After we bought the milk chocolate drinks, we strolled for a while and talked about several things, including what had happened after she suddenly stopped visiting me at the playground all those years ago.
"It's already getting late, Anya," I said, checking the time. "I think we should call it a day."
"I guess so..." she murmured. "And thanks for the drinks."
Sigh. I'm alone again. Yawn... today was honestly pretty exhausting. After hanging out with Anya, I headed straight back to my dorm room. Hmm... what should I do tonight? I guess I should focus on increasing my mastery over [Mana Circle].
I sat down and immersed myself in a grueling ten-hour training session. By the time I finished, my active skill ranks successfully increased.
[System Notification]: Skill Rank Up: [Mana Circle G] -> [Mana Circle F]
[Mana Circle F]: Permanently increases maximum mana capacity by 20% and increases passive mana recovery speed by 5%.
[System Notification]: Skill Rank Up: [Focus D] -> [Focus C]
[Focus C]: Helps calm your mind, enhances your sensory vision, and increases passive mana and health recovery by 25%.
[Effect 1]: Increases active movement speed by 30%.
[Effect 2]: Increases overall damage output by 15%.
[Effect 3]: Increases baseline accuracy by 20%.
The skill had completely heightened my focus and even added a whole new attribute layer. This utility build was honestly becoming a bit overpowered.
By the time I broke my meditation, it was already 3:00 AM. I figured I desperately needed to get a bit of rest before dawn.
[The alarm clock blared loudly]
"Huh?" I yawned, rubbing my heavy eyes. What time is it? Yawn... Wait... Huh!? Oh, shit! I'm completely late!
I jumped out of bed, took a lightning-fast shower, brushed my teeth, and bolted out the door, completely forgetting to even eat breakfast.
[At the School Building]
"Where is Lucas Ferios?" the instructor called out, scanning the lecture hall.
Bang!
I burst through the door, panting for breath.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor! I was busy practicing my mana circulation!"
"Never mind that," Professor Gards sighed, gesturing toward the tiers. "Just go take a seat."
I quickly walked up the steps and slid into my chair. A nearby classmate immediately leaned over to whisper to me.
"Hey, Lucas, how exactly did you increase your mana output just now?"
"What do you mean?" I asked under my breath.
"It seems like the professor is taking a sudden interest in you. I honestly thought you were just going to rely on standard meditation to expand your reserves."
"By the way," another student chimed in from behind us, "did you know the professor possesses a rare appraisal skill? He can literally see a student's active stat thresholds."
"What!?" I gasped.
"Hey! What's all that noise back there?" Professor Gards snapped, slamming his clipboard onto the podium.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I hadn't realized that his appraisal ability would let him immediately detect the sudden inflation of my baseline mana pool.
"It seems all of you are energized enough," the professor announced, walking toward the exit. "Follow me to the training grounds immediately."
The students stood up, filing out of the room while chatting excitedly among themselves. As I walked down the corridor, a boy bumped into my shoulder.
"Hey, Lucas!"
"Uh, who are you, by the way?" I asked, looking at him.
"Ehh!? Ah... my bad. I'm Prate Reum," he introduced himself with a friendly grin.
Before we could converse further, the professor shouted down the hallway for everyone to hurry up and fall into line.
[At the Training Grounds]
"Silence!" Professor Gards barked, standing before the marked rows. "Now, what do you think our primary objective is for today's session? Hmm?"
"Increasing our destructive skill ranks?" a student called out."Wrong, but close enough," the professor replied.
Wrong? If it wasn't raw damage output, then it had to be a fundamental resource management issue. Since this was a specialized mage curriculum, the answer was obvious.
"I... I think it's expanding our core Mana Capacity, Professor," I voiced aloud."
That is exactly correct," Professor Gards nodded approvingly. "Mana capacity is the lifeblood for mages like us. We rely entirely on the depth of our reserves just to invoke our high-tier skills. Now, everyone, look at the inscriptions laid out on the floor. Take a seat on your respective marks and focus on feeling the raw mana circulating within your bodies."
Following the instructions, I sat down cross-legged and closed my eyes. Within a few minutes, I could distinctly feel the warm current of mana traveling fluidly through my pathways. An experimental idea suddenly surfaced in my mind. What if I gathered all this loose energy into a singular, compressed focal point? Since I already possessed an active internal structure from my [Mana Circle], what would happen if I systematically forced the current to gather directly within my lower abdomen?
I forced the mana to circulate inward, accelerating the rotation as fast as my pathways could tolerate. Realizing the pressure was building dangerously, I immediately triggered [Focus C]. With the sensory enhancement active, I was able to handle the volatile currents with ease. I precisely channeled the energy, knowing that a single slip in micro-control could trigger an internal collapse.
With a final, forceful push, the compressed energy stabilized. A brand-new reservoir materialized, circulating autonomously inside my abdomen.
[System Notification]: You have naturally manifested a hidden core pathway. Unlocked New Skill: [Ki F]
[Ki F]: Passively increases maximum mana capacity by 30% and increases all base attributes by 10%.
[System Notification]: Due to the resonance between dual energy cores, your primary utility skill has evolved. [Focus C] -> [Focus B]
[Focus B]: Helps calm your mind, enhances your sensory vision, and increases passive mana and health recovery by 45%.
[Effect 1]: Increases active movement speed by 50%.
[Effect 2]: Increases overall damage output by 30%.
[Effect 3]: Increases baseline accuracy by 45%.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over me. I opened my eyes to find Professor Gards staring down at me, his face completely pale with shock.
