Chapter 27

EP.27 First Class (3)

Balance.

With those words, silence descended.

The wizards gathered in the auditorium had been expecting her to show them something. However, what was revealed before their eyes surpassed their imagination.

Wasn't this supposed to be the basics of the study of mana transactions?

Wasn't this supposed to be a lesson on the fundamentals?

However, the girl standing on the podium started by bringing out the ultimate goal of the study of mana transactions: Balance.

"Ah."

Gasps erupted from the audience.

The Balance, glowing brilliantly with starlight, was beautiful. The dazzling starlight captivated the audience, drawing the wizards' gazes.

The scale, shining with a platinum color.

"I have one question."

With the scale in front of her, Lania spoke.

"Do you know the three stages of spell manifestation?"

Everyone nodded in response to her question.

Even those who hadn't studied magic knew the three stages of spell manifestation. It was the most fundamental knowledge.

Writing the circuit containing the spell.

Paying the required mana for manifestation.

Directing the spell.

The most basic elements.

After listing them, the girl paused for a moment before speaking again.

"What I will show you is precisely these three basic stages."

A few wizards' expressions soured at her words.

They had come here to see the study of mana transactions. But the basics of spell manifestation?

The three stages of spell manifestation are the foundation of everything.

No one who has studied magic could be unaware of them. One must be proficient in them to manifest spells.

And, of course, there was no wizard in the room who wasn't proficient in the three stages of spells. Even the youngest students had been practicing magic for several years.

But.

Was she going to teach something that should only be taught to beginners who had just started their magical path?

'Stop making jokes.'

The rising expectations began to wane.

The audience's reaction was cold.

Amidst those sharp gazes.

-Swoosh.

The girl moved her fingers.

Mana clung to her fingertips, tracing circuits in the air.

The speed was neither slow nor fast.

"One, writing the circuit."

The completed circuit was intricate. The girl placed the circuit, a mix of curves and straight lines, on the scale.

-Creak.

The scale tilted slightly.

The scale, which had been balanced, now tilted towards the circuit side. The audience's gazes followed the tilt.

The side of the scale without the circuit.

Placing her finger on it, the girl spoke.

"Two, paying the mana."

Mana filled the tilted side of the scale.

Neither too little nor too much. Just enough to balance the scale perfectly. The calculation was precise.

Soon, the scale began to glow.

"Three, directing the spell."

Click.

She flicked her finger.

Ignite.

It was a basic elemental fire spell. A spell used in daily life, so even the journalists recognized the completed spell.

However.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"What is this...?"

The audience voiced their confusion.

The completed spell was indeed Ignite. There was no mistaking it. But the spell brought to reality was different.

-Whoosh.

The burning flame didn't seem to extinguish easily.

Despite being a low-level spell, the fire was intense. And it had a faint glow.

Most wizards didn't know what it was. But the professors did. The owners of the magic towers recognized the faint glow.

"The pinnacle... "

The owner of the White Magic Tower muttered absentmindedly.

After using the same spell hundreds or thousands of times, there are moments when the spell is imbued with starlight. A spell imbued with starlight transcends to a higher level.

The pinnacle.

A special phenomenon known by that name.

"Ah."

White involuntarily sighed.

The light emitted by a spell that had reached the pinnacle was beautiful. It captivated the wizards' gazes.

Staring at the light, White blinked.

He wanted to believe it was a coincidence. He wanted to think the starlight had just happened to be there.

"Next."

But, as if mocking White's thoughts, the girl moved her fingers. This time, the circuit was completed in an instant, as if she had already shown it once. It was placed on the scale.

She filled the tilted side of the scale with mana.

The scale achieved perfect balance.

The spell manifested.

Fireball.

A sphere of blazing fire.

It, too, was imbued with starlight.

"Ah..."

White sighed.

Once might be a coincidence, but twice was not.

'She is creating the pinnacle at will.'

White blinked in a daze at this realization.

The audience's reaction was no different. They were captivated by the starlight in the spell. They were engrossed in the series of processes the girl on the podium was demonstrating.

Drawing the circuit.

Placing it on the scale.

Filling it with mana to balance the scale.

Manifesting the spell.

It was not a particularly special process.

It was the process of spell manifestation they knew, a process they had repeated hundreds or thousands of times.

But something was different.

It felt different.

The girl's movements were fluid.

There was no hesitation. It was as if all the processes were connected, not separate. Everything flowed smoothly.

The completed spell.

It was more beautiful than any spell they had ever seen.

"..."

Wizards only trust what they observe.

They learn from what they see with their own eyes.

Therefore.

Those who watched realized something.

"This is the foundation of spells."

They realized they hadn't even mastered the basics.

2.

The owner of the Black Magic Tower, Yetoal, blinked in a daze.

What was he hearing?

What was he understanding?

'Am I understanding this?'

He couldn't tell.

Confusion replaced where understanding should have been. Yetoal stared at the girl as if entranced.

The girl's fingers moved.

She cast a spell. A spell that was infinitely beautiful and infinitely perfect. There was no excess in the spell.

"■■, ■■, ■■■■■■■■."

Yetoal, absorbed in the flow of mana in the spell, didn't hear the girl's words.

In the first place, there was no need to hear them.

It didn't matter if he didn't understand what the girl was saying.

The next example she showed made everything clear. It forced the observer to understand.

Understanding came suddenly.

Where did this understanding come from?

From the foundation they had built.

The process they had repeated hundreds or thousands of times. Questions began to arise about a process they had never questioned before.

'What I've been doing all this time, the basics...'

Indeed.

'Was it the right process? Can I truly say I was proficient in it?'

He began to doubt whether he had been doing it correctly.

He started to doubt the most fundamental things.

"Ah."

Black felt a shock as if he had been hit on the head. Something was wrong. His most basic beliefs were shaken. He thought he shouldn't listen anymore.

But he continued to listen.

He still watched the magic the girl was demonstrating.

"Ah."

The process was etched into his mind.

It was more like brainwashing than a lesson. It hammered knowledge into his head