Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 90 (Part 1)
Rodin had never simply passed by a magic circle or rune. Whether it was an artifact or a building, if it was related to magic, he would always inject mana into it and examine the magic circle.
The mana training room at the special forces training facility was no exception.
By the time he had gained the ability to manipulate mana at will, he had already finished analyzing the magic circle in the training room. He had even devised his own improvements to the methods used there.
“Hmm, it’s not working.”
Of course, that was just in theory. He had to test it to see if it would actually work.
He had just attempted to modify the magic circle engraved in the special forces training facility’s mana training room, but it didn’t even activate. There was clearly something wrong with the magic circle.
“Let’s see. Is the conversion rate… too high? No, this should be possible.”
Thinking of it as if he were redesigning the magic circle from scratch, he analyzed it again. Only then did he notice a few mistakes.
He corrected them and activated the magic circle again. A faint light flickered across the training room, but soon everything fell silent again.
“It stopped. Seems like it’s a mana stone issue.”
He replaced the low-grade mana stone with a mid-grade one. Upon activating it again, the mana training room finally started functioning properly.
“Got it.”
The basement was divided into three sections. First, it was split in half, with Rodin taking the left side for his own use. Since he planned to create artifacts here, the space couldn’t be too small.
The right half was further divided. The left room was made into Bianca’s mana training room. Even though it was right next to his, he inscribed mana-blocking magic to ensure that they wouldn’t interfere with each other.
“The far-right room… Will we ever need it?”
If Larry showed any talent for aura, the far-right room would become his aura training room. If not, it would just be left as a simple basement storage.
“Phew, finally done!”
Rodin had finished engraving all the magic he had planned for the house. The walls had become sturdier, and the entire house was now enveloped in dense mana thanks to a mana concentration magic circle.
“Big Brother Rodin!”
When he went up to the first floor, Bianca was waiting for him. Judging by her expression, it seemed she had finished the task he had given her.
“Did you solve them all?”
“Yes! Check it for me.”
“Hmm.”
The problems he had given her yesterday were basic arithmetic. It was so fundamental that Rodin had mastered it before even entering the special forces training facility.
“Hmm, this one’s wrong. You need to subtract the last digit first.”
“Oh! That was a mistake.”
“Mistakes in magic can lead to failed spells. In the meantime, your enemy could finish their spell and burn you to ashes.”
“Eek! I won’t make a mistake again.”
Fortunately, she had only gotten one wrong out of the twenty problems. That was a decent result.
Bianca’s talent for mana was just one point lower than Cory’s. However, in areas outside of mana, Bianca surpassed Cory by far.
She didn’t find math particularly boring, and it wasn’t like she had no interest in studying.
‘But her limits are clear.’
With Bianca’s level of talent in mana and arithmetic, she would likely hit a major wall around the 3rd Circle. If she could overcome that wall, she might reach the 5th Circle, but if not, that would be the end of her progress.
“You’re doing well. Keep thinking, and think some more. A magician is someone who finds answers by constantly seeking them out.”
“Got it. I’ll give it my best.”
Bianca, who had looked discouraged, regained her energy.
Though she was disappointed about getting one problem wrong, she had gotten the rest correct. Compared to her first day, when she couldn’t even solve half the problems, she had improved significantly.
“From now on, do your training in the training room. You know where it is, right?”
“Hehe, thanks, Big Brother Rodin.”
While Bianca studied, Rodin also immersed himself in his own studies.
The lessons with the Frouval were now quite enjoyable. The pace was quick, and they were already nearing the end of the second phase. It was around 2:52 on the watch—just a little before the 3.
* * *
Fortunately, Larry did have talent for aura. The Cardos Sword Hall, a training center for swordsmanship and aura training, evaluated his aura talent score at 19.
‘Why is everything so borderline?’
In Rodin’s eyes, Larry’s aura talent score of 19 and Bianca’s mana talent score of 16 were practically the same.
Typically, if one’s mana talent score was below 20, the 3rd Circle, the threshold for becoming a full-fledged magician, would be their limit. While it wasn’t impossible to go higher, it would require an extraordinary amount of effort and a great deal of luck.
The same applied to aura. With an aura talent score below 20, the 3rd rank of swordsman, the standard for a full-fledged knight, would likely be the limit. Without learning some exceptional swordsmanship or being incredibly lucky, surpassing that level would be difficult.
“Anyway, since Larry is learning swordsmanship, I should set up an aura training room.”
Unfortunately, Rodin didn’t know how to create an aura training room.
In the end, he had no choice but to commission the Cardos Sword Hall to build one in the vacant room on the far-right side of the basement, which he had left empty just in case.
“The price seems fair. How long will it take?”
“Since he’s becoming one of our trainees, we’ll make sure to expedite the process. It’ll be ready within three days.”
“Thank you.”
The cost for the aura training room, including materials, was 1,000 gold. Even though Larry was going to receive swordsmanship lessons from the Cardos Sword Hall, there was no discount.
On top of that, there was a monthly tuition fee of 20 gold for the swordsmanship lessons. And equipment for the lessons, as well as food expenses, were separate costs.
“The Central Continent is a good place to make money, but it’s just as good at spending it.”
In truth, Rodin didn’t mind spending money. He could easily earn over 1,000 gold by selling a single artifact.
“Nothing here. Absolutely nothing.”
“Yeah, Big Brother. There’s really nothing.”
Recently, Rodin and Bianca’s biggest interest had been finding a good restaurant. They had tried all 17 restaurants nearby and sampled their signature dishes.
All of them were mediocre. The food wasn’t bad, but it was far from the level of the luxurious inn where they had previously stayed.
“I might as well hire someone to cook for us.”
“I’m fine with anything. I just want to eat delicious food.”
They asked around. They inquired with the neighborhood security force, the owners of the local general store, and the magic goods shop.
“There is someone who might be suitable.”
“Really? Who is it?”