Chapter 97 - Astounding

“For the human body, mana comes from the soul, right? Humans are a product of their environment, so the mana within humans, including the sou,l comes from the environment. However, the environment, no… the world itself is one massive body on its own. Everything is connected, the ecosystem, plants, animals, weather, seasons… it’s like we’re all living in the body of yet another being known as this world.”

As I spoke, Neron began to understand where I was going. From his facial reaction, he was astounded that I thought so far.

“If, then, mana originates from the soul of humans, shouldn’t the same apply to this massive world we live in? Yes, what I’m simply trying to say is this; This World has a soul… and that is the source of all Mana!”

Silence!

Pure silence radiated around me as I finished giving my answer. The students looked surprised and confused about what to do. Should they applaud me for my immensely complex answer, or jeer at me for saying something so out of the norm.

Neron also didn’t say anything. He just kept looking at me with a twinkle of amazement in his eyes. I felt uncomfortable on my feet, so I bowed my head and returned to my seat.

“I see…” Was all the lecturer could mutter before looking at the final student who would speak.

As expected, he also followed the same path as the other students, blankly asserting without any basis. By the time he finished giving his answer, the boy sat down and made an awkward look.

Compared to the particularly compelling speech I made, his was so underwhelming. From the cold, stagnant air in the room, everyone could tell that this was an anticlimactic ending.

“Good. You’ve all spoken.” Neron smiled as he left the lectern and moved closer to our desks.

We were only eleven, after all.

“You’ve all given what I will assume to be answers based on your personal opinion, however, this question remains one of the unsolved ones in the history and continued existence of Magic.”

Now closer to us, his students, Neron’s eyes could capture everyone’s movements, and I could see his gaze shifting to me every once in a while.

“The one who is acclaimed to have gotten the closest to the answer is the Great Sage Lewis Griffith. He postulated, as one of you mentioned, the Mana-Soul Theory.”

I stifled a smile.

“The only reason his theory isn’t accepted as the final law concerning the origin of Mana is due to the fact that Great Sage Lewis Griffith was inept, so arguments rose concerning the validity of his statement. Although his reports were accurate, and he did a detailed study into the subject matter, the inability to use mana himself made it the final hurdle that his theory couldn’t cross in order to be proven as law.”

Despite how painful it was to accept, the truth was evident. Many of my revolutions to magic took way longer than they should have since I didn’t have mana. If not for my friends and acquaintances who decided to cooperate with my experiments and lent me their aid several times, I wouldn’t have discovered many groundbreaking truths.

In the end, I owed it to them. Still, there was only so much second-hand knowledge and experience that could help a person. I intended to make the utmost use of my mana-infused body and again bring a revolution to Magic.

But, not just magic… not anymore!

“With that as a pretext, I’ll be introducing today’s topic to you. We’ll basically be dealing with several theories and analyzing them one after the other. You will all tell me what you think, and give a supporting basis for it.” Neron stated

I saw the look of discomfort and guilt on the faces of many students who realized that they had made that mistake in answering the question our Lecturer had thrown at the class.

“I do not want you to just blindly follow a theory just because the proponent was revered. I do not also want you to easily accept the words I speak to you—not without opinions of your own. This will be an interactive class, and I hope you will all cooperate.”

We all responded positively, at least on the outside. But, I could tell that many students were not pleased. They most likely just wanted to be taught and didn’t want to have to think for themselves.

Magic theories, spells, mana applications—most students simply wanted to learn them without much hassle. As long as they did so, they could excel as Magic-Users. However, Neron Kaelid, our lecturer, wanted us to think outside the box and be innovative… the worst thing a lazy person would love to hear.

‘I don’t really expect much from anyone in the Magic Department. I took my time to study them back at the apartment, the little I could. They have little potential, same as everyone, but just barely enough. Unlike me who had my past memories and had already built a foundation for myself using SPELLCRAFT and my multiple cores, the ones didn’t have such privileges.

They were most likely going to end up being mediocre Magic-Users once they left the Academy. I somehow understand why the academy felt the need to separate the students from each other. It was merely flawed since they decided it only based on Mana core grades.

‘They’re not very talented, plus they don’t have too great an attitude to learning. They’re lazy!’ I made a fine assessment as I stared at them.

The only route for non-talented students to escape the mediocrity that awaited them would be to work extra hard and also endeavor to be innovative. By being unique and applying one’s knowledge in a bizarre, unprecedented way, even the underdog had a chance to make it to the top. These guys weren’t for that though. Well, there were technically seven boys and three girls—minus me, of course.

Neron sure had his work cut out for him.

“Now then, let’s dive into the first theory for today! It is the—”