Book 2 Chapter 3
Chapter 27
It felt like just the other day was the weekend, but as I’ve been diligently focusing on my studies and exercise, it’s already Friday morning.
“Ah, it hurts.”
My entire body wasn’t just overworked; it felt like it had been tortured, leaving no part of me without an ache.
It’s a good thing my stamina stats are growing rapidly; otherwise, I would have collapsed quickly.
Gustaba: Objectifies the caster's physical condition into mathematical values.
ㆍDu (逗); Stamina・Mental Power 311 -> 346.
The growth rate is faster than expected. It took seven years to go from around 70 to 300, so Logan’s mentoring must be truly remarkable.
It must be fitting for a successor of the Chaihak School, whose academic tradition (學風) is ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body.’
“I have to go to the black market tomorrow…” Let’s make sure to stimulate my muscles several times more today, making up for the exercise I’ll miss tomorrow. With such a muscle-maniac thought, Lane unknowingly left the dormitory.
* * *
Today’s first class was ‘Understanding Magic Squares and Attributes: Advanced.’ But the classroom was noisy from the morning.
“Confucius, have you had breakfast?”
That was because of Logan, who had come to find Lane and greeted him cordially (Logan is in the Changrang (滄浪) class).
“What is it…?”
“With a disciple from the Eight Great Schools…”
“When did the humane Confucius become so close…?”
The two became close instantly.
Lane had no hostility from the start, and Logan’s hostility had long melted away due to ‘friendship blooming from muscles.’
“No, I don't eat breakfast. I need to keep my head clear.”
“If you haven’t eaten yet, please try this.”
“What is this? Mana Purified Water?”
Lane shook the flask Logan handed him. A viscous liquid sloshed and swirled inside the glass bottle.
“It’s not just Mana Purified Water; it’s something called Magic-Protein, containing the secret knowledge of the Chaihak School. We’ve dissolved proteins and nutrients necessary for muscle regeneration into it with magic!”
“Oh, really?”
“If you drink this, you’ll quickly develop great muscles!”
As Logan's eyes sparkled, Lane's eyes also sparkled, and he nodded.
“Thanks. I’ll eat it well. But can you just give something like this away? You said it’s a school secret.”
“Big Brother, no, Professor Owen also gave his permission, so there’s no problem. Now, I need to prepare for class, so I’ll be going.”
Chaihak’s muscle growth stimulant, huh…? This was an unexpected windfall.
As he smiled broadly and opened the cork stopper, Christa, sitting next to him, startled and grabbed Lane's hand.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“?”
“What if it’s poisoned?! You two fought so violently last time! Are you stupid? An idiot? Do you not think at all?”
Lane just shook his head as if to say, ‘What are you even talking about?’
“Relax. This is a conclusion derived from perfectly rational thought.”
“?”
“What would he gain by poisoning me? He’d just be expelled from the school for disgracing its name. Not to mention being expelled from the university.”
“That’s…”
“What if I were to die? Hmm, learn this well. If you’re going to poison someone, don’t make something obviously for assassination like a ‘Hell Cookie’; do it discreetly, like this.”
A very brief silence…
As Lane drank the Magic-Protein with a sigh, there wasn’t even a hint of mischief on his face. Wasn’t that a sign of 100% sincerity?
“Wow, this tastes truly awful! If we're ranking tastes, it’s pretty similar to your Hell Cookie!”
Lane laughed with admiration.
Christa’s face slowly turned crimson from her chin to the top of her head, and the next moment, magic circles rapidly formed on both of her palms.
“Hee, hee, heeheehee, alright, I guess I’ll bake another cookie…”
“Are you serious? Stop it. Who are you trying to assassinate now? You’ll get punished for just killing people like that.”
“Come here, you. Today, I’m going to turn that face of yours into mud and bake it into a cookie!”
“Hey, you crazy! Magic in the classroom? Hey, relax your hands! Aren’t you going to relax?”
“Let go! Aren’t you going to let go?”
Christa and Lane crashed and fought, turning the classroom into a pandemonium… Melanie of the Lohwynum School squinted her eyes.
“Damn it, have those two gone crazy first thing in the morning?”
It looked less like fighting and more like lovers’ skinship, so anyone watching would think they were dating.
But that was only for a moment; the next moment, the front door rattled open, and the classroom fell silent.
It was Professor Owen’s entrance.
As Owen stomped his way up to the podium, the classroom instantly became silent. Owen scanned the classroom and then looked at Christa.
“You damn Christa!”
“Yes, Professor.”
“What time is it now?”
“It’s 09:02.”
“Excellent! You even know how to tell the time down to the minute! Then why were you chattering for two minutes after the class bell rang? Your pig-squealing voice was audible all the way down the hallway!”
Christa mumbled.
Christa, a diligent and excellent honor student type, seemed to have a significantly low ability to handle such situations.
“Damn it! If you were chattering without any reason, you wouldn’t object if I deducted points for your conduct, would you?!”
Christa’s face turned pale. For her, whose goal was to graduate at the top of her class, even such a minor evaluation was a critical matter.
“Th-that’s right.”
As Christa bit her lip and bowed her head, Owen pulled out a fountain pen and began writing something on the attendance sheet.
Good grief. He acts like an adult, but he’s such a child. Lane raised his hand.
“Professor.”
“What is it?”
“Christa just wanted to know about muscle training methods, so I was telling her. She said she wanted to build a body like yours, Professor.”
