A surge of mana welled up in Weasley's arms, channeled through his mana pathways and expelled out into the air and Weasley willed with all his might for the mana to convert into wind.
A small surge of some unknown sensation tickled the his fingertips before fizzling out. Weasley smiled in excitement. The feeling was getting stronger! He was getting closer!
Weasley looked at Henner with sparkling eyes who nodded approvingly in return. Her student was slowly but steadily improving much faster than she had expected.
' Looks like the technique is very compatible with him. We got lucky.' Henner thought in relief. Her student had made more progress in the past 2 hours of practice than he had in the three months prior.
From his first attempted cast, Weasley had already felt the tingling sensation that indicated that he was on the verge of being able to spell cast. This was thanks to his newly improved mana pathways that increased speed of his mana conversion to be almost at the level needed to successfully spell cast. To put it in perspective, the Weasley who trained diligently everyday would have needed at least another 5 months to reach this level that's had been achieved in a night's work.
Check pointing was just this powerful.
Naturally as explained before, this temporary boost might come back to bite Weasley in the ass at a later date but right now, Weasley didn't think too much about it. If at all.
" Blast!" Weasley belted as he attempted another cast. The feeling was getting even stronger still and through all the trial and error over the past few hours, Weasley had managed to vaguely grasp at the exact moment where he needed to apply the bulk of his willpower to maximise his mana conversion. He knew that once he managed to determine that exact millisecond in which applying his willpower would have the most effect, he would finally succeed in breaking through.
' Not there yet. Maybe I should wait a little longer before going for it.' Weasley thought to himself as he felt the power in his fingertips fizzle out out again.
Over the next few hours, Weasley would experiment with different combinations and timings, inching ever closer to the promised breakthrough. Weasley had completely lost perception of time and eventually only stopped when his mana finally came close to depletion.
Despite the fatigue, Weasley would have continued on if he could. He was so close! He could feel it! The feeling was had gotten so strong but it had always escaped him at the very last moment. It was like a a stream of water or a gust of wind. He could feel it, but never hold on it it.
" Need a break?" Henner asked
Weasley shook his head and reached out his hand, asking for a mana refilling potion. He knew that he was really close to something and he didn't feel like stopping now.
As its name suggested, a mana refilling potion helped refill one's mana supplies and allowed one to continue training in the case of mana depletion. It was a staple resource in magic cultivation at higher levels as the numerous trial and errors mages had to experience to break through would naturally be unsustainable by solely relying on their own mana supplies.
Weasley didn't use these before as his mana pathways had been too frail to handle the sudden surge of mana from the potion. However, his perseverance in committing to his rigorous training routine had made all the difference.
Henner hesitated for a bit before fishing out a small glass vial from her pocket. A small greenish liquid glowed subtly inside and swished about as Henner handed the vial over to Weasley.
Accepting the vial, Weasley uncorked it and downed its contents. A tart and acidic taste assaulted his tastebuds and Weasley's face reflexively scrunched up in discomfort.
As the last drop of potion trickled down his throat, Weasley felt renewed strength surge into his body like a tidal wave. His mind instantly cleared up and his fatigue vanished.
A small laugh of amazement escaped Weasley's lips as he took a moment to revel in the extraordinary nature of magic.
Making good use of his replenished mana and strength, Weasley resumed his training with Henner by his side keeping keen watch. The two didn't talk much, with their only interaction being the occasional pointers and encouragement that Henner would give weasley..
There wasn't much that Henner could do at this phase. It was up to him now and Weasley knew that.
The hours flew by and the sun rose fully, bestowing its radiance upon the land and driving away the darkness of the night. Weasley ran out of mana again.
This time however, Weasley didn't ask for another potion to refill his mana.
It was because he was stuck.
Weasley didn't know why, but for some reason the strength of the tingling feeling was not increasing anymore. It had been like that for the last hour. No matter how he went about doing it, he could find only one singular instance that he would get the strongest feedback and that was right after the instant where he released mana out of his body by several milliseconds.
He had tried delaying and expediting the instance by varying degrees but none gave him as strong a feedback. Not only that, trying to convert the mana at that instance also just felt right to him in his gut. It felt satisfying and correct.
But then why was he not breaking through?
Weasley couldn't understand.
" Bottlenecked?" Henner asked, raising an eyebrow.
Weasley looked over at his teacher and nodded. A heavy feeling settled on his chest as Weasley felt the possibility of taking days if not months to breakthrough this last obstruction loomed above him like an ominous thundercloud.
Apparently, his worries were showing on his face as well.
" Chill out. There isn't anyone is the world who can breakthrough a level without first overcoming the Wall Of Culmination. Frankly, it's astounding that you got here in just a mere 10 hours of practice. People take months for this you know?" Henner said nonchalantly.
Weasley had never heard of a Wall Of Culmination before but he guessed that it was the name used to refer to the final bottleneck that one would encounter before breaking through.
" Anywho, let's sit down and have lunch first. The person behind you has also been waiting quite patiently for you to finish."
' Person behind me? What pers-'
Weasley was just about to turn around when a dainty pair of hands covered his eyes and pulled his small head into a soft and tight embrace. A feminine voice speaking in a sing song voice sounded in his ear.
