This was the first time Lin Yue didn’t know what to say, so he could only use a big question mark to express his confusion.
He wants to teach me Burning Art right off the bat?
The problem is, right now I’m no better than a stray dog on the street, with barely any mana and poor stamina.
Use spatial magic?
“Um… just to make sure we’re talking about the same thing, let me ask, how exactly am I supposed to use this thing in battle if I learn it now?”
Spatial magic was said to be powerful, nearly on the level of a conceptual god’s abilities, but the most frustrating thing was that without precise mana control and a huge mana pool, there was no way to use it for destructive attacks.
If we’re not talking about combat ability, then its best use is for running away.
I can’t just learn this and become Lin the Runner…
“So you actually know quite a bit about spatial magic.”
Lia looked at her newly accepted “bargain disciple” with a hint of surprise, not expecting him to figure out the biggest flaw of spatial magic so quickly.
But she hadn’t even considered how to solve it, because for her, crafting world-altering spells with her bare hands was child’s play—she’d never been bothered by a lack of destructive power.
Besides, what she played with wasn’t even spatial magic, but spatial law.
Within the rules of the world, she could even twist off her enemy’s head directly with a spatial rift.
Lia thought about this problem, then answered confidently, “You could just open a spatial rift and call me over, wouldn’t that solve everything?”
God…
What a damn weird train of thought—so our signature skill as spatial mages is summoning backup, right?
If you can’t win, just call your mentor.
No matter how strong they are, can they really beat a sixth-tier Magus?
Lin Yue sighed, realizing that you just couldn’t judge this person with normal logic.
“So the first magic I learned was spatial magic, and only after that came the others…”
Is this person really suited to be a teacher?
There’s a saying: You might be great at taking tests and getting high scores, but that doesn’t mean you’re any good at teaching others to take tests.
If your journey was smooth and easy, you’ll have no idea what difficulties others face.
Lia was a genius, but the original Lin Yue in the novel was a complete good-for-nothing.
There was no way he could learn magic the way Lia envisioned.
Yes, a unified, step-by-step education that starts from the basics really is wonderful.
Thinking this, Lin Yue offered Lia a more reasonable and constructive suggestion: “I think I’d better start by learning the content for a first-tier mage…”
“That’s true. With your current mana, even opening a rift would probably knock you out.”
Lia showed a “so troublesome” expression and slapped her hand right over Lin Yue’s chest, near his heart.
“What are you doing?”
Seeing Lia’s baffling action, Lin Yue was a little confused.
In the original novel, he’d never seen anyone do something like this, except…
He suddenly remembered the scene before the final chapter, where everyone sought power at the Trial Land to defeat the Demon God and gained their source power.
That was where the source power was guided to the heart in the CG.
Thump thump!
Suddenly, Lin Yue’s heart seemed to be jolted by something, pounding twice in quick succession.
“What… is this?”
Lin Yue suddenly felt like his whole body was being burned, the pain was indescribable.
It was even more agonizing than having a 40-degree fever in real life!
“You’re naturally mana-blocked. Aside from your temperament, you’re useless in every other way.”
Lia opened a spatial rift and, not knowing where she got it from, pulled out a cup of hot milk and took a sip, saying: “Spatial magic can do things you never even imagined.”
Lin Yue felt that his body and something like meridians were being gnawed open and expanded by some force, a pain so intense he couldn’t even scream.
Eventually, Lin Yue couldn’t hold on, his vision went black, and he collapsed onto the grass.
Before he lost consciousness, he seemed to see Lia crouch down with a frown, a faint violet glow from her fingertip brushing lightly across his forehead, her movements showing a careful gentleness he’d never seen before.
When he woke up again, the sky was already light, and the campfire had been relit at some point, its flickering glow lighting up the side of Lia’s face.
She was sitting on a nearby stone, holding a beautifully bound magic book, her long violet hair falling down, hiding most of her expression.
“You’re awake?”
Lia didn’t even lift her head, her tone as flat as ever.
Lin Yue tried moving his fingers and found that the burning pain was gone, replaced by a light and airy feeling throughout his body.