"How on earth did you just pull that off?!" he demanded.
"What?" I blinked, entirely caught off guard."How did you do that?!"
"What exactly do you mean, Professor?"
"You, come with me to the office right now!" he barked, turning to the rest of the silent crowd. "The rest of you, continue your circulation exercises!"
I stood up and anxiously followed the professor back to the main administration building. He marched me directly into a private office, where Anya's father was currently reviewing data sheets.
"Take a seat," Professor Gards commanded, pacing the floor.
"Did I... did I do something wrong?" I asked, looking between the two men."Sigh. You idiot, do you even realize what you just did?" Gards groaned, rubbing his temples."What?"
"Are you actively trying to kill yourself?!"
"No?"
"You could have died on the spot if your internal control slipped for even a millisecond! Forcing a secondary energy center to manifest when you already possess a standard magical circuit is suicidal. Having two active cores can literally cause a body to implode, you know!"
"Eh... Ehhh?!" I stammered.
Seriously?! I honestly had no idea that creating a secondary circuit was a forbidden, life-threatening taboos in this world's system rules. Thank goodness my creator intuition kept the control flawless.
Anya's father, who had been listening silently from his desk, finally closed his file and chuckled softly.
"Oh, Lucas. What brings you and Jonathan into my office today?" he asked.
"Sigh. This reckless brat just managed to forcefully manifest a dual-core signature during standard class exercises," Gards explained.
Anya's father blinked in surprise before bursting into booming laughter. "You absolute madman! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Instead of just sitting there laughing, Director, why don't you explain to him the sheer scale of the reckless stunt he just pulled?" Gards scolded.
Anya's father waved his hand dismissively. "Why don't you head back to oversee the training grounds, Jonathan? Leave the boy with me."
Professor Gards sighed heavily but obeyed, leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Suddenly, I was left entirely alone with Anya's powerful father. The room grew heavy as a thick, suffocating aura of intimidation naturally radiated from his posture. My nerves flared, and I couldn't stop my hands from visibly shivering.
"I see," Anya's father mused, his sharp eyes scanning my frame. "You currently possess both an active mage's mana circle and a newly forged ki pathway within your physical body. At this rate, keeping you in a pure spellcasting curriculum is a waste. You are going to have to forcefully shift your job trajectory from a standard Mage to a hybrid Magic Swordsman."
"What exactly do you mean by that, sir?" I managed to ask.
"Since you have unlocked the nature of ki, you can effectively channel an endless loop of reinforced mana if you continuously train your focus pathways," he explained. "Is that understood?"
Anya's father reached into his personal spatial inventory and pulled out an ancient, leather-bound manual, sliding it across the desk toward me.
"Take this. It should help bridge the gap between your two cores. Master it thoroughly. I expect to see great things from you at the arena tournament."
Without waiting for a proper response, he stood up and exited the office, leaving me completely bewildered. I looked down at the physical skill book in my hands: [Sword Ki]. Intrigued, I carefully extended my intent and poured a thread of mana into the text.
[System Interface]: Do you wish to learn this skill?
[Player Response]: Yes.
[System Notification]: You have successfully learned the hybrid skill [Sword Ki].
[Sword Ki]: Increases baseline weapon attack damage scaling directly off the combined amounts of mana and ki expended during the invocation.
[Effect 1]: Increases base damage output against monster-type entities by 10%.
[Effect 2]: Increases passive accuracy attributes by 20%.
[Effect 3]: Grants a passive 5% armor-penetration factor, ignoring enemy defense.
Woah... these hybrid parameters were absolutely absurd.
After wrapping up the administrative meeting, I headed over to the campus cafeteria to grab some late food. Looking across the crowded hall, I spotted Prate waving his hand enthusiastically to flag me over, so I walked toward his table.
"By the way, Lucas, why exactly did the professor drag you off to the director's office earlier?" he asked curiously as I sat down.
"Don't worry about it. Just ignore it," I replied, deflecting the question with a small smile.
Prate, a few other classmates, and I were laughing and enjoying our meal when the atmosphere at our table suddenly went cold. A hostile group of older seniors clad in high-tier equipment arrogantly marched over to our sector.
"Mages honestly suck so bad, HAHAHAHA!" the lead senior jeered, slamming his hand onto our table.
Before I could even process the insult, the bastard lifted his glass and deliberately poured his sticky fruit juice directly onto my head. The cold liquid drenched my hair and dripped down my face. My fists clenched automatically, my blood boiling with rage, but Prate quickly reached out under the table and gripped my wrist tightly, giving me a warning look. He had told me earlier never to mess with this specific faction, since they belonged to the academy's untouchable, high-ranking elite class.
I forced myself to breathe through my nose, enduring the humiliation as the group chuckled mockingly and strutted out of the cafeteria hall.
"Hey... are you alright, Lucas?" Prate asked softly, pulling out some napkins to help me clean up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I rasped, wiping the liquid from my eyes. "Thanks for holding me back from doing something stupid."
"Those absolute bastards!" another mage classmate spat, slamming his fist onto the bench. "They are always relentlessly messing with our department just because we chose the spellcasting track. But being mages doesn't mean we don't have game-changing potential!"
"He's completely right," I said, my voice dropping into a cold, determined tone as I looked around at my classmates. "It's fine for now. We can show them exactly what we are truly capable of when the time comes, right everyone?"
"Yeah!" the table chorused in unison.
"Let's completely humiliate them at the arena tournament."