The Stargazer

by Nikostar A

  The director of studies offered Alexander to stay in the cultivation box for as long as he wanted. If Alexander was a regular student, this period of time should have only lasted for about six hours but Alexander was not just a regular student.

  Meditation for long periods of time could be detrimental to mages. It first affected their mental state; continually directing the flow of mana in their spirit circuit was not easy for mages. Furthermore, prolonged meditation would cause strain and pressure to build up in the spirit circuits. It was especially true in the cultivation box as the amount of mana flowing at once was more than double the normal amount.

  Alexander knew his limits and would not try to harm himself but he had something no one else had on Earth: the Seed. Instead of directing the mana in his spirit circuit, Alexander could also send it in the Seed to increase the size of the Space.

  It would be his first time actively trying to increase the size of his space and Alexander was looking forward to it. His goal was to turn the space into a habitable place and clearly, its actual size was not enough. Also, by increasing the size of the space, the entrance would also widen, making it easier for Alexander to transfer in resources.

  Alexander was quietly resting in the private room when his X-Driver started to vibrate.

  "Looks like we are about to arrive. Back to the peaceful student life. I wonder when I'll be able to return to Loha..."

  Chapter 37: Friends

  When Alexander got back, he quietly left the group and returned back home. They arrived in the afternoon. Wherever Alexander looked, he would see a bunch of students roaming around.

  The exams had just finished and everyone was in a festive mood. The lectures were paused for one week, allowing everyone to decompress and enjoy a short break.

  Alexander just wanted to go home and sleep. The trip to Loha was not very long but going through the rift did affect him to some extent. Ideally, he should rest for a while. Alexander was about to enter the Colony when he suddenly received a stream of messages.

  "This..."

  It was his friends' group chat. Su Buqing and Raphael both messaged him asking where he was.

  "Crap... I forgot that I promised to practice with them and to help them a little bit. D*mn..."

  Since he had already promised, Alexander left immediately. He jumped on the nearest bus to the magic department.

  Alexander's friends were already practicing their spells in one of the practice rooms. When they saw Alexander rush in the room, visibly tired from running, they laughed and joked.

  "Is that being always on time? Next time, don't complain when we are late."

  "Did you forget about our training together or were you trying to run away?" said Su Buqing while laughing.

  Alexander gasped, trying to catch his breath. He had to run all the way from the bus station and was still twenty minutes late. "Sorry about that. I busy doing something but now, we can get some work done. Since you wanted me to teach you, how about you use a few spells first?"

  "Sure, you can still watch us while you catch your breath," said Jessica.

  The practice room was large. It was mostly empty but at the end of the room were target mannequins; it was very similar to an indoor shooting field.

  Alexander's close friends were all here. Raphael was the first to step forward. "Then, let me show you my spell first. I have been trying to master this for a while but it is still relatively unstable."

  Raphael had changed a lot since they've first met. His physical appearance was still the same; he kept a clean appearance and took great care of his long blond hair but his aura was different. He was no longer the naive conceited youth. He had always been nice to people around him regardless of their background but deep inside, he had also considered himself to be superior. However, since arriving at the academy, he saw how big the world was; at the academy, he was only an average student even if he had a high-performance index. He worked hard and in the end, managed to be scouted by an organization but he knew he paled in comparison with others like Alexander.

  Raphael focused. He turned his sharp eyes toward the mannequin and activated his spirit circuits.

  [Overcharge]

  He immediately caught Alexander's attention. [Overcharge] was an intermediate spell that would increase the damage dealt by the next lightning type spells. There were similar spells for the other types like [Burning Rage] for fire type spells and [Aequous Spirit] for water type spells.

  Tiny sparks started to appear all over Raphael's body. His face was solemn. He directed his hands toward the nearest mannequin and used another spell.

  [Total Discharge]

  In an instant, all the sparks accumulated over Raphael's body were expelled toward the mannequin. Alexander and the others saw a bright wavy flash hit explode on the mannequin. The lightning spell was powerful; it did not even stop after destroying the mannequin. It was only after it hit the Amantite wall that the lightning dissipated completely.

  Raphael wore a satisfied expression. He did not mess up his spells this time.

  "Wow, Raph! That was so cool!" exclaimed Felicia.

  "Yeah... You looked like one of those superheroes."

  Raphael smiled but his friends' comment did not matter much; only Alexander's was important.

  "It was very impressive. I don't see why you want me to teach you anything?" said the latter.

  "This is obviously not perfect. I am sure there must be ways to improve it. Furthermore, it was just a lucky hit. I usually mess up the spells or miss the target completely!"

  Alexander nodded. [Overcharge] and [Total Discharge] were a well-known combo used by many. Instead of spreading the effects of [Overcharge] over several spells, the mages could release everything at once, causing a lot of damage.

