"Close your eyes,"
Elira instructed.
Kael did as he was told, and soon, darkness enveloped him.
"What do you see?" Elira asked, her tone gentle.
"You told to close my eyes. What am I supposed to see?"
Elira's lips twitched. Soon, however, she just sighed and continued.
"Do you rember how you found your Mana Core and learned to control your Mana?"
"Yes,"
Kael nodded.
"Good. Do the sa thing, but this ti, try to find the Mana outside your body."
"Outside my body? How would my Mana even be outside m—"
"Just do it, you brat," Elira snapped, cutting him off.
Kael instantly turned silent.
Recalling the sensation of drawing Mana within himself, he let his focus drift outward. At first, he could see nothing but darkness, which made sense since his eyes were closed, but then...
Faint sparks flickered into existence—tiny pinpricks of red light, like embers floating in a sea of darkness.
The more he concentrated, the more they appeared. Soon, thousands of red sparks illuminated the darkness, so bright and nurous that it was almost blinding.
"What do you see?"
Elira repeated her question.
"So red sparks… they are glowing and uhh…"
"What you're seeing are fire elents,"
Elira explained.
"Their presence depends on your affinity. The higher your affinity, the more of them you would see.
Seeing ten in your first attempt is considered exceptional."
'Ten?'
Kael was confused.
He could spot ten of these 'elents' at any random corner.
How was this 'exceptional'?
'So this is what it ans to have high affinity, huh…?'
He understood.
Soon, he couldn't help but question.
'I wonder how many of these Igni sees.'
Oblivious to his thoughts, Elira continued.
"Your task is to take control of these elents and pull them into your body. Once inside, circulate them through your Mana Circuit and store them in your Mana Core. This will expand your Mana pool and allow you to cast higher-level spells."
Kael nodded slowly.
"Start with the closest ones," Elira instructed.
"They'll be easier to control."
Kael nodded and focused on a spark hovering a few inches away from him.
He willed it to move.
The elent trembled, almost like it was resisting. With effort, Kael managed to nudge it toward him, but just as it ca close, it slipped from his control and drifted away, returning to its position.
"It will be hard at first, but continue trying and you will eventually get used to it."
Elira's voice was heard again.
It was almost as if she could tell what Kael was feeling.
Kael nodded, he tried again, but he failed.
Then again, and again.
The spark or the elent was like a slippery eel that got away no matter what he did to catch it.
On the fifth attempt, however, he succeeded.
As the elent entered his body, Kael felt a faint warmth spread through his body. As he circulated the elent through his Mana Circuit and stored it, the warm feeling beca stronger.
It was unlike anything he had felt before. He felt more active, more refreshed.
But the feeling was faint, much fainter than when Althea used her magic, not to ntion it was very short-lived.
"Now repeat the process."
He heard Elira's voice again and repeated the process.
This ti, he was able to control the elent in just three attempts. On the next try, he only needed two attempts, and after a couple more tries,
Kael could do it in just a single attempt.
'This is fun~'
Kael's smile widened.
The process felt exhilarating. Each elent he absorbed filled him with warmth and power. He lost track of ti, focusing solely on the glowing fire elents.
But soon, an unfamiliar feeling interrupted his rhythm—fullness.
For now, Kael decided to ignore it.
He was too focused on the fire elents to think of sothing else. He couldn't let sothing break his rhythm.
However, sothing changed.
Just like before, he was able to control the elent, circulate it through his Mana Circuit, but when he tried to store it in his Mana Core, it didn't work.
'That's strange.'
Kael frowned.
He attempted again and again, but no matter how much effort he poured in, the result was the sa. It was as if his Mana Core had reached its limit.
'Is my body resisting because my Mana Core is full?'
It seed logical. But if that was the case...
'How am I supposed to expand my Mana Pool if I can't store more Mana? Wasn't that the whole point of this training?'
Kael mulled over the possibilities, but unable to solve the problem on his own, he decided to turn to Elira.
Opening his eyes, Kael glanced toward the Court Mage and there she was, lounging on her chair, that ca out of god knows where, attempting to read a book titled "Supre Harem God System".
The key word being "attempting," as Arlan stood beside her, persistently trying to cover her eyes with his hands.
"Arlan, stop that or I'll burn your butt again,"
Elira threatened without even looking up.
Naturally, Arlan ignored her, only to let out a yelp as she bit his hand.
"..."
Kael's mouth twitched at the scene as he questioned every life choice that had led him to this mont.
How did he end up with a mage who read novels mid-training and an overly cheerful knight who couldn't take a hint?
Also, what was that novel's title!?
What the hell was she reading!?
He turned towards Althea, but the Almoner of Services remained expressionless.
In the end, Kael decided it was better to ignore everything he was seeing and,
"Teacher Elira, I can't store the elents inside my Mana Core."
He stated the problem.
Elira, who was currently holding Arlan's hand, paused and turned toward him.
"Well, duh."
She acted as if that was obvious.
"You have just been learning for what? An hour? Of course, you can't do it yet.
You think Magic's that easy?
It takes weeks or even months to master the art of dita—"
"I am saying that I could do it before, but I cannot do it any longer.
I feel full...? I do not know if that is the way to describe it. It is as if my Mana Core cannot store any more Mana."
Kael explained, and this ti, both Elira and Arlan stared at him with their mouths opened wide.
"You what…?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers