Geometric Mage: First Spell, Circle

"Damn… the monsters seem serious. If even students were called to fight, it means the capital's army is not enough."

Lian thought distractedly about this as he arrived at his destination.

Once inside, Torin's ever-present face greeted him with a good morning.

"You are late this morning," he shouted in a gruff voice. "What, just because it is Sunday, you think you can slack off? Hurry up, today you have other work to do! Once you finish creating the runes, you will also start with enchantment creation."

Lian smiled wryly as he got to work. Torin was back to being his usual grumpy self.

The work was always the same. Torin had given him Mana Cores to turn into runes. All Bronze 5. Hundreds of Mana Cores…

"Now that I think about it, I could sell them…" Lian considered for a moment before shaking his head. "Maybe a week ago I could have made something, but now…"

With so many Mana Cores in his hands, the price would be forced to drop further. Perhaps selling just ten Bronze 5 Mana Cores could be worth one gold coin.

This was good for Rune Masters like them or Rune Alchemists, but bad for those who made a living hunting.

"No point thinking about it," Lian said as he began the extraction process. Thanks to absorbing the Mana Pills, today's work was even easier than yesterday. "Imagine what could happen if I absorbed the Bronze 4 and Bronze 5 Mana Pills too… and if I reached Bronze 5? I would be unstoppable!"

Lian thought with a smile as he extracted one rune after another.

This time, he did not want to seem mediocre. He would deliver ten rune sets to Torin in just three hours, not five. Of course, Torin would have taken only an hour and a half.

Time passed quickly, and when the clock struck 10:30, Lian finished his rune extraction task.

He had completed a total of twenty rune sets in three hours. He was faster than expected, considering he used to take an hour to make six sets.

"All thanks to the Mana Pills and my meditation improving day by day," Lian nodded to himself.

With a determined step, Lian approached Torin's room. "Torin, I have created the ten rune sets. Can I now move to the second phase, enchantment?"

Silence—

After a few seconds, Torin swiftly opened the room's door, staring at Lian with a scrutinizing gaze. "You completed the task? Good, I do not doubt it; there is no time for theatrics. If you really did it in these… three hours, then you have improved a lot," he said, shifting his gaze between Lian and the clock.

"Now, take those rune sets and let us start with enchantment creation. First, you will observe how I do it, then you will try," Torin continued as he led Lian to another room.

"I do not like working in an open space, which is why there are so many rooms here," he murmured. "In fact, no Rune Master likes working in the open…" Torin paused for a second, thinking of something. "Well, almost none…"

Lian did not ask anything, fearing he might ruin the boy's mood.

Torin's robe looked even more worn than last time, causing a grimace on Lian's face, which he managed to hide well.

After entering the appropriate room, Torin began preparing the materials.

Runic Stylus, Runic Seal, Runic Tablet.

"I believe you already know the basics, the theory. Now I will show you the practice. Of course, I do not expect anything from your first attempt—" Torin paused, looking Lian up and down. "Not even from your first ten attempts, actually. But do not worry, it is normal."

Lian smirked under the mustache he did not have. Stupid arrogant Torin. What if I told you I succeeded on my second attempt? Of course, he could not say such a thing aloud, or he would be taken for a madman. Torin was not a fan of geniuses…

Without continuing to talk, the gruff boy began his work. He took the primary rune, placed it on the Runic Seal, and sealed the layer with the mana sheet using the appropriate button.

Then, he placed the secondary rune. "It is not actually difficult. After all, all the enchantments you will make, for now, will only concern standard artifacts. So the process is identical for all."

Torin took the Runic Stylus and began carving with precision along the mana sheet, following a wavy motion.

"The secondary rune must bind to the primary one in this way. The exact starting point is precisely at the left or right edge of the primary rune."

Lian nodded, his gaze focused as he watched Torin at work. No wonder he is called Master Torin, even if I have never heard him call himself that…

"Experts say to imagine the primary rune as a circle when dealing with fire-related enchantments," Torin added.

Lian's breath caught for a moment before resuming naturally. I knew it! It does not seem to be a secret that the fire element is linked to the circle…

With fluid and natural movements, Torin completed the fusion between the first and second layers.

"Good, now comes the hardest part—" he said, pressing the second button. Another mana sheet appeared on the second layer, sealing it.

Without haste, with movements that seemed practiced thousands of times, Torin grabbed the tertiary rune.

"Now the process is very similar to creating a matrix," Torin explained, his eyes never leaving the Runic Seal. "We need to draw concentric circles. In this case, since the enchantment we are forming is Bronze 5, we need to draw five concentric circles."

Lian furrowed his brows. "It seems very difficult…" he murmured.

Without getting distracted at all, Torin nodded. "It is, but once you understand the mechanism, it is all downhill. It just takes a lot of practice and technique."

A few seconds later, one circle after another took shape.

"There you go!" Torin pressed the third button on the Runic Seal, sealing the three runes and allowing their final fusion. It had now become an enchantment.

"You were fantastic!" Lian said these words from the bottom of his heart. He was truly impressed.