Mana Design – Beginner Class
Originally, this course was simply called “Mana Design,” but with the introduction of the intermediate and advanced classes, it was renamed as the beginner class.
Perhaps because of the relatively young age of the students, the auditorium—where the lecture was about to begin—was filled with youthful voices that had yet to shed their immaturity.
However.
Creaaak.
Click, clack.
As the doors of the auditorium opened and the teaching assistant, Irina, appeared, the room quickly fell silent.
After all, even for young students, the weight of the title “Princess” was by no means light.
There was no one among them who did not understand the significance of the pendant hanging around Irina’s neck.
Moreover, her elegant and refined features only amplified her presence.
Thus, by the time Irina began calling attendance for the beginner class, even the smallest murmurs had completely disappeared.
The only sounds that could be heard were the voices responding to Irina’s roll call.
“Mm, it seems there are no absentees.”
After confirming that all students were present, Irina proceeded to grade the assignments.
Tasks such as attendance checks and grading were the responsibilities of a teaching assistant.
Scratch, scratch.
In the now silent auditorium, the soft sound of Irina’s quill filled the air.
Apart from the faint blush that had settled on her cheeks for some unknown reason, she was no different from usual.
Not long after, the sound of footsteps echoed once more as the auditorium doors opened again.
Almost simultaneously, Irina sprang up from her seat in surprise.
“Th-There are no absentees, Professor. And all assignments have been submitted as well.”
With her gaze slightly lowered, Irina spoke in a voice tinged with a slight tremor.
Letter, the professor, observed her with mild curiosity but simply nodded in acknowledgment.
‘…Is she nervous because of Lilian?’
As Letter speculated that the cause of Irina’s tension was the First Princess, another set of footsteps approached.
Step.
The second teaching assistant, Evan, entered the auditorium and began distributing worksheets to the students.
It was only then that Irina realized she had forgotten to bring the worksheets herself.
Feeling apologetic, she quickly moved to assist Evan.
“Hm.”
Letter silently observed the two assistants for a moment before turning to the chalkboard and beginning to write.
Since he couldn’t reach the top of the board, he lightly lifted himself using a levitation spell.
By now, this was second nature to him.
[Topic: The Automation of Magic Circles]
[The more time you save, the better.]
Once he confirmed that all students had received their worksheets, Letter finally spoke.
As he did, he slowly met the eyes of each student seated around the vast auditorium.
“Does anyone know the average activation time of a second-tier light magic spell, Lux?”
His calm voice carried across the room as he began the lecture in his usual manner.
Around a dozen students raised their hands in response to his question.
“Sarah.”
“Yes—!”
Selecting one of the students, Letter listened attentively as she gave her answer.
When she provided the correct response, he nodded approvingly and offered a word of praise.
Then, even before Sarah could fully settle back into her seat—
“Then, is it possible to reduce the spell’s usual activation time of four to five seconds down to zero? In other words, can it be made instant?”
His question directly challenged a fundamental principle of magical studies.
‘Zero seconds? …Is that even possible?’
In any other class, a quick and firm “no” would have been the immediate response.
However, having witnessed numerous instances of the extraordinary in Letter’s lectures, the students hesitated to answer.
A brief silence followed.
Seeing the students unable to provide either a confirmation or a denial, Letter turned slightly and extended his hand toward the chalkboard.
“It’s normally impossible. However, under specific conditions, it can be achieved.”
He began writing down the prerequisites for reducing a spell’s activation time to zero.
Among the neat writing on the board, the most emphasized phrase was the topic of the lecture: “Automation.”
“This is likely an unfamiliar concept to you. Normally, in order to cast a spell, one must first gather mana, draw a magic circle so the mana can be evenly distributed, and then recite an incantation to activate the spell. So, the idea of automating this process might sound strange.”
By speaking from the perspective of a student rather than a professor, he drew out their empathy and curiosity.
At the same time, he subtly piqued their interest in the content he was about to explain.
“Let’s take a step back for a moment. Does anyone know why we need to recite incantations to cast spells?”
***
A moment later, several youthful hands shot up.
Letter called on the student who had raised their hand the fastest.
“Isabelle.”
“Y-Yes, Professor! The purpose of incantations is to activate mana. Activating mana is what triggers the spell’s effect.”
“Mm, that is correct.”
A brief word of praise followed.
Isabelle’s face noticeably brightened at the compliment, and she prepared to sit back down—
“But is reciting an incantation the only way to activate mana?”
“Huh? Uh, um…”
Caught off guard by the unexpected follow-up question, Isabelle hesitated with a troubled expression.
It was understandable.
After all, what her professor—who was also her elder sister—had just asked was something they had not yet learned.
Though Isabelle prided herself on keeping up with Letter’s lectures despite their difficulty, she quickly realized that this particular question was not meant to be answered.
As expected—
“It’s normal not to know. Incantation-free casting is something you only learn in the graduating class.”
Not letting Isabelle’s silence drag on, Letter promptly resumed the lecture.
At the same time, a calm voice carried throughout the auditorium.
“What I am about to teach you is not something as difficult as incantation-free casting, but rather a way to prepare the three stages of spellcasting in advance. In a sense, you could even call it a trick.”
With a light wave of a small hand, a second-tier light magic circle for Lux formed in the air.
Unlike higher-tiered magic circles, this one had a relatively simple structure, so none of the students had trouble recognizing it.
However, what happened next was rather odd.
“…There’s barely any mana in it.”
“The magic circle isn’t even glowing.”
Despite the magic circle being precisely drawn, the amount of mana flowing through it was unusually small.
In other words, even if an incantation were spoken, the spell would not activate.
Yet, Letter quietly recited the incantation and then clapped his hands once, drawing the murmuring students’ attention back to him.
Pointing at the still inactive magic circle, he posed another question.
“I drew the magic circle, infused it with mana, and recited the incantation. Yet, the spell did not activate. Why is that?”
“Because… the amount of mana is too low!”
“Yes, that’s correct. The mana was insufficient.”
Nodding at a male student’s response, Letter repeated the same steps a few more times, creating several incomplete magic circles.
“These magic circles did not fail because the incantation was missing, but because there was not enough mana.”
As the unfinished magic circles hovered motionlessly in the air, Letter began explaining the core of his lecture—
The automation of magic circles.
The method that could reduce a spell’s activation time to zero.
“Now, let’s think about this simply.”
Wuuung…!
“What if we simply add mana afterward? The spell didn’t activate because there wasn’t enough mana, right?”
At that very moment—
A brilliant flash.
The magic circles, now filled with the missing mana, all lit up at once, flooding the auditorium with radiant light.
“And there you have it. The spell was activated without relying on an incantation, and without any delay.”
A concept no one had ever considered before.
A phenomenon impossible to witness before now, as there had never been a reason to challenge the conventional three stages of spellcasting.
“I never told you not to use incantations. All I suggested was to modify the spell’s activation conditions.”
His following explanation was, at its core, a very basic one—an elementary concept about mana.
Something they had already covered at the beginning of the course:
“The nature of mana is something you all already know—mana has the property of transferring its state to nearby mana.”
With a simple motion, the young professor dispersed the radiant light filling the room and continued.
“The tiny amount of mana I initially infused was already activated due to the incantation. So, when I later poured in a sufficient amount of mana, it was automatically activated by the already charged mana.”
His demonstration had not been limited to Lux.
“This method is not exclusive to light magic. If you can prepare any spell in advance like I just did, you can significantly reduce its activation time.”
After scanning the auditorium and the students seated within, Letter concluded with one final piece of advice.
“No matter how much time you think you have, it will never be enough.
Remember this—time should always be your highest priority, in any situation.”
A lesson that would prove invaluable—
Especially in the Trial of Ascension.
More precisely, it would become the key to solving the Mana Design challenge within the trial.
With those final words, Letter fell silent.
And within ten seconds—
Ding—dong!
The bell signaling the end of class rang.
“Then, I’ll see you all next time.”
Letter waved lightly at the students before exiting the auditorium.
Two teaching assistants followed closely behind his small frame.
What remained for the students were the example spells listed on the worksheet—
And an entirely new way of utilizing magic circles.
***
“Your Highness.”
“Y-Yes?”
“The lesson I just taught to the beginner class… I’m thinking of making it a bit more difficult for the advanced class.”
“Would that be alright?”
With a slightly hesitant expression, Letter posed his question.
After a brief moment of thought, Irina nodded.
She even added that the lesson would be highly useful for the advanced class.
“The students in the advanced class will gain a lot from it. Definitely.”
“Hmm… Alright, then.”
However, at that moment—
Irina had no idea.
She did not realize what kind of geometric nightmare awaited the advanced class.
‘If they temporarily deactivated the Yuta-Gilt method, then infused mana according to the Reiter schematic, they could achieve an even finer level of control—’
‘…How is any of this just a little more difficult, Professor…?’
Irina’s vision spun as she tried to process the sheer number of complex schematics before her.