Chapter 48

EP.48 Enlightenment and Growth (4)

Lak van Grace.

Born in the Northern region, he is a brave warrior. Even the warriors of the North acknowledged Lak's bravery.

-Young Master Lak is incredible.

-When I was his age, I was just chopping firewood at home, but Young Master Lak goes around chopping white pines instead! Hahaha!

A hearty laugh.

The broad, thick fingers that patted his back.

“...Hmm.”

Lak let out a short groan.

He suddenly recalled the Northern warriors who patted his back at the tavern.

‘I wanted to be a man who wouldn’t disgrace the warriors’ expectations...’

Lak felt ashamed.

Because he was feeling fear now, not during a life-or-death battle with a strong opponent, but during a break before class.

‘It’s a very shameful thing...’

Still, the trembling wouldn’t stop.

The cause was the professor who was about to enter the class. The awe and fear he felt towards her grew day by day.

The professor who crushed a traitor's skull with her bare hands.

The professor who fought on equal terms with the Royal Guard, Hound.

Lak happened to witness those two incidents up close. And he had a hunch.

The professor of the introductory class on Mana Trade Studies.

Lania van Trias.

He mustn’t fall out of her favor.

“...”

Lak slightly raised his head.

Just then, he met the eyes of Professor Lania, who was passing by. She tilted her head slightly as she looked at him.

Even though he met her gaze head-on, Lak didn’t turn his head as he usually would.

‘Something...’

Lak felt a sense of unease.

‘Something is different...’

Something was different.

It was hard to put into words, but it didn’t feel the same as usual. Normally, she seemed a bit more distant and indifferent...

‘But not now.’

It felt unfamiliar.

Lak tilted his head in confusion.

2.

Lania van Trias.

She had only taught the class twice. One of those times was a public lecture, so it was debatable whether it should count as a regular class.

The only regular class.

It was the one class in the second week.

And that one class left a strong impression on the students. Whether good or bad.

-After the class, I felt like I had some enlightenment.

-I learned something. I did learn, but...

-I got something out of the class. I did, but...

That was generally how the students evaluated her class. It was subtle. Clearly of a high level, but if asked whether it was a good class, the answer would be no.

-It’s insanely difficult.

-I don’t know what I heard. I understood something, but... no, did I really understand? I’m not sure.

-It’s scary. Her gaze is very scary. It’s like she’s asking, “Why can’t you do it if you can?”...

Too high a level.

A professor who took it for granted.

And.

-The assignments are insane.

-Ten pages of study sheets, is that even reasonable...?

Insane amount of assignments.

It was as if someone was trying to match the quality and quantity of the assignments to the teacher.

‘What will she give us this time...’

Seeing Professor Lania enter with a stack of papers, the students sighed inwardly.

Thud.

She placed the papers on the table and began to speak.

“Hello.”

A brief greeting.

“A few days ago, in Professor Roselle’s class, you learned about the relationship between circuits and stars, right? You learned about the stability circuit that connects two constraints...”

She then briefly summarized Professor Roselle’s class.

The students felt a slight sense of unease from her tone.

“Today, I will teach you a more detailed version of that stability circuit. The parts that Professor Roselle couldn’t show you due to time constraints.”

Something was different from the previous class.

Her tone was strangely gentle.

‘...Something.’

The students felt it.

‘Something is different...’

Recalling the previous class, some students tightened their waists and widened their eyes. They were the first to feel the unease.

Something was different.

They had a vague sense of doubt.

That doubt was short-lived.

“Then, let’s start the class now.”

Lania snapped her fingers.

The sheets of paper flew to the students’ desks. The movement was precise.

Another study sheet, perhaps.

Thinking this, the students looked at the papers they received and tilted their heads in confusion.

‘...Blank paper?’

Nothing was written on it.

After a moment, Lania spoke.

“The paper I just distributed is a circuit recording sheet. Please record the best circuit you can engrave on it.”

The students widened their eyes at the mention of a recording sheet.

Circuit recording sheets were expensive magical tools known to be used only in the Mage Guild.

The students gently smoothed the paper.

They marveled at its quality.

Gradually, the students began to engrave circuits on the recording sheets. The process was not complicated.

They visualized the circuit they wanted to engrave.

If they had drawn the circuit before, the recording sheet would immediately record it based on their memory and experience.

“Take your time. There’s no need to infuse mana. Just visualizing it is enough.”

Professor Lania walked around the classroom, helping students who were unfamiliar with the recording sheets.

After a while.

All the students finished engraving their circuits. As befitting the Afria Academy, which gathered excellent mages, most of the circuits were advanced.

“Um...”

“That’s a top-tier circuit, Blaze...”

Among them, there were students who engraved top-tier circuits.

Subtle glances were cast at a girl with purple hair, Resty, who was quietly sitting in a corner.

“Once you’ve all engraved them.”

Lania snapped her fingers.

“Now, think about what spell is contained in the circuit you engraved, and what are the characteristics of that spell.”

What are the characteristics?

Answering that question wasn’t difficult. Knowing how to engrave a circuit meant they already knew the spell well.

The students wrote down explanations of the spells on the study sheets distributed with the recording sheets. It didn’t take long. As they wrote, they suddenly realized something.

‘It’s... relaxed...’

