Using his mana, Edward created two circles inside each other in the air. The two circles are part of Transmutation Circles and represent the flow of energy, allowing it to be contained.
After drawing the circle, Edward drew Colonel Mustang's Flame Alchemy symbol which is basically two hourglasses made of triangles connected to one another. On top of the hourglasses was a flame symbol, while the bottom had a salamander.
In the first hourglass made of two triangles, he drew the Ancient Runes for Kenaz from his world in both triangles. In the second hourglass, he drew the ancient rune Sowulo.
Kenaz is the rune for torch, while Sowulo is the rune for the sun.
In the space between the two circles, on the left side, he wrote the Dragon Incantation [Difei] which could create flames. On the right side, he wrote the incantation [Incendio].
After everything was done, he used his mana to activate the circle and runes. A spark appeared in front of the circle before extinguishing; it did not even last a few seconds.
Edward was not surprised as he continued to test. He removed the incendio incantation on the right and replaced it with the dragon incantation. This time, a bigger spark appeared.
He then removed all the dragon incantations with wandcraft incantations. A small spark appeared again, lasting three seconds. Edward then removed the ancient runes in the middle and replaced them with different language incantations.
For the next three hours, Edward tried different ways of placing the runes and incantations but only created a spark. Obviously, he was missing something to create his new magic.
He took a few minutes' breaks and drank a potion that refreshed his mind, making it easier for him to think.
After returning to work, he decided to try another approach.
"I have been inscribing the runes with mana and activating it with mana as well, this could be one of the problems. In that case, let's try something else."
Transmutation Circle can be engraved or inscribed with anything: chalk, blood, pencil, or ink. However, Edward did not want his new magic system to rely on foreign aid to cast spells.
"Mana is contained inside the body and flows through the bloodstream. So, blood could be used."
He used a spell to draw blood from his body and drew the magic circle with all the runes needed. Then, used his mana to activate it.
A small flame appeared in front of the circle. However, it did not last long before becoming unstable, then:
Bang!
A powerful explosion spread throughout the room, enveloping everything in smoke. Luckily, this room was empty, so nothing was destroyed.
Once the smoke cleared, Edward was standing upright with a transparent sphere protecting him.
He knew that creating new spells was dangerous, so he was prepared beforehand. After all, one of his wives' mothers died because of an accident like this.
"Although using blood is better than mana, it is not practical at all. Wizards will have to use spells to control their blood to cast spells. Not to mention how much blood would be needed in a protracted battle."
He pondered for a moment, then muttered: "In that case, let's try Aura."
So, he engraved the magic circle with aura and activated it. A large spark occurred, followed by a massive explosion; this trial failed.
After thinking about it for a moment, he realized the core issue. Aura was created by the fusion of mana and life force. So, it contained a large amount of mana.
After coming to this conclusion, Edward then tried using only life force. A flame the size of a tennis ball appeared before exploding again. Compared with the previous flame that was the size of a ping pong ball, the size was drastically increased.
Unfortunately, Edward was still not satisfied. Overuse of life force will decrease the lifespan of wizards, so this was not a viable option.
So, he went back to the drawing board. He walked back and forth in the scorched room that suffered from many explosions. Luckily, it was enchanted to withstand such damage.
"Mana is controlled or guided by the mind," muttered Edward to himself as he paced back and forth.
"The mind is an extension of the soul. So, what if I use the soul instead."
Edward along with many wizards of the Empire has done extensive research on the soul, so they can manipulate it at will. One of their discovery is an energy special of the soul that Edward called spiritual energy based on the anime Bleach.
So, with the power of this spiritual energy, he started drawing the magic circle.
A red magic circle suddenly appeared in front of Edward, then he used his mana to activate it.
This time, a flame the size of a basketball manifested, then exploded.
"Indeed, the soul is the best choice. Overuse of it will only lead to fatigue and weariness. With enough rest and mediation, a wizard can quickly replenish its loss.
"And when it comes to people with powerful souls, they do not have to worry about things like overuse."
After making this discovery, Edward was finally satisfied, and the first step of creating his magic system was completed. Now, he needed to find the reason for the explosion and deal with the situation.
So, he cast a few more spells with his spiritual energy to gather enough data. A few hours later, he discovered the crux of the problem.
It was a conflict of all the different runes used in this system. Whether it is wandcraft incantation, ancient runes, or draconic language, they operated mana at different frequencies.
Trying to mix them together resulted in the instability of the spell, this leading to the explosion.
After a few more tests, he discovered that the Draconic Language was very overbearing; it would always try to overwhelm the other incantations, thus leading to the instability of the spell.
Although the other incantations were not as bad as it, they were not better too. Using different ones always leads to conflict.
Nevertheless, Edward had a solution to this problem: alchemical runes.
Unlike the others, alchemical runes can control different kinds of energy: whether it is tectonic energy, life energy, or soul energy, it can be used.
So, Edward will modify them to accept and control different frequencies of mana so that the spell becomes more stable.
So, I'm sorry but the next few chapters are quite boring. However, they do serve a purpose. So, bear with it.
