This is hard, just as I thought.
It may be hard, but not unreasonable. The reason I say that is because I seem to have a bigger mana pool compared to others.
I can cast lots of spells but...
"This... seems to be my limit."
My mana nexus was beating and I was breathing heavily. When I looked at the shadow swords I made, I recreated around 65% of the symbol on the other wall. I was using the wall opposite the one that had the swords on it.
The problem here wasn't that I don't know the symbol. (The symbol is Azuka's Emperor's Sigil.)
The problem is that I don't have enough mana to make the symbol. Maybe it's because I spell crafted like Azuka said, which I still don't understand, but I still doubt I'd have enough mana to finish the sigil.
"Not bad."
Azuka said.
She finally changed out of her bathrobe and into a black and white dress.
"I can't do this."
The Emperor put on an ignorant look.
"Hm? Why?"
She tilted her head playfully.
I regained my breath before talking. I pointed to the wall with the shadow swords.
"That's my limit. I could make like ten more but I'd faint due to mana exhaustion."
"You haven't been taught by Lilith yet?"
"No."
Why would she ask that?
"Well, that's not a problem. I won't help you since there is nothing for me to do."
"What? But, I can't do this. My mana pool doesn't allow it."
"Oh, no, you can do it. With your mana pool, you definitely can but you need to think outside of the box slightly."
"Outside of the box?"
I repeated in a breathy voice.
I don't know how long I'd have to wait for my mana to recover but it would take a while.
"To be honest, this training shouldn't even be a day for you."
Azuka shrugged.
"Could you give me a hint?"
"If you don't get it on your next try."
I sighed.
---
3 hours and it was the afternoon.
My mana pool had recovered all of the mana it lost and the shadow swords on the wall disappeared. Now, it was time to try again.
I don't know what Azuka wants me to do but I'll just try again with some more accurate shots.
It took me around 45 minutes to completely exhaust my mana pool. With the mana I hadn't wasted on spell crafting, I got around 70% of the sigil but not 100.
It's impossible to get 100% of the sigil. What does Azuka want me to do?
I don't understand.
"That's good but not what I was talking about."
Azuka said, sipping a drink as she lay in her lounge chair.
"Could you..."
I paused to catch my breath.
"Give me a hint now..."
"Fine. Don't think that you need to recreate it exactly. As long as you recreate the sigil, it's fine."
I looked at her blankly.
"That's a terrible hint."
"Oi, I'm not some sort of poet."
I don't need to recreate it exactly.
What does that mean?
Well, I can think about that for the next 3 hours I'm idle. I sighed and looked at the ceiling.
---
Around 3 hours later, my mana pool recovered once more and I thought about one other thing than the hint. How can I wait 3 hours without being audibly bored?
I began thinking that Calm Mind increased my patience, maybe, but I don't know the answer.
Anyway, I came to a conclusion after 3 hours of thinking about Azuka's hint.
She said that I don't have to recreate it exactly as how it is.
In Magic Theory, I learnt that the mass and potency of a spell are equal to how much mana is spent casting. All this time, I've been trying to exactly recreate the sigil made of swords on the wall.
Azuka never told me to exactly recreate it, so told me to make it.
Which means I can use different weapons.
I decided to change the mass of the mana swords, meaning that they shrink in size, meaning that I use up less mana.
If I put less thought into how accurate I put the swords then I'll still have some mana left.
"Let's try it."
I created a small sword and started.
It took me slightly longer than using normal shadow swords but, eventually, I was able to complete it.
I wasn't feeling that tired either. I still had about a tenth of my mana left.
"Well, that was not what I was expecting."
Azuka said, getting off of her lounge chair.
"But you did it, so I won't complain."
"Wait, this isn't what you meant?"
I asked her.
"It was similar. What I wanted you to do was try to use different weapons. What I wanted you to use was a dagger instead of a sword but you kept with the same aspect throughout so, I congratulate you since you came up with a way that I hadn't thought of."
I smiled slightly.
"What was the point of this training?"
Azuka thought about it.
"Well, originally, it was to develop your imagination with spellcasting but you were able to do that easily. With this one, it was to increase your ability to think flexibly when unable to do something."
She wanted me to think outside of the box from the beginning. Who would've thought?
Not me, anyway.
Suddenly, I blacked out for a second and when I next realised, I was on the ground.
"Huh?"
"Overexertion. Sure, you recovered your mana fully before doing anything but your mana nexus is exhausted and that exhaustion has spread through your mana channels throughout your body. It will go away with a nice rest."
"Can't I overcome this somehow?"
Azuka gave a cheeky smirk before turning away.
"That's for Lilith to teach and not me. You'll start your next training tomorrow. Now, get out."
"Ri--"
Before I was able to reply, there was a sword, stuck in the ground, right between my legs.
"Now."
"Yes, ma'am!"
And I escaped without any permanent damage to my lower half.
Thank god.
---
Somewhere on the Pacific Ocean, the fleet of ships were aligned and travelling at the same speed.
On one of the ships, in a large room, there were two people.
Someone upon a throne and a boy below him.
The boy was unbelievably handsome. He had a sharp look about him. He had jet-black hair and crimson eyes. He wore a medieval trenchcoat with a fur neck. He had red markings around his eyes.
"Judgement. What are you doing?"
The person on the throne asked in a rather demanding tone.
The reason why he asked with such hostility was because the boy, Judgement, was not bowing. Something that would be common when meeting this man.
"Father. I'm simply going through with your teachings."
The boy said, smiling slightly.
"When I was born, you thought me, and the other Tarots, that when we see the potential for power, we should snatch it."
"I did but I never said anything about trying to take my position from me."
"And I'm not."
The man winced.
"So, what is your objective?"
"I need only accomplish one of my two goals. One is to steal a few of the Tarots permanently from you."
The man slammed the arm of the throne.
"Are you out of your mind?! You cannot do that when we are at a crucial stage of capturing the Fool!"
"Oh, I'm not asking for consent."
The boy joked.
"I feel like your second goal is more ridiculous than your first. What is it?"
Suddenly, the boy's eyes glared at the man but the smile stayed plastered on his face.
"To kill you, Father."
The man did not laugh or react in any way. His yellow eyes glared down at Judgement.
"Where did you adopt such a foolish attitude?"
"Nowhere. Might I say, it was simply my Judgement."