"Good morning."
Instructor moon's gaze swept across the class.
"Today..."
A faint smile appeared.
"...will be your first practical lesson."
A pause.
"Mana Gathering."
The classroom remained quiet.
Then—
"Your target is simple."
He wrote a number on the board.
0.5 Seconds.
Silence.
Then the room exploded.
"Impossible!"
"That's insane!"
"It takes about ten minutes for beginners!"
"That's mana poisoning waiting to happen!"
Instructor Moon ignored them.
Tia narrowed his eyes.
Mana Gathering wasn't simple.
Before mana could be stored—
it had to pass through multiple stages.
Mana Perception.
Mana Attraction.
Mana Absorption.
Mana Circulation.
Mana Purification.
Mana Compression.
Mana Storage.
Each step required precision.
Yet instructor moon wanted them to perform everything in half a second.
"Silence."
The classroom instantly quieted.
Instructor Moon stepped forward.
"Watch carefully."
He raised one hand.
Then closed his eyes.
At first.
Nothing happened.
Then—
the atmosphere changed.
Mana.
Every particle within the room trembled.
The students felt it immediately.
Countless green particles emerged from the air.
Drawn toward him.
Faster.
And faster.
Like rivers rushing toward the sea.
Within a single heartbeat—
all of it gathered above his palm.
A sphere of condensed mana.
Perfectly stable.
Perfectly controlled.
No leakage.
No waste.
Just pure mana.
The students stared.
Disbelief written allover their face.
Then—
the sphere vanished.
Gone.
As though it had never existed.
Instructor Moon lowered his hand.
"That."
A pause.
"Was Mana Gathering."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then—
"T-That was half a second!"
"No..."
"Less than that..."
Instructor Moon turned toward the board.
"First."
"Sense the mana."
"Second."
"Attract it."
"Third."
"Absorb it."
"Fourth."
"Circulate it."
"Fifth."
"Compress it."
"Sixth."
"Store it."
His eyes swept across the room.
"Begin."
Immediately students began.
The room became quiet.
Tia followed.
Sense.
Attract.
Absorb.
Circulate.
Slience.
One minute.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
Sweat rolled down his face.
Again.
Nothing.
Thirty minutes later—
Tia slowly opened his eyes.
"...Haa."
A sigh escaped him.
Around him—
small streams of mana floated around several students.
Including Joshua.
In fact—
Jay's mana was among the brightest in the room.
Tia looked away.
A strange feeling settled in his chest.
Then—
a thought surfaced.
One he wasn't ready to accept.
Maybe...
They were right
'I really can't do it.'
Evening.
The academy was quiet.
Moonlight covered the buildings.
cool breeze drifted through the air.
Tia stood by the window.
One leg already over the ledge.
Then—
"Where do you think you're going?"
A voice sounded behind him.
Tia stopped.
He didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"...None of your business."
Jay frowned.
"You've been acting weird all day."
No answer.
Tia simply jumped.
Joshua's eyes widened.
"HEY!"
Without hesitation—
he jumped after him.
****Outside the academy.
The night wind brushed against their faces.
The academy walls disappeared behind them.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then Tia sighed.
"If we get caught..."
He glanced sideways.
"...it's not my problem."
Joshua grinned.
A scoff.
"like you'd leave me behind."
Tia ignored him.