Chapter 10: Circles, Goals, and the Unexpected

About 30 Minutes Later

Sion finally arrived at the Magic Department’s dedicated training grounds within Byzantium Academy.

‘This is… interesting,’ he thought.

The training grounds turned out to be an entire building, not an open field as he’d expected.

Inside, it looked more like a hotel corridor, with evenly spaced doors stretching down the hallway.

At the counter, an attendant greeted Sion with a smile.

“You’re a Magic Department student, right? Judging by your tie color, you must be a first-year.”

“Uh, yes… that’s right.”

“Let me explain how it works. You can use the facility freely, but please stick to your allotted time. Here’s your key.”

Jingle.

Sion took the key, which had “111” engraved on it.

It didn’t take long for him to find Room 111.

‘This looks smaller than I thought.’

Judging by the size and spacing of the doors, it seemed no bigger than a tiny studio apartment.

‘How am I supposed to train in a space like this?’

Feeling slightly disappointed, he opened the door.

What greeted him was a spacious, pristine white room, roughly the size of a standard high school classroom.

“…???”

He glanced back at the hallway, then at the room again. The size discrepancy was baffling.

It felt like stepping into a dream.

‘Spatial magic, maybe?’

Sion had no formal knowledge of spatial magic, but he assumed it was responsible for this phenomenon.

Since it was beyond 1st-circle magic, his Magic Compendium didn’t display any information.

‘This… this is what you’d expect from the world’s top academy.’

Sion stepped inside and shut the door behind him with a thud. Instantly, all outside noise vanished.

The room itself seemed layered with protective barriers.

“…Fire.”

Fwoosh.

A small flame burst to life in his palm.

‘So… this is magic.’

No fuel, no ignition point—just fire, appearing out of thin air.

Scientifically, it was inexplicable.

And that made it all the more fascinating.

“Earth! Fire! Water! Wind!”

Sion tested all four elemental 1st-circle spells.

It didn’t take long for him to notice a pattern.

‘The activation conditions for 1st-circle spells are similar.’

Repeating the spells over and over, Sion began to observe his body.

He uncovered something remarkable: casting magic followed a specific process.

Step 1: Draw mana from the heart.

Swoosh.

He felt a warm, invisible energy—mana—stirring in his chest.

It moved at his command.

Step 2: Channel mana to the desired part of the body.

Until now, he had only used his right hand. But he realized his left hand worked just as well.

It felt awkward, like brushing his teeth with his non-dominant hand, but with practice, he got the hang of it.

Step 3: Manifest the magic. This is the critical step.

The mana concentrated in his palm transformed according to his imagination.

Fire, earth, water, and wind—each element came to life here.

This realization sparked an idea.

“Fire!”

Whoosh!

Though he uttered “fire,” a gust of wind emerged from his hand.

The critical moment was during the third step, where the concentrated mana transformed into magic.

What the spell became depended on his imagination.

This meant he could mislead opponents by chanting one thing but casting another.

Sion thought this was the extent of it, but there was more.

Step 4: The attributes of the manifested magic depend on the amount of mana used.

For example, if Sion drew 50 units of mana from his heart for a Fire spell, the magic would divide those 50 units among size, heat, brightness, duration, and speed.

By default, the spell might allocate 10 units to each attribute.

However, imagination could alter this allocation.

“Fire!”

Fwoosh!

A massive flame erupted from his hand but vanished almost instantly.

The flame’s heat was weak, its brightness dim, and its formation sluggish.

In this case, Sion had channeled most of the mana into size, sacrificing the other attributes.

‘What if I used 500 units of mana?’

“Fire!!!”

Boom!

An enormous fireball crashed into the training room’s walls with destructive force.

The impact left a faint scorch mark on the pristine white surface.

The sheer power was astonishing, but the recoil was equally severe.

“Ugh… this isn’t easy.”

His right arm tingled painfully.

Pouring 500 units of mana into it had strained his body, as if his blood vessels had been forcibly expanded.

‘I’ll save that for emergencies.’

Despite the discomfort, Sion was thrilled.

“Magic… is amazing.”

He smiled, rubbing his aching arm. The exhilaration of discovery outweighed the pain.

He wanted to continue experimenting, even if it meant using his left hand.

But…

‘Looks like I’m out of mana.’

No matter how hard he tried, his heart wouldn’t respond.

In game terms, he was out of MP.

It was remarkable that he had lasted this long despite repeated experimentation.

“So… this is what it feels like to run out of mana?”

Sway.

A sharp pain shot through his temple.

Dizziness overtook him, and he collapsed onto the training room floor.

Sprawled out and staring at the ceiling, Sion laughed like a madman.

Despite the cold sweat and pounding headache from overexerting his mana, he couldn’t stop smiling.

‘I want to try more magic.’

He only had access to four spells, yet they brought him so much joy.

And those four spells were just the basics of the Elemental Magic Department.

What kinds of magic would the other departments teach? What unique traits would they have?

Just imagining the possibilities made his heart race.

‘Yes, this is it. This is the joy of learning.’

