Chapter 6: 6. The System Called Me a Narcissist, Then I Gained a Second Student Anyway

William stared at Ellie for a full ten seconds, watching how her amber eyes showed the mix of fear and hope that comes from being truly desperate. The crowd behind her was still slowly breaking up, and students were looking back at them with interest and whispering to their friends about what they had just seen.

’What the fuck is going on...?’ William thought. ’Why did the progress run so fucking fast?’

’Did I really am that handsome...?’

[Don’t be a narcissistic asshole]

William was surprised to see the system’s interface appear out of nowhere. ’You almost made me jump right in front of this Elf.’

[What you did today was beyond what I expected... making a scene right in front of all the whole students of the academy by beating one of the strongest instructors in this academy]

’Strongest, huh? Well... now the real strongest is here," William grinned. ’Anyway... talk to ya later.’

"What do you mean by ’healing magic is out of control’? There’s no way, right?" William asked, keeping his voice calm while he thought about the problem like he used to think about battle situations. "But, alright then, how long has this been going on?"

Ellie’s shoulders drooped a little, as if she had been holding her breath for him to laugh at her or tell her to leave. "Three months since now."

"At first, it was just small changes in how much mana I was using, but it’s gotten worse over time."

"Last week, I tried to help a student with a sprained ankle, but I ended up healing it too much and giving him an extra toe..."

’Whoa... what the fuck? That’s actually kinda cool,’ William thought. ’She doesn’t know her potential, huh? Typical student with potential, am I right?’

"The doctors had to take it out with surgery."

’Kinda messed up, but it’s fine.’

"Wow, that’s really scary but impressive," William said.

He almost laughed but decided against it because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

Ellie’s face turned red with embarrassment, and William quickly added, based on his information about the world, "Well, I mean, most healers have a hard time getting enough mana for basic healing."

’It’s mana, right...? All fantasy does have this common thing. It’s getting boring, but it is what it is.’

William continued. "It’s a different kind of problem to have too much power, but it’s still fixable."

"Really?" Ellie’s voice broke a little with hope. "Uhm... You think you can help me?"

"The medical instructor keeps telling me to meditate more or use visualization techniques, but none of that helps because it’s getting worse."

William was about to speak when he noticed movement in his peripheral vision. Lia had come over, and her red eyes were clearly interested in both of them, but there was also a hint of suspicion in them.

"Are you really going to train her?" Lia asked directly, crossing her arms. "A healer? Based on what you showed me before, I thought you were an expert in teaching combat only."

William said, "Combat, healing, and magic control. It’s all the same basic thing for me."

This was technically wrong for someone who just got here in this fantasy world, but both girls believed him because he sounded so sure of himself.

"Well... as you can see, the issue here isn’t the type of power but rather the control and understanding of one’s limits," William raised his finger. "Miss Von Synthia here has a problem with power, not with her skills."

Ellie nodded with excitement. "That’s right! It really does feel like that."

"I understand how to heal by applying the methods and theories I have learned, but... it’s like trying to pour water from a fire hose when I only need a trickle."

’Fire hose...? This fantasy world has one of those too...?’

"Correct!" William said, "That’s actually a perfect analogy."

"So the answer isn’t to pour less water, but it’s to control the flow."

"Like the legend said... be the water, my friend."

He stopped for a moment and then looked at Lia. "By the way, why are you still here?"

"Don’t you have to go to class or train by yourself?" William, the man with full consciousness of his rudeness, asked that.

Lia’s face got a little red. "Ah! I-I’m curious about how you teach, especially after you give that asshole a lesson!"

"I knew that you’re rather unusual for a Zero-class thing, especially with all that talk of how relaxed you are right now..." Lia looked away. "Even after beating one of the strongest instructors here."

"Well, uhm... Maybe you’re worth learning from more than just that one technique you showed me if you can really help her."

"Hehhhh... I see now..." William said with a smug smile, "Even though you have a fierce red... you can’t be honest with yourself."

"So you really are looking for me," William laughed.

Lia was about to say something, but William raised his hand. "Okay then."

"Both of you can come with me right now."

"We need a private place where Miss Von Synthia won’t accidentally turn the grass into a jungle or something." William said with a suspicious face even though he didn’t have any evil intentions for it.

"Uhm... it’s okay for you to just call me Ellie," the elf girl said quickly. "Miss Von Synthia sounds too formal, especially since you’re going to be my instructor."

"Alright then, Ellie."

’Cute name.’

...

William took them away from the main training area and toward a smaller practice room that he remembered from his body’s memories. Zero-Class instructors had to deal with one of those forgotten rooms that was almost like a big closet with stone walls and no windows.

And the room was sufficiently quiet to ensure their privacy.

’Oh wow... zero-class at any faculty, huh?’ William sighed. ’What a joke, but oh well...’

’As a professional... I need to keep things professional even for my new students.’ William clenched his fists. ’I will make sure in this new life... I won’t die getting betrayed again!’

William turned to face Ellie once he was inside, and Lia stood against the wall to watch. "Okay, demonstrate to me how to use your healing magic."

"Just make the healing like you usually do, and just don’t try to heal anything in particular because I still haven’t seen it with my eyes yet."

"Alright... I’ll try not to disappoint." Ellie thought about it for a second, then held out her hands.

She closed her eyes and focused. "I’ll start now..."

After a few seconds, a soft green light started to come from her hands. At first, it was gentle, but in a matter of seconds, the glow got much stronger and almost blinded everyone in the small space.

William could feel the mana pressure coming from her. It was thick and heavy, like humidity before a storm.

’Whoa! It really is excessive...!’

William said calmly, "That’s enough, stop," and Ellie stopped right away.

She was breathing heavily, and sweat was forming on her forehead even though she had only been channeling for about fifteen seconds. "Hah... hah... hah... sorry..."

"Do you see that, Instructor...?" Ellie said sadly. "I can’t keep it steady... like at all..."

"It just keeps on building and building until either I cut it off completely or I pass out from exhaustion."

From her spot against the wall, Lia spoke up. "You really are speaking the truth and not trying to sugarcoat it because... that’s not how mana flows at all."

"What I am seeing right now... it’s like seeing a dam about to break."

"Lia’s right," William said, pleased that Lia had figured out the main point so quickly. "The problem is that you think of healing magic as an all-or-nothing switch."

"Even though it’s not some kind of offensive magic, rather a magic to heal things...?" William said it with a slow tone so that he didn’t sound stupid to them. "But anyway!"

"Fully on or fully off," William talks while also processing all the information from his body. "Mana control isn’t like something you call black and white."

"It’s called a range." William nodded and pointed at Ellie. "You need to learn how to work in the middle ranges."

"B-but how?" Ellie begged. "I’ve tried slowing it down, meditating, and every other method the doctors and other instructors suggested."

"But still... Nothing works for more than a few seconds before it starts up again..."