Chapter 18

17.

Basic Class for Mana Design. Originally just a lecture called “Mana Design,” it was rebranded as the “Basic Class” with the addition of Intermediate and Advanced sections.

Perhaps due to the relatively young age of the students, the auditorium was filled with youthful voices just before the lecture began.

However…

– Creak.

– Clack, clack.

When the door opened and Irina [Princess], the teaching assistant, appeared, the auditorium quickly fell silent. Even the younger students understood the weight carried by the title of princess.

No student was unaware of the significance of the pendant hanging from Irina’s neck. Combined with her elegant features, her presence became even more pronounced.

By the time Irina began calling out attendance for the basic class, even the smallest whispers had vanished. The only sounds were those responding to her calls.

“Hmm, it seems there are no absent students.”

After confirming everyone’s attendance, Irina began grading assignments—tasks typically handled by assistants like her.

Scribble, scribble. In the quiet auditorium, only the sound of Irina’s fountain pen could be heard. Aside from a slight blush on her cheeks, she seemed no different than usual.

Not long after, another set of footsteps approached, and the door opened again. Startled, Irina jumped up from her seat.

“Uh… there are no absentees, Professor. All assignments have been submitted as well.”

Irina spoke softly, her voice trembling slightly as she avoided eye contact. Letter nodded in acknowledgment, though he wondered if her nervousness stemmed from Princess Lilian’s influence.

‘…Is she tense because of Lilian?’

Just then, Evan [Male], another assistant, entered and began distributing study materials to the students.

Only then did Irina realize she hadn’t brought any materials herself, apologizing sheepishly to Evan while helping him out.

“Hmm…”

Observing both Irina and Evan, Letter turned his attention back to the chalkboard. Despite needing to levitate slightly to reach the top due to its height, this was already second nature to him.

“Topic: Automation of Magic Circuits.”

“Time is something you should always conserve.”

Once all the students had their study materials, Letter addressed the class. Gradually making eye contact with each student seated in the vast auditorium, he asked:

“How many seconds does it take on average to activate the Level 2 Light Magic, Lux?”

With his usual calm tone, about a dozen hands shot up in response.

“Sera.”

“Yes!”

Selecting one student, Letter listened attentively as she answered correctly, nodding approvingly.

“And now… Is it possible to reduce the activation time of 4–5 seconds down to zero?”

The absurdity of the question left the students momentarily stunned.

“Zero seconds? …Does that even make sense?”

Had it been any other class, they would’ve immediately dismissed it as impossible. But given Letter’s history of defying common knowledge, the students hesitated.

Breaking the brief silence, Letter turned to the board.

“Normally, it’s impossible. However, under certain conditions, it can be done.”

He began writing out the prerequisites for achieving instant magic activation, emphasizing the word “automation.”

“This might seem strange at first. You’re used to pulling mana into your body, drawing a magic circle, and chanting incantations before anything works. How do we automate that process?”

Speaking from a student’s perspective rather than a professor’s, he piqued their curiosity.

“So let’s backtrack. Why do we need to chant incantations to use magic?”

A flurry of small hands shot up. Calling on the first one, Letter acknowledged Isabel’s answer:

“Yes, yes, Professor. Chanting activates the mana, which triggers the spell.”

“Correct.”

Letter praised her briefly, but before Isabel could sit down…

“But is chanting the only way to activate mana?”

Caught off guard by an unexpected follow-up, Isabel looked flustered—it wasn’t something they’d learned yet.

Confident she hadn’t fallen behind despite the difficulty of the lecture, Isabel realized this wasn’t meant to elicit an answer.

“Of course you wouldn’t know. Silent casting isn’t taught until graduation year.”

Without letting Isabel’s silence linger too long, Letter resumed his lesson, addressing everyone in the auditorium with a gentle voice.

“What I want to teach you isn’t silent casting or anything complicated. Instead, it’s about preparing the three stages of magic beforehand. Some might call it a loophole.”

With a flick of his finger, he drew the simple magic circle for Lux, Level 2 Light Magic.

But something seemed off after he finished drawing it.

“…Isn’t there too little mana?”

“The circle isn’t glowing.”

Though perfectly structured, the amount of mana infused into the circle was far too low to trigger the spell, even with chanting.

Nevertheless, Letter quietly recited the incantation, clapped once to regain the students’ attention, and pointed at the unresponsive magic circle.

“I’ve drawn the circle, channeled some mana, and chanted the incantation. Why hasn’t the magic activated?”

“One student shouted: “Because there’s not enough mana!”

“Exactly. There wasn’t enough mana.”

After repeating the same steps several times, creating incomplete circles, Letter explained further:

“These circles failed not because I skipped the incantation, but because there wasn’t enough mana.”

As the students stared at the floating, inactive circles, he dove into the core of the lecture—the secret to reducing magic activation time to zero.

“So, thinking simply…”

-WOOSH!

“…what if we just add more mana later? Since insufficient mana prevented activation earlier.”

Simultaneously, the previously incomplete circles lit up brilliantly, transforming the auditorium into a sea of bright lights.

“There you go. I activated the spells without chanting. No delay involved.”

An unprecedented concept—one that defied the traditional understanding of the three stages of magic.

“I never told you not to chant. I merely suggested altering the activation condition.”

What followed was a basic explanation of mana’s properties—something covered early in the course.

“As you all know, mana has the ability to ‘infect’ surrounding mana with its state.”

With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the brilliant lights and continued:

“The tiny amounts of mana I initially infused were already activated through chanting. Thus, when I added sufficient mana later, it automatically activated thanks to the initial state.”

“This method isn’t limited to Lux. Any magic can see its activation speed drastically reduced if properly prepared beforehand.”

Wrapping up, Letter offered final advice:

“Remember, time is always the most valuable priority, regardless of circumstances.”

This guidance, delivered moments before the bell rang, would prove invaluable during future trials involving “Mana Design” tasks.

And just ten seconds later…

-DING!

The end-of-class bell chimed.

“See you next time.”

Waving casually at the students, Letter exited the auditorium, followed shortly by his two assistants.

Left behind were study sheets detailing examples of applicable spells and new ways to utilize magic circles.

***

“Princess.”

“Yes, yes?”

“I’m planning to teach the advanced class using a slightly harder version of what I just taught the basics class.”

“Will it be okay?”

Irina nodded after a moment’s thought, adding that such lessons would likely prove highly useful for the advanced students.

“The advanced students will definitely gain a lot from this. Definitely.”

“Alright then.”

Little did Irina know at the time…

“…that her words would lead the advanced students straight into geometric nightmares.”

“■■■ temporarily deactivated via the Yuta-Girt method, then channeling mana into the Erither diagram allows for finer adjustments—”

“…and THIS is supposed to be ‘slightly harder,’ Professor?”

Faced with countless diagrams, Irina’s eyes began spinning.