"Madam, I can understand why Magus's Hand was listed as a forbidden spell due to the assassination, but why are Eye of Appraisal and Fine Control banned as well?
These two spells should be completely harmless, right? "
"I don't know why Eye of Appraisal was listed as a forbidden spell either, but the spell we registered mages learn is a simplified version of Eye of Appraisal. It's also one of our basic spells.
"Normally, we use Appraisal to determine if a material has magical properties. In other words, we need to verify if it's a magical material or item, as well as find traces of magic left behind by spells.
"Apothecaries like us can also use Appraisal to check if the potions we've refined are up to standard.
"Sometimes, we can even use Appraisal to find out if food or drink contains poison. Of course, this requires a long period of training.
The Eye of Appraisal you learned is an evolved version of Appraisal and should have more uses.
I don't know why it's banned, but I suspect that some aspect or effect must have caught the attention of the kingdom's special department. You'll have to slowly test it out to find out. "
Maria took a sip of her milk tea and continued, "As for Fine Control, I've heard of the reason it's banned, but I don't know if it's the truth.
It's said that on Stellin VII's fiftieth birthday, a few thieves snuck into the palace during a banquet. One of them used Magus's Hand and Fine Control to turn into a key and opened seven secret doors to the palace's treasury. He didn't alarm any guards or alarm systems and swept the treasury clean.
The thieves had used the underground sewers of the palace to transport the stolen treasures out, and had used a magic hand of precise control to change all the locks on the iron gates in the sewers.
So much so that the detectives who came to the palace to search for clues neglected the underground drainage pipe at first. Later on, because they could not open the key to the iron gate below, they wasted a lot of time and finally caused the theft to become an unsolved case …
Stellin VII was so angry that he vomited blood and fell seriously ill.
That theft from the palace caused a huge uproar. In the end, traces of magic were discovered and it was confirmed that the thief used Magus' Hands and Fine Control to steal. Stellin VII even ordered the arrest of all registered mages in the royal capital for investigation. Many suffered and were only released after a large number of nobles protested. "
First, there was someone who used Magus' Hands to assassinate the king. Then, there was someone who used Magus' Hands as a key to break into the palace's treasury.
It seemed that there were outstanding geniuses in every world. At the very least, he had never thought that magic could be used in this way.
"Then, what about Decomposition and Fusion?
These are pure alchemy spells, so why are they listed as Forbidden Spells? "
He had always felt that those two spells were useless because he had no way of using them.
If he had an alchemy magic array, these two spells would be very useful. At the very least, he could refine beginner potions and do some low-level alchemy experiments.
But without an alchemy magic array, those two spells would be useless.
The problem was that he couldn't get his hands on the materials needed to make alchemy magic arrays. He couldn't afford them, nor could he buy them.
"It's been a long time since those two spells were listed as Forbidden Spells," Maria mused.
"It's said that before our kingdom was founded, the nobles of the continent were at war with each other.
There was a duke who was obsessed with alchemy and herbalism, hoping to find a way to defeat his enemies without breaking a sweat.
He spent most of the wealth in his territory to build a huge alchemy magic array and ordered his servants and subjects to hunt for poisonous beasts and plants.
After that, he used Decomposition and Fusion to experiment on the alchemy rune arrays. He wanted to get a poisonous smoke so that he could use it to eliminate all the enemies who invaded his territory.
In the end, he succeeded and obtained a foul-smelling yellow-green gas. Anyone who smelled it would vomit blood and die.
The duke was delighted and thought that he had a powerful weapon in his hands.
Coincidentally, there were enemies invading his territory, so he released the gas and killed almost all of them.
Then, the Duke used this poisonous gas to fight against the surrounding nobles. No one was able to resist it.
The moment they saw the yellow-green gas, they could only retreat, and they had to retreat quickly.
The most important thing about the gas was that it was heavier than air and it would take 12 hours to dissipate.
As long as there was wind, the gas would move with the wind and it would only be safe if someone watched it dissipate from afar.
What the duke didn't expect, however, was that the places the gas passed through would become barren. Soon, his territory fell into a famine and his subjects fled for their lives.
The surrounding nobles sealed off the roads leading to the duke's castle, not allowing any caravans or food caravans to pass. In the end, the duke had no one to order him around and died of starvation in his castle.
This yellow-green poisonous gas was called the Devil's Breath from Hell. From then on, the nobles all over the continent automatically listed the Decomposition and Fusion spells as forbidden spells. After the establishment of the various countries, they also inherited this tradition. These two spells were forbidden to be learned by registered sorcerers.
