knock knock knock

"Sir, please wake up. It's already morning"

The sound of the servant on the other side of the door indicated that it was time to get up and meet the others.

Zack finished absorbing the surrounding mana one last time before opening his eyes.

Zack got up and told the maid to wait a moment.

Despite Zack's resolve yesterday, his routine isn't going to change much. All of Zack's actions had always been aimed at making himself as strong as possible. The only thing he has changed is his future plans. And while that means he'll have to make a few modifications to his routine, they're not especially significant.

As Zack left his room, the maid leaned slightly toward him, after which she led him back to his destination.

As Zack was led to the dining room, his thoughts returned to yesterday's class.

Regardless of what kind of magician Albert is, it's clear that he knows enough to teach what is necessary to the level of Austin and the others.

Yesterday Albert taught them the method of absorbing mana from the environment, and there wasn't much difference between Albert's method and what was written in the books. Despite this, the lesson included a couple of differences from the book method. When Zack tried to absorb mana last night, keeping yesterday's lesson in mind, he was surprised to find that the absorption from him was a bit faster than before.

Despite first impressions, Albert knows what he's doing.

Zack's steps quickened thinking about what was going to happen next.

He wasn't the only one who heard yesterday's lesson. If Zack is right, tonight Austin and the others have tried to use that technique to absorb mana.

Albert said that the time taken to absorb mana is no less than several months. It's time to find out if Zack's crazy absorption is something only his or his teammates have it too.

He doesn't think any of them would reveal something that important if they had that ability. Most likely they kept it a secret from themselves. Even Austin. Therefore, when asking about it, it has to be done with subtlety.

When Zack entered the dining room he already had everything planned. He would act like everything was normal and a few minutes later he would casually ask Miyu about his experience trying it, then Shun would intervene, and…

“Guys, I have mana!!

It doesn't matter anymore.

Hearing Austin's scream, Zack turned and saw him with a huge smile, and a doggy look that said: Praise me, praise me. Zack didn't know whether to slap him or pat him on the head.

"Congratulations" Zack said as he approached the table where Shun and Miyu were sitting with awkward smiles.

"You too?" Zack asked with his eyes.

Shun and Miyu nodded as they continued to watch as Austin continued to boast of his achievement.

For a moment Zack felt like a professional artist praising his three-year-old son for the drawing he'd made with his fingers.

While he was preparing to take some food from the table, Zack couldn't help noticing that one of his servants was absent. Most likely, he was going to inform his superiors about what had happened.

The situation is a bit problematic, but at least now Zack knows that this crazy mana absorption that he possessed, the others had too.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He doesn't know if it's because they were summoned from another world, their classes, or some other situation. The only thing that can be done now is to hope that, when the nobles and the king find out, they will be more valued and give them better resources. Zack wasn't the only one who thought so, the others also expected similar things.

When they were deep in their fantasies, the absent servant had returned. Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she walked over to her table and said:

“Gentlemen heroes, Wizard Albert would like to see you. Please come with me"

The four of them got up and followed the maid.

Unlike the previous times, the path they took was different. This time the maid was leading them to one of the gardens at the rear of the building.

When they arrived they could see Albert sweating, he had been exercising, or he had come running.

"Explain to me what I've heard about you absorbing mana" Albert said while he was panting.

Definitely the latter.

“We did it, it wasn't that hard” Austin said as he gloated at the instructor's look.

Zack took a step back. If there's one thing he's learned in this life, it's not to interfere in a pointless fight.

"HA!! As if I was going to believe that? There is a better chance that demons will drop their weapons and surrender begging for mercy, than hope that a fool like you can learn to absorb mana in a day.”

"It's true!! I've managed to absorb mana in one day,” Austin said with a proud tone.

(So you admit you're a fool) thought his companions.

"HA! I still can not believe it. Prove it!” Albert demanded somewhat annoyed. Even he couldn't believe that no one could do what took him six months in a single day.

Not only Austin but also Zack and the others looked at him in confusion.

"And how can I do that?" Austin asked.

"Very simple, just give me your hand," Albert said as he extended his arm toward Austin.

Austin shook hands with Albert, following his instructions. Suddenly, Austin felt a warm current rush from the palm of his hand to the rest of his body. Austin's body seemed to respond to that, and without Austin doing anything, his mana came out to face that warm current.

The moment Austin's mana made contact, that warm current quickly withdrew, returning to where it had come from.

"That's impossible," said Albert, visibly shaken.

Without anyone being able to understand what was happening, Albert took Shun and Miyu's hands.

When Albert withdrew his hands, his expression showed pure disbelief.

“You really have learned to absorb mana,” Albert said quietly.

Hearing that, Austin also put on a shocked expression and looked at the others. Neither seemed surprised by Albert's statement. They had evidently all learned how to absorb mana.

Thinking how he had acted just a few minutes ago, he couldn't help but clench his fists and his face turned red.

Zack saw all this from behind, he didn't want to get closer in case Albert tried to investigate if he had a knack for it. In case Albert used the method he used on the others, he would realize that his mana reserves were much larger than his companions.

Despite everything, absorbing mana from the outside is not easy. There are many important points to pay attention to, otherwise, you may not make it, or worse, you may hurt your body.

There's no way anyone would have gotten it without knowing the method well enough. Although he could explain that he had started to accumulate mana before them, he would most likely have to reveal his title as well.

Under other circumstances that would be a good thing, but considering their current situation, the nobles will most likely do everything they can to prevent them from growing in directions they cannot control. The worst scenario is that they realize their true class.

Zack shuddered just thinking about it.

"Wizard Albert, what were you doing before we came?" Austin asked suddenly.

Albert seemed to have found a way out of the situation so he quickly said:

"I was training"

"Brilliant! We can look?" Austin asked when he saw the chance to see a real wizard in action.

Zack and the others also seemed curious about the subject. After all, the only time they've seen magic since they've been here is when Austin was smashed to the ground.

"Yes of course. I will show you what a real magician is capable of!" Albert said in the same condescending tone as always.

In other circumstances, he would never have agreed, but the previous situation seemed to have shocked him enough to agree. He evidently intended to show off and regain confidence.

"Follow me"

Zack and the others followed Albert as he headed into the castle.

Although Zack and the others have been living here for a week, the number of places Zack has visited is quite limited. Apart from his bedroom and his dining room, he spent most of his time in the library reading.

For a world much less technologically advanced than where he comes from, Zack has to admit that the library in the magic tower has nothing to envy a modern library.

A normal bookshelf can hold around two hundred books. Although Zack doesn't know exactly how many books are in the magic tower's library, he suspects that, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be able to read them all in ten years. Zack plans to read them all in a year.

After going up a couple of stairs and passing an indefinite number of closed doors, Albert led them to one of the rooms.

Inside were various instruments and a couple of training targets. From the marks around them, you could see that they had been used recently.

"Are you ready?!" Albert moved a little away from them and positioned himself in the distance.