Lian sat in his chair. He had read enough information to start practicing magic.
For obvious reasons, the boy decided to begin with fire magic. After all, his System started directly with creating a fireball.
But the first spell wasn't a fireball—it was something simpler.
Closing his eyes and imagining a flame, Lian raised his hand with his palm facing the ceiling.
"Ignis Arde," he said, and as he spoke, something stirred within him. Feeling this sensation, Lian's excitement reached an all-time high before he continued. "Flamma Parva."
The spell was about creating a flame. However, it wasn't meant for combat but for illumination.
In reality, this basic spell was used only as a training exercise by mages to improve their control over mana and their abilities.
But…
"?"
The moment he finished reciting the spell, the tingling sensation that had filled him moments before vanished, as if it had never existed.
"…Maybe I need to focus more… It says here I have to imagine my mana flowing from my dantian, through my body, into my arms, and out to my palm."
With a sigh, Lian tried the spell again.
"Ignis Arde," he said, and once more, the sensation of mana flowing through his body became vivid. "Flamma Parva!"
The mana flowed into his arms and reached his hands.
Then—
Nothing…
No flame appeared. Not even the slightest hint of a spark, nothing at all.
More resigned sighs escaped Lian's lips.
"Maybe… my talent is low?" Lian's expression turned bitter, his arms grew heavy, and his mind began to fill with thoughts of failure.
After a few seconds spent in gloom, an idea sparked in his mind.
"Maybe… it's because of my System? Could it be that I can only use the method provided by my System to advance as a mage?"
The idea made sense. Lian had no choice but to try.
Standing up, Lian left the table and moved to a more open spot in the room.
"I hope I don't cause any trouble… well, if I can even get my magic to work…"
Lian assumed his stance. Legs slightly apart, knees half-bent, one arm raised forward, taut, ready to cast his spell.
His wild lock of hair falling over his eyes gave Lian a bold, defiant look, ready to press on despite all odds.
Maybe…
Closing his eyes, Lian began using his second System ability.
"Geometric Spells, Circle!" he murmured automatically, as if it wasn't the first time he'd used this ability.
In his mind, a circle appeared, still and large enough to be easily visualized.
Drawing from his brief experience with Geometric Meditation, Lian knew what to do.
Use his mind like a brush to trace the circle.
Slowly, the invisible circle began to glow white.
"It's exhausting!" Lian said as he drew. His approach was slow. He wanted to draw the circle as perfectly as possible.
However, with each second spent drawing, his mental stamina waned.
After ten seconds, Lian was still only halfway through the shape, but his mental effort reached a high level. He couldn't finish the shape at this pace—he had to hurry!
With that in mind, the boy sped up his creation.
And a few seconds later, when the starting and ending lines connected, the circle took shape.
More or less…
The circle had a strange shape. One half looked decent—not perfect, but not a complete disaster either. It was good.
The other half… well, it was a mess.
It looked like a deformed line. Even a child could have done better!
Lian began to feel depressed. This time, for real. Maybe he wasn't cut out for magic after all. Maybe this was all just a dream—or rather, a nightmare.
But a moment later, from his half-open hand, something emerged.
A tiny flame, weak and feeble, appeared in his palm before shooting toward the wall in front of him.
But there was no danger to the wall. The flame fizzled out before reaching it, vanishing into the air.
At the sight of this, Lian's expression became a mix of excitement and joy.
"I did it! I did it!" he repeated, jumping around the room like a madman.
His depression? Gone.
His mental fatigue? Vanished.
His talent as a mage? Right there!
But then reality hit him.
A System notification he had previously ignored caught his attention.
[Accuracy: 25%]
"Damn it, after all that effort, my accuracy is only 25%?!"
But Lian didn't give up and tried again.
He set himself a small goal: to leave a mark on the wall in front of him.
With that in mind, the boy assumed the same stance as before.
"Geometric Spells, Circle!" he thought.
He began drawing another circle, this time trying to be faster. He couldn't spend too much time creating something perfect simply because his time was limited.
And so, in about ten seconds, the circle took shape.
Compared to before, its overall form was better, but not as good as the first half of the previous circle.
But it was a success!
A flame, more vibrant and solid, formed in Lian's hand before hurtling toward the wall.
And this time!
Splash—
The fire made a strange sound before crashing into the wall, leaving a faint scorch mark.
[Accuracy: 50%]
"I did it!" Lian shouted, thrilled.
Unlike before, this could be considered a success. However, the actual damage of the ability was still very weak.
"I just need to practice more! But—"
Lian wanted to keep practicing over and over, but something in his body started to feel strange.
First, his mental focus. Though Lian didn't feel too exhausted, doing some quick mental calculations, he figured he could cast at least four more spells before needing to rest.
Moreover, his body felt slightly weaker. Not in terms of strength… it was as if something was missing.
"Oh, my mana!" Lian exclaimed, looking at his abdomen.
"My dantian can only hold a small amount of mana, enough for a few spells. I need to be careful with magic.
From what I read in the tome, if the mana in my dantian runs out, I'll face a condition called 'Mana Break,' where I can't regenerate mana for a while, and my body becomes weaker…"
He muttered, assessing his current condition.
"What's more, I can't keep practicing like this—I have a raid to attend!"
With that in mind, Lian sat on the floor and began meditating.
Essentially, meditation was used not only to improve magical rank but also to recover mana and stamina.
"Alright, let's try the meditation technique Mage Patrick gave me."