Tolen drank a little water to recover from the shock he had just experienced. His mind was still in confusion. He had never imagined that Enrico Solcren Ferreira, someone known for spending more time tormenting students than training, would suddenly appear asking for his help.
After taking another sip, he took a deep breath and looked back at Enrico, who remained seated across from him with a slightly arrogant expression, exactly as he usually did.
'He still has a bit of that arrogance... but it's obvious he's different.'
Meanwhile, Enrico was also watching him carefully, trying to analyze his reaction.
'I hope he doesn't get too suspicious... damn, I still need to act like the original Enrico for a little while longer.'
"Alright, so you want me to teach you Fire Magic. But tell me... why should I teach you anything?"
"First, I don't want you to teach me your techniques. I want to learn more about Fire Magic itself."
Tolen looked away for a few moments. What he really wanted was to reject this noble's request completely.
'Honestly, I'd rather not teach him anything at all. Besides, he's going to fight Kai... and, to be honest, I'd rather see Kai win.'
"And second... if you don't help me, I'll ask Lady Serenya to deal with you."
Tolen froze completely and slowly raised his head to look at Enrico. The sinister smile on his face made it clear that this wasn't a request.
It was a threat.
'Damn...'
"...I accept."
"Excellent choice."
Enrico smiled in satisfaction, while Tolen merely sighed with a defeated expression.
'As if I had any other choice...'
Magic: Split Fireball
"Focus, Enrico. Fire is like an emotion. Even if you split it apart, it doesn't disappear... it simply spreads."
Those were Tolen's first words when Enrico finally began studying more advanced ways of manipulating his Fire Magic, going beyond simply throwing flames around with brute force.
Sitting beside him, Tolen carefully observed every movement of mana in the noble's hands before continuing his explanation.
"Now, to create the technique you mentioned... we first need to talk about generating a Fireball."
This was one of the techniques Enrico wanted to learn. He had seen a supporting character use it during a fight against Valença. Of course, other mages were also capable of reproducing it, but in the original story, there had never been an explanation of how that magic actually worked. Now, at last, he would have the opportunity to learn its theory from the beginning.
'I'm already used to this... Focus the heat... create the ignition point... stabilize the shape...'
Following each step in his mind, Enrico gathered mana into the palm of his hand. A few moments later, a Fireball formed without any difficulty.
"Now comes the difficult part."
The true secret of that technique wasn't creating the Fireball.
It was preventing it from being launched as a single projectile.
The mage had to fragment its internal structure without allowing the spell to lose its stability. With a slight twist of mana and unwavering intent, the heat would begin to vibrate until it reached the exact breaking point.
While Enrico carefully observed the sphere of fire, Tolen continued explaining.
"You have to split it without breaking the connections between each part. If you lose the balance, the spell will simply fall apart before it's launched."
'I think I understand.'
Enrico made the mana vibrate exactly as he had imagined. Then he launched the Fireball.
Instead of firing as a single sphere, it blossomed in the air like a flower made of flames. The original Fireball split into five smaller spheres, and then into six. They were smaller than the original, but they still carried considerable destructive power. Tolen's eyes widened slightly.
"That was very good. It only took you four attempts. Most people need dozens before they can maintain the spell's structure. Now, to control the direction of each Fireball individually, you'll need to reach the First Circle."
Enrico simply nodded. He had only learned so quickly because he possessed some knowledge about the behavior of fire from his previous world. Even though he couldn't use magic back then, understanding how heat spread and how flames behaved helped him greatly in understanding the theory behind that technique.
In its complete form, Split Fireball scattered flames across multiple angles at the same time. Once mastered, it allowed the user to surround a single enemy or strike several targets simultaneously.
"If I can control at least three of them... that'll already be enough... ugh..."
Suddenly, Enrico placed one hand against the wall as his head began to feel slightly heavy.
'Relax. That only happens the first time.'
For a mage as weak as he was, using that technique was like running a marathon without being able to breathe. Its mana consumption was absurd, equivalent to casting three ordinary Fireballs all at once. For someone who was still in Circle Zero, it was simply too high a price.
Tolen remained silent, merely observing Enrico's exhausted expression. The young man closed his eyes for a few moments and took a deep breath, trying to recover part of the mana he had consumed. Simply splitting the Fireball already demonstrated just how demanding that spell was for someone at his level.
'Even if I have to destroy my own body just to gain a little more strength... I'll do it...'
A few moments later, Enrico opened his eyes again and let out a small sigh. Despite the exhaustion, he had managed to learn a new technique, and that alone made the meeting worthwhile.
"Well... I guess that's enough for today. At least I learned something new for when I have more mana."
Tolen slowly closed the book he had used during the explanation. Although he didn't enjoy Enrico's company in the slightest, he had to admit that the young man learned quickly.
"If you ever need more help... you can talk to me."
The moment he turned to leave the library, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. His entire body immediately stiffened, and a chill ran down his spine.
'What does this guy want now...?'
