Penelope hung around, watching Lukas practise. He didn't tell her about 'The Calm Before,' and his quick uptake surprised and impressed her. Much to Lukas's surprise, the mental strain and expenditure weren't as bad as Lukas had assumed. He never used the mid-tier ability for more than a handful of seconds and imagined it would be much worse during prolonged usage. Spellweaver's passive effects helped with the mental strain, but he was sure the compounding effect would eventually get him.

The draining of storm energy felt like a more immediate concern. Since Lukas had the sorcerer's supervision, he attempted the creation of Stormfire next. It started with the base spell she had taught him. After half an hour of usage, the orange flames had brightened and gained luminosity. They were nowhere near as hot as Penelope's blue evocation, but Lukas considered all improvement so early in his mage career as good improvement. There wasn't as much pressure or hurry as when in Iskander.

However, thanks to focused practice and Spellweaver's progress, he found himself improving faster than ever before. Lukas also felt his grasp on understanding, intent, and the fundamental techniques had improved.

It took him three tries, but he managed to adapt Catch Fire. Unlike with the Shadowfire version, he didn't replace the fire attunement thread with shadow. Instead, he plugged in a stream of storm energy and let it consume the significantly weaker flames. The new creation was significantly brighter, electric blue with a touch of white at the center. Much to Lukas's surprise, miniature clouds manifested floating around the ping-pong-ball-sized sphere. Unlike the original or Shadowfire version, the new creation was loud.

First, there was a high-pitched chirping of countless birds. Then whenever the miniature clouds touched, little booms followed. Lukas worried that if he poured any more energy into the spell, he'd deafen himself. The Stormfire was chaotic, and holding onto it took far more concentration than he expected. He could feel the energy wanting to flee his control. The lightning wanted to arc to all the metal around him, and the rest simply desired to disperse. None escaped his control.

Shadowfire and Stormfire on their own weren't of much use. But they were both excellent foundations for a large range of new spells. Given how they functioned, Lukas was sure he needed to create only one set of spells and then substitute the type of fire that went into them and make minor tweaks.

First, I need to figure out how I want to use either. Large area-of-effect attack spells? Stormfire will probably be a good crowd killer. Shadowfire is likely to serve better for debilitating foes. I need something more.

The workshop was far from an ideal place to test destructive spells, but Lukas couldn't resist. He created a dart using Stormfire and fired it at the opposite wall. The former tenants had left several old pieces of warbeast armor hanging from the walls. They were of poor quality and lacking in all magic. Lukas imagined it was a project delegated to an apprentice that turned out too poorly to sell. They likely intended to have it broken down for the scrap metal, but never got around to it.

The dart exploded on collision, causing a boom far too loud for a projectile of the same size. It left a fist-sized dent in the armor, and energy tendrils danced on the surface for several seconds before fading. He did it again while creating a clone.

All clones reliant on storm energy have fused into a single specialization. Their heart naturally produces more storm energy than the average clone, and they excel at using spells that utilize it.

It still wasn't enough, but Lukas was making progress. Another specialization or two and he'd get Shadow Clone to tier three.

"Boss, may we please be Stormtroopers?" The clone asked. "Pretty please?"

"Isn't that too on the nose?"

Eins shrugged. "Given the accuracy issues of storm magic, isn't it appropriate?"

"Fine." Lukas sighed. "We'll name the new specialization Stormtrooper. It's all the same as long as they still excel at enhanced Haste, lightning, and sound magic."

Penelope's eyes widened when Lukas summoned the new clone. She wandered over to the Stormtrooper and checked its vitals. "His heart isn't just producing the same amount of storm energy as yours. The internal magic also carries the same attunement." She laughed. "Forget magnetism. Your clones are a case study on their own."

Lukas almost stated that having specialized clones in his old life would've made everything significantly easier, but managed to stop himself. He needed to keep some things to himself. Lukas missed having Esther around. By the end of his time in Iskander, she had become an excellent subject for all of his unfiltered nonsense.

The sorcerer stuck around a while, showing him easily adaptable spells that Lukas hadn't found in her journal. He suspected they were her creations.

"The foundation of most of my magic is creating concentrated flame spheres," Penelope explained, creating a sphere of cold fire. Now that Lukas's arcane senses had significantly improved, he sensed a bubble of magic around each of them. It was why he didn't feel a sudden drop in temperatures. "Get into the habit of creating these first. Then, shape, manipulate, and project to create whatever spell you want."

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"What's the advantage over casting whatever spell I want straight away?" Lukas asked. "Don't get me wrong. Your magic is incredible. My question is purely academic."

"The sphere on its own is the foundation for countless spells. Launch it at a target and set it to explode? You have a fireball. Make it orbit around yourself and strike whatever gets close. You have a simple defense drone. Have it pulse in a fixed spot? You have area control. Barriers. Bombs. They can be whatever you want." Penelope looked up at the sphere floating near the ceiling. It flattened itself into a disk, turned into a sphere, and then a massive sword. "The point of the sphere is to create a solid foundation, creating which is almost second nature to you. Then, you can turn it into whatever else you want."

