their borders and let him and his people starve to death.

"People are calling Devil's Fart gas right now" Claude is almost spewing his tea. "–and incantations are banned all over the continent. Some kingdoms must have taken the plunge and allowed their magi to study the incantation to try and create the gas, but it hasn't made another appearance since, so I can't believe anyone succeeded. "

Geez, Claude lamented, people in this world really have a tendency to ban things.

"I'll say it again, don't tell anyone you know this spell. Even I can't do anything to protect you if the organization finds out," the baroness added with a final warning tone.

"Mrs, what do you call that department?"

"The full name is Watchers in the Night, but everyone just calls it Watch. It did most of the kingdom's secret business, especially with regard to magic."

"What other spells are forbidden by the Watch?"

"Basically every spell capable of fighting is forbidden. The only exception was a defensive spell that was incapable of doing any damage. The barrier is one."

The baroness chanted a few words and an egg-shaped white circle enveloped her. It somewhat hardened, then changed to match his silhouette.

"What kind of limit is that?"

Maria waved her hand, and the bubble disappeared.

"It's called Air Barrier. It was the worst kind of defense spell. It does nothing but keep the cold or the heat outside. At most it will keep you alive for a while in a blizzard or fire, but it won't last long doing that either. "

"That's not against physical attack at all?"

"There's nothing. It will appear like a raw egg with the first hit. The watch will not let the magi learn anything closer to a battle spell than this."

"If I could, what spell have you learned?" Claude asked carefully.

"I only know the spells allowed by the Watch. You can get formation diagrams from them, but you have to pay ten crowns for each, and you have to be registered, of course."

Ten crowns for a harmless spell? That's too expensive.

"You've seen the Luminous Pearl and the Air Barrier, and I've told you about Appraisal as well. Chill is the fourth. It allows me to cool things down quickly, enough to freeze water."

Maria stuck her finger into the tea, and it froze, ripples and all.

"Isn't this frozen?" Claude asked.

Maria smiled at him.

"You think the Watch will let anyone learn that? We can only learn Chill. At its best it could quickly liberate up to about a liter of water, Freeze could do even more, so it was forbidden."

Claude looked at her, his eyes twitching.

"Breath of Water is my fifth mantra. I almost drowned when I was young – I still have nightmares about that day from time to time – so I jumped at the chance to learn this spell.

"My sixth is Hydrogenesis. It allowed me to make water out of thin air" He stretched out his finger on his plate, drawing some symbols in the air, and water flowed out of thin air like rain from clouds to fill that plate.

It lasted for a while, then disappeared with a wave of the baroness hands.

"The cost is higher mana than any other spell. I only had enough mana to fill one cup at a time, and I could use it at most seven times a day without completely drying out the mana pool and fainting. This is an important mantra for my experiment.

"Most of us believe it is a simplified version of Waterball or Rainstorm. Many had tried to deduce the formation for either of the two, but none had succeeded yet."

He picked up his cup again, holding the frozen tea in his hand.

"The water tastes so good," he said involuntarily, pointing at the plate with his eyes, "By the way, where am I? Oh right, my last spell—" He put down his cup and flicked his finger. A small flame, the size of a candle, appeared above his index finger. "–It's called Kindle. It took an old watch to decide whether it was okay to let the learned magi learn it. Stellin V personally agreed to it and ended the debate when he came to power. He said fires are easy to set, so keeping this spell out of magi won't make things safer for anyone. Like Hydrogenesis, it's an important mantra for my experiments. However, they cannot be compared to yours, "he complained with a crooked smile, self-deprecating.