The duel had already started long ago, and yet neither had made a single move to attack one another.
It was a strange occurrence that the teaching assistants nearby had no idea how to handle.
Then Carlen nodded.
"Very well, I'll help you, but it's up to you to pay attention."
Soren was surprised but quickly focused his eyes when he noticed that Carlen was forming a magic circle.
When the circle had fully formed in his hand, Carlen looked at Soren and asked him a question.
"How long have you been learning magic?"
"About three months."
Soren didn't know how long the original had learned magic for, but given his status window immediately after transmigrating, he knew it had only been a minuscule amount.
"So, since you entered the academy? That makes this easier then." Carlen said as he raised his palm into Soren's line of sight. "As you can see, I have formed a magic circle in my palm. This is what Stellaris Academy teaches students, too, correct?"
Soren nodded.
"So does that mean magic circles can only be formed in the palm?"
"No." He answered, knowing full well that by the third year, palm circles were almost entirely extinct.
"Then how exactly do you form a magic circle elsewhere, Soren Arden?"
"...I don't know."
It was subjects such as these where his otherworldly knowledge was of no use; vague explanations and cool visuals weren't enough for Soren to learn how to do these things.
Soren didn't even fully understand how to create a magic circle in his palm, it was simply intuition that had let him do so thus far.
Instead of chastising him, Carlen simply nodded.
"Of course you don't, if you did, you wouldn't be in class F. Now pay attention."
Shatter
Carlen crushed the magic circle in his hand, then began forming a new one; this time, however, it was different.
Instead of sitting in his hand, the spell formed in the air above it.
Soren watched in awe at the sight unfolding before him, understanding the words Lilliana had said to him earlier.
– If you fight someone a lot stronger than you, even if it's over quickly, you can still learn something from being the one standing before them.
He watched as the mana in the air was sucked into a single spot, slowly forming the pale blue magic circle.
Ordinarily, mana was invisible to the naked eye; it was only at times like this, where strong spells or mana enhancement were used, that it became visible.
This was real magic.
Not the weak, basic spells that Soren flung around without a thought.
What Carlen was making was an intermediate magic circle.
It wasn't just that, either; he was creating the magic circle away from his body, without the support of his own magic circuit.
Soren focused hard, memorising every action that played out before him, from the mana in the air to the circle in his palm, Soren memorised every part of it, hoping that he would be able to replicate it.
When the spell finally completed, Carlen finally opened his eyes, his forehead glistening with sweat, and then turned his gaze to Soren.
"So how did I do it?" He asked.
'How…?'
Soren could understand some of what Carlen had just done, but it was impossible for him to explain the entire thing; not only had he used intermediate magic, which Soren had yet to grasp at all, but he had also created the magic circle away from his body.
Then Soren remembered the feeling he had felt only moments before.
"Did you use the surrounding mana to form the circle away from your magic circuits?" Soren asked hesitantly.
In response, Carlen smiled.
"Close, I used the surrounding mana to stabilise the magic circle, then inserted my own mana to complete the spell. Well done, though, you must've made it into Stellaris Academy using your brain."
Snap
He then clicked his fingers, shattering the magic circle into pieces.
"What I just did is far above your level, right?"
Soren nodded.
"Thought so. How about I lower the level a bit then and see if you can keep up."
Once again, Carlen closed his eyes, likely to help with concentration, as he began forming a magic circle.
This time, unlike before, the magic circle was not in the air; instead, it was stuck to the bottom of his foot.
.
[Unique Skill [???] is showing signs of awakening.]
.
'What?'
Soren's left pupil became translucent.
And this time, Soren saw it.
He saw the entire process from start to finish.
He saw Carlen's mana gather in his heart.
He saw the magic circuit inside Carlen's body awaken.
He saw the mana being pushed down towards Carlen's left foot.
Then he saw the magic circle form.
Through all of this, Soren finally came to understand how magic circles were formed.
The moment the process ended, Soren's left eye went back to normal and a searing pain shot through his entire being.
"Aghh–! Shit! Grrrgghhh–!" He clutched his eye and crouched down.
'What the hell is going on?'
"Soren Arden?" Carlen looked at Soren with a confused expression.
"Give me… a second…" Soren said. "Stitch thy flesh, I end thy agony. 「Heal」"
Once the pain had eased slightly, he let out a deep breath before standing up.
"Sorry, I'm not sure what happened."
"Were you able to catch what I did?" Carlen asked.
"Yes… Somehow."
Soren was still unable to wrap his head around what had just happened.
He had been watching Carlen cast a spell when, all of a sudden, his hidden unique skill had momentarily activated, and he became able to see the flow of mana.
Then, once it was over, it felt like his left eyeball had exploded.
It was only after a couple of minutes that Soren was finally back to normal.
"Do you want to give it a shot?" Said Carlen, who had been waiting for Soren to calm down.
"Sure, I'll try."
He then closed his eyes, although he had [Concentration], he still closed them, knowing he would need his full focus to do this.
'First gather the mana…'
It was the first time that Soren had paid attention to the mana inside his body.
Until now, whether it was due to the body's prior experience or the assistance of the status window, he had been able to cast from his palm without issue.
This time was different, though.
Soren had to watch his mana and force it to go in an entirely different direction than usual.
Once the mana had gathered near his heart, he activated his magic circuits.
These were the core of every magician and warrior; these were what gave someone the ability to cast magic or use mana enhancement.
These circuits were coursing throughout his entire body.
As the mana spread through the circuits, it tried to push its way into his right palm, the place where he usually cast magic from, but this time, Soren stopped it.
He cut off the magic circuits in his arm, causing his arms to go limp for a moment, then pushed the mana down towards his left foot.
Slowly but surely, the mana made its way down, constantly trying to push its way back up, given even the slightest chance, but Soren kept forcing it down until eventually it stopped.
A faint light appeared beneath his foot for a split second, before disappearing.
'I guess I can't do it yet…'
Soren had attempted to replicate the intermediate magic that Carlen had used previously, but the spell disappeared before the circle had even gained shape.
Although he was unable to understand exactly why the spell had failed, what he had discovered was that it wasn't enough to simply memorise a magic circle.
It felt like he had finally reached the limit of his first unique skill, but funnily enough, Soren didn't feel any negative emotions.
Instead his mind was filled with something else entirely.
He once again gathered the mana within his body, repeating his earlier actions, only this time he changed the spell he was trying to create.
Woooonggg—!
And just like that a light green magic circle formed beneath his foot.
He had done it.
He had made a magic circle somewhere other than his palm.
Soren opened his eyes, his body drenched in sweat and grinned.
It was the first time since transmigrating that he had truly felt proud of himself.
He had done something that anyone else at his level would struggle with.
"Wow…" Carlen exclaimed. "Well done."
It was small praise, but to Soren it felt amazing.
"Thank you, Carlen."
"It was nothing." He said with a slight smile.
Soren turned to the teaching assistant.
"I forfeit."
[Carlen Frenun wins!]
————「❤︎」————