Infinite Cube: Extra's Life in Another World

Mana training class, just as Kai had expected, was an absolute waste of his time.

Mr. Osbourne continued to drone on about how the sword was the greatest weapon, then lavished praise on Mathew, who had introduced him to the art of spearmanship.

Kai received a few hostile glares from some students, while the more serious ones paid him little to no attention.

Still, he took note of every member of the main cast and the individual classes they usually attended, uncertain if he'd still be able to afford the higher-tier courses after today.

'Maybe I can ask if they accept normal currency,' Kai thought, though he highly doubted it.

After the main class, there was a brief sparring and sword practice session.

Most students, however, used it as an opportunity to boast and show off their skills.

As always, Kai remained indifferent to the whole ordeal, since they were essentially revealing their combat styles while the league was still underway.

'I hope they wrap up this league already.'

Kai stood in a random corner, idly playing with his fingers, which clearly irritated the professor.

Eventually, he was nearly thrown out of class and forced to practice basic sword swings.

After the exhausting session, Kai received a message from Anica, who had been contacting him persistently since his match.

'She can be a little cute sometimes.'

As he got to know her better, his original plan of using her death as a catalyst to make Song of the Death fight Deerheart began to fade.

'Maybe I am just getting soft,' He thought sarcastically.

[I highly doubt that ever happening.]

His path to the next class was mostly uneventful.

Although, he still had a minor squabble with Matthew, whose uncanny knack for provoking him was genuinely infuriating.

But Matthew didn't stop there, he went on rambling about his family, adding "Kai" into every sentence as though loudly announcing their friendship.

Even Junpei and Lilith were visibly stunned by Matthew's overly friendly behavior.

Kai's only consolation was that although Matthew had chosen to sit next to him, his eccentric friend had also taken a seat nearby.

"Kai, what are you doing with Matthew?" Elia asked, eyeing the odd pairing.

Kai turned toward Matthew without responding.

"Me and Kai are best friends," Matthew said with a bright smile. "Isn't that right, Kai?"

Elia suddenly felt nauseated. "That can't be true, right?"

"Please don't think anything strange," Kai said glaring at Elia.

Elia pouted and shifted her gaze left, mumbling under her breath.

It wasn't that Kai despised sitting with people or being around others, but their group was hard to ignore.

They were what one might call a sight for sore eyes: a dazzling beauty, a princely figure with exceptional looks and physique, and a male jade beauty.

Letting out a sigh, Kai glanced toward the professor entering the class. It was Miss Leone, the Shepherd Slayer.

Theoretical Mana Application and Trait-Element Formulas. The one class Kai had paid for when he was still rational, not during his euphoric "I'm rich" moment.

The professor, a graceful woman with brown hair and hazel eyes, walked up to the podium.

As soon as her book landed on the wooden stand, silence fell across the room.

She closed her eyes, and sparks of light formed an infant drifter resembling an elephant with molten-black skin.

"Good morning, class!"

Miss Leone's voice was loud. Kai only noticed the faint signatures of mana after he activated appraisal.

The class responded to her roll call, but a student soon voiced a complaint.

"Why are all the teachers doing roll calls like crazy this week?"

A debate quickly broke out until Miss Leone tapped her folded book, restoring silence.

"That's enough!" Her tone was sharp and precise.

'So it has begun.' As if reading his thoughts, Elia pinched him lightly, a dark expression appearing on her beautiful face.

"Kai, what do we do? It seems that..."

Kai shook his head, signaling her to stop. He wanted to make plans too, but now wasn't the right time.

Nodding in understanding, Elia turned to her sky-blue notebook and began taking notes.

"FORMULAS OF TRAITS AND MAGIC."

"Now, children," Leone said, stepping away from the board. "What do you know about magic?"

A student at the back raised her hand. Kai immediately recognized her.

She had ranked fourth in the written entrance exam, bested only by Fredrick, Junpei, and Matthew respectively.

And she was also going to be Professor Deerheart's next victim.

Kai gritted his teeth. That was all he could do. He wasn't a hero, nor was he a saint. Risking his life to save someone randomly was simply foolishness.

'Rest in peace.' Kai thought with a dark expression as he watched the teacher, who merely shook her head.

"That was a rhetorical question, Kylie."

Kylie quickly withdrew her hand.

"As I was saying, magic is the cornerstone of all supernatural phenomena and the practical application of mana. As we know, during the Great Cataclysm, mana appeared in the world..."

Leone proceeded to explain the basics of mana, its meaning and the different forms of magic: casting, augmentation, alchemy, mechanics, and engineering.

Each with its own approach to mana utilization and its specific applications.

However, since this course primarily focused on combat mages; casters and augmenters, Leone didn't delve too deeply into the support roles.

"Now that the basics are out of the way, we'll discuss traits and elemental affinities. As you may already know, traits are ranked in eight tiers and cannot be improved, as they are tied to the uniqueness of our mana trait."

Resting her hand on the wooden platform, she continued, "But even though our traits are fixed, that doesn't mean they can't evolve." She moved to the board and began scribbling.

"By modifying the basic calculations behind your trait or ability and integrating it with your mana usage, you can drastically improve efficiency or, if you're lucky, even unlock an additional ability."

"This is the general formula for mana input and output."

Kai stared at the complex equation on the board.

Once again, he realized he had made the right choice in attending this class.

Knowing about ICUWSA didn't make him an arcane mage or a magical scholar, if he didn't have the knowledge on how to apply those laws, it was still useless.

He quickly copied the formula from the board:

• MO = E × (C + d × t × f) × Efficiency / (m × R × G)

Where:

• E = Mana spent

• C = Rank Constant

• d, t, f = Distance, Time, Frequency

• Efficiency = Mage-specific or technique-modified value (0–1.0+)

• m = Mass of projectile or elemental force

• R = Resistance (armor, environment, spell negation)

• G = Gravity or external force modifier

She clarified that having the formula didn't guarantee success, mages had to experiment to find what suited them best and constantly try to create derivative formulas.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Leone also recommended her book, available through the NSA, though it was a bit more expensive than standard material, which Kai didn't mind at all.

To his surprise, even Matthew seemed fascinated by the lecture and the professor's theories.

Kai also learned a few other things that day. Though he had suspected it, he wasn't entirely sure whether countries and continents still existed in Meltonia.

But they did, though they had been reduced to less than a thousandth of their original size.

Surprisingly, elements like anime, pop music, and nearly all Earth-related terms still existed.

'Well, it is still Earth, to some extent.'

Kai thought as he placed his notebook into his bag. Class was over, and it was time to meet Neko-sensei. But before that, he had a meeting with Anica he couldn't afford to miss.

"Magic, huh?" he muttered.

[Need some help finding other books on magic craft.]

'That would be really helpful. And even better if you could find a way to extract all my knowledge about ICUWSA. I don't exactly have the best memory.'

[Okay... I'll work on that. You're heading to Aiko's Café, right?]

'Yes. Do you want anything? You said you could taste what I eat, right?'

Kai's gaze was briefly drawn to the falling cherry blossoms leaves.

[Yes. Maybe... chocolate ice cream.]

'Chocolate?' He pondered for some time. 'I think I prefer vanilla.'