Chapter 198: Mana Control [2]

Professor Celeste let the mana circle hover above her head for several seconds before allowing it to slowly disappear.

She turned toward the board and picked up the chalk again. "Today, I want to teach you something that most mana users spend years trying to understand."

She wrote a single name across the board.

MAXITEN

Several students immediately became more attentive.

Amon raised an eyebrow. ’Maxiten?’

Professor Celeste noticed their reactions and smiled.

"Maxiten was one of the greatest mana researchers in recorded history."

"He wasn’t known for possessing the largest mana reserve, nor was he famous for having an extraordinary bloodline."

She tapped the name written on the board. "What made him famous was his understanding of control."

She walked back toward the center of the classroom. "He wrote a book called How to Control a God, a work that became one of the most important references for advanced mana manipulation."

Amon’s interest immediately increased. ’How to Control a God?’

The title sounded ridiculous, but considering the demonstration Celeste had already given, Amon suspected the book wasn’t some exaggerated piece of nonsense.

Professor Celeste continued.

"Maxiten believed that mana shouldn’t be treated as a weapon that you simply throw at your opponent."

"He believed it should be treated as an extension of your thoughts."

She raised her hand.

A small amount of mana gathered around her fingertips. "Most people think controlling mana means deciding where it goes."

The mana slowly moved between her fingers. "But that is only the beginning."

She closed her eyes and the mana immediately became thinner.

It separated into dozens of tiny strands, each one so fine that the students could barely see them.

The strands moved independently, forming complicated patterns in the air.

Amon’s eyes widened slightly. ’She’s controlling every strand individually.’

Professor Celeste opened her eyes. "Maxiten described three stages of mana control."

She raised one finger. "The first is direction. You decide where your mana goes."

A second finger followed. "The second is shape. You decide what your mana becomes."

Then she raised a third. "And the third is intention."

The mana strands suddenly stopped. "At this stage, your mana begins responding to what you intend rather than what you consciously command."

Amon frowned slightly. ’Responding to intention?’

Professor Celeste looked toward him. "Mr. Arcadia, what do you think the difference is?"

Amon thought for a moment before answering. "Instead of consciously controlling every movement, you make the mana understand what you want to accomplish."

Professor Celeste smiled. "Exactly."

Several students looked toward Amon.

She continued. "Imagine you are holding a sword. You don’t consciously tell every muscle in your arm how to move whenever you swing it."

She raised her hand again. "The same principle can eventually be applied to mana."

Amon’s expression became thoughtful. ’So she’s basically talking about making mana control instinctive.’

That was something he could understand.

He already had extremely high mana control, but most of his abilities were still executed through conscious thought.

If he could reach the level Professor Celeste was describing, his spells could potentially become much faster.

Professor Celeste continued teaching.

She demonstrated how mana could be compressed without increasing its density too quickly.

How excess energy could be redirected into the surrounding environment, and how tiny changes in circulation could drastically alter the efficiency of a spell.

At one point, she created a small flame and instead of making it larger, she compressed it.

The flame became smaller and eventually, it was no larger than a grain of rice.

Yet the heat radiating from it became intense enough that several students instinctively moved away.

Amon stared at it in fascination.

’She’s not increasing the amount of mana.’ He blinked his eyes. ’She’s removing everything unnecessary.’

Professor Celeste extinguished the flame. "This is one of Maxiten’s most important principles."

She looked around the room.

"Power is not always about adding more." She tapped her chest. "Sometimes, true power comes from removing what you don’t need."

Amon slowly nodded as that concept was surprisingly useful.

He immediately began imagining how it could apply to his own abilities.

If he could reduce wasted mana during Spatial Steps, Frost Manipulation, or his elemental attacks, he could potentially fight for much longer without exhausting himself.

The lesson continued for two hours.

Professor Celeste gave the students simple exercises, forcing them to manipulate small amounts of mana without allowing their concentration to break.

Several students struggled.

Amon found the exercises easy at first, but when she increased the difficulty, he realized the lesson wasn’t about raw mana control.

It was about precision.

At one point, Professor Celeste placed a tiny mana crystal on every student’s desk.

"Insert your mana into it and move the mana inside the crystal without touching the crystal."

Amon smiled slightly. ’Now this is interesting.’

He closed his eyes. His mana entered the crystal through the smallest possible opening.

Instead of forcing its way inside, he carefully guided it through the existing flow and the crystal began glowing faintly.

Professor Celeste glanced toward him.

Amon opened his eyes and he could tell she had noticed but she didn’t say anything.

She simply continued teaching.

By the end of the class, Amon had learned several techniques that he immediately knew would be useful. ⅇ

He packed his belongings while thinking about everything he had learned.

’Maxiten really was a monster.’ⅇ𝒃𝚗ℴ

For someone to develop this kind of theory centuries ago was impressive.

Amon left the classroom once the final bell rang.

---

The university grounds were already beginning to empty when the classes ended. The sun had started descending.

Amon adjusted the strap of his bag before stepping outside and he stopped.

His eyes landed on someone familiar.

....Victor Cordo.

The young vampire was standing near the edge of the university grounds but he wasn’t alone.

Two men were standing beside him and neither looked like a university student.

One was tall and thin, wearing a dark coat that concealed most of his body.

The other was shorter and broader, with his face partially hidden beneath a hood.

Amon’s expression immediately became serious. ’What are they doing here?’

Victor spoke quietly to them.

Amon couldn’t hear what they were saying from his position, but their behavior was enough to make him suspicious.

Victor looked around several times before the three of them started walking away from the university.

Amon waited for a while before he followed.

He kept a reasonable distance between them, using the surrounding students and buildings to conceal his movements.

The three men eventually left the busier streets.

They moved through increasingly empty roads until they reached a deserted alley.

Victor glanced around once more.

The tall man crouched down and removed a metal cover from the ground.

Amon stopped several meters away. The cover revealed a dark sewage tunnel beneath the street.

Victor climbed down first and the other two followed.

Amon remained where he was as he stared at the open entrance.

’Seriously?’

He had suspected vampires were operating inside the capital, but following one into a sewer was not exactly how he had planned to investigate them.

Amon slowly walked toward the entrance. He crouched beside the opening and looked down.

The tunnel below was dark, damp, and smelled terrible.

Amon frowned.

...He could still turn around.

There was no guarantee that following them would give him useful information.

There was also a possibility that the three men had already realized they were being followed.

Amon considered the risks carefully. If they were simply criminals, he could deal with them.

If they were vampires, things were different.

And if the Cordo family was involved...

Amon’s expression became serious. ’Fuck it, if they try to kill me than I will bombard everything.’

Amon took a deep breath and stepped onto the ladder. He slowly descended into the darkness.

Once his feet touched the wet stone floor, Amon looked down the tunnel.

The faint sound of footsteps echoed somewhere ahead.

’You better give me some useful information.’