[V11C14] The Troublemaker's Teaching Style

The day after asking Hubert to teach him multiple reinforcement formulas, Glenn began his practical training at the Magic Corps training grounds.

The grounds were equipped with barriers to protect against magic gone awry. However, these barriers only ensured the safety of the nearby buildings, rather than the casters themselves.

“Screw up and you go boom. Better be careful, alright?”

Beside the chuckling Hubert stood a black-haired boy. Glenn had learned that the boy’s name was Norman and surprisingly, he seemed to be Hubert’s disciple.

Accidentally injuring Hubert was an acceptable risk, but the same did not apply to the boy. Glenn knew he would feel incredibly guilty if that happened.

Which is why he needed to exercise the utmost caution. Glenn recalled the multiple reinforcement formula that he had been staring at since yesterday.

Among all the spells Glenn knew, this one was definitely the most complicated. He could not say with confidence that he understood every part of the formula.

Noticing Glenn’s frustration, Hubert explained with a smirk.

“Normally, multiple reinforcement is based on multiplication. Square the formula and you get a double reinforcement, but it’s not as simple as just squaring the end result. You need to break down the structure of your spell, square the individual components in the necessary places, then complete the formula again.”

During Hubert’s explanation, all Glenn could think was ‘What was squaring again?’

As if he had read Glenn’s mind, Hubert tapped his forehead with his index finger and continued.

“But forget all of that. You’re not smart enough to understand.”

“…”

“So instead of multiplication, we turn it into addition. Just keep adding and adding. Repeat until the formula is complete.”

Glenn remembered back to paper containing the written formula he had received from Hubert yesterday. For some reason, Hubert had rewritten the formula before giving it to him.

The rewritten version was considerably longer than the initial one, so Glenn initially thought it was just plain harassment. Apparently, this was the real reason.

“Of course, that makes the formula more wasteful, and it will take longer to chant. In exchange, the success rate will be higher… You keeping up with me so far, Norman?”

Hubert turned to glance at Norman.

“Why are you asking him and not me?” Glenn asked, glaring at Hubert.

“Because you’ll be practicing whether you understand it or not. The only difference is the big boom that will happen if you screw up! You get me now?”

Truly, he was the worst kind of person.

Regardless, Glenn was the one asking for his help, so he wasn’t in any position to complain.

Hubert picked up a random twig and began drawing a simplified formula on the ground. Glenn could vaguely understand what this formula represented: the range and speed part of his fireball spell.

“Mages need to calculate the range and speed of their spells based on the situation. Monica is scarily efficient at this part.”

While Glenn had never seen her do it firsthand, Monica was apparently capable of shooting through the forehead of a wyvern with terrifying accuracy.

The magecraft of the Silent Witch was based on these intricate calculations.

Monica calculated not only the range and speed of her spell, but also the target’s movement patterns and the surrounding environment, such as wind speed. And she did it all in an instant, which is a part of why she did not need to chant.

The more Glenn learned about magic, the more he understood just how extraordinary Monica was.

“But your calculations for range and speed are shaky at best. That’s why we’ll be fixing those numbers as constants,” Hubert continued.

“Doesn’t that mean the range and speed of my spell will be fixed too?”

“Yeah, but that won’t be a problem for you because of your flight magic. Just fly around and adjust your distance from the target.”

As Hubert explained, the calculations became much more straightforward once such variables could be replaced with constants. Glenn did not want to admit it out loud, but all of Hubert’s logic was impeccable.

“Now then, let’s get straight to the practical exercises. Try up until the fifth section, where you compress the core of the fireball. Remember, if you fail…”

Hubert leaned forward, putting his face right in front of Glenn’s.

“Bam!”

Even with Hubert shouting in his face, Glenn did not flinch. He had expected Hubert to resort to such intimidation tactics.

Glenn pursed his lips and glared right back. Hubert only chuckled and gestured for him to start.

“Well? Give it a try.”

“Fine.”

Glenn nodded and began his incantation.

First, he created a fireball that was slightly smaller than usual, roughly the size of his own head. The next step was compression, which turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected.

The sensation was akin to how squeezing a large lump of clay in your hands would cause it to ooze out through the gaps between your fingers.

Similarly, Glenn could sense the mana leaking out as he attempted to compress the fireball.

And as expected, the compression ended in failure. All he got from squeezing the fireball was a smaller and weaker fireball.

“Try again,” Hubert said.

“Okay.”

With beads of sweat forming on his forehead, Glenn faced the fireball again. Little by little, he carefully molded the shape of his mana.

＊　＊　＊

One hour after Glenn started compressing fireballs, he still had yet to succeed.

