Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: A Midsummer Night's Nightmare (4)
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『Basics of Mana Trading Studies』
『Improving Spell Efficiency Through Transaction Concepts.』
As I wrote the topic my master had covered on the blackboard, I recalled the outline of this lesson. I organized in my mind what I would teach the students.
Transaction concepts—in other words, the application of restrictions.
Enhancing spell efficiency through restrictions.
This was the topic my master had addressed. Up until now, the students had learned by dismantling "completed" circuits to understand the restrictions embedded within them...
This time, we would do the opposite.
"Inscribe restrictions directly into the circuit."
Observe how the circuit changes with added restrictions. Judge for yourself which ones are most efficient through that observation.
It's much like developing a spell.
"It's a concept actually used in spell development, too."
Developing new spells.
Creating entirely new spells beyond the three hundred or so devised by ancient mages. In other words, crafting your own unique spell.
The pinnacle of the magical knowledge you've built up.
The representative achievement of your lifelong path in the magical arts.
In short, the ultimate pursuit of any mage.
The first concept employed in such spell development is the application of restrictions.
"In a way, it's the first button."
The first button is always crucial, no matter what.
As such, I'd put considerable effort into this lesson. The homework assignment with the resistance stones was part of that, too.
I planned to let the students indirectly experience "spell development" through this class.
Spell development is the pinnacle of magical studies.
And even pinnacles come in various forms. Which one should I have them experience?
I didn't deliberate long on that.
Scribble.
I moved the chalk. Fresh white powder drifted down onto the blackboard. Letters emerged through the dust.
『Topic』
If there's something to pursue at the end of the magical path,
『Topic: Basics』
it must be what you first encountered upon stepping onto the path of magical studies.
『Topic: Basic Spells』
If there's a pinnacle to pursue first,
『Topic: The Pinnacle of Basic Spells.』
it must be the most fundamental one.
-Ding, da-ding.
As the bell rang out, I opened my mouth.
"Then let's begin the lesson."
2.
『Topic: The Pinnacle of Basic Spells.』
The students blinked at the topic written on the blackboard. It was something Professor Rosel had never covered in his classes.
Mana Trading Studies, Basics.
Professor Lania's class wasn't standalone. It supplemented Professor Rosel's Mana Trading Studies course.
"Though it's a bit different..."
At any rate, it shared the same topics as Professor Rosel's class. But not this time.
What Professor Rosel had covered last session was "enhancing spell efficiency through the application of transaction concepts."
And the topic Professor Lania had written was the pinnacle of basic spells. No matter how you looked at it, there was no clear connection between the two.
The students tilted their heads in confusion.
Professor Lania nodded slightly at their puzzled gazes and spoke.
"In previous classes, you've learned about restrictions in circuits."
She drew a few circuits in the air.
They were the restriction circuits familiar from the homework.
"How have restrictions functioned in the circuits you know? What hidden restrictions are there? What exactly is a restriction to begin with?"
These were all things covered in past lessons.
Things they hadn't understood at first but now grasped—she summarized them briefly.
"Now you understand the basics. It's time to move to the next stage."
She wiggled her finger.
About twenty restriction circuits aligned in the air.
"The next step after understanding is application. And in Professor Rosel's last class, you learned how to apply these restriction circuits."
The students nodded.
Professor Rosel had taught them how to utilize restriction circuits in the previous session—explaining how to boost spell efficiency with restrictions.
"Property changes through restrictions."
They had a vague grasp of it.
But they hadn't reached true enlightenment yet. They had only just stepped into the gateway.
"What I'll cover today isn't much different. I just plan to delve a bit deeper."
She pointed to the word "pinnacle."
Then her finger moved to "basics."
"What do you think basic spells are?"
It was a rather primal question.
When no one spoke up first, Professor Lania pointed to a student in the front row.
"You there, Miss Iruna?"
"Yes, Professor Lania."
She posed the question to the student who shot to her feet.
"What do you think is the advantage of basic spells?"
Iruna pondered for a moment at the question.
Spells with simple, unrefined strokes in their circuits that anyone could easily cast. In the world of magical studies, these were called basic spells.
What were their advantages?
It was an easy question to answer.
"I think the advantage is that the circuits are simple and quick to activate."
"Correct. Then what are the disadvantages?"
"...Well, since they activate quickly, their power is weak, and most mages know what effects they'll have... so they're not very effective in magical combat."
Basic spells have clear advantages and disadvantages, just like their strengths.
