High Mana Sense

The rest of the journey was smooth sailing and there were no more interruptions or delays on Leonard's carriage. 

The capital had descended into frantic chaos thanks to Leonard's manipulation and planning, but the culprit himself was currently learning how to create his first magic circle.

POP! 

Inside the carriage, Leonard's face was rather pale as he failed to stabilize the mana during the condensation process once again. 

"Your senses in mana are very high, but the control and sustainability are a mess," Mirelle commented and shook her head with a look of disapproval. 

"I've noticed you have infused the uncontrolled mana in your leg previously to kick the werewolf's slave stomach. As powerful as it may have been, the danger and risk was actually high." 

"Had you failed to dissipate the mana on time, then your leg would have sustained injury. You were lucky that you were close to the werewolf who was immobilized."

Mirelle's lecture was long as she even brought up the events from previously to light. Before, there was a large crowd and it was the public, so she refrained from commenting on the reckless behavior. 

However, they were currently inside the carriage and had turned on the formation to prevent any sound from leaking outside. Thus, she had no qualms to lecture and reprimand Leonard for his actions. 

Being lectured without any preferential treatment, Leonard remained obedient and accepted the constructive criticisms. 

What Mirelle spoke of wasn't some random words but filled with advice from an experienced Mage. 

"I understand the risk behind it, but I needed to make a move to show the public that I'm not just some flowery vase," Leonard explained his reckless action. 

His weakness was that he couldn't fully condense the mana and control it, but he could still gather and infuse the mana briefly. 

However, the mana that he gathered must be dissipated or exerted to another area within a time frame. Otherwise, the mana would go out of control and possibly cause a severe backlash upon him. 

When Mirelle realized that Leonard wasn't ignorant of the possible consequences, she could only exhale softly. "Whether you're a crown prince or not, every noble child seems to like to take risks." 

This was the main reason why she often refused to tutor a specific noble child. They were too reckless and always seemed to be in a time crunch or something. It was as if they couldn't improve in a certain time frame, then their life would be over. 

Learning magic had no shortcut and required patience to understand the fundamentals behind each spell. Just one slight mishap in the casting or the chanting, and the spell itself could change or deform into something else. 

"You've misspoke something, Teacher Mirelle." Leonard suddenly said. 

"I don't take risks. I take calculated risks—one that I know I can do and has a low possibility of failing." He corrected her. Now that Mirelle had agreed to become his tutor, Leonard naturally had to change the address from Lady to Teacher. 

One reason was that it was proper etiquette, and the second reason was that he respected her as a person. 

Although Mirelle had kept quiet about her action, Leonard long knew she wasn't just idle at the carriage during the ambush incident. Instead, she had been secretly providing support to the nearby Crimson Guards and rescuing the citizens who were embroiled in the battle. 

Such large-scale actions had strained her deeply, but that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg of what she did. 

Just like Mirelle had commented on him. His senses in mana were abnormally high, so he could sense the coating of her protection mana surrounding his body almost at the same time the carriage was halted by Curtis. The meticulous and quiet action made Leonard appreciative of her effort. 

She didn't seek praise or rewards and chose to conceal the matter. She could have easily leveraged the matter and possibly made him agree to some of her demands to enforce equality in the academy. 

But she didn't do that and began helping him to construct a magic circle. 

"I can see your talent in mana isn't low, but every time condensation nears success, your control falters." Mirelle frowned and found the situation very abnormal. Usually, when a person's sense of mana was this high, they could easily construct a magic circle without much obstacle.

"During the condensation, you remain composed, but your body appears to be in pain. I've inspected you earlier and there are no curses." She continued. 

"I have that figured out as well," Leonard responded somewhat sarcastically. 

His patience had been wearing thin when he kept stumbling across a blockade in the final step. 

It was one thing to struggle and require effort to resolve the issue, but it was another thing when the problem stemmed from something unknown. 

"I know you must be frustrated, but I have a friend who has been doing this particular kind of research. She happens to be staying at Velastra as well to earn money to supplement her research." Mirelle suddenly brought up the topic of her friend. 

With a glimmer of hope being shown, one might think Leonard's face would brighten up. 

However, he didn't. 

In fact, his face darkened and he realized something horrific. 

"Who is this friend of yours?" He inquired. "Does everyone else know about her research or only known to a few individuals?" 

Unsure of the sudden inquiry, Mirelle didn't conceal much. "She's Caroline, a sixth magic circle mage like me. While I focus mainly on healing, her focus was oriented on research and the complexity of a human's body concerning mana." 

"And how long has Caroline been staying at Velastra?" 

"Not that long, to be honest. It was only recently, just a few months before my acceptance as a guest instructor to the Imperial Aldros Academy." 

Upon hearing that, Leonard leaned on his back and felt a cold chill running down his spine. 'So everything has been Father's plan all along. He has everything under control from the start. I'm just a pawn.'