My second, and final class of the day was Introduction to Magic Power at 9:40. I used the time between classes to meditate and practice controlling my mana. I intended to invest as much time as possible every day into developing my first complete internal magic circle since that was the bare minimum requirement to be trained as a magical combatant. Even the cyborgs had to learn that much since their beloved machine resonance stat required precise control over mana to utilize.

Intro to Magic Power was another lecture-style course. Thaddeus never took it since he didn’t really need to, so I wasn’t too sure about the contents of the class. Actually, I wasn’t even sure who the professor was.

There were only five cadets in attendance, including me. I recognized Eden and Princess Diana, but the other two were a complete mystery. One was a cyborg in a strange black and white robe reminiscent of a nun’s habit with sage green ornamentation. The visible parts of her body were covered in metal plates and techy gadgets. One of her eyes was replaced with some sort of mechanical augmentation that looked like a red glowing light on a circular screen.

The other cadet was clearly a demon. A very dangerous demon. He was enormously rotund, so much so that his girth took up nearly a fifth of the classroom alone. Rolls of spiny skin protruded out from under a thin, linen garment that was magically enchanted to absorb the pus that his body constantly released. The enchanted garment similarly contained the putrid smell that his race was known to emit. His head was bald and circular, with his eyes, nose, and mouth close together like the holes in a bowling ball.

‘A plagueling…? What insane person let a plagueling roam free?!’

Plaguelings were literal walking calamities. If this guy went on a rampage here, even Horizon Academy wouldn’t be able to deal with the situation without suffering some damage.

‘Also, how did he get through the door?’ He has to be way too big to fit through the doorway…’

“What are you doing here?” Eden grumbled when she saw me.

Her question brought my thoughts back to reality. “Y’know, just chillin’. I am a student here, after all,” I replied.

“I don’t understand the standards of your race,” she said. “Your stats would be pathetic if you were a child, yet you are ranked amongst the highest of this academy. ‘Magic Bomber’ and ‘Explosion’. The high-rank spell aside, is this trait really all that special?”

‘Oh, right…’ I’d forgotten about it but gave Eden the Analyze ability. That ability was the only way to see another person’s stats without the use of special tools. From her comments, it looked like she couldn’t see my [Author] class abilities like Rule of Cool or Retcon. Interestingly enough, it seemed like she also couldn’t see Ability Thief (Restricted) for some reason, but she could see the skill I stole with it.

“I don’t recall giving you permission to publicize my private information,” I responded coldly.

I actually didn’t care all that much this time around, but letting her off the hook would set a bad precedent.

“There isn’t much to talk about,” she said dismissively. “Or were you trying to hide your trait, ‘Explosion boy’?”

Both the cyborg and the plagueling stared at me with interest when Eden declared that I was the one responsible for the massive explosion two days ago. I also caught Princess Diana examining me out of the corner of her eye, but I pretended not to notice.

“That was you?” the cyborg asked. Her glowing red eye elongated like a telescope.

I briefly wondered what sort of practical purpose that kind of feature had before replying, “Yup.”

She offered a hand. “My name is Vera. I am an Awakened from the KSP.”

I accepted her handshake. “My name is Brick. Unaffiliated.”

“Nice to meet you, Brick.”

The plagueling cleared his throat, the gesture sounding somewhat like a cross between nails scratching on a chalkboard and your neighbor trying and failing to start their lawn mower for the tenth time in a row.

“Ahem. Mine epithet is Mickey,” he said. His voice was rather high-pitched, just enough to grate on the nerves.

‘...Mickey?’

Who was that? I never wrote a plagueling with that title. There were a few in my outline, but I never incorporated any plaguelings since I realized they were too overpowered. This guy wasn’t one of the ones I created. Those guys weren’t supposed to show up until the final story arc of the 3rd draft.

‘Did Gramma add in plaguelings for some reason? Or did they only come out earlier because of my Retcon?’

Either way, I was not going to make an enemy of this guy.

Actually, why wasn’t he placed in the royal class?

And why wasn’t Lilith? She was more than capable enough to be there.

The classroom door slammed open, drawing all eyes to the teacher who arrived fashionably late.

“...Huh?!”

She was carrying a tablet in her arms and had a pen behind her ear. Her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of square-framed glasses for some reason. Her usual dress was replaced with a tailored full-body suit.

I couldn’t help but let out a vocal exclamation:

“Lilith?” I blurted out.

She ignored my outburst and made her way to the front of the room. Each click of her heels echoed in the confused silence. When she arrived at the desk, she placed her tablet on the slot and stared at it.

“Does anyone know how to work this thing?” she asked.

Vera raised her hand. “I do!”

Lilith took a step back and motioned for Vera to take care of it.

“What do you need it to do?” the cyborg asked.

“I want it to project its contents onto the screen behind me,” Lilith answered.

