บท 7: Training.

"Concentrate."

Mona and Vincent were on a training ground. She was helping him with his grimoire.

she extended her hands towards the front, closed her eyes, and said,

"Water."

Mana began to gather in front of her palm, and a small ball of water formed.

Vincent looked in awe. To him, this was amazing.

Mona smiled at his innocence.

"This is going to be your task. To form a water ball with the same shape and size."

She let go of the ball, and it fell on the ground.

Inside the guild training ground, Vincent felt out of place. He was in loose clothes, he did not have a wand, and his teacher was a girl not too older than him. In contrast, everyone the came to train here belonged to the nobility. They were from the royal institute of mages, and most of them were adventurers with their own higher tutors.

She placed a bucket in front of Vincent and said,

"By the end of the day, this bucket has to be filled with water made out of mana."

She patted his shoulder and sat down on the floor.

"Begin."

He opened the Grimoire in his hand. The first page, water formation.

There was a red line underlining some of the sentences and three words in red by the side saying,

"IMP."

Mona had explained that these words were important, so he read the first sentence.

"Gather some of your mana around your hand."

This was simple. He had done this already, and the feeling from his previous attempt with the help of Melida was fresh in his mind.

"Imagine what water feels like."

'Wet?'

He imagined the feeling of water from the bath that he had taken before his test. James had helped him.

The mana started to collapse. It slowly imploded into itself, and water formed. It wasn't in any shape.

"Use mana to envelop the water into a ball."

Concentration was important. His mana had turned into water, but now he had to switch and use some mana to control the water. This confused him, even though the explanation was pretty direct.

He took too long to control the water, and it splashed into the bucket.

He looked towards Mona, who couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Everyone surrounding him had the same expression. At first glance, anyone could guess that he was a beginner.

But his knack for observation was too scary.

In the mage academy, there was a special class dedicated to mana control and calculation. It focused on training students in methods that help them calculate the perfect amount of mana, not waste anything while using spells. Replicating mana usage of a spell was drilled into the minds of mages from a very young age. Calculating mana consumption and spell power was second nature to them.

Vincent had replicated Mona's spell to perfection. He wasn't able to form a sphere, but his calculation of the amount of water required to form a sphere of the same shape was precise.

"Mona, explain this to me."

He took the grimoire in his hand towards her, ignoring the gazes of men, women, and children alike.

She looked at him and said,

"For this, you cannot afford to wait. As soon as you turn your mana into the water, you have to prepare mana to hold it in the air."

She used a small droplet as an example and levitated it in the air using her mana.

"Like this."

The droplet moved around her fingers, and Vincent observed.

"Mona, do I still have to fill up the water if I have completed the task?"

Mona put her hand on the chin. Time to test if his observation skills were that good.

"Make a ball big enough to fill the bucket. Place it slowly inside and make sure that it doesn't spill."

Vincent looked at her and smiled. He was confident that he could pull it off.

Approaching the bucket, he saw the level of water and estimated the mana required.

"Water."

He repeated the previous steps. This time, he prepared some additional mana at the very start.

The amount of mana that transformed into the water was significantly more than before, and he used the additional Mana to contain the water as fast as he could. Fortunately, he didn't spill anything.

Slowly, he controlled the ball of water and placed it inside the bucket. The water was enough to fill it, not spilling outside in the process.

"Yes!"

His first application of mana was a huge success. The students of the royalty looked in envy, and the teachers nodded their heads in approval. That was a beautiful display of control.

"Mona, can we continue?"

She stood up and sighed. He was supposed to practice control for a full week, but his aptitude allowed him to achieve much more than previously imagined.

"Young master, you should take notes. That is what true control is."