Supreme Magus novel Chapter 67

Lith came down the ring with a dumbstruck expression, trying to understand what had just happened.

- "Maybe Professor Trasque wanted to teach you respect for the opponent. By beating them like that, you abused your power, and that’s exactly what the Headmaster criticised earlier." Solus pondered.

"Trasque caring for respect? After how he threatened everyone and how he laughed in the face of that girl? Unlikely." –

Lith stood there, watching the other students performing their training. As Trasque predicted, every exchange was fast, but not as fast as Lith’s. The performances he saw were mediocre at best, no points were assigned, but none were deducted either.

He was about to ask Solus to replay for him the exact wording Trasque had used, when he finally understood.

In the following two hours, whenever it was his turn, Lith would let his opponent perform his/her attack before neutralizing it when he played the victim, while as the assailant he would give them the time to react.

Doing so costed him several defeats.

Despite all his battle experience against savage and magical beasts, letting the opponent set his/her own rhythm would sometimes put him at a disadvantage that was unsurmountable in such a limited space, with only first magic.

Lith spent most of the time spectating the others, often clicking his tongue at a bad move or to his own stupidity. At the end of the lesson, most of the students were mentally exhausted.

The uniforms protected them from any harm first magic could do, but in such a competitive environment, even a simulated life and death situation was faced as real.

Playing in both roles, had made them realize how easy it was to take their lives, how big was the advantage that having a weapon granted during an ambush.

Only very few of them were actually capable of using first magic properly, the others were forced to improvise on the spot, desperately trying to score at least a win.

Lith was still fuming when Trasque came to him.

"Have you figured out your problem?" Trasque asked.

"Yes. This is an academy, not a battlefield. Hence my problem is an impulse control issue. During the warm up rounds, I took my opponents down so fast that neither of us could learn anything from the training.

In a real-life situation that would be good, but this is just an exercise, where I lost control on my pride and bloodlust. I risked to lead the others by example, making them so focused on winning to not learn neither from their fights or those of the others."

Trasque had a pleased expression.

"Not bad, kid. You avoided ranting about my allegedly unfair judgement and actually self-doubted yourself. Usually kids your age are incapable of introspection.

For that, I’ll give you ten points for having learned your lesson, but the total still remains minus ten points, because I want you to remember it. A mage incapable of controlling his actions, is a danger to himself and others."

Lith bowed to him in sign of respect before leaving for the next class. Ten points were worth the Professor’s respect, yet he realized that his reactions were out of proportions.

He was used to always be calm and collected, while now he was acting like a caged tiger trying to forcefully escape.

- "This is so unnatural for me. Why didn’t I pretend to accept Yurial’s peace offering yesterday? I had all to gain and nothing to lose. And today I wasn’t able to grasp the meaning of the exercise until it was too late.

Could this be another effect of the hormones, or is it my body somehow rejecting my mind?" –

The thought was quite frightening, so Lith used Invigoration while walking, checking every nook and cranny of his being, searching for a clue. At a first look, everything was fine, everything was as he remembered from over a year ago.

But then he noticed that the impurities in his body had moved a little toward his mana core, yet that made no sense. It would only happen when he refined his internal energy, and he had long been stuck by the bottleneck.

So, Lith focused on his mana core and discovered the source of all his troubles. It was pulsing, like a heart, at every beat it would turn to a lighter shade of cyan, while turning back at its normal colour when at rest.

- "Oh F*ck! My refining of the mana core has overlapped with its natural evolution. My core gets stronger over time, like everyone else’s, but I have pushed mine so far that my body can’t tolerate any further strengthening.

My body and core will be at war, until the latter isn’t allowed to expand properly. That’s why my first crush hit me so hard, the imbalance is also affecting my mind. From now on, I better count up to one hundred before taking any decision." –

The fear of ending like the Wither, sent chills down his spine. It was a fate far worse than death, and he could do nothing about it but hope for the growth spurt to finally arrive.

He was so depressed, that when he reached the Principles of Advanced Magic training hall, he barely noticed Professor Nalear.

The room was almost identical to the one they had just left, but instead of rings, strange contraptions occupied most of the space.