Chapter 65 - Focusing Mana

It appeared most lessons were divided into two halves: a theory portion and a practical exercise. After the theory and discussion mainly were concluded, they moved on to the next part of the lesson.

"Right, we are going to work on channeling your Mana," Instructor Richardus declared.

"Again?" a boy whined.

The instructor frowned, "Yes, again, did I stutter?"

The boy went silent, as did the rest of the class.

Wow… That's a personality shift. It's strange. The instructor was very kind in how he treated me and handled that discussion. But he has absolutely zero tolerance for rudeness. I guess that's why Rose and he clashed so much. She loves being outspoken—especially after the awakening.

"As I was saying. We will be working on channeling your Mana. While some of you may have already succeeded, you must continue to hone and train it daily. You want your Mana to be able to listen to you at a moment's notice, especially if you don't have a bloodline to do the heavy lifting for you. We also have a new student, so this is the perfect opportunity for another evaluation."

I bet Arakil would like that. He's always praising the power of practice makes perfect.

The instructor pulled out a device that resembled an unadorned bracelet, except for a clear gem as the centerpiece.

"This is a Mana-detecting tool," he explained. "Attach it to the wrists and ankles and make the gem glow for a sustained period of time. The brighter the gem, the longer you do it, the better your result. I also have a larger version that goes around the neck, but we will save that for another day."

Instructor Richardus then went on to give a detailed explanation of how to go about channeling Mana. Lily tried her best to ignore it, as Arakil had mentioned that it could potentially interfere by adding doubts to her own method.

Arakil had often stressed that belief in one's ability over magic had a powerful effect on outcomes, Citing Rose's unwavering conviction in herself and her bloodline for her monstrous displays of raw talent.

Another reason he wanted to be brought along was because he could listen to explanations. If he could extract any wisdom, he could safely relay that information to Lily after the fact.

Lily spent most of her time spinning her Mana Core to distract herself. It gave her some routine practice while also allowing her to stay focused and not earn the teacher's wrath by appearing distracted and disinterested.

When he was done explaining, he instructed everyone to start channeling their Mana. Some rather dull exercises nearly caused Lily to yawn—she was far past this stage.

Once everyone had channeled their Mana, the instructor moved on to talking about the importance of being able to focus your Mana into specific locations. It very much felt like a rehash of Arakil's teachings and, to Lily's surprise, also her lessons with Camilla, as one of the reasons given for channeling to your hands was in the aid of alchemy.

"Of course, one of the main reasons for controlling your Mana channeling is to direct it towards your throat. Without it, you will find your magical chants lacking; sometimes, the spell will fail entirely."

Lily caught sight of a boy about to open his mouth to speak, but he stopped himself just in time and raised his hand. When the instructor pointed to him, he finally asked his question.

"Then why are we focusing on our limbs and not our throat? Shouldn't that be more important?"

A bunch of kids started nodding in agreement, clearly not too happy about channeling to their fingers when the teacher had just announced that magic was done through words.

Richardus nodded as if he'd received this question many times before, "Firstly, because you need to learn some proper control—casting without it can lead to disastrous outcomes. You could accidentally throw all your Mana at a spell and collapse from exhaustion. On the opposite side of the coin, you could put in too little and have your spell fail at a crucial moment.

"Secondly, because I don't want any of you trying to cast magic ahead of schedule, not before I've ensured you know the correct words and how to enunciate them perfectly. Trust me when I say this is extremely important."

One of the kids' hands shot up; the instructor paused and let her speak.

"But she's casting spells already, that's unfair!"

Lily pouted, not happy about being singled out. Unfortunately, many of the kids were nodding in agreement.

"Lily's magic is from a bloodline, not through magical chants," he explained. "While I'd like her to control herself and behave responsibly, unlike a certain Dragia… Telling her not to use it would be like telling you to not use one of your arms."

"Lastly, because being able to do it might save your life one day. Unlike the demis whose bodies receive natural enhancements, you have no such luxury for the benefit of being capable of magic. However, you do have one option to somewhat even the field—temporary Mana enhancements."

The kids were all paying close attention now, and Lily found herself drawn in.

"It's a little ahead of schedule, but I'll explain it briefly to ensure you remain focused on the current goal and put the foolish idea of rushing towards unsupervised spells to rest. You can temporarily boost yourself by focusing Mana on a particular body part with the correct application.

"Need to jump higher? Mana in the legs. Need to see a little further? Mana into your eyes. Need to lift something heavy? Mana in your arms. Having trouble breathing? Mana into the lungs. Need to defend yourself? Either Mana into your bones or your skin if you're skilled enough."

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The kids gasped at that explanation, their wonder and imaginations going wild. Lily was also quite taken aback; she hadn't heard this, and Arakil had never mentioned it.

I'll bet there's either a drawback or Arakil was waiting until I was properly ready to use it. Or maybe I can't do it with a Mana Core? There's also the slim chance that this is something entirely new for him—as hard as that is to believe.

Instructor Richardus chuckled softly and motioned for the class to settle down.

