Chapter 4 - A Mage’s Journey Starts From Admission (3)

As soon as the first day's schedule ended, I dragged my tired body to the dormitory and flopped onto the bed.

Thankfully, each room had a name on it, so finding mine wasn't difficult.

If you're wondering about the team match results, don’t. We won everything.

Rei was impressive too.

After boasting like Guan Yu, she just dashed out and ended it with one flying kick, raising her triumphantly in the air…

Does she think high fives are some kind of victory pose?

Surely not, right?

Anyway, maybe it was because Rei and I fought so brutally.

Leaf’s opponent, probably assuming she'd do the same, forfeited without even trying.

That was how our team's matches ended.

More importantly, it's a two-person room, huh?

This could be a problem.

Usually, I insisted on single rooms, even at inns.

It was my last compromise, one could say.

Unlike me, trying to maintain some form of hygiene, people in this world were far too lenient about cleanliness.

I could deal with snoring by plugging my ears, but sharing a living space with a potential host for all sorts of germs was just too much.

"Should I pray for a decent roommate?"

Being a Devil Sorcerer, I guess I should pray to Seir instead of God.

As I was about to start my daily communication with Seir, the door suddenly opened.

I sat up to scan my soon-to-be roommate.

One of those overwhelming guys from the matches...

I clearly remember that bright blue hair; there was only one like it.

He won only using physical enhancement, just like Rei.

Up close, he was quite tall.

I was just under 180cm, and he was clearly taller, probably in the mid-180s.

"And you are?"

He asked first.

I answered nonchalantly, "Your roommate."

"Ah, I should've been clearer. I'm Arthur Carlyle. Battle Mage class."

Introductions received, introductions given.

I've been saying my name a lot lately.

"Roman Sun. Devil Sorcerer."

"Devil Sorcerer, huh?"

Ah, the familiar reaction.

It had gotten so boring that I wasn’t even curious about what came next.

But Arthur's reaction was a bit different.

"You fought brutishly in the match."

"...Brutishly?"

Well, he's not wrong.

"As long as I win, it doesn’t matter to me."

"That's true too."

Arthur nodded frankly.

"Anyway, I took this bed first, so use the other one. You don't want to use someone else's, right?"

"True. What about the closet?"

"Ah, I haven't opened that yet."

"Then I'll choose the closet first."

With that, Arthur strode to the wall with the closets and opened the left one.

He hung up his coat and changed into comfortable clothes.

I should change too... Wait, what?

"...Isn't that behind my bed?"

"So?"

"Well, I'm not complaining, but don't people usually choose the one behind their own bed?"

"This way, I have to walk an extra step. It's training too. Make daily life your training. My master's teaching."

I see.

This guy isn’t normal.

I didn't argue about the closet anymore.

I knew continuing the conversation would only give me a headache.

Instead, I decided to have a more constructive chat.

As it happened, Arthur and I had something in common to discuss besides the room.

"Do you know about the training center’s curriculum?"

I shared some information I'd gathered before entering.

The gist was this:

The training was divided into two types, each including two subjects.

The types were academics and skills.

In simpler terms, theory and practice.

Under academics were Abyss Geography and Abyss Ecology, while skills included Combat Skills and Exploration Skills.

These four subjects were taught at the training center and were also the evaluation criteria for the future Explorer license exam.

"I already know all that?"

"Oh, really?"

Well, of course.

Arthur gave off a strong “I'm a bigshot” vibe.

He surely knew information one could pick up just by listening around.

In fact, Arthur probably knew even more.

"Since you shared, I'll tell you something too."

"Ooh..."

I take back what I said about him not being normal.

He was actually quite decent.

I believe it now.

You are a normal person, after all.

"Tomorrow, there'll be exploration training."

"The one they do underground?"

Exploration Skills training.

It was exactly what it sounded like - training in a facility designed to mimic the Abyss’ environment, where one could hunt monsters and navigate as if they were on a real exploration.

"That's right."

Well, that wasn’t particularly surprising information.

"It's perfect for training. They simulate the mental erosion and high pressure of the Abyss. An environment to train both the mind and body. I heard there's a spot with especially high pressure. Training there maximizes efficiency—

“I wasn’t going to share that much,” Arthur added.

I take back what I said about him being normal.

§

Day 2 of enrollment.

I was at the training building.

It was structured with training areas for individual or team practice, separate from regular training.

