Chapter 60: First Class!

"Do you believe in magic?"

Facing these newly formed Awakeners who could be called the future of the shelter,

Ethan looked at them with a smile.

He had broken through to the second circle; they had learned basic self-preservation methods from Elena.

What better time than this to learn magic from him?

’Plus, this is a great opportunity to see if teaching magic on a large scale is feasible.’

’If it works with these Awakeners who innately have mana in their bodies thanks to their abilities,’

’Then I can try to do it with the rest of the shelter occupants, and spread it wide.’

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but look forward to it. What he was going to do now was much different from how he helped Elena and the others construct their circles.

This time, instead of manually guiding them one at a time and helping them form the circle,

he was going to teach them the process of forming the circle, how it is done, and the nature of mana—

things that wouldn’t have been possible before, had his understanding of mana not visibly increased after breaking through to the second circle.

So with this in mind, amid the confused expressions of the people in front of him, Ethan began to explain:

"You see, I’m sure some of you know the reason you’re here."

"The reason why you train separately from the guards or other soldiers," he paused.

"That’s because you are special!"

"Along with the changes of heaven and earth, you are among the few that have awakened abilities."

"Some of you perhaps suddenly awakened the power of teleportation, being able to cross a thousand miles per blink."

"Perhaps for others, the world’s waters are under your control, giving you the potential to become the god of the sea."

"Super speed, super strength, immortality..."

"With the advent of the apocalypse, all kinds of strange powers which only appeared in movies and novels have begun to exist."

"So now I ask you this:"

"For this power, do you know how it works? What powers these abilities you use?"

"Are there any side effects?" said Ethan, his voice getting louder and more enthusiastic with each word.

"Magic is the science that lets us understand this! Magic is what helps control this!"

"And as for the energy that powers these abilities, it’s called mana."

"This power, when using the right methods, acts as a fulcrum that leverages the laws of the world to your own will."

"By truly controlling mana, you will no longer be limited to the innate abilities you possess, being able to use other spells."

"In fact, through it, all other users on the same level will be trash compared to you!"

"That is magic! Believe it! Understand it! Control it!"

Sitting cross-legged, Ethan motioned for everyone to follow suit.

No more punching or kicking; before telling them how to form a circle, he planned to thoroughly explain the nature of mana, what principles exist, and how to integrate them to form more circles.

From Ethan’s understanding, apart from the first circle which relies on a mage’s understanding of the principle of energy,

the succeeding principles need to be understood by the mages themselves.

In that case, everyone’s path to the twelfth circle is different.

’Is this what they say about all paths leading to the Dao?’

Remembering a Daoist classic he read before, Ethan’s eyes sparked with enlightenment.

For a while, facing this group of students, he felt like a sage in a novel imparting his knowledge to the common people.

And Elena, who was sitting behind Ethan, sneakily took out her phone and took a picture—

a picture which would later be known across the heavens and the world as the ’Magic Ancestor’s First Teaching’.

.......

An hour soon passed since Ethan had started teaching, and funny enough, no one felt tired.

Everyone looked at him engrossed, as they felt a whole new world open up to them.

And Ethan, thanks to his ten-thousand-fold increase, his understanding was also rising too.

If his system panel could track it, at this moment he would be getting notifications like:

[Understanding of mana +10000]

[Understanding of mana +10000]

[Understanding of mana +10000]

[Understanding of mana +10000]

With every second that passed, something he didn’t understand before was unraveled before him.

And although he didn’t advance in any circles, his combat power had increased by at least ten percent.

"And that is my understanding of the principle of mana as a form of energy."

"Using that understanding, I want you all to close your eyes, focus on drawing mana from the outside world, and form your circle."

"Remember, do not rush, and be careful. If you make any mistakes, you might suffer some backlash."

Remembering the amount of blood he spat when he first formed the circle, Ethan couldn’t help but sigh.

Fortunately, he hadn’t given up then, and succeeded.

Now he just needed these people in front of him to have that same success.

Thinking of this, he turned on his mana sense, monitoring the mana entering each of their bodies.

With extreme focus, he focused on their hearts; if anyone were about to get into danger, he would step in and stop them.

No matter what, he couldn’t let anyone die on this first test.

If that happened, not only would he lose a valuable Awakener force, but people would be too afraid to practice magic in the future—

a situation he absolutely could not allow.

’Come on! Show me that my calculations are possible!’

’Show me that we humans have hope to survive this time around!’

’Show me!’ thought Ethan, still making sure nothing went wrong.

However, after a few minutes of scanning, he saw something that made him unintentionally pause.

"This is—!"

"How is this possible—!"

"Are my eyes deceiving me?!"

Muttering in shock, Ethan couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

In front of him, even though they had just started, there was a seven-year-old girl who had almost completed her circle!