Special Lecture (2)
'Mana... Don’t you want to learn how to control it?'
Two days had already passed since I said that to Ayla.
At the time, she had worn an expression that looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
Even so, Ayla—
'Yes. Please teach me.'
—had given that brief reply and grasped my hand.
And so I had promised to teach her how to control her new Mana Circuit.
We had agreed to meet again once her Demonic Energy Poisoning was fully cured.
The promised day had already arrived.
'Five days until classes resume.'
The day after the incident, an official notice had come down from the Academy stating that lectures would be suspended for a week.
Many students were probably enjoying themselves, but I was using that period productively.
Since her discharge from the hospital, Flora had been focused on stabilizing her Level 6 Mana Circuit.
Gilbert and Camilla ran with the Running Crew every day, then sparred with me for ten minutes afterward.
After that, I had them spend the rest of the time in their dorms working through past Magic Tower Practical Exam essay questions and filling their Resistance Stones.
'They really have improved a lot.'
It had been the same with Alcyone—the numbers don't betray you if you put in the effort.
They were already approaching fifty percent, far above the thirty-percent target we had set during Field Training.
Given their ambition to enter the Magic Tower and how diligently they were following my instruction, their efforts would surely bear desirable fruit.
I was genuinely looking forward to seeing their reactions when the training ended and they filled empty Resistance Stones on their own.
"It's about time she arrived."
Finally, the most important item on the schedule: teaching Ayla Mana Circuit control.
Today's lecture was being held in a special facility at the Magic Tower, with the Magic Tower Master's assistance.
I only planned to teach mana control, but the facility sprawled over a vast area and was packed with Magic Devices on a scale the academy could not match.
One Magic Device designed to simulate different weather conditions caught my eye.
'Using something like this in the next lecture would be good.'
I could use this to conduct lectures in diverse situations.
For example, creating an environment where rain or snow falls and having them overcome it.
It wasn't just the enemy—every moment on the battlefield could be overturned by the countless variables that arose.
If I played the role of a Level 4 Demon and rewarded them for surviving or winning under adverse conditions...
'This might actually work.'
Just as I was sketching out a lecture plan in my head—
"Instructor Karon!"
Ayla came running, waving her hand, dressed differently than usual.
Over her favorite blouse, she had thrown on a robe that practically shouted, 'I belong to the Magic Tower!'
Her cute appearance, so completely different from the exhausted Magic Tower mages I knew, made the corners of my mouth creep upward.
"That suits you very well."
"Really?"
"Absolutely. It's a shame this can only be seen here."
"I'm glad I decided to wear it out."
Ayla smiled bashfully at that, then spun around once to show off the robe and took a step closer to me.
"What did you do over those two days, Instructor?"
"Nothing much. I taught Gilbert and Camilla."
"You didn't give them a special lecture and leave me out, did you?"
I shrugged lightly.
"I only had them run and spar as usual, then work on Resistance Stones and Magic Tower Practical Exam essay questions."
"Isn't that a special lecture...?"
"Which is why I'm here, for the sake of fairness."
Ayla nodded vigorously at those words.
It gave me the feeling of watching a spirited puppy.
"That reminds me, is Flora all right?"
"Yes. She’s stabilizing her Mana Circuit at the dorm, so she should be fine before classes resume."
"I was worried, wondering if I should go visit her, so that's a relief."
Ayla let out a sigh of relief at the news that Flora was safe.
It was true that I had sensed a little distance between us at first, but now we were close enough to tease each other.
Even without asking, I could tell she considered Flora a friend.
By now, hadn't they already become best friends?
Neither of them had ever had many close friends their own age, so I could only see this as a good thing.
In any case.
Enough small talk. It was time to properly teach her Mana Control.
"We can’t put it off any longer, so let’s get started."
"Yes! What should I do?"
"Please wait a moment."
Ayla was visibly tense, but just as visibly excited.
With her hands demurely clasped together, she seemed to be waiting until I spoke.
First, I recalled Madam's notes and began to map out Ayla's Mana Circuit in my head.
I carefully traced the neat, beautifully arranged Mana Circuit.
I started from the circuit serving as the main framework and was expanding outward when—
'Right. This part was subtly different.'
I identified the part that differed from ordinary Mana Circuits and worked out a plan to optimize it.
Learning to burn mana rather than simply consume it would demand a higher level of control than she had used before.
That was why distributing it appropriately without affecting other circuits was crucial.
This would require a great deal of trial and error, but Ayla already possessed optimal conditions.
'Training with the Resistance Stones definitely helped.'
She possessed high-purity mana and a Mana Circuit that could withstand it, so it would be fine.
"I'll explain the method from now on, but it will require multiple attempts and continuous tuning. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand."
Ayla nodded with a confident look.
I immediately presented a Mana Circuit control method tailored specifically for her.
"From now on, we'll concentrate not on consuming mana, but on burning it. Do you have any sense of what that feels like?"
"Burning the mana, you say?"
Ayla tilted her head.
Seeing as she had trouble understanding the abstract phrasing, I added a more concrete explanation.
