Xueluo felt a slight disturbance ripple through her mind.
Then—
*I’m back, Contractor.*
Guya’s voice echoed directly inside Xueluo’s head.
*Took a little time, but I’m recovered. How about you?*
No, no, wait, Guya—this is seriously a bad time.
Huh?
Though asleep, Guya had sensed roughly what happened during her slumber. She’d even caught traces of Xueluo’s gratitude.
But what now? What’s this mess?
Weren’t we supposed to be learning magic…?
Muttering inwardly, Guya focused her thoughts and peered out through Xueluo’s eyes.
And then—
She saw a test paper laid before Xueluo.
*In the spatial rectangular coordinate system, given M(2,0,0), N(0,2,10), if a point D on the z-axis satisfies |MD|=|ND|, find D’s coordinates: _____*
…
*What the hell are you doing…*
Snap!
Hearing Guya’s words, Xueluo crushed the pen in her hand with a sharp crack.
Clearly, she was furious.
“Ah, what the hell am I even doing!”
After spitting this out, Xueluo glared sullenly to the side.
There, Zerich lounged sideways on the sofa. A bowl of cookies sat beside him. He leisurely flipped through a newspaper.
He looked exactly like those lazy, useless tutors from cram schools.
“Taking point O as the origin, we establish three mutually perpendicular axes: x, y, z. This forms the spatial rectangular coordinate system Oxyz, where O is the coordinate origin…”
Zerich mumbled, tossing a cookie into his mouth. It crunched loudly. That sound, plus his relaxed pose, somehow made Xueluo even angrier.
“I didn’t ask for this nonsense!”
She yelled, hurling the broken pen at Zerich on the sofa.
But the pen vanished before nearing him.
Then—snap!—it reappeared on Xueluo’s forehead.
Slamming into her hard.
“Those are high school problems. I’ve got university ones ready too.”
“Screw you!”
Xueluo clutched her throbbing forehead and shouted.
“I thought you’d teach me magic! Why am I stuck on math problems?!”
Watching her rage, Zerich popped another cookie into his mouth. Crunch, crunch.
“Why do you think I created Spatial Magic?”
“Huh?”
Seeing Xueluo’s impatience, Zerich sighed. But with his mouth full, it sounded utterly unconvincing.
“Before that meteor hit me, I was a mathematician. While other Mages fiddled with mana to craft spells, I used it to sketch spatial coordinates.”
…
As Xueluo quieted slightly, Zerich swallowed his cookie and continued.
“Magic is just a discipline—not supernatural. Arrange mana by specific laws to create phenomena. That’s magic.”
“Somehow, that makes it sound way less cool…”
Zerich rubbed his nose bridge at Xueluo’s bored look.
“Theory’s the same, but human flaws split schools. Different methods, structures, formulas. Most spend lifetimes mastering only their own. Historically, only Mages with unique, powerful formulas earn posthumous titles.”
He raised his hand slightly.
“Magic’s now a science with its own laws. While others study mana through mana…”
Zerich suddenly thrust his hand toward Xueluo’s heart.
She reflexively blocked.
But in that instant—
His hand passed through her arm. Through her body.
Hovering at her heart, as if it didn’t exist.
While Xueluo gaped, Zerich spoke.
“A trick. I restructured mana in my arm using 3D spatial understanding. My hand’s detached from this space’s laws—visible, but not real.”
He paused.
“But if I dispel the magic now? Materialize my fingers?”
…
Xueluo swallowed hard.
“Right. My hand’s inside your heart. Dispelling it could crush your heart. No armor stops this.”
Smiling, Zerich slowly withdrew his hand.
“My teleportation works differently. But all this needs mana sensitivity—to sketch fine spatial coordinates. Without talent, this magic system’s impossible to learn.”
He clasped his hands behind his back, grinning.
“So. Still want those math problems?”
…
After a silence, Xueluo grabbed another pencil beside her.
Just as she turned back to the drafts—
The room door opened.
Rosalia walked in slowly.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said with a smile.
“Um, Irina’s awake.”
