"At least it wasn’t all for naught. Your mana circulation has become much more structured."
Vera frowned.
"However... this isn’t my method. Are you making light of me?"
"It’s a different method, Senior."
Ilya continued circulating the mana flowing throughout his body, guiding it along the same route without opening his eyes.
At first, mana circulation had felt awkward and unnatural, leaving him with little understanding of how it was supposed to flow, but after countless repetitions, he had gradually become accustomed to it.
Once he understood the rhythm of mana itself, he naturally began experimenting with different ways of directing its flow.
Once he had grasped the fundamentals of mana circulation through Vera’s guidance, Ilya gradually began applying another technique alongside it. It was a mana circulation method once used by Siegfried, the original protagonist of the novel.
Through repeated experimentation, he slowly connected those vague memories into a complete circulation method that he could reliably use.
"Instead of circulating mana through every pathway at once, I start with the primary pathways first," Ilya explained while continuing the circulation. "Once the flow stabilizes, I gradually extend it into the smaller branches. It’s slower than forcing mana through the entire network from the beginning, but it places far less strain on the mana circuits."
Vera remained silent, listening.
"The flow also stays continuous," Ilya continued. "Rather than pushing large amounts of mana through my circuits all at once, I maintain a steady pace from beginning to end. It’s less efficient if I need to produce a large amount of mana immediately, but it’s considerably more stable and wastes less mana in the process."
"It’s inefficient."
Ilya opened one eye at Vera’s assessment.
"Though I can see the reasoning." She rested her chin against her hand. "It’s certainly gentler on the mana circuits. However, it also takes longer to build up mana. If you suddenly find yourself in combat, you won’t have the luxury of preparing your circulation first."
"That is true."
"Still, considering your current condition, a slower but more stable circulation method isn’t necessarily a bad choice. At the very least, it’s less likely to aggravate your Inner Realm."
Without another word, she reached into the stack of books on her desk and tossed one toward him.
Ilya caught it before it could hit the floor. Lowering his gaze, he found an old grimoire bound in dark leather.
"Turn to page two hundred thirty-one."
"...?"
It was only then that Ilya noticed the publication date printed on the opening pages of the grimoire.
[Year 821.]
Nearly four centuries had passed since it had first been written.
Most wizards would probably dismiss a text that old as outdated. Even so, if Vera had gone out of her way to hand it to him, there had to be a reason.
"Ah?"
Page two hundred thirty-one contained a technique called Ring of Fire.
Unlike most elements, flames were notoriously difficult to control once manifested. Their nature was to spread and consume, making them far more likely to escape a caster’s control and injure the very person who had summoned them.
To compensate for that, Ring of Fire proposed circulating fire-aspected mana throughout one’s internal mana pathways before casting the spell itself.
By allowing the flames to follow an already established circulation instead of forcing them directly into the outside world, the spell became considerably more stable and far less likely to backfire.
"These days, flame-based spells are far more refined because centuries of research have greatly improved mana control. By the time a modern wizard begins learning pyromancy, they’re already expected to have enough control over their own mana that techniques like this are no longer necessary."
Vera tapped the open page with a finger.
"Unfortunately, that’s not a luxury you have. So I dug through the archives and found the methods most people dismissed long ago."
Ilya continued reading.
Before Newton formalized gravity, people still knew that objects fell. Before Einstein reshaped modern physics, countless scientists had already laid the foundations that made his work possible.
Many of those older ideas were eventually replaced, but that didn’t mean they had been worthless. Without them, there would have been nothing to refine in the first place.
This grimoire was much the same.
Most of its techniques had long since been abandoned in favor of newer and more efficient methods. Yet for someone like Ilya, whose circumstances were anything but ordinary, those forgotten practices might prove more useful than the refined techniques of the present day.
"It says that before I can command flames, I first have to embody them." Ilya skimmed through the page once more. "Rather than treating fire as something separate from myself, I have to circulate heated mana throughout my entire body until it becomes a part of my mana flow."
Vera nodded. "The premise is simple. If your own mana rejects the flames, then the flames will reject you as well."
"Hm."
Keeping one hand on the open grimoire, Ilya followed the instructions written on the page.
[Do not kindle the fire before the path has been laid. A flame without a path consumes its bearer first.]
"...Kindle?"
He reread the passage before closing his eyes.
The first step was familiar enough. Ilya began circulating his mana, guiding it through its usual route until it completed a full cycle. Only then did he pause, uncertain of what the next instruction actually meant.
’How am I supposed to kindle mana?’
Ilya remained motionless for several moments before returning his gaze to the grimoire. He read the same passage again and again, yet nowhere did it explain what "kindling" actually meant or how he was supposed to accomplish it.
For someone who had lived surrounded by nothing but the cold for so long, the very concept of heat had become strangely unfamiliar. It wasn’t that he had forgotten what heat was, but rather that it had become something so foreign that recalling the sensation itself was no easy task.
Whoosh——!
But that was only until recently.
"...."
Before he could continue thinking, Vera suddenly reached forward and placed both of her palms against either side of his neck. A gentle warmth spread through his skin, gradually reaching deeper until even the chill within his body seemed to recede.
"Feel that?"
"...It’s warm."
"Don’t think about flames. Remember the feeling first."
Ilya nodded and slowly closed his eyes once more.
Rather than forcing his mana to become fire, he circulated it as he normally would while holding onto the warmth spreading through his body. He traced that sensation as his mana completed another cycle, closely comparing the two as though trying to imprint the feeling onto the flow itself.
"...."
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
This time, the warmth stayed with his mana for a little longer before gradually fading. The change was so subtle that Ilya almost thought he had imagined it.
Vera, however, had already noticed.
"The circulation changed."
Ilya opened his eyes.
"I felt it too."
Before Ilya realized it, Vera had already bent down in front of him. Their faces were only inches apart, and the hand that had been against the side of his neck now covered his throat completely.
"...Senior?"
Vera said nothing. Her fingers pressed slightly harder against his neck before stopping, and she stared at her own hand for several seconds without moving.
For an instant, her eyes narrowed into a glare, lasting no more than a second before she returned to her usual calmness and silently pulled her hand away.
"I have to head to the academy," Vera said as though nothing had happened, already turning toward the door. "By the time I return, I expect you to be well past the first step."
"Yes...?"
Without another word, Vera left the room.