22 Alyssa's Breakthrough

Chapter 22 - Alyssa's Breakthrough

After carefully thinking it over, Zwei realized that there was no hurry to clear dungeons. The best choice was to take things step by step and lay a solid foundation for himself.

Once he figured this out, he would only grind the Night Forest's Depths for various resources and tools, aside from meditating every day.

Although a new dungeon called the Night Forest's Heart had opened up after Zwei cleared the Night Forest's Depths with an A-rank evaluation, he did not intend to try the new dungeon immediately. In fact, before he felt confident of clearing the Noisy Beach, he was hesitant to challenge this new dungeon.

Hence, he would grind dungeons for resources in the morning, lazily bask in the sun after having lunch, and teach Alyssa magic knowledge and meditate with her in the afternoon. Occasionally, he would also take some time to catch a rabbit or moose in the mountain to supplement his meals.

If not for the tattoo on the back of his hand, Zwei would've even forgotten that he had to establish a magic academy, due to these peaceful days.

Just as Zwei had almost enough resources to construct the Teaching Block, Alyssa suddenly succeeded in perceiving her mana.

After checking, Zwei found that albeit weak, the girl had indeed gained mana of her own after long periods of meditation!

As Zwei looked at the joyous Alyssa celebrating her success, he suddenly felt a little ashamed of himself.

In the practice of magic, condensing and perceiving one's own mana was an incredibly difficult hurdle to cross. It was also a great barrier that distinguished ordinary people from magicians.

If only one person in a thousand had a talent for magic, then out of a thousand of these talents, only one would be able to overcome this difficult hurdle and become a true magician.

This was also why magic academies would have only a dozen or so graduates, despite enrolling many students every term. While some long-standing magic academies would fare better in this regard, it wasn't by a significant margin.

In the case of itinerant magicians, in order to improve their students' success rate in perceiving mana, they would provide their students with special potions before every meditation session. Some wealthy nobles would also occasionally purchase precious perception potions and supply them to the talented individuals in their family.

Unfortunately, Zwei, who barely had anything to his name, could not provide Alyssa with such benefits. The little girl could only listen to Zwei's lectures and persist in the extremely boring meditation sessions every day. As a result, even with her outstanding talent, it had still taken her over a month to perceive her own mana.

However, Zwei quickly set aside his guilt and looked at the excited girl before him. He then said, "Let's test your elemental affinity first."

"Okay, Teacher!" Maybe it was because she had finally succeeded in sensing her mana, but the little girl's answer was particularly imposing.

Elemental affinity was basically a term used to describe the element a magician was suited for.

Large magic academies usually owned magic devices for testing a person's elemental affinity. However, in Zwei's case, he could only rely on the traditional method passed down since ancient times.

That method was called the "Water Viewing Method."

Firstly, one had to fill a cup with water and then place a clean pebble in the water. Afterward, the newly promoted Apprentice Magician had to inject their mana into the water.

If a person was elementally attuned to fire, bubbles would emerge from the bottom of the cup. If their affinity for the fire element was especially strong, the water would boil.

If a person was attuned to the water element, the water's surface would swirl slowly. And if their affinity for the water element was particularly strong, a small vortex would form inside the cup.

If a person was attuned to the wind element, the pebble would float. A strong affinity would even result in the pebble floating out of the water.

If a person was attuned to the earth element, the water would become murky. If the affinity was a strong one, the pebble would disappear, and the water in the cup would turn into mud.

After Zwei prepared the cup of water, Alyssa placed her hands around the cup. However, neither of her palms made direct contact with the cup. Afterward, a frown formed on her face as she desperately tried to urge her mana into the cup.

"Fool! Do you think you're arm-wrestling?! You don't need to exert any effort to guide your mana!" Zwei couldn't help reprimanding his student when he saw her actions. "Calm down, concentrate, and feel your mana. Once you do that, you can naturally guide it to where you want!"

Perhaps due to the effectiveness of Zwei's guidance or Alyssa herself having learned the trick, but the frown on her face eased, and her complexion looked much better than before.

Gradually, the water in the cup began to rotate. Although barely detectable, the center of the water also sank slightly due to the rotation's centrifugal force.

Alyssa's elemental affinity was water. Moreover, by the looks of it, her affinity was superior.

"Well done. As expected of my student." Zwei, who was sincerely happy for Alyssa, patted her head. He then extended his left hand into his Apprentice Cloak's pocket.

However, Zwei wasn't actually reaching to grab something in his pocket. Instead, he was using his pocket as a cover to retrieve an item from the Bronze Storage Box of the Dean's Mage Tower. He then handed the item to the girl who was smiling happily in front of him.

The item he retrieved was a magic sword named Seablue Shortsword. It was the reward he obtained the first time he got an A-rank evaluation in the Night Forest's Depths.

"This is my gift to you. Um, think of it as a reward for successfully perceiving mana."

"Is that really alright? This is such a beautiful sword…" Alyssa asked in a daze as she looked at the Seablue Shortsword.

As a magic item, the Seablue Shortsword was naturally different from ordinary short swords. The hilt of the sword was made from refined steel, and the handguard had mysterious yet aesthetically appealing runes engraved on it. The handle was wrapped in an unknown leather that prevented slipping when held. A coin-sized blue pearl was also inlaid at the pommel. As for the blade, it was made using a tough blue crystal. Although the craftsmanship wasn't excellent, and the shape of the blade was somewhat irregular, it still looked very beautiful overall.

Even if sold as a decoration, it could still fetch a good price in a city.

Aside from providing a modifier of 3~8 physical damage, the magic weapon also had a passive skill called Ocean Blue.

[Ocean Blue: If this short sword is used as a staff to assist in casting spells, all water spells will require one verse less to cast. The spell's effects will also increase by 5%.]

For Zwei, the incantation-shortening effect was useless as he was capable of silent casting. As for the 5% boost to spell effectiveness, if not for the fact that it was limited to only water magic, it would've been a good bonus. However, he currently had no water magic in his spell repertoire.

So, in short, giving this beautiful and functional short sword to Alyssa was the best choice.

As for why her teacher could pull out a short sword from his pocket, this wasn't something the little girl needed to consider. The way she saw it, such magical actions should be considered a norm for magicians.

"It's normal for teachers to give magic items to their students, so just accept it," Zwei said as he pushed the short sword into Alyssa's arms. And while looking at the girl, who had her head lowered and ears reddened, he warned, "Also, make sure to wrap this sword with something once you get home. It's a crime to have wealth you can't protect."

"…Thank you, Teacher! I'll definitely cherish this sword!"

Zwei didn't place much importance on Alyssa's words. After putting the cup away, he had the girl return home.

Once Alyssa was gone, Zwei sat on his wooden bed and shut his eyes. Only when the room had darkened did he open his eyes and stand up.

"Although I'm no longer in a hurry to build my magic academy, it'd be a joke if my student were to catch up to me. Sure enough, I have to work harder!"