The air inside the laboratory felt different.
Not heavier.
Not lighter.
Just... strange.
Vernon stepped through the doorway and immediately slowed.
The inside of the building was far larger than it had looked from outside. The circular chamber stretched upward several floors, with metal walkways spiralling around the interior walls. Strange glass containers floated in the air, suspended by thin rings of glowing mana.
Some held water that never settled.
Others contained flickering lightning that crawled across the glass like living things.
A large metal table sat in the centre of the room, cluttered with papers, tools, and objects Vernon couldn't even identify.
< This isn't a laboratory... >
< It's more like a playground. >
He spotted scorch marks on one wall.
A section of stone that had turned completely smooth like melted glass.
A thin metal rod floating three inches above a table.
None of it seemed organized.
Yet somehow nothing looked accidental either.
Every piece felt like part of an unfinished thought.
Then Vernon saw him.
A man sat on the edge of the central table, leaning back slightly as he flipped through a book.
His posture was relaxed.
Too relaxed.
Silver hair hung loosely around his shoulders, tied lazily at the back.
He looked up as they entered.
"Ah."
His eyes shifted from Aurelia to Vernon.
"So this is the one."
Vernon immediately focused.
< Where is it... >
He waited.
For the pressure.
For the density of mana.
For the instinctive warning he had felt around Aurelia.
Nothing came.
Not even a ripple.
Standing in front of this man felt exactly the same as standing next to an ordinary person in the street.
Vernon frowned slightly.
< That's impossible. >
Even weak mages leaked a trace of mana.
Yet this man felt completely empty.
The man closed his book and tilted his head.
"You're staring again."
Vernon blinked.
"...Sorry."
< Again..? >
The man grinned slightly.
"Don't apologize."
He tapped the table beside him.
"It means your brain is working."
Vernon's mind kept turning.
< No mana leakage... >
< No pressure... >
< No distortion... >
Then the realization began forming.
< Unless... >
The man suddenly laughed.
"Oh good."
Vernon looked up.
"That face."
The man pointed at him.
"That's the face people make when they realize something is wrong with reality."
Vernon swallowed.
"If i may ask.. what is your name?"
"The one and only Caelan Veyr."
Caelan hopped down from the table and walked closer.
Still nothing.
No presence.
No pressure.
No mana.
Just a man.
< I don't recognize that name.. >
Yet Vernon's instincts were screaming louder than when he had faced the grandmaster.
Not fear.
But something deeper.
Confusion.
Caelan stopped in front of him.
"What is your name?"
"Vernon. My name is Vernon Lily."
"Tell me something, Vernon."
"Yes?"
"What do you feel right now?"
Vernon answered honestly.
"...Nothing."
Caelan's grin widened.
"Excellent."
He tapped his chest lightly.
"That means you're finally looking in the right direction."
Caelan studied Vernon for a moment longer.
Then he suddenly clapped his hands once.
"Alright."
Vernon blinked.
"That's enough staring."
Caelan walked past him toward the centre of the room.
"If my sister dragged you all the way out here, you must be interesting."
He picked up a piece of chalk from the table and tossed it toward Vernon.
Vernon caught it instinctively.
"Draw."
"...Draw?"
"A circle."
Vernon hesitated slightly but crouched and drew a simple circle on the stone floor.
Caelan glanced down.
"Not bad."
Then he tapped the circle with his foot.
"Now explain mana."
Vernon blinked again.
"...Explain it?"
"Yes."
Caelan crossed his arms.
"As if I know nothing."
Vernon took a breath.
< Is he testing my fundamentals...? >
"..ahem, Mana is a form of energy produced by living beings and the world itself."
Caelan tilted his head.
"Mm."
Vernon continued.
"It flows through the body and can be shaped into different elements depending on compatibility."
Caelan nodded slightly.
"Continue."
"It responds to mental state, but also relies on structure and control to prevent instability."
Aurelia watched and chuckled quietly from the side.
Caelan crouched and erased part of the circle with his hand.
"Half right."
Vernon almost frowned - if it wasn't for his curiosity he would have.
"...Half?"
"You described the old version of magic, its not wrong but aside from that."
Caelan tapped the broken circle.
"You didn't describe what mana is."
Vernon paused.
< What mana... is? >
No one had ever asked him that question before.
Caelan watched his expression carefully.
"Good."
He stood up.
"you're thinking."
He pointed at the circle.
"Next question."
"Why do most mages stop at three elements?"
Vernon answered quickly.
"Because of the mental framework required to maintain elemental structure."
Caelan nodded.
"And the real reason?"
Vernon hesitated.
"...Imagination."
Caelan's grin widened.
"There we go."
He leaned slightly closer.
"My sister's been talking."
Vernon straightened slightly.
"You disagree?"
"Oh no."
Caelan waved a hand.
"She's right."
