After leaving the training room, Leo and Camille went back to their living quarters to clean themselves before eating MREs.
After dinner, they went to their own rooms to rest.
While she laid on her bed, Camille recalled her training with Leo today.
‘That Leo… He’s growing too fast. This would normally be a good thing, but in his case, because of the recent events, his talent would only make him a bigger target…’ She sighed inwardly, eventually falling asleep.
Meanwhile, Leo went straight to sleep.
The following morning, after breakfast, they met up in the training room.
“Instead of just sparring with each other today, I want to teach you some basics when it comes to magic.”
“Basics?” Leo raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, these are things that all magic users should be able to do, regardless of their magic affinity. For example…”
Camille suddenly swatted her hand at Leo’s direction.
Whoosh!
Leo was suddenly sent flying when something smashed into him.
“W-What was that just now?!” Leo exclaimed afterward.
“It was just a simple mana blast. I forcefully released my mana. It’s like getting hit with a strong gust, but since mana is denser, it will hurt a lot more. You can use this trick to block incoming magic spells and even protect your body. Of course, since this is pure mana, it won’t be as strong as using a defensive magic spell. However, it’s great for emergencies when you don’t have the time to cast spells.” Camille explained.
“Go ahead and try it. Gather your mana just like when you cast a spell but without actually casting any spell, and whenever you’re ready, release it.”
Leo nodded and raised his arm in front of him with his palm facing Camille.
After spending a moment gathering his mana in his palms, he released it.
A muffled explosion resounded as a massive amount of pure mana blew towards Camille’s direction, who was prepared for it.
“Not bad, but that was a waste of mana. Since mana blast isn’t lethal unless you use a tremendous amount of mana, you are better off saving your mana for actual magic spells to deal with your enemies. As I’d said, this technique is mainly used to keep your enemies away, so it’s not wise to spend too much mana on it. There’s another reason why…”
pᴀɴᴅᴀ-ɴoᴠᴇʟ “Try hitting me again with it.” Camille suddenly said.
“Okay.”
Leo released another mana blast at her, but it was half as powerful this time.
“Eh?” Leo was surprised to see Camille standing there without moving even though she didn’t have a barrier around her.
“I am currently protecting my body by exuding the mana inside my body and forming an invisible barrier around my body. As long as I have this mana barrier, your mana blast will be significantly less effective on me. “
“However, this mana barrier is quite fragile since it’s made out of pure mana, and it’s only effective against pure mana attacks. If you hit me with a casual Void Spear, the mana barrier would shatter easily.”
“With that being said, mana barrier can still reduce some damage done to your body and could even save your life, so you should prioritize it during emergencies instead of trying to rush a defensive magic spell.”
“I understand.” Leo nodded.
“Then for the rest of the day, we’re going to train your mana blast and mana barrier.”
“For your first training, I am going to throw magic at you and you will have to block or deflect them using mana blast. Keep in mind, if your mana blast is too weak, my magic will pierce right through it and hit you.”
“Okay.”
Once they were ready, Leo and Camille stood about 20 meters apart from each other.
Camille started by throwing a casual golden spear at him.
When the spear was on the verge of hitting him, Leo released mana blast right in front of the spear
The golden spear was immediately destroyed.
“You’re using too much mana, Leo! Read my magic and adjust your mana blast accordingly!”
“Yes!”
Camille threw another golden spear at him a moment later.
However, Leo’s mana blast was too weak this time, and his body was struck by it.
“This is also to train your senses! Learn to read your opponents mana and magic spells! You may be stronger than a lot of students in this academy in terms of magic power, but you still lack experience in other aspects!”
Thus, for the rest of the day, Leo would practice reading Camille’s mana and his mana blast.
Three days later, Leo started training his mana barrier when Camille was satisfied with the results of his mana blast training, as he was able to perfectly read her mana and deflect all of her magic spells without wasting too much mana.”
“For this part of the training, you are only allowed to stand there and use mana barrier. You are also not allowed to keep your mana barrier active for more than half a second, which will be lowered as you get better at it. While you can keep your mana barrier active at all times during a fight, that would be a waste of mana, so we’re going to train your reaction and timing with mana barrier. And to make it more difficult, I will be moving around the room so the attacks will come from all directions.”
“Yes!”
Thus, they continued their training for the rest of the week.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
It’s been nine days since Leo consumed the fake Fruit of Magic Awakening and shocked the world, and for the first time since then, Headmistress Eve was finally able to step out of her office after speaking with countless people through the phone and through meetings.
Of course, there were still people trying to contact her, but it was not as frequent, and she has already spoken to all of the required people.
“Now that all of that is out of the way, I can finally start training Leo. We have a little under a month left until the tournament… This should be enough time to turn Leo into a powerhouse.” A smile appeared on her face as she returned to her living quarters for the first time in 9 days.
