Hayato sat up, his gaze fixed on the system interface that only he could see, a profound and fundamental change having settled within his very being. The three women who had rushed to his side were frozen, stunned by his instantaneous recovery.
It was Riko who broke the silence, her analytical eyes wide with a new discovery. She wasn't looking at his physical state, but sensing his mana.
"Ah..." she breathed, her voice a quiet whisper of awe. "I can feel it. There's mana coming from him now."
Riko's words confirmed the experiment's success. A slow, deeply satisfied smile spread across Lenna's face as she watched Hayato. She gave a single, knowing nod.
Just as I thought, she mused, a thrill of scientific discovery running through her. His body is a vessel unlike any other. It could handle the infusion.
With the success of her experiment confirmed, Lenna's scientific curiosity was fully ignited. She looked down at Hayato, her expression now that of a teacher eager to see her student's first success.
"Alright, let's test the output. Try to manifest it. A simple fire spell is the most basic elemental art. Just a small flame in your palm."
Hayato, who was still sitting on the ground feeling the strange new energy humming within him, simply blinked up at her. He looked down at his empty hand and then back at her.
"And how am I supposed to do that? Do I look like I know how to use magic?"
Lenna's excited expression faltered for a second, then broke into a light, airy laugh. "Ah, my apologies. You are right. Fire is just the most instinctual of the elements for a new vessel to grasp. I thought it might come to you naturally."
While Lenna was figuring out how to teach a man the very concept of magic.
Ayaka spoke up. She was looking at Hayato, but her words were directed at Lenna.
"Lenna, the breakthrough you performed. You used your own raw mana to forge his vessel system from nothing."
She looked between the Arch-Sage and the man on the ground. "Doesn't that mean his body will now passively draw and convert energy into a mana signature that matches your own? He won't just have mana. He will share some of your magical power."
Riko and Kerina just blinked, a bit shocked by the incredible implication of Ayaka's theory. They both turned to look at Lenna, waiting for confirmation.
Lenna gave a calm, academic nod. "Ayaka is correct. The mana vessels were forged using my signature as a template. They will naturally attune to my affinities."
Seeing the worried looks on their faces, she offered a reassuring smile. "But don't worry. It's not as if my power is just going to transfer into him. The connection will likely only grant him an intuitive understanding of some basic magic. Nothing more."
Lenna's academic excitement was now fully engaged. "Alright, Hayato, let's begin. Stand up. We'll start with the most basic of the basics: fire."
She instructed him on the fundamentals: feel the new energy within him, focus on the image of a small, simple flame, and will that energy to manifest in his palm. Hayato did as he was told. He stood, closed his eyes, and concentrated, trying to grasp the strange new power humming within him. He opened his hand, expecting something to happen.
Nothing. Not a spark. Not a wisp of heat.
Lenna's brow furrowed. "That's... unusual. Let's try another element. Water. Feel the moisture in the air, and will it to coalesce in your hand."
He tried again. He focused on the feeling of cool water, of a single drop forming. And again, nothing happened. His palm remained perfectly dry.
"Lightning?" she suggested, her voice now laced with a hint of academic frustration.
He tried to summon a tiny spark. Nothing.
"Alright, the simplest cantrip known," she said, her patience clearly wearing thin as she gave him precise, step-by-step instructions. "A simple ball of light. Anyone with even a drop of magical talent can do this."
He followed her instructions to the letter. Still nothing. His hand remained stubbornly empty and dark.
Riko turned her head away, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Beside her, Kerina brought a hand up to her mouth, a wide grin spreading across her face. The sight of the all-powerful Arch-Sage being completely stumped by the most basic of spells was too absurd to ignore.
Lenna, however, did not find it funny. She threw her hands up in the air, her scholarly composure finally cracking under the weight of the sheer impossibility of the situation.
"It makes no sense!" she exclaimed, pacing back and forth. "The mana is there! My signature is on it! The vessel is stable! It's like trying to light a perfectly good lamp that has no switch!"
She finally stopped pacing and stared at Hayato, who was standing there with a blank, almost bored expression. She let out a final, frustrated sigh of defeat.
"He really can't use magic," she said, her voice a murmur of pure, academic bewilderment. "At all."
"Lenna… perhaps you're testing for the wrong elements. The infusion used your raw mana, your core signature. What about your own primary affinity? Wood magic. The power to create life," Ayaka said
Lenna's frustrated expression vanished, instantly replaced by a brilliant flash of scientific zeal. "Of course!" she exclaimed, spinning back to Hayato and grabbing his shoulders in a surprisingly tight grip, her eyes gleaming.
"She's right! It wouldn't be the simple elements; it would be my foundational magic! You have my mana inside you!"
She shook him slightly in her excitement. "You should be able to do it! Try!"
Hayato winced, unimpressed by her breakthrough. "Don't hold my shoulder like that…" he said, his voice strained. "…It hurts."
Lenna, lost in her scientific zeal, barely registered his complaint. She loosened her grip slightly but her focus was absolute. "Never mind that. Listen to me. Forget the elements. Think about the process. Imagine a seed in the earth. The life force inside it. Now, will that life to grow. Imagine a sprout, then a sapling. Picture a plant becoming a tree. Command it."
Hayato sighed, closed his eyes, and tried to follow the bizarre, un-technical instructions. It felt like a corporate mindfulness exercise. Imagine a seed. Feel its potential. Against his better judgment, he focused on the image of a single acorn, then a tiny green sprout pushing its way through the soil. He willed it to grow.
A collective happy "ohhhh" from the women made him open his eyes.
On the patch of grass in front of him, where there had been nothing, a small, vibrant green sprout was pushing up from the earth. It didn't stop. It continued to grow at an impossible rate, its stem thickening, tiny leaves and branches unfurling in a matter of seconds. It finally stopped when it was a perfectly formed, three-foot-tall sapling.
It was real. He had created life. And somehow, in that moment, it worked.
A stunned silence hung over the yard as everyone stared at the small, perfect tree that had not existed a moment ago.
It was Lenna who broke the silence, clapping her hands together once with a sharp, triumphant sound. A brilliant, genuinely happy smile lit up her face.
"Incredible!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with the pure joy of a successful experiment. "So that's the answer! He does have power!"
She looked from the sapling to the other women, who were still speechless. "His vessel completely bypassed the fundamentals. This isn't a simple, basic element." She gestured to the tree. "Life magic, the ability to create true, organic matter from raw mana... that is an intermediate-tier skill. He can't light a candle, but he can create life."
Hayato looked from the small tree he had created, to the astonished faces of the powerful women around him. He had passed a test he didn't understand, with a power he didn't know he had.
"Is it finished now? So, what's next?" he asked, his voice breaking the silence.
It was Kerina who answered, stepping forward to take charge of the schedule. "For today, this is finished. The real mission, the expedition north, will begin next week. That's when everyone will be ready."
She then looked towards the city, a rare, small smile on her face. "Tomorrow, however, we have a different objective. We're going to the Royal Academy. We are going to watch my sister fight in her tournament."
To Be Continued.