"Fundamentally, when you insert mana into a Mana Circuit, it is consumed accordingly. In other words, you insert 10 and 10 comes out. Do you know this?"
"Yes. I learned that in theory class."
"Good. Now, a special case is that the output value changes depending on how efficiently you handle the mana."
"But doesn't that break the rules...?"
"Does it, now?"
I spoke while kindling a flame the size of a torch above my hand.
"This is a flame made using precisely the bare minimum of mana."
"That's the minimum of mana?"
"To bring back the earlier explanation, it is a case of inserting 1 and drawing out 10."
Ayla wore an expression of disbelief.
She had good reason. A Mana Circuit honestly outputs exactly what you put in.
It was only a difference in Total Mana Capacity, and the principle applied to everyone from a child who had just awakened to magic all the way to the Magic Tower Master.
Here's a question.
What happened when someone reached the pinnacle of Mana Control?
Mages might give many answers, starting with simply becoming stronger, but—
The exact answer was that you began to ignore the established rules. I was living proof.
The Magic Tower Master could not deny it either.
Anyway.
Ultimately, I was teaching Ayla how to break the rules and become even stronger. I showed her the prize waiting at the end.
"You’ll still put in ten, just like everyone else. The difference is that you’ll be able to draw out twenty, thirty, or even more."
"Is that possible?"
"It’s possible with your Mana Circuit."
Ayla slowly tilted her head again.
From the look in her eyes that was still half-doubtful, it seemed only experiencing it firsthand would turn her skepticism into conviction.
"There should be one part of your Mana Circuit that feels subtly different. It’s buried in a circuit you know so well that you may have overlooked it. Let’s find it."
"Yes, Instructor."
After carefully steadying her mana, Ayla produced a test flame.
Fwoosh!
The start was very smooth.
She threw herself into it with plenty of determination.
But it didn't go as well as expected.
She still could not get a feel for it, even after alternating with the conventional method in an attempt to spot the difference.
After the flame had flared up and died back down dozens of times—
"I need to rest for a bit..."
She plopped right down onto the ground and pouted like a duck.
She had to be frustrated; this was clearly a chance to become stronger, but it wasn't going the way she wanted.
"There's no need to push yourself. We can take it step by step."
"But, Instructor..."
Since Ayla had to discover this on her own, I could only watch in silence.
I wished Madam were here. Her help would have made this much easier.
'Wait a moment...'
A decent idea flitted through my head.
I would imitate Madam’s Mana Circuit Tuning.
I couldn't perfectly replicate this ability because it was a privilege unique to elves, but I could loosely imitate it.
Madam could touch the circuit directly. I could not, but I could manipulate mana to open the path for her instead.
A small amount of mana would be more than enough to stimulate the circuit, so it was worth trying.
I immediately sat down on the ground after Ayla and extended my right hand.
"May I borrow your hand for a moment?"
"H-Huh?"
"I’ll guide you through it step by step."
"Ah... all right."
Ayla quietly scooted over and placed her hand on mine; a soft sensation spread through my palm.
Perhaps she was extremely nervous, because she stared at me silently before suddenly ducking her head down.
"Nothing untoward will happen, so please don't worry too much."
"Okay..."
Listening to Ayla's mumbling, I carefully inserted mana in accordance with the circuit I had spread out in my mind.
"Shall we give it a try now?"
Ayla did not answer. Something seemed to have happened.
"Ayla?"
I quickly checked Ayla's face and found both of her cheeks had flushed pink.
Then, the moment our eyes met, I caught sight of her flinching and flustered, as though she had been jolted by electricity.
"S-Sorry. I'll try it right now."
Straight away, I sensed the flow of mana.
Having opened the path definitely made it easier to check.
If she kept going like this, she would find the peculiarity before long.
But that was only temporary.
It shook considerably, like a sailboat caught in a storm.
At times like this, emotional agitation played a major role.
I spoke in a voice as low and steady as possible to help her pull herself together.
"Ayla."
"Y-Yes?"
"Focus."
Ayla let out a deep breath to steady herself and tried again.
I also poured every ounce of my attention into helping her.
Through our clasped hands, I could feel every beat of her pulse.
How much time passed after that?
Around when the sun overhead had slanted heavily toward the west—
"Huh...?"
Ayla's eyes, which had been closed for a long while, flashed open.
"I felt something like a spark popping inside my body for a moment."
"Then you’re almost there. Remember that feeling and try making a flame."
Ayla nodded slowly and produced the flame she had tried to make dozens—hundreds—of times.
Fwoosh!
A flame distinctly different from before flared up, and around her, a small amount of mana sparkled like grains of sand before scattering into the air.
Put another way, it was a signal announcing that she had blazed a new path.
"Instructor, I did it!"
"You've finally reached the starting line. Congratulations."
She was so elated that she abruptly grabbed my hand.
As she did, the traces of mana scattering into the air caught my eye.
I could see why Madam, even after all those years, remembered it as looking like a painting.
If I had to give a brief impression of my own—
Though it was only a feeble flame now, its red hue was no different from the blaze that would one day consume everything.