At that, Owen’s hand abruptly stopped. Then he raised his head and looked at Christa.
“Is that true?”
“Y-yes…?!”
Christa dazedly glanced at Lane. Lane nodded as if telling her to go along with it.
“Curiosity about muscles, after all, isn’t something that can be suppressed, regardless of gender or age.”
“Th-that’s right!”
“That’s not something you can deny with your damn brain; it comes from instinct…. I’ll make an exception just this once! Sit down.”
What on earth is this…?
Christa’s legs gave out, and she dazedly sank into her seat. Hubert of the Lohwynum School glanced at Lane with an incredulous expression.
‘Do nobles, so tightly bound by pride and self-respect, lie so well? They hardly ever, no, they don’t do it at all, do they?’
The commotion subsided briefly, but Owen immediately rapped on the desk to get the students’ attention.
“Damn it! Quiet down! What’s today’s date?”
“April 5th!”
“That’s right. There’s one crappy piece of news, and one less crappy piece of news. As they say, ‘it’s better to get the beating over with,’ so I’ll start with the crappy news. Midterm exams will begin three weeks from now.”
As soon as the term ‘midterm exam’ was heard, all the students sighed as if the ground were collapsing.
Magic educational institutions generally hold two exams per semester, and the first of these was the midterm exam.
It seemed similar to the reactions of the cadets at <Rivarden> Magic School, yet it was strange how much more serious it appeared here.
“Why is everyone reacting like that about taking an exam? It’s a chance to check your achievements, isn’t that good?”
“Are you serious? The exams at <Delaiten> aren’t tests in the innocent sense. They’re more like a rite of passage to distinguish those who will rise from those who will fall.”
The educational philosophy of <Delaiten> is endless competition; those who fall behind in the competition are discarded without a moment’s hesitation.
“You all have faces that say you don’t understand why the school creates exams like midterms to torment you. Is it because the professors are perverts who find happiness in tormenting students? Well, I can't really deny that either.”
“????”
“But that’s not the most important reason. <Delaiten> doesn’t want your meager magical knowledge! It’s about whether you have the courage to dominate the era as a wizard, or not! It’s to weed out those who don’t have it!”
The students gulped.
Lane, on the other hand, felt a strange curiosity well up and his eyes sparkled. An exam, huh…. What aspects will they test, and in what way? Won't this be incredibly fun?
“Then, I will start class now. Since today is the 5th, attendance number 5—”
“—Professor.”
“Damn it, Lane! To interrupt a professor like me, a lofty figure—I won’t forgive you unless you have a valid reason.”
“You haven’t told us about the less crappy news.”
At that, Owen let out a short sigh, ‘Ah,’ and then tapped the textbook he had brought.
“That is, the damnably difficult content I’m teaching today will also be included in the exam scope!”
“!!!”
“So, pay attention! Attendance number 5, come forward!”
Thinking it was interesting content, I was about to jot down some notes, but alas, it seemed I hadn’t brought my notebook from the dormitory.
As a makeshift solution, I decided to use Lynn’s diary. I could just jot down short notes and transfer them later, after all…. But the state of Rudyien, who popped out from the diary, was strange.
The particles of light scattered around were larger and clearer than usual, and strangely, the sounds of the world faded and receded far away. It was as if only I and Rudyien had moved to a different space.
Socrafres.
- Can inherit 'Unique Magic' research progress from the surrounding environment.
- Progress 39.9% => 40.0%.
- 'Unique Magic' understanding, 40% achieved.
I don't understand. There’s no consistency in what situations increase the Unique Magic progress. Wasn't it supposed to increase when I destroyed something with magic…?
At that moment, an unbearably sharp pain arose in the palm of my left hand.
>>>
Brante.
- New mana circuit activation confirmed: Flowing World-Honored One (流量世尊).
Should I call it the pain of branding flesh with burning fire? An intense pain as if a burn was spreading across my palm…
§
Breathing in sharply, I looked at my palm, and that pattern—which I had never seen or heard of in my life—something like a rune, was emitting a dazzling light from my palm.
>>>
Camitishia.
Analyzing the circuit…
ㆍ Upon circuit activation, 'Mental Barrier: Flowing World-Honored One' deploys within a 20-meter radius of the caster.
ㆍ Within the 'Mental Barrier: Flowing World-Honored One,' the success rate of magic combinations using 'Unique Runes' and 'Unique Mathematical Formulas' is amplified by 33%, and their power by 66%.
ㆍ Mana required for casting: 20,000 (Warning - Current caster's mana: 12,564).
ㆍ The 'Activation Mudra (發動 - 手印)' for using 'Mental Barrier: Flowing World-Honored One' is designated: Ra (羅).
My mind was dizzy from the pain, so I couldn’t delve into deep thought, but I could at least make a simple, one-dimensional guess.
‘A special privilege granted when Unique Magic proficiency reaches 40%…?’
So, I’ve acquired a practice barrier to skillfully handle Unique Magic? Because eventually, I’ll have to use it without a designated area?
But 'Mental Barrier,' this unfamiliar yet familiar skill name… wasn’t it almost representative of two Sages?
The first magician and first Sage, Emmitsa Page, the only one to reach the rank of Great Sage (7-star), and her White Orchid (白蘭), and the second Sage (6-star) Riot Warden’s Golden Sand Advance (金砂開進)…
As his thoughts reached that point, Lane, while groaning in pain, was muttering like this.
“…Awesome.”