Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: First Lesson (3)
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Balance.
That single word brought silence to the hall.
The mages gathered in the auditorium had been expecting her to show them something. But what appeared before them surpassed their wildest imaginations.
Wasn't this supposed to be the basics of Mana Trading?
Wasn't this a class on the fundamentals?
Yet the girl standing on the podium had pulled out Balance—the pinnacle of Mana Trading—from the very start.
"Ah."
Gasps erupted from the audience.
The scales, radiant with captured starlight, were breathtaking. The brilliant starlight captivated the crowd, stealing the mages' gazes.
Platinum scales gleaming brightly.
"Let me ask you one thing."
With the scales before her, Lania opened her mouth.
"Do you all know the three steps of spell manifestation?"
Everyone nodded at the question.
Even those who hadn't studied magic knew the three steps of spellcasting. It was the most basic knowledge.
Drawing the circuit containing the spell.
Paying the mana required for manifestation.
Designating the spell's direction.
The most fundamental elements.
After listing them once, the girl paused briefly before speaking again.
"What I'll show you is precisely those basic three steps."
At those words, the expressions of several mages soured.
They had come here to see Mana Trading. And now it was the basic three steps of spell manifestation?
The three steps of spell manifestation were the foundation of everything.
No one who had learned magic could be ignorant of them. Mastery was essential to manifesting spells.
And naturally, every mage in this hall had mastered the three steps. Even the youngest students had been walking the path of magic for years.
Yet...
She intended to teach them something meant for green initiates fresh on the magical path, right here?
'Don't make me laugh.'
Their rising expectations cooled.
The reactions turned icy.
Amid those sharp gazes...
-Rustle.
The girl moved her finger.
Mana clung to her fingertip, weaving a circuit in the air.
The speed was neither slow nor fast.
"One, drawing the circuit."
The completed circuit was intricate. Curves and lines intertwined seamlessly, and she placed it atop the scales.
-Creak.
The scales tipped slightly.
The level balance tilted toward the circuit, drawing the audience's eyes with it.
With her finger on the empty side of the scales, the girl continued.
"Two, paying the mana."
Mana filled the tilted scale.
Not too little, not too much—just enough to perfectly level the scales. The calculation was precise.
Soon, the scales began to glow.
"Three, designating the direction."
Snap.
She flicked her finger.
Ignite.
The foundational fire-element spell. Used even in everyday magic, the reporters recognized the completed incantation.
However...
"...Ah?"
"Huh?"
"What is..."
Confused murmurs rose from the crowd.
It was indeed Ignite. No mistaking it. But the spell brought to life was somehow different.
-Whoosh.
The burning flames showed no sign of dying out easily.
Even as a low-tier spell, the blaze was fierce.
And a subtle light shimmered within those flames.
Most mages didn't know what it was. But the professors did. The mage tower lords recognized that faint glow.
"Zenith..."
The White Mage Tower Lord murmured blankly.
After casting the same spell dozens or hundreds of times, occasionally starlight would infuse it. A starlight-infused spell elevated the concept itself to a higher level.
Zenith.
That was the name of this rare phenomenon.
"Ah."
The White Lord let out an involuntary sigh.
The light from a Zenith spell was beautiful. It captivated the mages' eyes.
Facing that light, the White Lord blinked.
She wanted to dismiss it as coincidence. Just lucky starlight.
"Next."
But as if mocking her hopes...
The girl moved her finger again. As if one demonstration was enough, the circuit formed in an instant and rose onto the scales.
She filled the tilted scale with mana.
The scales leveled perfectly.
The spell manifested.
Fireball.
A crimson orb of flame.
Starlight still infused it.
"Ah..."
The White Lord sighed again.
Once might be chance, but twice? No.
'She's deliberately creating Zenith.'
At that realization, the White Lord blinked in daze.
The audience reacted the same. They were entranced by the starlight in the spells. Immersed in the girl's seamless process on stage.
She drew the circuit.
Placed it on the scales.
Added mana to balance them.
Manifested the spell.
An utterly ordinary process.
It was exactly how they cast spells—the routine they'd repeated hundreds, thousands of times.
Yet something was different.
It felt entirely new.
There was no hesitation in the girl's movements.
No breaks. Every step connected fluidly, as if it were one unbroken flow rather than separate stages.
It flowed smoothly.
And the completed spells...
Were more beautiful than any they'd ever seen.
"..."
Mages trust only what they observe.
They draw lessons from what their own eyes witness.
Thus...
Watching her, they suddenly realized.
"This is the foundation of spellcasting."
