"He knows a lot. I imagine he would share eye-opening information."
Judy's comment about Henry was uttered with seriousness. Her playfulness was gone, and it was replaced by an expression of gratitude.
Remembering Henry helping her answer the enigma that plagued her family for decades made her feel like a junior before him. She owed him a lot.
"Is that so?"
Sabrina's eyes lit up. She became more expectant of his words.
"That was just a casual spell. I noticed Correal use his foot to propel himself forward. Then I supplied a lot of mana to the spell, reduced it when I successfully canceled out his momentum, and finally stopped the spell."
For Henry, it was second nature to calculate these things. He used to conjure more complicated spells in his past life. A Simple-class spell was nothing.
"Woahhhh!"
Sabrina's eyes turned round. Her mouth formed an 'O' shape. She thought about it, and his words made a lot of sense to her.
"But how did you cast your spell without a chant?"
Sabrina was more curious about that. It was a crucial element of Henry's success in canceling Correal's momentum.
If he couldn't react, it would be useless to have that great control over his mana.
"My master taught me well."
Henry smiled. He looked up at the sky and pretended to reminisce about his past while he was being taught by his powerful master.
That action convinced Judy and Sabrina. The duo believed his words and wondered what kind of teaching or training he had.
"It's great to have a great master…"
Sabrina was envious. She also looked up at the sky. She wondered how well of a magus she would be right now if she were under the same kind of master as Henry.
"You don't need a great master to become a great magus. You only need to have the resolve to continue when you're at your lowest," Henry said.
He stood up. It was time for him to leave. He had already said what he needed to say, and he gained the information he wanted to know.
Sabrina and Judy stared at him in surprise. His words sounded like it came from experience.
They immediately thought it was just their imagination, and they waved their hands.
"See you in class!"
"Bye-bye!"
Henry nodded at them and left. "Bye."
Once he was gone, Judy looked at Sabrina.
"You have feelings for him?" she asked.
"What? No!"
"Why would you want his 'magic'?" Judy teased. After crying earlier, she was in the mood to tease people.
"To hell with that slang!" Sabrina turned pink and shouted.
She stood up and left Judy alone.
With a faint smile, Judy left in a different direction.
…
Henry reached the Magic Circuit Maintenance Building.
"Henry!"
Trago shouted as soon as he saw Henry enter. He wanted to chat with the young man since he left before.
The opportunity to find him never came. No one had seen Henry these past three days.
The news of him defeating a senior student had spread, and thus, Trago had been eagerly waiting for him to come.
"Teacher Trago?"
Henry was surprised at his excitement.
"I forgot to tell you something. You are now allowed to study all of our magic circuits after what you did! The whole building thanks you!"
Trago bowed with no hesitation. The other students and Prospect bowed in unison. It was a massive show of respect.
"Your changes allowed us to have no need to maintain the magic circuit as often."
Trago was happy, and so were the other students. Many of them were here to study and get contribution points. It was hard to study magic circuits when you needed to maintain one too.
One might think that maintaining a magic circuit would help them learn. It was contrary to that. Instead, they would get no benefits from walking around.
The magic circuit was already fully made. It didn't tell them its essence.
For them, the blueprints were more helpful. It detailed a lot more than the finished magic circuit. In actuality, they rarely needed to look at the magic circuit.
"I learned a lot from the magic circuit. It was my way of saying thanks," Henry waved his hand at them.
He was all smiles, seeing their gratitude. He enjoyed guiding others, so he was happy with their response.
"You're a good student. We're sure the rumors were merely lies. The Principal is not this talented."
Trago laughed. He had heard of the rumor that Henry was the principal's illegitimate son.
Prospect covered his mouth at the side. He didn't expect Trago to take a jab at the principal in front of the students.
Henry didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The joke was over the top.
Meanwhile, the students in the massive room clenched their jaws, stopping themselves from laughing. They feared they would get in trouble if they laughed.
"You say you learned it all that fast?" Trago confirmed.
His smile was still there, but he obviously forced it. He just realized what Henry's words meant.
"I have prior knowledge. My master was very strict… Cough."
Henry could not remember his master, but he was certain she never taught him magic circuits. He had a memory that he once sneaked into a library to copy their magic circuits.
It was tough learning magic circuits back then.
Once again, it was very convenient to pin everything to a nonexistent master. It allowed others to understand why without truly explaining why.
Trago and Prospect's faces turned bitter. They, too, remembered their respective masters. It was tough learning magic circuits. Those were their dark days.
Trago's respect for Henry grew. A sense of camaraderie formed in his heart. He thought that Henry was the same as him, and he was inspired.
Prospect smiled and shook his head. This little guy was smart. One day, they would only be able to look up at him.
Henry nodded at them.
"How was Felicia?"
Henry was here to inquire about Felicia. He knew she spent all of her time here, and they should've witnessed what she was like.
He was curious about it as her master. She showed signs that she was a talent when it came to magic circuits.