Magical Girls' Mana Training

"As I said before, although Magical Girls use mana almost instinctively thanks to the existence of the Mana Source, that doesn't mean we can't control it precisely. The reason you're burning through mana so quickly, aside from your own insufficient reserves, is essentially because you use mana without any restraint at all."

It had been two days since the parent-teacher conference. That night, in Lin Xiaolu's home.

Larkspur sat on the sofa, teaching the two newcomers.

Because she had some special arrangements for today, she had specifically informed her daughter two days in advance, using Lin Yun's identity, that she would be going on a business trip to a neighboring city and would not be coming home that night.

Afterward, she had notified the two newcomers as Larkspur that the next lesson might be moved indoors. She would ask the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau for a venue, and asked whether they had any objections.

She had not considered what sort of chemical reaction those two messages might produce together, but in the end, Lin Xiaolu had volunteered her own home as the location for their first indoor lesson.

After giving it some thought and finding nothing inappropriate about it, Larkspur had simply gone along with the suggestion.

That day's lesson was about precise control of their basic abilities and how to plan their mana usage.

The four basic abilities of Seed Stage Magical Girls were flight, enhancement, mana release, and mana perception. After all, this was only the initial Blossoming stage, so the means at their disposal were extremely limited.

Once they entered the Bud Stage and gained Magic Constructs, then reached the Leaf Stage and learned to use spells, Magical Girls' combat options would gradually become more diverse, and the differences in their fighting styles would grow increasingly apparent.

However, regardless of the stage, the basic abilities they possessed from the Seed Stage onward were the ones used most frequently. Thus, many further techniques had been developed from them.

Flight, for example, had given rise to numerous techniques such as "Hover," "Mana Breakfall," "Cannonball Launch," "Perpetual Flight," and "Superspeed Blink." These techniques could alter the effects of flight and allow for more precise control over mana consumption.

Lin Xiaolu's mana-control techniques, however, were downright terrible. Whenever she flew, she squandered mana without restraint. Not only did she burn through it far too quickly, her flight speed was not particularly fast either. The excessive waste of mana even created an effect like setting off fireworks—spectacular in appearance, but lacking practical value.

Larkspur's lesson today was intended to correct that flaw, or at the very least give her a clear goal to work toward.

After speaking continuously for two hours, even with a Magical Girl's physique, Larkspur felt thirsty. She lifted the teacup before her and took a light sip to moisten her throat before speaking again.

"Anyway, that's enough about techniques for now. But iron needs to be hard before it can be forged. Aside from consciously controlling mana expenditure in battle, your own mana reserves are also extremely important."

Setting down her cup, she held out her right hand. "You mentioned before that you had final exams at school, so I didn't press the matter. But today, I need to check your progress in mana growth."

Several Fawo Runes scattered from her palm, circling her arm to form a halo. Their patterns flickered in and out of view, making them look like a magic circle from some fictional story.

Clearly, this was some kind of special spell.

Larkspur calmly gestured to the two newcomers. "Transform now, then release your mana toward my rune array. This will be your stage assessment for mana training."

As early as her first lesson with them, she had emphasized to Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang the importance of daily training and taught them the methods Magical Girls used to improve themselves.

The core powers of a Magical Girl were mana and the soul. A Magical Girl's talent for training was judged by her soul's sensitivity to mana, as well as her innate total amount of mana.

However, the power of the soul and will only began to show during the later stages of Blossoming. Thus, in the early stages, mana was the more important measure.

A Magical Girl's total mana was not fixed, because mana could grow through effort. Even a genius content with her current state and unwilling to improve could eventually be surpassed in total mana by an ordinary person who trained diligently.

There were two main methods of achieving growth through personal effort, known among Magical Girls as "Force Tempering" and "Soul Meditation."

Force Tempering focused on rapidly increasing mana.

As its name suggested, this method increased mana through continual use. It was not limited to combat; even in everyday life, one could actively release mana and practice with it.

Although Force Tempering had a noticeable effect on mana growth, it did almost nothing for the soul. Furthermore, increasing mana through this method was more exhausting, and maintaining it over the long term required exceptionally strong willpower and perseverance.

Soul Meditation, on the other hand, could improve both mana and the soul at once, making it a more balanced method.

Its principle was to use the Mana Source within the Heart Seed to stir one's soul, allowing the soul to drive the mana as the two merged and refined one another, thereby achieving simultaneous growth in both powers.

Of course, when it came to the efficiency of increasing mana, Soul Meditation was actually much weaker than Force Tempering. Its strength lay in its steady, gradual nature.

Neither method was superior to the other, nor were they mutually exclusive. They merely served different purposes. Force Tempering was better suited to situations where a Magical Girl wanted to rapidly increase her mana in the short term, while Soul Meditation was for daily training.

Only through accumulating Soul Meditation day after day, allowing both mana and soul to meet the requirements for advancement and their degree of fusion to become sufficient to form a True Form, could a Seed Stage Magical Girl undergo further Blossoming and reach the Bud Stage.

Under Larkspur's gaze, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang each transformed, then hesitantly released their mana.

Pale blue and hibiscus-purple mana formed two streams of light, connecting to the rune array Larkspur had created. As its brightness shifted, Larkspur came to know a great deal of information.

Honestly, it was a little better than she had expected.

If she had to put it into precise numbers, using the minimum expenditure for a single mana release as the unit, Lin Xiaolu could probably release mana fifty times, while Xia Liang could do so ninety times. By comparison, when they had faced the Cavity-Melting Aberrant Beast, those numbers had been around forty and seventy-five respectively.

To balance daily life and mana training at the same time, yet achieve such obvious improvement in less than a month, was enough to surprise her.

"Mm, you pass."

Retracting the spell array before her, Larkspur folded her arms, a trace of satisfaction appearing on her face. "Both of you performed very well."

At those words, the two nervous newcomers both let out long breaths.

For children like them who disliked studying, Larkspur's assessment was actually more nerve-racking than their school finals.

Lin Xiaolu knew even more clearly that earning the satisfaction of someone as demanding as Larkspur was already something to be proud of.

But for her, this was not enough. Merely satisfying Larkspur was not her true wish.

So after passing this assessment, she hesitated several times before finally choosing to speak. "Larkspur."

"What is it?" Larkspur turned toward her.

Meeting those tranquil, crystalline eyes, like blue gemstones, Lin Xiaolu felt an indescribable pressure. The words she had wanted to say caught in her throat.

Would what she was about to say make her seem overconfident? Would Larkspur think she was someone with ambitions beyond her ability?

Countless distracting thoughts arose in her mind, making her regret her impulsiveness and instinctively want to retreat.

But just as that urge to shrink back surfaced, she remembered the man standing in the rain several days ago. She also remembered the feeling that had arisen within her when she saw him.

Adults were not always as composed as they appeared.

Was Larkspur, who had always carried herself as a senior and an adult, truly as relaxed as she seemed?

So Lin Xiaolu clenched her fists, made up her mind once more, met Larkspur's gaze, and said firmly:

"How strong do I need to become before I can fight alongside you when a crisis appears?"