Mosquito's Humiliating Return
No matter how much of a vegetable he was, without magical nutrient supply, thirty straight days of sleep would kill him from dehydration first. And the victim was the Mage Tower Lord's own grandson, no less. If word got out on the first day of school that the Lord's grandson had starved to death from malnutrition, even the Solarrium Academy would take a devastating hit.
"Ugh, fine. If there's no one to wake him up, I'll undo it later. Yawn~ Anyway, he doesn't look that skilled, so he'd probably be thrilled to legally skip class."
Noerden froze at Rian's words.
"...Aren't the ones who skip class the unskilled ones who actually enjoy it?"
Rian asked with genuine curiosity, leaving the professor even more speechless. Iril's comment about this monster lacking social skills suddenly rang true. His neck suddenly felt stiff.
"Heh heh...."
Noerden just clicked his tongue and approached the fallen Asrion. He placed a hand on the boy's occiput and infused his mana.
"Dispel."
He tried to dispel the spell on Asrion's body. But the professor's expression hardened.
It won't come off easily?
It wasn't ineffective, but even his dispel barely scratched the surface.
Looks like it'll take at least forty minutes to wake him.
With full focus, he could manage it. But that meant scrapping the lesson.
"Heh heh... This is too time-consuming to dispel right now."
Noerden glanced at Asrion sprawled on the floor, then sent an emergency message spell to the academy infirmary.
"What happened?"
"Is someone badly hurt?"
"...It's this student."
Noerden briefly explained Asrion's condition.
"...So if some half-baked mage tries to wake him, it could damage the student's brain. You need at least a 7-Circle mage to handle it personally. The infirmary should know what to do, but just in case."
"Understood."
The infirmary mages and assistants carted off the snoring Asrion. The students watched the commotion with grim faces, as if a massive natural disaster had swept through.
"......"
"......"
Especially the looks aimed at Rian—no longer mockery or disdain. Pure terror of a calamity had taken their place.
He hadn't demolished the building's outer wall or anything dramatic. But putting a 3-Circle genius to sleep with a word—and at a level even the professor couldn't easily undo? It wasn't mere sleep; it was a thirty-day coma.
Scary...
One word from him, and we could end up like that too?
For mages who knew even a bit about spell principles, Rian's Sleep magic terrified them more than raw destructive power.
Unlike the crushed students, one remained bright and cheerful.
"Rian! That was amazing just now! Hehe!"
Vesperia showed zero fear despite witnessing his power.
"As expected of Rian! Casting a Sleep spell so potent even the professor couldn't dispel it easily! I'm so proud to be your friend!"
She beamed at him without a trace of dread, purely thrilled by his talent.
In contrast, Ardelia's mind raced with calculations.
"Just as the young lady said, Rian. That was splendid."
Her eyes burned with fervor.
"Yeah, well... wasn't that hard."
Rian shrugged, then propped his chin and started dozing off.
The break bell rang. Students shuffled to their next classrooms.
"Next is Understanding Elemental Magic. Let's go, Rian!"
"Got it. Yawn~"
Rian rubbed his eyes against the crashing fatigue and stood. Vesperia and Ardelia stuck to his sides like glue. No other student dared approach the trio.
Especially those from the previous class—their gazes had shifted dramatically.
Will the young lady and princess be okay?
One word from that disaster, and boom—major incident.
They eyed Vesperia and Ardelia like rabbits frolicking before a ferocious beast.
The new elemental magic classroom resembled the last—tiered seating—but the front platform was vastly larger for live demonstrations. The floor was etched with dense runes to prevent fires or freezes.
"This is the elemental magic room! Wow~ It looks even bigger than before."
Vesperia chattered excitedly beside Rian.
Yeah, sure.
Rian nodded sleepily in response. They settled in, and soon crisp heel clicks announced the new professor's arrival.
"Welcome, Diamond Class freshmen. I'm Professor Emilia Rockhart, and I'll be handling your basic elemental magic for the next year."
She smiled softly from the podium, an undeniable beauty. Flowing wavy long brown hair, intelligent blue eyes, and a voluptuous figure that her mage robe couldn't fully hide.
Whoa, total model vibes.
Past-life memories supplied comparisons. To him, she had the superior proportions of a classic Western supermodel.
Guess it's the romance-fantasy world—genetics are insane here.
Rian shook off his drowsiness briefly to admire her, but the interest faded in under a minute. He was just too sleepy.
"Alright, let's begin."
Emilia started writing magic formulas on the board with spells.
"Today, we'll compare fire and ice—the basics students often misunderstand despite seeing them as entry-level. Many complain that ice magic is harder than fire."
She snapped her fingers. A small flame flickered in one hand; a sharp ice shard hovered in the other.
"It's simple. Flames form easily by venting your mana into the air. But ice spells—like basic Ice Arrow—aren't just about releasing cold. You gather atmospheric moisture, flash-freeze it, and condense it into a physical mass."
Her blue eyes swept the room seriously.
"That's why, at early stages, ice demands more focus than fire and hits weaker."
Clear, excellent theory. But to Rian, it just looped around the second law of thermodynamics and phase changes.
Then—
Screeech—
The front door burst open. All eyes turned.
Asrion stood there, finally awakened after the infirmary's senior mages sweated to dispel it.
No scars or marks on his face. But it burned tomato-red with shame and humiliation.
"...I'm late."
He bowed politely to Emilia, then stormed to an empty seat far from Rian and flopped down.
The room's air froze solid.
"Look, he's super pissed. Nose tip's all red."
Vesperia poked Rian's side and whispered.
But Rian yawned hugely and replied flatly.
"Yawn~ Don't care. Just a noisy mosquito that buzzed off coming back for more."
He didn't bother lowering his voice. The words rang clear to Asrion's ears.
Invisible? No—reduced to a mere mosquito or bug!
Grit—!
Asrion's teeth ground audibly, menacingly. His fist trembled under the desk.
Damn it! Treating me like a mosquito?
He couldn't accept face-planting defenselessly, snoring on the floor. Or that multiple infirmary mages struggled to wake him.
No way that lowly commoner has that power.
The infirmary mages said it felt like a high-grade artifact curse! Yeah, that sneaky rat must've used some forbidden sleep artifact from who-knows-where!
Trained at the Mage Tower, he knew it was great-mage territory. Even a 4-Circle couldn't pull it off. A meteor falling from the sky—and someone shattering it with a kiai—would be more believable.
"Asrion's a mosquito? Then what am I in Rian's eyes?"
"Bird singing in the woods?"
"What~ That's~ Kyahaha!"
Vesperia burst into delighted laughter at Rian's odd metaphor, not offended at all.
"And what am I to you, Rian?"
Ardelia whispered curiously.
Rian deadpanned.
"Cat eyeing a chance to steal fish?"