There was plenty of time to write.

Students who finished writing glanced at Professor Lania. She was looking at the clock with her arms crossed.

This was very different from the previous class, where they didn’t even have enough time to take notes. After all the students finished writing and about a minute had passed, she spoke.

“Now, let’s identify the ‘stability’ circuits applied in the circuits you engraved.”

She casually touched the blackboard.

Her mana turned gray, and gray letters appeared on the blackboard. They were some of the constraint circuits covered in the previous class.

“Your circuits should contain at least one, if not three or more, of these constraint circuits. Now, try to find them.”

The students tilted their heads.

‘Suddenly?’

The circuits engraved on the recording sheets were complex. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of lines and curves intertwined. Even isolating the stability circuits was difficult.

‘And now, she wants us to find the constraint circuits...’

They had just realized that constraint circuits were applied to spells. And now, she wanted them to find them?

The students stared blankly at the paper and the blackboard, as if looking for a hidden picture.

“Hmm.”

As if she had anticipated this reaction, Lania spoke.

“Just try...”

She covered her mouth mid-sentence.

Then, after a short cough, she continued.

“It’s easier if you think about the characteristics of the spell. I’ll show you an example.”

She lifted the circuit engraved by Lak, who was sitting in the front row. It was the circuit for the advanced impact spell, Point-Breakthrough.

“What are the characteristics of this circuit? Lak.”

“It breaks through quickly.”

“Pardon?”

“It quickly breaks through enemy formations.”

Lak spoke confidently.

After pondering for a moment, Lania spoke again.

“I’m asking about the characteristics, not the effects of the spell.”

“Pardon?”

He didn’t understand.

“...What makes the Point-Breakthrough different from the intermediate Breakthrough spell?”

“Oh, it targets a specific area. It has a stronger impact than Breakthrough.”

Lania nodded.

“Yes, targeting a specific area to break through. That’s the strength of this circuit. So, did you find the specific constraint circuit?”

Lak nodded repeatedly.

“However, there can’t be just one constraint. There are more. It’s better to visualize the spell more concretely.”

Lania touched the circuit.

Her mana enveloped the circuit, and it was reproduced in the air. Everyone looked at it.

“Don’t think of the spell in a simplistic way. Imagine I want to make something. Think about how you would describe it using this circuit.”

Her slender fingers moved.

“What do you need to break through? What form will it take? How far will it break through? How fast will it break through?”

She pointed to the remaining finger.

“And, how much will it cost to make this tool?”

It’s easier if you think about it.

She continued her explanation.

“Let’s try to make it once. You won’t be able to follow what I’m about to do. According to the curriculum, you’ll learn this in the third year. For now, just remember that this method exists.”

She flicked her wrist up and down.

Then, she drew a horizontal line with her finger.

“A circuit is ultimately a collection of spell languages. It’s a circuit that connects visualized spell languages. The visualized spell languages are called runes.”

Characters rose following her finger.

The students recognized the first character that appeared. However, its shape quickly changed.

Unknown patterns engraved in the circuit.

These patterns replaced the characters.

“You probably memorized the circuits. That’s not wrong. Visualizing spell languages as runes is a very difficult task. For now, memorize them and learn their meanings later. It’s an efficient teaching method.”

More patterns continued to appear.

“However, you might have heard of it before.”

The character for Fire, representing the most basic element, bent and turned into a pattern.

The spell language for Start also turned into a pattern. It was a spell language often used in the early stages of learning spell activation.

The two patterns merged, forming a circuit they all knew well.

Ignite.

Lania snapped her fingers.

A flame, about the size of her finger, with a faint starlight, gently burned. Everyone looked at it as if enchanted.

“A circuit is ultimately a trade letter sent to the stars.”

They had heard of it.

It was a sentence written in the first page of the textbook. However, no one had tried to understand it.

It was just something that existed.

It was written in a way that made it seem like just something that existed.

“A circuit is like a trade letter for trading with the stars. I want this, so I’ll pay this much, and I want what’s written in the trade letter.”

She explained the sentence.

“What should be the most clear in a trade letter? What item you want and how much you’re willing to pay, right?”

She pointed to the newly appeared characters.

“Now, let’s try to make the circuit for Point-Breakthrough. Don’t think about the cost for now.”

She moved her fingers.

Characters appeared.

“First, Point-Breakthrough is an impact spell.”

Damage.

“And it’s a spell that delivers shock.”

Shock.

“The shock will be in a straight line.”

Straight.

“It needs to be sharp to break through well.”

Sharp.

“The speed should be fast and the impact heavy.”

Acceleration.

Weight.

“Anyway, it’s a breakthrough.”

Breakthrough.

“Breaking through a point.”

Point.

“Then, it would look like this.”

The spell languages turned into patterns.

They mixed together and arranged themselves.

Thus, the circuit was completed.

The completed raw circuit was similar to the one Lak had drawn. Similar, but different.

“This circuit is garbage. It’s just a random combination of thoughts. If activated as is, it would bounce in all directions and pierce the caster as well.”

She focused on the difference.

“So, we stabilize it by adding constraints. Let’s specify the direction and slightly reduce the power to lower the cost.”

Certain, Reduction.

“Still, it feels a bit... rough. It’s unstable. So, let’s refine it a bit more.”