While I was talking with Teacher Adelia, someone opened the classroom door and entered.
“Ah, Headmaster.”
“Did I interrupt your conversation?”
“No, not at all.”
Even though I said I would visit after class today, the Headmaster came directly to find me since there was no news at all.
I was planning to finish the conversation quickly and then go see him, but it took a bit longer than expected.
The Headmaster created a chair and naturally joined the conversation.
“We were discussing body constitution.”
“I see. I’m sorry, but could you please move aside a bit?”
“Yes, of course.”
Teacher Adelia got up from her seat, removed the chair, and stepped outside the classroom.
“Then, from now on, it’s a special lesson.”
“Raising mana purity, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The physical body of a dragon is similar to body constitution.”
The Headmaster created two fireballs in front of me and made them float in the air.
“Here, we have a fire with low mana purity. And here, a fire with one hundred percent purity. Go ahead and touch them.”
“The fire?”
“It’s alright.”
As I held one fireball in each hand, I didn’t feel any heat.
“This one isn’t hot at all.”
“Can you feel the difference between the two?”
“Not at all.”
There was no significant difference between high mana purity and low mana purity.
“It may sound like a play on words, but in the end, the conclusion is that the purity of mana doesn’t really matter if it’s low.”
“So, does that mean we don’t need to raise it?”
“There are advantages to having high purity.”
The Headmaster lifted the fireballs back into the air.
Chiriing!
“It’ll be easier to understand if you see it with your own eyes.”
The Headmaster temporarily cast a mana transparency spell on me.
Inside the flames floating in the air, a bluish aura was visible.
As the Headmaster merged the two flames, the low purity fire was absorbed by the high purity one.
“Fascinating.”
“When you increase purity, it’s possible for the higher purity to swallow the lower one. That’s why everyone is so eager to raise their purity.”
The Headmaster easily explained that in a duel between wizards of similar caliber, the one using higher purity magic would have a huge advantage.
“Didn’t you also mention that it’s possible to overwhelm them with overwhelming mana?”
“To suppress high purity magic, you need at least twice the amount of mana. Of course, this is specific to elemental magic. Other types have different rules.”
The Headmaster added that the study of magic becomes increasingly complicated the deeper you go, and that I didn’t need to worry about those details just yet.
“Now, let’s get back to the main topic and talk about how to raise purity.”
The Headmaster created a human figure in the air and used water-type magic to make it move inside.
“Let’s think of this water as mana. Generally, when using mana circulation magic, it moves this way.”
The water moved back and forth between the heart and lower abdomen.
“Mana is stored at any place you refine it. This varies from person to person depending on where they feel comfortable.”
The circulation magic is a method to store refined mana more efficiently.
“But body constitution and dragons are different. This process is virtually unnecessary because they already have the ability to refine.”
“Do they have that ability?”
The Headmaster pointed his index finger at his own head.
“So, here’s how it works.”
The water in the human figure moved from the lower abdomen, to the heart, and then to the head.
“I’m not of body constitution, so I can’t do it, but you refine mana this way.”
“How do I do it?”
“He said just to do it. Let’s give it a try right now.”
The Headmaster dismissed the human figure and told me to try refining mana.
If I could normally do this, I wouldn’t have been struggling until now.
I had been trying to move mana throughout the class today, but I didn’t feel like I was really refining it.
“Don’t worry about the order; just go ahead.”
I sat in my chair and assumed a meditation posture.
I tried sending mana from my heart to my head, then repeatedly to my lower abdomen.
While circulating mana in my body, I suddenly came to a stop.
“There’s no longer any place in my body to store mana.”
“Refine the overflowing mana. The first time is the hardest.”
My body was filled with mana in every nook and cranny.
It seemed like even the Headmaster didn’t know the exact method for refining this mana.
I focused my mind again, moving mana from my lower abdomen to my heart, and then to my head.
Shu shu shuk.
It felt like the mana was crawling inside my body.
Pain followed as if my blood vessels were being burned and my organs twisted.
Grrk!
Strange sounds began to echo from all over my body.
Crack! Crack!
The mana that had been overflowing moments ago started to gather in one spot.
To the heart!
Tap!
A small ripple created by a drop of water falling into a still lake.
Drops of mana gathered like a small stream flowing into my heart.
“That is refined mana.”
“Is this mana?”
The feeling was a slightly deep jade-like aura.
“It’s mana of a unique color.”
“Is it usually like this?”
“Usually it’s varying shades of blue, light or dark. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
After refining mana once, something unusual occurred in my body.
If I focused quietly, I could hear a strange sound like air escaping from my heart.
“That’s the sound of mana being refined.”
“It’s a bit unsettling.”
“Well, eventually it won’t make any sound.”