  "You are already learning intermediate spells? You are being too hasty. Although your spells are strong, if you do not have proper control, you might end up injuring a teammate instead. A way to practice your control would be to use [Overcharge] and to maintain the sparks in your body for as long as possible. Use the minimum amount of mana possible as it will make it easier. Try to move them around and to group them together. When you have better control, your [Total Discharge] would naturally improve. Before releasing the sparks, it would be best to concentrate them all near your arms. Also, there is no need for much accuracy as the spell was intended to be an area attack in the first place. Use it to target a wide space and then converge the sparks to a certain area."

  All his friends listened attentively to Alexander. Raphael, in particular, found this explanation enlightening. He did not know the effectiveness of this method but he indeed needed to improve his control.

  "It's my turn next! We don't have much time left in the room because Alex was so late," exclaimed Jack.

  Jack Macaulay was a tall muscular Scottish man. In Alexander's group, he was without a doubt the most imposing one in terms of size. He was also quite hairy and treated his beard like his baby. When Alexander first met Jack, he thought he was one of those proud and arrogant individuals but it turned out that Jack was quite shy and kind-hearted. Because of his intimidating appearance, he did not make friends easily but he blended in well in the group thanks to Raphael's charisma.

  Jack was excited. He also wanted to show his skill. Raphael understood and jumped out of the way.

  "Watch me!"

  [Sand Golem]

  As Jack activated his spirit circuits. Sand started to appear out of nowhere and converge in front of him. As the sand got together, it quickly started to take the shape of a two meters high golem. The golem's body was already formed but when the head was starting to appear, the golem suddenly started to shake.

  A few seconds later, the golem became completely unstable and lost its shape. The sand fell on the floor of the practice room, to everyone's disappointment.

  Jack was naturally the most affected but Alexander quickly spoke, "Jack, you aim very high! You know, animating objects like that is very hard and
yet, you almost made it. You became excited near the end and was too hasty. The biggest disadvantage of this type of spell is the time it takes to create the golem. If you rush too much, then your golem would be completely useless. Start with smaller objects and also experiment with different materials. Sand is a very hard one and is rarely available. You should try to use soil that can be found everywhere. Even if you don't like it, it will be a good practice!"

  Jack listened carefully and slowly, his disappointed expression disappeared. The tall Scottish man stepped aside allowing the others to perform their own spells. Each time, Alexander would explain their mistakes and suggest a method to improve quickly. They were his friends and Alexander did not mind helping them grow.

  The next one was a short Brazilian woman. Her name was Felicia Domeras. She was a cheerful young woman who had the appearance of a fifteen-year-old girl despite being eighteen already. Aside from that, her features were rather ordinary; she did not stand out of the crowd and had a quiet personality. She was a person who really liked nature and despite her young age, she was an activist who regularly protested against the destruction of nature. Due to her passion, Felicia liked to use magic associated with plants. Her dream was to be able to regrow the destroyed forest during the fights with the Xals.

  Alexander encouraged her to follow her passion and even said, "Work hard. If you become proficient in advanced spells in the future, I will teach you an even more amazing spell!"

  Alexander's friends were not aware of the existence of Extreme Spells yet but since Alexander said that his spell was amazing, they naturally believed him after seeing his prowess.

  After Felicia, two of Alexander friends quickly demonstrated their best spells. The first one was Luke Shallimber, a young German with a strong accent. He was without a doubt the most talkative one of the group and often liked to joke around. The second was Jessica Lam Chang Kee. Her ancestors migrated to America a whole century ago. It was a secret within the group but apparently, Su Buqing had a serious crush on her. She was quite pretty but it was clear that she was not really interested in the little fatty of the group.

  At last, it was Su Buqing's turn. He had been the one requesting Alexander to give them some tips but he ended up being the last one to display his strength.

  "Alex. I practiced a defensive spell! Can you attack me?" asked Su Buqing.

  Alexander was surprised. Most of the students would practice offensive spells first! It was rare for students to think about their safety first. "Sure."

  All the others were also excited. They wanted to see Alexander use his spells!

  Su Buqing nodded and took a step back.

  [Elemental Barrier]

  A colorful barrier suddenly appeared in front of Su Buqing. The girls' eyes sparkled. The barrier was shiny and pretty; it looked like a rainbow. However, one must not be fooled by its appearance, the elemental barrier was an intermediate spell. Its concept was to combine earth, fire, water, and wind to form a shield that could protect the user from attacks of the same elements. The fire particles f the attack would be canceled by the water particles of the shields and so on.

  "Not bad. The barrier is weak against lightning, light, darkness and so on. But I will use Earth magic to dispell it!"

