Adrien nodded. "If I found myself surrounded, instead, a circle would protect me from all directions. I understand".

Valerion swiped the tail of the glowing circle around him with the tip of his staff; the spell broke, and the circle disappeared. Adrien watched the light fade away; it went from incandescent to a dying echo, to nothing again. Then Valerion continued: "More advanced uses of defense magic will allow you to activate the spells without having to draw them at all - like I did yesterday with the table, for instance. I'm sure you have heard of other examples, too".