Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 27 (Part 2)

He solved exactly seven problems. He didn’t even touch the remaining thirteen.

Among the seven he solved, he got three wrong. He correctly solved only four out of twenty.

‘He got four out of twenty right? With this brain, how does he expect to become a mage?’

Fortunately, he wrote the solution process next to each problem as instructed.

By looking at the solution process, I could understand number 155’s mathematical strengths and weaknesses.

“You! You can’t do anything besides simple calculations.”

“That’s… that’s not true.”

“It is true. This… hmm.”

To teach him properly, I would have to start from the basics, which would take too much time. I didn’t want to spend months teaching someone I wasn’t close to.

‘A solution… maybe Instructor Serion’s method could work.’

It was a trick, a workaround. But for someone, it could be considered know-how.

Teaching him for free felt like a waste. We weren’t particularly close, so I felt I was giving away too much.

“Haah, fine. I’ll help you solve your problems if you promise three conditions.”

“Tell me anything. I’ll do whatever you say.”

“First, don’t go around telling people you’re learning from me.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I was worried another math idiot might come looking for me. To prevent that, it was best to keep our relationship a secret.

“Second, stop staring at me like you did yesterday.”

“Yes. I won’t do that again.”

I didn’t want to experience yesterday again.

Yesterday, we had a magic practice session. It was the second session after the sparring ten days ago.

Throughout the session, number 155 kept staring at me intently. Not just me, but everyone noticed his blatant gaze.

“Third, if you see me outside the library, pretend you don’t know me.”

“Ah! That…”

“I said three conditions, but it’s basically one. Officially, we don’t know each other. Got it?”

“I understand.”

He reluctantly agreed. But he had no choice.

If he showed he was close to me, a second or third number 155 might appear. One disturbance in my reading was enough.

“Hmm, it’s time. Come back tomorrow.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s meal time. You shouldn’t skip meals.”

“I can skip one meal…”

“No.”

I packed up my books and stood up. I returned the math books to the general section and headed to the dining hall.

* * *

The next day, as usual, I entered the advanced corner of the library. As soon as I picked a book to read, number 155 came in.

“Senior, did you enjoy your meal?”

“Hmm, wait there for a moment.”

I set the book aside and stood up. Number 155 awkwardly stood up as well.

“I can’t teach you math from the basics. I don’t have that much time, and I don’t plan to put that much effort into you.”

“Then is there no way?”

“There is. Stand over there and face me.”

“Yes, senior.”

Number 155 and I stood facing each other about 2 meters apart. Close enough to hear each other clearly without raising our voices.

“You can’t do anything beyond simple calculations. When it gets even slightly complex, your process becomes a mess.”

“Yes. When it gets complicated, I get confused.”

“Then make it simple. Magic math is essentially coordinate calculations. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I’ve learned that placing my current coordinates at (0, 0, 0) and finding the target coordinates is the basis of magic math.”

Number 155 had attended magic math classes. He had listened carefully and knew how to perform calculations.

However, he was very slow and often made mistakes. When things got complicated, he lost track of what he was doing.

“Right. Now, imagine you’re casting a spell at me. We’re facing each other directly. The height is the same, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

I could feel him focusing. His attitude towards learning wasn’t bad.

“To make the calculations easier, let’s make some assumptions. A unit of 1. So, let’s assume the distance from your heart, where your magic circle is, to your fingertip is 1 meter. Also, let’s assume the distance between us is 100 meters. Let’s consider your magical wave value to be 1, though it’s probably around 0.3. If you were to use a magic arrow, what would the coordinates be?”

“I’ll calculate it.”

I sighed softly at his response.

There was nothing to calculate. I had used simple numbers on purpose to make the answer easy to derive.

If someone had even a bit of a brain, they should be able to instantly produce the target coordinates.

‘He said he has good memorization skills? Then he lacks intuition. And his computational skills are poor too.’

Thanks to the simple numbers, number 155 quickly derived the coordinates. He scratched his head, feeling embarrassed.

“It’s (0, 100, 0).”

“Correct. The first coordinate is the direction, the second is the distance, and the third is the height. Since the first and third are the same, the answer is simple.”

Since we were facing each other, there was no need to calculate the first coordinate. The height was also the same, making the third coordinate 0.

“Sorry, I should have realized it right away.”

“Now, if I move like this, which coordinate changes?”

I moved about 1 meter to the side. I was now out of his direct line of sight.

“The direction changes, so the first coordinate changes.”

“If you want the first coordinate to be zero?”

I threw him a hint, but number 155 only opened and closed his mouth, unable to answer.

“It’s simple. You just have to face me directly. If I’m directly in front of you, the first coordinate will be zero.”

“Ah! That’s right.”

Number 155 turned his body to face me directly again.

“In short, if you just face your target directly, you don’t need to calculate the first coordinate. Want to cast a spell at someone else? Just fix your body directly towards the target to simplify the coordinate calculation. Understand?”

Nodding vigorously!

Number 155 was clearly shocked by this fresh insight. Eliminating one coordinate so easily wasn’t just a minor change. It significantly reduced the complexity of coordinate calculations, speeding up the process.