Chapter 250: That’s Not How You Do It... (3)
Chapter 250: That’s Not How You Do It... (3)
Carla wore a triumphant smile, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.
“Master, you already knew how to resist mana interference. Because I’ve been staining… I mean, teaching you that way from the very beginning!”
“…….”
Talk about a hidden agenda.
I was momentarily dumbfounded by the inner thoughts she had unintentionally revealed, but Carla quickly continued in a playful tone.
“Anyway, wouldn’t it be a bit of a shame to end it here? This time, why don’t you try interfering with the Professor’s magic yourself? From what I can see, if you do it like this, it should be more than enough….”
Carla briefly explained Ethan’s habits when using magic and how to exploit them.
It made sense. Carla had attended the Academy until her fourth year, so she must have sat through Ethan’s classes many times.
That was likely how she could find a way to counter Ethan so quickly.
Well, the fact that Ethan was an excellent professor but a somewhat lacking mage was probably another reason.
In the first semester, even when I did well on the practicals, my written scores were mediocre, so I didn't receive the points awarded to top scorers. This time, however, would be different.
The Academy is always favorable toward students who show an active desire to learn. If I showed initiative first, Ethan wouldn't refuse.
He might even give me extra credit…!
Visualizing the brilliant form of a Dragon Heart fragment, I spoke up.
“Professor!”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Could I try attempting mana interference this time?”
“Having motivation is always a good thing. There is a significant difference between my mana capacity and yours, Yandel, so the second method might actually succeed. Very well, let’s see….”
“No. If possible, I’d like to try the first method—mimicking the mana pattern and exploiting a gap.”
“…I may not look like much, but I am a professor, you know?”
“Which is why there’s all the more for me to learn.”
“Haha! If that’s the case, I suppose I have no choice! Whether you succeed or fail, it will be a good experience for the other students. Let’s give it a try.”
Ethan gave a warm smile and held out his finger. He used the same Tinder magic I had.
“I don’t need to explain the details, right?”
“Yes. I’ve already felt it with my own body once.”
I nodded confidently and slowly closed my eyes.
I recalled the sensations I felt when Ethan’s mana interfered with my magic, along with the simple tips and Ethan’s weaknesses Carla had just told me.
After organizing them in my head, I slowly released my mana.
A line of mana extended stealthily, like a snake crawling through the underbrush. Its tip began to trace Ethan’s magic, reading its structure and pattern.
A mana pattern is like a mage’s fingerprint. It’s impossible to replicate perfectly anyway. Therefore, it’s enough if I can just deceive it for a moment.
I pushed my momentarily shaved mana into the gap that had briefly appeared.
“Hup!”
And then, Ethan curled his body into a ball and threw up his breakfast.
“Bleeegh!”
His face was pale, and the veins visible through his skin were glowing blue—a classic case of mana backflow.
“Professor?! Are you okay?!”
“I-I’m fine… it’s just temporary… Owaaaaagh!”
I only lightly shook his shoulder, but that seemed to make him even dizzier, as the volume of vomit increased.
Naturally, the magic had long since vanished.
Even though I had received advice from Carla, I didn't expect him to react this severely!
When I turned my head to look at Carla, she was staring blankly with her mouth open, seemingly surprised herself.
However, her gaze wasn't on me or Ethan, but was scanning the surroundings.
I wondered why she was doing that, but it didn't take long for the murmurs of the crowd to reach my ears.
“Even if he doesn’t like being taught by someone weaker than him, still…”
“I thought he’d calmed down lately.”
“I acknowledge his achievements, but this is a bit much….”
They were saying that I, despite being slightly lacking in skill, had looked down on and tried to screw over Professor Ethan, who was respected for his broad and deep knowledge.
“Ah.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
A short groan escaped me in my dismay. The noisy surroundings suddenly went dead silent.
It was like déjà vu, taking me back to the beginning of the first semester.
I let out a long, deep sigh as I watched the students stealing glances at me.
*
Fortunately, Ethan realized it was an accident and not intentional. In fact, he even gave me extra credit along with his praise.
But even though I got the extra credit I wanted so badly, I couldn't bring myself to be happy.
That was because there were still many lectures left… and the theme for the second semester’s classes was practicality.
“Today, we will look into the synergies created through the linkage of elemental magic. To give a simple example, if you use wind magic after using fire magic, the remaining fire can be momentarily revived to deal additional damage.”
“…….”
“O-Of course, this only works if embers remain, and too strong a wind will actually clear away the remnants of the previous magic, so it’s not like just any random magic will work. You need to find the appropriate combination.”
The professor was already walking on eggshells around me, as if he had heard the rumors.
When I let out another sigh that hadn't stopped for a while, the professor flinched and hurriedly added more to his explanation.
“For example! Right! There’s the linkage between Igni and Gale Tornado!”
Igni is a fire magic that emphasizes heat and persistence. Gale Tornado is a magic that summons a strong wind capable of briefly lifting and dropping a person.
It was also the basis for the fire-then-wind combo the professor had just mentioned.
Above all, unlike Fireball, Igni has no explosive properties, but if you spread it with Gale Tornado, it allows for instantaneous area-of-effect attacks, making it useful in many ways.
