“Flann Ruzena. You know why I called you here, right?”

Shortly after the general lectures had ended, Flann was called to the main office by the director. He had hurried over, and now faced with the person who had the authority to punish him by the school rules, he found himself extremely nervous. 

“...Y, yes.”

“As you have likely heard, there are some rather grand accusations against you for using your magic without control and attacking and injuring another student.”

Flann nodded silently.

“These are quite serious matters, but we are aware that the other student is partially at fault as well. As such, we will be giving you a warning, and if anything similar happens again, you will be expelled.” The director leaned forward, his hands folded on the table in front of him. “Normally, you would be placed on probation in which you are not allowed to practice magic, but given that one of the causes of this event was your lack of control practice, you will continue your private lessons as usual. However, until your instructor has guaranteed your ability, you shall not participate in practicum with your class. Do you understand?”

Flann nodded again. “...Yes, I understand.”

Reclining back, the director said, “Then that is all. You do have another private lesson today, so try to make the most out of it as you can.”

Bowing deeply, Flann replied, “I, I will… Thank you!”

Exiting the director’s office, Flann found Clarette and Leticia waiting for him outside the building, and he rushed over to them. 

He lowered his head lightly at them, and said, “...Sorry for making you wait.”

“No worries,” Leticia replied, “It didn’t take too long.”

“So,” Clarette asked, apprehension visible on her face, “how did it go? Was it alright?”

“Yes.” Noticing the worry on Clarette’s face, Flann smiled a little, trying to ease her thoughts. “Luckily, they didn’t believe the rumors… They only gave me a warning for now.”

“I see… that’s a relief. I wouldn’t have known what to do if they insisted on the rumors…” 

A little surprised at the leniency, Leticia asked, “There’s no probation?”

Flann shook his head. “They said… I need to quickly learn to control my mana… so they’re making an exception.”

“Ah, I see,” Leticia nodded in understanding. “That makes sense.”

“Then that means you still have your lessons today, right?” 

“Yes, I need to head over soon…”

“In that case, we shouldn’t hold you back,” Clarette replied. Waving at Flann, she said, “I’ll see you at home, okay?”

Flann grinned, the afternoon breeze softly blowing his hair about. “...Okay!”

He watched for a bit as the two of them left for the gates, and then left himself to head to the training grounds. 

In the distance, he spotted Valens’ unique build and curly brown hair, and he hurried to greet him. “...Valens!”

Hearing his name, Valens turned around, and broke into laughter at the sight of Flann running over to him. When Flann reached the far lot and stopped to catch a breath, Valens also calmed a bit from his laughter and spoke. “You didn’t have to rush, Flann!”

“I… somehow when I saw you, I wanted to head over quickly…” His cheeks flushed from running and embarrassment, Flann fidgeted with his fingers, glancing at the ground. 

“Well, it’s good if you’re excited for your lessons!” Valens laughed out loud. “Then, shall we get started?” 

Flann nodded eagerly, ready to give his all so that he would not make such a mistake again. They began by reviewing the basics that Valens had taught him previously, and building on the same topics with more precision. 

“Flann, when you summoned such a large amount of mana, what were you thinking or feeling? Did you consciously want to produce flames that large?”

Flann tried to think back on the events from a day ago, although in the spur of the moment, his memories got a bit hazy. “...No, I… was just scared. I wanted something… anything, to protect myself.” 

Valens rubbed his chin a couple of times, contemplating Flann’s answer. “Hm… it’s usually pretty difficult to release that large an amount of mana without working to, so your availability of mana seems to be even higher than I thought.” 

“This level of mana is rare even amongst nobles, and yet you are a commoner-born! Despite the dangers it may pose, I’m more amazed by the fact that you are this strong, Flann. You’re one in a million!”

Flann didn’t know whether this was a compliment or not, and had difficulty responding to it. When he thought about it, he didn’t know where he came from in the first place, so it was a bit odd to hear assumptions based off of it. Surely he wasn’t a noble, but was his ability really that rare amongst commoners? He didn’t have enough knowledge to know. 

The awkwardness in his emotions must have shown on his face, because Valens quickly changed the topic. Clearing his throat, he said, “...I apologize about that. I got a bit too excited. In any case, what’s important is to prevent your mana from leaking out unconsciously.” 

Again, he paused to think for a moment. “It varies from individual to individual, but judging by your reactions so far, I’m wondering if it may also be a byproduct of your lack of awareness?”

“Since you were raised without magic and only learned how to use it recently, aside from your high abundance of mana, you may also unconsciously be thinking that it’ll require more effort to achieve what you want. Let’s practice with this aiming exercise.” 

Valens walked over to the side of the lot where a few crates were stacked, and opened one to pull out several targets. Placing them down in a row, he said, “I want you to aim at these targets as quickly and effortlessly as you can, and start on the leftmost one by only burning the inner ring. Then, at each target, try to release enough mana to burn one more ring than the last.” 

Placing his hands on his hips, he turned to Flann. “Do you understand?”

“...Yes, I’ll give it a try.”

He nodded and motioned over to the targets. “Go for it.”