Arcane Heir: History's Strongest Mage

The magic circle was stable, its structure sound as it was slowly constructed in front of their eyes. Usually, the longer one took to draw a circle, the harder it was to maintain—which was why it was almost impossible to draw higher tier spells without an artifact.

The technique they had been taught in spellcrafting classes used one's own mana to draw a magic circle in the air. This of course had its limits—dependent on both the stability and the control of the mage's mana.

For Rudy, this had been his downfall. The guy lacked both mana control and stability, causing him to struggle past drawing the outer layer of magic circles.

This couldn't be helped. Unlike many of the noble students who had had private tutors growing up, Rudy lived on a farm with his family. He worked more with his hands, putting him at a disadvantage.

But what was transpiring in front of their eyes right now, Melody and Michael could not explain.

They both wore similar expressions, shock—disbelief. As the final rune was drawn, Rudy's body paused—as if he didn't know what to do next.

"Send your mana into the center of the magic circle—quickly." Michael urged, finally knocked out of his stupor.

"Ah, right…" Rudy moved into action, a steady stream of mana escaping from his palm as it filled the floating crimson magic circle in the air. It seemed he had not expected to get so far and had forgotten the final step.

The magic circle shone resplendently, its outline growing more distinct.

In the next moment, the spell activated—wind stirring within the dorm room—causing the pages of the textbooks upon the table to flip rapidly. Melody's hair came undone, flapping in the wind as a whirlwind formed in the center of the room.

"I did it…" Rudy blinked, seeing the spell come to life.

"I DID IT! HAHA." He cried, jumping for joy.

"Hurry up and cancel the spell you dung-brain!" Melody shouted, her hands shooting to her skirt that was now being affected by the winds.

Michael's eyes moved on instinct, catching something black and lacy in the corner of his eyes. He stiffened, quickly turning his entire body in the opposite direction—yet he could feel the heat of a fiery gaze drilling into him.

"Oh, right…" Rudy waved his hand, dispelling the whirlwind that was formed with ease.

A giant grin crept onto his face as he celebrated the achievement. He was so caught up in his success that he didn't even seem to notice Melody glaring at Michael, nor the guys guilty expression.

"Black…" Michael muttered, half in shock.

"Huh? Black what?" Rudy asked, finally paying some attention.

Melody's face turned beet red before she cracked her knuckles menacingly, "Erase it from your memory…" she growled.

Michael shivered, looking towards Rudy, "C-congratulations man, your hard work paid off." He said, quickly trying to change the subject.

However, his friend shook his head emphatically, his tousled brown hair bouncing atop his head. "I don't know what happened," he admitted with a confused expression, "I didn't change anything at all, but I was able to draw the magic circle all of a sudden…"

At these words, Melody's anger seemed to dissipate, her brows knitting in deep thought.

"Eh? You didn't change anything?" Michael asked with some surprise, "But it seemed like your mana control was much better than usual…"

"Could it be the pill?" Melody asked, sounding doubtful.

"Surely not," Rudy dismissed, waving his hand. "I don't feel any different than I did before taking that huge dump."

His words were met with some looks of disgust, but he ignored it.

"Plus, didn't you say that the pill was meant to strengthen my soul? What does that have to do with my sudden improvement in mana control?" he asked innocently.

"Are you dumb?" Melody replied, her question sounding sincere.

Ah! No way…

The cogs seemed to click into place in that moment, leading to an epiphany.

"They're directly connected you idiot…" she scolded, balling her hand into a fist—as if she were considering knocking some sense into him.

"Oh… Well that's good then." Rudy nodded, accepting the words at face value.

Melody groaned, mumbling something about Rudy's thick skull.

"It's been four months since we started at the academy, but you've always been terrible with controlling your mana." Michael stated matter-of-factly.

"Terrible is a bit…" Rudy began, wearing a pained expression.

"Accurate." Melody replied, not missing a beat.

A middle finger rose to attention, flashed directly at the blue-haired girl. Instead of getting angry, she reciprocated the gesture, poking her tongue out.

Ignoring the antics of his two friends, Michael continued with some fervor.

"There must have been quite the disparity between the level of your soul and your crimson ring. It's like using a candle to light a forest fire—sure it would work eventually, but it would take a tremendous amount of time and effort." He explained.

"But if the pill has strengthened and solidified your soul, everything should be much easier now."

Rudy relinquished his middle finger and brought his hand up to his chin, stroking it deep in thought. "Is my mana the candle? Or the forest?"

"I think you wasted your pill Michael…" Melody interjected, her expression showing a fatigue that transcended the mortal realm.

Michael couldn't help but laugh, feeling genuinely happy. The pills had worked, for Rudy at least. As long as he kept studying and working diligently, there shouldn't be any reason why he couldn't become a great mage in the future.

"Why don't you try now Melody?" he asked with interest.

"I already have perfect control over my mana," she replied haughtily, "how will we even know if it worked?"

Michael's eyes shined, "why don't you try to make two orbs of mana—one on each hand?" he suggested with interest.

Yet Melody shook her head. "It's impossible, even our tutor Charles said so. There is no way to split on'es attention and maintain the level of control needed."

"Psh, all I hear are excuses," Rudy scoffed, giving her a disdainful gaze.

Michael who had opened his mouth to convince her, suddenly closed it—a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips. He saw the annoyance on Melody's face and knew that he wouldn't have to do anything.

"Excuses huh?" she replied, her hands balling into fists.