This Clueless Hero

After a few jokes about my ravenous eating, our group became more comfortable around each other. Reyna started to fit nicely into the group. Although her jokes were rough around the edges, it was as though she was always part of the group.

Alyx raised her concerns about magic.

"My element is so peculiar. Do you think that I can keep up with the rest of you?"

My thumb and forefinger rubbed against my chin.

"Well..."

My mind spun, trying to find out a way to justify the 'guess' I was about to say.

"...Harlow said the orb thingy was a mana enhancer, right?"

Alyx furrowed her brows.

"Indeed. What does that have to do with it?"

My eyes diverted to the side, avoiding eye contact with Erin.

"When you stuck your finger in the orb, you made it crack. That means you probably have some element that gets rid of mana!"

As I suspected, there was a piercing stare coming from the general area of Erin.

Alyx's hand began stroking her hair.

"...Would that even do any good?"

A confident smile appeared on my face.

"Of course! Even if someone launched a super powerful spell, you could nullify it! That way, you could easily protect all of us."

Alyx slowly nodded. A small smile appeared on her face.

"Haha, that sounds pretty nice."

Erin cutely huffed to herself, remaining silent.

Reyna's eyes widened.

"If that really is your magic, that is frighteningly powerful."

Ned nodded.

"Yeah, it does sound pretty overpowered."

Reyna furrowed her brows as Ned finished speaking, but shook her head soon after.

"Yes, it is strong. In war, it can disrupt the spellcasting of the mages, turning the tides quickly."

Alyx smiled bitterly.

"But the world is at peace... If it is only useful in wars, it might be quite useless."

My face twitched.

Alyx sighed.

"Then again, we have no idea what it actually is. We are just making guesses, after all."

Erin pouted and looked down. She didn't say anything.

Reyna looked at our surroundings. People were making their way back to the classrooms.

"Ah, class is about to start. We should hurry off."

We walked back to the classroom, making small talk along the way.

Once we arrived at the entrance, Harlow walked up to us with an inky black book in hand.

It immediately gave me a sense of familiarity. My eyes caught a glimpse of the golden title.

'To Any Fellow Vanquisher'

It was Alyx's book.

Harlow gingerly handed it to Alyx.

Alyx responded promptly, taking it from him. After a quick look, she nodded towards Harlow.

"Thank you."

We went to sit down while Harlow went back to the front. His expression became solemn. He really wanted us to take his next words seriously.

"Now, before we start I will have to warn you all. What I am about to tell you is not a joke, it is not something you should brush off with just an afterthought. Magic... is dangerous, very dangerous. Not only for you but the people around you. If you wish to cast a spell you must gain my or one of your own grandmaster magician's permission. You must never aim your spell at or near one another, think about the consequences of the spell before you cast it."

My thumb and forefinger rubbed against my chin.

Honestly, when Harlow first said that, I really did brush it off with just an afterthought.

I guess I only learned my lesson when my body was heavily damaged for the sake of casting spells.

Harlow scanned the room. His gaze stopped on me as I was rubbing my chin. After a moment of hesitation, he turned around and drew a few diagrams on the chalkboard.

Now that I think about it, he must've been drawing those diagrams by memory. He did it quite easily too, meaning he was well versed in each one.

Harlow cleared his throat.

"First we need to draw in mana, this should be your main goal, to be able to draw in mana as if you were breathing. You need to treat your mind as a muscle, first, try your best to relax and attempt to feel the mana in the air."

Harlow closed his eyes as a draft started to pick up.

"You should be able to feel it, and others should be able to see it as well, as you have seen by the wind circulating me."

My eyes lost focus. My mind was diving deep into thought.

Now that I really think about it, the fact I could gather mana so violently was strange.

It would tear open my skin and heavily damage my body, but still, I had no talent to speak of.

It essentially matched Ned's speed, who had monstrous talent himself. If the price to pay was some damage to my body, it was a pretty good deal.

...Though that was only the case because I memorized the healing spell.

Ah, whatever.

Harlow pointed towards the diagrams on the board.

"Now I have put up various fundamental spells on the board. These spells are not made to harm, so you can cast them as you wish, go for the one you have an affinity for. As for you Alyx just looks at the spell on the second page. Now as a mage you will have to memorize the formations of spells, if you rely on some parchment and then lose said parchment, it will become quite embarrassing when you can't cast anything. For our final task for the day, try to memorize one of the fundamental diagrams and come to the courtyard when you are done. ...Oh right, Jay... on second thought, never mind."

My hand raised after he called me.

"Are there any spells about plant growth?"

Harlow reluctantly replied.

"Well... yes. How does that concern you?"

The corner of my lip twitched.

The fact I was inept in terms of talent had slipped my mind.

"Er..."

"I want to see it. After all, I can use all the elements."

Ned had raised his hand and spoke clearly.

My head turned to him.

Ned flashed a smile towards me.

I flashed one back.

Harlow was speechless for just a second.

He bowed towards Ned.

"Alright, I will find the spell parchment."

Harlow hurriedly left. No more than a minute later, he came back with a parchment. After posting it up on the wall, he turned to Ned, giving one last bow.

"You can view the spell as posted. I will take my leave now."

Before he could get a response, Harlow dashed out of the classroom.

Ned opened his mouth, then closed it.

He scratched the back of his head with his hand.

"Haha, he sure is in a hurry."

My shoulders shrugged.

"Seems like it."

Alyx turned to me. She had an eyebrow raised.

"Why did you want to see that spell? Weren't you just going to laze off the whole time?"

My eyelid twitched.

"...Yeah, I was just curious about it. That's all."

The side of my face felt like it was burning. ...Coincidentally it was from Erin's general direction.

Alyx nodded without much thought.

"Ah, well curiosity isn't such a bad thing."

Ned laughed.

"Anyways, what spells are you guys going to try out?"

Alyx smiled sadly.

"Well, I don't seem to have much of a choice."

Reyna smiled bitterly.

"But... it really is a unique and enviable talent."

Erin hummed with a pout.

"Hmm... I guess I will try earth."

My shoulder shrugged.

"Well, since I requested that new spell, I might as well check it out."

With that, the classroom fell silent. Everyone intently studied the various diagrams on the board while I inspected the spell parchment.

In clear ink, the title was written.

Controlled Vines.

As my eyes drifted to the diagram, they suddenly stopped.

My eyes caught on to the text that read, 'Elementary'.

It was really tiny.

After a few seconds, my mind came to a conclusion.

Ah, this was the rank of the spell.

My eyes then landed on the spell diagram.

After a few moments of inspection, my eyes widened.

My mind immediately recognized most of the diagrams. There were two water diagrams along with three earth diagrams.

However, that didn't mean everything made sense to me.

The spells were interweaved in strange ways. Sometimes they were connected by their cores while others were connected by their surfaces. There was even one connection that consisted of various strands at seemingly random locations.

If that wasn't complicated enough, there was one diagram my mind couldn't recognize.

Perhaps this is why Harlow was so reluctant to bring out this spell.

It wasn't something to be learned by beginners.

My lungs forced in a deep breath and my mind began memorizing.

My first focus was on the strange new diagram. The way the diagrams were connected could come after memorizing the diagrams themselves.

The more my mind imprinted this spell into my memory, the more peculiar it looked.