Chapter Twenty-Eight: An IQ Too High?

What?

Trickles of dust spill through my fingers from the previously whole mana stone, or geode, or whatever the hell it was called.

I don’t think that I broke it just by funneling mana through it, so I’m not really sure what happened. I mean, I know that my previous attempts at the exercise resulted in me hurting myself, but I didn’t think a rock would turn to dust especially given the small amount of mana I had used.

Maybe it was supposed to do that?

It makes sense in a way. Lirin said that I shouldn’t talk to him unless I can complete the exercise, so perhaps this is just function of the stone itself. Once the exercise is complete, the rock turns to dust to show you did it correctly… I guess.

Suddenly, finding myself with nothing to do now that the rock is gone, I finish up my plate of food before taking it back up to the mess hall. By the time I am back in the basement, I have decided to shift my focus to something else for the time being. I have no idea when the warlock will return, so I resign myself to checking out some of the books that line one of the walls in the main room.

Just as I reach out to grab a book that looks interesting, the door leading up to the staircase opens and Lirin emerges. For the second time today, my plans are thrown to the wayside, and I quickly leave the bookcase to follow the warlock to his desk. The man sweeps a lock of silver hair over his ear and ignores me as he sits down and opens up the book he had been carrying in his robes. After almost a full minute of me standing in front of his desk, his unnaturally blue eyes finally flick up to me in annoyance.

“What is it? Didn’t I tell you to not bother me until you have completed the cycle exercise?”

“I finished it.”

“You mean to tell me that in the half hour I was gone, you miraculously completed an exercise that had stumped you for hours previously?”

“Yes.”

It is very satisfying to see the expression that currently sits on the wannabe-warlock’s face. Before I can say anything further, Lirin opens up a drawer on the desk and removes another stone. A few beats pass while I assume the man is inscribing the stone.

“Show me.”

He hands me the stone, and I am about to begin the process of routing my mana through the pre-prepared lines, but he stops me with a wave of his hand.

“In the testing room you dolt.”

Biting back a response, I lead the way to the aforementioned room while Lirin grabs a few more things from his desk that he shoves in the billowing robs draped on his thin figure. Once there, I copy my previous attempt and concentrate while guiding the smallest thread of mana I can manage through the inscription lines. Just like before, the rock crumbles the second I complete the circle. Dusting the remains of the stone off my hand, I look up at the man while he just watches the pieces of rock fall to the ground.

“What level is your <Mana Control> now?”

“Ten.”

“When did it reach level 10?”

“Earlier today during the first training session.”

The man looks at me with his weirdly blue eyes and I suppress the urge to slouch under the heavy gaze.

“Attempt the exercise using your own body again.”

This time, there is no diagram, and Lirin just stands there while his eyes seem to glow. As he requested, I begin the process of cycling mana through my network like I had tried hundreds of times before. Upon completion of the cycle, the pattern turns into a shuddering ellipse that sends mana shooting through my limbs in random spurts. I hold the technique for as long as I can before letting out a breath while my mana calms down once again.

The serious expression on Lirin’s face does not change, but I can visibly see the light in his eyes dim back down to the alien azure color I had become accustomed to. Fishing another stone out of his pocket, the man inscribes it quickly before handing it to me.

This inscription is different from the cycling one, but I don’t say anything and instead begin channeling my mana through the rock again to complete the inscription. Once again, the stone turns to dust upon completion. Lirin is tapping his chin with a slender finger while staring at the ground, so I wait awkwardly while wondering what the problem is.

“You mentioned having a condition that mutates your mana in some way, yes?”

“Yes. I think the mana I produce also creates some sort of thermal radiation.”

“I disagree with your assessment.”

His words lack the usual snide tone and matter of fact language that the wannabe-warlock normally utilizes.

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“What do you mean?”

“Mana is all sourced from the same place. The body does not make mana but rather acts as a medium to convert the energy from this pool into mana. Therefore, the source of this energy is not so much the problem as your body itself is.”

Lirin steps back to retrieve the familiar metal sheet from the nearby wall.