A few of the failures resulted in the fireball bursting, leaving minor burns on Glenn’s hands and arms.

Glenn was covered in sweat and looked extremely tired, but he had yet to run out of mana.

“…I’m getting bored,” Hubert muttered.

He got off the tree he was leaning on and performed some light stretches.

“Norman, I’m going for a walk. Call me if this guy finally succeeds at the compression step or dies trying. If you see him taking a break, give him a good beating for me.”

“Roger that, aside from the last part.”

Norman seemed pretty obedient at first glance, but apparently, he was the type who could express his disagreement out loud.

Hubert smirked and looked down at Norman.

“Keep a close eye on him, alright?”

“I will.”

Norman nodded and returned to observing Glenn.

And it seems he wasn’t just watching. He was also contemplating the reason for Glenn’s failures and what needed to be changed to make it a success.

This was evident by the drawings on the ground. Norman had drawn a makeshift magical formula with a stick, calculating the necessary changes if range and speed had not been fixed.

(When it comes to multiple reinforcement, it’s easier to learn by observing someone perform the mana compression firsthand. And seeing them fail is even better. Not like the professors of Minerva would ever fail on purpose though.)

Hubert Dee was known for his excellent intellect and understanding of magical formulas. But unlike his uncle, he didn’t have much in terms of mana.

Thus, he hardly ever employed the mana-expensive multiple reinforcement formula——or rather, he couldn’t. The best he could manage was one use per day.

Which was why Hubert decided to use Glenn as a teaching aide. Glenn’s excessive mana capacity and inevitable failures made him the perfect example.

(Norman already has a complete mastery of remote magecraft. If he manages to learn multiple reinforcement too… I want to see how far he can go.)

Hubert strolled around the Magic Corps grounds at a leisurely pace, before stopping once he was in front of a certain tree.

“I’ll get the urge to shoot an arrow at you if you keep hiding there… Well, Monica?”

“Gyuh!?”

Emitting a strange yelp, the figure hiding in the shadow of the tree nervously revealed herself.

It was his beloved and merciless queen… the Silent Witch, Monica Everett. She fiddled with her fingers while looking up at Hubert.

“Um, Dee-senpai, I heard that you helped out Professor Rutherford…”

“Yeah. I can just imagine the face he made as he told you that,” Hubert chuckled.

For some reason, Monica bowed her head.

“And, um, thank you for teaching Norman-kun.”

“I’m so happy to be praised by my queen. What an honor.”

“Also, about Glenn-san…”

Monica trailed off, looking in the direction where Glenn was practicing. The concern in her expression made it obvious what she was thinking.

“Um… wouldn’t it be safer to have Glenn-san train inside a magical battle barrier instead?”

As Monica suggested, a magical battle barrier would protect the caster from mana-related accidents, aside from the most extreme cases.

However, Hubert deliberately chose not to do that.

One reason was due to the inconvenience of setting up and maintaining a magical battle barrier.

But the second reason was more important.

“That guy has a ton of mana, right? I’m jealous. Over 250 is practically a miracle… He’s got more than double of mine.”

Joining the Seven Sages required a mana capacity of 150, so anything above that was already impressive. And yet, Glenn was one of the few people in the country to exceed 250.

In other words, he was comparable to the current record holder for most mana, Raul Roseberg the Fifth Thorn Witch.

“Which is why we need him to understand the danger of what might happen when that mana goes out of control. Am I wrong?”

“But if there’s an accident during training, Norman-kun will…”

“No problem.”

Hubert took out a small brooch from his pocket. This was a magic tool enchanted with a defensive barrier. He had swiped it from the Magic Corps’s equipment room.

“I gave one of these to Norman.”

Without telling Glenn about it, of course.

Glenn believed that losing control of his mana would injure the innocent boy standing nearby, so he had no choice but to take his training seriously.

Hubert chuckled to himself, but Monica seemed unhappy. After all, there was nothing to assure Glenn’s own safety.

“Also… about your rings…”

“Hmm? Oh, these?”

Hubert waved his hand in front of his face.

His many rings on both hands had been enchanted with magical formulas that prevented him from casting magic. The one responsible was Monica herself.

“We’re in an emergency right now, so… I was thinking I should undo the seal…”

“Nah, I’m fine as is. Either way, the effects will wear off in another month or so, right?”

Hubert placed a kiss on one of his rings, then lifted the corner of his mouth into a smirk.

“In that case, I want to enjoy the collar from my beloved queen for as long as I can.”

Hubert bent back and let out a hearty laugh. Meanwhile, said queen could only groan in distress.

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io