Sebastian entered his room, placed all the class material he had received today on his desk, and sat down. Thinking about what happened earlier, with Vernon, would be pointless, he knew that much. All that would do was waste his time, time he could spend doing something else, learning, practicing. Knowledge was power, he'd heard that once before.

"I just… have to get stronger then. Smarter. Then I won't be so confused anymore…"

But Sebastian couldn't escape his troubles so fast, he had another problem: his options had increased. He could not do everything in one day. Tomorrow he would meet both Vernon and Anabelle again, at the very least. Learning how to read, practicing his writing, meditating, numbers, magic… they'd all be tested tomorrow. They will ask him questions and see how little he progressed in them. If he split his attention between the two teachers, he would disappoint both, but if he focused on one, even if he showed sufficient progress, he would disappoint the other even more. He needed… he needed…

To just do it. That's it, to just go forwards, that's what strong people do, and he wanted to be strong ever since…

"Why do I want to be strong?" Sebastian questioned himself, something he rarely did before, not often having the time necessary for self-reflection. "I… never thought about being strong before, it wasn't important… is it because I saw the wizards? Do I want to be like them? Yes, that's it! I need magic!"

And with that, he decided, the first thing he had to do, was learn magic. Everyone around him knew magic, except for Tom, or at least that's what he was most confident in guessing. Vernon and Anabelle did not do any magic, but they were teachers here, at a magic school, so of course they knew magic. They were strong.

So, he grabbed the pamphlet, and started reading, following the instructions. Slowly, letter by letter, he kept going, skipping the words he could not understand. He pressed on his palm lightly with his finger, seeing the skin there stretch, and did what Vernon said, following, roughly, the instructions on the paper. He focused on the skin, forcing it back to normal, toughening it, but of course, he was not able to do it on the first try, his focus slightly draining, but no change occurring.

His skin, simply, did nothing. He could not see anything, he could not feel anything, as if he was unable to do anything. But he knew what he did wrong. Vernon talked about that while explaining the "extension" method of casting spells. It can happen when you visualize too much what you are doing, rather than just feeling where the focus was and manipulating it. So he had to stop trying to make the skin tighten, he had to feel it.

"I just have to try again… until I get it right."

So he willed his focus again, moulding it, shaping it into his skin, before closing his eyes and willing it to harden, rather than imagining it.

And he did it. He could feel it this time, undeniably, how the skin pushed against his finger. The skin in that area hardened, not by much, but he could feel it, dragging his finger across the small patch of now rougher skin on his palm, maybe a few centimeters wide, before it was gone, and it returned to normal. But that, for the short amount of time that it lasted, was magic.

He was sure to make Vernon proud. And he still had enough time to study before meditating and going to bed, probably with a headache yet again. So with that attitude from earlier of 'just do something', that temporarily got lost in the excitement for magic but now came back, he grabbed a random item from the desk.

It was the pamphlet, again.

"...I guess I could… try to read it again? Yes! I can practice reading, that's it!"

With a level of excitement that was never seen before in a kid about to study, Sebastian sat down and focused on reading again, trying to figure out what different words meant from context, and doing considerable progress on the more usual ones. The specific name of cells, or other technical terms, however, were still as incomprehensible as ever to him. But he did read enough to try and change his approach to the spell, to make it better. After all, more practice can't hurt.

A little progress was made, but there was progress. When it first succeeded, the spell only lasted a few seconds and could only cover a very tiny area, and now he figured out the reasons. First, the small area was due to the fact that while he did spread his focus, once it got spread too thin he could not feel it anymore, as if it would disappear into thin air, and secondly, the short duration, was caused by a similar effect, his connection with the focus disappearing after a while, and from what Vernon told him, there was no other way around solving this than practice, again and again, until you slowly get better, or find a mental trick, which differed from person to person.

