Honestly…

Teaching them was probably the worst idea ever.

I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my temples.

The others had started chatting amongst themselves, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how much time I was wasting.

Especially with Lucas and Maya.

I knew about Lucas’s dumb attribute, but Maya…?

Gosh.

They were almost at the same level!

They were struggling with the most basic of concepts. I mean, seriously? How could they not understand something so simple?

I let out a deep sigh, trying to keep my temper in check.

“Alright…”

I exhaled deeply.

“Let’s go over it again. Slowly. For the… let’s say, third time.”

I glanced at Lucas and Maya, who were both staring at their notes with confused looks on their faces.

I felt my eyebrow twitch.

“We’re going to calculate the mana efficiency for a five-layer spell,” I began, seeing their eyes widen at the mention of five layers.

“Each layer is a different element: fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning. The goal is to find the total mana output while keeping the spell balanced for maximum efficiency. And—this is the important part—you need to consider how the elements synergize. No layer can just be slapped on top of the other without proper planning. Understand?”

They both nodded, but it was obvious they didn’t get it.

“Let me walk you through it step by step,” I said, trying to stay patient.

“First, you calculate the base mana for each spell. Fire costs 120 mana, water costs 90, wind costs 110, earth costs 100, and lightning costs 130. So far, so good?”

Lucas scratched his head.

“Uh… yeah. I think so.”

I gave him a thin smile, trying not to sound condescending.

“Great. Now, here’s the tricky part,” I said, tapping the paper with my finger.

“When you combine different elements, you need to account for how they interact. In this case, fire and wind synergize well, meaning you’ll get a 10% reduction in mana cost. Earth and water, however, will have a 15% increase in cost because they’re not exactly compatible.”

Both of them blinked at me.

“Wait, what? So, how does that work?” Maya asked, her eyes wide with confusion.

I felt my eyebrow twitch.

“Okay, let me explain it again. The mana cost for fire and wind together is 120 plus 110, but you reduce the total by 10% because the elements work together. So, instead of 230 mana, it’s 207 mana.”

I scribbled it down on the paper as I spoke, making sure they could see it clearly.

“Now, earth and water—those two don’t work as well together. So, you need to add 15% more to their total. Water’s 90 mana, and earth is 100 mana. You add them together—190 mana—then you increase it by 15%. That brings the total to 218.5 mana.”

I watched their faces carefully, hoping that something was starting to click.

“But wait,” Maya said.

“How do we combine all of this?”

“Hold on, I’m getting to that,” I replied.

“So now, we have all the mana costs calculated:

Fire + Wind = 207 mana

Earth + Water = 218.5 mana

Lightning… Lightning is 130 mana, and there’s no synergy with the other elements since it’s a deviant-type, so it stays the same.”

They both nodded slowly, looking at the numbers.

“Now, the key to getting the best efficiency is figuring out how to layer the spells,” I continued, my voice tighter than usual.

“You can’t just put them in any order. Fire and wind need to be activated first, since they’re the most efficient combination. After that, you layer earth and water, and finally lightning. The trick is to stagger the activation of each element. You don’t want them all to go off at once because that’ll cause instability and waste mana.”

I could see that they were still lost.

“Let me put it another way,” I said, taking a deep breath.

“The total mana cost of the spell is the sum of each layer’s mana. But, with the synergy, you have to adjust the activation time between each element to minimize the total waste. If you get the timing right, you can increase the overall mana efficiency. In this case, the final mana output is 794.5 mana.”

I could feel my frustration rising as I saw them still staring at me, wide-eyed.

“Fuuu…”

Take deep breaths, Aestrea…

“But here’s the thing. The key to maximizing efficiency is optimizing the layers’ timing and ensuring that each element is balanced with the others. This is the only way you’re going to get the most out of the spell.”

Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Maya just blinked at me, clearly overwhelmed.

I rubbed my temples, trying to contain myself.

“Honestly, how did you not get this? This is basic spell construction, you just need to plan the layers properly!”

I tried to calm down, but my voice was tighter than I wanted it to be.

“Let’s do the math. You start with 207 for fire and wind, then 218.5 for earth and water, plus 130 for lightning, and you end up with 794.5 mana. Now, the efficiency comes from how well you time the activation of each layer. If you do it right, the efficiency for this spell will be around 42%. But if you screw up the timing, your efficiency drops to around 28%. Understand?”

Lucas and Maya exchanged a glance.