" Guess who it is!~~"
Weasley didn't have to guess, he already knew. He reached up one small hand and started trying to pry away the hands that covered his face.
The voice sounded again, this time seemingly more assertive but no less charming.
" Oi, guess who it is!"
Weasley could almost imagine his mother pouting as she said that and he heaved a sign of exasperation.
" I know it's you mom."
A small pause followed.
" Hehe, correct!" Sylvia as she removed her hands from Weasley's eyes.
Weasley was allowed to turn around and immediately came face to face with his mother who had a smile on her face as she almost always did. Or maybe leg to face was more apt since he was still so short.
Weasley got a small sense of deja vu when he opened his mouth to ask her why she was here and hastily rephrased his words to narrowly avoid disaster.
" Sorry to keep you waiting mom."
Weasley wasn't sure what to say so this had been all he managed to spontaneously blurt out. He definitely didn't want his mother to start messing with him again so he made sure to be careful with his words. A show of compassion would work best if that was the case right?
Sylvia's face brightened up a little and she rushed forward for another hug only for her advances to be rejected. Sylvia lifted her right hand and showed Weasley a wicker hamper that she had been holding.
" Lunch is served!" She declared with a bright smile.
Weasley, Henner and Sylvia sat down under a tree on the far side of the training field, employing the tree's canopy to be a shield against the scorching afternoon sun.
Weasley reached out and opened the hinged lid, only to be greeted by a delightful array of treats.The interior was lined with a soft, checked fabric, reminiscent of a quaint countryside picnic and neatly arranged within were rows of scrumptious delights.
A medley of sandwiches, wrapped in parchment, held secrets of savory fillings and freshly sliced vegetables.
Weasley only now realised how hungry he was. In his excitement and eagerness to breakthrough, he hadn't given his body's needs a second thought. Using mana was tiring and doing it under the hot sun only exacerbated the problem.
Weasley almost gave in completely to his instincts but held himself back. He didn't want to lose anymore of his teacher's respect after last night's fiasco. Not to mention that his mother was here as well.
' Be like a noble. Act like…a gentleman.' Weasley asserted unto himself as he clenched his fists and fought a raging, and losing battle against his animalistic urges.
" Please, ladies first." Weasley sat back, smiling and gesturing towards the food, all the while trying to keep himself in check and his saliva from overflowing.
The two ladies by his side naturally noticed this and giggled inwardly to themselves.
" If the young master insists~". Sylvia teased as she reached out for a sandwich. Henner soon followed suit.
Finally fulfilling his gentlemanly duty, Weasley grabbed a sandwich of his own and took a large bite.His teeth sank into the treat which easily gave way as the soft bread and ingredients weaved a symphony of flavours that made Weasley's tastebuds melt with pleasure.
Weasley signed in satisfaction as his first sandwich disappeared into his mouth.
Casting a furtive gaze around, Weasley reached for another sandwich as he saw that his mother and teacher had finished their first sandwiches as well. He didn't want to embarrass himself by appearing overly eager so he made sure to hold himself back.
He reached for another.
And another.
And another.
Eventually, the once full basket lay empty and Weasley slouched back and breathed a sign of satisfaction lanced with a trace of regret. He would have gotten some more if he could have.
Inwardly signing, he simply comforted himself with the knowledge that stuffing himself to the extreme would not be beneficial for his later training.
" Thanks mom, it was delicious!" Weasley expressed his gratitude with a smile.
Sylvia shook her head and said: " You can thank Maria. She spent the morning making this for us."
Weasley nodded, making a mental note to thank the maid later when he returned to the manor.
" Anyway, it looks like you've reached your first Wall Of Culmination. Just on time too if I'm not wrong right?"
Weasley's eyes widened slightly as he sat up straight looked his mother in amazement.
' How does mom know? Did she overhear what Henner had told me earlier?' Weasley thought.
However, Henner herself knew that was not the case. Even if it was, Sylvia wouldn't have to use a roundabout method like overhearing when she could just see it by simply looking.
Henner had managed to deduce that Weasley had reached the Wall Of Culmination earlier by reading his confused and constipated facial expressions but Sylvia didn't need to do that. The ascension requirement for a person to breakthrough from Grand Mage to Arch Mage lay in this very difference.
Astral sight. The ability to see directly into the souls of one's adversaries and gauge their strength and level.
Henner glanced at the silver haired woman next to her with a tinge of jealousy. Not only was she already at a level that Henner had been striving to reach for the past five years, certain assets of hers were also at a level that Henner could not hope to reach regardless of how many years of training he put in.
Sylvia looked back at her son and continued talking.
" It looks like I will be able to start teaching you soon."
Weasley let out a nervous bark of laughter.
" I sure hope so mom. I honestly don't know how long I'll take to break through is bottleneck. It might take 5 hours or 5 months for I know."
This time, it was Sylvia's turn not to understand. She cocked her head lightly to her right and her eyebrows knitted together in a expression of confusion.
"What do you mean? You will break through by today. You have to."
" I want to as much as you do mom. But I'm not sure if I can." Weasley signed
" No, no you misunderstand. Don't you know? No one has taken more than a day to breakthrough a Wall Of Culmination."