  [Boulder Toss]

  A giant boulder appeared above Alexander's head and flew toward Su Buqing. It collided with the elemental barrier which instantly shook and started to fade. Su Buqing frowned and persisted. To everyone's surprise, the boulder failed to destroy the elemental barrier!

  "How was it? Ignoring the other elements, remember that the elemental barrier is quite weak to Earth Spells. Even if the fire particle and destroy the earth particles, remember that the momentum of the giant rock is also in play. Elemental Barrier is powerful but remember that you can use the elements around you to power it. Furthermore, if you blend in more elements in it, it can even reach the level of an advanced spell," explained Alexander.

  Su Buqing deactivated the elemental barrier and let out a sigh of relief. Only he knew that his elemental barrier had almost been destroyed. He knew that Alexander went easy on him and he was grateful for the explanation.

  After having each shown their best spells, the group casually cast a few more spells before meditating together. During the process, Alexander gave them a few tips to minimize the losses. Furthermore, he explained to them the best resources to purchase at the store to help with their meditation.

  Most students believed that recovery herbs were to be used in combat to quickly replenish their mana. However, in a safe environment like the academy, they would not encounter many dangers. Those herbs were not cheap but in terms of quality-price ratio, they easily outclassed the other materials.

  The atmosphere was very casual. Everyone was silently focusing on their own meditation, and would occasionally ask questions and share some insights.

  In the middle of the session, Alexander heard his X-Driver vibrate several times. It was Aila. The Lohan girl did not forget about Alexander's promise. She was eagerly inviting him to meet her tonight and naturally, Alexander was not going to say no.

  Out of nowhere, Raphael suddenly looked toward Alexander and said, "Did you just do something really crazy?"

  "What do you mean?" asked Alexander with a puzzled expression.

  "I am in a group chat with the people that are going to be recruited by Arthemis. The official recruits are all asking if any of us know any information about you."

  "Same for me! The group chat of people aspiring to join Nuevo Mundo just went crazy. Zhou Meimei just posted an announcement that she is looking for any information about you," exclaimed Jack who was checking his X-Driver.

  Everyone's interest was immediately piqued. Jessica leaned forward to look at Jack's phone. "Wow, it's true."

  "I am sure there is a reason for this, right?" said Luke.

  Alexander felt the stare of his friends and laughed, "This is a long story..."

  Chapter 38: A second stargazer

  After explaining the situation to his friends, Alexander left the magic department and returned home to take a shower. He would meet Aila later this evening and needed to get ready for the occasion. Deep inside, he was still debating whether he should teach Aila the way of a stargazer. It was his biggest secret and at the moment, he knew that Aila was not really in love with him but maybe that was the thing he was missing.

  Maybe he had been too passive since the beginning? He had some knowledge of the future and maybe he should have taken advantage of those to make Aila fall for him once again. It was not an easy task and doing anything might ruin the chances he had.

  In any case, it was better to regret something he had done than to regret something he missed. Alexander knew that Aila was actively seeing other men behind his back. She was doing her best to increase her own power and the only way she could do so rapidly was by using the Yin Yang Exchange.

  Alexander did not have any say in her actions; in the current timeline, the two were just friends with benefits. However, Alexander naturally wanted this to change. He tried to tolerate it but every time he thought about it, it was painful. It was one of the reasons Alexander wanted to reveal the truth to Aila.

  First, he knew she was competing for the title of Holy Maiden and needed power. He wanted to earn her trust by giving her a completely different path of strength. At the same time, it would allow her to stop relying so much on her Yin Yang Exchange technique and stop seeing other men.

  Alexander wanted to stand at her side and help her as much as he could. It would be awkward if he suddenly announced that she was once his lover. For now, Alexander just wanted to be with her and slowly move her heart. The current Aila was not interested in love but as long as he spent enough time with her, this might change. Aila fell for him in the past, Alexander did not see a reason why this could not happen a second time.

  ***

  "You did not even message me when you came back! I was worried you know! I thought something happ
ened during the duel and you were injured," exclaimed Aila with an overdramatic face.

  Alexander quietly smiled, "I am sure you already know everything that happened on Lohan. There is no need for me to disturb you with redundant things like that."

  Aila ignored the first part of Alexander's answer and pulled him into the private room. "Still, it is not a reason to not keep me informed. If everybody is like you, how will I ever know what is happening at the academy? Still, an Extreme Spell? Where did you learn it?"

  Alexander sat at the usual table and looked at Aila. She was wearing a pink short-sleeved shirt and a white pleated skirt covering her round, smooth thighs. Her long hair reached her slim waist. Aila usually did not wear a lot of accessories but today, she wore a cute necklace that highlighted her eyes and a small bracelet to complement her clothes.