[Studying] You roll a 10 (required 10). Success!

You spend most of the remaining daylight in your cabin, sheltered from the cold ocean wind. While your friends attempt to glean what little information they can about your destination, you decide to resume your studies on magic.

Hours pass quickly as you flip through the books' pages and discuss their contents. You learn from Moonflower and Honourshine that while the Kirin Empire's island was once home to unicorn civilizations predating even those of Old Ponyland, the Empire itself was only established a few centuries ago.

According to the historian's book, the rivalling kingdoms had struggled to prosper since beyond antiquity — each plagued with mundanely overblown trivialities — until a divine being was chosen to rule over them all. It is unclear exactly what kind of creature is being referred to.

As for you, the secrets of the arcane bestow upon you the principle of awakening, and a glimpse into the next magic level; you realize that everything you have learned about magic thus far leads to the end of the novice's path, and no further.

In order to reach the next chapter and truly unlock your potential as a spellcaster, you must first relearn all that you know using arcane circles — a new method that, while detailed over dozens of pages, does not seem intuitive to you at all.

That evening, your party enters in the mess room for a late dinner with the first watch team. You decide to share a table with the first mate Sunshine Berry, hoping to borrow some of the unicorn's expertise on magic.

Sunshine Berry: "... Ah, so you just got introduced to arcane circles, huh? I know how you feel, but don't worry — you don't always have to use them. They're powerful, but they take a lot longer to cast for most ponies."

Moonflower: "What are they?"

Sunshine Berry: "Basically, they're what set spellcasters apart from other magic users. If runes are letters, and spells are words, then circles are pages. Since most magic users don't write books, they just use scrolls instead of pages. Does that make sense?"

You admit that even you're not sure what the difference is.

Sunshine Berry: "How do I put this? Scrolls are read from beginning to end, while pages are organized. They can be numbered, divided by chapter, and so on. You can tell the reader — in this case magic — to skip ahead to this or that page depending on the situation, or to keep re-reading the same page until something or other happens."

Moonflower: "Ohh, that's smart! And kinda confusing."

Sunshine Berry: "I'll use an example! You know the magic sail on this ship, right? What it does is simple — it moves air from around the ship to the back of the stern. This pushes the ship forward, with or without wind.

If you tried casting a spell like that normally, you'd have to keep channelling it for the entire trip. That would take a lot of concentration. So instead, we inscribe the spell as a circle and place it on the mast, and power it using our magic.

The idea is that arcane circles gravitate on an interflow, and the ship's mast is a conduit which acts as one. Thanks to that, all we need is a burst of magic power to start it up, and ambient magic will keep it going the rest of the way..."

After spending some time in Sunshine Berry's company, you feel as though you finally begin to better understand the concept of arcane circles. Though they are a great puzzle to be solved, you realize that there is never only one true solution.

Unfortunately, the unicorn chooses to retire to her own cabin for the night. As enjoyable as the warmth of a handsome stallion may sound to her, she lets you know that she would rather not grow too attached to somepony she will not see often. Oh well!

The next morning, you wake up with a clearer mind. The teachings of yestereve make more sense to you somehow, and for a moment, you wonder why you struggled with them to begin with. You figure that the seeds of knowledge must have sprouted into understanding overnight.

While your friends pass the time doodling in their journals, you decide to try and take another look at your spellbook's next chapter. With your newfound grasp on arcane circles, you are presented with your next choice of spell to learn: Camouflage, a spell which creates a concealed area; Protect, a spell which creates a protective barrier; and Silence, a spell which creates a soundproofing bubble.