Would anyone happen to remember?
Surprisingly, we had gone outside for a date.
Whether eating together or going to a cafe, a date…
Ah, we did come to a cafe, but… since we didn't spend time together like a normal date there.
Anyway.
Our schedule right now was somehow very strange.
First, to give some context on the current timeline, three days had already passed since I first met Aldric.
I didn't know if there was no work or if he had set some conditions again, but it seemed there weren't any particular orders from above yet.
Thanks to that, for the past three days, I had been receiving private lessons from Aldric and Signica noona.
I already knew Noona was a mage with outstanding talent, but Aldric was truly unexpected.
I had definitely thought he was just an ordinary owner of a library cafe in a remote forest,
but it turned out he was an incredibly skilled person.
A retired senior mage, no less.
And not just any senior mage, but a 9th Circle mage on the verge of becoming an Elder Mage (Archmage, 10th Circle).
He had originally been a professor in charge of magic education at the Academy,
and he said he had formed a connection with Signica back then, which was why they had remained acquainted until now.
'But if they met at the Academy, he would basically be her teacher, yet he always attaches Miss after her name when calling her.'
It was a slightly curious point.
It could just be his personal manner of speaking, or there could be another relationship I didn't know about.
But,
'Well, that's not what's important.'
What was important was that he taught magic really well, befitting his realm and his experience having been a professor at the Academy.
He kept putting me on a pedestal, saying, 'It's because Sir Evan has outstanding talent,'
but I didn't think that was the case.
Me, having outstanding talent?
Yeah, that could be.
But I think my talent is meshing with how incredibly well Aldric teaches to produce good results.
Anyway…
So, where is my current realm now?
"3rd Circle fire magic - Fire Lance."
- Shwoosh!
Mana gathered in the air at my incantation.
Soon, a well-forged spear of flame was floating in the air.
It was the combined result of the 'mana attribute change + mental imagery' I had mentioned before.
"Discharge."
The spear floating in the air flew toward the target at my command.
The result was, naturally, a hit.
It wasn't particularly difficult for me.
Because I had now reached the realm where I could handle the 3rd Circle stably.
Ah, by the way, you might be wondering where I'm using magic like this,
this was a magic training ground located further behind the cafe.
It was made up of quite cutting-edge facilities, and I heard it was a place Signica noona mainly used,
but I really didn't know why a place like this had facilities of this level.
'Wha, this much water in a place with no water??'
Well, was this the kind of feeling they wanted to surprise others with?
'Whatever the reason, it doesn't really matter.'
What's important is that I can practice freely without having to worry about my surroundings.
***
In the mornings, I used magic diligently like this, and from lunch onward, I received magic-related education from Aldric.
If I explained all the educational content, several books wouldn't be enough, so to put it roughly,
it was about the increase in movement speed using Haste and wind magic.
I could cite the difference between those two magics as an example.
I had said before that a mage's enlightenment was their understanding of mana and magic,
so you could see all the theories I'm learning now as the process of raising that understanding.
For reference, the difference between increasing movement speed using Haste and wind magic is,
Haste applies a principle similar to physical strengthening using Aura, but as a magic version, strengthening the body itself with mana,
while increasing movement speed using wind magic is, as literally stated, the act of pushing my body with wind, so control is needed.
Since I brought it up, as a side note, mages of high realm are said to prefer the latter over Haste.
Making air resistance zero… something something. Anyway, it's high-difficulty control or something.
Exceptionally, in my case too, I had to choose the latter.
It seems the effects of a body strengthened by Haste and a body strengthened by Aura don't stack.
Aura and mana are both formless energy, but there's a feeling that the way they're handled is subtly different.
There's no particular problem if used separately,
but using them simultaneously is said to feel like drawing a circle with the left hand and a triangle with the right.
Of course, the funny point here is that from an ordinary person's standpoint, simply handling Aura and mana—energies that exist but are abstract and formless—is already a task at the level of the right and left hands working independently that I just mentioned.
But well… the realm I'm aiming for is one where I use mana and Aura simultaneously, so it's damn difficult, but I have to keep raising my proficiency and trying.
I was told it's better to use them separately, and that there hasn't been anyone who went out of their way to combine and research them until now.
Anyway, I can use both?
Since I was planning to master both separately first and then try anyway, it didn't seem like such a bad attempt.
