Observing the Superposition
Kian let out a secret sigh at the mention of natural mana.
The Elmaster was a mage unmatched in the empire—aside from his own teacher—with no one able to keep up. That went double for his thirst for knowledge.
"...Pardon?"
Yriel's eyes went wide as saucers. According to the records, he'd been a genius from birth, reigning as the strongest mage by age fifteen. Having grown up in an environment of constant arrogance, it was only natural he'd reflexively question such a firm rejection without a hint of hesitation.
"Why?! I already apologized for pointing the staff at you earlier...!"
"Sssip... Your posture's all wrong."
"...Pardon?"
Kian felt an odd sense of kinship.
He himself had only started learning after offering water and chocolate multiple times as penance for their rocky first meeting.
But Yriel's case was on another level—not just failing to recognize her, but outright threatening her with a staff.
"Wh-what do I need to do...?"
"Ahem."
This was a new low for the Golden Light Magic Tower Master, at least from the records and Kian's memories.
Kian had a bad premonition about what came next as Ruen flashed a sly grin.
"Water."
"Pardon...?"
"WATER!!!!"
It was the all-too-familiar curse he'd heard countless times.
Newbies have arrived.
Following second-year Kian, now Yriel too.
Her enrollment's still pending, but since my classes are open, I didn't chase her off.
"Today... I'll teach you the basics of natural mana."
To roam freely beyond the North even a little, I needed Kian to grow stronger, so the courtyard lessons continued as usual.
With Kian and Yriel, plus a couple of knights sent to watch her, the courtyard felt lively enough.
"Kian, first tell me what you know about natural mana."
To teach the basics, it was crucial to gauge their prior knowledge.
"That's a tough one... Isn't it just mana that exists in nature?"
"Next!"
I shifted my gaze to Yriel.
"Isn't it the incomplete mana before it's refined into a mage's personal attribute?"
Not bad answers from either, but still wrong.
"Hmm... Alright, this is natural mana."
I beckoned the ambient mana floating in the air, gathering it into a single lump.
Still that familiar multicolored shimmer.
"Natural mana isn't incomplete."
I poked the hovering multicolored blob.
It rippled like water at my fingertip, randomly shifting colors.
A quick glance ahead showed Kian and Yriel staring blankly from their seated spots a step below.
"It's the opposite. It's complete mana—a superposition of all possibilities."
"All possibilities...?"
Yriel gaped and reached out to touch it with her fingertip.
Sizzle.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air as her finger blackened.
I'd noticed it before, but regular mages had zero grasp on the concept of natural mana.
Maybe because I've only met two so far...
Instead of explaining verbally, I decided to demonstrate.
"Hmm... Kian, cast a spell your way. Anything."
"Yes, understood."
Kian took a slow, deep breath.
Mana flows appeared around him—the standard process for spellcasting.
External mana pierced his skin, forcibly filtered, and sucked into his internal circuits.
In the process, it clashed against his mana core with a harsh friction, some dissipating as light and heat.
Out of roughly 100 mana used, only about 20 came out as output.
The mana drawn into his body soon became a small gust, tousling my hair.
"Kian, you've improved a lot!"
"I'm embarrassed. It's still far from enough."
Kian waved off Yriel's bouncing praise, shaking his head.
"Hold on."
I snapped a small twig from a nearby tree, clapped to regain their attention, and crouched down.
"When you pull in mana your way and refine it to your attribute, most of it flies off as loss right there."
I started sketching a flowchart on the ground.
Scritch scritch.
Yriel and Kian huddled close above me, peering intently.
"Absorb into the body."
I drew a big circle, emphasizing it, with over half slashed as loss inside despite the massive intake.
"Convert to your attribute, then chant to manifest as a physical phenomenon."
I scratched it into the dirt with the twig.
The finished three-step flowchart was crooked but legible.
"Each step multiplies the waste exponentially. Lost as heat, sound, bodily resistance."
A peek up showed them stroking their chins, lost in thought.
Probably reviewing their past spell processes.
I waved them back to their spots and stood, stretching my stiff back before snapping my fingers.
—Snap.
"This is natural mana."
The multicolored blob instantly sharpened into an ice spear, then burst into a flaming orb, then pure mana clump—all in seconds.
No chants, no prep motions. Pure instant transformation.
"Whoa..."
I left the mana sphere hovering and continued.
"I said natural mana is probabilities in superposition. I just collapse them—observe the overlaid mana and fix it to the element I want."
No need for a mana core.
No absorption, conversion, or transfer meant zero loss.
Pure spell output with no latency, no delay.
Silence fell over the courtyard.
Kian stared blankly at the mana blob; Yriel trembled for some reason.
Kian broke the quiet.
"But... how do you collapse the probabilities?"
"Uh? Well, it's like..."
I just do it by feel.
But saying that would halve my professor cred.
I racked my brain briefly and hit on a great idea.
"...Just look at this!"
Using telekinesis, I pulled out a parchment stacked in my workshop.
A magic circle for heating magic.
It flew from the far side of the Grand Duke's Castle, slicing through the air, and landed lightly at Kian and Yriel's feet.
"Uh, so... self-study."
The heating magic was basically my first original spell in this world.
Less refined and simpler than now, so studying it hard should yield insights.
Seeing their heads pressed together, studying amicably, filled me with pride.
"So the formula in the center is the one that collapses the probabilities, like you said, Professor?"
"Mm!"
Sharp insight, as expected from our department's top student.
Yriel alternated glances between my nodding self and Kian, then asked, looking puzzled.
"Kian. Why is Lady Ruen your professor? This isn't an academy."
"...Just let it slide."
Yriel nodded reluctantly at Kian's reply.
If I say so, it is.
After that, Kian and Yriel traded questions, drilling the knowledge in.
"Aha! So that's how spells stay permanent!"
"Fix the probability info of natural mana to space via observation and manipulation... Since natural mana doesn't run out, it lasts forever."
Perfect self-study attitude.
True learning blends knowledge and enlightenment.
Knowledge is on them; enlightenment, I provide.
The downside? I had nothing to do and got bored.
I lightly nudged the mana around the two, deep in their formulas on the ground.
Dozens of mana spears manifested from all directions.
Spear tips aimed at Kian and Yriel's foreheads.
"P-Professor?!"
"Tut! Focus! Training to maintain composure anywhere, anytime."
Kian studied my magic circle while breaking into cold sweats, eyes on the spears.
I killed boredom; they trained focus.
Win-win.
Heh heh.
This is fun.