It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced since becoming a graduate student, when he’d been buried under work.

The excitement of discovering the unknown, hypothesizing, experimenting, and confirming results—it was intoxicating.

For the first time in a long while, Sion felt like a kid again.

“Goals and Realizations”

‘To learn more magic, I need to advance my circle.’

The Circle.

In fantasy worlds, it often refers to the hierarchy of magic. This world followed a similar system.

Sion had once asked Patrick about it back at the dormitory.

“How do you advance your circle?”

“You really don’t know anything… never mind.”

“Sorry. Could you explain it to me, though?”

“Alright, I’ll tell you how to increase your circle.”

Patrick grabbed a blank sheet of paper and drew a diagram of a heart.

“Magicians draw mana from the heart and control it. You know that much, right?”

“Of course! Maybe?”

“This mana is innate to each individual, with a natural limit. You can expand it through training, but there’s always a cap.”

Patrick sketched thin strands emerging from the heart and then began furiously scribbling as if to tangle them together.

“When you reach that limit, you compress the mana and combine it into one.”

“Compress mana?”

“Exactly. Gather it tightly, spread it thin like a thread, and wrap it around the heart. That thread is what we call a ‘Circle.’”

Patrick pulled out another sheet and redrew the heart, this time adding a bold circle around it.

“Circles reinforce the heart. They increase the capacity of your mana and improve its quality.”

“So that’s why circles are so important?”

“Sure, but circles are only a guideline. A 1st-circle magician can learn 2nd-circle spells. It’s not forbidden.”

“Wouldn’t that just drain their mana instantly?”

Patrick chuckled as if Sion had asked a great question.

“That’s the point. When you completely deplete your mana, the heart naturally replenishes it, and it comes back slightly stronger each time.”

“…So each time you run out of mana, your capacity grows?”

“Exactly. That’s why a 1st-circle magician learning 2nd-circle spells can gradually expand their capacity until they reach the point of advancement.”

“Wow!”

“…Circles, huh,” Sion murmured, staring at his palm.

His current circle was likely 1st. The unique ‘eye’ ability he possessed could only detect 1st-circle magic.

‘If I can instantly learn 1st-circle spells just by seeing them… then I should be able to learn 2nd-circle spells when I advance.’

Sion set his goals.

In the short term, he would master as many 1st-circle spells as possible.

In the medium term, he would work toward becoming a 2nd-circle magician.

And in the long term…

“I need money!”

Money. Always money.

While food, shelter, and clothing were covered by the academy’s cafeteria, dormitory, and uniform, everything else required funds.

The most pressing concern was tuition.

He didn’t know if his scholarship covered only the first semester or the entire academic year.

The Byzantium Academy was the world’s finest, with facilities to match. Its tuition was undoubtedly exorbitant.

So he needed to earn money. But how?

‘Come to think of it… Professor Baries is an adventurer.’

Sion remembered the dwarf professor from the dungeon lecture—a renowned S-rank adventurer.

Byzantium Academy’s nearby shopping district had an adventurer’s guild, which naturally meant there were dungeons in the vicinity.

‘Once I master some spells, I’ll earn money as an adventurer.’

With that decided, Sion finalized his plans.

In the short term, he would hone his 1st-circle magic.

In the medium term, he’d reach the 2nd circle.

And in the long term, he’d become an adventurer to fund his studies.

The goals seemed ambitious, but Sion was determined.

“For now, I’ll head back to the dorm.”

His mana showed no signs of replenishing, so training had to end for the day.

Sion left the training grounds, wobbling slightly.

Tomorrow, he had a morning class to prepare for and an opening ceremony scheduled for the evening.

‘Opening ceremony… nostalgic.’

Though there wasn’t much to do at such events, as a freshman, the novelty of it had been exciting.

Upperclassmen introducing clubs had seemed so cool back then, and even the professors’ speeches felt inspiring.

Buzz.

Sion shook his head vigorously.

‘Let’s just take it easy.’

The opening ceremony wasn’t anything serious. The main highlight was the afterparty.

With that in mind, Sion returned to his dorm.

The Next Day.

Sion arrived at the venue for the opening ceremony and froze in place.

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Sion, why aren’t you going in?”

“…This is supposed to be an opening ceremony?”

“Yeah, it is. Come on,” Patrick said, nudging Sion’s shoulder.

Sion scanned the area, confused. It didn’t resemble an opening ceremony venue at all.

“Lady Estroza, you look stunning tonight! You’re truly the star of the evening.”

“Your dress suits you perfectly, my lady.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Estroza, dressed in an elegant gown, laughed gracefully as she chatted with her entourage.

It wasn’t an opening ceremony—it was a formal social gathering.

The venue was the grand hall where Sion had attended the academy’s entrance ceremony, now transformed into a lavish ballroom.

Crystal chandeliers sparkled overhead, and waitstaff moved briskly between guests.

“…This is bad.”

Everyone was dressed in sophisticated suits and gowns, but Sion alone stood there in his academy uniform.

To Be Continued.