Let's Strengthen the Spirit 2
The students in the classroom buzzed at the conversation between Rian and the professor.
"Strengthen a spirit?"
"Is that even possible?"
"I heard two great mages could do it if they poured all their mana into it?"
Asrion reacted the most dramatically to that absurd declaration.
What's that con artist scheming now?!
Asrion stroked the burning falcon perched on his arm while glaring daggers at Rian.
He glanced at his own burning falcon.
Strengthen a spirit? As if that's possible.
Asrion believed it was impossible in this field, even with artifacts. Common knowledge held that no one short of his grandfather, the 9-circle great mage and lord of the Mage Tower, could strengthen a spirit alone.
"Vesperia."
"Yeah."
Vesperia nodded cautiously at Rian's call.
"Um, Rian... Blackie really gets stronger?"
She clutched Blackie tightly to her chest and asked timidly. Her eyes held a mix of anticipation and faint worry.
"Getting stronger is great and all... but it won't make its teeth super sharp or turn it bear-sized or anything scary, right? I like our Blackie cute like this..."
"Don't worry."
Rian waved it off.
"No plans to make it change shape that much. Just tweaking the mana core capacity inside while leaving the shell as-is. No visible changes to the eye—not even 1 percent. Relax."
"Oh, phew! So what now?"
"Give me one hand first."
Rian held out his hand.
Vesperia grabbed it without hesitation, beaming brightly.
"Like this?"
"Yeah, hold still."
Tap.
The moment their hands clasped, Ardelia's red eyes trembled faintly as she watched.
Directly interfering with someone else's mana circuits to affect their spirit?!
Spirits shared mana with their summoners. Theoretically, injecting mana through the summoner Vesperia was sound.
But it's dangerous.
The known method for strengthening spirits required two great mages to delicately operate and avoid risks. Forcing one's mana into another's circuits could burn both out.
It was an extremely hazardous, delicate procedure.
He's really doing it?
Ardelia worried she should stop him. Rian, her hope, and her twin sister Vesperia, whom she'd sworn to protect, could be in peril.
But it was too late. She could only pray they'd emerge unscathed and watch.
Wrrrrrr—!
The clasped hands of Rian and Vesperia. Soon, the classroom air grew oppressively heavy.
Here we go.
Rian closed his eyes and spun the 4D tesseract-structured circle near his heart. Upgrading Blackie, a 1-circle low-grade spirit, to 4-circle level. Mana poured from his body toward Blackie's core like a waterfall.
Shwoooo—!
Rian's mana depleted rapidly. But his infinity mana circle devoured ambient mana, refilling the void instantly.
Consumption and recharge cycled infinitely with zero lag. No flashy lights or explosions manifested externally.
Yet the mages present felt an instinctive chokehold on their breath.
"H-Huhk...!"
"Can't... breathe..."
Students clutched their chests, gasping. Professor Emilia rubbed her paling arms.
Good lord! That massive mana tsunami... flowing smoothly through the lady's veins without a single backflow, straight into the spirit's core! And it's refilling instantly!
It was unbelievable even to witness.
Asrion gritted his teeth, denying the scene. He even rationalized it.
It's a trick! That vast mana presence, but no visible effects? Must be an illusion artifact fooling our senses!
About three minutes later.
"Done. Took exactly 3 minutes 16 seconds."
Rian dropped the hand and stepped back. The crushing mana pressure vanished in a flash.
All eyes locked on Blackie in Vesperia's lap.
"...Huh?"
"Looks the same?"
The students felt no change in Blackie's appearance and murmured in confusion.
Rian stated the results in a dry tone.
"As promised, shell untouched—not even 1 percent. But I expanded the internal core to 4-circle capacity and overhauled the wasteful mana circuits. Now its efficiency and sync rate with you are overwhelmingly better."
"Whoa! For real? That's amazing! Thanks, Rian!"
The students remained skeptical. With no outward change, who could tell?
Professor Emilia and Ardelia, versed up to 4 circles, were too busy scrutinizing Blackie in awe.
Changed? Ha! Nothing happened, the hack!
Arrogant glee filled Asrion's gray eyes. Still at 3 circles, he couldn't detect the shift.
Faked injecting vast mana, but no change—now outright lies!
Asrion was convinced. Strengthening spirits was impossible nonsense from the start. Scamming the Edelgart duke's daughter with this shallow act? Professor Emilia would expose it soon. The commoner was doomed for deceiving a noble lady.
Poor lady. Fooled by such a lowlife con man.
Unlike that feline Blackie, his burning falcon—Virgin—was majestic. As he savored superiority gazing at the proud spirit on his arm—
"Yaaawwwwn~"
Blackie stretched in Vesperia's arms with a lazy yawn. Outwardly, just a cute little cat's drowsy mew.
But as the sound rippled through the air, ultra-dense mana waves subtly vibrated the classroom floor.
"......!"
Virgin, perched arrogantly flapping wings on Asrion's arm, froze stiff like a statue.
The wave targeted him precisely!
"K-Kwee?"
Virgin's gaze met Blackie's squarely from Vesperia's embrace.
Unless a 4-circle+ mage, no one could grasp what transpired inside Blackie.
But spirits—pure mana conglomerates of nature—were different. They instinctively recognized hierarchies by mana purity and density.
Strong. Strong. Superior spirit.
Virgin's instincts screamed alarms wildly. That tiny black cat staring him down was no lowly spirit anymore. It surpassed low-grade ones like him, tied to 3-circle mages—a superior 4-circle entity.
From 4 circles up, spirits treated kin differently. Like humans: 3 circles and below were commoner ranks; 4+ were nobility.
Even with gaps between 2 and 3 circles, same realm. But 4 circles? Another realm entirely.
Thus, despite one step's difference, Virgin's flames shuddered in terror and poofed out.
"K-Kweeeeeek—!!!"
The burning falcon bristled its feathers and shrieked piercingly.
"Gah! Virgin! What's wrong all of a sudden? Calm down!"
Asrion yelped in shock. But the falcon ignored its master.
It kicked off his arm roughly and shot into the air—careful not to claw him, proving its loyalty.
Then it plummeted near Vesperia and Blackie.
Flap, flap!
On landing, it meekly folded its boasted massive wings behind. It flattened belly-down, trembling, beak bowed toward tiny Blackie.
A humiliating posture of submission, like a wretched commoner before a tyrannical noble.
"......"
The classroom silence was far heavier and weirder than when Rian nearly shattered the summoning circle.
Asrion's pride, the majestic burning falcon spirit Virgin, once applauded by all students here.
Now groveling, quaking before a 1-circle-sized black cat.
"Meow."
Blackie lounged comfortably in Vesperia's arms. It haughtily nodded at the prostrated giant falcon, as if granting 'permission to greet.'
Clearly premeditated.
"Oh my!"
Vesperia, witnessing it, widened her eyes and covered her mouth. Her gaze flicked between the groveling Virgin and her Blackie.
Soon, a pure, radiant smile bloomed on her face.
"Wow, Rian, look! Blackie got a big subordinate!"