A Mage's Training Method

"...Are you planning to keep enjoying yourself all alone, or are you going to explain what's going on so I can enjoy it too?"

After a moment of silence, when Benjamin didn't continue, the system asked helplessly.

"Thanks, but I'm fine enjoying myself alone." Benjamin naturally wasn't going to pass up the chance to get back at the system.

"..." If the system had a face, it would probably be fuming by now.

It wasn't that Benjamin had deliberately wanted to rile up the system. He'd just thought of a training method, and it was still only a rough idea. If it didn't work, the system would laugh at him again. Besides, he really was getting a little fed up with the system's antics. Finding opportunities to teach it a lesson should improve their communication from now on.

Back to the point. Through his experiment just now, he'd gained a fairly systematic understanding of magic.

Water elements were the foundation of all the magic he used. To him, they came in two kinds: those gathered in his Consciousness Space, and those drifting freely through the real world. He could sense and communicate with the water elements in the real world, but it was difficult to move them. Recalling the only time he'd used the Water Ball Spell in the real world, he'd actually been moving water elements from his Consciousness Space.

The water elements in his Consciousness Space gathered around the magic glyph, and Benjamin could control them through it. Every time he used magic, he consumed some of the water elements. In other words, the water elements stored in his Consciousness Space were his "mana."

The more water elements he stored, the more spells he could cast, and the more powerful they could be.

Aside from learning new magic, this should be the only way Benjamin could find to make himself stronger. If he could learn new magic, of course he'd choose that. But how was he supposed to learn it all by himself right now? He wasn't so confident that he thought he could invent magic, so he could only wait until he got his hands on Annie's keepsakes.

So, boiling down all those complicated thoughts, the only thing he could do right now was increase the amount of water elements stored in his Consciousness Space.

That raised the question: how could he store more water elements?

What else? He'd have to draw them from the real world.

From what fantasy novels said, a mage's meditation was probably something like this: draw magical elements from the surrounding world, then store them to increase one's strength.

Whether it was magic, battle aura, or some other supernatural power, it all followed the same process: storage, accumulation, then qualitative change. Unless he was mistaken, the world he lived in worked the same way. As long as he kept accumulating magical elements, he would grow stronger.

That was the training method for mages he'd worked out for himself.

"Ah, I really am a genius!"

Once again, Benjamin had figured something out without a teacher. He was feeling pretty full of himself.

"So you really aren't going to explain it to me?" The system sounded a little aggrieved.

"That's right." Benjamin answered crisply.

"..."

He got straight to work and immediately began experimenting. He closed his eyes and heightened his sense of the water elements as much as possible. The basement's air quality wasn't great, but it was fairly damp, and there were plenty of water elements all around. Benjamin tried hard to sense the free-floating water elements, then communicate with them and draw them into his Consciousness Space.

At first, Benjamin was completely at a loss. He didn't know how to absorb water elements, so he could only direct his thoughts at them and try to command them. Nothing happened.

But he didn't get discouraged. He quickly realized where the problem lay:

He shouldn't be communicating with the water elements. He should be communicating with his Consciousness Space.

The Consciousness Space was a very wondrous place. He should use it to absorb water elements. Otherwise, even if he could communicate with the free-floating water elements, he could only draw them into his body—and what good would that do? He wasn't thirsty.

Benjamin began to sense his Consciousness Space. He didn't enter it completely, but maintained a state halfway between entering and staying out. He felt the depths of the space while trying to remain in the real world.

It was a rather wondrous state. He was on the verge of entering the Consciousness Space, yet his will kept him firmly anchored, keeping his vision in the real world. He felt his breathing and heartbeat gradually slowing, as if his soul had left his body, and watched himself from the perspective of an observer.

A strange feeling welled up inside him.

His instincts told him this was the right state.

So he held himself there and waited a while. Once the feeling had stabilized, he tried again, sensing the ownerless water elements drifting all around him.

Suddenly, everything changed.

Whenever Benjamin's senses touched a small patch of water elements, that patch would abruptly vanish into thin air. At the same time, a small patch of water elements would appear in his Consciousness Space. The entire process was like tearing through space. The water elements were absorbed in an instant, with no transition at all. It was almost unbelievable.