Then he tapped Vernon's forehead lightly.
"But she teaches how to build the box."
He gestured around the laboratory.
"I teach how to step outside it."
Vernon's mind immediately went back to the sensation outside.
The wall.
The moment where everything felt like nothing.
"...That wall outside."
Caelan's eyes lit up slightly.
"Ho~ That means you felt it."
Vernon nodded slowly.
"It felt like my head split in half."
"Excellent description."
Vernon stared at him.
"That's... excellent?"
"Means you almost saw it."
Vernon frowned slightly.
"Saw what?"
Caelan walked back toward the table and leaned against it.
"The thing most mages never question."
He pointed toward the air around them.
"Mana."
Vernon waited.
Caelan smiled slightly.
"You've learned how to control it to some extent."
"You've learned how to shape it to some extent."
"You've learned how to use it to some extent."
Then he spread his hands slightly.
"But you've never learned how to ignore it."
Vernon blinked.
"...Ignore it?"
Caelan nodded.
"Exactly."
He tapped the table lightly.
"Before you learn anything from me..."
"...I need to know something."
Vernon straightened.
"What?"
Caelan's eyes sharpened slightly for the first time.
"Can you think about magic..."
"...without using mana?"
The question hit Vernon like a physical weight.
His mind immediately tried to imagine a spell.
Mana forming.
Energy shaping.
Elements combining.
Every thought involved mana.
He slowly looked back up.
"...I don't know."
Caelan smiled.
"Perfect."
"Then we can start."
Caelan gestured toward the centre of the laboratory.
"Show me your strongest attack."
Vernon nodded and stepped forward.
Mana gathered in his core automatically.
Lightning formed around his hand, thin arcs snapping through the air.
The spell came together quickly.
A condensed spear of lightning shot forward and struck the far wall with a sharp crack.
Fragments of stone scattered across the floor.
Caelan nodded.
"Good."
He pointed at Vernon again.
"Now defense."
Vernon formed a mana barrier around himself.
Caelan flicked a spark of energy at it.
The barrier held easily.
"Functional."
The barrier faded.
Caelan folded his arms.
"Now do it again."
Vernon prepared to gather mana again-
"Without mana."
Vernon paused.
"...Without mana."
"Just imagine it."
Vernon frowned.
"That's.. not how it works though."
Caelan laughed.
"That's what I thought when I was your age too."
He gestured lazily.
"Humour me."
Vernon hesitated.
Then he closed his eyes.
< Lightning spear... >
He pictured the technique forming.
Mana gathering.
Condensing.
Shaping into the weapon he had just used.
But the moment he tried removing the mana from the process-
The image collapsed.
The lightning spear dissolved into scattered fragments of thought.
His eyes opened.
"...It disappeared."
Caelan nodded.
"Of course it did."
"Why?"
"Because you don't actually know how the spell works."
Vernon stiffened slightly.
"I just used it."
"You used mana to force it."
Caelan pointed at his head.
"But the structure of the spell lives here."
He tapped Vernon's forehead again.
"Try again."
Vernon closed his eyes once more.
He pictured the lightning again.
But this time the image came out wrong.
The spear twisted.
The energy spiraled wildly.
The imagined lightning exploded outward like a storm.
Vernon's eyes snapped open.
"That one got... out of control."
Caelan laughed.
"Runaway imagination."
"Runaway?"
"You removed the mana that stabilizes the spell."
Caelan shrugged casually.
"So your brain filled the gaps with nonsense."
Vernon frowned.
"...That's not encouraging."
"Relax."
Caelan waved a hand dismissively.
"You've spent your entire life letting mana do the hard work."
He gestured around the laboratory.
"Now your brain has to do it."
Caelan watched Vernon struggle.
The playful and amused expression slowly faded from his face.
"Vernon."
The tone had changed.
It was no longer casual.
No amusement.
Just quiet seriousness.
Vernon straightened slightly.
"Yes?"
Caelan folded his arms.
"If you continue down this path that I've shown you..."
He gestured lightly toward Vernon's head.
"...your brain will be doing the work mana normally does for you."
Vernon look confused slightly.
Caelan continued.
"Mana stabilizes spells."
"It absorbs mistakes."
"It cushions failure."
He tapped the table softly.
"When you remove it from the process..."
"...all of those mistakes hit you instead."
Vernon's expression hardened slightly.
Caelan's gaze didn't waver.
"You felt the wall outside."
Vernon nodded slowly.
"That pressure splitting your thoughts?"
"That was your mind trying to process something it wasn't ready for."
Caelan paused for a moment before continuing.
"If you force it too far..."
"...you could permanently damage your brain."
The words hung in the air.
Aurelia remained silent, but her eyes shifted slightly toward Vernon.
Caelan spoke again.
"And if your body can't keep up with the strain..."
"...your mana channels and cores could collapse."
Another pause.
