Chapter 60: What Do You Mean You Flicked the Magic Net?

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: What Do You Mean You Flicked the Magic Net?

"Close your eyes, shift your focus away from yourself, let it spread to your surroundings, and feel that omnipresent Power."

Lorin took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and calmed his mind.

At first, he couldn’t feel anything at all.

Beside his ear was Erin’s soft, slow breathing. From the street outside the window came the occasional footsteps of pedestrians and the rumbling of wheels rolling over cobblestone roads. There was Pip’s singing from next door, and he could even hear the morning bell tolling from the distant Divine Hall.

He tried hard to shift his focus away from these sounds. However, he quickly realized that the harder he tried, the clearer they became. So, he simply let his focus scatter completely, entering a state of total surrender.

An indeterminate amount of time passed—perhaps a minute, perhaps an hour. Suddenly, Lorin felt an indescribable ripple sweep across his body.

It wasn’t something any of his familiar senses could capture. It was more like an instinctive intuition, much like knowing someone was standing right in front of him even with his eyes closed. Frowning slightly, he tried to extend his Perception outward along that ripple.

Lorin’s consciousness drifted through the void.

He soon realized that what had just swept over him wasn’t a ripple at all. It was more like a ribbon fluttering in the wind, its edge brushing against him purely by chance.

The Magic Net! It truly was a net—a web woven from countless strands of condensed Mana!

Lorin snapped his eyes open to find a fine layer of sweat beading on his cheeks. Across from him, the plate in front of Erin was already completely empty.

"What’s wrong? Nothing happened?" she asked.

"I think I felt that ribbon made of Mana, but I don’t know how to describe the feeling."

Lorin nodded deeply, a profound joy swelling within him. He could actually feel the Magic Net; he had the talent to become a Mage!

Erin glanced at the time and froze for a moment, suddenly questioning her entire worldview. She thought, "Hasn’t it only been a short while? Bloodline Mages find it easier to sense the Magic Net, but it shouldn’t be this easy. Could he really be a Talented Mage? No... impossible. This guy must have gotten incredibly lucky. He probably happened to catch a Mana tide, making it that easy to perceive the Magic Net."

"It took about an hour. Not exactly fast, but it’s alright, I guess," she said stubbornly. "Perception is just the first step. What comes next is the main point."

Leaning forward slightly, she flipped through the massive tome in front of Lorin and tapped a specific paragraph with her finger.

"Next, you need to know how to draw Magic Power out of the Magic Net," she explained. "Even if you naturally know how to do this step, understanding the underlying principles is entirely different from just knowing how to use it.

"If you want to advance on the path of a Caster, you must know exactly how you are casting your Magic.

"Only then can you make your Magic more stable, or even consciously introduce subtle variations.

"Furthermore, if you want to learn new Magic, this is the Basic knowledge you absolutely must understand.

"I believe you aren’t the kind of Sorcerer who thinks knowing how to cast a little Basic Magic is enough."

"Of course."

Lorin struggled to tear his eyes away from the astonishing curves leaning over the table, forcing himself to look down at the page. It recorded, in rather concise terms, how to draw out Magic Power. The instructions essentially read: *Do this, do that, then do this. Great, you’ve succeeded! Now go cast your Magic!*

Fortunately, Erin had left annotations. Her flowing handwriting detailed exactly how to draw the appropriate amount of Mana from the fluctuations of the Magic Net. It also explained how to use Spells and hand gestures to mold it into the desired shape, and finally, how to rely on materials or a Magical Artifact to release it.

"Very good. First, try using Spiritual Guidance on the net to change its shape."

Erin nodded in satisfaction, approving of his attitude while eagerly anticipating the embarrassing display he was about to put on. She had decided to throw Lorin straight into the deep end; once he realized just how difficult it was to manipulate the Magic Net, it would be her time to shine.

She thought, "Hehehe! Then this guy will finally know how incredibly lucky he is to receive guidance from a genius Mage like me!" At the mere thought of it, Erin couldn’t help but hum a happy little tune in her heart.

