Ardent sighed. He knew he should not expect much, but being taught by a 2nd Circle Mage should not be as boring as this.
'It's not even a month yet. Should I show my created Mana Core?' Ardent pondered, before deciding patience is a virtue.
'I hope I don't regret this decision.' Though, for some reason, Ardent was sure he will regret it.
-x-
'I need to be patient.' Ardent screamed in his head, hoping to get the message though. However, even with all his preparation for the boring lessons, he still did not prepared enough.
Ardent observed as some of the children try to create their own Mana Core. For the last few weeks, three weeks to be exact from their first lesson, no one came close. The closest one is Catlin and even she will probably took 2 months, top.
Ardent then swirled his Mana Core, pretending he was still in the process of forming the Mana Core. The 3 years hiding his Mana Core had turned him into an expert in concealing it.
He could walk past the two strongest Mages of the village and they did not suspect a thing. Even Catlin's father, who he had met only once, did not look twice in his direction.
It made him want to see how much he can get away with and so, try to let out his Mana Core on few occasion just to test the Mages of the village.
It was a joke. The Mages that is. They could barely pick up his Mana Core, merely looking around yet unable to pinpoint the exact location of the Mana, him.
It almost made him wonder if his caution is even needed before putting it in his head it is better to be safe than sorry.
It also made him go out in the night more often, to get a proper practice and training session. The night training session is much more fruitful compared to learning magic from the 2nd Circle Mage, which is to be expected considering the lesson is the most basic thing of magic.
'Besides, I can tell there is better way to create a Mana Core.' he thought.
As he inspect the other children, he could see the control of their Mana are rather sloppy, making it hard to maintain a Mana Sphere, which would lead to the creation of their Mana Core.
He could see the older Mage trying to get the children to control their Mana but it is a hard process.
'Well, it is better than nothing. Though, I wonder how they will react when I 'create' my Mana Core.' Ardent could not wait for next week.
-x-
"Hhmm, your young'un need to focus more on your Mana Control. If not, it is impossible to create your Mana Core." Alfon advised. He watched as the student went back to their Mana Control.
He shook his head. So far, very few show promises. They could all become Mages, their potential being the highest among the village's younglings, don't get him wrong but it will be hard for them to become a 1st Circle Mage at this rate.
The old man sighed. Out of the 10 'proper village's Mages, only him and Cross are 2nd Circle Mage while the rest are 1st Circle Mage. At least they have the addition of three more 1st Circle Mages with one of them being Cross' eldest son.
Speaking of which, his only daughter is taking the lesson to become a Mage.
'At this rate, all of his children will become 1st Circle Mages.' it is something Alfon hope for. After all, the more Mages they have, the greater the possibility of the village to grow.
Alfon could not hope for it to become a town, much less a city but hoping for it to be equal to some of the larger villages is possible.
Alfon then look to some of the more promising children. There are 3 showing great promises though most of them are on the older side. However, there is one child which potential far eclipsing even Cross' daughter.
'Ardent.' he looked at the black-haired boy. The young boy is someone that suffer from what seem to be an early and weakened version of Mana Development Death. Which is very lucky, for the young boy and the village.
'In fact, it might be the reason for him to be so talented.' while using Mana before the age of twelve would be impossible, sensing it is another matter.
Alfon would bet the child manage to detect Mana and trained himself in someway, allowing him to control his Mana to a certain extant. After all, grasping Mana early on made it easier for the creation of Mana Core.
'Hmmm, let's keep observing him. Maybe he will create his Mana Core faster than Cross' daughter.' Alfon mused to himself.
-x-
Alfon looked to the sky. He could see the sun was about to take a dip.
He sighed, it seem no miracle will happen soon.
"Children, the class will end in 10 more minutes. Remember to practice Mana Control when you can. It maybe the only way for you to not stuck as a Zero Circle Mage." Alfon advised.
Zero Circle Mage, while is a Mage, possess combat power only slightly above an archer or a slinger. Mana Bolt is a weak spell that do damage proportion to the amount of Mana poured into the spell. Since Zero Circle Mage did not have much Mana to begin with, they could not do much though they do have the advantage over archers and slingers in that they did not need to carry their weapon.
However, due to how weak Zero Circle Mage is to 1st Circle Mage, they often put as part of the village's guard, not actively helping the village in suppressing threats like the 13 Mages of the village.
The village has 34 Zero Circle Mages, which show how easy it is to have potential Mages but how hard it is to nurture them to become 1st Circle Mage.
Alfon was about to look away when he sense something. Looking at Ardent, he gasped, sensing the creation of a Mana Core from the boy.
'I-imposible.'