Chapter 159: Anyway, It’s a Secret Tryst
Chapter 159: Anyway, It’s a Secret Tryst
“Don’t you think you went a little too far?”
“That’s why I’m saying I’m sorry…”
“Hmph! What’s the point of an apology that’s just words!”
Perhaps it was because I had teased her a bit too much yesterday. Elisha, who was still lying in bed because her back ached, whipped her head away with a sharp flick.
“…Want a potion?”
“Hmph!”
For some reason, Elisha pulled the blanket all the way over her head.
Was that not it?
Carla, seemingly finding my predicament pitiful, poked my forearm.
“Master, Master.”
“Yeah. Carla, are you okay?”
“Ah, yes. I’m fine. But I think I’ll need a potion if I’m going to assist you today!”
Carla was also stuck to the bed with a sore back just like Elisha, but she was simply fiddling with my arm with a bright smile.
Letting out a deep sigh, I handed Carla a Healing Potion. She downed it in one go and slowly pushed herself up.
“Heave-ho.”
Carla clung to my back with limp, fluid movements. I could naturally feel the sensation of her large breasts pressing and flattening against my back.
A soft texture. Her unique, refreshing scent. And a warmth that made me feel drowsy, like basking in the sun.
Carla rubbed her cheek against mine from behind.
It was a blatant display of affection, as if she were protesting just how much she liked me. Happiness welled up from deep within my chest.
After she finished marking her territory for a good while, Carla brought her lips to my ear and whispered.
“You should do this for Elisha, too.”
“Oh.”
So, you’re saying I should pour out straightforward expressions of affection that even an idiot could understand?
Smooch.
I gave Carla a light kiss as thanks for the advice and pulled another potion out of my inventory.
This time, instead of handing it to Elisha, I popped the cap and brought it to my own mouth.
Of course, I wasn't the one drinking it.
Holding the potion in my mouth without swallowing, I yanked the blanket off Elisha in one motion.
“What is it? I’m still mad… well, not mad, but I’m definitely sulking—mmph?!”
I kissed her right then and there.
The potion was transferred mouth-to-mouth. Though Elisha was startled, she gulped down the offered potion quite readily.
I chuckled inwardly, thinking she looked like a baby bird, but the moment didn't last long. Once she finished the potion, Elisha tried to push me away.
“Mmph? Mmmph!”
Naturally, I didn't let go and kept the kiss going.
I didn't use my tongue, but I held it until she was out of breath.
“Pah! Yandel… you really… sigh….”
Her lips were still pouting, but her expression was visibly softer than before.
Elisha is… weak against direct attacks… mental note….
Anyway, now that Elisha had calmed down, it was time to start the day.
“Nnnngh—!”
I stretched my arms out wide and said, “We’re a bit late, so let’s skip breakfast and just get changed.”
It was time for school.
*
Come to think of it, my initial plan was to find out Iona’s weakness.
Contrary to my expectations, I ended up learning about her past, and we even made a promise to raid a Cult branch together this weekend.
A sigh escaped me at the thought of sparring with Iona again today.
“Haaaa….”
It wasn't that it wasn't helpful. My ability to utilize magic was improving at a visible rate, but…
It hurt like hell.
I was essentially receiving impacts just shy of lethal a dozen times a day. How many people could endure that with a smile?
At the very least, I wasn't one of them.
For that reason, I waited for Iona’s class while bracing myself, but…
“Hello! Hello! Was everyone looking forward to Magic Combat class? But what a shame! Today is a theory lecture!”
“““Waaaaaaaah—!”””
The students erupted in cheers at the mention of a theory lecture.
Well, I suppose sparring sessions where you actually feel pain are pretty grueling.
Plus, tomorrow was the weekend, so everyone might be even more enthusiastic.
“Ahem, ahem.”
For some reason, Iona was enjoying the students' cheers while striking a strange pose that partially covered her face.
‘Aha?’
Was this her way of being considerate, telling me not to exhaust myself today since we’re going to exterminate Cultists tomorrow?
I gave a small smirk and nodded. Once Iona had enjoyed the applause to her heart's content, she clapped her hands, her loose sleeves fluttering.
“Quiet! Quiet! Even if it’s a theory lecture, a class is still a class! This is important material, so everyone needs to focus!”
The classroom fell silent instantly.
Iona’s lips curled into a smirk as she basked in the sparkling gazes of the students.
“You all know you’ve become much stronger than when you first enrolled, right?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Yes.”
“That’s only natural.”
The students nodded in unison.
I suppose so. Even if they weren't as extreme as me, they had been put through the wringer compared to before they entered the academy, so they had no choice but to get stronger.
However, Iona didn't give me or the other students a moment to feel proud.
“Then, then. Since you’ve gotten stronger, has your mastery of magic increased as well?”
“““…….”””
Everyone had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.
That was because none of them had grown significantly as mages.
In my case, I had grown rapidly, but since I had started learning magic almost simultaneously with my enrollment, I was an exception.
The other students had added a few more spells to their repertoire, and the stability and power of their magic had increased slightly.
But compared to the increase in their combat ability, it was a negligible amount.
“Everyone, everyone. You must be wondering why. When classifying the stages of a mage, we say a Lower Mage can defeat an individual, an Intermediate Mage can defeat a party, and a High Magician can bring down an army or a castle, right? But why does the mastery of magic itself lag behind compared to combat power?”
Some people looked composed as if they already knew, while others looked like they had been caught off guard, having never considered this point.
I was on the side that knew, having learned it from Carla beforehand and having seen the setting briefly mentioned in H&A.
“It’s simple, simple! While combat cannot be separated from magic, combat isn't everything there is to magic!”
It was a tone that seemed to disparage combat, coming from a professor of the Magic Combat subject.
As the students murmured in confusion, Iona continued with a giggle.