Though calling it a proper building might be generous; it was more like walls hastily erected in a grid pattern.

While practicing my mana manipulation, as I've done daily since gaining magic, I noticed a change.

My mana capacity has increased.

Not just the total, but the mana flowing through the pact seal had increased too.

Maybe pushing myself to the limit that one time did some good.

If I keep filling up with mana and releasing it all at once, will it keep increasing?

I'd have to experiment to know for sure, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple. It seemed deceptively easy.

The main factor was probably the heightened state of consciousness from that intensely sharp focus at the time.

Still, I decided to experiment gradually, just in case and started moving my mana around.

The mana now gathers immediately above my hand.

Then, compression.

Without spells right now, my only weapon is the magic bullet.

How can I increase the power of magic bullet?

I chose mana compression as my first approach.

I'd have to sacrifice magic bullet’s greatest advantage—instantaneous firing—but with practice, I should be able to make up for that disadvantage.

So today, like every day, I whittled away at my mana.

Compressing with one hand and changing the shape of the clumped mana with the other.

Bang!

"It burst again."

How many times had the mana exploded while I was compressing it?

I massaged my tingling arms and took a brief rest.

This isn't easy.

The training center, the team, the magic.

Nothing seemed to come easily.

People keep looking down on me for being a Devil Sorcerer.

Honestly, while I calculated I'd win, I did fight with pent-up anger against that Illusionist from when we were forming teams.

Despite not being a typical Devil Sorcerer, the prejudice I was subject to still bothered me a bit.  

I had a clean victory in my match, but people's attitudes towards me barely changed.

Moreover, the team.

Hmm, will it be okay?

Leaf wasn't really a problem.

She had no rough edges, and she seemed diligent.

Being a Spirit Summoner was a bit of a time bomb, but that could be managed by not giving her crucial roles.

The problem is Rei.

Rei joined our team for some reason.

She deliberately confirmed I was a Devil Sorcerer before joining.

But what could be her reason for doing that?

"I don't know."

She showed a competitive spirit during her?

But wasn't it weird to be competitive against a Devil Sorcerer?

"I really don't know..."

It was natural, I suppose.

One couldn’t expect to understand everything at once, and understanding a person in just one day was impossible.

That was something I could figure out with time.

We'd be moving together again today, after all.

"Exploration training, was it?"

Exploration Skills was the crown jewel of the training center.

It was a comprehensive training that combined three subjects: Abyss Geography, Ecology, and Combat.

Exploring the Abyss was both pioneering the unknown and battling against it.

The alien-like natural environment was one thing, but the biggest issue was the presence of monsters.

Monsters that showed unconditional hostility to outside entities were the leading cause of death for explorers.

Naturally, the exploration training would consider all these factors.

In other words, it included combat.

I need to get used to fighting too.

I was a Mage now, after all.

In the end, it all comes back to training, doesn't it?

If I became stronger, all these worries would become trivial.

Isn't there a saying that if something couldn't be solved with power, you’re simply not using enough of it?

Time to get back to it.

As I was about to get up, scratching my head, something clicked when I felt my fingertips on my scalp.

"If I'm going to compress, do I really need to gather it in my palm?"

At first, I was stuck on using my whole palm.

If it was bursting because I was trying to compress something beyond my ability to handle, why not start with something smaller?

Come to think of it, the hand motion for firing a gun wasn't spreading your palm, but rather extending your finger to aim.

I immediately straightened my fingers together.

It was the form known as the spear hand.

Imagine shooting from the fingertips, not the palm.

My whole arm becomes the gun barrel, and my fingertips the muzzle.

I have a bit of a knack for handling mana now.

The most important part of moving mana was having a clear image in mind.

My imagination set the frame, will drew the lines, and mana followed the outline.

Whiiine-! Thwack!

The target board shook violently.

The most intense reaction yet.

"Oh!"

It improved in both speed and power.

It’s at this level with five fingers.

As I reduce the number of fingers, the ejection pressure should increase, and so should the power.

I tucked in my thumb, extending only the other four fingers.

Now, with four.

Whiiine-! Thwack!

Another improvement.

It took a bit longer due to the increased concentration needed for four fingers, but the boost in destructive power more than made up for it.

With this...

I had found it.

A path to get stronger.

I kept firing magic bullets.

Aiming to be able to tuck in one more finger.

Until it was time to leave.