〈 Chapter 247 〉 Handling the Stars (2)
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Thud, thud
Filling a circuit with mana.
The first step one must take to be called a mage rather than just a magic scholar. It’s a process that proves not only theoretical excellence but also the power to turn theory into reality.
Talented kids learn to infuse mana into circuits before they even turn ten. They learn to control their mana and how to use spells.
Boom!
The basics.
It can be described as the fundamental process, the first step in the path of a mage.
While some children take that step lightly and move forward effortlessly,
Ugh…!
There are definitely kids who struggle even to take a single step.
Crackle!
The circuit, unable to withstand the starlight mana, quivers and shakes violently. Twisted and bent, it ultimately snaps in half, sending sparks flying.
‘Another failure.’
Chloe bit her lip.
Even infusing mana into a single stroke isn’t an easy task. Chloe’s mana flowed like a wild river, refusing to stay put; even trying to block it off caused it to leak out.
In the air, a stroke is engraved.
The river flows, and there’s a passage it needs to fill.
She must channel the mana into it, yet she can’t grasp the feeling at all. Whenever she tries to fill it, it leaks, and if she blocks the leaks, the path breaks.
“Again.”
The broken circuits now number in the dozens.
Rania silently waved her hand in the air, drawing new circuits. Chloe subtly shifted her gaze to the side.
Swish.
There stood the Fourth Princess, Ayla.
Without a word, she wielded her baton to keep Chloe’s roaming mana in place. Thus, Chloe could challenge herself countless times without waste.
Twirl.
With a light flourish of her baton, Ayla drew a circle.
The mana swayed freely along the tip of the baton. She seemed to have a grasp of it, unlike Chloe, who was completely lost.
Chloe lowered her head slightly.
‘…The princess is helping me.’
Making it easier to handle mana.
Minimizing the chaotic flow of mana. That was what Ayla was doing.
It certainly helped a lot.
Today, mana flowed out more smoothly than usual.
The flowing mana didn’t scatter easily and even moved somewhat along her touch.
‘But.’
In the end, that was all.
‘The crucial part I must handle myself.’
Infusing mana into the circuits and creating spells with it… That was something only Chloe could do.
“Summon.”
No, it wasn’t just that.
Chloe already knew of someone who accomplished that.
She recalled Resti, the one who had handled her starlight amidst darkness. Even with Ayla’s help, she had succeeded.
The starlight that dwelled within the summoned familiars.
It was closer to a simple bestowal than a spell, yet the sight of familiars adorned with starlight advancing still deeply engraved itself in Chloe’s mind.
Could she do it?
Could she accomplish what even the talented mage known as the Ashen Master struggled with? She didn’t feel certain.
“…Ugh.”
Snap, another line breaks.
Still, she couldn’t grasp it.
Chloe’s head tilted lower.
It was at that moment.
“Chloe.”
Rania spoke up.
The one who had been silent now called Chloe’s name. Chloe slowly raised her head to look at Rania.
“It’s natural for it to be difficult. You’ve only been learning magic for less than a year; it’s expected to be tough. So, straighten your shoulders, lift your head…”
A gentle voice.
“Let’s do it together.”
However, it seemed as if Rania wouldn’t let go… she gently tapped Chloe’s forehead.
“Let’s start from the beginning.”
2.
Raniel van Trias, the Ashen Mage.
A masterful mage.
Mages build a tower within themselves, one for each. Raniel is no different. She imagines the tower she has constructed in her mind.
Using everything she can.
If there’s a blockage, she finds another way.
Under such beliefs, the assembled tower isn’t neat. The bricks jut out haphazardly, and the spaces between the bricks are cluttered with random pieces.
If Raniel were to put it in her own words, the phrase that best fits is that it’s painfully lacking in fundamentals.
Elemental spells, spell engravings, striking spells, binding spells, mana ignition, mana combustion, physical enhancement…
A haphazard mix of countless systems has created this tower. Ironically, it is precisely because of this mishmash that her tower stands firm.
A tower fortified by layering and bolstering.
A tower rebuilt countless times.
A tower built from experience and experiences.
Raniel pulls out a brick lodged at the center of this tower. It is akin to the core of the tower. All the achievements of the magic she has built up are contained in this single piece.
Using everything she can to craft it.
A circuit forged from everything amassed.
‘A circuit to control shadows.’
A circuit to handle stars.
The engraved piece of brick represents the countless battlefields Raniel has crossed, each one hardened to create it. Recalling the circuit etched upon experience, Raniel opened her eyes.
“Don’t just think of it as filling.”
She said.
“In the world, mana is sometimes described as water, and circuits as containers or passages for the water to flow through. While a true representation, for now, forget that notion.”
Forget about it.
“In the end, it’s just someone else’s metaphor. You must find your own way, one that cannot be made by someone else.”
Forget it all.
“From the beginning. Using only what you have realized, with only what you understand… let’s try again.”
Starting over.
“How do you understand your mana?”
“…I think of it as starlight. Unrestrained, flowing uncontrollably like a wild river…”
“Exactly, it takes the form of a river.”
Raniel nodded.
“Anything else?”
“It doesn’t want to stay still. It seems to want to keep flowing.”
“It doesn’t remain controlled and keeps flowing. That’s good.”
She drew a line again in front of her.
“Give it a try.”
Chloe, using the same method as before, filled the circuit with mana. Just like any other mages, she poured mana into the circuit.
Snap.
As expected, the circuit breaks.
Raniel draws the circuit again.
“Forget and start over. Don’t try to copy other mages. Only think with your own mind and approach it as you think you might be able to.”
