I Have Time On My Side!

When they arrived at Nolan's house, the carriage came to a smooth stop in front of the main entrance.

The household staff, attentive and diligent, was already waiting for their master and his companion.

The servants bowed respectfully as soon as Nolan and Emily began to step down from the luxurious carriage.

The coachman, a middle-aged man with a calm expression, got down from the front seat and approached Nolan with respect.

“Sir, were you satisfied with the journey?” he asked, slightly bowing his head as he extended a small card towards him.

For a moment, Nolan was puzzled.

‘The journey? From the church to my house?’ he thought, bewildered by the question.

It had only been a short ride, almost insignificant for someone like him. However, not wanting to seem rude, he acknowledged the coachman’s courtesy.

“It was fine, thank you,” he replied briefly.

“I’m at your service, sir,” the coachman said with a bow before a member of Nolan’s staff quickly stepped forward to take the card from the driver’s hand.

Nolan and Emily walked towards the main entrance of the house.

Nolan led her directly to his study, a private room where he had conducted most of his magical research.

Upon reaching the room, Nolan closed the door behind them and, without wasting time, walked towards a bookshelf filled with old books.

He searched briefly before finding the book he had been reading in the library.

Without saying anything, he took it and handed it to Emily.

“Here you go. I want you to study this,” he said in a neutral tone.

Emily looked at the book in surprise, almost as if she couldn’t believe she was holding it.

It was a heavy volume that looked quite valuable.

Lifting her gaze, she looked at Nolan with a mix of doubt and respect.

“What do you expect me to do with this?” she asked, still bewildered by the magnitude of the book she had received.

Nolan raised an eyebrow, not fully understanding her surprise.

“Study it, of course,” he said, as if it were the most obvious thing.

Emily frowned, confused.

“Aren’t we going to practice magic today?”

Nolan shook his head, crossing his arms.

“No, today we’re focusing on what’s in that book. You need to understand the theory before you can use magic efficiently.”

Emily nodded, though she wasn’t entirely convinced.

She slowly opened the book, starting to flip through it, and soon found herself immersed in dense magical theory.

As she read, various terms and concepts began to emerge, some familiar, others completely new.

The mana core technique was the first thing she recognized.

It was the most common technique, the one almost every mage learned first.

The mana core allowed mages to centralize and contain their magical energy in a single point within their bodies, usually near the heart.

It was efficient and versatile but had obvious limitations, such as the risk of overloading and slow recovery in case of damage.

As she continued reading, Emily discovered the technique of mana rings, created by the Kingdom of Bravka.

The text detailed how mages could create energy rings around their core to amplify and stabilize the flow of mana.

Emily looked up at Nolan, surprised by the complexity of this technique.

“Mana rings…?” she asked, curious. “Is this the technique you use?”

Nolan shook his head.

“No. I use the core technique.”

Nolan thought for a moment, recalling the limitations he had faced with his mana core.

“And from what I’ve read about mana rings, they are more stable in the long term, but they take a lot of time to master. Also, I don’t have teachers or enough time to learn something so complex…”

Emily nodded slowly, processing the information.

However, the more she read about the rings, the more intrigued she became.

“They seem to be much more effective for controlling large amounts of mana…” she commented. “If you manage to master more than three rings, you could overcome the limitations of the core…”

Nolan sighed.

“Yes, but creating a ring is a slow process…”

Emily continued reading and found a third technique.

Mana tattoos, associated with the Kingdom of Astralia. This method was particularly interesting to her, as it was completely different from the others.

Magical tattoos, engraved on the skin with pure mana stones, offered an external way to manipulate magical energy without relying on the core or rings.

“And what about this technique?” Emily asked, pointing to the section on tattoos.

Nolan approached, observing what she was pointing at.

“Mana tattoos… they look powerful, but extremely dangerous. If done incorrectly or if the tattoo gets damaged, it could cause an uncontrollable mana leak. I have very little information about it, so I’m not considering that path, at least for now.”

“Then… what are you planning to do?”

Nolan leaned against the desk, looking at the floor as if weighing all his options once more.

“For now, I need to keep working on my core, stabilizing and strengthening it. The rings could be an option in the long term, but I don’t know if I have the time needed to develop them. And the tattoos…” he paused, letting his thought trail off. “I don’t think they’re for me.”

Emily pondered for a moment, digesting Nolan’s words.

Her gaze shifted to the book she was holding, feeling its weight both in her hands and in her mind.

A question slowly formed in her head, and she couldn’t help but ask it.

“Why didn’t you go for the ring technique?” she asked, curious about Nolan’s choice.

Nolan looked at her, somewhat surprised by the question, but his expression relaxed before he answered.

“Because that technique didn’t exist back then.”

Emily blinked in surprise.

What she had thought was an old, well-known technique turned out to be something relatively recent.

She looked again at the book in her hands, realizing the magnitude of what she was holding.

“That means this book… is more up-to-date than I thought,” she commented, amazed. Then, she looked up at Nolan. “Thank you for giving me access to something so valuable.”

Nolan nodded slightly, not giving the gesture much importance.

“You need all the information possible if you’re really going to learn. There’s no point in giving you outdated knowledge.”

Still impressed by what she was reading, Emily then asked with genuine interest:

“Which of these techniques interests you the most?”

Nolan looked at her thoughtfully, and after a few seconds of silence, he answered:

“I’m not sure, but what I know about the core is that it’s more direct… very versatile. But lately, due to… my condition, I’ve been thinking about other alternatives. Still, the core is quite comfortable.”

Emily nodded, reflecting on his words.

However, a new doubt filled her mind.

“How do you feel about your core now?”

As soon as she finished asking, she realized how obvious and painful the question was.

Immediately, regret flashed across her face.

Nolan gave a small, tired smile as he noticed her reaction, understanding that there was no ill intent in the question.

“My core is failing, yes, but it’s not irreversible. Forming a core is easy. The tricky part is keeping it stable, especially when you overexert it like I did during the war. As for the rings…” he paused, looking at her honestly, “I can’t tell you much because I’m just learning about their existence now. I had never heard of them until today.”

Emily looked at him, surprised.

The idea that someone as advanced as Nolan didn’t know about mana rings shocked her.

But there was something more, something that unsettled her.

After everything she had heard and learned, an impulse grew within her.

“I want to follow the same path as you,” she declared, with a mix of determination and hesitation in her voice.

Nolan, hearing her, gave a small laugh, though there was a shadow of melancholy in his expression.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. My path…” he paused, remembering all the moments of pain, humiliation, the times he had felt powerless and rejected until he was finally recognized as a hero. “It’s not easy. My magic isn’t… what you’d expect from an ordinary person.”

Emily looked at him, intrigued.

She had never considered what lay behind Nolan’s power; she had only seen the results, but at that moment, she realized she had no idea what the true nature of his magic was.

“Don’t you use wind magic?” she asked, astonished.

“No, I don’t use wind magic or any other elemental magic.”

Emily remained silent, trying to process that revelation.

Indeed, she had never seen him use an elemental spell like other mages.

People spoke of him with admiration, but always with a veil of mystery surrounding his abilities.

She couldn’t help but think of the rumors about his prowess in war.

‘What kind of magic does he really use?’ she wondered.

Finally, she decided to ask directly.

“What kind of magic are you interested in, then? Because everyone seems curious about what you do… even I am,” Emily admitted.

Nolan looked her directly in the eyes, and for a moment, he seemed to be debating whether or not to tell her the truth.