Cold sweat began running down his forehead as countless possibilities crossed his mind. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed hard before thinking:
'Don't tell me...'
Enrico looked at him with a completely serious expression, showing no sign whatsoever of joking.
"Tonight, you're sleeping in my room."
The color completely drained from Tolen's face. His mind went blank for several seconds, unable to process what he had just heard.
[Wait... do you like men?]
Enrico slowly turned his head toward the System. The question caught him off guard, but after a few seconds, he placed a hand on his chin as though he were genuinely thinking about it, his memories drifting toward Elian.
'Well... if they're feminine enough...'
The System completely froze for a few moments, as if it had stopped functioning.
[W-what!? Pff... so you like Elian? He looks pretty feminine.]
"Hmm..."
Enrico pretended to think seriously as he crossed his arms, looking at Tolen standing there.
'Maybe.'
[You're not serious... are you?]
'Of course not...'
He deliberately paused for a moment before flashing a mischievous grin.
'Or maybe I am. What do you think?'
At that point, Enrico was making a tremendous effort not to burst out laughing at the System's reaction as it kept freezing up.
[Enrico, you idiot! Idiot! Idiot!]
Snorting in indignation, the System simply disappeared, refusing to continue such an absurd conversation.
Meanwhile, Tolen finally came back to his senses and shook his head several times, as if trying to drive away the horrifying thoughts that had appeared in his mind.
"I... I don't like men."
"Neither do I... at least not your type."
Enrico paused once again, just to make Tolen even more desperate.
"I prefer the more feminine ones."
'I need to get out of here.'
That sentence was the final straw. Tolen immediately spun around and tried to run out of the library, but Enrico was faster and grabbed him by the shoulder before he could escape, wearing an amused smile.
'Why is teasing people so funny?'
The following morning, Tolen was stretching as he walked beside Enrico toward the training arena. The previous night, he had slept on the floor of Enrico's room with nothing but a bedsheet. Fortunately, nothing his imagination had come up with had actually happened. Even so, the scare had been enough to keep him awake for most of the night.
"Why didn't you tell me the reason for that 'invitation' was because you didn't want me telling anyone?"
"Because it was funny watching your reaction."
"I hate you."
"And you're one of my ten favorite people."
Tolen stared at Enrico for several seconds with a completely expressionless face.
'Why do I feel such a strong urge to punch him?'
As they talked, they finally reached the training arena. The moment they passed through the gates, they noticed that the stands were already almost completely full. News of the duel had spread quickly throughout the academy, attracting students from various classes. Among the crowd, Caelan and Elian were already waiting in their seats, while Serenya spotted them from a distance and immediately waved.
"Enrico! Over here! We came to watch you humiliate that commoner!"
Enrico walked over to them, dragging Tolen along by the arm. Once they sat down, he looked around at the enormous crowd of spectators.
"There's a lot of people."
"Of course. Most of them are commoners waiting to see you lose."
Tolen merely grumbled under his breath while being practically forced to remain seated beside them. At that moment, Elian finally noticed his presence and frowned.
"And what's this library rat doing here?"
Tolen slowly turned his head to look at him. At that very moment, he remembered the words Enrico had spoken the night before.
'I prefer the more feminine ones.'
Without saying a single word, he simply placed one hand on Elian's shoulder.
"Good luck."
"Huh?"
Elian blinked several times, completely confused, unable to understand why he had said that. Beside him, Enrico discreetly turned his face away, making an enormous effort not to burst out laughing. Serenya silently observed the entire scene and, after a few moments, turned her attention back to Enrico.
"Don't lose."
Enrico simply smiled in response. Seeing that confident smile, Serenya quickly turned her face away, hiding her own smile before anyone could notice.
[Are you sure you can do it?]
Before Enrico could answer, the great gates of the arena slowly began to open. Kai entered first, followed by Valença. Right behind them came Elaris, the president of the student council and, secretly, the princess of the Elven Kingdom.
'I'm sure.'
[This is going to be a difficult fight.]
Enrico watched Kai talking with Elaris on the opposite side of the arena. Judging by the way the two were talking, it wasn't difficult to guess the topic.
'Looks like she's telling him everything she saw about me.'
He remained silent for a few moments before continuing his thoughts.
'If I want the protagonist to grow, I can't lose. If I lose, he'll stay the same as he was at the beginning of the story... and I need him to grow quickly.'
[I know, but...]
'Don't worry.'
A confident smile appeared on Enrico's face.
"I'm going to defeat him quickly."
[...]
Enrico calmly walked to the center of the arena as dozens of eyes turned toward him.
[Are you serious?]
'Yes. Just trust me.'
His eyes gleamed for a brief moment. On the opposite side, Kai also stepped into the arena and walked forward until he stopped directly in front of him.
The two remained motionless, staring at one another. Little by little, the entire arena fell into absolute silence, as if no one wanted to miss the beginning of the fight.
'Thirty seconds will be enough.'