"In the frame gear, there is a substance called ether liquid, which flows through the entire machine, delivering magical power like blood. Normally, this transfers the rider's magical power to the various drive systems, causing the frame gear to move. However, if you suddenly pour magical power that exceeds the output limit, it will overload the machine and forcibly shut down all systems. This is a system to prevent a runaway collapse, or 'Destruction.'"
"I don’t really get it, but I understand it’s my fault."
My first frame gear exercise ended abruptly when my machine suddenly stopped working, leaving me frustrated and unfulfilled.
I had Lara explain it to me again, but it seems it’s really my fault.
"Normally, if you ride it properly, overloading wouldn’t happen... But, Nero-san, your magical power is probably ridiculously high..."
"Yeah... I was called a 'magic idiot' by my master..."
"Magic idiot..."
Lara gave me an exasperated look, as if she couldn’t believe it.
"By the way, isn't it obvious that choosing the Lightning Frame was a mistake? If you’d chosen the Mystic Frame, you could have better utilized that magical power, don’t you think?"
Shelly looked at me with a confused expression, as if I were saying something incomprehensible.
"I’m not boasting, but I can only use basic magic, and I’m bad at controlling the amount of magical power. Using magic while controlling the machine? Impossible. I’d probably blow myself up."
"Blow yourself up...? Oh, yes, if you can't control the magical power you’re pouring in, it could cause an explosion in your hands..."
Lirishia gave me a knowing look, as if she understood.
"In the end, the problem is that you’re constantly pouring all your magical power into it, right? The machine just can’t handle it. You really need to learn how to control your magical power, don’t you think?"
Carol concluded this, and everyone nodded in agreement, as if saying "That’s right." I know that already!
"Nero, 'magical power control' is a must for you."
"Yeah, if you can’t control it properly, you won’t be able to move it..."
"If you had a long-range sniper machine, you might get by without it moving."
"That would require even more precise magical power control, though. Too much magical power is wasted like that."
Darn it...! Everyone’s just saying whatever they want...!
I climbed into my bed in the dorm, feeling restless as I thought about today’s events.
But like everyone said, I really need to learn magical power manipulation and control the amount of magical power I use. Otherwise, I won’t be able to have a proper fight.
I have to figure it out before the [Star Duel] in a month... Worst case, the fight will only involve the armed gear.
Even so, it wouldn’t be impossible to fight, but my goal is to become a 'Mecha Trooper' and participate in the 'Mecha War Ragnarok.' If I can’t handle the frame gear, there’s nothing I can do.
I have to do this. I’ll master magical power control!
"Alright! I’ll do it! I’ll totally do it!"
"Stop shouting!"
With a sudden push, Lirishia shoved me up from the bottom bunk. Whoa.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Ugh... gah... gah..."
I was desperately trying to control the magical power to make the flame on the tip of my index finger smaller.
A flame, like a torch, was coming out of my finger, and suddenly it would extinguish. Then, as if remembering, it would light up again. This had been happening repeatedly.
According to what I learned in the 'Magical Power Control' class, my magical power output is irregular. Sometimes it’s large, sometimes small. As a first step, I need to fix that.
If I were just an adventurer fighting enemies, I could just unleash my full power, and it wouldn’t be much of a problem. But in order to control a frame gear, I need to master the tricks of magical power control.
The ideal control is to light a small flame, like a magic lighter, from the tip of my finger and keep it burning steadily. That’s what I learned, but... I’ve been trying this for a while now...
"This isn’t working!"
A huge burst of flame shot out from my fingertip, and I tumbled to the ground.
This was on the roof of the third school building. The sky above was clear and blue with no clouds in sight.
The school rooftop is open to students, and at lunchtime, it’s usually crowded with students eating their lunch. Right now, only a few students could be seen here and there.
"I don’t know... it’s like... it’s so hard to get a grip on it... like trying to hold a slippery eel? No, maybe it’s more like trying to pick up a taro root with chopsticks and it just slips out... It’s just... so hard to get a grip on it..."
"That’s a weird analogy, I kind of get it, but not really."
"Huh?"
I quickly sat up at the sound of a familiar voice, and there stood Principal Quun, with a silver bear golem by her side.
"Ah, P-Principal Quun...!"
"Oh? You’re not going to call me 'senpai'? That’s a bit lonely."
"No, please don’t...!"
And seriously, the principal could have told me about this back then... I was so shocked during the entrance ceremony!