Since this was a standard, universally accepted theory, I nodded as if focusing on the class.
Only then did the professor look relieved and continue his explanation in a much more comfortable tone.
“Conversely, there are magics that don't show their full power when used in succession. For example, earth and water magic….”
“That’s not right… that linkage is actually pretty good….”
“Hup!”
Perhaps because he heard something so unexpected, the professor gasped as he caught my involuntary mumble.
He asked me with an extremely cautious expression.
“Student Yandel…? Is there something wrong with my lecture?”
“No. There’s no problem. In reality, the surrounding earth gets washed away by water, resetting the terrain changes, and water magic blocked by rocks fails to exert its full power. The applied attributes, metal and ice, don't provide synergy to each other either.”
“R-Right! That’s why after earth magic, it’s better to use explosive fire magic like Fireball, which can break the rocks and attack with the fragments! If someone is wounded by metal magic, it’s good to flow electricity inside through lightning magic or expect a bit of homing performance!”
The professor moved on to the next explanation with a desperate look in his eyes, as if begging me to please just keep my mouth shut.
…But this was such a great tip that I couldn't bear to keep my mouth closed.
“But if you use it for defense instead of offense, there’s no linkage as good as the one from earth to water.”
For example, Earth Wall and Ice Flower.
By freezing a relatively soft earthen wall, you can reinforce its defensive power.
Or there’s a magic called Rock Shell that surrounds the body in a sphere of rock to block attacks from all sides; it has good defense but the disadvantage of being unable to move.
However, if you spam Water and Freeze on the ground to create an icy floor, you can slide around on top of it.
Besides that, if you spray water on earth armor to turn it into mud, your stress levels might go up, but you can eliminate the movement speed reduction penalty.
Or if there are many remnants of earth magic around, you can sweep them up with water magic to create an instant barricade, and so on.
Back in the early days of H&A, when meta-research was still lacking, I generously shared the combo techniques I had stumbled upon while trying various things.
…For a whole hour.
These were methods that only worked with low-grade magic, and for me, who could now use element combinations, they weren't particularly impressive pieces of information.
However, it seemed that wasn't the case for others.
In the end, the professor of Understanding of Elements barely managed to conduct the class and left the classroom with an expression that looked like he was having an existential crisis.
My bad.
From next time, I should restrain myself as much as possible and just listen to the lecture quietly.
*
“Did you wait? Did you wait? It’s the sparring time you all love!”
Iona hopped up and down in place with both hands raised high.
The Magic Department students, who had grown accustomed to Iona’s peculiar behavior, just laughed it off, but the Knight Department guys were tilting their heads with subtle expressions.
Well, she is the type that’s a bit hard to know how to react to if you’re seeing her for the first time.
For the record, it doesn't matter how you react as long as you aren't rude. Because Iona does that without thinking much anyway….
Originally, it was a way of speaking to suppress her Charm, but now it’s almost become a habit, or so she says.
Iona has become stronger as a vampire by regularly sucking my blood. By now, controlling her Charm shouldn't be difficult, but she sticks to her old way of speaking for that reason.
Jason, the professor of Knight Department Class A who was standing next to her, looked around.
“You all know why we’ve gathered students from both departments today, right? From now on, you will be in the same party or be sparring partners, competing with each other’s strength in various ways.”
“Yep, yep. That way, mages can understand knights, and knights can understand mages! Later on, the Theology Department will join in for the classes too, so just keep that in mind for now!”
As soon as Iona finished speaking, murmurs full of anticipation broke out here and there.
Despite everything, everyone seemed to be looking forward to sparring with the other department.
I was also nodding from a step away when I suddenly felt a gaze. I looked up and locked eyes with Iona, who was staring this way.
Hehe.
Her blood-red eyes curved beautifully as Iona wore a mischievous smile.
“Now then! Before I explain what format the sparring will take… I’ve heard a little story, you see? That there’s already a student who’s guaranteed a perfect score on the practical and has even received extra credit!”
“Ah.”
I realized it the moment I heard Iona’s voice, which sounded like she was dying of amusement.
This was it. She had heard about what I did in the previous classes and was going to tease me.
“It would be a bit much to put such an amazing student among the others, wouldn't it? If we did that, it would become a battle of luck rather than a battle of skill!”
“Hmm. If worrying about who you’re teamed up with becomes more important than thinking about how to fight, the sparring class loses its meaning.”
Jason nodded as if adding an accompaniment.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“So, so! One person will be excluded from the class! But that would feel too much like bullying, wouldn't it?”
I tried to sneakily step back and hide among the other students… but it was already too late.
“Hop!”
Iona took a large leap, flipped her body gracefully in mid-air, and landed right behind me.
Then, she lifted me up as if hugging me from behind.
“Therefore! Therefore! Let’s all spar together amicably! Today’s class is the Yandel Raid!”
This is driving me crazy.
Dumbfounded, I turned to look at Iona and asked.
“Don’t I have a team or anything, Professor?”
“Nope! Instead, if you win….”
Iona whispered, leaning in so close her soft lips almost touched my earlobe.
“I’ll let you do a ‘vampire captured by a vampire hunter’ roleplay tonight.”
“I just have to take them all down, right?”
Bring it on!