Another day began, and as the children who had passed the assessment trained diligently, Ric found himself lost in thought. "From yesterday's training, even though I was distracted by Yota, I can conclude two things," he mused to himself. "First, for now, I can only create cube-shaped barriers. Even though the book said that barriers of other shapes can also be made, well the book is about high and mid-class Barriards, so maybe it's not possible with my class or at my current level. And second, I can't make a barrier larger than the size of my hand—it rests perfectly with my hand. Hmm... if it's possible I would like to wear it like a glove, but my hand doesn't go through it."

  Suddenly, an idea struck Ric, prompting him to call Yota, who was engrossed in his fire magic training. Yota responded irritably, "Hey! Why did you call me? I was training!"

  "I called you here to help you with your training," Ric replied mischievously.

  Confused, Yota asked, "How can you help me? Our classes are not the same."

  "Don't you want a target to practice your magic on?" Ric smirked.

  "Well... you're right! The boulders here are very weak," Yota scratched his head, contemplating Ric's suggestion.

  Ric called Yota closer to a boulder and said, "Here, this is your target."

  "Ric, have you become stupid? Didn't I say that the boulders here are weak?" Yota retorted with a poker face.

  "It's you who is stupid, Yota. Look at my hand, not the boulder!" Ric pointed at his hand, revealing a cube-shaped barrier.

  "Oh~ Is that your magic? Is that cube my target?" Yota inquired.

  "Yup! Now try your magic on it!" Ric encouraged him confidently.

  Yota picked up a rock, applied fire magic to it, and threw it. The rock's velocity increased before smashing into the barrier Ric had created, cracking it. The rock crumbled to dust, but the barrier remained, albeit with a crack.

  Yota, witnessing the barrier's resilience, exclaimed, "Wow~ It survived! Even though many boulders were destroyed!" Yota was genuinely surprised.

  While Yota marvelled at the barrier, Ric couldn't help but think, "The amount of control Yota has over his mana is incomprehensible! From what I've read, not many mages can control mana like he did, applying magic only when the last thing touching the rock before it left the hand, is his finger! That's some insane precision! Even though he doesn't have a massive mana pool like me, he can achieve great things if he keeps improving on his precision." Ric nodded to himself, feeling proud of his friend. However, Yota interrupted Ric's thoughts by calling out to him.

  "Hey, Ric! Even though it's sturdy, I don't think it can withstand another shot of my Rock'ish fire!" Yota boasted.

  "Rock'ish what?" Ric questioned, his face displaying confusion.

  "Rock'ish fire! It's the name of my attack! Don't you think it's cool?" Yota said with a smug expression.

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  "What kind of naming sense is that, like something a two-year-old would come up with?" Ric responded, raising an eyebrow.

  "W-What?! If you don't like it, then suggest a better name!" Yota replied irritably.

  Ric sighed and said, "Why do I care? Just name it 'Meteoric Blast' or something."

  "Ooh~ That's nice, 'Meteoric Blast'! That's good! It seems being with me has made you smarter!" Yota said proudly.

  "Shut up and let's continue our experiment—*cough* I mean, your training!" Ric said with a somewhat puzzled expression.

  Yota, although suspicious, launched another attack while loudly proclaiming, "Meteoric Blast!" The attack shattered the barrier into pieces. Observing this, Ric couldn't help but think "It took two shots to shatter the barrier, that's not much durability, I expected more since barriers are supposed to protect and have high durability." He went through his thoughts "Forget all that, but I got to say this-". and teased Yota with a weird face,

  "Woah~ That's cringe."

  "S-Shut up! The book says that giving the attack a name helps to remember the sequence of the mana travelling through the body and executing the attack. It claims that this aids in faster execution of the action," Yota explained abruptly.

  "Wait a second... Aren't mages supposed to chant a long prayer or something before using magic? How are you doing it without chanting?" Ric questioned Yota.

  Yota replied, "I don't know. I was just able to do it."

  "Hmm... What is the title of the book?" Ric inquired calmly.

  "It's called 'Mana Affinity Introduction'," Yota answered, and gave the book to Ric, who read it for a while and exclaimed,

  "It seems you can do it because your mana affinity is high. Chiron recognized this and gave you the best book suited for you,"

  "Oh,~ Sir Mage is amazing for recognizing me!" Yota said, his tone filled with pride.

  Ric let out a sigh and approached the boulder to create another barrier on it. However, this time, the barrier was smaller than before, about the size of his palm. Ric asked Yota to attack, and Confused by Ric's actions he questioned, "Why is it smaller than before?"

  "We need to train your accuracy too. Now, attack it!" Ric exclaimed, gesturing toward the glowing barrier he had put on the boulder.

  Yota then attacked the barrier, causing only a slight crack this time. He continued his assault until the barrier shattered. Surprised, Yota exclaimed, "What did you do? It took me three tries to shatter it."

  Ric ignored Yota as he contemplated his thoughts "So, the smaller the size the higher the durability, there are many things I can do with this information... let's test this one for now" he created another barrier of the same size and put it on the boulder. He then approached Yota and handed him a barrier much smaller, almost the size of Ric's pinky finger. Ric instructed, "Throw that rock away and hit it with this." He passed the small barrier to Yota. Once again, Yota questioned, "What's this for?"

  "It's to train your mana precision," Ric explained, his tone calm but firm. "You won’t always be dealing with rough surfaces like rocks when you’re at the Academy. My cube barrier is smooth, so using it will help sharpen your control."

  Yota tilted his head, confusion written all over his face. "What do you mean, 'won’t always find rocks'? Is the city floating in the air or something?" he asked, his scepticism clear.

  Ric sighed, shaking his head. "I said 'always'. And even if you find rocks, are you seriously planning to fight with them at the Academy? There are better options—daggers, swords, magic tools. You need to think smarter."

  Yota scratched the back of his head, realizing his mistake. "Yeah, you’re right, Ric. My bad," he admitted, a sheepish grin forming on his face.

  "Good," Ric said with a smirk. "Now, let’s get to work."

  "Alright! Let’s do this!" Yota declared, his determination renewed.

  Yota channelled his mana into the small barrier Ric had crafted for him, his fiery energy swirling around the object until it glowed like molten metal. Gripping it tightly, he roared, "Meteoric Blast!"

  The moment his attack connected with the barrier on the boulder, an explosion of force erupted. The shockwave tore through the air, obliterating not only the barrier but also reducing the boulder to fragments. The sheer power of the blast surged forward, uprooting and splintering trees in its path, leaving a scorched and chaotic aftermath.