"So? From what I saw, you were practicing magical power control. Or were you planning on jumping through a fire hoop?"
"I’m practicing magical power control..."
If I could make a fire hoop, I’d probably already be good at magical power control.
"You’re having a hard time with it, huh?"
"Magical power control is hard to understand. It’s basically just adjusting the amount, right?"
"Well, it’s not just that, but broadly speaking, yes."
"I’m trying so hard to control it, squeezing out as little as possible, but it still ends up too much. If I try to squeeze it further, it just stops. I don’t know what to do..."
As I sighed and mumbled, Principal Quun was chuckling softly while looking at me. It really wasn’t something to laugh about, though.
"It’s a common stumbling block for those with a lot of magical power. I had a similar experience when I was a child."
"Principal, how did you learn magical power control?"
"Learned? ...Ah, I see."
The principal nodded as if understanding something on her own. Huh? What’s going on?
"Are you someone who doesn’t use magic much?"
"Huh? ...I guess so. It’s faster to run and punch."
When I was working as an adventurer, I did use magic, but mostly to fight slimes or monsters that had specific resistance to physical attacks. Otherwise, it was just for starting a campfire or securing drinking water. Of course, I used recovery magic when I got injured.
"I see. I understand now. Parla, can you help?"
When the principal said that, the bear golem, Parla, seemed to say "Leave it to me," and tapped its chest.
Parla, the bear golem, hopped around behind me as I sat on the roof, then gently placed both of its arms on my back.
The next moment, I felt something draining from inside me. Wait, what is this...!?
"Don’t move. Right now, Parla is draining your magical power."
"I knew it!?"
It felt like all the magical power in my body was being drained from my back. But I need magical power to control it! Why are you taking it away!?
As this was happening, my body started to feel heavy. Ah, this feels like when I was on Achilles and ran out of magical power. No, I’m still conscious, so I’m not at the point of depletion... probably...
"It looks like it's done. Thank you, Parla."
No, the one who’s exhausted is me...! My body feels as heavy as lead... My head is spinning, and I feel a bit nauseous... I feel terrible right now!
"Um, why did you do this...?"
"Right now, you have only a fraction of your usual magical power. Try lighting a fire on your finger like you did earlier with this state."
With this little magical power!? Are you trying to kill me!? Alright, fine! I’ll do it! You want me to do it, right!?
I lit a small fire on my fingertip. Perhaps because of the low magical power, instead of a big torch-like flame, only a small lighter-like flame appeared. It couldn’t grow any bigger. Well, that makes sense...
...Wait?
"I did it..."
The small flame on my fingertip didn’t grow or disappear, it just kept burning steadily. Huh? Did I just control my magical power!?
"How...?"
"You have a lot of magical power, but you rarely use magic, right? The last time you collapsed was the first time you ran out of magical power, wasn’t it?"
"Um, yeah."
"That means you’ve never really known what your true minimum output feels like. Even though you thought you were using the smallest amount, you were actually outputting too much. So, I had to stop you at the root and make it so you can’t output large amounts of magical power."
Ah, that’s why... In this state with so little magical power, I can barely squeeze out any at all.
I get it now. It feels like the scale of my magical power is shifting from ten to a thousand.
Before, even the smallest magical power felt large, but now I can adjust it in increments of one hundred.
I still can’t adjust perfectly in increments of thirteen or fourteen, but I feel like I can control it broadly.
"Thank you! I think I can finally learn magical power control!"
"No need to thank me. Just put out that fire first. You don’t want to collapse again from magical power depletion, do you?"
"Ah, ahh!"
I hurriedly put out the fire on my fingertip as soon as the principal told me to. I was using just the bare minimum of magical power. I almost collapsed from depletion again!
Whew, that was close, I sighed with relief, but then, in front of me, the principal extended a small bottle filled with dark green liquid. Huh? Is this...?
I cautiously looked up at the principal, who was smiling sweetly.
"Is this Flora-san’s mana potion...?"
"No."
Ah, it’s not. Thank goodness, I thought I was about to be forced to drink that horrible, bitter mana potion...
"It’s Flora-san’s high mana potion."
"Is it worse!? Is it worse than the regular one!?"
No, it’s not worse...! Ah, stop! Don’t open it! I’ll drink it myself! Let me drink it when I’m ready!
"Guh!?"
Ugh! It’s so bitter! So astringent! If there were a bitter bug in this world, it would probably taste like this!
I didn’t collapse from magical power depletion, but for another reason, I fainted flat out...
Candy... I need candy...
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