As the first spells learned, most students knew them well. Professor Lania nodded at Iruna's answer.
"Correct. So, how would you resolve the disadvantages of basic spells?"
"......"
Iruna fell silent at the question.
"...Resolve the disadvantages?"
It was a problem she'd never considered. There was no need to resolve them in the first place. In magical studies, basic spells were just a stepping stone.
"If there are disadvantages, you just move on to intermediate spells, right...?"
That's what Iruna thought.
But since she'd been called on, she tried to answer to the best of her knowledge.
"Um, since the power is lacking, you could add a reinforcement circuit or something... to fix it?"
"That's one method. But wouldn't adding a reinforcement circuit make the spell heavier?"
Professor Lania wiggled her finger.
The circuit for the basic spell Ignite appeared in the air. She wiggled her finger again.
A reinforcement circuit enveloped the Ignite circuit.
The completed circuit was closer to an intermediate spell than a basic one. It consumed much more mana, too.
"This would make it closer to an intermediate spell. Of course, it's a valid solution, but is there no way to resolve the disadvantages without changing the mana cost?"
Iruna sat down without an answer. As she did, someone raised their hand. It was Resti.
"Yes, Miss Resti."
At Professor Lania's nod, she spoke.
"Professor. Wouldn't boosting power in a specific aspect, rather than overall, also resolve the disadvantages?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then I think using restriction circuits would work."
Professor Lania nodded at the remark.
"Correct."
She nodded and moved her finger.
The reinforcement circuit detached from Ignite. She activated it as is.
Tik.
A small spark jumped from her fingertip. Pointing to it, she said,
"More people than you'd think misunderstand the effect of this Ignite spell. You probably see it simply as 'lighting a fire.'"
She continued.
"That's true enough. However, Ignite's duration is longer than other spells. Once ignited, the flame doesn't die out easily."
Unlike fireballs that scatter on impact.
The Ignite flickering on her fingertip still held its shape.
"Small, weak, but long-lasting."
That was Ignite's characteristic.
"The reinforcement circuit alters the 'small and weak' part here. Since the latter clause remains intact, it's only natural that it consumes double the mana."
She redrew the Ignite circuit.
The students' eyes followed her finger.
"What we change is the latter clause. The core of restriction circuits is swapping one advantage for another."
A restriction circuit floating in the air moved.
Two restrictions attached to the Ignite circuit. They were Shorten.
"This changes it to 'small, weak, but short-burning spell.' Doesn't something feel off?"
She recited the sentence again.
"It becomes a spell that's small, weak, and short-lived."
A spell with only disadvantages. But the mana consumption had decreased significantly. Spare mana emerged.
"That means we can tweak the front part. As Miss Iruna said, we could draw a reinforcement circuit and use the spare mana... but."
Alternatively.
"We could add a restriction that synergizes with Shorten for added benefit."
The students knew about that.
They'd learned it in previous classes. Through countless homework problems, they'd practically memorized cases where restrictions synergized for gains.
"Like how Specificity and Reduction combine for stability..."
The students scanned the twenty or so circuits floating in the air. They spotted ones that paired with Shorten.
"Shorten with Imbalance and Specificity."
The Imbalance restriction warps the spell.
Specificity directs the warp's orientation. Even with direction set, the spell elongates out of control without Shorten to rein it in.
The students' gazes overlapped with Professor Lania's.
She pulled the restrictions and inscribed them into the Ignite circuit.
Snap. She flicked her finger.
A blaze shot up from her fingertip, larger than before. But it vanished in an instant.
"Still not enough for offensive use."
She added a new circuit.
She inscribed a reinforcement circuit using the remaining spare mana. The reinforcement was Diffusion. She added another Specificity to the Diffusion circuit.
Mana still overflowed.
She added another Shorten circuit.
And so on. Add when short, remove when excess. The circuit transformed repeatedly in her hands.
Screech, screeech.
The emerging circuit retained Ignite's core but took on a completely different form. Yet the mana cost remained the same as the original.
"Something's different."
The students suddenly thought.
It was constructed differently from their common sense. To them, spells were like fixed formulas.
"But Professor..."
Yet the spell changing in Professor Lania's hands wasn't a formula. She handled it like an equation, not a fixed result.
Add, subtract, multiply, divide.
Maintaining only the result of 100, the equation inside flipped endlessly.
Thus, the equation completed.