That they hadn't even mastered the basics.
2.
The Black Mage Tower Lord, Yetual, blinked vacantly.
What was he hearing right now?
What was he understanding?
'Am I even understanding this?'
He couldn't tell.
Where comprehension should be, confusion reigned. Yetual stared at the girl as if entranced.
Her finger moved.
She unfolded a spell. Infinitely beautiful, infinitely perfect. No excess, no waste.
"■■, thus ■■, ■■■■■■■■."
Immersed in the mana flow of her spell, Yetual's ears didn't register her words.
He didn't need to hear them anyway.
No need to understand her spoken incantation.
The example she showed next made everything clear. It forced understanding upon the viewer.
Insight struck suddenly.
Where did it come from?
From everything he'd built up until now.
The process repeated hundreds, thousands of times. The one he'd never questioned—now doubts crept in.
'The basics I've done all this time...'
Were they truly...
'The proper process? Can I say I've truly mastered them?'
Had he been doing it right?
Doubts about the most fundamental things began to surface.
"Ah."
It hit him like a blow to the head. Something was wrong. His core beliefs shook. He thought he shouldn't listen anymore.
Yet he did.
Still watching the girl unfold her magic.
"Aah."
The process seared into his mind.
It was less a lecture than brainwashing. Hammering knowledge into his skull.
'What is this...?'
Yetual wiped drool from his mouth.
His mind was hazy.
'What am I even seeing?'
He'd devoted his life to advancing magical scholarship.
Half a century on the path of magic.
His road was long. Inherited from master to disciple in the Black Mage Tower. Its history was etched into his path, making it rock-solid.
It should have been unshakeable.
Tick, tick.
But cracks formed at the very start of that road.
Certainty about the basics crumbled. Doubts filled the void where conviction once stood.
"Ah, ha."
Suddenly, Yetual let out a hollow laugh.
He'd seen geniuses born of the era before. Ashen Mage Raniel was one, and Belnoa, whom he'd found in the slums, another.
They were unbound by time.
They surpassed lifetimes of others' achievements in moments.
How?
He'd wondered that before.
"Do you understand?"
The answer was right here. In the path the girl before him had walked.
Deny the foundations.
Overturn the obvious.
Thus forge an entirely new road.
That new path dismisses lifetimes in an instant. With a sense of emptiness, Yetual muttered.
"What a wasted life."
"..."
The White Lord, who would usually add a quip, was silent now. She too was entranced by the lecture.
Seeing that, the Black Lord gave a bitter smile.
3.
The lecture continued.
Less than an hour.
In that short time, their foundations were shattered. Yet their eyes remained fixed on the podium.
Watching the girl's magic.
"Ah."
Some gasped in awe.
"......"
Others blinked silently.
All the while, the girl continued demonstrating spells.
She merely showed them. She attached explanations, but few listened.
Everyone just watched her magic unfold.
Perfect magic.
Mana flow, control, circulation speed—everything flawless. They strained to find flaws, but there were none.
Impeccable.
The perfect example stood before them.
From it, the mages learned.
Epiphanies dawned unbidden.
True perfection enlightens just by being seen.
Twitch.
Someone moved their finger.
That hand drew a circuit. Unconsciously mimicking the example.
Many did the same.
They sketched circuits in notebooks.
Those without used their robes. As if they'd forget if they didn't do it now, they moved their hands.
And then.
"That's all."
The clock signaled the end.
With those words, the mana filling the grand hall subsided. The platinum scales scattered and vanished. Silence remained.
No one left despite the lecture's end.
All blinked in a daze.
"Hm."
Awakening from immersion, they faced reality.
The girl stood before them.
She spoke.
"You might wonder why the three steps of spell manifestation are Mana Trading."
No one asked.
Yet she continued.
"Every spell is made through a trade with the stars. Every process you've done unconsciously is a trade with the stars."
She gave a faint smile.
"Even if abbreviated or simplified... every mage has traded with the stars."
Then, clap.
She clapped her hands.
"No need to overthink it. Just review what you already know. That's the time we've reached."
She stepped back.
"That concludes the first week of Basics of Mana Trading."
Clap.
Someone started applauding.
The first was the White Mage Tower Lord. She stood, clapping with glazed eyes.
Clap, clap.
The applause spread.
Even the assistant professors who'd envied her joined in. The students needed no urging.
Clap, clap. Clap, clap.
Envy and jealousy faded.
In their place: admiration.
The mages had seen it.
Transcendent magic.
The realm they must pursue.
Thus...
A fragment of truth.