"I do..."

"Then I’m not giving it to you,"

Sean said deliberately.

Yisha: "?"

’Then why the hell did you ask?’

Sean added, "Unless you tie up your hair first."

Yisha: "???"

’Tying up hair... Is he talking about *that* kind of tying up hair?’

The young girl raised a small fist and said fiercely, "A Tier Two Little Wizard dares to tease a Tier Four girl like me? Believe it or not, I’ll beat you up!"

"What are you thinking? I’m a decent guy," Sean said unhurriedly. "Tying up your hair is to make you look more focused. Didn’t your teachers at school ever tell you that? It shows you have the right attitude for learning."

Yisha retorted, "You’re not a teacher, so why do I need a ’learning attitude’?"

"I can be," Sean said.

Yisha: "Huh?"

’He can be?’

’What does that mean?’

’Is he going to teach me?’

Yisha’s eyes lit up again. Not caring whether that was Sean’s true intention, she clasped her small hands together in a gesture of respect and said sweetly, "Thank you for your generous instruction, Teacher!"

Sean: "..."

’She’s pretty quick on the uptake.’ 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

He wasn’t actually planning to teach her the Truth Technique.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t teach it, he just wanted to try out some new tricks first.

Sean lay lazily on the hospital bed and asked the girl, "Weren’t you just about to beat me up?"

"No, no, I won’t! I was just kidding." Yisha giggled. "Teacher, are you thirsty? Do you want some water?"

"Nope." Sean asked again, "You’re really not going to beat me up?"

Yisha blinked. "I won’t. You’re my teacher, how could I possibly hit you?"

Sean blinked back. "Then I’ll beat you up."

Yisha: "?"

"Why would you hit me?"

"Isn’t it normal for a teacher to hit a student?" Sean retorted.

"Who told you that’s normal?" Yisha was exasperated. "Hitting students for no reason? What kind of teacher are you?"

Sean spread his hands. "The kind of teacher you just acknowledged yourself."

Yisha: "..."

’Damn it, this guy is so sharp-tongued. Where did he learn to talk like that?’

Sean sat up, cracking his knuckles with loud KRAK KRAK sounds. He looked like he was gearing up, as if he were truly preparing to give the cute young girl in front of him a sound beating.

Seeing his posture, Yisha’s large eyes darted around as she said, "Fine, I’ll let you hit me. After you’re done, you’ll teach me Mathematical Magic, right?"

’He’s only Tier Two anyway,’ she thought. ’His punches won’t even hurt. Trading a "vicious beating" for Mathematical Magic is a great deal!’

As if guessing her thoughts, Sean showed a meaningful smile. "Sure. But I’m afraid you won’t be able to take it."

Yisha suspected she’d misheard and pointed to herself. "Me? Can’t take it?"

Sean nodded. "That’s right."

"Pfft..." Yisha burst out laughing.

"Come on, then."

She stood up from her chair, planted her hands on her hips by the bedside, and raised her snow-white neck like a proud little swan. "Go on, give me your best shot. If you can even make me frown, I’ll admit you’re impressive."

"Is that so?" Sean raised an eyebrow. "You don’t know that I can use Forbidden Spells?"

"Oh, right." Yisha quickly changed her tune. "No Forbidden Spells allowed."

"Besides Forbidden Spells, I also know Mind Magic," Sean said.

Yisha: "?"

"Not just Mind Magic, but Scroll Magic, too," Sean added.

Yisha: "??"

"And also Minstrel Magic and Belief Magic," Sean said again.

Yisha: "???"

"Are you a Transformer? How do you know everything?"

Mind, Scroll, and Minstrel Magic were all part of the twelve major schools of Magic from the Era of Polymath, but...

"What’s Belief Magic?" Yisha asked, puzzled. "How come I’ve never heard of it?"

Sean gave a cryptic, mysterious reply: "It exists if you believe, and doesn’t if you don’t."

Belief Magic was actually another name for the Philosophical Technique. If the word "Belief" was swapped out for "Faith," creating "Faith Magic," Yisha would have likely heard of it.

Faith Magic was easy to understand. Simply put, it converted others’ faith in the Caster into Power. The more believers one had, the stronger their Power became.

In this regard, Belief Magic was the same as Faith Magic—both used external forces to strengthen oneself. The difference was that the former emphasized the Caster’s own belief. The targets from whom Power was drawn did not usually have faith in the Caster; instead, they had to be "convinced" through other means. Faith wasn’t necessary—being "convinced" was enough.

In philosophy, there is something called a debate of ideas, where both sides must logically persuade the other. By integrating this with Mysticism, one could "borrow" the opponent’s Power.

"Faith" and "conviction" are fundamentally different, yet they share common ground, creating an opportunity for conceptual substitution. This very substitution is a common technique in philosophical debate. The two coincided perfectly, and thus, through Carl Black’s powerful mystical thinking, Belief Magic—founded on "faith" and "philosophy"—was born.

Besides Belief Magic and Philosophical Magic, it had another, more colloquial name: Deceit Magic.

This name simply wasn’t as elegant as the others, so it was usually referred to by its philosophical or belief-based names.

"Philosophical" referred to its sophistry, while "Belief" referred to the mindset of "I can do this"—first deceiving yourself, and then deceiving others.

And that was exactly what Sean was doing now.

His eyes, filled with sincerity, stared straight into the young girl’s.

It was Yisha’s first time locking eyes with a man at such close range—and a handsome man at that. She couldn’t help but blush. ’What is this guy up to?’ she thought. ’Why did he suddenly start staring at me like this in the middle of a conversation? It’s so rude...’

Sean spoke with a serious expression, "I have a secret that I’ve never told any of you. I haven’t even told Elvire."

Yisha: "Huh?"

’He didn’t even tell Miss Flame Crow? Doesn’t that mean that, in Sean’s heart, I’m more important than she is?’