Chapter 168: Parallel Thinking

Class Caelis Astralis Arcanum,

The classroom quieted the moment Zane lifted his gaze.

“Today,” he said, voice calm but carrying easily, “we start something… special.”

A few warrior-track students straightened, curious.

Zane smirked lightly.

“Yes, even you warriors should listen. What I’m about to teach is not limited to mages.”

He folded his arms behind his back, pacing slowly.

“Most of you,” he began, “can cast only one spell at a time because your minds run on a single line. One thought, then the next… like beads sliding on a string.”

He tapped his temple.

“Parallel thinking breaks that. You split your thought process into two independent currents—two minds operating at once. It’s not like multitasking in mudane sense in which you quickly switch to one task to another whille completing it, but a complete separate thought flows.”

Several students swallowed nervously.

“Imagine,” he continued, “your mind as two rivers flowing side by side. Both flowing side by side without merging or disturbing other…” Zane chuckled softly,

A hand rose. “Then professor, do we just… try to think two spells at once?”

Zane’s expression said cute attempt and he smiled and shake his head

“If it were that easy, half of you would already be prodigies. When done wrong, both currents collapse. It could cause mana leaks or your magic circles can destabilize and the spell can get out of control.”

The room collectively flinched.

Zane gestured with his eyes toward the his hands .

“Watch.”

He didn’t chant or do anything different . He simply lifted both hands.

A crimson magic circle unfurled above his left palm—it was smooth, blazing and steady.

A blue circle spun above his right—cool and glassy .

“I am currently dividing my thought process essentially my mind in to two where left mind controlling flame,” Zane said casually.

“The right—water.”

Both circles completed at the exact same heartbeat.

FWOOOM—SHHHHH—

A stream of fire and a thin jet of water burst forward, weaving together.

The two elements twirled around one another without clashing, forming a glowing ring of steam that rotated around him like a celestial halo.

Gasps erupted across the classroom.

The ring evaporated… leaving Zane untouched, not even warmed.

“This,” he announced, lowering his hands, “is dual casting. Mastery Parallel thinking allows you to duel cast magic meaning let you cast two different or same magic at the same time unlike before where you have to use magic spell one at a time.”

He gave them a small, knowing smile.

“And once you reach higher mastery in parallel thinkinh and can maintain three or more independent currents of thought?”

His eyes glowed faintly, something dangerous flickering behind them.

“You’ll be ready for multicasting.”

A suffocating silence fell over the class.

Even Ron, Lia, Selene, and Jax stared wide-eyed at the insane demonstration.

Zane clapped once.

“But right now , multicasting is beyond for all of you. So let’s start with the basics. Parallel thinking. One step at a time.”

Zane clapped his hands once, drawing everyone’s attention back from the shock of dual casting.

“Alright,” he said, “to learn parallel thinking, I’m giving you an exercise. As you pass one stage, I’ll give you the next.”

A hand shot up.

“Professor, why don’t you just teach the technique directly?”

Zane sighed—long, dramatic, almost theatrical—and gave a tired smile.

“You think you can just learn it? Most of you can’t even cast two spells consecutively without mis-shaping the mana. You’ll combust your own brains if I teach you parallel thinking outright.”

Students flinched.

“But,” he added lightly, “I’ll make a promise. If anyone here completes my exercise in five minutes… I’ll teach you the technique directly.”

Half the classroom brightened instantly. The other half swallowed in fear.

Selene stared at them all blankly.

Idiots… do they really think Professor Zane’s exercise will be easy?

Zane snapped his fingers.

From the small dimensional bag at his belt, dozens of papers shot out, fluttering like white birds.

Two sheets landed gently in front of each student.

A moment later, slender black pens flew next—smooth-bodied, one end fitted with a white mana-stone, the other a fine-point tip.

Zane caught one between his fingers.

“These,” he said, “are special mana-conductive pens and spell-paper. Pour mana into the pen, and it will flow out as ink.”

Selene raised her hand. “What exactly is the exercise, professor?”

Zane smiled like a magician revealing a trick.

“It’s Simple you have to draw something in the two paper infront of you.”

He lifted both hands dramatically.

“With one hand, you will draw a perfect circle. With the other, a perfect square. At the exact same time. You can’t stop mid-stroke. No corrections while drawing and you’ll have to draw it in go.”

A ripple of disbelief passed through the room.

Zane continued:

“And all the while, you must regulate mana flow. If you poured too much mana—your pen floods ink. If you poured too little—and little to no ink will flow.

This exercise mimic the process a mage has to go through when duel casting using parallel thinking .”

A few students paled.

“Oh,” Zane added casually, “and the shape must be perfect. Not ’almost round’ or ’almost square.’”

