Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Does the Professor's Words Sound Funny?
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"Does the professor's words sound funny?"
'Kids these days just don't have the basics.'
Professor Juery frowned as he observed the skill levels of the Class A freshmen.
Of course, he hadn't expected them to demonstrate this level of precision from the start.
He understood that even carving a simple stone was their limit, let alone a flower shape.
But what irritated Professor Juery was the 1st-circle magic [Razor Wind] itself.
Young mages these days didn't value the fundamentals.
They skimped on studying low-circle spells and were desperate to jump straight to high-circle magic.
That approach made it impossible to draw proper spell formulas.
Most cadets' [Razor Wind] showed no trace of effort.
Still, there were occasionally cadets who showed decent skill.
Especially the direct heirs of the great Eight Archmage Dukedoms, who went without saying.
"Next. Cadet Ian Isaac."
And toward the end, it was a commoner's turn.
His Class Placement Exam score ranked second overall—a record that would go down in history for a commoner.
Professor Juery harbored doubts about Ian's score.
Not about his actual ability, but the notation seemed erroneous.
'It was definitely recorded as 1910 points right after the exam ended.'
Aside from Professor Neyk, who oversaw the Class Placement Exam, other professors didn't scrutinize the process.
It was an task easily handled by Professor Neyk and his assistants.
For another professor to poke around would be inefficient. They spent that time on their own duties and research.
That efficient mindset of mages meant most professors only received the final placements, nothing more.
Even so, a few professors felt skeptical about this incident.
The first reason was the ominous rumors swirling around, and it was hard to believe there'd been a glitch in the academy's exam system.
It wasn't entirely impossible. Mages had their instincts, after all.
Asking Professor Neyk only got a vague "I was flustered too."
The headmaster had said it was resolved without issue.
But Professor Juery still had lingering questions about this Cadet Ian Isaac.
Not anything specific, but honestly, he couldn't believe a commoner had scored a high 910 points.
It could very well be cheating, as the rumors suggested.
Professor Juery intended to properly verify Ian's skill.
"Cadet Ian Isaac. Begin when you're ready."
I'll judge exactly whether you deserve those 910 points.
Professor Juery glared at every moment of Ian's engraving.
A moment later, Ian began the test, and Professor Juery doubted his own eyes.
'Argh, why's she staring so murderously? No wonder kids mess up under that pressure.'
Standing before Professor Juery made his hands shake.
It wasn't just anyone—this professor had been glaring daggers at him even before the test started.
Engraving a magic stone was nerve-wracking enough for a first-timer without this intimidation.
Sigh... My turn's here. Watch this. 3-minute limit, but I'll upload a video of me engraving the magic stone, so rate it later.
Oh, first time properly seeing Kim Muggle's magic.
Simple spells often reveal a mage's true level. Nothing beats this for gauging young mages, so bring it on—I'll take a look.
You won't mess up something this simple, right? ^^
To regain his composure, he quickly checked the comments.
The archmages had replied to his earlier post.
No time for videos in combat, so this was a prime chance for feedback.
Professor Juery hadn't noticed the gallery either.
He prepared the recording and picked up the cyan magic stone.
"Huuuuu..."
He closed his eyes, sensing the interaction between the ambient mana and the stone.
The cyan magic stone held a thick yet pure mana, fresh like it had just been mined.
A different feel from natural ambient mana.
He vaguely knew how to handle it.
Delicately, like brushing off dust.
Steadily, like wiping clay.
'From rose to stone, then back to rose.'
As MagicIsNotHard suggested, he started from the completed rose shape in his imagination.
The lush rose petals bowed one by one.
They gathered into a bud, with leaves and stem overtaking the stone.
'Reverse that process.'
This wasn't carving the stone into a rose.
It was simply coaxing the rose nestled inside to bloom.
"Beginning now."
Fully focused on the stone, he murmured his declaration and immediately began drawing [Razor Wind].
He barely registered if Professor Juery replied or the test officially started.
He just wanted to preserve this sensation without loss.
Replaying the process he'd just visualized. He began extracting the rose buried in the stone.
