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Capítulo 4
Practical Training
Magic in this world has a rather simple activation method if you look at it one way, since the mage only has to think and it appears. The complicated part is something else. To use fire magic, you need to understand how it's created, its very concept, and apply that to the magic. This applies to any type of magic, like gravity. There are geniuses who do this naturally without needing to understand—it's because they aren't normal people. These geniuses are those with strong compatibility and great potential.
"Is it like this?"
Enrico raises his hand, and a tiny, almost invisible flame appears. At the beginning, Circle Zero is hard to master because there is no ring around the heart to help control magic better—the more Circles you have, the more control you gain.
"Damn it, let's remember again."
To draw magic from Circle Zero, you need to feel it inside the heart, where a magical spark transfers and pumps into the body like blood.
Enrico concentrates, and everything goes dark. When he opens his eyes, everything is black except for a light in the distance. He tries to reach it but can't, so he tries something different—he tries to draw it toward him by raising his hand.
"I'm starting to feel something..."
Particles of light approach, begin turning red, and look like embers as they reach his hand. From what he knows, fire is a chemical reaction of combustion and needs an ignition point, so if he applies that... he opens his eyes and sees fire coming out of his hand.
"So this is magic. But now, how do I cast it?"
[I think you need to imagine pushing it somehow.]
Enrico points forward and tries to imagine the fire being propelled. It comes out, but it looks like fireworks. Then he concentrates the fire into a point and forms a fireball. He tries again, and finally a fireball comes out, hits the wall, and burns it a little.
"I did it, but it's weaker than the original."
[Cool, but I have a question—why are you doing this in the bathroom?]
"Because of the mini test from the teacher. Just imagine if that woman saw a student failing his own spell. And it seems I made the right decision; it took me five tries to cast a weak fireball."
A knock at the door, and Elian's voice follows.
"You're taking too long. The teacher asked me to call you for the test."
"Ah, right. I had a really bad stomachache. Just let me wash my hands."
Enrico quickly cleans the wall and comes out, walking beside Elian.
"You're way too scared of everything lately, aren't you?"
Damn, here he goes again with that arrogant smile. But it makes sense—they treat Enrico like that because he was the weakest of the three stooges.
Enrico starts walking faster as Elian keeps up and talks loudly.
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On the academy's training field, students were casting their spells. Elian used wind magic on his daggers to sharpen them and sliced a wooden dummy. Caelan created a water barrier and defended against weak attacks launched by an instructor. Tolen caused a mini explosion that split a dummy in two. Kai slashed another with his sword. Valença created a floor of fire beneath hers, and flames rose up, burning the dummy. And Serenya—well, she used her unique control magic to throw it far away.
"What a waste. To think that such a magic with so much potential would be wasted and never appear again after Arc 3."
"Enrico, your turn. Get ready."
Virelle called him and looked at him with a bit of disdain. Well, she treats everyone below Rank 100 poorly—especially those she believes are in the wrong rank and aren't improving. He walked onto the field.
"If she sees that weak spell I cast in the bathroom, she might lower my rank."
Since he's still at the beginning, the best way is to use one hand to transfer magic faster and with more power to the other. He grabs one hand, a fireball forms, and then it bursts out with more force than before, destroying the dummy's head. Virelle nods with no expression.
"Better than last week."
As Enrico steps away, Virelle speaks into a stone. "I want you to keep an eye on him in the dorm. He looks the same, but something's different."
"Yes, ma'am."
Meanwhile, Enrico walks back and notices the student council president looking at him—a white-haired, silver-eyed elf. She turns and walks away.
"Damn, I feel cold when she looks at me."
[Well, makes sense. She treats trash like trash.]
Enrico chose to completely ignore the system's acidic comments. The test ends and Enrico and the others return to class, where they stay for an hour and a half. Then comes the second teacher, a respectful commoner named Borem Thalren. Finally, they attend knight training class with Sir Drenholm Valcren. Only those who follow that path truly train with a sword; the rest just do exercises.
---
After that, several days pass with the same routine. Enrico eats only twice a day to lose weight faster. As time passes, Saturday finally arrives.
"In stories, time flies. But when you're in them, it drags on forever."
[What are you doing with a backpack, and where are you going?]
"I submitted a request to visit my parents' house."
Students can only leave the academy on weekends and can request to leave the city every two weeks.
[You're going to visit your parents?]
"Of course not. I'm going to a forest."
[Are you an idiot?]
"Let's say yes. The protagonist lived in a cabin in the forest before entering the academy and fought wolves, bears, and other animals with the sword his father left him, which gave him combat experience. Sure, there's a difference between humans and animals, but I need to get used to this heavy body for now."
[Oh, I get it then...]
Enrico smiles.
"That's right. I need to gain experience. And with that, the student council president won't follow me outside the academy. I need to improve fast."
Enrico leaves while the system watches. [Should I warn him about the first encounter...? Well, he didn't ask.]
The system follows Enrico. After walking through various beautiful places in what is called the second-best city on the continent for hours, he finally leaves the city and takes a cart heading near the neighboring city. A shadow follows from afar.
When he arrives, he pays and starts walking into the forest next to the city.
"Damn, money's running out. I only have 5 silver coins and 20 bronze, which is too little for what I'm planning. I need to see how much he earns per month."
[Hey, are you sure you can do this?]
"What—fight animals? Just so you know, I used to fight."
[You did?]
"Well, it was more street fighting, but it doesn't change the fact I know how. Just so you know, I was the best. Anyway, let's start."
Enrico starts running through the forest, until he feels danger and jumps to the side. It's a black wolf with red eyes.
It leaps, and Enrico ducks and lands a punch to the wolf's side, knocking it back. Then he raises his hand, fires a fireball, and the wolf is burned and falls dead. Enrico sighs.
"Well, let's continue."
After what seemed like hours, Enrico had killed a wolf pack and five bears and was resting.
"Seriously? The protagonist did this when he was 12?"
[Well, that's why he's the protagonist and not you.]
"Hey, I can hear the joy in your voice when you annoy me."
Enrico gets up and eats an apple from a tree. But again, he feels danger, though he doesn't know from where. He calms himself and scans slowly without drawing attention. Looking to the right, he sees a wooden shadow forming and dives aside. Still, part of it hits him, making him bleed. He looks forward and sees a dark-looking boy with eye bags and recognizes him.
"Finally, I'll start my revenge against the Solcren Ferreira family, and you'll be the first step."
The system floats nearby.
[You seem to know him.]
Enrico sweats and puts a hand on the wound.
"Of course. He's my fifth favorite character, and the one I rooted for the most to complete his revenge. Chalés Maide, one of the protagonist's major allies—and currently my worst enemy."
Chalés raises his head with a dark glare.
"Your death will be very slow."