Benjamin couldn't contain his joy.

He'd found a way to absorb water elements!

Every time he absorbed some, a cool sensation swept over his entire body, as if congratulating him on his success. It felt so good that Benjamin couldn't help trembling slightly.

Driven by that sensation, Benjamin didn't have time to think. Like an addict, he let his senses sweep over the basement again and again, sucking up every last water element within his range.

The Consciousness Space, which had just been a little depleted, was soon filled with damp water elements again. Half an hour later, a feeling of fullness rose from the space, and only then did Benjamin reluctantly stop absorbing them.

He came out of that half-conscious, half-reality state and drew a deep breath. A sense of ease flowed through him from the inside out.

"That feels amazing. Better than a massage!"

He sighed with heartfelt satisfaction.

"...So this is the training method you came up with?"

The system chimed in at that moment. Having witnessed everything, it had clearly understood Benjamin's method. Now it spoke with a hint of grievance.

"That's right. You don't have to say anything. I know I'm a genius, so there's no need to praise me." Benjamin tossed his hair smugly.

"...No one was going to praise you."

From the system's dull, mechanical voice, it was clearly holding back its frustration.

"Fine. Since you insist, I can't do anything about it. Come on, don't hold back. Use every word you've got and praise me as hard as you can!" Benjamin was clearly not listening to what the system was saying. He was still too full of himself to stop.

The system fell silent for a moment. Then it seemed to lose its temper and cranked the volume up threefold. A sound like a rock concert roared beside Benjamin's ears:

"NO! ONE! IS! GOING! TO! PRAISE! YOU! YOUR! METHOD! FAILED!"

The sound left Benjamin dazed for a moment, but he soon came around. Frowning, he asked, "What did you say?"

The system calmed down and spoke at a normal volume. "No one is going to praise you. Your method failed."

Benjamin didn't take it seriously. He assumed the system was acting up again.

He asked, "Where did it fail?"

The system replied, "Go back into your Consciousness Space and look. Then you'll see why I said that."

Hearing how serious the system sounded, Benjamin realized it wasn't joking. He came down from his high and returned to his Consciousness Space, somewhat puzzled. Everything inside was as it had always been: the dark surroundings, the pale blue glyph, the drifting water elements...

There didn't seem to be anything wrong.

Wait... Everything was as it had always been?

Benjamin suddenly realized what the problem was.

The water elements in his Consciousness Space were just as they always were, but they shouldn't have been. He'd worked so hard to absorb water elements. There should have been far more stored now than there usually were!

Where had all those water elements gone?

"They all flowed away on their own while you were busy admiring yourself," the system replied.

"Flowed away? Why did they flow away?" Benjamin felt a little dejected. All those water elements had vanished at once, making it feel like all his effort had been wasted. It stung.

"Aren't you a genius? Why are you asking me?" The system seemed to have learned Old Madam's talent for cutting remarks. It was getting better and better at insulting people.

Benjamin didn't mind. Instead, he furrowed his brow and muttered to himself, "That's not right. What's the reason...?"

He fell into thought again.

He had a feeling the real answer was right there in his mind. He'd just overlooked something important, which had caused his idea to go wrong—like a race car missing a crucial gear.

What had he missed in this perfect system of "storage, accumulation, and qualitative change"?

"Why wouldn't they flow away? Those water elements were doing just fine in the air. What makes you think they have to stay in your Consciousness Space? Why shouldn't they flow away?"

While Benjamin thought, the system finally seized its chance to strike back without mercy.

Benjamin paid no attention to it. He was completely lost in thought. He went over the whole training method and his entire Consciousness Space again and again in his mind. He felt his reasoning was sound. Coming up with a workable method should have been practically guaranteed.

But... something had gone wrong.

Where had the problem been?

"Why...?"

He began muttering unconsciously.

"Why, why, why wouldn't they flow away? What makes you think they wouldn't?" The system imitated Benjamin's tone, making up a little chant and mocking him every which way.

