Stop Writing! [Magical Academy Litrpg]

The corridors were eerily empty. Every now and then, Alec could hear a faraway cough, or a muffled explosion resound throughout. Each of his steps echoed throughout the hallways.

This was a building for the professors. It would be weird for him to encounter too many students. He himself was a very special case, and he doubted that there would be others like him.

When he entered the building, he was welcomed by a female receptionist. The woman was very friendly. Although she was surprised to see a student in the professor's labs, especially because of the late hour, she didn’t judge and properly asked him questions. Afterward, she pointed him in the correct direction and told him Professor Andrew’s lab number.

“173…” Alec muttered to himself. Each syllable of his own caused him to shiver in place. As if something was following him, he started hearing his own footsteps double.

‘Am I hallucinating?’ Alec asked himself as he suddenly turned around to surprise the ghosts. As expected, he was met with an empty hallway. ‘Huh… Obviously, the ghost will be in front of me when I turn back around.’

Turning around once more, this time even faster, Alec readied himself to see something gruesome. However, the hallway was, again, empty.

‘What the fuck? Why am I hearing footsteps trailing me then?’ he asked himself. ‘Never mind, it’s better to hurry.’

Quickening his steps, Alec traversed the long hallways and ascended some stairs to Professor Andrew’s lab.

There was a golden plate showcasing the number “173” on it.

Before entering, Alec took out two small vials of potion from his jacket and drank them. After entering the building, he had written a focus potion and a mana regeneration potion.

‘I seem to have detoxed already. Drinking these two should pose no problem. I will need them during the mana brain engravement,’ Alec thought. He felt the two potions energize him.

Raising his hand, he knocked on the door exactly three times and started waiting.

With a click, the door was opened immediately. Alec stepped inside with a raised guard.

“Hello, Professor,” he said as he entered. The insides were as expected. There were countless wards etched on the walls. Silencing arrays, explosion blocker arrays, defensive arrays…

If it was before Professor Andrew had him appointed as an official assistant, Alec would have been hesitant to remain in such an enclosed place with someone aware of his magical possession.

“Welcome Alec. You can call me Mr. Andrew now. I have registered you as my assistant. You should contact student affairs to confirm the registration,” Professor said. He was hunched over his table, writing something as fast as he could. The room was partially illuminated by an oil lamp on the table. It was probably somewhere around 60 m², which was plenty of space for an individual laboratory. The fact that it wasn’t more sterile though, surprised Alec.

‘Maybe they don’t know enough about bacteria and stuff,’ he thought before closing the door behind him and walking further inside.

“I’m looking forward to working together Mr. Andrew,” Alec said. The Professor took out his glasses and wiped them with a beige cloth before putting them back on.

“Me too Alec. Me too. But first, I should keep my end of the deal,” he said. He seemed strangely enthusiastic, which surprised Alec.

Getting up, Mr. Andrew picked up a chair with telekinesis and let it float in mid-air. Then five purple-colored magic circles appeared behind him —all targeting different furniture— and raised them into the air before pushing them to the corners of the lab. Although some of those furniture were cabinets full of delicate objects, tables with writings on them, or outright glass tables, nothing was broken or spilled.

This small magic show excited Alec. Although he had seen plenty of magic throughout his days in the academy, telekinesis was always a branch that he was more excited about.

Finally, Mr. Andrew physically bent over and pulled a rug that had been hidden under all the furniture toward himself and revealed a big magic circle drawn on the ground before placing the chair he had previously lifted right in the middle.

This was a magic circle Alec had previously seen. It was the circle for a mana brain. Now enlarged, Alec could pick up on a lot more details compared to before. Even still, it didn’t at all look like it had been upscaled. It was as dense with writings and symbols as before.

“While waiting for you, I prepared the skeleton of the brain,” Mr. Andrew explained. “I would like to get done with it as quickly as possible. Please sit on the chair.”

Alec nodded and walked to the chair that was placed right in the middle of the mana brain circle on the ground.

