Sara stepped into the moonlight, her blue hair glowing faintly. She was a prodigy, someone born with immense mana. Her eyes were fixed on the scroll in Arjun's hand.
"That scroll... I've studied it for years. It's a Level 1 spell, but the glow coming from it now is at least Level 3. How did a zero-mana student like you modify a magic circuit?" she demanded, her voice cold but curious.
Arjun didn't panic. Instead, he looked at Sara. Suddenly, a screen appeared above her head:
[Status: Mana Blockage in Left Arm]
[Cause: Improper Spell Channeling]
[Efficiency: 60% | Potential: 100%]
"Sara," Arjun said calmly. "You're the top student, but you've been struggling with 'Dual Casting' lately, haven't you? Whenever you try to use your left arm, your mana flickers and the spell fails."
Sara's eyes widened. She stepped back, shocked. "How... how do you know that? No one knows that!"
"I can see the 'bugs' in your system," Arjun smiled. "I can fix it. I can clear that blockage in minutes. But in return, you have to keep my secret. No one can know what I was doing in this library."
Sara hesitated for a moment, then slowly extended her arm. "If you're lying, I'll personally see to it that you're expelled tomorrow."
Arjun reached out and touched her arm. In his mind, he ran a diagnostic:
> Target: Sara_01
> Command: Repair_Mana_Pathways
> Running Debugger...
A soft, electric blue light pulsed from Arjun's fingertips. Sara felt a sudden rush of heat in her arm. It felt like a frozen river finally melting and flowing again. She immediately raised both hands and conjured two perfect fireballs simultaneously.
"It's... it's gone," she whispered, staring at her hands in disbelief. She looked at Arjun, her expression changing from suspicion to awe. "You're not a 'Magic Trash', Arjun. You're something this world hasn't seen before."
[Relationship Unlocked: Sara (Ally)]
[Exp Gained: +100]
[Level Up: 2]