Perhaps because the system's words had a catchy, almost hypnotic rhythm, Benjamin unconsciously started repeating them too:

"Why... why... why wouldn't they flow away...?"

Why wouldn't they flow away?

A sudden flash of insight struck Benjamin.

Right! The excess water elements had flowed away, but what about the ones that remained? Why didn't they flow away? What had let him keep those water elements there instead of letting them flow away too?

Reversing his train of thought just a little, Benjamin realized the answer he wanted was both far away and right in front of him.

He raised his head and looked at a glimmer of blue ahead. The pale blue light fell across his face, outlining a smile of sudden realization.

How had he forgotten the blue Triangle Glyph?

Everything had originated from this iron-triangle-like magic glyph. It had split open the sealed Consciousness Space, gathered the abundant, lively water elements there, given Benjamin the ability to sense water elements, and allowed him to summon water balls.

It was the glyph that kept those water elements there. Once the amount in his Consciousness Space exceeded what it could contain, it couldn't hold on to the excess. As a result, they flowed away on their own in an instant.

Once he understood all this, Benjamin immediately revised his training method. Accumulating water elements wasn't the key to becoming stronger. The key was strengthening the blue glyph so it could control more water elements.

As for how to strengthen the glyph...

Benjamin thought for a moment and soon came up with an idea. He gathered some of the water elements in his Consciousness Space and guided them toward the glyph. Controlling them out of thin air was still difficult, and they moved slowly. It took a great deal of effort before they finally reached the glyph.

Under his control, the water elements touched the glyph.

With a hum, the glyph let out a rumble unlike anything it had produced before.

Benjamin's vision blurred. Then he seemed to enter a world of pure blue. All sorts of blue runes revolved around him like celestial bodies, filling him with a profound, mysterious feeling that captivated him.

But it lasted only a brief moment. He blinked, and he was back in the dark Consciousness Space, as if everything he'd just seen had been an illusion.

What was that?

Benjamin narrowed his eyes and stared at the Triangle Glyph still floating in the air, falling into thought again. But soon his brow smoothed out, and he turned his attention to the water elements gathered around him. Once again, he guided them toward the blue glyph.

This time, when the water elements touched the glyph, nothing like that happened. Benjamin only saw them flow into it like a river merging with the sea.

The glyph glowed faintly, then returned to normal.

Benjamin didn't give up. He repeated the process. He felt he'd figured out the secret of the Consciousness Space and the blue glyph. All that remained was to prove his theory through practice.

Again and again, he guided the water elements toward the glyph, where they were absorbed. Since he wasn't very good at controlling them, the process was slow. So even though he was doing it in the Consciousness Space, where time passed slowly, it still took him a great deal of time.

By the time he'd fused every last water element in his Consciousness Space into the glyph, about twelve hours had passed in the real world.

Twelve whole hours. Unless he'd been locked in a basement, it would have been difficult to keep going uninterrupted for so long.

When the system told Benjamin that twelve hours had passed, he was quite surprised. The process was monotonous and repetitive, but for some reason, he'd been completely absorbed in it, as if entranced. He hadn't even noticed time passing.

That wondrous sensation only strengthened his confidence.

It felt very much like the first time he'd encountered magic, as if something was calling to him from beyond. If this weren't the right method, he wouldn't have felt that way.

With that thought, he raised his head again and gazed at the glowing Triangle Glyph in the Consciousness Space.

The glyph had finally changed. It shone more brightly now, its blue light like a brilliant star, silently confirming Benjamin's theory.

But that alone wasn't enough. He stared at the glyph, ready to carry out one final test.

After resting for a while, he waited for the depleted water elements in his Consciousness Space to slowly build back up. He waited for about half an hour. At last, the water elements around him had nearly recovered, and they were even denser than before.

He extended his hand toward the glyph and recited the Water Ball Spell once again.

With the glyph's clear chime and the surge of water elements, a new water ball appeared in his palm, more than twice as large as the one he'd summoned before.

Benjamin looked at the enormous water ball in his hand and finally smiled with satisfaction:

"See? Eat your words. I really am a damn genius."

Thanks to book friend 161205144327777 for the tip~~~