In retrospect, it was hard to find a more suitable person. Sylvia had a theoretical foundation that was easily Theo’s equal, and she had been personally taught by Blundell. She was a far better match than the masters who were difficult to understand.

“Yes, please take care of me as well.” Theo felt strange as he accepted the greeting.

They hadn’t been able to see each other since traveling to the Miller Barony together, since they had both been extremely busy. They were still friends, so they immediately noticed the changes in each other.

Uh, her hair is longer?

Sylvia was eighteen years old, and was still growing. She seemed more feminine than half a year ago, which Theo immediately noticed. Her hair, which had been cut around her neck, now flowed down her back, and her straight posture didn’t hide the smooth curves of her body. Her round, childlike eyes had also curved, and her jaw had grown more defined.

Theo had also changed in the last six months.

... Theo, you’ve grown.

Sylvia looked carefully up at Theo, who was now a head taller than her. He had only been a few fingers taller than her when they traveled together. The muscles under his loose clothing made Theo seem like a strong young man instead of a boy.

In fact, Gluttony and Lee Yoonsung were responsible for his growth. Theo was a baron’s son who had grown up in the countryside, so his physique was only mediocre. He didn’t have the lineage of a warrior, and neither of his parents had hulking physiques.

Yet Theo was now six feet tall. Extracting the essence of the original Battle Song had reconstructed his body from the ground up. Lee Yoonsung hadn’t been able to learn aura, but his physical condition had been extraordinary. No ordinary boy of fifteen would be able to traverse the continent alone. His body had contained the lineage of hundreds of years of martial artists.

For whatever reason, Sylvia and Theo felt uncomfortable with each other.

“Ah.”

Their eyes finally met, and Sylvia blushed bright red. She quickly looked away, her long silver hair falling to the side. Theo was a little relieved to realize that she hadn’t lost that introverted nature of hers. Only he had ever seen this side of Sylvia.

Sylvia was still looking away as she asked quietly, “Then shall we start?”

Only the slender fingers wrapped tightly around her staff gave her away.

***

Chants were words that a magician cried out more often than the names of their own family and friends. A few words would cause lightning to crash down, and flames to soar. For those who didn’t know magic, they were really mysterious words. However, every magician would deny that there was any special power in the words they used. It was just a habit.

“Fireball,” Sylvia murmured, and a fireball appeared in the air.

It was the 3rd Circle’s most famous attack spell, Fireball. One could summon a fireball and shoot it at a target.

The fireball rotated around her finger as she continued to explain, “[Basic Magic Theory] teaches that spells and chants can’t be separated. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that a new history of magic appeared once chants were developed. But...”

Sylvia frowned in concentration.

Whoosh!

An identical fireball appeared in the air above her. It was clearly a 3rd Circle Fireball.

She continued, “It is common now to perceive chantless casting as a step toward mastery, but prior to the advent of chants, chantless casting was the norm. Chants allowed more magicians to cast magic, so they were all captivated by the concept.”

Theo understood what she was getting at. “Chants... are they a restriction?”

Sylvia nodded. “Yes, you should know a bit about chants. Putting a certain amount of magic power into a magic formula is a type of ‘chant’.”

In other words, it was a kind of mental association. It was like recalling the texture, smell, and shape of a tree when thinking the word ‘tree’, just like how ‘rock’ reminded people of the texture, rigidity, and weight of a rock.

Likewise, Sylvia unconsciously calculated the magic formula, deployment method, and amount of magic power consumed when she thought of the word ‘Fireball’. It allowed a magician to quickly and consistently perform a spell.

She finished, “In other words, chant casting is a habit. A habit we created and carved into ourselves. It is difficult to rewrite a habit that has been ingrained for so long. I think that is the reason why your magic keeps failing.”

“Amazing, I never thought about it that way,” Theo felt admiration.

Sylvia's advice had contained insight that would’ve been difficult for others to appreciate. She had always cast spells while overflowing in sensitivity. Thus, she had to constrain herself using a casting method everyone else used.

She has a point. The feeling and calculation is the same, but the power to control it has suddenly changed. It may be a conflict between the unconsciously calculated contents and the consciously calculated contents.