Utterly transformed from the start, now far more complex. Complex, yet still yielding 100.
"Behold."
She flicked her finger.
Exactly the right amount of mana for a basic spell sucked into the circuit.
The spell manifested.
Utterly changed from the original.
The moment she snapped her fingers, tik, a small spark flew. It headed into the air. The instant it touched the floating resistance stone.
Flash!
A burst of light and heat surged.
The heat dispersed quickly on the resistance stone. But scorch marks remained. A flaw on the stone that perfectly blocked even intermediate spells, let alone basics.
"......"
The students fell silent.
"As you see, even basic spells can achieve this level of power."
Professor Lania said.
"Many mistake basic spells for being efficient."
She smiled wryly and pointed to the Ignite circuit. Simple and unassuming.
"Basic spells cost little mana. But low cost doesn't mean efficient. No restrictions are inscribed in basic spells."
Simple, so much to fix.
Unassuming, so much to tweak.
"If told to strengthen a spell, most increase the mana investment. But is that necessary?"
She pointed to the restriction circuits.
"Change the spell's inherent properties to cover its weaknesses without greatly altering the mana cost."
Then she pointed to the blackboard.
Her finger touched the top sentence.
"That is enhancing spell efficiency through restrictions."
Her finger moved downward.
"And what I'll teach you... is how to pursue ultimate efficiency in basic spells."
The students instinctively glanced at the clock.
Class had just begun. Plenty of time left. What would they learn in the remaining time?
They couldn't know.
The unknown sparked interest.
A glint entered the students' eyes as they watched her. Mages crave enlightenment. That thirst never stops, no matter the moment or place.
No students complained of fatigue.
They focused on the circuits before them and began taking notes. Professor Lania's voice and the scratch of pens filled the lecture hall.
3.
Professor Lania's classes were always example-driven, as usual. Throughout the session, she demonstrated countless examples.
Watching them, the students realized.
How far basic spells could evolve, how much they could change. They weren't something to dismiss as merely "basic."
Restrictions reduce cost.
Reinforcement circuits increase it.
Simply put, yes—but the process was profoundly mystical. Witnessing familiar formulas crumble brought a cathartic thrill.
"Circuits aren't for memorizing."
Something she'd steadily emphasized in past classes. Now, the students began grasping its meaning bit by bit.
Familiar formulas weren't true formulas.
Memorized knowledge didn't need memorizing.
"Fluid, not rigid."
Circuits could change endlessly.
Watching the process felt like witnessing a new spell's birth.
"Spell creation."
The ultimate goal at magical studies' end.
A realm once thought impossibly distant now shimmered before their eyes.
Flashy.
Brilliant.
Grand.
Development isn't just crafting such spectacles. Creating unseen spells is development too.
The students stared ahead.
Efficient, concise, refined... spells they'd never encountered. Imagining crafting them themselves made their fingers itch.
"I want to rush to the spell lab right now."
As the students thought that,
with ten minutes left in class, Professor Lania clapped from the podium.
"Don't you all want to try it yourselves?"
The students nodded unconsciously.
At that, Professor Lania smiled brightly. A smile they'd never seen. Truly joyful, she was beautiful—like a flower blooming.
Beautiful.
Undeniably beautiful, but...
The students felt an inexplicable chill from that beauty. Their shoulders trembled faintly.
"So I prepared something."
She said with a smile.
"Let me explain this group assignment."
That moment.
Sigh.
The glint vanished from the students' eyes.
The moment they heard "assignment," some chemical reaction occurred... their eyes cooled coldly.
"......"
The mages whose eyes had burned with passion were gone. In their place were students haunted by Aphria's nightmare the night before.
"First, let's divide into groups..."
She ignored their reactions entirely. Beaming, she began organizing the floating resistance stones.
As if deliberately handing them out.
"What on earth is she planning with those expensive resistance stones?"
Impossible to predict. The unknown filled the students with dread.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Author's Note (Afterword)
The reason there's relatively little description of Lania's appearance from the students' perspective is that they don't have time to look at her face. If she were ugly or plain, there'd be gossip like, "That professor's temper matches her damn looks." But...
Her looks offer no room for criticism.
And while pretty enough to buzz about, the assignments drain all affection.
That's reality, isn't it?
What's the point of a pretty professor?
You can't even see her face buried under a mountain of homework.
*Made it 8k characters to make up for the lateness!
Lecture scenes are hard to write no matter how many times...
Sorry for skipping yesterday...!