Vera snapped her fingers, the white cuff of her robe fluttering. A moment later, an image stuttered on the screen. Vera grimaced and snapped her fingers again, her brow knit in concentration.

The screen came to life, showing a picture of a red, glowing magic circle.

“Thank you,” Lilith said. “Now, to begin. Mine epithet is Lilith, and I was asked to teach this course this semester. As I am also a student at this academy, some of you may have reservations about this. If you are hesitant to learn from me, speak now.”

Neither Mickey nor Vera offered any comment. Eden seemed to be hesitating, but it was Princess Diana who voiced her concern first.

“What are your qualifications?” she asked.

“This course is designed to cover the introductory elements in the field of Magic Power,” Lilith answered. “If my qualifications are not self-evident, then it is clear that you are not well-versed in the field. As such, rather than take my word for it, mayhaps you should hear it from another.”

“Another?” Diana repeated. “Such as?”

“She is qualified,” Mickey said. “I know of her only by reputation, but Lilith is said to be one of the most skillful destruction mages of our generation.”

“But she is still only a student,” the princess countered. “How skillful can she actually be?”

I burst out laughing at her comment. Realizing what I had done, I quickly contained myself, but my shoulders quivered as I tried to suppress my laughs.

‘She has no idea…’

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

As the person who created Lilith, I had absolutely no qualms about her teaching us.

“Something funny?” Eden asked. “I thought it was a fair question.”

I shook my head. “Lilith, why bother using words? A demonstration would be enough.”

Lilith studied me for a moment, a grin tugging at the edge of her lips. “Alright, let’s do that.” She nodded toward the magic circle on the display. “Can anyone tell me what this magic circle represents?”

Eden’s hand shot into the air. “A common fireball spell,” she said without waiting to be called on.

“Correct. Now, any magician with proper training can cast a fireball spell without using a magic circle. Can anyone tell me what the practical applications of a magic circle are?”

Eden paused. “To… generalize magic?”

“That is a side effect.”

“To automate the casting of spells,” Princess Diana answered.

Lilith nodded. “That is one of the more important applications.”

She raised her hand and began drawing magic circles, a thin trail of glowing, lilac mana following her finger and lingering in the air, taking the form of a fireball magic circle. The first circle she drew took on a bright red hue, representing the initial phase of the explosive energy, the second a deep blue indicating the stabilizing phase of the magic, and the third a vibrant green denoting the final phase of the magic power, which imbued the spell with additional force and range. As she drew the three circuits, the colors began to merge and overlap, forming a swirling triad; a complex pattern that crackled with energy. The glowing lines of energy connected different points in the pattern and pulsed between each of the three colors symbolizing separate phases of magical power, all coming together to create a devastating spell.

Both Eden and Princess Diana leaned forward in their chairs, their eyes following the movements with rapt attention. Vera watched with uncertain interest, showing that she didn’t quite understand how amazing Lilith’s actions were.

According to the human race’s current understanding of magic, her actions were impossible. It was unheard of for one magic user to channel more than a single external magic circle at once. Without the medium of a body to host the internal magic circle, it was impossible to process, construct, and maintain multiple disparate spells. There are many theories as to why that was the case, but I won’t cover that here since all of them are wrong.

The real answer is that it was possible, but only Lilith could do it right now. Nobody ever managed to replicate the feat, not even the Demon Queen. Lilith was a prodigy who kept her secret techniques close to her heart, refusing to teach any others for any reason.

But Lilith wasn’t the only person capable of drawing three-phase magic power circuits, she was just the only person who knew how. She developed the theory behind it and implemented it herself, so of course she could teach another person how to do it. The only reason nobody else had ever replicated the feat was that she refused to teach them.

For the record, since I was the original designer of the technique, I theoretically know how to do it, but I’m nowhere near proficient enough with mana to attempt it yet.

Lilith channeled more power through the circuit and the colors intensified, the lines of energy thickening until the entire pattern seemed to vibrate with raw, magical energy. She released it and a massive fireball filled the room, yet she kept it perfectly contained in such a way that nobody was harmed. The writhing, serpentine flames mesmerized me even as the torrential heat sent shivers down my spine.

“This is the spell ‘Fireball’,” Lilith explained. “When cast with a regular magic circle, its power, speed, and range are all too low to be effective against anything but fodder. However, I developed a technique that allows for three magic circles to be drawn. The results are as you can see.”

“Wow…” Eden whispered in awe.

“These circles are my ‘qualifications’,” Lilith continued. “Are you satisfied?”

Diana slowly nodded. There was no way she could protest after seeing that display. After all, Lilith was more qualified than literally anybody else in this field.

“Wonderful.”

Lilith tapped her tablet and the screen changed. The new slide showed a familiar equation and had a picture of a simplified magic circuit that looked similar to the circuit diagrams I saw a thousand times studying Electrical Engineering.

