Everything was dark, but I could hear the sound of pages flipping. I have a massive headache, too….

Well… that’s just the pay for exerting magic, I guess….

As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw Brother Al sitting by the bedside, flipping through a book. He seemed to notice that I’d woken up and closed the book.

“How are you feeling?” He softly asked. 

I sat up while rubbing my head a little. I was trying to massage it to alleviate the pain a little, but… it honestly doesn't help that much. 

It’s not that I’m depleted of mana or anything. I can still cast spells… It’s just that…. The act of casting spells is inherently mentally draining. 

“I’m fine… just some cast fatigue…” I replied. 

I shook my head… as I felt excited about the results. That, of course, was what Brother Al had in store for me! 

‘Ouch….’ 

Though, shaking my head was pretty stupid since it still hurts really badly…. 

“So…! What did you think!?” I eagerly asked. 

Seeing my eagerness. Brother Al chucked. He handed me the book he’d been holding and said, “These are some of the things I’ve noted down. Though, they’re my opinion, so you can just disregard what you don’t agree with.” 

I nodded, but… there’s no way I’m going to dismiss any advice I get from you! 

“This is…” I flipped through some pages, like… you wrote about 30 pages? In that fight alone? 

“The way you fight is rather intriguing for someone with that much mana,” he said. 

How come? I pondered, but he soon answered my question, saying, “Someone with your mana capacity doesn’t usually engage in close combat. That is unless they have a divine weapon that is inherently melee.” 

“That’s….” 

Now that he mentions it, I’m being kind of reckless? Aren’t I? If I had the option of being ranged, why did I engage with Isak in melee range? 

“I’m not sure….” I awkwardly replied while facing down. 

“Really?” Brother Al questioned as he tilted his head. “I think it makes sense.” 

“...Um?” I glanced at him and had some doubt. “...How so?” I inquired. 

 “Oh? You’re not aware?” he asked, tilting his head, “I thought you were, though.” 

“.....” 

Yeah, I have no clue. It was instinct! Ultra— 

Never mind…. 

“...For starters, you appear to struggle to cast spells that are not in direct contact with you.” 

….Wait… he’s right! I didn’t realise it took me more time to cast those spells! Oh… I didn’t even name them… maybe that was also a part of it? 

“So, I suggest one spell I call [Ice Thread],” 

…Ice thread? Like, threads made out of ice? Isn’t that just going to shatter? 

“Um… isn’t that just going to shatter?” I curiously inquired. 

“Well… think of it as a medium to make your mana pass through in case you need to cast spells from any direction.” 

“...!!!” 

Oh! In that way, it will be like an extension of me! In turn, giving me a long reach! 

Brother Al softly smiled when he saw my realisation and proceeded to demonstrate, but it wasn’t what I had expected…

“Like this,” he said and made a straight thread out of ice, then grabbed it and broke it. “You’re right about it being easy to break, but…. You can also make it like this,” Brother Al said. 

This time, it had crystalised mana surrounding it. I can clearly see that it was way more sturdy and sharp. But… it would still shatter, would it not? 

And as I’d guessed, Brother Al grabbed it and snapped it in two. Of course, he used mana to not injure himself. 

“This also breaks rather easily,” he said. He then looked at me, “What do you think the problem is?” he inquired. 

…Is he testing me? Well… the problem is that it’s too rigid. Hence, it’s very susceptible to shattering…. Hmm, I guess it could be solved to a certain extent if they were linked like chains…! 

“It’s too rigid,” I replied, “But…” I then imagined chains, and… this time and gave it the name: [Chains of Ice]

It sounds a little generic, but… it’s only for me anyways, and it’s not like I have to yell or shout to activate spells…. 

As I imagined what I wanted to cast and gave it a name, I showed Brother Al my solution to the problem, “Like this?” I asked. 

He seemed satisfied and nodded, “Good,” he said. 

But… why didn’t he just tell or show me in the first place? 

“But… it’s not an ice thread at this point….” 

“Correct,” Brother Al bluntly replied with a slight shrug. 

“.....” 

Right… he has the ‘you’ll figure things out on your own’ mentality….

“I’ll guide you, but whatever you do with my guidance is up to you.” 

“...Thanks.” 

This… isn’t really what I was expecting…. In the end, I still have to figure things out myself… ugh….

But…

“Wait… you told us that magic is based on our understanding of the world… what exactly do you mean by that…?” 

I remember that Brother Al had told us something along those lines, but… it was a little abstract. And… at the time, I wasn’t giving it so much thought since I was more excited to learn and control magic more properly…. 