Spiritual Guidance...

Lorin thoughtfully closed his eyes again. This time, he quickly entered that meditative state and smoothly captured the omnipresent fluctuations of the Magic Net around him.

But how was he supposed to guide a net?

He tried to imagine his spirit wrapping around a certain Magic Ribbon, then giving it a sharp tug toward himself. Like a drawn bowstring, the ribbon was plucked by his pull. An invisible ripple instantly spread across the Magic Net, but nothing else happened.

"Uh... I think I just plucked the Magic Net. Does that count as guiding it?" Lorin asked, somewhat confused.

"Wh... what? What do you mean you ’plucked’ the Magic Net?" Erin’s mouth fell open slightly. She couldn’t fathom how a verb like "pluck" could ever be used to describe interacting with the Magic Net. She thought, "Shouldn’t he be separating a strand from the Mana flow and reshaping it with his own spirit?"

"I’m not entirely sure myself..." He proceeded to explain his "plucking" process to her in full detail.

"You wrapped your spirit around a Mana Flow Ribbon? And you plucked it?!" Erin felt like she understood every word Lorin said individually, but strung together, they sounded entirely alien.

"Uh... is that wrong?"

"It’s not a question of right or wrong. It’s just... I’ve never seen any Mage try that before, let alone succeed. Maybe because you’re a Sorcerer, your method of guidance is different from a Mage’s?" she reasoned.

"Then what should I do?" Lorin asked, lost.

Erin thought, "How am I supposed to teach this..." She massaged her temples, finally understanding how her own teacher felt when dealing with eccentric students.

"Let’s just assume you’ve got the hang of guiding it. Next, I’ll teach you how to cast a Flaming Arrow. Watch closely." She sighed, pulling herself together. "Casting requires three things: a Spell, hand gestures, and materials. The materials can be replaced by a Magical Artifact, but the other two are absolutely indispensable."

Erin aimed her index finger at Lorin, gently pressing her thumb against her middle and index fingers. Then, she chanted a simple Spell with a rhythmic cadence: "Agnir Ignis!"

Startled, Lorin quickly dodged to the side, nearly falling out of his chair. Only then did he realize that no Flame had actually ignited on her fingertips.

"PFFT—"

Erin burst into joyous laughter. She patted the table lightly and, mimicking her teacher’s angry tone, scolded, "You aren’t listening properly! I just said that casting requires materials or a Magical Artifact. Do you see anything in my hands?"

"Sorry, sorry..."

"Alright, you try it yourself. Just use the hand gestures and Spell I just showed you."

Lorin nodded. Recalling Erin’s posture and Spell, he once again controlled his spirit to pluck the Magic Net, muttering, "Anir Igni!"

"Both the gesture and the Spell are wrong!" Erin looked at him helplessly. Reaching over, she pried open his curled pinky finger. "Relax your pinky slightly. Yes, just like that."

She then went over a few pronunciation rules for the Spell. Every syllable of a Spell possessed a specific pitch and vibration; if mispronounced, the casting would fail. Lorin repeated it a few times, nearly tying his tongue in knots. The words that came out of his mouth sounded exactly like the atrocious accent he’d had when learning foreign languages in his past life.

This time, however, Erin didn’t mock him or show any signs of impatience. She simply corrected his pronunciation over and over again.

Sunlight spilled in through the window, bathing the entire room in a bright and warm glow. At some point, the sound of the bellows from next door had also ceased.

"Let’s stop here for today. Remember to practice your hand gestures and pronunciation when you get back. We’ll continue tomorrow morning." She pointed toward the door, signaling that she needed to change her clothes.

"Alright. Thank you, Erin," Lorin said, expressing his genuine gratitude.

"Mhm..."

The Red-haired Mage stretched lazily, waving her hand in the air.

He smiled, stood up, cleared the dishes on the table onto a tray, and turned to leave the room.