Chapter 4: All Night Studying
Telekinesis Control is the much safer option.
Not only will Ervin learn a way to control his Mana much more efficiently than his current rudimentary ways taught by his Common Mage Arts.
Along with gaining a better Mana control, Telekinesis also grants him the ability to use Mana to forcefully grab any objects far away from him. He can even use Telekinesis to grab any incoming Mana projection attacks that may be thrown at him and even Magical Combat weapons.
Higher layers of this art will allow him to move greater objects with more force, numerous objects at the same time, and even the Mana of other Magical Skills.
There was no limit on what Ervin could grap with Telekinesis. All he needed was the proper amount of comprehension, Mana power, and energy to take hold of an object, beast, human, or other Mana energy.
Telekinesis Control was the clear winner in both short-term and long-term benefits.
Ervin got down to business. His eyes closed to retain maximum focus. In this state, his soul force poured into the Magical Scroll through using his Magic Sense to flow his soul force.
Ervin's body trembled in an instant. He was instantly hit with an immense wave of unclear and confusing information inside his mind.
What he was seeing was like a fog. Within the fog were various words and symbols he could yet understand.
The first layer of any Magical Art only requires the Mage to study the Magic insignia symbol of the first layer.
This symbol then unleashed the fundamental principles of the Mage Art and it will be up to the Mage to comprehend all of these principles.
Doing so will have Ervin complete the first layer, thereby entering the Small Success stage.
Ervin may intensely apply himself in understanding the magical art. He may have a crazed determination to study magic. But his red-color talent severely limits on how fast he can understand the first layer of Telekinesis Control.
It was only possible for him to understand small bits and pieces, like filling out an equation to a math question.
The progress was slow. But Ervin didn't even think about how slow he was going. His focus stayed completely on studying as much of the first layer as he possibly could.
The outside world began to seemingly vanish from his senses. Everything was about understanding the principles of Telekinesis Control, how the art revolves it Mana, and just the slightest bit of understanding of the meaning to forcefully grasp the world with Mana energy alone.
Many of these concepts were lost in Ervin's mind. But as time passed, he slowly fell into a rhythm, comprehending what he could without a care in the world.
...
The night swiftly passed.
Early morning, around eight o'clock, came, with the brilliant sun shining down its warm rays of light.
The warmth provided a soothing feeling to everyone, even the Mages, who felt as if their souls were being provided with fuel to start their days.
It was at this time that a loud alarm sounded right next to Ervin.
"Hm?" The sound of the alarm stirred Ervin out of his magical trance.
Many hours passed and he stayed locked in studying Telekinesis Control.
A small smile curled his lip. The progress towards reaching the Small Success stage barely increased by 1%.
The world in Ervin's eyes didn't change too much. However, things, such as the table before him, the wooden floor, and other such objects seemed a little bit brighter.
Compared to yesterday, Ervin also felt slightly more in touch with Mana. As if he sunken his feet deeper into the endless ocean that is the Magical Paths.
To enter the Small Success stage and have proficient usage of the art, Ervin needs to have comprehended 15% of the first layer's symbol magical principles.
The speed seemed like a snail's pace. But Ervin can safely say through doing nothing but comprehending the entire night, he certainly made faster progress than most other red-color Mages.
Those Mages would have other responsibilities to take care of or other tasks to manage. Nothing like that was stopping Ervin from investing all of his time into comprehension.
Ervin would've liked to spend the entire day in the same magical trance. He would only need to take breaks to intake food and water.
But that wasn't possible.
All Mages need to take on some kind of job specific to Mages as it's one of the written laws of society.
And Ervin knew what kind of job to do that would further push his Magical Path.
Becoming a Mage Enforcer.
Ervin cared little about the ideals and values of being a Mage Enforces. All on his mind was using the plentiful resources there to his advantage.
When getting up from his spot, Ervin cracked out the kinks in his body from staying in the spot for the entire night.
At that moment, out of curiosity, Ervin switched on the TV.
The only station he cared enough to watch was the news. As the magical light of the TV illuminated, Ervin was treated to a breaking news report.
This news station was depicting a beautiful Mage woman standing in front of the exact same abandoned facility of the cold corpses of once Mage graduated.
The Mage's face showed genuine remorse, her eyes unable to contain complete professionalism.
Magical lights were spewing out of her palm, condensing into a projection that displayed perfect images of both Robert and Caryla.
In a calm tone, despite her expression, the Mage said, "It is a tragic tale to report that two promising and upcoming Mage graduates were mysteriously murdered without a single trace of criminal's auras or whereabouts. The victims' families are in complete devastation and our Mage Enforcers are hard at work to bring this criminal to justice. We-"
The TV turned off before the Mage could continue. Ervin heard what he needed to hear.
The fact that even when investigating the scene, nobody can lead to any trace back to him. His Complete Invisibility shielded him from other Mages tracking his aura, any other footprints, and even the blood that trickled from his knife.
It took months of planning. But it was all worth it in the end to gain Noble Mage Arts.
As for those graduates' families and how he ruined their lives. Ervin, despite his ruthless actions, wasn't some emotionless being without a hint of empathy.
Far from that. He quite understands how relationships work, the morals of society, and how should one act to be a good or better person.
The grief felt by those families is immense and yet, Ervin simply did not care since it wasn't affecting him.
He knows his cold, ruthless way of thinking will affect any relationship he has and how he will interact with society.
But from a young child to this day, Ervin had yet to encounter someone who had a truly interesting personality to him or talked with someone who left a lasting impression on his soul.
And from the way the days go on, Ervin didn't get his hopes up or really care enough to meet another person with similar thoughts as him.
Everything always felt the same to him, thus leading him to focus on what gives him the most enjoyment more than anything else in the world.
That is advancing upon his Magic Paths.
Magic is and always will be this mystical force where anything can be possible. A way for anyone to fly higher than the stars and possibly uncover the greatest secrets the world has to offer.
Ervin didn't want Magical Laws for simply power, fame, or wealth. All of that simply comes with being a powerful Mage.
No. What fuels Ervin the most is to finally understand everything there is about Magic, and achieve an enlightenment that can give him a view of the entire universe.
Naturally, his lofty goals can only be achieved with one step at a time. His first step is to finally become a Mage Enforce to gain access to all their rich resources.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone