Chapter 337 – Showing Off

Chapter 337 – Showing Off

Kai threw a glance at the crisp pages of his textbook to confirm he hadn’t missed a step.

27.7) The Seven Moons’ Journey (4th permutation):

• Suitable affinities: All, with preference to elements with a physical manifestation.
• Description: Conjure an elemental sphere circled by seven smaller spheres in adjacent orbit: the first is the closest, moving on a horizontal axis; the second moves at half the speed of the first; the third moves three times the speed of the second on a perpendicular axis to the first; the fourth…

Locking the seventh water marble at a thirty-degree angle in the furthest orbit, he used a steady trickle of blue motes to lock the spell while he checked the speeds and angle ratios one last time.

Looks like I got everything.

The exercise tested his proficiency with Split Mind and Water Magic. Just from the morning lectures, he had learned that multitasking skills were nearly as important as Mana Sense and Manipulation for any mage above the second circle.

“Did I do it right?” Kai asked over the background chatter in the hall. His eyes remained on the spell. When he received no answers, he turned to see Valela stare at his spell with parted lips.

Uh, that means good, right?

The ice marbles she had conjured to show him the exercise now moved in stilted, wobbly orbits. Two moons collided with a click, quickly creating a chain reaction. Her cheeks flushed, looking at the state of her spell. The ice marbles froze in place before she turned them into shimmering mist.

With a little sidestep, Valela leaned to cover her blunder and inspect his spell. “It’s… very good. The execution is nearly perfect on your first try. Have you really never trained with this exercise?”

Ignoring her failed spell, Kai smiled to hide the effort of maintaining his own. After a lifetime spent underselling himself, he couldn’t resist flexing his skills a bit. “Hmm… once I’ve made orbs of unattuned mana circle around me for fun. I’ve also tried it with water, but not with exact spheres. Does that count?”

Having a bunch of Water spells orbiting him made him feel like a cool mage—imitating the solar system rather than the moons. Though he had never moved them with such strict requirements on speed and angles.

It felt similar to the coordination trick of using a hand to pat your head and the other to rub your tummy. Only, he also had to hold a different tempo with each foot, count multiples of seven, and flex each finger asynchronously.

Okay, maybe a little trickier. It gets easier once you get down to the basics.

“That doesn’t count,” Valela said. Her brows knitted in cautious disbelief as she looked between him and the spell. “Have you never done this before? Maybe it didn’t have the same name. The Seven Moons’ Journey is one of the most common shaping exercises for layered spells. There are a thousand variations.”

“Never seen one. Uh… exercises aren’t really my thing. I’m more one for practical applications of elemental magic,” Kai said to put it mildly. His mind was straining to maintain the looping orbs while keeping up the conversation. He made an effort to relax his jaw to look more nonchalant. “Have you thought the reason I got it on the first try is because you’re a great teacher?”

“I’m…” Her face turned a deeper shade, and her gaze fled, wandering around the group of students. She really blushed too easily. When she looked up again, she had crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. “Stop teasing me. ”

“I’m being completely serious here,” Kai switched away his smirk for an honest smile. “Summoning all the spheres and converting the speed ratios to the smallest moon was good advice. Without a plan, it would have been a mess to adjust the spell on the go.” He waved at the spell, using the excuse to make the spheres drip and evaporate. The relief to his mind almost made him sigh. He’d be an idiot to strain Split Mind at the beginning of the lesson.

“You would have come up with a plan on your own,” Valela said, though she looked mollified.

“Well… probably,” he agreed. They had spent too long speculating about the Stygian Cult in the House of Mirrors not to know how they both reasoned. “But it would have taken me more than three minutes to nail it down.”

“Five?”

“Well… I appreciate the trust in me, but you’re overestimating me. I reckon it would have taken six minutes. Maybe even six and a half!” Kai nodded gravely. “You’ve spared me half the time.”

Valela gave him a flat look, pressing her mouth to cover a smile. “You’re an idiot.”

“I?” A hand raised to his chest, mouth opened in mock shock. “How can thy words hurt me so much?”

Her lips finally quivered upwards. “We’re in a lesson.” She threw him a dirty look and discreetly punched his arm with her tiny fist. “Lys didn’t lie about professors looking for excuses to slim the classes. Try to be serious. You don’t want to get demerits on your first day.”

“Alright, alright. My bad.” Kai raised his hand in surrender and massaged his arm. She packed more Strength than he’d expected in those willowy arms.

Not like anyone is paying attention.

With the looser lecture style, many students were chatting while pretending to study their textbooks. Professor Thornwyn’s upright figure had moved from the group of exotic affinities toward the Plant branch. Her faded indigo clothes stood out among all the burgundy.

From the pale first-years she was instructing, the new intake wasn’t impressing her. She noted something in the rigid folder she was holding and motioned to the line of new intakes to step forward with a slight shake.

Kai had seen convicts look more cheerful. During their interaction, the professor hadn’t seemed one to wantonly punish new students, but neither one to give a free pass.

Could the hands-off lecture be a test to see how they’d manage themselves? Or was he overthinking?

I’d better get these done before she gets here.

He couldn’t and wouldn’t let himself fall short after his boasting.

“Are you gonna show me the next exercises?” Kai grinned at his impromptu mentor. “I got lucky with this one. Casting multiple spells is my thing. Some of the others look pretty tough.”

“Do they really?” Valela narrowed her eyes, skeptical.

“Of course,” Kai said. “I wasn’t lying that I’m not used to these exercises. Your explanation helped me a ton to…” He bit his cheek, realizing maybe he had gotten ahead of himself. “Sorry, I shouldn’t monopolize your time if you need to practice.”

“I—no. Remember, I’m the one who offered.” She grabbed her open text, any hesitation replaced with stubbornness. “Professor Thornwyn also asked us to help new students. I’ll practice as I explain them to you.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Alright, thank you then. ” Kai leaned to read the exercises over her shoulder. From how most senior students were ignoring their junior peers, Professor Thornwyn’s words clearly were more a suggestion than a demand. He wanted to say he owed her one, but they were probably past counting favors. “Hmm, what should we do next?”

While there was value in figuring things out for himself, the morning lectures had highlighted enough subjects that he had to catch up on. The academy wouldn’t give him a second chance if he failed to keep up, and after paying the five hundred gold tuition, he would get his money’s worth. No question about it. He would wring out the academy for every last mesar, or consider himself a failure.

I won’t pay to finance some patrician’s fancy meals.

Kai pushed his thoughts aside to focus on what Valela was saying.

“Like… this.” Her brows furrowed as she fused the four symmetrical sides of the prismatic ice structure. The clear walls let him see the inner beams slide together like a puzzle; a thin web of cracks spread where one beam came a millimeter too short.

Valela pursed her lips, reversing the spreading cracks and turning the ice clear till the construct was complete—the most elaborate Christmas tree decorations Kai had ever seen.

“You did great!” he congratulated her once it wouldn’t disrupt her concentration. From the clinking quiver that crossed the structure, he had done well to wait. “That was quite impressive.”

“I… well, thank you,” Valela said. “I still need to work more on this. It almost shattered.”

“But you fixed it in time and finished it. That’s what matters.”

“I did alright,” she said, clearly pleased behind her poised expression. “Do you want to try? The Reflected Puzzle works a little differently for ice than Water…”

They blazed through the assigned chapters, weaving mana into increasingly complex spells, tackling new constructs past the pages Valela had studied. Each exercise required a slightly different approach, though they shared a focus on control and precision to make efficient use of elemental essence.