I decided to check if my mana purity had increased by casting a spell.
I reached out my hand and drew forth the mana, and it flowed out smoothly and comfortably.
I created a flame without any special incantation.
“That’s quite a high mana purity fire.”
This time, I could clearly see it with my own eyes.
The mana was settled and burning properly inside the flame.
“Refined mana is easy to use.”
“Yes, that’s why this lesson is taught starting from the advanced class.”
“Why isn’t it taught in the beginner class?”
“Mana refinement requires a large amount of mana. Students who have just transitioned from beginner to intermediate don’t have enough mana to refine.”
The beginner class focuses on consolidating the basics, while intermediate students begin training to increase their mana quantity.
The Headmaster hadn’t taught this method, but I said I didn’t feel it was necessary.
“Well then, let’s see some of your skills.”
“Sure.”
As the mana gently flowed from my heart to my fingertips, it transformed into a blazing fire.
“The speed has increased.”
“I still think it’s a bit slow.”
“There’s no rush. In fact, hurrying can lead to failure in spellcasting.”
Although it wasn’t common, beginner mages sometimes fail when they try to cast spells impulsively.
That’s why the Headmaster emphasized the importance of maintaining a calm mind for mages.
My flame collided with the Headmaster’s flame in the air.
Whoosh!
My flame struggled to avoid being absorbed by the Headmaster’s but eventually vanished.
“I thought my mana purity had increased.”
“That’s your homework from here on. Think about why my flame absorbed Ririan’s flame. I’ll give you plenty of time.”
The Headmaster must have heard from Aila that I would be working.
The deadline for this assignment is until I return from my work.
It’s a simple task, not to find an answer but just to think about it and express my thoughts.
“Since it’s getting late today, I’ll send you back.”
“Really?”
Once the Headmaster chanted a spell, a magic circle burst with light beneath my chair.
As the light faded, I found myself standing in front of the dormitory building.
“Welcome back! Was that magic?”
“Yes, something like that.”
Minwoo looked at me suddenly appearing with a look of wonder.
Back in my room, I created two fireballs in the air.
“One more!”
Jema or the Demon King would create at least three at once.
I decided that I needed at least three for combat in real situations.
However, no matter how fast I made them, I could only create one every second.
Especially, the third flame was small in shape and didn’t last long.
It seemed I needed to practice separately to create them more stably.
There were three days left.
Now, I was at a level where I could use at least one spell in practice.
The problem was that the number of spells I was currently mastering was too small.
With just a flame created to attack the enemy, how much harm could I inflict, just a minor burn?
In order to fight, I needed stronger attack magic.
However, the Academy had not yet taught any offensive spells.
As they claimed to build a foundation, we had been going through similar classes for several months with very few remaining students.
All the students who initially chose beginner magic naturally progressed to weapon classes.
Now, excluding me, the students in the Academy’s beginner magic class were all those who had mastered weapons up to intermediate or advanced levels.
They patiently endured the monotonous and repetitive classes.
Today’s class content was about shaping water freely.
It was my first experience working with water.
“Usually, students tend to learn fire magic first when they begin learning magic. The reason is that it’s the easiest to apply quickly in practice.”
Fire spreads naturally when you just light it moderately.
In contrast, other elemental magics swirl around the same spot before vanishing.
Leaving a clear trace before disappearing is a distinct characteristic of fire magic.
Wind magic is said to be prohibited indoors for some reason.
The magic that can be used and learned inside the Academy includes fire, water, ice, and earth.
Like wind magic, lightning magic is also forbidden indoors.
When I raised my hand to ask why, Teacher Adelia answered with a serious expression.
“If an inexperienced person uses it, it could turn into a massacre.”
Some types of magic have such distinctive characteristics that they’re hard to control.
Wind and lightning belong to the top ranks of the most difficult magic to handle.
For now, I decided to focus solely on the water in front of me.
Practicing to create desired shapes with water and to maintain those shapes.
Even a little extra effort would cause the shapes to become muddled, making it challenging to maintain them.
As a result, it turned into simpler shapes that were easier to create and maintain.
Circles, triangles, and squares.
Teacher Adelia smiled and encouraged the students, even when they stumbled and couldn’t maintain the shape.
Normally, she explains things kindly and clearly, but today she was even more nurturing.
When all the students, including myself, had broken the water shapes over ten times, we took a short break.
Then, one student raised their hand and asked a question.
“Um, Teacher, why are we doing this training?”
“It’s training to control mana. You’ll likely continue this even in the intermediate class.”
You need to be able to control mana to control magic.
Teacher Adelia added this and then resumed the class.
Most of the students were starting to run low on mana and were beginning to tire one by one.
In the end, only three of us remained, including me and Max.