“First, I will decorate the circle with the necessary materials before starting the engravement procedure,” the Professor explained. Alec nodded and started scrutinizing the Professor’s every move. Although he knew that Mr. Andrew couldn’t try anything at this point, it was still good to be careful. Fortunately, all of the materials placed fit the recipe for the mana brain.

“Mana brains are very complicated ritual magics. Many mages engrave themselves with different rituals. It doesn’t only have to be a mana brain, as there are many others. However, the one that is the most useful for a mage is this,” he explained. Which piqued Alec’s interest. He had thought the mana brain to be more unique.

“Like what?” Alec asked. Mr. Andrew thought for a second before answering.

“There are beast rituals, for example,” he said. Even while speaking, his hand didn’t stop placing small crystals and animal parts around the circle while floating chalks made from exotic materials kept adding details. ”You pick a certain type of beast to act as the ritual’s catalyst. Depending on what beast, you get permanent stat boosts. But one’s body can only handle a certain amount of rituals before it collapses.”

“That’s interesting…” Alec muttered. He could imagine different classes such as warriors or hunters begging mages to engrave them with rituals. Permanent stat boosts were incredibly important after all.

“Yes. This part is done,” Mr. Andrew said as he cleaned his hands. When his hands stopped working, the magic circle had become much more animated. Alec was mesmerized as the circle started glowing a gentle blue even without the Professor injecting any mana.

“Onto the next stage,” he said before settling his gaze on Alec. “Take off your top.”

Alec nodded along. He got up and took off his shirt and jacket before sitting back down. He had a strong body, that was undeniable. His muscles were showcased with all their grandeur, which surprised Mr. Andrew.

“Huh. I have seen warrior students your age before. Maybe the strongest ones have a body that looks like yours,” he muttered to himself.

“Is that a compliment?” Alec asked with a frown on his face. There wasn’t a suggestive or questioning tone behind Mr. Andrew’s question. He had merely stated a fact and didn’t seem to care about Alec’s secrets.

“To a mage, the only thing that matters is their mind and mana. I can compliment you on those, but I doubt you care,” Mr. Andrew said. He walked up to Alec and raised his index finger, pointing it toward him. Confused, Alec suddenly felt a piercing pain coming from the middle of his chest.

From Professor Andrew’s finger came out a thin beam of light similar to that of a blue laser. The light penetrated into Alec’s skin but didn’t go deeper than that. As the Professor’s finger started picking up speed, Alec noticed a small magic circle appear on his chest.

Funnily enough, the magic circle was completely empty. The frame was there, but it was left empty as if it would soon be filled up with something else.

“The mana brain is an incredibly complicated magic circle. If I tried engraving it onto you directly, I would make countless mistakes while trying to do so. Not to mention, the circle would still be huge compared to this one, covering almost all your skin,” Professor Andrew explained. “That’s why, the mana brain is drawn elsewhere, preferably on the ground, before the frame for it is engraved on you. The magic circle is then transferred onto the frame, and voilà!”

“Huh…” Alec exclaimed. The pain coming from his chest was negligible. He felt like he had experienced much worse somewhere else, but couldn’t remember where.

“Now, you should stay as still as possible. This will hurt, a lot,” Professor explained. Alec gulped loudly and closed his eyes. Then, he took a deep breath and opened them back again. He wanted to see the entire process with his own eyes.

“I’m starting,” Mr. Andrew said before raising both of his hands and pointing their palms toward Alec. From his hand, silk-thin threads of mana started pouring out in every direction, squiggling and wriggling, and eventually reaching the mana brain drawn on the ground. Those strands of mana caused the circle to become aggravated, and livelier. As if it had woken up from its slumber, the mana brain circle started glowing with blinding blue lights.

The circle kept glowing like this for a few more seconds before something changed in the atmosphere around Alec.

The mana was becoming denser and denser around him.

After the mana density reached a certain amount, something surprising happened. The mana brain circle dislodged itself from the ground and started rising into the air. All the materials placed around it had melted into the circle frame, making it even more potent.

“Brace yourself, Alec! The next part is going to be hard!”

“I know..!”