“Okay… but why does the efficiency go down if we don’t time it right?” Maya asked slowly.

I rubbed my face, exasperated.

“Because if the layers aren’t properly staggered, the mana isn’t used efficiently. The elements will fight against each other, and you’ll waste energy that could’ve been used to power up the spell. You need to control the flow of mana for each layer, and if you mess that up, your efficiency plummets.”

They both nodded, but I could see they were still struggling to follow.

I let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

“This is too easy for you guys to be getting stuck on. Come on, let’s just… I’ll give you guys a minute to catch up, okay?”

I stood up and walked away, feeling my anger slowly settle into frustration.

I looked back at the group, who were all watching the scene unfold with varying degrees of amusement or concern.

I could hear Lucas muttering…

“Man, why is this so hard…”

Yeah.

Why indeed.

—

“Oh! I get it now!” Lucas suddenly shouted, his face lighting up.

“And so do I!” Maya added, her tone a bit more cheerful this time.

Finally.

It took them about half an hour, but at least they were starting to get the hang of it.

If this concept is now quite easy for them, I could only imagine how much easier the other exercises would be for them now.

Just as I thought that, I heard a familiar voice calling out to me.

“Master…”

I turned, already knowing it was Alaine.

“Yeah?”

I replied, giving her a tired glance.

“I’m done with the books. Should we go now?” she asked, her gaze flicking over to the study group I was still technically helping.

“Yeah…” I rubbed my temple, letting out a quiet sigh.

“I need something to drink. A fresh one.”

“Alright.”

Her voice was soft, and I could tell she was already making her way toward me, but I wasn’t in the mood for another round of pleasantries.

Without saying anything else to the group, I started walking toward Alaine.

“Bye, Aestrea! Thanks for the helppp!” Lucas’s voice rang out, loud as ever.

I didn’t even bother to look back, knowing he was probably waving like a madman.

As we walked out of the library, I glanced over at Alaine and asked quietly:

“Are you hungry?”

We’d been in the library for hours now, and I was feeling a little drained.

“…A little,” she replied, offering a small smile.

“Then, let’s head to the cafeteria,” I suggested.

The cafeteria here wasn’t like the ones at normal schools.

This place was huge and packed with options, and everything tasted incredible. It was one of the perks of going to such a prestigious academy.

It was just a two-minute walk from the library, and when we entered, the place was packed. Students, professors, everyone was eating or just chatting.

As I was about to grab a tray and start heading towards the food line, Alaine spoke up.

“Shall I get food for you, Master?”

Her offer came quickly, and it was clear she was determined.

“…No, I can get it myself.”

I said, shaking my head slightly, trying to wave her off.

But she wasn’t having it.

“Helping you is my duty, Master,” she said firmly, her eyes serious.

Sometimes I wondered if she saw herself as my maid or… my woman?

Maybe both?

“…Alright,” I relented with a small smile.

She seemed happy with that, and I didn’t mind. I looked around, easily finding an empty spot at a table in the corner, so I sat down and pulled out my phone.

I figured I’d use the break to read a bit of one of the novels I was following.

It was called…

“Transmigrated As A Side Character In A Romance Game”.

However, before I could actually start to read one of the chapters.

Clank!

A tray of food was slammed against the table I was sitting.

I raised an eyebrow, checking who it was…

Zeva.

“Hello… Aestrea.”

I froze slightly.

Her gaze towards me was quite murderous, and she was tapping her fingers impatiently on the table.

I froze for a second.

I really didn’t know what her deal was, and honestly, I didn’t want to find out.

I figured the best course of action was to just keep my head down and focus on my phone.

But, of course, she had other plans.

“What were you doing this Saturday? Anything special, huh?”

Ah.

My promise to her.

Fuck.

Anyways, since I’ve broken it, I should just act normal about it.

“Nothing much? I guess I spent the whole day training…”

With Eleonora.

“Hmm…” she hummed, her gaze narrowing slightly. She leaned in, clearly trying to gauge if I was lying.

“Really?” she asked, her voice dripping with suspicion.

I raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze.

“Yeah, really.”

I nodded, giving her a small shrug.

A flawless acting, indeed.

I could see her eyes flicker with doubt, but she didn’t say anything more. Instead, she just gave me a long look, as if trying to decide whether or not I was being truthful.

“…If you say so.”

She muttered.

She pushed her tray slightly forward and stood up, not bothering to say anything else. Then, she simply walked away from me.

Phew…

That was a close one…

But why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep