Morning light streamed through the stained-glass windows of the school, caressing walls lined with scrolls and grimoires. Adrien awoke with the familiar sensation of curiosity that had always driven him in his former life as a doctor. But here, that curiosity had a new flavor: he had at his disposal a fresh body, fluid mana, and an entire world to comprehend.
He began with the basics. In the training room reserved for novices, he extended his hands and focused his energy on the flow of mana. At first, almost nothing happened: a faint shimmer at his fingertips, a tingling in his veins. Yet, unlike the other students who fumbled and failed for weeks, Adrien immediately grasped the underlying laws: mana flowed through precise channels, like blood through the human body, and its manipulation required a constant balance of focus and breath.
He tried a simple spell: a flame in his palm. Other novices struggled to keep the light of their mana from extinguishing before it even ignited. Adrien, in mere moments, produced a small, stable, bright flame, perfectly controlled. The instructor passing by the corridor observed with curiosity this young mage whose body seemed so fragile, yet whose command of mana defied all expectations.
Adrien mentally noted every sensation, every resistance, every reaction. His scientific mind translated each mana flow into diagrams and imaginary equations. He then experimented with diagnostic spells: touching an object, sensing its energy, and detecting anomalies in its flow. He quickly realized that magic and medicine shared similar principles: energy, balance, and chain reactions.
However, his rapid learning did not go unnoticed. Some students whispered behind his back, blending admiration with suspicion. Some believed that this young mage was hiding a secret or had made a pact with a mysterious power to progress so swiftly. Adrien, aware of their gaze, focused even more on his experiments.
The chapter concluded with his first spectacular success: he managed to channel mana to cast a small healing spell on a withered flower, making it bloom instantly. This demonstration—trivial to him but impressive to all witnesses—laid the foundation of his reputation at the school: a mage whose learning defied logic, and whose mastery of medicine and magic might soon intersect in a revolutionary way.