Reincarnated as a Genius Mage

"Haha, how funny. You thought Lord Alexander won't create a proper training arrangement for you? That man is obsessed with you!"

He's loud, and large, the rays of sunlight aren't even reaching me because he's standing in front of me.

His hearty laugh threatens to destroy my eardrums. This burly man is exactly how I'd describe a social butterfly.

The worst part? He's my personal trainer.

Today's lesson in class two was sad because I couldn't aprehend anything at all.

With my head low and my spirit drained, I was about to leave the training center, that's when this man approached me.

The way he approached me almost made me run away. He startled me... On purpose. Laughing and claiming it was a prank.

And his towering height doesn't do much to ease my fright.

He introduced himself as Klaus Rodron– a flame mage of the Flameworths household.

The Patriarch considered my lack in the basic knowledge of mana; something I was supposed to learn in class one. So he sent this Man to become my personal trainer and teach me the basics which I lack.

"You should have seen the eery smile he had on his face when he ordered me to train you! Honestly, it's enough to make a man sleepless at night! Hahahahaha,"

He's too loud! And he isn't even lying, I've experienced the horror of that smiling face first hand.

"It was the first time I'd ever seen that cold face of his flash with something other than... Well, whatever emotion he always has on his face. He wasn't always like that though, it's all because of..." He goes silent. "Anyway! We're gonna be having a lotta fun, me and ya!"

My body shivers with a slight flinch as a toothy grin stretches ear to ear on his face.

Look who was talking about the Patriarch's...

With a flick of his wrist, he gestures at me to follow him.

We're walking side by side, going to who knows where.

An unpleasant, stuffy taste lingers in my mouth.

I have a feeling that my time with this guy is gonna be rough...

Oh! From the distance, I recognize our direction. It's the training grounds. No, not the one where the affinity test was held.

It's a smaller sized training ground used by the training center.

Only class three trainees upwards train there though, because, apparently, they're the only classes that do physical training.

And the other big training ground is used by the family's mages and apprentice mages to train.

***

We arrive at a small wooden door that looks like it's been serving here for years. He pushes it open and we walk inside.

As we arrive at the empty training grounds, the dusty smell hits me first; it's dry and sandy.

The hot golden glow of the sun frying my skin doesn't do much to make it better.

The large middle area of the training ground is filled with sand, and erected wooden platforms surround the entirety of the training ground– they're like spectator seats. Like something out of a gladiator ring in ancient Rome, back on Earth.

We make our way past the shelves filled with metal handgloves– Ah, they're... What do they call them? Right! Gauntlets. And other weapons. But I don't see any swords or spears.

Klaus strides, quickening his pace, and he immediately makes his way to the middle of the training grounds, and– sits on the sand.

"..."

My head tilts, my eyes blinking slowly as I stare at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" My voice is low but loud enough for him to hear me clearly.

"What do you mean 'what are you doing?' ?"

He has a broad, mischievous smile dancing at his lips.

"I mean.. why the hell are you sitting on the sand in the middle of the training grounds?"

"You didn't think you came here to train or anything did you?" He furrows his brows, head tilting as he talks, "Wait. You did, didn't you?"

He bursts; his boisterous laughter resounding in the air, fingers wiping off the glistening tears at the edge of his eyes.

"Kid, Kid, Kid." His undertone is extremely casual and informal. Playful even.

In a beat, the intensity of his tone rises, voice almost hush and sounding like he's revealing a deep secret; "Do you know the principles of mana? How it feels? What it is? You can't start training without knowing the basics. You lay the foundation first and build. From. The. Ground. Up."

Wow, I almost shiver. Half because he's right and I don't know anything, and half because...

His playful demeanor always makes me forget; the red bright rings around him.. they're six– He's stronger than I can possibly imagine. For now.

My arms fold across my chest as I stand over him; pondering on his words.

Don't I have a better idea of how mana is? I mean, I can see it while others can't, I'm the only one who possesses this ability... I think.

Even the six red rings around him, I can see them. The moonlight colored, mana in the air? I can see them. The clustering, non-ring of moonlight around people without affinities? I can see them too.

But.. just because I see it, doesn't mean I can feel it. I can't even touch the ones floating in the air. If I try to, my hand passes through the light like it's some sort of hologram.

This chance.. it's a good chance Alexander has created for me, and I'm going to use it wisely. To learn more about this.

"No. I have no idea about any of that, I only know that mana is the building block of life, can you please teach me more on what I should know?"

My tone is sincere, my voice calm and polite as I ask.

His broad smile widens in satisfaction.

"Hahahaha! Very good! I heard from Sin that you're a smart child but I didn't know you were a polite one too!Very very good!"

Sin? Ah, yes. The mage with a scary face that told me to etch his name into my heart. But... me? Polite? Pfft, sure, it won't be bad if he thinks that way of me.

His laughter still doesn't seize, and I'm starting to question if this guy would really be a good teacher.

Finally, his laughter dwindles into a stuttering chuckle, then a low cough, and then it ends.

"Alright. Sit down here.."

He taps the ground at a spot in front of him, it's just few inches away from him.

Is this really necessary? On the sand?

A sigh flows out of my mouth with my breath, and reluctantly, I sit on the ground, right in front of him.

We're staring at each other, eyeball to eyeball. And his hazel eyes seems to reflect the glow of the sun as his lips keep stretching wider.

I wonder if he never gets tired of smiling and laughing. Someone should sew his lips together or something..

And then he breaks eye contact with me, his gaze descending– down to my legs.

"Tsk tsk tsk." He shakes his head bitterly, like a disappointed father.

"No, no, no. This won't do. You have to cross your legs. Like this."

His hands point toward his legs. He's sitting crossed leg; in a lotus position, the type of position one takes while meditating.

First, I sit on the sand. And now, he wants me to sit like a monk? What next? Is he gonna tell me to shave my head?

"Is.. Is it really necessary?"

My voice is tinged with an almost perfectly masked annoyance, shaped to sound polite.

His brows curl up, and his neck slightly shifts back. "Oho? Look at this kid. Of course! It's very necessary. It's the only way your mana pathways can be free from the blood in your blood vessels that are flowing through it, thinking it's a blood vessel too."

What the hell is he talking about? I have no idea. I'm just staring blankly at him, thinking how his honey blonde hair really contrast with his eyes.

"You look confused, you aren't even listening to me." He rubs his eyes with his fingers and let out a sigh. "Don't worry. All of these things, you'll them soon. For now, just cross your legs like this."

I nod.

"Okay."

Lotus position. Never thought I'd do yoga in another world.

"In class one, you and the other new batch of trainees are supposed to learn about the concept of mana. Many of the children are commoners and didn't even know what mana was before their detection test.

They teach them the basics which I assume you already know. They tell them the fact that it's invisible, the fact that it's everywhere in the world, and it makes up everything around us. And then they teach them.. how to feel it.

Children who successfully learn how to feel and sense the mana around their environment are qualified to enter the next class after a year. The ones that don't..."

His hands swipe at his neck. And expression that means slaughter.

My body shudders in reaction to his expression.

They kill them?

Seeing my shocked expression, his laughter erupts again, this time louder than before.

I don't like this guy.

"They are cut off from the class. They don't get to enter class two and are deemed unworthy of even learning mana gathering. After all, the class one kids are plenty, having the same amount of them enter class two would be... too much."

An exhale leaves my nose, and my puffed chest sinks, easing the tension I felt.

I thought they'd kill them or something.

"So... I'm gonna teach you, Young Master Charles."

He writes something on the sand.

I read it, and it says;

"How to feel mana."