The Mage Tower had guest rooms and a storeroom for basic Alchemy Materials, so Rorschach naturally took up residence there. All day today, he had been preparing Scrolls of the Resuscitation Skill.

His goal was to first teach Bart the standard version of the spell, and then attempt to teach him how to augment the original spell with Mapping, allowing him to impose his will on the spell’s target.

The first time he had demonstrated this technique to others was at a banquet in Granor, where he had changed the color of a flower. Accelerating the growth of the grapevine was also a result of the combined effects of Activation and Mapping. Rorschach had memorized a rough image of the plant before it was burned, and when he spurred its growth, he did his best to restore its previous appearance. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

’If I understood the human body well enough to achieve cellular Activation, could I take the healing effects of Deryats Forest even further?’ It seemed Rorschach was beginning to grasp the principles behind the Natural System’s restorative Magic. ’If I dig deeper, could I even bring back the recently deceased?’

For the time being, however, Rorschach had neither the need nor the opportunity to test his theory.

A knock came at the door to his guest room. Once permitted, Bart poked his head in. "Milly was asking if we could have dinner together." It was after working hours at the Mage Tower. Bart had his own retainer, who was something like an Apprentice, but Rorschach hadn’t seen the person at all in the past few days. Bart’s explanation was that he left all the errands to his retainer.

"Didn’t you two already see each other today while discussing the wedding plans? That’s no excuse!" Bart was now facing a strict, impartial instructor. Friendship and bonds no longer existed—there was only Magic and sweat!

Rorschach inscribed another Learning Scroll. He was already adept at this, for he was inscribing his own adapted Magic. He understood perfectly how the Ether flowed and why it needed to be driven in such a way. Furthermore, he possessed sufficient knowledge to translate it all into the patterns laid flat on the Scroll.

In the Kingdom of Sand, the Formless God forbade his followers from worshipping idols, which led to the development of an intricate art form combining complex lines, characters, and patterns. Perhaps the Learning Scroll Rorschach was now creating was just as aesthetically pleasing as such a work.

"You inscribed this Scroll? You could live comfortably just off this craft alone." Bart picked it up, astonished by the youth’s handiwork. A single glance told him it was nothing like the mass-produced items that always lined the Guild’s shelves. The Magic Circuits were exquisitely interconnected, with numerous standard symbols clustered around a core pattern. Just examining it made Bart’s temples throb faintly.

It was a familiar feeling from his academy days. ’Keep looking and my brain might actually start to grow.’

Rorschach’s attention was still on the Scroll, so he didn’t reply right away. He drew the final curve, causing the pattern on the Scroll to form a perfect, closed loop. At that moment, with the symbolic Rune of Deryats now complete, a subtle blue light flowed through the circuit, even though it hadn’t been activated.

’Success.’

Only after setting down his quill and capping the bottle of specially-prepared Alchemy Ink did Rorschach spare a thought for him. "I’ve inscribed three Scrolls of the Resuscitation Skill. You can see if you’re able to learn from them."

Bart compared the freshly finished Scroll with the one he had been holding. "Why are all three different? Are they for the same spell?"

"I adjusted the shape of the circuits and the concentration of the retardant in the ink, which changes the speed at which the... Magic Power flows within the Scroll. Go by the numbers in the top-right corner; the demonstrations on the three Learning Scrolls are arranged from slowest to fastest."

"You can do that...?" The Learning Scrolls provided by the academy and the Guild were usually for Low Tier Spells, all inscribed to a standard template. Seeing this for the first time, Bart couldn’t help but be impressed by the sophistication.

"You can activate the first Scroll now," Rorschach commanded. He could have taught Bart by demonstrating the spell himself, but this way, he could use his Arcane Vision and Magic Control to observe and record both the Scroll’s operation and Bart’s learning process.

Bart finally got serious. He drew upon his Magic Power and infused it into the Scroll’s starting point. Gradually, the Magic Power in the surrounding environment began to fluctuate. Rorschach, who was intimately familiar with the spell, could even sense which step of the process was underway.

Condensation... Activation... Su Sheng.

"Is it over?" Bart scratched his head. Rorschach instructed, "Don’t talk. Quickly, try to replicate it."

"As if I could get it right after one Scroll." Bart himself had spent a small fortune on Learning Scrolls back at the academy. He began his attempt at imitation as Rorschach watched, sensing his efforts.

Bart’s own motions were barely faster than the Scroll’s demonstration; that Casting speed was guaranteed to fail. Still, Rorschach could sense the frequency of his Ether’s Oscillation in the surrounding environment.

’I can interrupt his Magic whenever I want now.’

He tapped his staff on the floor. The sound startled Bart, who was concentrating on his Casting. Rorschach delivered his assessment: "Your Magic Power went off course during the second step. And you need to pick up the pace."

"How can you even tell?" Bart shrugged and took out the second Scroll, studying it carefully before activating it.

The second Learning Scroll quickly finished its demonstration, and Rorschach had Bart try again.

"I guess not everyone is cut out for Natural Magic, huh?" Bart’s second attempt was also a failure, and he was starting to get discouraged.

’But is an Affinity for Natural Magic really required to cast these kinds of spells?’ Rorschach didn’t think so. He acknowledged that such an affinity existed—Tassia was living proof—but whether it was an affinity for nature itself or merely for this category of spells was a question worth considering.

In Rorschach’s opinion, the reason those who inherited the training methods of a Druid were better at learning and casting Natural Spells was likely because their training allowed them to gain a profound understanding of nature. They learned the habits and physiological structures of plants and animals, and with this deeper knowledge, it became easier for them to understand and cast the relevant Magic.

This understanding wasn’t necessarily scientific, of course—it’s not as if one needed a biology degree. A Forest Priest or a Druid weaving natural phenomena and living creatures into their belief system was also a form of understanding. In fact, a perception rooted in the mystical might even be more advantageous for Casting.

Conversely, Rorschach’s high-school-level knowledge of biology and geography was enough to allow him to perform some Natural Spells.

"Our goal right now isn’t to perform some grand spectacle of bringing the dead back to life. It’s the simplest thing imaginable: using the Resuscitation Skill to make a seed sprout."

Rorschach took out a seed he had rummaged out of the storeroom. It was round, likely some kind of bean. He had already confirmed it was merely dried, not cooked.

"Once a seed matures and separates from its parent plant, it typically enters a dormant state. It only begins to sprout when it encounters the right conditions of water and warmth."

He began the Activation step. Under his control, Ether adhered to and penetrated the seed. In Rorschach’s mental image, every single cell began to function. Magic Power acted as both nutrient and plant hormone, urging and feeding the cells as they unfurled the blueprint carried in their genes, constantly differentiating and replicating...

But there was no need to force these concepts on Bart. "First, condense your Magic Power and let it permeate the entire seed. Imagine the bean is soaking in water, except now it’s soaking in your Magic Power. At the same time, you should have learned from the Scroll how to have your Magic Power transform into ’vigor,’ or what we call ’Vitality,’ as it enters a living organism."

’What is Vitality, anyway? This vague, ambiguous energy, somewhere between the Soul and the physical body... whether in his past life or in this Otherworld, people widely believed in its existence. And in a world with Magic and Divine Spirits, it certainly ought to exist.’

"And then it sprouts?" Before Bart’s very eyes, the seed was awakened. It swelled in Rorschach’s hand; first, the radicle pushed through the seed coat, followed by the plumule.