For most people, their first teleport ended with nausea, dizziness, or both. Lucian had seen grown mages stumble out of one and immediately expelled the contents of their stomach, all while insisting they were “fine”.

  Leon, surprisingly, handled it well by Lucian’s standards. The boy swayed a little after they arrived, but he stayed on his feet, blinking rapidly while his breathing steadied. Not too bad at all for a first timer.

  Lucian watched him with mild approval. “You okay?”

  Leon shook his head once, then forced it still. “I’m fine."

  “Good, welcome to Blackwood Forest.”

  Leon’s gaze snapped to the dark trees towering overhead, their branches tangled so tightly they choked out most of the light. Then he looked back at Lucian, eyes wide. “Professor… did you really just teleport us here?”

  Lucian nodded. “I did."

  Leon stared at him as if Lucian had just claimed he’d walked on water. “How? Teleportation magic is supposed to be lost.”

  "I have my ways, besides, it's best not to worry about the little details."

  "But what about your maid?"

  "She should be here in a few seconds."

  Right on cue, the air behind Lucian rippled. Belle appeared without a sound as she stepped into place.

  Leon jerked in surprise, nearly stumbling again. “How do both of you know how to teleport? I thought that teleportation was a lost magic."

  “What’s ‘lost’ and what isn’t tends to depend on who you ask,” Lucian said. “And in your case, it’s not worth losing sleep over. What matters is that you’re here, and that I'm going to train you."

  “Before we start, may I know why you brought me all the way out here in the first place?”

  “There are certain exercises I intend to conduct that would be more suitable for this place than the training hall."

  That answer was technically correct, but Lucian didn’t have the luxury of moving slowly. Time was limited, and Leon needed to improve as fast as possible.

  After teaching him the basics, Lucian planned for Leon to train against a real monster or two. So that by the time the attack Elysia had foreseen arrived, the boy would be more prepared.

  Leon hesitated, then gave a small, apologetic shake of his head. “I appreciate it, Professor, but I don’t think I’m in shape to train right now. I was practicing just before you found me.”

  “That’s fair, but I have a solution. Please stand still for a bit.”

  “Stand… still?”

  “Yes, this will only take a moment.”

  Lucian rested a hand on Leon’s shoulder. Golden light spilled from his palm, seeping beneath Leon’s skin as it spread through his muscles and bones. A sudden surge of strength washed through the boy as though exhaustion had been stripped away in an instant.

  What Lucian was doing wasn’t really a healing spell. Healing meant restoring something to the way it used to be, and that wasn’t quite what this was. Instead, he was simply giving Leon a portion of his own power from his rather generous mana reserves.

  Of course, he had to be careful. Leon’s mana core was still damaged, and pouring in too much mana too quickly would only make things worse. Fortunately, this was not new territory for Lucian.

  He had done this many times before, long ago during ancient wars. Back then, restoring damaged mana cores was one of the many services he provided to his past allies. People used to call him a miracle healer because of it, mostly because he was the only one capable of sharing his own mana with so many other people on short notice.

  The process itself was fairly simple. Sharing mana was a bit like pouring water from a full bucket into an empty one. The only issue was that Leon’s bucket, in this case, had cracks in it. If Lucian poured too quickly, most of the mana would simply spill out, potentially damaging the boy's spirit and body.

  Leon flexed his fingers, then let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “I… I feel amazing, Professor, what did you just do to me?”

  “I simply injected a bit more power into your mana core, and it had the pleasant side effect of restoring some of your vitality as well.”

  Leon blinked, then flexed his fingers, surprise flashing across his face before settling into open amazement. “I’ve genuinely never felt this good in a long time, Professor. You must have given me an incredible amount of mana.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Lucian said, waving the thought away. “So, are you good to start?"

  “Of course, Professor, I’m ready to start training whenever you are.”

  “Excellent, but first things first,” Lucian said, turning his head to the right. “Belle, I’d like some sandwiches, please.”

  Belle sighed heavily. “Ham and cheese?”

  “Exactly,” Lucian said, completely serious. Then he looked back at Leon. “Would you like one as well?”

  “Uh, thanks. But I don’t really need food since I always have food at home.”

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  Lucian waved that off without hesitation. “Belle, get him one anyway. Just in case.”

  “As you wish, Master,” Belle said, vanishing from sight.

  “Professor, where did you even meet her? I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t imagine someone who can use teleportation magic choosing to work as a maid.”

  “Belle is a special case. Let’s just say she owes me a great deal, and she wouldn’t have chosen to serve me otherwise.”

  Leon nodded, seeming to accept that without pushing. “That makes sense, and I won’t pry any further, Professor. That being said, what are we going to be training first?”

  That was an excellent question. Leon looked eager and focused, which was good. That kind of determination was useful, especially when someone’s life might depend on it in just a few days. Still, Lucian wasn’t going to rush blindly.

  He wanted Leon to survive what was coming, but he was also curious about the System. Everything about it felt unnatural, and Lucian had a strong feeling it interacted differently with him than it did with everybody else. Having Leon here gave him the perfect chance to observe it up close, through someone who had grown up relying on it.

