Once Icarus woke up he started healing his body with mana circulation, he hoped to be able to add actual healing magic into the circulation at some point but he could not learn that here.
He got out of bed, he noticed he wasn't in as much pain as usual, 'did I faint do to... Mana exhaustion? I should have more then enough mana to do what I did...' he had calculated for the spell and figured he would be able to cast it about 6 times with his amount of mana, but he only remembered one cast.
He arrived at the school, the lesson commenced as normal.
The first question he asked was simple.
"Teacher, why did I pass out from mana exhaustion?"
She looked puzzled "well, humans don't have much mana, and on top of that you casted a ridiculous spell that is a mana guzzler."
Icarus was surprised 'don't have much mana? What?'
He voiced his thoughts out loud "didn't Abe tell you? He told me I have the same amount of mana as most dragons."
She looked shocked "what?! That damn!? If that's the case then something has to be wrong with your visualization, I myself can't sense mana, in fact only Abe can do so."
Icarus nearly laughed "well, I first I imagine the mana that surrounds my body-"
His teacher slammed her hands on the table "By Xyrax! You fool!"
She had an expression on her face as if she had heard the most retarded statement ever.
"Taking mana from outaide your body is an impressive skill, But it is a last resort! It exhausts you far more then just running out of mana, you could have died!"
Icarus was astounded "wait so where is my mana then?"
She laughed "look inside yourself, but not your body, whatever you personify as 'you' this can take some time"
Icarus immediately thought of his past self 'well, that is nonphysical now... And that is what I truly am...'
He closed his eyes and looked into that part of himself, a clear view came infront of him at that moment.
It was clear what he had been using was merely an illusion of the real thing, infront of him, was a vast ocean of dark blue mana, bending and spiraling in space forming complex formations, indeed. With this much mana, he could cast the spell not 1 or 6 times but over one thousand times, he closed his eyes again and returned.
His teacher looked at him quizzically "did you feel it already?"
Icarus nodded, his eyes still wide as new possibilities flooded into his mind.
She shuddered 'this kid... I have to keep him away from Ingel or he'll be free to go in a matter of days.'
She put on a false front "well, even with that, Ingel can still beat you, he's holding back remember? You will need to master a defensive spell."
Icarus frowned "defensive? I just use earth magic."
She shook her head "remember when you made chains of mana to bind Ingel? That is the basis of the defensive magic, I'll teach you more about this later, try and practice this now, I have to go."
Icarus watched as she left, it was a little early for her to do so but he shrugged.
He went outside and started practicing, he formed the same chains that he had bound Ingel with, after that manipulated the mana, forming a sheet, he could turn it into ice but that would likely be weaker, he attempted to make the mana physical but it was harder then he thought.
He looked up at the sky and sighed, he had really hoped to be able to challenge Ingel again with his newfound mana.
.
.
.
One year passed.
Icarus had learned the defensive spell in just under 3 months, However when he went to challenge Ingel, he was out on a mission, busy, or just nowhere to be found.
he learned from his teacher and mastered earth and wind on top of fire which he had already mastered.
Water illuded him for now but he wasn't to troubled about that.
He had been kept busy doing odd jobs, 5 months in he had requested to have a spot to practice offensive magic, he was gives a location, a mountain just outside the village.
He had riddled the mountain with holes over 3 months of practice, each day expanding his already vast pool of mana.
It finally collapsed and he wiped his brow, things had been moving awfully fast even though he hadn't yet been able to challenge Ingel.
Strangely, although the dragons described their continent as small, it was clear that the edge was nowhere in sight, Icarus wondered how long the journey would be once he left.
He had shrugged off the thoughts and returned to the village, they received word Ingel would be back in 3 months, and that time had finally come.
Ingel, along with a band of red dragons stepped up, all of them looked exhausted, except Ingel.
He stared at Icarus with determination, in his hand a red scaled sword lay, it smoldered with red hot embers matching his intensity.
They already stood on the battlefield, the crowd who had welcomed them home sensed the intensity in the air and instinctually parted and formed a group far enough away where they could watch unharmed.
Ingel raised his sword against Icarus who in turn readied his staff.
"This is the last time I will ever face you Ingel."
"Is that right? Well I'll cast those hopes straight down to hell."