Rylan sat on a chair in front of Gerard’s desk, looking at the study’s shelves. The man sat down on his plush chair, facing him. For a few seconds, the two of them merely stared at each other before Gerard sighed.

“I don’t even know where I should start. You know way too little about everything,” Gerard said. Rylan didn’t point out his father’s increasingly frequent habit of sighing. “You’ve probably even forgotten what you already learned, since it was so long ago.”

“How can I form my second Circle?”

Gerard rubbed his beard with a pensive expression before shaking his head.

“We can’t start with that. You need to know how to walk before you can run,” Gerard stood up and waved his hand. Red mana coalesced above it into an ethereal arrow. “You need to understand what mana is before anything else.”

Rylan nodded, gesturing at his father to go on with a curious look in his eyes.

“Mana is a type of energy that exists universally. There are places with different types and concentrations of mana, but there are none without it,” Gerard continued. “By absorbing it and manipulating both the mana within them and the mana outside, a Mage can change the world around them in various ways. After much trial and error, Circles were established as the standard way of organizing mana within your body. That happened a long time ago.”

“Can anyone start drawing in mana and improving their power?”

Gerard nodded with a grin.

“Yes. Just like you formed your First Circle early on, it’s common to start absorbing mana in childhood.”

Rylan drummed his fingers on the desk. As he had noted before, forming Circles was much easier than awakening Aura, to the point that it was slightly confusing. Why was the difference so great when the System was the same? And had no one in this life truly awakened Aura? He furrowed his brow. He felt as if he were missing something important.

“And the Second Circle?”

His father drew a circle in the air. Red mana followed his movement, creating a shining outline.

“Circles are the standard way of progressing in power as a Mage. Advancing in this system doesn’t require just a high Wisdom stat and large mana pool, but also mastery and knowledge. Even if you had 1,000 Wisdom, without the proper method, you wouldn’t be able to form a single Circle.”

Rylan raised an eyebrow.

“At that point, wouldn’t the mana organize itself into a fitting structure?”

Stats weren’t simple values. The numbers in one’s Status Window meant much more than what was displayed. The higher a stat’s value, the bigger the difference between each stat point. For instance, the gap between 99 Strength and 100 Strength was much larger than the one between 9 and 10. Roland and his peers had theorized that this was intentional and designed to reward those who improved their stats with training while they were still low, and therefore could reach higher values with Free Points.

At higher levels, each stat began to behave differently, going beyond their basic capabilities. That was why Rylan guessed that Wisdom and Intelligence would behave similarly, even though he hadn’t increased those stats by much in his past life.

Gerard tilted his head.

“Why would it?”

Rylan voiced his thoughts. His father’s expression changed as he listened. Once Rylan finished his explanation, Gerard’s expression had changed into one of deep contemplation. He looked through the large window.

“…I see. I didn’t know. My stats aren’t high enough to show the effects you’re talking about,” he said, turning back to face Rylan.

“How much Wisdom do I need to create the Second Circle? If I have the necessary knowledge and mastery,” Rylan asked.

“60, give or take. You should have already reached that number, but you spent your Free Points in your physical stats and won’t be able to Level up before the Class Evolution.”

Rylan nodded with a serene expression.

“I can spend some of the Free Points I’ve saved up if there’s little progress after a month. Since I already know how to properly raise my physical stats through training, it would be better for me to raise Wisdom and create the Second Circle as soon as possible.”

It was the conclusion that he had reached after some thought. He only had less than six months, but he knew very little about how to raise Intelligence and Wisdom naturally. Even with Gerard’s help, it was unknown if he would be able to increase them effectively. However, it was also too much of a waste to spend his Free Points right now, before he even tried. As such, the time limit of one month was established.

Gerard nodded.

“Sounds good. Now, the second thing you need to understand is spells. They’re all classified as Skills by the System, but their effects can vary wildly. You’ve only come across offensive spells and Magic Shield, but there are many more capable of a variety of effects. Some control spells are much more deadly than even offensive spells, especially in a battlefield.”

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Rylan leaned back on his chair with a pensive expression. The spells’ ability to affect the world made him curious. The idea of finding more about them and learning a few himself filled him with anticipation. Just what kinds of effects were they capable of, especially the more powerful ones? If fire spells could ignite mana to create magic flames and earth spells could move the very ground, what about the other types? Could water spells create water out of mana, therefore solving the problem of thirst? To what degree could wind spells manipulate the atmosphere? He grinned.

“What are you thinking about?” Gerard asked.

“What spells can actually do. Can you tell me a bit more about them?”

“Do you mean the more unique ones? There’s Invisibility at the Third Circle and the Mind and Illusion spells at the Fifth Circle. Things start ramping up at the Sixth Circle, but that’s already more than I can do.”

Rylan raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

He needed to understand this more in-depth. How did Invisibility function? Could mana forcefully override the world’s laws and change how his body appeared to others? Or was it a simpler mechanism? To think such a powerful ability became available at only the Third Circle. Could it be used in battle? Or did it require constant concentration? At a high enough proficiency, what became possible? There were too many questions.