  “We’ll start simple, cast a basic spell for me. While you do, pay attention to what happens in your mind, then tell me exactly how it feels to cast it.”

  “Got it, I'll cast an Ice Blast then."

  Leon raised his hands and began to chant, his fingers moving through various gestures. As he did, a light blue magic circle formed in front of him, and then the spell released.

  Ice Blast shot forward in a sharp burst, a stream of cold that hissed through the air and struck a tree a short distance away. Frost spread across the bark almost instantly, and a thin layer of ice crept out throughout the trunk

  Lucian watched the aftermath of Leon’s Ice Blast closely. The spell was clean, with little distortions in its shape, and the spread of frost was relatively controlled. It was, even by his standards, decent work.

  More importantly, the boy seemed to have a natural talent for ice magic. The mana flowed through the spell smoothly, in a way that usually couldn’t be taught through practice alone. Lucian had seen that kind of natural affinity before, and it often meant a mage could progress much faster than most in that specific magical affinity.

  Lucian gave a small nod instead. “Good, now tell me in detail how you formed that spell.”

  "I used the chant first, then I followed it with the gestures, and once I felt the mana settle, I pictured the circle locking into place. After that, I released the spell the moment it felt right.”

  “Duly noted. But can you identify the problem with your casting?”

  “Problem? I’m quite sure I did it right, as right as I can anyway."

  “Hmm, then let me ask you something else.”

  Lucian lifted a hand toward the same tree, the one still coated in frost from Leon’s spell. “Can you do this?”

  Before Leon could even open his mouth, Lucian flicked his wrist. Ice Blast.

  A sharp burst of cold snapped through the air and struck the tree, ice spreading outward in a clean, controlled bloom. Ice Blast.

  Another blast followed instantly, with no chant, gestures, or magic circle. Then another came just as fast, piling layer after layer of ice onto the tree until it creaked under the growing weight of frost.

  Leon stared, frozen in place. “How are you able to cast spells back to back like that?"

  "To me, casting spells instantaneously like that is normal. The real question is why you and everyone else I’ve seen so far cast spells the way you do.”

  “Well, that’s just how we’re taught, especially since the System helps so much with spellcasting. And when I’m learning a spell, it basically gives me the magic circle design right away once I’m familiar enough with it, like when I’ve memorized the necessary incantations.”

  “And how does the System ‘give you’ a magic circle?”

  “Once you reach a certain level of mastery, the System marks the spell as learned and grants you its magic circle design. After that, casting the spell becomes almost like second nature. You can still make small improvements to the spell, like refining the magic circle or shortening the chant, but there’s generally little room to push it much further.”

  “In that case, it seems the System is encouraging the least efficient form of casting possible.” Lucian said.

  “How is it inefficient? If anything, I would’ve thought the opposite. The way you cast spells with no chant and no magic circle, shouldn’t that be more mana intensive? The whole point of the preparations is to spread the burden over time and make the spell easier to cast.”

  “You’re not wrong, chanting and gestures can make a spell easier to cast. But easier doesn’t mean efficient. In fact, for spellcasting, it often means the opposite.”

  "Professor, I don’t understand.”

  “I’ll give you an example,” Lucian said. “Take Fireball, which you can cast with chants, gestures, and a magic circle, or you can cast it instantaneously instead. The first method spreads the strain over time, so it feels easier because you’re paying the mana cost bit by bit. The downside is that every extra step creates more chances for mana to leak into the surroundings.”

  “Does that mean that even when I’ve only just started a chant, I’m already leaking mana?”

  “Not a great deal, but yes, some excess mana loss is inevitable. Practice can reduce the leakage, but it will never truly reach zero.”

  “I… never knew that,” Leon murmured, looking unsettled.

  “This kind of knowledge doesn't seem common nowadays, so I won't blame you for not knowing."

  Lucian raised his hand and made a flicking motion. “To be clear, instantaneous casting places a heavier initial strain on the mana core, because the full burden is applied at once. However, it also removes most avenues for mana loss, as energy is expended only at the moment of release. That efficiency is what allows for rapid spell casting.”

  Leon fell quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly. “That actually makes a lot of sense. But if that’s true, why would the System encourage such an inefficient method?”

  “I’d like to know the answer to that myself. But if I had to guess, the System is hiding something from everybody. I just haven’t figured out what yet.”

  "But why would the System do such a thing in the first place?"

  "Hard to say, but don’t worry about it. For now, we focus on your training.”

  "Right."

  Without the System, Leon likely would have been advancing far more quickly. If the boy had been born several centuries ago, he might already have been casting far stronger spells at his age.

  However, Lucian knew there was no point mentioning that now. Complaining about the System out loud would not help Leon improve.

  After a brief pause, Leon looked up through the branches where the last bits of light filtered down. “How long are we going to be training? It’s already getting late.”

  "Well, do you have anything important to do later?"

  "I guess not really."

  “And do you have classes tomorrow?”

  “Uh, not that I remember.”

  “Then we have plenty of time."

  For a brief moment, Lucian thought he saw Leon looked worried for some reason, which he chose to ignore, because there was still a lot of work to do. And no matter what happened, he was going to make sure the boy was ready for what was to come.