He instinctively sensed his mana and immediately felt countless traces of residual violet mana flowing inside him.
Even his fingertips could now feel the movement of mana.
“You didn’t even make a sound. Looks like you can tolerate pain pretty well.”
Lia’s cold words carried a barely noticeable hint of praise.
“I… what happened to me?”
“Just helped you a little bit.”
Lia said.
“This was my first time doing this on a human, and it turned out to be more complicated than I thought.”
So I was just used as a guinea pig?
Seeing Lin Yue’s bewildered expression, Lia knew he definitely hadn’t understood what just happened.
So she closed the magic book, stood up, and explained: “Your total mana is like an ice cream tub. When you train your mana, it’s like scooping a little bit of ice cream from the top and eating it, and the space you scoop out is the mana you can use.”
“The body’s limit is the tub wall. Once you scoop down to there, you can’t expand it anymore. At that point, you need to…”
Lia took out something like a ranking chart from the pages of the magic book.
“Advance a tier. Hmm, in my explanation, it’s probably better to call it ‘upgrading the tub’.”
Don’t just use food analogies for everything…
“Normally, when people advance, it’s by stuffing in more mana than they can hold, which stretches the tub and gets them to the threshold.”
“But now, inside you, there’s a power of law I put in. You can think of it as me twisting your ice cream tub larger with spatial magic, though its fundamental size hasn’t really changed.”
“However, as long as you finish scooping out the ice cream before my power of law disappears, and use mana to keep it that way, your tub will actually change shape for real, and you’ll have advanced a tier.”
What a mess—still don’t understand.
“So, basically, as long as I train normally, I’ll advance easily?”
“Very clever.”
For once, Lia gave a satisfied smile.
“Too bad your magical aptitude is just terrible…”
Hey!
I strongly suspect you only praised me so you could insult me right after!
“Congratulations. As far as your mana limit goes, you’re now a second-tier mage, one of the best among new students.”
Lia clapped expressionlessly, then said coolly: “But if you get lazy, your power will gradually fade, and you’ll go back to how you were before.”
“Make good use of the time before the power of law fades. I’m going back to sleep…”
With that, she stretched lazily, tossed him a book of spatial magic insights, and opened a teleportation gate, disappearing.
“Come on, still acting like a hands-off boss…”
Lin Yue picked up the book from the ground and found that it was mixed in with a bunch of random low-tier spells.
Clearly, she’d already decided what he should practice.
“That girl really is cold on the outside, warm on the inside, just like in the game.”
Lin Yue chuckled, getting ready to try learning this spatial magic.
“When learning spatial magic, you have to first think of space as a part of yourself, then use mana to blend your relationship with it, and then you can… huh?”
Lin Yue read aloud, his frown deepening.
What the heck is this?
Kid’s doodles, ghostly scrawls?
…
The pink-haired girl read over the contents on the parchment by lantern light, dealing with each matter in turn.
By tomorrow, she’d probably have even more letters to reply to.
She rubbed her temples, trying to ease her fatigue.
Another all-nighter.
Running a business sure is tough…
She gave a wry smile, yet found joy in it.
With her father gravely ill, she couldn’t push these responsibilities onto her brothers—otherwise, who knew how they’d carve up the family business?
“Young miss, your coffee…”
An older man came up the stairs, carrying a steaming cup of coffee.
“Thanks, Raoul.”
The girl took off her glasses, revealing the beautiful face that had worked alongside Lin Yue during the day.
“I’ll just—”
“Stay there.”
Mapelle’s voice was cold, laced with the authority of someone in charge.
“Note your oversight today yourself. Don’t let it happen again.”
She was talking about how Lin Yue had caught her changing clothes earlier today.
“Yes, miss…”
As for Lin Yue Hawk…
Mapelle glanced out the window at the pale dawn sky, a meaningful smile appearing on her lips.
Thinking of this wastrel so different from the rumors, a deep curiosity began to well up inside her.
When it comes time for real combat drills, I look forward to seeing what you’ll do.
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