Geometric Mage: First Spell, Circle

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

The mastery shown by Torin was worthy of respect.

"No point flattering me; it will not earn you my favor!" Torin growled, but the smile on his lips did not fade.

Yeah, sure… Lian thought with an ironic smile.

"Did you miss any details? I hope not; I am not going to explain again. Now it is your turn."

Lian had understood everything. He had already succeeded in creating an enchantment the previous evening, though the one he made was different.

Not to mention the symbol he had accidentally created on the paper that his system had absorbed out of nowhere. Unfortunately, he could not do anything about it now; he would need to reach Bronze 5.

Lian grabbed a Runic Tablet containing a set of Bronze 1 runes. He would start from the bottom, of course.

Torin stepped aside. He intended to observe the boy closely to point out his mistakes. That was what a teacher was for.

Lian followed Torin's same steps and quickly began identifying the left edge of the primary rune. From there, he started drawing a wavy pattern until it touched the right edge.

"And the first step is done!" he whispered under his breath.

Torin almost widened his eyes, observing how easily Lian had completed the second layer. Now comes the fun part, Torin thought.

Lian was slightly tense as he grabbed the tertiary rune and placed it on the mana sheet. He would need to draw just one concentric circle around the primary rune, nothing too complex.

He had done it the previous evening.

Sweat began to drip from his forehead as he started drawing the concentric circle, and a few seconds later, a red glow lingered in the room for a moment before fading.

"I did it!" Lian shouted, his hand already reaching to press the third button.

With a click, the runes fused together, and the enchantment took shape.

Torin was stunned. He had said earlier that Lian would not succeed even in ten attempts, yet now, after just one try, the kid had done it.

Seeing the defeat in his supposed teacher's eyes, Lian coughed a couple of times. "Torin, it was all thanks to you! I would never have succeeded without your teachings!"

The gruff boy stifled a curse while nodding repeatedly. "Of course, obviously! Otherwise, you would never have done it." He turned immediately, ready to leave, but before doing so, he tossed a small pouch toward the young man. "Your payment for today."

Then, as he walked, he added, "From now on, you will keep practicing enchantment creation. You need to be able to create Bronze 5 enchantments, and thus artifacts of that power. Only then will you be useful." Torin hurriedly left the room, but before retreating to his small workshop, he threw another pouch toward Lian.

"You can leave early today."

Lian did not expect such kindness. It was not even 11:00, and he was already free? With a smile on his face, Lian picked up the first pouch Torin had thrown and opened it. He expected a few gold coins, but what he saw made his eyes widen.

Without waiting another moment, he grabbed the second pouch and opened it.

"Holy crap!" He could not help but swear. "I am rich again!" he murmured, astonished, his smile wider than ever.

Inside the first pouch were two notes worth 1,000 gold coins each, while the second had three. Perhaps this was Torin's way of telling Lian to keep pushing and give his all.

"Thank you, Torin," Lian murmured slowly, his head bowed. "I will not forget this gesture!"

Meanwhile, Torin had locked himself in his workshop, a deep frown on his face. "Who the hell is that kid? Not only is he a monster in the Rune Forge, but he seems to have the headmaster's favor too… tsk, typical privileged types…"

Sighing, he added, "I just hope the headmaster noticed my teaching skills and gives me a small raise…"

---

The sun today shone slightly less brightly, with clouds covering its brilliance. The academy's air seemed slightly gloomier than usual.

Despite the return of the Silver-rank students, the academy did not seem more crowded; quite the opposite…

Lian was in the main square of the academy, where many students were idling. He had just picked up the document, and fortunately, Karen was not there today.

Fiddling with the communication crystal in his hand, Lian headed to a quiet corner of the campus, near a tree. He sat down, channeling a thread of mana into the contact crystal. The crystal lit up, emitting a low hum.

"I am Darien. I assume you are the guy who took the mission, right?" A deep, slightly arrogant voice sounded from the crystal.

Lian cleared his throat, trying to sound confident. "Exactly, I am Lian. I want more information about the mission. Is it possible to meet in person?"

After a moment of hesitation, "Sure, but I cannot move from here right now. Come to me; I will be waiting at my faction's headquarters, Yellow Tiger."

Before Lian could even agree, the call cut off.

"Tch, what is wrong with these faction guys… do they think they are better than everyone else? Is it not him who needs help?" Lian muttered as he headed toward the indicated location, which was not too far from where he was.

The academy was a place where every faction, once it reached a certain milestone, could build its own headquarters—a structure where all members could meet and spend time together.

After some time, Lian reached the place. Two students were standing guard at the entrance, and before he could take a single step forward, they raised their hands.

"Halt! Who are you, and what business do you have here!" one of them said.

Lian sighed slightly before pulling out the document with the mission copy. "I am Lian, here to meet Darien. He told me to come to this place."

After glancing at the document and the mission scroll, the two exchanged a nod. "Follow me," one of the guards said.