Chapter 22: Learning

The teacher had performed two signs simultaneously. At first, she had simultaneously performed the Earth sign from the right hand and the Sky sign from her left. Then she had simultaneously performed the Earth sign from her left hand and the Sky sign from her right. Lastly, the bird sign required both hands to perform, so she had used both of her hands.

So hand signs could be performed simultaneously as long as they don't disturb the order in which they are to be performed.

Understanding that only training will make him realize how difficult or easy it so to perform hand signs, he starts to perform the hand signs for mana shield.

To perform the Earth sign, he stretches the ring finger and the pinkie of his right hand while curling the rest of the fingers and the thumb. Simultaneously, to perform the sky sign, the forefinger and the middle finger of his left-hand stretches out while the other fingers and thumb remain closed.

He realizes that the Earth sign is harder than the sky sign—Curling finger and the thumb was harder than simply closing them.

As he performed the hand signs for the first time, his hands slightly shake, and he feels mana circulating in his body. This was enough to prove that he has performed legit hand signs.

A gleeful smile enacted his face when he felt the mana circulation. He thought, "It isn't as difficult as I thought it to be. It's rather simple. I might master the Pure-mana spells teacher Ruka taught today in some minutes!"

The 32 basic hand signs didn't need a lot of practice to perform. They are simple to perform hand signs, except some that compelled training but such hand signs are only required for advanced Pure-mana spells.

Performing pure-mana spell leaned heavily on the memorization ability of a person. That's why the Magic Scholars says:

«For a mage, training matters not, wisdom is all that is needed»

He has Photographic memory, a skill that allows him to remember even the minute details of what he had seen. His ability to memorize given knowledge far exceeds his peers.

After a moment of delay, he performed the Earth sign from his left hand and the Sky sign from his right hand. In response, the mana circulating in his body sped up.

'The last hand sign will complete the mana-shield spell.' Thinking that he forms a cage by arching the middle fingers and pinkies while making the ring fingers and forefingers intersect.

The mana stopped circulating in his body.

His eyes open wide in excitement but for a while, nothing happened. He didn't hear the chirping sound, neither did he feel a spell being cast, and there were no system pop-ups.

The excitement faded from his eyes, replaced by a momentary disappointment.

He had failed!

For the first time, he faced a setback, but immediately his crystal clear icy eyes shone with a thoughtful flicker.

He failed but why?

He didn't let failure put him down, finding the reason for his failure and remedying the mistakes was more important than being disappointed.

Soon after, he realized that there was not even a single problem in the hand signs!

While lost in thoughts, his eyes wandered around the hall.

The Training Hall had a lot of famous sayings from mages and warriors alike. He glimpsed one of the sayings that were written on a wooden board fixed on the wall right in front of him.

«Don't mistake gaining knowledge as gaining wisdom. Knowledge is gained from textbooks but wisdom is gained through the analysis of information. Knowledge helps you understand how a spell is cast, but wisdom helps you cast it. With wisdom, a mage can pierce through the skies of the awakened continent and reach the ocean of mana!»

"Oh!" A thoughtful expression appeared on his face, acting like an old man, he scratched his chin.

Closing his eyes, he recalled the information and started to analyze the clear images of teacher Ruka performing the hand signs.

Time tickled away but he stood still like a stone sculpture. His foolish actions didn't escape the eyes of some trainees.

"What a waste of a handsome face." A senior student shook his head thinking that Whittaker was mentally handicapped.

Another Student moved to throw Whittaker out of the training hall. For the student, the handsome boy was already irksome to his eyes, now that he has closed his eyes as if sleeping, the disgruntled feeling increased. The training hall existed as a sacred place in the heart of this student, and anyone acting like a fool wasn't allowed here!

As the senior student stepped closer, Whittaker eyes opened up. In those eyes, eagerness and dedication were shown.

With swift movements, his hand started to move to perform the hand signs required to cast mana-shield.

Earth » Sky » Earth » Sky » Bird!

In less than a second, he performed the hand signs to cast the Pure-mana spell "Mana-Shield"

Chirp!!!!!!!

A high pitched bird chirping noise resounded in the training hall.

Hearing the sound coming out of Whittaker, the senior student footsteps only halted for a moment, then, with a downcast expression, he passed by him and proceeded to leave the training hall.

Due to jealousy, he has almost disgraced the Sacred Training Hall!

Along with the chirping sound, his spellbook rushed out from his soul space and materialized in the physical plane. The spellbook shone with an icy light, attracting the attraction of everyone inside and outside the training hall.

Mana rushed into the shining Frost spellbook from all four corners of the world. The spellbook absorbed the mana to condense the elemental version of the Pure-mana spell "Mana shield" in the form of a page.

The senior student halted at the door and turned around to glance at the snow-hired boy. Yato, who was engrossed in training, was pulled out of his thoughts by the commotion caused by Whittaker. The rest of the students in the training hall also glanced at Whittaker. Some turned away after a single glance while the others kept on glaring at him.

The shine released from the spellbook graced the face of the snowy-haired boy making him look even more soul captivating.

Whittaker smiles due to happiness, he smiles so wide, it stretches from almost ear to ear.

The main reason why he failed was time. The hand signs have to be performed within a certain time limit. Only then will the spell will be successful. The time limit of the Mana-Shield was 3 seconds. The five hand signs must be cast within three seconds or else the spell will fail even if the hand signs are completed. He realized that only after intently examining the knowledge present in his mind.

The hearts of the females mage trainee was captivated by that innocent smile and his shining face. The only thought that filled their mind was to pinch those bubble cheeks that have are showing two cute dimples. Some unconsciously stepped forward and then halted with an embarrassed cough. Disturbing a mage when his spellbook is in the midst of forming an elemental spell existed as the worst crime in the Water Kingdom.

Whittaker didn't notice their reaction as the notifications of the Night Will's system has popped up and filled his vision.

[The User has Learned Pure-Mana spell "Mana Shield"]

[Mana Shield (F-ranked)

Cost: 20

Effect: A strong coating of mana covers every inch of the body and protects the body from harm. You won't be harmed by physical and magical attacks as long as mana coating is in effect. Drains 2 mana per damage absorbed. The mana coating lasts for six minute.]

‹Daily Quest Completed: Learn a Pure-Mana spell with your efforts.

‹Rewards obtained: +1 Skill Development point, +1 intelligence›

[Intelligent increased: 15»16]

[Mana point increased: 150»160. Total mana points 260/160]

[Mana Recovery per second increased: 7.5»8]

[Magic Defense increased: 30»32]

[Magic attack Damage increased: 15»16]