But now was not the time. He did not want to stretch his focus even more before meditating. He remembered what would happen if it got too low, and did not want to risk that, so Sebastian turned off the light and climbed into his bed, sitting in a comfortable position before starting his daily meditation.The mental image of a simple cube appeared, and he tried to make it more and more there, more accurate, more detailed, working his brain. Despite this being a mental exercise anyone could do, for some reason this helped mages increase their mental capacity. Could normal people do this to? Just what was the connection between focus and the mind? Sebastian did not know, and did not have any more time to think about that, as he had already spent enough time meditating, and quickly went to sleep when the pain appeared. He had yet to see any more increase in his mental capacity besides that first time, but surely, time will change that.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

~~~

"Do you know what you have done!?"

At the top of Venesicia Academy, in the director's office, the glass was shaking.

"Mr. Azay, I did what was done every year. Guide the awakened to a temporary housing area while the dorms are empty, give them an explanation of the situation they are in, and explain to them-"

"That it is too dangerous for them to leave their building?" Azay interrupted the one speaking, Mark.

"I… well, it is. They don't know what to expect, the dangerous areas, the warning signs… What was I supposed to do?" Mark questioned him. The academy, to his knowledge, while not directly dangerous, did have items and facilities that could pose a danger if not approached carefully, such as any of the workshops.

"Give them a guide, that's what. That's what was done in the years before, too, except the kids weren't appointed one, they asked someone on their own initiative to show them around. But as you can see, this situation is different, one of the kids was sheltered, while the other is not comfortable around others. Really, he's young enough that he should have spent at least a year integrating into a normal school… But now is too late, even if we made sure to block his access to focus, just the knowledge that magic exists and what he's seen already would make that counterproductive."

"You… are right. I have made mistakes in welcoming them here…"

"Sigh… Mark, you need to be willing to change things. These are not even written rules, yet you have not considered anything other than what was done in the past. Get over that fear you have. Now you should work on improving that kid's experience here. Do you imagine how confused they might be? They're just going to their room, doing one or two classes, then going back, and that's their entire day. They barely have any opportunity to interact with others, and even that interaction is with only 3 people. They will have a very tough time integrating if they keep going on like this."

"I understand, I'll arrange something for tomorrow. This is a perfect opportunity to present them the school and get them to meet the others before being moved to the dorms."

"Very well, I will leave you alone to arrange that, but make sure to pay more attention to their specific needs and personalities. Don't forget I only let you manage the awakened this time because this happened close to the start of the school year, there won't be a next time if you don't show me a change."

"Yes, I will try to change how I approach situations like this. Perhaps I did not-"

"No, it's all due to your fear of failure, nothing else." Azay said bluntly, prompting Mark to stop talking as he was slightly ashamed by being called out like that "Now that we've resolved this issue, it is time for the meeting with the Empire of Light. That name still annoys me, the audacity they have…"

"Will we be talking with the local overseer again?"

"I have no idea, I wouldn't put it above them to let the janitor talk with us… if they even have one. Let's just get on with it." Azay spoke before opening a drawer and taking out a blue crystal that he placed on the desk.

Mark walked next to him, both of them standing up as the crystal lit up, above it quickly materializing an ethereal, blue screen. They waited a few minutes for someone on the other side to pick up, before the flickering blue screen finally changed, on it appearing the figure of someone, their face covered by a white and golden mask.

"Overseer. It is nice seeing you again." Azay started speaking to the individual.

"Likewise, 'director'." The overseer spoke, the voice slightly distorted by the mask, but sounding like that of a male, and with the tone of a trained official. "How is the war progressing there?"

"It is a stalemate. The technology and information you have provided us, along with the entropy, have helped us hold our ground despite the high human loss."

"That's… Disappointing to hear. We have sent you a constant and generous supply of entropy, yet that is barely enough to sustain your position? That high rating we gave you might have been an overestimation."

Azay grit his teeth, focusing all of his efforts on trying not to change his facial expression. He knew that what they called 'generous' was merely scraps for them. As for the technology, it wasn't even the most advanced they had access to. He had seen in the background of the live feed how abundant the electricity was there, how advanced their mechanisms, and heard from the overseer himself of the strength their alloys held.

"It is unfortunately so, I'm afraid." Mark spoke, taking over for Azay as he could feel the man was about to explode in anger. "Despite your help, we were barely able to stop the corruption's momentum. But we are quickly recovering our past losses and developing our military might. I am confident it is only a matter of time before we begin gaining ground again."

"Hmm, Markus was it? The director has spoken to me about you, the one most likely to take his place. I hope what you are saying is true, after all, it is only because your situation is a stalemate and not a guaranteed loss that we offered you help. And Azay, don't forget what I told you in our first meeting. If we decide that you no longer have any reasonable hope of winning, we will glass your entire planet in order to get rid of the corruption."