Theo felt like a wall inside his head was collapsing.

“Okay! Then I’ll move onto the next topic.” On the other hand, Sylvia was excited about this situation.

It was the first time she was conversing with a peer like this. She could only talk to the elders of the magic towers or her grandfather. She was really happy to talk to Theo about everything she knew, even when he disagreed with her.

They spent many hours discussing possible solutions, but at the end, they came back to their first thought.

Theo sighed. “... Is it truly chantless casting?”

Sylvia nodded. “Yep, I think this is the case.”

The conclusion reached by the two geniuses was simple. From now on, Theo was to use chantless casting for all magic! It was possible to retrain his chant casting, but it would take at least three months if he devoted day and night to training. However, that time frame would change drastically if he tried to train himself in chantless casting.

It might take more than three months, or less than three months.

The schedule depended on Theo’s own learning ability, so he didn’t hesitate. He was confident that he could do it. After all, he had a girl he admired in front of him. He would do this, with the pride of a magician and a man.

Theo got up and held out a hand to Sylvia. “Let’s make it work.”

The path of making a habit out of chantless casting was a thorny road that only Sylvia had mastered before master level. It may be even more difficult than retraining his chant casting. However, if Theo was successful, his magic abilities would take a step closer into the master’s realm.

The girl smiled brightly at Theo’s determination. “Yes! You can do it!”

He had taken her hand to lead her out of isolation, and now it was her turn. Sylvia ignored the pounding of her heart and grabbed Theo’s hand. As always, she was grateful to him for coming to where she was.

Thus, the special training began.

***

It had been a month. After deciding to master chantless casting, Theo literally saw hell. His expanded senses started giving him trouble from the very beginning. It was like having three or four arms. Simply because he had always had two arms didn’t make it easy to control a third or fourth arm. Instead, it just confused his brain.

At first, 3rd Circle spells took a few seconds.

The chantless casting method Sylvia taught Theo was different from what he was used to. He had to force himself to use his newfound sensitivity to calculate the magic formula while trying to activate the spell.

The difficulty of the technique she had mastered was horrendously high, and Theo endured a pounding headache for the first few days. However, the culmination of his efforts didn’t betray him.

Hwaruruk!

Theo’s eyes narrowed and a huge fireball appeared above his head. It was the same 4th Circle Blaze Shell that he had failed to cast a month ago. As soon as Sylvia’s nod confirmed its stability, he cast the next spell.

His magic power flooded into the surrounding air.

4th Circle ice spell, Frozen Orb…

4th Circle lightning spell, Lightning Spear...

4th Circle wind spell, Gale Force...

Theo completed four spells simultaneously. He had successfully reached the level of maintaining 4th Circle intermediate magic without any issues.

Sylvia nodded and ordered, “Erase everything. Last one.”

The four powerful spells faded away as Theo unraveled the formula smoothly. His control boded well for his abilities. He was now at the point of casting spells under the 4th Circle instantly. However, Theodore’s and Sylvia’s capabilities didn’t end there.

The very next moment, the air distorted strangely.

Theo grunted in pain, “Ah.”

However, his focus didn’t waver and he completed the spell. He had brushed right up to the limits of the 5th Circle. The two magicians simultaneously looked up at the ceiling where a red flame was blazing.

“...Inferno, perfect.” Theo’s voice was laced with satisfaction.

Swiiik…

The red flame flickered, and Theo sighed as he smoothly canceled it. It was amazing that he had almost completed it in a month, but the improved spell was a burden. He couldn’t maintain it for longer than ten seconds. Still, it was a success, and both of them clapped with joy.

As Theodore was about to express his gratitude to Sylvia...

[Hoing!]

Mitra suddenly popped up under his feet.

“Mitra? What's going on?”

Mitra had also benefited from Theo’s heightened sensitivity, and she could freely appear in the material world whenever she wanted. Usually she played with Sylvia or with the dirt in a corner of the practice room, but she seemed particularly animated. She tried to tell them something as she tapped on their shoes.

Theo leaned down to listen

[Deo! Jun! Jun!]

“Jun?”

He was trying to understand her when there was a sudden knock on the door of the practice room.