Of course, the kingdoms privately trained their own alchemists to learn those two spells and even tried to replicate the yellow-green gas, but they all failed. "
Claude didn't know what else to say. Not only did they manage to come up with a poisonous gas, they even listed Decomposition and Fusion as forbidden spells. The people of the magic world really knew how to court death.
"That's why you must never tell anyone that you learned those five spells. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll only be able to see you in the secret prison of the kingdom's special department," Maria concluded.
"Madam, what's the official name of the special department you mentioned?" Claude asked.
"The Aueran Special Security Inspection Agency. We usually refer to it as the special department. No one is willing to call it by its full name."
"Then, what other spells are listed as forbidden by the special department?"
"Many. Basically, all spells related to combat are listed as forbidden spells. However, there are some defensive spells that have passed their inspection and are listed as safe and harmless spells that are allowed to be learned by registered mages like us.
For example, this barrier. "
Maria chanted a few words, and a white light flashed from her body. A round, translucent bubble suddenly appeared and enveloped her.
What was surprising was that the bubble seemed to stick to her body. When Maria sat on the chair, the back of the bubble didn't bulge out. Instead, it fit perfectly between the chair and her body.
Claude poked the bubble with his finger and was surprised to find that it had a certain degree of elasticity.
"What barrier is this?" Claude asked.
Maria waved her hand inside the bubble and it disappeared.
"Air barrier. It's the most useless defensive spell.
Apart from isolating oneself from the outside world, it doesn't do much against anything else.
We believe that the only use of this barrier is to allow us to live longer in the event of a fire.
However, it won't last too long. At most, we'll live five minutes longer than others. "
"This air barrier won't be able to block physical damage?
I noticed that it's elastic, "Claude said.
"It's useless. If you hit it with a stick, the entire barrier will shatter. It's all pretty, but it's useless.
Do you understand now? The kingdom's special department makes us magi learn these so-called harmless spells. "
"If I may be so bold as to ask, Madam, can you tell me what basic spells you know?" Claude asked carefully.
Maria smiled. "Of course. The seven spells I know are all harmless spells approved by the special department. If you go to the royal capital, you can buy a spell formation for ten crowns from the special department's spell shop.
Of course, you have to be a magus to be qualified to buy it. "
There's even a spell shop?
Wasn't it a little too expensive to sell a harmless spell's rune structure for ten crowns?
"You already know about the Radiant Pearl and have seen it. You've also seen the Air Barrier.
You won't be able to see it with Detect either. "
Maria picked up the teapot and poured some water into the empty biscuit plate. She pointed at the tea. "The fourth spell is the Ice Freezing Spell. It can freeze water into ice in a short period of time. It can be used to relieve the heat of summer or to make cold drinks …"
The tea in the plate quickly lost its heat and cooled down. Claude watched as the tea froze. "Madam, isn't that freezing?"
Maria retracted her finger with a bitter smile. "Do you think the kingdom's special department will allow us to learn freezing spells? That's a forbidden spell to them too.
Only spells like Freeze that can freeze small chunks of ice are considered harmless and safe, because we can only use it to make cold drinks. "
Claude was speechless.
"My fifth spell is Underwater Breathing.
That's because I fell into a pool and almost drowned when I was young. I even had a few nightmares about drowning after that.
That's why I chose Underwater Breathing. At the very least, I won't have to worry about drowning for the next ten minutes. "
"The sixth spell is Gather Water. It can create a cup of clean water out of thin air."
Maria picked up an empty teacup and placed it on the table. She then drew a few circles on the empty teacup.
Claude saw a drop of water appear in the air where she drew the circle, followed by another. It was like a light drizzle falling on the empty teacup. Soon, the empty teacup was half-filled with water.
Maria waved her hand to dispel the spell. "This Gather Water consumes a lot of mana. I can only use it seven times a day to get seven cups of clean water.
To me, this is a rather practical basic spell. I can use the clean water in my lab for experiments and concoction. At the very least, I won't have to worry about running out of water during my travels.
There are many registered Magicians in the capital who believe that this Water Gathering Spell is a simplified version of Water Ball Spell or Wind and Rain Spell. They spent a lot of time and effort researching it, trying to deduce the structure of Water Ball Spell or Wind and Rain Spell from the magic rune circle structure of this Water Gathering Spell. Unfortunately, they all failed. Not a single one succeeded. "
Maria picked up the half-full cup of water and drank it all in one gulp. "This water is still the best. Where were we?
This is the last basic spell, right? "
Maria put down the teacup and snapped her fingers in the air.
Claude saw a small flame appear on her finger.
"This is Ignite. There was a long argument when it was deemed a harmless spell.
Stellin V later said that since anyone could use any method to start a fire, registered mages should be allowed to have a convenient ignition spell instead of having to search for tools like mortals.