The Female Lead Became Obsessed
"Alright. I'll set up a defense barrier myself and make you a target."
Iril stepped forward, pointing to the open lot beyond the crumbled outer wall. True to her status as a great mage who had lived for centuries, the air hummed and vibrated at her slightest gesture. In the center, fragments from the surroundings gathered to form a sturdy steel target. A barrier enveloped the area around it.
The path for Rian's spell was left completely clear. But the surrounding areas were walled off by the barrier's walls. Everything was prepared to minimize the fallout from any explosion.
"This should ensure that no matter what you do, the academy takes no damage. Go on, don't hold back—hit it with everything you've got."
At Iril's words, Rian glanced back and forth between the target and her, furrowing his brow.
"You want me to attack that? With the exact same spell I used before?"
"Yes. The 3-Circle flame spell you used to shatter the barrier earlier."
Rian shrugged, looking annoyed.
"Can't I use something else? It'd be more fun than repeating the same thing twice."
"No. People need to see it properly to accurately measure your mana efficiency."
Iril drew a firm line, and Vesperia, watching from the side, chimed in with her hands clasped together.
"Yeah! I wanna see what you did properly too! I don't know what it was, but it went off with this huge boom. Just show me once!"
Rian let out a short sigh at the black-haired girl's innocent pleading. All he could think about was finishing this quickly and grabbing some food.
"Fine. Whatever, one more time it is."
Rian casually raised his hand. Ardelia's red eyes sharpened as she watched.
I'll see exactly what principle it's based on with my own eyes.
She was the princess of the empire. Though her body was only thirteen, she was a regressor. Memories and knowledge up to age eighteen were fully intact within her.
Before her regression, she had naturally studied magic from childhood. Five extra years gave her theoretical knowledge of magical structures and flows far beyond her peers. She was at the level of a proper 4-Circle mage.
Her body just hadn't trained enough to reach beyond 1-Circle.
A 3-Circle flame spell fundamentally uses mana emission and expansion to...
Ardelia was unfolding the formulas in her mind when—
Wooong—!
Mana began swirling at Rian's fingertips. But her expectations were shattered from the very first step.
...Huh?
Ardelia's pupils trembled faintly. This wasn't the mana flow she knew.
Typical mages drew mana from their internal circles and layered incantations upon release for targeting and user protection.
Yet Rian's method seemed to follow the basics while being utterly unique. Instead of emitting right away, he compressed it to the limit. Like cramming a sun on the verge of explosion into a tiny glass bead—an eerie calculation.
That mana output from the start... Is that even 3-Circle?
The amount of mana was abnormal for 3-Circle too. Ardelia doubted if it even qualified.
I-I've never heard of an arrangement like that! That's not 3-Circle magic—it's...!
A 3-Circle spell beyond even the knowledge of a 4-Circle mage! The moment her common sense shattered—
"Fireball."
The dazzling white fireball Rian conjured streaked toward the target.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!!
A deafening roar tore through the air, followed by a horrific explosion. The steel target vaporized without a trace. The interior of Iril's 9-Circle-level barrier filled with white light. The barrier shuddered wildly.
It wasn't enough to break a 9-Circle great mage's barrier. But no one could dismiss that destructive power.
"Whoaaa...!"
As the glow faded, Vesperia ran forward with a gasp of awe.
"Rian! You're amazing! Seeing it up close, it's insane!"
Her purple eyes sparkled with pure admiration. But Rian, the one receiving the praise, wasn't pleased. He glanced at his fingertips and clicked his tongue.
"Tch. No. Still a long way to go."
"Huh? That was crazy, and it's still not enough?"
"Total capacity's lacking. A spell's power is tied to your base mana output, right? At my current level, there's a limit."
Rian was genuinely dissatisfied. He'd twisted his 3-Circle into a Möbius strip to massively boost total mana and efficiency by 400%. But his base mana felt too low. 3-Circle had reached its ceiling.
"Hold on."
Rian held up his palm to Vesperia.
"Give me five minutes. Looks like I have to do it now."
"Five minutes? Okay! I'll wait! But what're you doing?"
"Gonna expand the vessel a bit."
Vesperia tilted her head in confusion. But before Rian could explain, she obediently stepped back. He closed his eyes right there, standing still.
A 3D Möbius structure has clear limits. So just twist space one dimension higher.
Knowledge from his past life flooded his mind like a waterfall. The 3D space of x, y, z axes. The hypothetical fourth axis beyond.
He visualized the three mana rings spinning near his heart.
4D cube. Tesseract.
His will constricted the circles in his heart. Not just adding one more ring. He dismantled the existing 3-Circle and rebuilt it into a perfect 4D hypercube, interlocking them. Insides and outsides flipped, start and end split into eight cubes then fused—an insanely advanced feat.
Wooooong—!
The air around Rian warped grotesquely. Not mere mana waves. Space itself screamed in distortion.
Deep blue mana rings emanated from near his heart, meshing into a geometric form beyond human cognition.
"H-Huh...!"
"W-What the hell is that boy doing...!"
The dean and professors watching from the evaluation platform gaped and slumped to the ground. As scholars of magic's essence, they instinctively knew: that was a completely new form of 4-Circle, shattering all conventions.
"Haa..."
Before the wondrous sight, Iril wore a fully enlightened expression. Covering her face with both hands, she let out a hollow chuckle.
"It's called 4-Circle, but... that's just insane. No, a total cheat."
Her centuries-old eyes saw Rian's state clearly.
"Twisting the vessel's structure like that? Mana capacity's already at minimum 8-Circle great mage level... And if you match the efficiency and base power he's created, it'd surpass even me, a 9-Circle."
The monster who'd formed 3-Circle in five minutes in the forest yesterday. Today, upon arriving at the academy, he'd done 4-Circle in another five. In a form that warped space in ways no one could imagine.
It was hard to believe such a thing could exist.
"At this rate, master and disciple might switch places soon. I should be the one learning from him."
Iril's self-deprecating mutter echoed across the training grounds. No one could refute it. The dean and professors just stared blankly.
Exactly five minutes later, the distorted air calmed. Rian slowly opened his eyes. A faint smile played on his lips.
"Phew. Was getting anxious 'cause the power felt too weak, but now I can relax."
He rolled his shoulders lightly.
The tesseract-shaped 4-Circle pulsed in his chest. Mana overflowed, tingling through his veins. Recovery speed would outpace consumption. Even at 3-Circle, recovery had been overwhelming. Now it was on another level.
Basically infinite mana now!
Infinity Mana Circle. Rian temporarily dubbed his state that.
Another perk: the 4D twist made interference directions impossible to pinpoint. Even a 9-Circle great mage would struggle to disrupt his magic with mana interference.
Of course, I don't know any 4-Circle spells yet, but whatever. I can learn those slowly from books later.
Rian's gaze turned to Vesperia.
"All done. Let's go eat meat now. I'm starving."
"Yay! You're finished? Yeah, let's go!"