“Welcome to Magic Power,” she said. “In this course, we will start with the fundamentals of magic power under the assumption that none of you have any background in the subject. Our second unit will cover more advanced applications, including the theory behind ‘three-phase magic power’, which I just demonstrated for you a moment ago. The final unit will be a practicum in which each of you will attempt to replicate three-phase magic power with a spell of your choice.”

I clenched my fingers into fists as I listened to her explanation.

‘Is this fate? Or was I just stupidly lucky?’

There was no way for me to know beforehand that Lilith would teach this class, yet this was by far one of the most important classes for me to take during my time at Horizon Academy. While I could theoretically figure it out on my own, learning three-phase magic power directly from the original developer of the technique was an opportunity that many would kill to have.

“To start off: What are the components of magic power?”

Naturally, Eden raised her hand. This time, she waited to be called on.

“Yes, Eden.”

“Magic power is composed of ‘magic potential’ and ‘magic flow’.”

“Correct. More specifically, it is the ‘difference in magic potential between two points’ and ‘the rate of flow of magic charge’. For ease of communication, we will use the terms ‘Mana’ and ‘Flow’, respectively. As Eden explained, the product of mana and flow is ‘magic power’.”

She pointed at the first equation on the slide, which read PM = MF.

“For the first part of this course, we will work with these components of magic power to better understand their place in a magic circle.”

After she tapped the screen, another equation appeared under the first. This one read M = FRM.

If it wasn’t already obvious to those readers who have at least some knowledge about electricity, this was basically a magic version of Ohm’s Law. For those who are not electrically inclined, it doesn’t really matter. You don’t need to understand all that stuff to read this story since electricity and magic are not the same things. Honestly, I didn’t time-skip over this part because I was too engrossed in the lecture and forgot you were listening alongside me...

“M = FRM. This is called Selena’s Law, named after Demon Queen Selena who first formalized the relationship. Selena’s Law states that the flow across a magic conductor between two points is directly proportional to the mana and inversely proportional to the magic resistance.”

Eden, Vera, and Diana were all furiously scribbling notes. I leaned back in my chair and watched them absorb the basic concepts Lilith was teaching. As an Electrical Engineering major, the first half of this class was going to be a breeze.

“With that in mind…”

Diana raised her hand.

“Yes?” Lilith paused her presentation and motioned for her to speak.

“What is ‘magic resistance’?”

“Good question. If at any time I use terms that any of you do not understand, I want you to ask immediately. This is extremely important.”

She checked each of us for responses and we all nodded to show we understood.

“Alright, so ‘magic resistance’. When a person has a sufficiently high magic control stat, they can deliberately create impedance in the flow of magic along a path to control the amount of mana that flows through branches in the circle. This impedance is called a ‘magic resistor’, and a measure of the amount of impedance is called ‘magic resistance’.”

She pulled a bottle of water from her pocket dimension and took a swig to wet her throat before continuing. “Magic resistors are used to ensure that the components of the spell receive the proper amount of mana by creating a mana drop, and they can protect those spell components from mana spikes. Does that make sense?”

Diana hesitated for a moment. “Kind of?”

Lilith smiled. “Then let’s calculate a circuit to show you an example…”

She tapped the screen on her tablet and a new diagram popped up with several numbers in place of variables. I started to tune her out as she talked about the math behind it.

You might be wondering why humans hadn’t figured this stuff out when it had so many similarities to electricity. My only excuse is that there are no physical components or materials to draw observable data from. Admittedly, this isn’t the best excuse but it is what it is. Now that Lilith had revealed this fact, I would expect human magic to progress by leaps and bounds in the coming years. Notably, this would be a very powerful weapon for the KSP and the Americans, the two countries with the most developed industries built on electricity.

“..Ick ..er…”

It was going to be interesting to see how this played out.

Of course, by combining my former studies with my knowledge of this world and its mechanics as the creator, I had a huge advantage.

“Brick Layer,” Lilith called out, bringing me back to reality.

“Yeah?”

“Class is over. Why aren’t you leaving?”

“Huh…?”

I looked around and realized she was right. The other cadets had already all left. I took a peak at my smartphone and realized that it was already five minutes after class was supposed to end.

“I hope you paid attention in class,” she said. “I don’t intend to repeat material for those who don’t respect my work.”

“I understood it all,” I promised. “Don’t worry; I’ll probably be your top student.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s some confidence. I hope I can trust it more than your ability to brag, ‘Mr. I kissed a demon with tongue’. It’s kinda strange; I don’t really remember that happening.”

“Ah…”

‘She heard about that?’

“I’ll see you on Monday. Don’t forget to do your homework.”

I watched her leave with a weird look on my face. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel, but I had the distinct impression that she wasn’t exactly impressed with me at the moment.