Then he added calmly,
"We also don't think there is any healer currently capable of fixing that."
The laboratory grew quiet.
Vernon looked down at his hand for a moment.
The imagined lightning spear still lingered faintly in his thoughts.
Blurry.
Incomplete.
Fragile.
His mind replayed the sensation from earlier.
That moment where everything felt like nothing and everything at once.
It had been terrifying.
But also-
Beautiful.
Like standing at the edge of something vast.
He slowly lifted his head.
His eyes were steady.
"I wouldn't be here..."
He clenched his hand slightly.
"...if something so trivial could stop me."
For a moment Caelan said nothing.
Then-
A slow smile returned to his face.
Not the playful grin from earlier.
Something quieter.
Almost proud.
"Good."
He pushed himself off the table.
"Because if that scared you..."
"...this next part would have been impossible."
Aurelia exhaled softly from the side of the room.
"Brother."
Caelan glanced at her.
"You warned him."
She nodded.
"That was the agreement."
Caelan shrugged lightly.
"Then we continue."
He turned back toward Vernon.
His eyes sharpened again.
"Alright."
He pointed toward the centre of the room.
"Let's break your underanding of magic properly."
"Sir Caelan-"
"Just Caelan"
Vernon looked at him with surprise.
"But you're a senior."
Caelan smiled, "I'm not that old yet you know."
< Being over 100 isnt that old..? >
"I can see what your thinking. It's written all over your face."
Vernon looked away, "Ahem.. anyway i still dont fully understand what you mean by 'ignoring' mana."
Caelan looked up at the ceiling, then back down toward Vernon.
"Do you mean to 'Abandon' it?"
"Let me rephrase."
「"Ignoring mana does not mean abandoning mana.
It means removing it from the first step of thinking about magic.
Most mages think like this:
Mana → Spell
They pour mana into a technique they have memorized and force it to work.
Ignoring mana reverses the process:
Idea → Structure → Mana
The mage first understands the shape and concept of the spell.
Only after the idea is clear do they apply mana to bring it into reality.
This forces the mage to rely on imagination and understanding, not raw power."」
"I see.." Vernon went into deep thought.
Venon tried again.
He imagined the lightning forming.
This time he focused on the idea intead of the energy going into it.
The length of the spear.
The point.
The direction it would travel.
The idea held together longer.
But parts of the structure flickered and faded.
Like a drawing that hadn't been finished yet.
He opened his eyes slowly.
"...It's blurry."
Caelan nodded approvingly.
"Good."
"Good?"
"That means you're finally seeing the problem."
Vernon rubbed his temple.
"My imagination?"
"Exactly."
Caelan pointed toward the shattered section of wall.
"You could destroy that wall easily with mana."
Then he tapped Vernon's forehead again.
"But rebuilding the idea of that attack in your mind..."
"...is much harder."
Vernon slowly nodded.
< I never had to think about the spell this way... >
The realization settled in.
He had memorized techniques.
But he had never truly understood their shape.
Caelan smiled slightly.
"Don't worry."
He leaned back against the table.
"Everyone looks stupid during their first lesson."
Vernon sighed.
"That's reassuring."
Caelan shrugged.
"Magic is just imagination wearing armor."
The room fell quiet again.
Vernon stared at his hand.
The lightning spear still existed in his memory.
But now he could see its flaws.
Its missing pieces.
Its unstable parts.
This is the first time since learning how to utilize mana where he wasn't thinking about how much mana it required.
He was thinking about how the spell itself worked.
Caelan noticed the change immediately.
"There it is."
Vernon looked up.
"What?"
"The moment your brain starts asking the right questions."
He crossed his arms.
"That's where real magic begins."
"Lets try one last time before sending you off, its pretty late after all."
Vernon looked disappointed but tried again none the less.
He closed his eyes.
< Lightning spear... >
Not the mana.
Just the idea.
The shape.
The length of the weapon.
The sharp point meant to pierce.
He pictured it slowly forming in his hand.
But the image refused to stay still.
The edges blurred.
The tip bent slightly.
Like a drawing smudged by an unseen hand.
< Focus... >
He forced the image to stabilize.
The moment he did-
Something inside his head tightened.
A sharp pressure formed behind his eyes.
Then it split.
Pain shot through his skull like a crack of thunder.
Vernon inhaled sharply.
The image shattered instantly.
Fragments of thought scattered through his mind like broken glass.
His senses that he kept under control suddenly exploded outward.
The hum of mana inside the laboratory became deafening.
The slow movement of Aurelia's robe against the floor sounded like sand scraping against stone.
Even Caelan's breathing felt loud.
Too loud.
Too much.
Vernon staggered a step.
"Woah-"
Caelan's voice cut through the noise.
But Vernon barely heard it.
It felt like his brain was trying to process too many things at once.
< ..Don't panic.. >
The structure of the spell.