The pair of training clones had already started their exercises. One was a newly created Stormtrooper and focused on the creation of Stormfire spheres. Lukas replaced the other with a stalker who worked with Shadowfire.

"I see the value of it. Starting with basic fireballs is probably the smartest path." Lukas recreated Stormfire and concentrated it into a sphere. The creation was no bigger than a marble. Instead of growing it, he focused on packing more storm energy into the sphere. It lost uniformity and stability for a moment, and holding on demanded greater focus. Lukas resisted using The Calm Before, worried about the compounding mental strain. "I honestly don't know what I want to do with fire yet."

"It's a good thing you work with a fire magic expert. I'll do my best to provide you with examples and inspiration. It's why most inexperienced mages and sorcerers train under a master. They dream of creating their own magic, but don't have the necessary foundation. Master the basics before you get creative. Understood?"

"Got it," he said through gritted teeth. The Stormfire sphere was on the verge of vibrating out of control. Despite the passive effects of Spellweaver, his eyes and temples had started to throb. Instead of dispelling it, he focused all of his efforts on the sensory element of the ability. Lukas studied the cold fire sphere floating near the ceiling, focusing on the bubble surrounding it. A similar layer flickered to life around the Stormfire sphere, and it significantly calmed. "Is this any good?"

Penelope's mouth moved, but no words came out. Her wide eyes stared at Lukas's creation. "You're pretty damned incredible, you know?" The words came out an octave too high. "I don't know if it's the clones or you're naturally talented at magic. The rate at which you learn new things is incredible. When we first met, you barely knew magic. It's not yet been a year, and your mastery over the fundamentals has grown by leaps and bounds."

"I've just had excellent teachers." Lukas chuckled. He took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. The sphere was significantly easier to keep stable and controlled. It still occasionally lost uniformity, and the bubble regularly flickered. However, it felt like an excellent start. "I think what I excel at is copying and stealing. Your examples have given me a lot to work with."

"You should give yourself more credit," Penelope said, eyes still focused on the Stormfire sphere. "It's excellent progress. Your first hurdle is striking a balance between volume and compression. Enlarge the sphere and bubble until they're in harmony and both are stable. Then, as you get better at it, you can change the parameters. It's like training a muscle. Don't overload yourself too much at once. Work your way up to a goal.

"I suppose that's the one issue with picking up things too fast. The talented tend to harm themselves by rushing the process and overloading their arcane circuits or minds." Penelope's sphere started to shrink. The smaller it got, the more it bubbled and warped, struggling to maintain the perfect spherical shape. The outer layers almost seemed liquid, and there was a distinct, almost solid, center. "Even I have my limits."

Things started to stabilize when Lukas grew the marble to eyeball size, but even then, he had to give it all of his focus.

"That's a good starting point," Penelope said. "However, don't be afraid to start a touch larger, at a point where you're more comfortable. Make that second nature and then slowly push yourself."

"I think I can manage this," Lukas said, letting the sphere fall apart and absorbing the bulk of the energy. He then dispelled and resummoned the practising clones. They now carried the memories of his recent accomplishments, including the strain and feel of the spell. The pair resumed their efforts without another word. "More specifically, they can manage it. The clones can rupture a blood vessel and continue. If it gets too much, they'll dispel themselves or fall apart."

"I don't think I've encountered a better learning tool. What can't they do?"

Shae hadn't said a word during the visit and left with Penelope still in silence. Einz's work had drawn most of his attention, and Lukas found a slab of magic steel missing after the departure. He didn't make a big deal of it. The loss wasn't significant. He had enough fire-attuned ingots to spare. Now that Einz was figuring out how to create phoenix-energy infused metal, Lukas cared little for the fire and intended to use them for quick projects. The Shadow Seekers favored fire-steel blades for basic rewards or mission packs.

Much to Lukas's disappointment, the journal had nothing to say about Shadow Clone or Spellweaver. Neither ability had reached the necessary threshold.

Don't get impatient. You can manage the job without either ascending. It would be nice to have either, but it's not necessary.

After Penelope departed, Lukas focused his efforts on creating a new type of sphere. Its inspiration was the same childhood show that made him dream of creating clones. He remembered being frustrated about the protagonist not utilizing the clones to train more. Lukas had dedicated significant time in his own life to ensuring Arcane Clone transferred all of their knowledge and training to him after each creation died or was dispelled. And then twice as long doing the same for the benefits of exercise and all physiological improvements.

He started with a sphere. Unlike the stable version Penelope had taught him, it wasn't a simple compressed ball of energy. Instead, the magic within moved in different directions along the perimeter of the sphere. The edges immediately bubbled, and the creation collapsed within seconds, but he couldn't help but smile. It was possible.

Rasengan first. Ball Lightning second.

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