A few seconds later, he "heard" a cry of pain beside him.
An apprentice snapped his eyes open, clutching his forehead. The rune he had been constructing collapsed before it could take shape, and the backlash of his spiritual power caused a momentary, sharp sting.
In another direction, a girl had successfully constructed the rune, but she was too hasty when guiding her magic power. The invisible force instantly spiraled out of control, blowing her own hair into a messy tangle instead of aiming at the candle.
Vera furrowed her brow, fine beads of sweat breaking out on her forehead. She could clearly "see" the arrow, but no matter how hard she tried, the lines she drew with her spiritual power were always crooked. They squiggled like earthworms and dissipated before she was even halfway done.
Colin was faring even worse. Being too nervous, his sea of consciousness was a chaotic mess, preventing him from focusing his spiritual power enough to even "pick up the brush."
"Control, not brute force," Allen told himself.
He mobilized a wisp of spiritual power and began construction according to the path DSeek provided.
Step one: construct the shaft of the arrow. His spiritual power acted like a precise scalpel, slicing through the dark space of his consciousness and leaving behind a steady, straight streak of light.
Step two: construct the arrow's two wings. His spiritual power branched out, extending to both sides simultaneously to seamlessly connect with the tip of the shaft.
The entire process took less than half a second.
A stable, clear, and faintly glowing arrow rune hovered in his sea of consciousness. It wasn't as deep and complex as the "Anchor," but rather filled with a simple, pure sense of direction. Next, he guided a mild trace of magic power from within his body, injecting it into the tail of the rune.
HUM.
The rune activated. Accelerated and guided by the arrow, that sliver of magic power instantly transformed into a pure, directional "push."
In the outside world, the flame of the white candle on Allen's desk didn't flicker at all; instead, it was instantly snuffed out. There was no sound of wind, nor any disturbance in the air currents. The flame simply vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a wisp of blue smoke rising straight up.
At the same time, the "Release" rune in his sea of consciousness fulfilled its mission. With a flash of light, it turned into specks of luminous dust and faded away.
The entire process was clean and efficient, with negligible consumption. Allen even had the spare capacity to quantify the cost of casting this magic: his spiritual power consumption was about two percent of what it took to be guided in constructing the "Anchor" that morning, and it used up only a twentieth of his current total magic power.
"Beautiful!"
Teacher Colvin's voice rang in his ears. Allen opened his eyes to see the wizard standing by his desk, looking at the wisp of smoke with keen interest.
"Excellent control! When most freshmen succeed for the first time, they either blow the candle away entirely or send the papers around them flying. What you did... was more like 'snuffing' it out rather than 'blowing' it out. How did you do it?"
"I just tried to make the force more concentrated," Allen replied in the simplest terms.
"Concentrated..." Colvin nodded thoughtfully. He patted Allen on the shoulder. "Good lad. What's your name?"
"Allen Wesren."
"Allen... Very well, I will remember you." Colvin's gaze lingered on Allen for two extra seconds, a hint of approval flashing in his bright eyes.
Colvin's declaration drew a mix of envious, jealous, and surprised glances from the surrounding apprentices who were still struggling. Vera and Colin also looked at Allen, their faces full of disbelief. So this was the genius with double-S grades in memory and focus?
Allen ignored the attention. Turning to the still-fretting Vera, he said in a low voice, "Don't try to 'draw' with your spiritual power. Treat it as your finger and use it to 'touch' that shape. Go from start to finish in one stroke, and don't hesitate."
He then looked at Colin. "Forget the candle, forget the credits, and forget everyone around you. In your sea of consciousness, there is only you and that arrow. Just focus on drawing a straight line first. Ignore everything else and just draw it."
His words were simple, yet they struck right at the core. Vera and Colin froze for a moment before trying again according to his guidance.
Half a minute later, the candle in front of Vera was blown out by a sizable gust of air with a loud PUFF. Although it looked clumsy, she had ultimately succeeded. She opened her eyes in pleasant surprise and looked at Allen, her eyes full of gratitude.
A moment later, the flame in front of Colin also flickered violently a few times before finally dying out. He let out a long breath and relaxed his entire body, a trace of color finally returning to his pale face.
Spurred on by Allen's demonstration and motivation, more apprentices successfully cast their magic in succession over the next half hour. Although most people's results were merely a slight breeze, the continuous sounds of snuffing flames and muffled cheers rising and falling across the classroom made the atmosphere lively.
Once the vast majority had experienced casting magic for the first time, Colvin clapped his hands to quiet everyone down.
"Very good! You have proven that you aren't useless trash who can't even pull a trigger," he said with a smile. "A 'Release' rune can only generate the simplest of pushes. But what if we combine several different runes according to a specific sequence and structure?"
Before he even finished speaking, he waved his large hand, and a complex, three-dimensional model made of light appeared above the podium. It was interwoven from five different runes, with pathways linking them to form an exquisite and stable structure.
"This is the most basic 'Magic Model.' You can think of it as a 'blueprint' for witchcraft. During the low-level apprentice stage, every time you cast magic, you must temporarily draw this blueprint in your mind and then inject your magic power. We call this process 'Constructing.'
"The more powerful the witchcraft, the more complex its Magic Model is, the more runes it requires, and the more mental energy and time it takes to construct.
"Once you become advanced apprentices and your spiritual power is strong enough, you'll be able to permanently engrave certain Magic Models into your sea of consciousness, just like the 'Anchor.' By then, you won't need to reconstruct them to cast magic; a mere thought will allow you to cast instantly. This is the fundamental difference between an advanced apprentice and a low-level apprentice."
Colvin pointed at the Magic Model in the air. "And this is the first official witchcraft you are going to learn—'Wizard's Hand.' It's a cantrip that doesn't even qualify as low-level witchcraft, allowing you to manipulate lightweight objects using magic power.
"In this public class, I will teach you a total of five such cantrips: 'Wizard's Hand,' 'Light Magic,' 'Cleaning Magic,' 'Miniature Spark,' and 'Communication Magic.' If you want to learn more, apologies, but you'll have to spend your own magic stones to buy them at the library."
Allen's gaze locked onto the Magic Model of the "Wizard's Hand." Five runes. It was several times more complex than the simple "Release."
[DSeek: "Wizard's Hand" Magic Model detected. Commencing structural disassembly... The model consists of five basic runes: "Shape," "Drive," "Link," "Stabilize," and "Direct." Requesting authorization to conduct a deep analysis and establish a learning plan.]
"Authorize," Allen silently commanded in his mind.
His brain was already whirring at top speed. The five free witchcrafts were all daily-life support oriented. For new students, there was no doubt that the "Wizard's Hand" and "Cleaning Magic" would greatly improve convenience in their lives. As for combat-oriented witchcraft, considering the magic power and proficiency levels of low-level apprentices, even if they learned them, they likely wouldn't be of much use anyway.
If he could quickly grasp the secrets of these witchcrafts and turn them into an efficient set of learning methods...
It seemed a business plan was beginning to take shape.
"Alright, that will be all for today's class," Colvin announced, waving his hand.
The Magic Model in the air dissolved, replaced by images of five independent runes. "Your homework is to carve the forms of these five runes that make up the 'Wizard's Hand' firmly into your minds! In subsequent classes, I will teach you how to combine them. Class dismissed!"
The bell chimed at just the right moment. Colvin picked up his thick tome and vanished with a SWISH.
The freshmen were still immersed in the excitement of having learned their first witchcraft and their yearning for the "Wizard's Hand." Discussing in twos and threes, they walked out excitedly.