The pressure in the room.
< ..Breathe.. >
The flow of mana in the air.
Everything layered together into chaos.
Something warm slid down past his lip.
A drop hit the floor.
Vernon blinked.
Another followed.
Blood.
His nose had started bleeding.
Caelan's grin vanished immediately.
"Well that didn't take long."
Vernon pressed the back of his hand against his nose.
The room swayed slightly.
Inside his chest his stamina dipped sharply-
And then something strange happened.
The exhaustion didn't stay.
It shifted.
The familiar sensation of something in his chest activating quietly.
His body burned through stamina.
In return, the pressure in his head began to fade.
The pounding behind his eyes softened.
The scattered thoughts slowly gathered themselves again.
Vernon inhaled slowly.
"...That felt like my brain just tried to tear itself apart."
Caelan nodded casually.
"That was your brain doing the work."
Aurelia frowned slightly.
"He's already reached overload?"
Caelan shrugged.
"First time forcing the brain to replace mana stabilization is risky, i was careless to make him do it more."
He looked at Vernon.
"Honestly he lasted longer than most."
Vernon wiped the remaining blood away.
The dizziness had almost disappeared now.
< My stamina... I'm so tired. >
He could feel it draining faster than normal.
But the damage inside his head was already fading.
His innate trait was repairing the strain as quickly as it appeared.
Caelan noticed immediately.
"Hm."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Interesting."
Vernon looked up.
"What?"
Caelan pointed lazily toward Vernon's chest.
"You're recovering faster than you should."
Vernon paused.
"...My trait."
"Ah."
Caelan grinned again.
"That explains it."
He pushed himself away from the table.
"Well that changes things."
Aurelia raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
Caelan's grin widened.
"It means he can survive mistakes most students can't."
Vernon frowned slightly.
"...That doesn't sound comforting."
Caelan laughed.
"It shouldn't. It's still extremely dangerous. If your brain blew up it wouldn't just grow back."
Vernon was in utter shock, "My brain can blow up?!"
Caelan laughed, "No i was just using that as an example for your limits."
He pointed toward the centre of the room again.
"Now that we know your brain won't immediately explode..."
"...try again."
Vernon stared at him.
"You're serious?"
"Completely."
Caelan leaned back against the table.
"Overload means your brain is finally doing the work ."
Vernon exhaled slowly.
The faint image of the lightning spear still lingered in his thoughts.
Blurry.
Unstable.
But now-
He could almost see where the structure had collapsed.
He stepped forward again.
But the cost was too great.
Vernon panted, "I can't.. I'm tired"
Caelan agreed, "Sorry, its been a while since I've seen such talent."
"I got ahead of myself."
Vernon looked up outside.
Seeing the sun set he understood suddenly that every time he immersed himself to create the lightning spear, it wasn't seconds instead ages passed by in the blink of an eye.
"Vernon," Caelan observed Vernon. "Do you want to be my disciple?"
Aurelia Turned to Caelan in surprise, "You've never even batted an eye on other students I've bought here, you've made me truly curious as to why you would offer that to Vernon."
Caelan met eyes with Aurelia, "Think of it as my guts telling me something good."
"Sir Caelan-" Vernon began.
Caelan cut in, "Just Caelan."
"Ahem.. Caelan, if you really do wish to give me this opportunity.. then ill gladly accept it."
Caelan smiled.
"You are my first disciple."
Vernon bowed, "I will accept the honour of being one in the first place."
"No bowing."
"huh? but-"
"No buts."
"Why-"
"Dont question it."
".."
"No."
"I didn't even say anything?!"
Caelan laughed, Aurelia didn't see her brother laugh or smile often unless he was amused by some news.
Vernon couldn't help but smile whilst Caelan laughed.
"Ah, right." Aurelia spoke, "Vernon, i placed you with your brother in the same dormitories after reaching an agreement with the headmaster of the martial arts academy. Room 904 in the Martial artists academy dormitories, try not to forget."
"Huh? how did you know about my brother miss?"
"Don't use formalities with me Vernon, you are my brothers disciple."
< Wow.. these two really don't like formalities.. >
< wait... She avoided the question! >
Vernon sighed, "I understand. I'll be off then and ill come back tomorrow!"
Aurelia smiled, "Rest well Vernon."
Caelan spoke softly, "Enjoy your sleep disciple."
You could almost feel Caelan's excitement as he spoke.
A while after Vernon's silhouette vanished past the horizon into the city the silence between the siblings broke.
"Thank you Aurelia."
Aurelia didn't respond, instead she simply smiled.
"Well big brother, i have a lot of work to do."
"I'll come visit you sometime soon sis."
Caelan watched as Aurelia went back.
"Vernon Lily.. I swear I've heard it before.."
Caelan glanced once toward the city and back to his lab-like building.
"Well, it's probably nothing."