With each passing day, Paulo mastered all four forms of magic but one she excelled in was earth magic since it could influence metals and minerals to a degree, the higher the metal content, the more mana it drained from her, pushing her limits with every spell.
I guess it's really hard to change things that are sturdier.
The tinier the target, the finer the control, turning magic into a high-wire act of precision and complexity. And the sharper and faster the spell work, the more mana it burned.
Paulo hurling a baseball with everything she's got versus threading a needle with steady hands, both drained her power just as fiercely.
She was juggling multiple magic systems at once: that tripled the cost on the spot. Weaving two different spells, smooth, accurate, lightning-quick, and she could vaporize her entire mana reserve in seconds. But after relentless daily training? That same powerhouse could sling lightning nonstop for half a day and still have mana to spare.
I guess this should be enough.
Paulo's resolve began to flicker, was that whisper of comfort creeping in, urging her to call it quits?
Every time, she would always erupt in a defiant roar, pushing back against complacency. Let up for a second, her strength withers, muscles turn to stone, useless and cold.
The same goes for mana; growth doesn't come from comfort; it comes from relentless grind. Just because her reserves had surged didn't mean she could slow down. Not now. Never.
With each passing day, Paulo's mastery is skyrocketing, she's not just learning sword techniques, she's revolutionizing them. Her magic, now honed into combat applications, merges seamlessly with her blade work, turning her into a whirlwind of unpredictable power.
Facing a fighter who bends magic to her magical steel, utterly overwhelming for any novice swordsman. Even Daiki couldn't hide his awe; this kind of fusion was thought impossible, achieved by only one person in history: Satsuki. And now, Paulo stands beside that legend. And out of all that sweat and strain, a menu suddenly flashed into view, right before Paulo's eyes.
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(!)NOTICE YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THREE NEW SKILL
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[THREE ACTIVE SKILLS ACQUIRED]
ICICLE FIELD.1
WATER FALL LV.1
HEAT ISLAND LV. 1
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"If you trigger Water Fall, then Heat Island, followed by Icicle Field, just like that, you'll generate fog. And to clear it? Reheat the ground all over again."
Yumi laid it out for Paulo, diving deeper into the dance of these three spells. This art of chaining spells in precise sequences to craft real-world effects?
It's known as Melded Magic. Sure, textbooks explain how to summon rain, but not fog. That kind of nuance isn't written down. It's forged through ingenuity.
Magicians stack different magical systems in deliberate order, mimicking nature itself. No microscopes here, no scientific breakdowns, just centuries of trial, error, and brilliance packed into these techniques.
Still, Paulo doesn't need to master it all. For now, conjuring clouds and coaxing rain close to the earth is enough. But artificial phenomena? They're golden for understanding the rules behind the chaos.
People who think deeply can achieve incredible things, though Yumi worries it might overwhelm Paulo but her student says with a playful expression, "Magic can do anything!"
"It can't, Don't lean on it blindly. Focus on what's actually within your reach." Yumi counters, tone firm even as she says it, Paulo's mind races with ideas, railguns, invisibility fields, wild tech-born fantasies.
"And another thing to know Paulo. If you boast that you can do everything, some people will just dump impossible jobs on you if you like to or not," she adds.
"Sounds like you've been through that?" Paulo said as she smirks while Yumi simply nods. Experience talking.
I see, I should take note of this. It will be troublesome if I was forced.
Out of every twenty people, just one has what it takes to fight. And among twenty of those warriors, only one wields magic, so roughly one in four hundred. Sounds rare, right? But being a magician isn't all that uncommon. The real scarcity kicks in at the top tier.
Someone who not only graduates from a magic academy but does so as an advanced-ranked mage, that's one in a hundred. Now narrow it down: advanced-ranked mages in the entire population? Try one in forty thousand.
When someone can blend intermediate and advanced magic into fused spells, their power skyrockets. Possibilities explode. That's why these elite few are absolute game-changers, hunted after by every faction, nation, and power player.
In this country, even private tutors for noble families command advanced magic or higher. Just having that skill instantly elevates your status, influence, everything.
"And remember Paulo. Magic schools aren't everywhere, only the major powers can afford them" Yumi added.
Come to think of it, I always felt there would be something like a magic school. Is it about to start? The school arc.
From the moment Paulo entered this world, she's stayed locked inside, never stepping beyond the threshold. She knows it, feels it deep in her bones: the second she crosses the courtyard and glimpses what lies beyond, the floodgates of memory will burst open.
That day crashes back, the searing pain in her side, the icy sting of rain, the crushing weight of regret, the suffocating void of despair… and the fall. The jump from the roof.
Her legs tremble just thinking about it. She can peer through the window, even walk as far as the yard. But one more step? Impossible.
Because she knows. That serene landscape out there, those quiet fields, that calm horizon, could twist into hell in an instant. That peace doesn't belong to her. It never will.
Back then, sleepless and broken, she spun endless fantasies: What if Japan erupted into war? What if a beautiful girl moved in next door? Surely then, she'd find the strength to fight, to change, to live.
Paulo clung to these illusions, dreaming them over and over. Not as a hero, not as someone extraordinary, but as herself. Just an ordinary person, doing what an ordinary person could. And somehow, that was enough.
She built a life in that dream. But dreams end. And stepping outside this house might be the jolt that wakes her. And when she wakes? She'll be back there, drowning in that same moment of unbearable regret, gasping in the darkness where hope died.
No, this isn't a dream. How can there be such a realistic dream like this. If you tell me that this is a VRMMORPG, I might still accept it. This is reality.
She keeps telling herself: this is real, not some fleeting dream. She knows it deep down, truth etched into her bones, yet her feet refuse to move, frozen at the threshold.
No matter how fiercely she wills it, how hard her heart pounds with determination, her body betrays her. Paulo vowed to keep going, lips sealed with quiet resolve, but she's crumbling inside. Every breath a battle. Every second a struggle.
All she really wants to do is break down and weep.