“At the Sixth Circle, you become able to learn Teleport, for example. This, alongside a few other spells, means that the difference in power between a Fifth Circle Mage and a Sixth Circle Mage is bigger than all stages before it. Of course, you need to actually learn the spells. They don’t simply appear in your Status Window. Because Skill Books of that level are far beyond the means of even powerful families, the Sixth Circle acts as a divide between the truly talented and the rest.”

“What’s Teleport?”

It was a word he didn’t recognize.

“It’s a spell that allows you to go from one location to another instantly. The cast time is long and it’s difficult to use in a battle, apart from the other conditions to use it, but the applications are endless.”

Rylan’s eyes widened. For the first time in a while, he was genuinely surprised.

Spatial manipulation?

Roland had only been able to bend space to his will after becoming a Transcendent, and even then, it had been to a limited extent. At the height of his power, a single step could be used to cross dozens or even hundreds of miles. But there was a spell capable of instantaneous movement? It would be one thing if the Sixth Circle were extremely difficult to reach, but his father was almost there already, and Evenon had been a Fourth Circle Mage. At the very least, reaching the Sixth Circle seemed to be easier than becoming a Transcendent, which required one to surpass their limits countless times.

Rylan scoffed.

I was right.

Mana and Aura were different. As he thought, mana’s ability to alter the world seemed to be greater, even if Aura was better at empowering one’s body and weapons.

If I can get both and somehow combine or merge them…

He would surpass Roland. Truthfully, he was struggling with his desire to be greater than his past life. No matter what he did, he could never escape Roland’s shadow. Now, there was an opportunity. Silently, a flame burned within him. He would become a powerful Mage and, with Roland’s memories and Aura, unite his two lives and become someone entirely new. If he managed to reach such a stage, he would be able to protect and help his loved ones. He had never lost sight of what truly mattered ever since he remembered his past life.

“Father.”

His voice was completely serious.

“Teach me.”

Gerard stared deep into his eyes for a few seconds, then smiled and nodded his head.

“Of course.”

Gerard continued to explain the basics of spell and magic theory. Rylan paid as much attention as he could, ignoring the bouts of helplessness caused by his Trait. It was only by doing so that he would be able to get rid of it. He asked his father to elaborate on whatever he didn’t understand and to repeat what he couldn’t remember. It was a new experience; Roland had had the Prodigy Trait from the start, but it wasn’t the case for Rylan. He needed to take this slow, step by step.

Gradually, the sun sunk beneath the horizon, bathing the world in shades of orange. The sunlight came through the glass window and dyed the study, but Gerard’s body stood in the way and shielded Rylan from it.

One day, I’ll protect you too.

Rylan smiled as he continued to watch his father.

It was only once the moon hung high up in the night sky like a silver jewel that Gerard clapped once.

“That will be it for today. When do you want to start tomorrow?”

Rylan nodded and stood up.

“I think after lunch. I’ll be training with the soldiers and improving my body in the morning.”

“Alright. Go back to your room and rest,” Gerard nodded with a complicated expression. “But don’t forget to develop your magical abilities. You’re on a timer.”

Rylan nodded and left the room after waving at Gerard and saying his goodbyes. After walking to the nearest turn, he looked to his right and smiled. She was there, as he expected. She looked at him and bowed with pristine form.

“Good evening, young master.”

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Not too long. A few hours.”

Rylan shook his head with a sigh.

“You should’ve just left.”

“I’m your caretaker, my lord. I needed to be here, just in case I was required.”

Rylan looked at the nearest window as the two of them walked in the corridor. The yellow and red petals danced in the wind, a few of them fluttering in the breeze. Not for the first time, he thought that it made the garden look as if it were on fire. The stars shone brightly in the night sky, adding an ethereal atmosphere to the sight as the starlight reached the flowers.

“The garden is really beautiful under the moonlight, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

They stared through the window for a few seconds before continuing on their way. Once they arrived in his room, Sarah bowed and left. Rylan stretched his body and sat down on the bed, cross-legged.

I don’t feel too tired.

It was different from his physical training, which could injure him if he took it too far. Studying was straining in its own way, but he actually quite liked it. Learning about something new and interesting was refreshing. He now had knowledge that could be added to Roland’s memories, knowledge that belonged solely to him as ‘Rylan.’ He smiled, then closed his eyes.

Focus.

His mana started circulating. The whirlpool around his Mana Core rotated, flowing like water in the shape of a circle. His mana flooded his body, reaching every corner in an instant. Continuously, it spiked then receded, being depleted in the process.

The night deepened.

Once he completely spent his mana, he started absorbing more to speed up its recovery. The moment the whirlpool had enough mana to spin again, he continued with his training. This process was repeated over and over. It was the method he and Gerard had come up with to develop his Wisdom; continuous cycles of spending all his mana only to get it back again.

He also tried to change his way of circulating the mana and empowering his mana, struggling to make adjustments to the finer aspects. As he repeatedly manipulated his mana, his control slowly got better. This would, in turn, help him raise his Intelligence.

Without giving up or letting himself be slowed down by his Trait, he kept at it. At dawn, his training bore fruits.

[Wisdom has increased by 1.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1.]

Rylan smiled. Now, it was time to do it all over again.