"We continue."
In the training ground of the Night Academy, the golden-haired Viels raised his arm and summoned a circular magic array made of black mist, explaining to his students:
"The 'Raging' magic array is a common first-tier spell. The standard elemental ratio is 6 parts dark element to 4 parts fire element.
"Since it’s often unstable when you first cast it, I recommend that during your initial learning phase, you reduce the proportion of fire elements while putting more mental energy into maintaining it..."
Just as Viels was about to demonstrate further, a voice piped up from the audience:
"Why not try adding an extra 0.1 part of water element for balance?"
Frowning, Viels turned to glare at the speaker.
"Oh, sorry, sorry! Please continue!" the young man named Karien waved his hands apologetically.
Opening his hand to reveal the magic array, Viels continued, "After discussing the elemental ratio, let’s talk about the structure.
As you can see from the patterns, the fire element is outlined within the array, while the dark element is on the outside, binding the two elements together with mental energy.
The advantage of this approach is that it ensures the effects are concentrated and helps prevent the array from going out of control..."
"But that means if someone casts a Holy Light mark, it could completely destroy the array..." Karien interjected, unable to hold back.
Turning to stare at Karien, Viels said in a low voice, "Would you like to explain?"
His tone was noticeably harsher than before, clearly annoyed.
As a teacher, nothing was more irritating than someone interrupting his class.
Karien quickly covered his mouth and shook his head, then said apologetically, "I truly apologize; it’s just an old habit I’ve developed. I won't interrupt again!"
Taking a deep breath, Viels, perhaps swayed by the gold coin in his pocket, didn’t throw Karien out but continued with his lesson.
For the rest of the class, Karien stayed quiet, only leaving once the hour-and-a-half lecture concluded.
Picking up his teleportation gem, Karien found that it was only a third full now, compared to when it had been brimming before.
Clenching his fists, he realized he needed to keep pushing himself.
With just three months left until graduation assessments, if Red Leaf Academy remained at the bottom, it would have to shut down.
So before that, he needed to gather enough resources for his students to achieve good results in the assessments.
As long as he could save Red Leaf Academy, he could do without any pride.
Calming his mind, he headed to other academies' training grounds to "audit" more classes and absorb magic elements.
That day, a young man with gray-white curly hair could be seen wandering through several academies under the Palos Magic School, eavesdropping on lessons.
Some teachers, like Viels, might allow Karien to listen, while others, with less patience, unleashed lightning arrays to chase him away. Some even set dogs on him!
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
By evening, Karien returned to Red Leaf Academy looking disheveled.
Now his teleportation gem was fully charged, ready for the next day’s trip to the capital city, Adrien.
----------------------------------------
Night Academy, Teacher’s Dormitory.
Viels, with his short golden hair, tossed and turned in bed.
Thinking back to Karien interrupting his class that day only fueled his anger.
As a mid-level teacher and a fourth-tier magic master, how could he let a junior teacher, someone who was below even the students in magic level, lecture him?
He graduated from the prestigious Olai University in the capital, specializing in dark magic teaching—didn't he understand the 'Raging' array as well as this newcomer?
What a joke!
"No more thinking; time to sleep!"
He pulled up the blanket and buried his head under it.
But as soon as he closed his eyes, the words Karien had said earlier echoed in his mind:
"If someone casts a Holy Light mark, it could completely destroy the 'Raging' array..."
"Ah… it’s infuriating!"
Sitting up suddenly, Viels quickly conjured a 'Raging' array with his left hand and muttered to himself:
"A standard 'Raging' array is stable—how could it be destroyed by just a Holy Light mark?"
While speaking, he opened a 'Holy Light' array with his right hand and projected a small point of light into his left hand.
As the light entered the 'Raging' array, the dark elements on the outside immediately went into disarray, creating a breach.
The fire elements trapped inside surged out.
Fortunately, Viels dispelled the array in time to prevent the fire elements from spreading, though his palm was lightly scorched.
Staring in disbelief at his left hand, Viels couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
"How could this be…?"
This completely overturned his understanding.
A mere speck of light element from a Holy Light mark could cause such destruction?
"No, it’s not the Holy Light mark that’s the problem; it’s the array!"
He recalled another remark from Karien:
"Why not try adding 0.1 part of water element for balance?"
Water element?
Could such a small amount really make a difference?
With that question in mind, Viels again drew the 'Raging' array with his left hand, carefully tracing a thin water element line between the dark and fire elements.
Adding such a minuscule amount of water element had virtually no effect on the 'Raging' array itself.
Then, Viels once again projected a Holy Light mark at the 'Raging' array.
The array shuddered slightly before quickly returning to stability.
Looking at the now more stable 'Raging' array in his hands, Viels fell into deep thought.
----------------------------------------
The next day.
Red Leaf Academy.
Karien woke up, rubbing his slightly painful shoulder.
Yesterday, while dodging a pack of hounds, he had stumbled over a wall, and now his shoulder was still sore.
Of course, to him, that was just a minor issue.
After washing up, he felt a bit more alert and went to his desk to unfold a map.
This map had been borrowed from the main campus library yesterday, and after calculating through the night, Karien had determined the coordinates of the capital city.
One unit of coordinate was roughly equivalent to 3 kilometers in the real world.
Naturally, Karien wouldn't teleport directly into Adrien City due to the crowded area.
Instead, he chose a point outside the capital in a cultivated forest.
This forest was located to the east of the capital, usually deserted, and since it was man-made, there were no wild beasts around.
After spending some time disguising himself, he strapped on a backpack filled with white orchids.
Karien entered the coordinates (-325, 293) and teleported to a location over a thousand kilometers away in just a second.
As soon as he landed, he quickly hid and observed his surroundings.
Fortunately, no one was around.
Opening the map, Karien roughly confirmed his location before heading toward a nearby small town.
To avoid detection, he teleported twenty kilometers from the capital, which would take a long time to walk to, so he decided to hire a carriage.
After more than an hour, Karien arrived at the small town and hired a carriage to take him to the capital.
Thankfully, since he had lived in the capital for several years before, he spoke without the accent of a local backwater, so the coachman wouldn’t mistake him for an outsider.
After all, in this world, the general level of education was low, and locals often bullied outsiders.
Two hours later, Karien arrived safely in Adrien.
Drawing on his memories from his previous time in the capital, Karien headed to the mage trading market in Adrien.
After cautiously browsing around for a while, Karien finally settled on a suitable herbal medicine shop.
"Welcome!"
The owner, a plump middle-aged man, greeted Karien as he walked in, though without much enthusiasm since he sensed no magical elements from him.
Approaching the counter, Karien slid a wooden box forward and said softly, "I’m here to sell herbs."
"Sure, just a moment."
Though the owner was somewhat disinterested, he couldn't ignore the potential business.
With a lazy yawn, the shopkeeper lifted the lid of the wooden box. But upon glancing inside, his eyes widened in surprise.
"White orchid!?"