Shk—shk—shk—
[Razor Wind] shaved the cyan magic stone at a steady, unhurried pace.
He computed one instance, completed the cut, then computed the next.
Only three minutes allowed.
He knew speeding up was needed to finish the rose.
But he didn't want to rush and err.
Slowly, he precisely followed the blooming process, unfurling each leaf.
Kik—kik—kak—
The lecture hall echoed only with the sound of the stone being carved.
His vision narrowed to the cyan magic stone alone, body immersed in the ambient mana like diving into the sea.
Complete immersion. Solely extracting one rose from this stone.
Clinging to his focus amid the mana sea, he carved at constant speed.
Stem and leaves grew, bud forming.
Outermost petals stretched slowly, greeting the world.
Layer by layer.
The petals unfurled in soft curves, becoming a perfect single bloom.
"Hoo... Haah... Hek..."
Done. He'd bloomed the rose.
Not as exquisite as Professor Juery's, but definitely rose-shaped.
A bit rough, but the petals brimmed with life, stem and leaves seeming to pulse with sap.
Focus breaking, he exhaled sharply.
The enveloping mana faded, mind returning to the lecture hall.
The room was still silent, as if everyone held their breath.
No, something felt off. The atmosphere was charged...
Sensing something wrong, he slowly lifted his head.
"Gasp."
There stood Professor Juery, glaring murderously.
Her eyes so fierce his sphincter clenched instinctively, and he stumbled back.
"Cadet Ian Isaac. Back to reality now?"
"Uh, that... Um..."
Glancing around, cadets stared in shock, disdain, confusion.
He spotted the reason on the assistant's stopwatch.
Eleven minutes had passed since he started.
What? Already eleven minutes? Not three?
"Called you how many times? Do my words sound funny?"
"S-Sorry. I was too focused and didn't hear."
"Ha?"
Damn, even he knew it sounded idiotic.
Not hearing someone calling right in front because of focus?
But he really hadn't heard anything.
"Let me see—you took eight extra minutes on your own? No time now, sit down. We'll handle this later. Obviously, only the first three minutes count for scoring."
"Y-Yes. Sorry."
He bowed hastily and scurried back to his seat.
"What the hell was that? See the prof's face?"
"Right? I'd have been dragged off. Prof Juery just watched to see how far he'd go."
"I'd have finished too with more time. Who even is that guy?"
More voices badmouthed him on the way back.
It wasn't about time for them. They couldn't even aim properly.
He wanted to snap back, but as the sinner here, he kept his head down.
Plus, Professor Juery was furious—no feedback given.
Still, the video recorded fine.
Eleven minutes instead of three, though.
He uploaded it to the gallery anyway.
At least the archmages could evaluate it.
Title: Ah, Total Exam Fail
Author: Kim Muggle
Just did the precision test and nearly cried lololol
Normal test time is 3 minutes, but I got so focused I engraved for 11 straight minutes.
Prof called after 3, but I didn't hear cuz hyperfocused.
Snapped out and prof's face was straight-up King Yama.
Got chewed out and sent back. No feedback, just "only first 3 min scored."
(11-min magic stone engraving video)
Evaluate this at least, guys. Even just first 3 min is fine—it's a 3-min test originally.
No comments for a while after posting.
Everyone was probably watching the video first.
He'd have commented before watching.
Archmages prioritized curiosity over knee-jerk replies, it seemed.
This uniformity really drove home that the gallery was full of grandmages.
"Next, Chayuri Floridel."
Chayuri's turn next.
The archmages would need time to review the video anyway.
He decided to watch Chayuri's test in the meantime.
"Beginning."
Chayuri started, carving the cyan magic stone at a moderate pace.
After three minutes, not perfect but the bud shape was forming decently.
Chayuri got praise similar to Hisenna and returned to his seat.
What the—why's this guy good at precision too?
Precision was supposed to favor girls.
Pretty boy acing precision now? Dude's hogging everything.
As Chayuri finished, comments started trickling into the gallery.
They'd all watched the video.
He reopened the gallery.
But the reactions were vastly different from what he'd expected.