"Now, having said that, it's not without its flaws. It's a temporary boost, with emphasis on temporary, and it's maybe a quarter to half as effective as the average body-enhanced demi. You won't be beating a Ursinia in an arm wrestle, but it might save your life. Likewise, your body isn't used to being pushed to such extremes, so it'll hurt afterward with accompanying fatigue. Of course, with proper training, you can grow accustomed to these things, but that is a long-term benefit and one I only became accustomed to during my military career."

The kids nodded along, still drinking up his explanations like sponges. It certainly did the trick, and now there were no more complaints about having to do Mana exercises, with them eagerly repeating the task over and over again.

Meanwhile, Lily wondered if the benefits outweighed the risks and if Arakil had never mentioned them due to her frail constitution. She shuddered, thinking about potentially breaking a leg or arm because she empowered it with Mana and couldn't handle it.

After some time passed, with Richardus walking around the class and helping the kids who requested it or looked lost, he eventually announced that volunteers would be needed to try testing their Mana control. Some of the more boisterous students ran to line up, looking reasonably confident.

A boy went first, and after the instructor clasped the bracelet onto his wrist, he was instructed to channel Mana towards that arm. There was a moment of silence with almost no reaction other than the boy beginning to visibly sweat. Then, the gem lit up in a soft light, and he gasped as if he had been holding his breath. The light went out.

"Mmm… I'm afraid you'll need to practice a bit more. The reading shows that it's reacting to the Mana level in your entire body rather than focusing on your arm," Richardus informed him.

The girl that went next didn't fare much better, managing to emit the same faint glow but without the extraneous sweating. Seeing their peers failing, the line to get tested started thinning out as students returned to their desks to practice more rather than potentially embarrass themselves.

Lily decided she might as well take the test now that the crowd had diminished. She stood in line while the last boy took his turn. To the teacher's surprise, the student managed to make it glow pretty quickly, a bright grin on his face as he did so.

"Excellent work! Now let's try the next arm," Richardus said eagerly as he swapped arms.

Again, the gem lit up, so they swapped to the legs. Unfortunately, this was where the fantastic result did not happen. The boy seemed disheartened until the instructor patted him on the shoulder.

"You did an excellent job. The legs are much harder than the arms since they are further away from your heart. As you know, the Mana is in our blood, so further extremities can be difficult to reach initially."

The boy nodded and thanked the teacher before returning to his desk. Meanwhile, the instructor turned to Lily and smiled.

"I wondered if you'd take a shot. If I'm being honest, I'm almost expecting you to either pass with flying colors or fail miserably," he said.

"What makes you say that?" Lily asked.

"Bloodlines give one much greater control over their Mana, as you've probably heard me say a dozen times today alone, and this can also include applications such as this. Now, I'm not saying it will be a walk in the park, as some bloodlines require you to wrestle control over it. Believe it or not, Rose struggled greatly with this until after her awakening. Then she blew through every test like it meant literally nothing to her."

"I see… Rose never mentioned that to me," Lily answered.

"She was probably too embarrassed to admit it if I had to hazard a guess. That girl had so much raw talent I couldn't believe it. I only wish it didn't give her such a big head. But enough about her, let's see what you can do."

Lily nodded and held out her arm. Her Core was already spinning, so she was primed and ready. No sooner had he placed it on her arm than the gem illuminated brightly, eliciting audible reactions from the spectators.

"Huh…" Richardus muttered, almost as if not believing it. He unclasped it and reclasped it on the same arm, but it still lit up the same.

He sighed and then proceeded with her other arm, which produced an identical result. He didn't repeat the check this time and instead moved on to her legs. Again, moments after clasping it, it lit up.

"You're not flooding your entire body with Mana, are you?" he asked politely.

"No sir," Lily replied.

He hummed and asked her to stop channeling. Then he produced a second bracelet and placed it on her other leg before requesting that she make only her left leg light up.

Lily almost wanted to laugh; after all her practice with Camilla, this was like child's play. She did so, and then when Richardus was about to congratulate her, she made her Mana fluctuate between her two legs, causing the gems to flash as she focused on each leg.

"Remarkable… In times like this, I envy not having a bloodline myself. I dare say your natural talent outweighs even your sister's."

Lily chuckled dryly, in a self-deprecating manner, before responding. "I don't think so. I've seen what Rose can do and I have big shoes to fill if I want to catch up with her. But I'm willing to put in all the time and effort to do so."

The instructor nodded, "Well, as long as you promise not to try to fill the gap her ego left behind, I'll be happy to help you every step of the way. I'd say congratulations are in order with this display. You'll only stay in the beginner class for the rest of the week, and then I'll transfer you full-time to the advanced class."

Lily nodded happily at the results. She was also eager to speak to Arakil about everything she had learned.

"Unless anyone else wants to try, I believe that's enough for today," the instructor asked, and when nobody else volunteered, he dismissed the class.

While packing up and leaving, a few of the kids pestered her with questions, asking her how she did that on the test and what her bloodline was. Lily gave noncommittal answers, trying to say it felt like stars and the moon, causing some kids to start speculating what that meant.

When Lily felt her social capacity running dry, she excused herself and rushed back to her room.