“…My way?”
“You’re not like anyone else.”
She said.
“You’re not like anyone and possess something that no one else has. So why try to fit yourself into someone else’s way of constructing?”
Raniel shared her own experience.
“That’s just for reference. It can’t be the answer. You must have your own method.”
Raniel, too, had not been trapped in what others had built. Without easily accepting anything, she had constructed her own tower.
“Recall the characteristics of your mana.”
Something unique to her.
“Think of your specialty, something you can do well.”
Something that only she can do.
Those were the thoughts Raniel had revisited many times while building her tower. In other words, everything she was saying now was based on her own experiences.
The best teaching comes from experience.
Insights arising from experience.
Things learned through physical encounters. Unlike a line or two of text and a few spoken words… Such teachings are easily neither forgotten nor lost.
So, to become someone’s teacher is…
“It’s nothing special, Raniel.”
To teach someone.
“I’m just sharing my way with you. How you’ve walked your path and how I’ve lived. That’s all I’m doing.”
It’s sharing one’s own experiences.
“Within that, you will find your own understanding. You will create your own method. So, let your thoughts flow freely. I will simply assist from the side.”
Recalling her master’s words, Raniel began to recount her experiences, things she had realized throughout countless battles.
“I’ll show you.”
Furthermore, there’s no rule that experiences must only be shared through speech.
Mages are those who draw circuits.
Within the circuits they draw lies their habits, and scholars studying circuits in the Ivory Tower claim they can read a mage’s life story through merely observing the circuit.
Swish.
The air is the canvas; the mana Raniel sprinkles is the paint. She exhibits her path before the young mage.
“Ah…”
Chloe, forgetting even to breathe, watched as Raniel’s mana drew its shape. It was the path of a single mage.
Blue mana surged.
The trembling mana suddenly Boom! exploded upward.
‘…Ashen?’
The mana had transformed.
The blue mana changed to an ashen hue.
Transformed mana holds completely different characteristics.
It differs from usual mana and is distinct from Chloe’s starlight mana. Like a spark leaping upward, the ashen mana seemed unwilling to be contained within any circuit.
It does not obey.
In that regard, it shares a commonality with Chloe’s mana.
And Raniel successfully contained the leaping ashen mana within a circuit. Chloe’s eyes widened as she observed the scene.
Tick, tick!
The circuit filled with mana quivers.
It looks like it could snap at any moment.
However, all of a sudden, the circuit begins to change.
Whoosh.
Flames burst forth. The circuit takes on the shape of flames; it’s a sight one would not have witnessed anywhere else. The circuit breaks the common sense that it should remain static and always stabilized.
‘But…’
Though it resembles flames, the circuit is indeed complete.
Mana flows, and spells manifest.
The process is exceedingly smooth.
“…How?”
“I told you. Don’t be tied down.”
Raniel waved her hand lightly.
Clearing her throat slightly, she leaned against the table.
“If the mana is stable, it doesn’t matter. Just fill it. But if the mana is unstable and won’t fill the circuit…”
She smiled.
“Why not adjust it from another place?”
“…?”
Chloe held her tongue.
Wordlessly, she gazed at the straight circuit floating before her. Then she raised a finger.
‘Differently.’
She let go of everything she knew.
‘In a way I can do, my method.’
Reflecting upon the characteristics of her mana, Chloe lightly waved her finger. The wild flow of water traced a line following her finger.
A platinum-colored stream of water.
With flowing characteristics, the stream did not remain still within the circuit. Thus, Chloe changed her approach. She did not confine the mana within the circuit.
She penetrated it.
She allowed it to flow freely.
From the starting point of the circuit to the endpoint, the mana passed through. In that state, Chloe clenched her fist tightly.
Though it held multiple times the mana,
It wasn’t stable,
Basic spell, Ignite.
For a brief moment, a flame flared brightly along the stroke.
“Exactly.”
Raniel smiled.
“That’s how you do it.”
In that instant, Chloe glimpsed a possibility.
What remained was to seize that slender thread of possibility.
“Understanding the characteristics of mana is good. But if it continues like this, it will only lead to waste. It will be difficult to use it in a circuit that isn’t a linear form… so what must you do?”
“…What did you do, Professor?”
“I told you. I altered the circuit.”
They exchanged dialogue.
“It leaps like a spark, continues to tremble. To contain that, I thought, why not make the circuit move along with it? So I engraved it onto the heart like that.”
The circuits keep moving.
They shake, twist, yet still circulate.
“That’s how I made it. Eventually, I did succeed in controlling it, but… you have to complete the circuit drawn on the blackboard first, right?”
“…That makes sense.”
“So for now, try changing the circuit to get there. If the destination is clear and you understand the direction, doesn’t that sound like something worth trying?”
They listened to experiences, shared experiences.
For a while, they continued to converse, and Chloe kept attempting new methods.
She failed.
Failures piled upon one another.
A mage who had experienced the same attempts offered advice, and the young mage modified the suggestions to fit her own. Though clumsy, she started to take her tentative first steps.
Amidst the failures, possibilities began to shine through.
In Raniel’s eyes, as well as Ayla’s watching beside her, and in Chloe’s eyes, possibilities could be seen.
“I’m going to try a little more.”
Chloe’s green eyes shone.
Watching the clusters of platinum stars forming and dispersing within her eyes… Raniel smiled faintly.
“I knew it.”
She murmured.
“This one is a monster as well.”
Though she might not see it herself.
To Raniel’s eyes, Chloe was indeed quite the monster too.
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