Chương 37: Divination, a Spell Creation Montage.

Lira spent the next day reading through her growing collection on divination. She worked methodically, moving from one book to the next, pausing only when necessary. The two most damaged volumes received special attention. Using her ink magic, she carefully reinforced their faded text, restoring enough clarity to make them readable again. It was not perfect, but it was enough. She briefly considered taking the time to create a proper book restoration spell, something more efficient, but she set the idea aside.

It was not worth the distraction, not when she was this close. Instead, she focused on efficiency. Every half hour, she would absorb a book, then spend the cooldown reading another. The result was a constant flow of information, her understanding growing at a pace that would have been impossible before. Sadly, not all books were created equal. Some offered direct insight into divination. Others only brushed against it, mentioning it in passing or referencing it without depth.

Her first spell had no way to distinguish between them. It pulled broadly, imprecisely, and highlighted anything even loosely connected to the concept, while probably missing other, more relevant books. It was inefficient. Still, it had served its purpose. She now had enough knowledge to refine her approach. Rather than rushing toward the spell she truly wanted, she chose to practice first. Smaller spells, each designed to isolate a specific aspect of divination.

Expanding her foundation while refining her approach to spell creation, skipping the creation of a primer entirely and using only the meditation and memory spells. The first spell she created was simple:"Ladar. Turat. Hala." Divination. Future. Weather. Due to the number of books about the weather she had been reading lately, the spell was learned without much of a challenge. When she cast it, the effect was immediate and clear. She could perceive the weather with surprising precision.

The weather prediction for the next hour unfolded in her mind with near certainty. Even the following day carried a strong, consistent impression, too. But when she pushed further, the clarity faded. A week ahead became uncertain. A year ahead dissolved into vague impressions, little more than shifting possibilities. She let the spell fade. Its limitation made sense; the further the target, the greater the uncertainty. Her next attempt took a different direction.

"Ladar. Moren. Kaldris." Divination. Past. Retrieval. While she was able to learn it, mind click and all, at first, she thought the spell was a failure. She had mirrored the structure of her memory spell, replacing mind with divination. The idea was simple: instead of recalling what she had personally experienced, she would retrieve events she had never witnessed. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. But when she tested it, the results were disappointing.

She tried to divine how her parents had met. The answer came as a faint impression. This city. Nothing more. It was too vague to be useful. She frowned, thinking it through. Then she adjusted her approach. Reaching for a nearby history book, she read a passage carefully before setting it aside. She cast the spell again, focusing on the event described. This time, the response was different. It was not a clear impression by any means, but she felt a brief sense of alignment. The event described had likely happened.

She tried again with a different passage from a different book, one she suspected to be embellished in its narrative. The result shifted toward uncertainty. Lira leaned back slightly, considering. She wondered if her bias was influencing the results. Either way, the spell was not useless. It did not provide direct answers, but it allowed her to gauge the validity of information. It was not perfect by any means, but it opened a path for future spell concepts, spells for truth verification, and information analysis.

Something future Lira could concern herself with. For now, she moved on to the next spell.

"Ladar. Oshkan. Kalaba." Divination. Location. Life. The spell activated with a familiar sensation, a soft expansion of awareness. Points of presence emerged within her perception. Nearby people stood out immediately, their positions clear beyond the tower, even through the walls. Beyond the castle still, the density increased, a scattered pattern of life moving through the city. It was too much. With an effort of will, she reduced the focus to only inside the tower.

The larger presences around her faded, which made sense since she was alone in the tower, but that was when she noticed them. Smaller signals were finally visible. Spiders in the corners. And a cluster of movement above. She glanced upward. Taking the time to investigate the higher floor, leading to the discovery of a moth colony. She narrowed her eyes slightly. That would need to be dealt with. Still, the spell functioned as expected. Simple, direct, and reliable. She could have stopped there.

She had already created several functional cantrips, each reinforcing her understanding of divination. That alone would have been enough. But when researching the magical world for the concept of life, one extra word stood out to her in her father's lexicon. She had not planned to use it. But she could not ignore it either. After a brief hesitation, she decided to go for it.

"Ladar. Oshkan. Ogllou." Divination. Location. Wealth. The effect of the spell was similar to the life spell, but with a different area of focus. A series of faint pulls scattered throughout the library. The nearest one was at her table, where she had left her coin purse. A few others were dotting the library's first floor. A few copper pieces were wedged between pages, forgotten bookmarks from years past. Others had slipped beneath shelves or into cracks in the floor.

She followed one signal, then another, collecting them without much thought. There was also a larger pull upstairs. She climbed without hesitation, following the sensation to a storage room. There, hidden within a drawer with a false bottom, she found it. A small chest with silver coins inside. It was not an insignificant amount, around a quarter of her personal savings. Life-changing for a normal maid like Tessa or Maren. She paused, considering it, then closed the chest and hid it again.

She would probably use some of it to buy more sugar treats. Magic was hungry work after all. There was only one last signal left. It was also sharper than the others. Lira had left it for last, just in case. Making sure the danger detection spell was still active, she approached carefully, only to find a single book. At first glance, it appeared no different from the rest, yet the pull persisted. Carefully, she opened it, only to find that the pages had been hollowed out. And inside was a dagger. A golden dagger.

It had the look of a ceremonial piece, rather than something meant for practical use. Lira's expression tightened slightly. Coins could be overlooked, forgotten, and untraceable. This was not. Being found with something like this would raise questions she had no interest in answering. She closed the book and returned it to its place. Her mind went to Pallan for a second. He would know what to do with it. That settled, she let the spell fade.

She returned to her alcove, her thoughts already shifting back to her original goal. The brief diversion had served its purpose. More importantly, it confirmed something. She was somewhat adept at creating divination spells. The practice had been successful. Now she was ready. Lira closed her eyes briefly, organizing what she had learned. Then she opened them again. It was time to create the spell she actually wanted.