He tapped the mana-stone at the end of the pen.

“If you mess up, use this to erase. The stone will absorb the ink—one of the advantages of mana-paper.”

Students stared at the pens and paper, unsure whether to feel excited or doomed.

This was nothing like any traditional spell-training method.

It felt like trying to master magic from an entirely different world.

Zane crossed his arms and grinned.

“Well then. Begin.”

The moment Zane said “Begin,” the classroom erupted into chaos.

Students hunched over their desks, gripping pens like they were attempting surgery.

For the first thirty seconds, there was confidence. Determination. Focus.

Then—

PSSHHH—!

Ink exploded across one student’s paper as he poured too much mana.

Another’s pen scratched uselessly, no ink coming out at all—too little mana.

Most didn’t even reach that stage.

Whenever they tried to draw a circle with their left hand, their right hand instinctively copied it instead of making a square.

A chorus of groans filled the room.

“What—why is my right hand doing the same thing?!”

“My mana keeps flooding—why won’t it stop?!”

“Why does the circle look like a potato—!?”

Zane walked slowly through the aisles, hands behind his back, expression perfectly neutral.

When he passed a group of students whose pens were both making ugly distorted circles, he said calmly:

“Overcome instinct. Overcome your mind.

Divide your attention.

Focus your mana.

Draw the shape.”

The students tried.

They really did.

Their Sweat dripped and their Hands trembled, but they didn’t stop.

The sound of frantic scribbling filled the room.

Yet even after thirty whole minutes, not a single person had come close.

Even Selene—who had clearly done far better than anyone else—stared down at her papers in defeat.

Her circle was bent near the edge, her square rounded on one side.

It was not perfect and homogenous and its not enough for her to pass this exercise.

Zane sighed softly.

“You all failed,” he said, tone genuinely disappointed. “It seems I overestimated you.”

A quiet, collective shame fell over the room.

Even Selene lowered her eyes, cheeks red.

He continued, voice gentler now:

“It’s my mistake. I thought all of you would manage this step.”

Students stiffened.

Hearing that from Zane felt worse than being scolded.

Then, with a clap, he said:

“Alright. Let’s Reset. We’ll start with a simpler version.”

Everyone straightened immediately.

Zane lifted a hand.

“Instead of different shapes, draw the same shape on both papers.

Same as before draw them simultaneously and in same direction”

He pointed at the sheets.

“Draw a circle on both papers and draw both circle clockwise.”

A wave of relief washed over the students.

“This,” one whispered, “finally feels doable…”

They lifted their pens with high hope.

And one by one, students began drawing circles—

this time with genuine hope.

The classroom was dead silent as everyone attempted the simpler task.

Mana hummed softly. Pens glided.

Then—

a soft shff… shff… of smooth strokes.

Selene lifted her hands first.

She had sucessfully two drawn perfect circles.

Both were identical.

She quietly stood, walked to Zane’s desk, and placed the sheets before him.

Zane glanced at the papers.

A faint smile touched his lips.

“Good.”

But while the class burst into murmurs of awe, Zane’s gaze drifted past the windows.

His pupils tightened, focusing far beyond the room, sensing something only he could feel.

They’re close…

One of them is nearly at the academy already.

He exhaled slowly and smirks

Looks like the meeting will be entertaining after all…

“Alright,” he said suddenly, snapping the room’s attention back. “Continue.”

Following Selene’s success, something clicked in the students’ minds.

One by one—slowly, then in clusters—circles began to form smoothly across the room.

And once the last student finally managed it, Zane clapped once.

“Good. Since you have grasped the basics, we move on.”

Every student stiffened.

Selene swallowed.

Ron and Lia exchanged determined glances.

Jax muttered, “Oh no… here we go again…”

Zane raised a hand.

“Erase the circles.”

Papers glowed faintly as the runic stone on each pen wiped the ink away.

“Now,” Zane continued, “your next exercise is harder.”

Mana in the room thickened, as if the air itself braced for what was coming.

“This time, you will draw the same shape—”

He tapped the table twice.

“—a triangle on each sheet.”

Students nodded. Triangles seemed okay.

Zane smirked.

“But.”

He lifted two fingers.

“One triangle must be drawn clockwise…”

“…and the other anticlockwise.”

The entire class froze.

Jax choked. “Bro—what kind of torture—?!”

Selene instinctively grabbed her pens tighter.

Ron exhaled sharply. “This is going to break my brain and to draw this we have to pour mana very differently…”

Zane simply leaned against the desk, arms crossed.

“Parallel thinking,” he said softly, “begins when your instinct start fighting you.”

His eyes swept the room.

“Let’s see who overcomes themselves first.”

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