Free Web NovelChapter 30: Right Track
"Hahh..."
Breathing raggedly, Cillian’s top lay bare.
His sweat makes him look like he was steamed or put in a hot condition that made him enveloped with moisture.
Throughout the break, he had given his hardest effort to pull off a simple spell, yet failure kept slapping his face no matter how he did it.
He knew he was doing the right procedure and was also on the right track.
In fact, he knew he wasn’t doing anything wrong at all. He listened to the lecture carefully, took notes on how to apply those lessons in real life, and had the foundations set up to be able to do it.
’What am I lacking? I knew how the Fireball spell worked, and how to conjure the mana out from my body, and knew my limitations and understood that casting time might take beginners some hard time to conjure it, yet no matter how long, I wasn’t able to cast anything...’
Stopping himself from the relentless struggle that would continue to happen if he didn’t realize what he was lacking, Cillian let out a crooked smile and muttered in disbelief.
"There’s no way in any situation that I had a defect in casting spells. There’s no way I’m unable to do what others could... I think there’s an explanation for it."
Cillian sat down on the ground where it wasn’t filled with sweat.
Crossing his legs while sitting with a straight back, he closed his eyes and began to think about any possibilities for his problem.
He had an intuition that he just missed it, something that doesn’t come from defects and is inadequate to perform spells.
He pondered and remembered. He analyzed and assessed.
It was one of his habits back on Earth that provided him with the right conclusion for every problem he had.
In just a few minutes of utmost focus, Cillian came to a certain point with his thinking, leading him to two conclusions for his current predicament.
To confirm it, he got his notes and read the two things that he had written some time ago.
"Elemental Acquisition... I have been hearing this almost every time I study about spells and mana, since a sorcerer can’t cast sorcery spells if their mana is overloaded. This means this is unlikely to me since I can’t even cast anything in the first place. I didn’t know yet what my element acquisition is, but that doesn’t imply my mana is defective. How can a person be cut to something he was supposed to do when he didn’t even do it yet?"
Cillian led to another conclusion, which he likely believed in.
"Mana Knowledge... It’s proven from time to time and even studies that having better knowledge of a certain spell on a certain topic can help rest casting of those sorcery spells. For example, fire mana knowledge can help cast fire-casting-related spells..."
At that moment, Cillian instantly knew what his problems were.
He didn’t flunk his way into learning the things he learned, but merely because he lacked knowledge. The basic learnings one should have in Mana, and the knowledge of the elements he was learning.
And since the previous Cillian was clearly clueless about everything since he was busy becoming a lapdog to Fergus, he had pretty much zero knowledge regarding such a subject.
Aside from archery and his brains, he’s pretty much useless at everything else.
’Okay, looks like I have to study more.’
Cillian realized his shortcomings, and now he was ready to take a step to arrange himself and become stronger, all just to have fun.
...
In the homeroom of [Class 1-A], the situation inside was... somber.
Even though they tried to be optimistic, having no information from the incoming tournament didn’t make it so otherwise. They were dejected, up to the point of having acute depression, as they continued to be in the dark.
The celebration happens every year on the first, second, and third grade.
And the same thing kept happening over the years, whether the academy decided to spread information about it early on or not.
It seemed like the academy decided to keep its lips tight on spreading information, as it seems to be part of a training given by the academy, which also provides camaraderie amongst students.
And Class 1-A of the first year knew they were lagging and were powerless to do anything about it.
’It’s an irony. I want this class to go to The Coliseum, but I’m not giving them any information about it to qualify. Well, they will know it eventually. The only difference is that they’ll have zero chance of thinking up plans while I still have a few days left.’
Seeing that there weren’t any important meetings and merely preparing for a ’possibility’, Cillian left the classroom while receiving a death glare from her monitor, Freya.
However, she didn’t outright stop him from walking since Ulrich allowed anyone to do what they liked in their free time. Mostly because it was to study for the upcoming test on Friday.
Also, Cillian wasn’t very worried about being stopped since he preferred to study in his free time once he was done gaining knowledge about sorcery and all things related to mana. Freya knew about this because she’s his monitor.
"Where are you going this time? Don’t tell me it’s another treat meal of yours?"
"Haha..." freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Cillian shook his head before continuing.
"I’m actually going to search for books about mana if that’s how it usually works. I encountered a wall in my progress and found out the problem and its solution. As for how sure I am, it’s probably fifty percent."
Freya formed a contemplative expression on her face before answering.
"Do tell. I might be able to help."
Smiling lightly, Cillian didn’t reject the free help.
If a two-circled sorcerer volunteered a helpless student like him that could actually provide insight and wisdom, he wasn’t an idiot enough to reject it.
With precise wording and a brief explanation, Cillian explained his problem to his monitoring lady.
From the start until it ended, she was quiet as if she was considering what to reply before she gave a clear answer.
Halting her steps, Freya answered and gave detailed information.
"You are definitely on the right track. If you want related studies to Mana Knowledge, you can try the Theory of Magic, Mysteries of Sorcery, Twelve Rules of Casting, Elemental Manipulation, and Five Rules of Mana Channeling. If you want in-depth mana knowledge, you can try reading Higher Sorcery Spells—"
Actually, because it was too clear of an answer, it loaded too much information inside Cillian’s head that he short-circuited.
’I didn’t know mana is not just... mana. There’s much more complexity and an in-depth topic about it. So, it really isn’t like learning about a spell, then someone can magically cast it. One must attain knowledge to produce knowledge.’
Cillian continued to hear a complex explanation about mana as if he was being lectured, but he was gladdened that Freya was encouraging at giving lessons rather than ignoring him, as if they are not just mainly a "monitor" and "troublemaker" to each other.
This continued until his face became indescribable as he looked like he had gone to war and returned with a devastated mental state.
Still, he let out a tired smile and nodded occasionally if Freya mentioned anything that sounded important.
In a while, she ended it with:
"If the information is too much, I can give you brief details on a piece of paper, but I think it wouldn’t help you with your problems at all. First, the more complex a study is, the better the outcome or result. Hence, when you understand the complexity of a study, the higher your acquired knowledge is. Your casting time might even be better than what you’re even thinking right now. So yeah, just study."
In a while, Cillian returned to reality as words kept ringing in his head. He felt new words forming if he started to mix whatever he had just learned from Freya.
It was overbearing and thick.
"So, is that helpful?"
Freya asked nonchalantly
Cillian let out a defeated chuckle before nodding weakly.
"Very... helpful in fact. Right now, I’m going to the library to get some books that would help me. But now that I have a direction to take, it’ll definitely reduce the trouble."
Freya glanced at the huge door on the side and retorted.
"I guess this is where you’ll be taking your break?"
Cillian confirmed her question with a light nod before Freya left him aside and did her own thing.
Even though there’s still half an hour left for the monitoring to end, she said it wouldn’t matter to lose something like that when she’s still busy as always.
She also couldn’t afford to make other people monitor him since their time is hectic as well.
’Does that mean I’m slowly getting off the leash? I-I’m being freed?’
Suddenly, Cillian felt rejuvenated as his thoughts aligned with that.
It gave him the drive to punctually and diligently follow orders while bidding time to end the punishment count.
Venting his overgrowing happiness by heaving a breath of relief, Cillian entered the library.
He still remembered his first time coming to this place and any available time he had to study and learn new things. It was worthwhile.
Now he was back at it again.
"Okay! Let’s study!"
Cillian happily entered like a little kid discovering something in his childhood.