“It’s true! It’s true! After the War of the Gods, a culture emphasizing the destructive and lethal power of magic emerged… but to reach higher stages, you have to look broader! Ultimately, that’s how you become even stronger!”
Coming from a vampire who had lived since before the Great War, her words carried extra weight.
After a moment of thought, one student raised their hand.
“Professor. Does that mean we should look at magic through criteria other than lethality?”
“Correct! That’s exactly it. More accurately, you need to be able to see it in a different way! The current classification of the magic system is intuitive, but it’s a bit far from the essence!”
Iona rolled up her loose sleeves to reveal her pale hands and waved her finger in the air.
Bloop.
With a small bubbling sound, a droplet of water formed at Iona’s fingertip.
“It’s the Basic Magic, Aqua. You all know why Basic Magic is called basic, right?”
Of course I did. It’s called Basic Magic because it focuses on the manifestation of the phenomenon itself.
“A long, long time ago. I’ll tell you a story from when this beautiful, elegant, and noble Professor Iona was just a little baby crying ‘waa waa’!”
After skillfully praising herself, Iona waved her finger once more.
Glug.
The small water droplet rapidly swelled in size until it was as large as a human head.
Lower Magic, Water Ball.
It could be thrown as is, or one could add rotation or fix it to an opponent’s face to attempt drowning.
Depending on the caster’s ability, it was a spell with endless applications.
In the game, its performance was somewhat mediocre, but here on the Eurelia Continent, it was treated as a reliable staple alongside Fireball.
“Is there anyone who can tell me the difference between this spell and the one from a moment ago?”
At Iona’s question, a male student with a strangely obnoxious look… Wilhelm, famous for his light attribute magic, raised his hand.
“The size is different. Since the amount of water has increased, the power naturally becomes stronger, and the methods of application have become more diverse.”
“Hmm… that’s mostly correct, but it’s not the fundamental point! Wrong! Anyone else?”
Iona tilted her head for a moment and then crossed her arms in a large ‘X’.
When Wilhelm, who had answered confidently, lowered his hand awkwardly, the other students just looked at each other, unable to easily raise their hands.
Even so, in Class A, where most were from famous families or renowned Magic Towers, did not a single person know?
Were they hesitating because they were afraid of being wrong?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Elisha, who was next to me, poked my thigh.
Now she’s even nudging her master. Well, I think I know why she’s doing it.
When I slowly raised my hand, Iona brightened and nodded.
“Yes, yes! Student Yandel! What do you think is different?”
“Well….”
I organized the information I had seen in the game and what I had learned from Iris regarding element combination before speaking.
“Unlike Aqua, isn't the biggest difference that the property of fluidity has been implemented in Water Ball?”
The properties and forms of each element, which I had drilled into my head until I wanted to vomit while learning element combination.
Basic Magic is the phenomenon itself. In other words, you can see it as stopping at manifesting the form of water.
However, from Lower Magic onwards, a single property is contained within it.
In the case of the Water Ball Iona just demonstrated, she had added the property of fluidity to the amorphous form of water.
It has no clearly defined shape and even flows constantly?
Naturally, it becomes a spell that is easy to manipulate in various ways.
In fact, although it’s hard to see because of the small size, if you observe closely, the water created with Aqua only moves as a lump; there is no such thing as a ‘flow.’
When I explained it clearly up to that point, Iona’s dark red eyes sparkled as she gave me a round of applause.
“Correct! Correct! It’s just as Student Yandel said! The stage of Lower Magic is adding one property to Basic Magic! The classification that a spell must have enough lethality to kill a person to be considered Lower Magic is a concept that came out after the War of the Gods!”
Having said that, when Iona clenched her open palm, the Water Ball floating in the air began to freeze cold.
A lump of ice with sharp thorns protruding from it.
Lower Magic, Ice Spike.
“Then, then! What property do you think was added to this?”
“That would be cold. Ice magic is ultimately a derivative of water magic. It’s a spell that focuses on drawing out the cold property of water.”
“Hee-ya! Look how smart my student is! Student Yandel is right! That’s why for ice magic, shaping is more important than for any other magic. Usually, the form is fixed, and you cast the necessary spell by changing the internal property. Like Fireball and Igni, for example!”
Fireball and Igni.
Both are fire attribute Lower Magic; Fireball focuses on explosive power, while Igni focuses on high temperature.
Therefore, unlike Fireball, Igni does not explode, so its attack range and impact force are smaller.
But in exchange, it can melt iron that Fireball couldn't.
Both look like the same fire, but you can think of it as one exploding and the other melting things with heat.
Other Lower Magic spells are roughly the same. The forms are largely similar, and it’s just a matter of bringing in a different aspect of that attribute’s properties.
Because of that, Iona explained the importance of shaping for ice magic, saying that since the property is fixed as cold, one must utilize the amorphous form to its limit.
After that, today’s lecture covered the forms and a few representative properties of each attribute, and how special types of magic that aren't elemental magic also have similar forms and properties.
For me, this was basic knowledge I had acquired while learning element combination… but some students were listening so intently they were even taking notes, as if they truly hadn't known.
But even an interesting class after a long time must come to an end.
“Already! Already! The class time is almost over! Then, here is your homework! If the difference between Basic and Lower magic is whether a property is contained… then what is the difference between Lower, Intermediate, Advanced, and Archmage levels? And how can these be utilized in combat? Organize your thoughts into a report by next week! The format is up to you!”
Iona, who had assigned the homework, added as she tidied the lectern.
“Ah, right! Student Yandel, come to the professor’s laboratory during lunch! I have something very, very important to discuss!”
Iona gave a wink with her blood-colored eyes.
At that sight, someone in Class A whispered softly.
“…A grad school recruitment?”
Hey now. No forbidden words!