Hidden Tallent

Jack's heart carries a lot of excitement when walking. His face looked like a kid who was about to play a game for the first time after only hearing about it for a month from his friends.

After returning to Izack's office, they entered a door at the end of the room, which led them toward a descending staircase. It takes quite some time for them to finally see at the end of the stairs.

At the bottom of the staircase that seemed to be underground, Jack found a large room with various ethnic symbols painted with blue color on its rock-like walls. The eerie feeling makes him feel like entering a ritual room that is used in a sacrificial rite.

There are six dummies inside the strange room, placed at 10 meters, 20 meters, and 30 meters, respectively. Three of them are made out of wood when the other three are metal dummy.

About 40 meters from the entrance, ten meters target practice with ten different sections hung on the center of the wall. Just by looking at them, Jack knows that this place is used as a training ground to practice magic spells.

"Hit the wooden dummy with your fireball spell." Old man Izack leaned on the wall near the entrance with hands crossed in front of his chest.

Without waiting for another second, Jack channels his mana toward his right palm to activate the fireball magic circle. A dim blue light started to fill the magic circle, slowly from its center point.

When all the runes in the magic circle shone with a blue luster, a red ball as big as a baseball ball formed in front of his palm and kept getting bigger. When the size is doubled, a thin and transparent blue mana-like substance starts to warp around the red ball.

'Is this… Magic?!'

The spell name is Fireball, but it was more like a ball of lava that was warped by mana. It's totally different from the Fireball spell that Jack usually sees in a game or anime.

'Of course. The spell is called Fireball, but in reality, it is not, or at least not yet, because a burning fire needs an energy source to keep burning. If the fire keeps burning, the spell will become smaller the longer I maintain it, or it will constantly drain my mana.

'Let's try firing it.'

After analyzing the first real spell he had ever seen, Jack looked toward a dummy and started aiming at its head. He calculates the distance, recoil, wind, gravity, and its expected parabolic trajectory before swinging his hand as hard as he can like a pitcher.

He wanted to shout the spell's name but was too embarrassed because old man Izack was watching him closely.

After the red ball is leaving the mana in his hand, the side facing him emits a burst of fire that accelerates the spell.

Boom!

A second later, the middle dummy's head exploded when the fireball spell hit right between its eyes.

"Marvelous! A real talent! You managed to hit the middle dummy directly in the head on the first try." Old man Izack clapped his hands vigorously. He was so happy to the point that he wanted to hug Jack right away.

But Jack's mouth twitched as a response. 'I was aiming at the front one.'

"Again." Order Izack full of excitement before silently commented. 'Able to accurately hit one time is a coincidence. If he could strike another one accurately, that means… hehe... '

Jack activates the magic circle again. But when the blue light just passed the halfway mark, the activation was stopped.

"Eh?" Jack was wearing a confused look on his face.

"Hahaha. Amateurs! Do you remember that the mana flows in your body divided into two parts? After mana reaches your heart, it will be distributed all over your body through blood.

"You won't be able to cast another one if you use all of them in a single spell. Your body is too weak right now, so it needs some time to recharge the mana that could be used to activate a magic circle.

"Knowing your limitation is necessary. In a real fight, the one who loses himself will lose.

"Oh! You don't need to throw your spell-like brainless monkey, just push it outside your mana is enough. Hahaha…"

Old man Izack shakes his head, feeling amused. No matter how talented Jack is, he is still a frog in the well.

'So this is the logic behind the skill cooldown and Magic stats. I have a system that could help me calculate the limit of spells I could cast, so I don't need to find it the hard way. In this particular part, I have an advantage over the others.'

A few seconds later, the magic circle activation resumed until a red ball appeared in Jack's palm. This time, he calculated the expected trajectory more seriously before finally launching the fireball spell.

Another dummy's head exploded like a watermelon meets a steel bat.

"Well done! Right on the mark." Praise old man Izack sincerely.

'I am still aiming at the front dummy.' The twitch in Jack's mouth became more visible, yet Old man Izack didn't notice it.

Izack Newtown touched the wall with his palm while injecting his mana. A few seconds later, another wooden dummy already replaced the destroyed one.

"Keep firing your spell until you know your own limit. But don't overexert yourself. Stop when your head starts to ache. I have work to do so I will wait for you in my office.

"Remember, never let your mana central empty because the consequences are severe. You may not be able to use mana again for the rest of your life."

Jack bent his body ninety degrees before saying firmly. "Thank you. I understand, master."

"Good."

The old man turned around and started climbing the stairs.

After making sure that the old man arrived at his office, Jack cast another fireball while imitating an anime character. He screamed his lungs out without any care in the world.

When he was satisfied, his stomach was already screaming like a toad.

"I think that's enough. Dinner time..."