Brother Al smiled softly, “I’ll confess, I suppose I don’t really know myself,” he said. 

Huh…? 

“I did tell you that. But… it was merely my opinion based on my own observation,” he continued. “From what I can understand, the principle of magic works on one's knowledge and beliefs…. And all the magic I develop works on the principle of the world I came from.” 

“...I see… that does make things a little tricky….” 

Beliefs… huh? 

“Then… what about beliefs? If I believe in something, can I make it happen like a miracle?” 

“.....” Brother Al quietly pondered upon hearing my question. “I suppose you could say that… what I meant by beliefs is that. If you see a spell working, you don’t have to understand the concepts behind it to perform it? In a sense… it is like a miracle….” 

Ahhhh, what the hell!? My head is spinning!! 

“Is it basically just one's imagination, then?” I inquired. I’m just lost at this point and have more questions…. 

“...Yes, and no, not everything will work.” 

“....” 

Figures… it really isn’t simple. Is it? This magic thing? Is he telling me to just use it without understanding it? At least, I don’t think I’ll be able to fundamentally understand anything at this point! 

“Essentially… don’t overthink; if you comprehend a concept, it’ll likely work.” 

Yeah! Like hell, it’s going to make it less confusing! 

“Ugh… okay?” 

…..

…

Later, he told me to just use water threads instead of ice to extend my reach…. Like… he couldn’t have told me straight up? But… I assume he wanted me to question things…? 

He… purposely told me something he thought to be inefficient to see how I’d solve the problem, then provided me with a solution, making me question why I didn’t question him in the first place…. 

Aah! As infuriating as it is… I guess I can understand why he did it. Let’s say he told me from the beginning, then I wouldn’t even ask questions… then again, I didn’t even ask them until he asked me to solve a problem…. 

Seriously…. 

Anyways… I also asked about the principles behind his spell called [Droplet Pulsar], and apparently, it’s very simple, in principle… condensed water, that’s it. He wouldn’t elaborate! 

But I think it has something to do with nuclear fusion! Just a hunch, though…. 

Ahh… well, it’s n-not like I wanted to blow things up in a spectacle or anything…! It was… simple curiosity and… maaaaybe something I considered adding to my arsenal in case… you know? 

In any case… I saw how difficult it was to control, so… I’d probably die if I tried that now, wait… I don’t even have mana for it…. 

But he did teach spells, like [Designative Acceleration] or well… I just have to be able to use it. That’s the first step! 

Then there was [Drop Bullet]. It was similar to what I could already do, so this one was like my pressured [Pressed Vapour].

Yes… I gave it a name now! Njyhihi~! 

Anyhow, that was the easiest to learn, as I did it first try. Though… it’s supposed to go along with [Designative Acceleration]...

He told me that these spells were the base for many of his spells and that I should develop it from there. 

Oh… there is one last spell he mentioned, it was in the case of an emergency, and this spell should have enough firepower, and I should be able to perform it. And that was… [Droplet Bomb]. 

This one, I sort of understand! 

First, the core of the spell is heated plasma. The plasma then heats up the surrounding condensed water, which in turn heats the liquid into gas that is contained by layers of more condensed water. 

The most important part is to keep the last layer stable because… yeah… I’d blow myself up otherwise….. 

Wait… is it really okay to teach a kid all of this? 

…Then again… he’s only two years older than me…. Welp… I am in another world…. 

— :::: — 

As Brother Al and I were walking down the hall, we met Saint Amethely. She handed me a bag of cookies. 

“....Are these handmade?” I asked curiously since they didn’t seem to be store-bought. 

She smiled and elegantly said, “Yes, I accidentally made too much…. Then I had a brilliant idea of making more to distribute it to all of you.”  

“Th-thank you…” I replied flusteredly. 

She elegantly smiled at me and then turned her attention to Brother Al. I nervously glanced at him, but he didn’t have the reaction I expected… somehow I felt relieved. 

But Brother Al and The Saint just gazed into each other's eyes without saying anything. Both of them had a smile on their face as they held hands…. 

I don’t quite get this couple… I thought to myself and ate the cookies while the three seconds of silence felt like an eternity…. 

Ohh… these are… wait! They’re better than what I can make! Ugh… I feel defeated…! 

We then made our way to the others and had dinner… welp… I was out cold for that long? Damn… Isak… I’ll knock you out next time! 

Mwahaha! 

…..

…

Little did I know that… at that time, when I was out cold. Isak, too, received some advice….