Magic, finally!

I stood in an open area on one of the private training grounds our family had on the expansive area the mansion and its surrounding structures were built.

I had only one goal today. To shoot a fireball. Or waterball. Or any ball of magic, really.

'Alright. It's finally time. For Magic!'

I imagined a certain circular pattern that I had memorized from the lecture that ended an hour or two ago.

Out of the two ways of casting magic, I chose to go with the magic circles. I just couldn't bring myself to "chant" those ritual-like phrases that allowed me to do the same thing. Apparently, most people preferred that way since it was easier to learn than remembering a complex structure consisting of dozens of small parts all woven together to create what we call a magic circle.

Thankfully, I had a high INT stat, which didn't make me super smart sadly. But it did aid drastically when I tried to mug the spell circles.

Not to brag or anything, but I had memorized 15 of them already. 10 basic spells, 3 intermediate spells, 1 advanced spell—which I was not permitted to use without supervision— and 1 spell in the utility. I still had spellbooks from which I could learn more if I wanted… when I wanted. I definitely would, but that was all for later. Right now, though, I had to cast that mudaflipping fireball.

With the spell woven in my mind in just a few seconds, I willed the mana inside my core to once again travel through my body and then to the palm of my hand. But this time, instead of simply releasing it as it is, I 'channeled' it through the mana circle that I had pinpointed to be in front of my palm, a little distance away from it.

It's hard to explain how it happens, but basically, a mana circle wasn't just an imaginary construct, it was a metaphysical one. The mana core inside us had a function, other than to simply store and retrieve mana in our body, to allow for the construction of this abstract entity called a magic circle. It wasn't a real thing. You couldn't touch or feel it, but you could "see" it.

Interestingly enough, it was only visible to those who possessed a mana core. That is, to a normal human from Earth, without any mana, there wouldn't be a "magic circle" in front of my palm as I could see it currently, but instead, they would see me simply shooting a fireball out of thin air in front of my palm.

It was crazy. Magic was crazy. It was awesome!

I noticed the magic circle glow a little as it absorbed the mana I had released from my palm and then when it was charged enough, which took roughly 2 or 3 seconds, it shined brighter for a moment and then released a ball of condensed flames that seemed to rotate in itself, seemingly being pulled in by some force.

I then activated a certain part of the magic circle, or rather, I stopped holding it down. It was like holding down a button in a videogame to charge your move, but here it was more of a trigger button and it was done with a simple mental command. The moment I pressed the "trigger", the fireball was launched in front with a speed that wasn't too unbelievable but still quite fast.

It hit a nearby target that was made to withhold such attacks and after a small burst of fire, it dispersed quickly, not leaving behind any smoke, soot, or even any marks on the target. The target was enchanted with magic to prevent damage by magic below a certain class.

'Neat.'

I smiled as I noticed the magic circle disappear. I immediately pulled my Status screen to see the change in my Mana and sure enough, I had lost 5 points in mana.

'So a basic fireball spell is 5 points of mana. Nice. I can cast 200 fireballs—ah, I just gained back 1 point. Hmm, maybe I can cast more than 200 fireballs if I take my magic regeneration into account. That's a lot!

But leaving all that behind, fucking hell! That was awesome! After so long… Finally, Magic! Real magic! Oh, this is what it means to be in Fantasy. Ahh, I craved it so freaking much. I could almost devote my life to this shit. Almost. I won't do it though. I have other, more "noble" goals… Alas, the path of sage is not for me. I'm unworthy—'

I was distracted from my inner monologue— something Iris seemed quite glad for— when I heard people clapping from the sides a little further away.

"Amazing, big brother! That was awesome!"

"My dear boy is so talented!"

"My Alex is a magical genius!"

"What's so great about magic anyway? It's just shooting some spells. Swordsmanship is much cooler."

'Hah. Suck it, Emma, you spoiled brat! You don't understand how amazing it is to be cast real magic. It's a dream come true for us weebs!'

Leaving aside the stupid muscle-headed redhead who couldn't see the magnanimity of Magic, I looked at the rest of my family members with a happy smile.

That's right. I had an audience today when casting my first spell. My whole family, Laura, a few maids, some knights, and finally my magic instructor, were present to see how it went. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal using magic, but it was a big deal because "I" was casting my first spell.

The magic instructor came closer to me when I was done.

"Well done, Young Master. It was perfect. I could see no flaws in it."

He smiled as he praised, more like butter me.

"Yes. Thanks for teaching me."

"No, the honor truly is mine. I'll be known as a teacher of great magical talent. That's honor enough. That and the pay was quite large as well."

I smiled wryly at his attempt at humor. Internally, I was grimacing.

'Ugh, please. No genius and tags like that. That title is bound to bring me trouble. I still have to figure out how I'm going to save Emma from 'them'. Sigh, I'll think about it later.'

For now, I had some more magic to do.

"Alright, then let's try the other spells—"

"Ah! Young master, it is advisable that you don't cast too many spells for your first attempt. You're still a beginner Tier 1. You might exhaust your mana reserves and it might lead to mana deprivation. If you remember, we learned that in our class today."

"…Right."

'Damn it. I have plenty of mana left though. Whatever. I'll practice them later on my own when I don't have so many people staring at me.'

My magic practice was cut too short and I had to drop it for the day.

What a pity! Just one Fireball was not simply enough for a magic-starved man like me!

***

[POV Arnold Milot]

The man walked out of the carriage he was provided for today's special event. An event he was glad to have been selected for.

After spending 15 years of his life, from his early adulthood to his late 30s, devoted to magic, had been a big success for him to able to earn a position under the leadership of the famous head wizard. And now, after 5 years of working under him, he was given a massive opportunity.

An opportunity that one could only hope to get.

It was an invitation to come and teach the only son of the Maximus family, that was the Marquis family and the lords of this entire city, and much more.

To say he was excited by the prospect would be a massive understatement.

He was so excited and nervous to do it that he had struggled to get proper sleep. He had checked and rechecked all the materials, the magic stones, and a few other things he might need at least a dozen times in the past night and the morning. He had selected the best dress he had to not appear shabby. It had taken him many hours of frantic effort to write down all the notes in case the books were too complex for the young heir.

He had been assigned this job by the head wizard himself and he wouldn't dare to disappoint him by failing to give a perfect lesson.

The man walked towards the gate and then after a quick check of his ID, he was allowed entry to the first Magic tower, the main tower among the few that were scattered around the city, following a systematic pattern and assigned specific roles.

He climbed the familiar stairs leading towards the first floor where the teleportation circle for the upper floors was located. He was in no mood to physically climb the long winding stairs leading to dozens of floors above.

Something of note here was that the ground floor of the tower only had a simple reception, with a few guests and private rooms.

As he walked towards the room containing the magic circles, after passing through another layer of security, he selected the desired floor in the command terminal.

'24.'

That was the floor he was assigned to and now was in charge of now that he was at an official senior position. It could be called a substantial feat for someone young like him achieving it. But it wasn't delusional enough to think he was a hot shot for that. This world had too many geniuses and prodigies achieving more than what he had at a much younger age.

Alas, with a Foundation grade of Copper, he could only go so far with just hard work. That was why he was stuck at the Foundation Tier 6, with little hope of progressing further.

Sighing a bit, from exhaustion, he was teleported to his desired floor.

***