Strange Use of Magic (Black Clover AU) Chapter 127: Strange Spell Creation (2)

[Third Person's PoV] 


"I'm not just suddenly going crazy, right?" Stephen asked, pointing a finger toward the ceiling. "For the love of all that is good and holy, please tell me you heard that too."


"If I'm not losing my mind right alongside you, then yes, I heard it too," Secre replied in surprise. She sat on the ladder, glancing up toward the ceiling.


After a few minutes of stunned silence, the realization that a voice had just spoken from Stephen’s grimoire finally sank in. That’s when the barrage of questions began. They desperately searched for any possible explanation.


"The voice appeared right after I completed my Elemental Spell, so it must be related to that, right?" Stephen asked.


"I think so. It mentioned a ‘Spell Archive’… But what does that even mean?" Secre wondered aloud.


"An archive is a kind of storage, so a ‘Spell Archive’ must be where spells are stored. Could it be the place where newly formed spells go inside a grimoire? Like what happened with my Matter Manipulation spell earlier?" Stephen speculated, rubbing his chin.


Secre, now descending the ladder with a curious look, considered his words. "But if that’s the case, wouldn’t the entire grimoire itself be considered a Spell Archive? I mean, that’s where a mage’s spells are stored anyway."


"Good point," Stephen nodded. They exchanged a glance, both arriving at the same conclusion.


"So when the voice said the Spell Archive had expanded, what it really meant was that a new page had formed," they said in unison, though with slightly different wording.


"Is it because your grimoire is… well, different?" Secre asked. "Or is that voice present in all grimoires, and no one has been able to hear it before because they’ve never been inside their own grimoire like you?"


"We don’t have enough evidence to say for sure," Stephen admitted.


Secre furrowed her brows. "What would a stored spell even look like? And since we're inside your grimoire, would we even be able to see it?"


"Now that is a good question," Stephen mused. After a moment of thought, he shrugged. "Well, only one way to find out."


Looking upward, he called out, "Uh… Mister Library? Or Miss? I don’t want to assume—can you lead us to the Spell Archive, please?"


Secre’s lips curled into an amused smile. "Why are you being so polite? It’s your grimoire. I’m pretty sure it’ll do whatever you tell it to."


Stephen shrugged. "Doesn’t mean I have to be rude. I mean, it lets me explore inside it and fetches any book I ask for. The least I can do is treat it with some decency."


Secre giggled, clearly entertained by his reasoning.


Stephen waited a few seconds, looking around. "Huh. Nothing's happening—"


Before he could finish, the bookshelf Secre had been sitting on suddenly rumbled and shook.


Her giggling slowed as she watched with interest. The ladder slid away on its own, and the massive bookshelf began splitting in two, each half shifting in opposite directions.


Behind it, a sleek dark brown wooden wall was revealed. Then, the wooden planks began to move, sliding out of the way to create a passageway.


"Cool~," Stephen muttered in awe.


Secre nodded in agreement. "Stephen, seriously, what is up with that grimoire of yours? It just keeps getting weirder and weirder."


"I guess we’ll find out one day, but today isn’t that day. So, for now, let’s focus on what we can see—the Spell Archive. I’m curious about how spells are registered and enhanced," Stephen said as he began leading the way.


He soon disappeared into the dark passageway, while Secre let out a sigh and followed after him. As she stepped inside, the wooden planks behind her shifted and disappeared, and the bookshelves slid back together, sealing the entrance.


The moment the door closed, the lights vanished.


Secre narrowed her eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness, but she couldn’t even see where to place her next step.


"Ugh!" she exclaimed as she bumped into Stephen’s back. "Sorry," she muttered, rubbing her forehead. "It’s too dark to see properly."


Stepping beside him, she asked, "Why did you stop?"


She looked around, but there was nothing but pitch-black darkness.


"You’re looking in the wrong direction," Stephen said in an amazed tone. "Look up."


"Hm?" Secre tilted her head, then slowly lifted her gaze—and froze.


Above them, three massive golden orbs floated, each surrounded by intricate magic circles that rotated and shifted in an almost mechanical rhythm. The orbs acted as nuclei, while the surrounding rings moved like interlocking gears, glowing faintly like stars in the night sky.


"What… is that?" Secre asked in awe.


Stephen's mouth moved instinctively, as if the answer had surfaced in his mind on its own. "Spell Matrices."


"A Spell Matrix? What’s that?" she asked, unable to look away.


"They’re the core structure of a spell," Stephen explained. "They’re what hold a spell together and make it function."


"How’s that different from a magic circle?" Secre asked, frowning slightly.


"A magic circle activates a spell," Stephen clarified. "A Spell Matrix is its blueprint—the internal mechanism that makes the spell actually work."


Curious, Stephen reached out his hand and willed one of the Spell Matrices toward him.


As it approached, the golden orb shrank slightly and hovered just above his palm. Up close, he could see that the magic circles weren’t solid rings but strips covered in intricate runes, moving in a gyro-like motion around the core.


"The golden core represents the spell’s elemental property. In my case, it’s Arcane," Stephen observed.


"Which one of your spells is that?" Secre asked, examining the Matrix carefully. She wondered if her own spells had similar structures—if they would look anything like this.


"Is this the Matrix for my Eldritch Magic…?" Stephen muttered to himself. He focused on the rune-covered strips, noticing how they continuously shifted around the core. "These runes define the spell’s name, function, effects, and even its shape."


With a flick of his wrist, he lightly tossed the Matrix back into the air, and it smoothly returned to its original position.


"Now that I’ve seen a Spell Matrix firsthand, I finally have a better understanding of how spells are formed and upgraded," Stephen said, a growing excitement in his voice.


Noticing Secre’s curiosity, he decided to elaborate. Using his magic, he conjured a small golden sphere.


"Imagine this as the core of any spell," he said. "It’s created using magic circles, runes, geometric shapes—basically all the components necessary to form a spell."


Secre nodded, following along.


"Once the core is complete, it essentially gains an identity of its own," Stephen continued. "That identity dictates what the spell is supposed to do. Once that’s established, the spell begins generating rune strips that enhance and stabilize its function."


Secre blinked. "Identity? What do you mean by that?"


Stephen scratched his head. "Not an actual identity, like sentience or anything. More like… its purpose. When a spell’s purpose is clearly defined, it creates rune strips that work in tandem with that purpose."


Secre tilted her head, still looking a bit puzzled. "I think I get what you’re saying, but it’s still a little confusing."


Stephen let out a sheepish chuckle. "Yeah, sorry. I’m more of a learner than a teacher. I can understand things pretty easily, but explaining them to someone else is… kinda hard."


Secre smiled and gave him a soft pat on the back. "You did fine."