(Arin's Perspective)
The overcast sky that had loomed since morning began to tear apart, allowing pillars of sunlight to break through and touch the wet soil of the capital. In a secluded corner of the Academy, an old, rarely visited training ground stood as the silent witness to our experiment.
I sat on a long wooden bench where the paint had peeled away with age. Beside me, Erika was busy polishing her personal wand. The wand was dull, a piece of cheap wood likely scavenged from a flea market. Yet to Erika, it was the only bridge to her dreams.
On my lap, a thick tome titled "Advanced Magic - Marcel Well" lay open. I flipped through the pages rapidly, my eyes scanning every relevant diagram of mana circuits.
Thud.
I closed the book. Enough. The data had been gathered.
I turned, fixing Erika with a serious gaze like a surgeon about to deliver a diagnosis.
"Erika, there are three hypotheses we must test to dissect your First Magic Syndrome. Hypothesis A: Forced Limit Breakthrough. Hypothesis B: Chemical Stimulation. And Hypothesis C: Structural Modification."
Erika straightened her back, her face tense yet filled with enthusiasm. "Ready, Professor Arin."
"Any questions?"
"What are the chances I pass out again today?"
"Fifty-fifty."
"..."
Erika's face paled.
"Kidding. At most, you will just get a nosebleed," I corrected casually.
Erika let out a long sigh, somewhere between relief and resignation. "Alright, I trust you."
Ignoring her worry, I cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"We start with Hypothesis A. It is simple. You just need to cast a High Circle spell, but break the circuit into several small parts and then reassemble them at the tip of the wand."
Erika nodded firmly. She stood up, closed her eyes, and began to murmur the incantation.
Twenty seconds passed. A partial magic circle formed in the air. The spell looked pathetic. Ten seconds later, another fragment appeared, trying to complete it.
Second Circle Magic: Flower Freezing.
The circuit nearly fused perfectly. However, suddenly the core flickered wildly. The frequency was unstable.
"Cancel it! Now!" I shouted.
Erika flinched and cut her mana flow.
BZZT!
Blue sparks popped at the tip of her wand, thankfully not exploding. Erika took a step back, holding her breath.
"Failed, huh..." she muttered, her shoulders slumping.
"That is excellent data. It means the brute force method is incompatible with your physiology. We move to Hypothesis B."
I dug into my pocket, pulling out a small bottle filled with light green liquid. "Drink this. It is a 'Mana Resonance Potion'. I added mint extract so it doesn't taste like ditch water."
Without a shred of hesitation, Erika downed the liquid in one go.
"How is it?" I asked, taking notes in my book.
Erika smacked her lips. "Tasty. Fresh. My mind feels incredibly clear."
"Good. Try casting again."
Erika tried once more. But unfortunately, the result was nil. The magic circle still failed to form perfectly. The girl's face grew gloomier, as if dark clouds had returned to hang over her head.
"There is no change in my magic... I'm sorry, Arin," she whispered.
I gave a thin smile. "Who said it failed? That potion wasn't to strengthen your magic. It was just sugar water mixed with mint and a little caffeine to sharpen your focus."
"Huh? So you tricked me?!"
"Not a trick, a placebo. Now that your mental state is stable and your focus is sharp, we move to the main course. Hypothesis C."
I stood up, patting Erika's shoulder to channel a bit of confidence.
"Listen carefully. Forget the ice element. Forget the beautiful shape of a rose. Your syndrome is like a leaking sieve. If you pour a large rock like Second Circle Magic into it, it gets stuck. But if you pour sand... it passes through."
I pointed to a straw dummy at the far end of the field.
"Shoot that dummy with First Circle Magic: Mana Bullet."
Erika obeyed. She cast quickly. Three seconds.
Pew.
A clump of blue light glided lazily, hitting the dummy. A small hole formed, barely visible. A pathetic attack.
"See? Weak," Erika grumbled in frustration. "Elena could freeze this dummy until it shattered into pieces. I can only make an ant hole."
I placed my palm on Erika's forehead, then brought my face close until our noses nearly touched.
"A-Arin?!" Erika squeaked in surprise, her cheeks flushing a deep red. Her eyes shut tight.
"Temperature normal. Pupils responsive. Good, your brain is ready," I said flatly, pulling back.
Erika opened her eyes, staring at me with a mix of confusion and annoyance. "You... my heart nearly stopped, you know!"
"That is the point, Erika. Heart rhythm."
I pointed at her wand.
"Your problem is that you try to condense one big bullet. Don't condense it; try to multiply the quantity. Your brain, affected by the syndrome, breaks down complex circuits automatically, right? So, do not fight the current. Follow it."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't make one complex circuit. Make ten simple circuits simultaneously, then stack them. Like shooting a hundred arrows."
"That is impossible! My concentration will break!" Erika protested.
"It won't. You drank the 'potion' earlier. Your focus is at its peak right now."
I grasped Erika's hand holding the wand, guiding her aim.
"Don't focus on power. Focus on rhythm. One-two-three-four. Release the Mana Bullet, but do not stop. Make your mana flow like a flood breaking a dam."
Erika took a deep breath. She began to center her mind.
Pew... pew...
The initial shots were still stiff and disjointed.
"Faster!" I barked. "Don't think! Let your syndrome do the work! Turn your defect into a weapon!"
Erika squeezed her eyes shut. Cold sweat dripped down her temple. She stopped holding back her mana and let it leak wildly.
Suddenly, the tip of her wand vibrated violently.
DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-DU!
Not one ball of light. There were dozens. No, hundreds.
A barrage of marble-sized mana bullets spewed from the tip of the wand without pause, creating a blue line that dazzled the eyes. The sound was no longer a soft whistle, but the roar of a magical gatling gun.
The straw dummy out there was not pushed back. It was shredded.
Straw, wooden supports, and even the earth behind it were blasted into the air, torn apart by a storm of pure kinetic energy. In seconds, the dummy vanished, replaced by a plume of dust and debris of destruction.
Silence.
A terrifying stillness descended once more on the old field.
I stared at the remains of the dummy with shining eyes. The Multicast Stacking Theory... was a success.
Erika opened her eyes slowly. She stared at the void in front of her with her mouth hanging open.
"I... I did that?"
A second later, the wand slipped from her grip. Erika collapsed, clutching her head while groaning in pain.
"Argh! It hurts! My head feels like it's going to split!"
Fresh blood dripped heavily from both her nostrils, staining her uniform.
I immediately knelt, supporting her body so she wouldn't hit the hard ground.
"Easy, regulate your breathing. That is Mental Overheat," I explained while wiping the blood from her face with my sleeve. "Your brain just processed circuit calculations ten times faster than usual. That is why your brain couldn't handle the overload, draining your mental stamina completely."
Though her face was pale and her nose was bleeding, Erika looked up at me. There was a spark I had never seen before in those blue eyes. A spark of hope.
"It hurts so much, Arin..." she whispered weakly, but her lips curled into a wide smile. "But... I saw it. I saw the path to becoming a mage."
I returned her smile, this time sincerely. Erika was no longer the crybaby who resigned herself to fate.
"Rest. You were amazing today."
Erika nodded, then her consciousness slowly faded from exhaustion, her head drooping comfortably onto my shoulder.
I looked up at the sky, which was now perfectly clear.
"Welcome to the world of monsters, Erika. From now on, we will teach those nobles how to truly fight."
New Magic Technique: Stacking Magic.