'Since it's difficult, there must be some good synergy.'
Ever since hearing what the Death Knight said to me, there was something I thought of as one of the laws of the world in my head.
The Law of Equivalent Exchange.
If anyone heard it, they might say, "Correct. Alchemist."
but first of all, I'm not an alchemist.
….
Anyway.
After raising my understanding of magic and mana in this way, I used magic in the training ground again with Signica, who had been watching me learn magic.
"No, in that part you have to rotate the mana a bit faster."
Most of what she pointed out and taught me was the sensation of handling magic and mana.
Noona wasn't as thoroughly versed in theory as Aldric was.
If Aldric was like studying while looking at a textbook, Signica noona was like having received education through a dark rou…
I don't know if such a thing exists, but anyway.
When you hear it, it somehow feels like "Is this right?" but when you try it, it's right.
But perhaps because of this teaching method, there were occasional hardships even in such a satisfying situation,
"No, no. There it's whoosh, ka-bam! Ya know."
The most trying times were when she used strange onomatopoeia with such a serious expression.
Even when I asked her to explain in a way easier to understand.
"Hrmm… then, pasha-sham, boom! Ya know."
Nothing particularly changed.
Aldric couldn't help me with this part either.
Because he had never once received teaching from her.
The reason was that he had no need to take interest in what she said when teaching magic to others.
Signica had come having perfectly learned what he taught anyway.
To him, she had simply been a good student worth teaching.
Ah,
but don't misunderstand.
Just because she can't explain doesn't mean she raised her realm without enlightenment.
Aldric simply felt like he was showing me enlightenments that were refined and injectable, while Signica couldn't explain but somehow her body and consciousness naturally understood?
I think it's like the difference between encountering a language as your native tongue and as a second foreign language.
When we use our native language, we don't use it with precise understanding of why it's used that way or by what principle.
When we use a second foreign language, we use it knowing suspiciously thoroughly about principles and word nuances.
It was exactly that kind of difference in feeling.
The magic we feel is a second foreign language,
but the magic she feels was her native language.
Of course, since I have talent too, I understood quickly even when she explained like that.
Maybe once I get more used to it, I could converse like this too…?
"Thwump. Thwump. Boom! You gotta do that."
"Ah, I interpreted it as thwump-thwump, boom-boom! though?"
"Hmm… that might have some merit too, but thwump. Thwump. Boom! is better."
This kind of feeling?
???: This is fucking bullshit. Fuck. I'm dropping magic.
….
But really, I wasn't going around telling people I reached the 3rd Circle in 3 days either.
Academy graduate mages are usually at the 3rd to 4th Circle.
Rarely, 5th to 6th Circles come out too.
Because of Signica noona, who graduated early from the Academy at the 7th Circle, and party members at a similar level to her, I sometimes forget and live on,
someone at my level was a super freak.
Me: It's been 3 days since I learned magic and I'm at the 3rd Circle. Magic is easy! Is this a good thing?
Mages: ….
Me: ??
Mages: Get out.
….
Hehehe.
Well… anyway.
After getting a feel for magic like that with Signica noona,
the next day.
Bell and the rest of the party members came looking for us.
There had been orders from above too, but more importantly,
- Srring.
it was my spar with Veronica.
The reason for doing this was simple.
Since my goal was to utilize magic and sword as harmoniously and efficiently as possible in combat.
It would be good to have data, but too weak an opponent wouldn't accumulate good data worth referencing.
With Veronica's help, I was planning to field-test the magic applications I had pre-planned in my head.
When she drew her sword, I too drew my sword from my waist.
For reference, I wasn't the only one analyzing this spar.
The party members watching this and Aldric.
And even Veronica, who was facing me.
Everyone was planning to think through and review this spar together with me.
'It suddenly occurs to me anew, but I think I'm really blessed with good people.'
How many people in the world are there who take care of me and worry together with me like this?
They say even one means a successful life, but I already had at least five.
If I include the people remaining in the mercenary corps, it would be quite a lot… but it would take too long to count them all, so I hope the mercenary corps people don't feel slighted.
Anyway.
Aldric, who had agreed to referee, was watching Veronica and me, timing the start.
A moment later.
- Fwish!
Aldric shot a Magic Missile up with his finger, and the spar began.