I'm Not a Genius

The training ground where magic was tested sat behind the main building of the Magic Tower.

It was a massive dome-shaped structure, and stepping inside revealed a space far larger than it had looked from the outside. Supposedly it was spatial magic designed by the great founding Master himself, eight hundred years ago, when he established the White Magic Tower.

TMI I had zero interest in remembering.

What mattered was that in here, you could punch holes in the walls without paying for damages.

"I will assess your ability in this place."

Hermann walked to the center of the training ground. He swept his staff once through the air, and round targets materialized in the empty space.

One, two.

There had only been a few at first, but the targets kept multiplying. Thirty black discs of every height and orientation floated into place across the training ground.

"Use Chogitan."

Hermann held out a sheet of paper. A complex magic formula was drawn across it in blue lines.

"What's Chogitan?"

Hermann's eyebrow twitched.

"You don't even know that?"

"I don't."

"Still intending to lie, are you?"

"I'm serious."

"………."

Looking thoroughly displeased, Hermann pointed at the targets.

"It is a basic spell in which the caster guides the trajectory of a launched mana projectile. Pierce as many targets as you can with a single shot."

In simple terms, it was basically a guided missile.

"Am I allowed to refer to the formula on the paper?"

"Why else would I have handed it to you?"

"Understood."

I unfolded the sheet. Blue lines coiled and tangled into circles. Thanks to launching a Fireball yesterday, it didn't feel like a completely alien drawing — though knowing it only meant I was at the level of a kindergartener spotting their own name on a storefront sign.

"AI. Analyze this."

I kept my voice low enough that no one else would hear.

Translucent lines rose above the paper.

Lines marked in red blinked throughout the formula.

"Plenty of flaws."

"Do it."

The blue lines before my eyes shifted rapidly. Several overlapping strokes vanished, and the broken coordinate formulas linked into one continuous path. The small, scattered circles connected themselves to the large ring at the center.

Restoring the Fireball had taken hours, but—

Fast.

This time the original formula had been intact, so it didn't take long at all. Red lines overlaid the paper. The coordinate formulas that had been scattered in every direction now flowed as a single current, and the stabilizing formula wrapping the outside shrank by nearly half.

I compared the original and the revised versions a few times. Build the propulsion formula, attach a ring to sustain the output, then link each separate coordinate into a single trajectory.

I didn't understand the math, but I understood the sequence. That was enough.

"I'm done."

As I lowered the paper, Hermann's brow furrowed.

"Already?"

"Yes."

"You claim to have mastered a spell you just encountered, in that short a time?"

"We'll find out when I try."

It wasn't as if I was fully confident. The first time I'd made a Fireball, I'd set my sleeve on fire before I managed a spark.

As I headed for the center of the training ground, Hermann explained the test rules from behind me.

"Only a single mana projectile is permitted. The moment it misses or dissipates, the test ends."

"Does the order matter?"

"It does not. Pierce as many as you can."

As many as I can, huh.

Yesterday I couldn't even hit a jar a few steps away. There was no way I was going to nail discs while bending the path multiple times on my own.

I dropped my voice.

"Help me out, AIemon."

Red dots bloomed among the discs. Lines connecting each point swept across the entire training ground — starting nearby, climbing to the ceiling, riding down the far wall, and ending behind my back.

"There's something I have to do too, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right?"

I'd expected that much. I'd heard yesterday, more than once, that it wouldn't assist with the physical supply of mana.

"Keep showing me the path."

I raised my right hand and drew up the warmth from below my navel. I pushed it slowly so the flow wouldn't break — past my chest, through my shoulder, all the way to my fingertips.

A moment later, blue light spilled from my hand.

First I traced a round outer outline, then carved a ring at the center to hold the projectile's form. I slotted the propulsion formula inside, then connected the long, continuous trajectory formula along the coordinates the AI had marked.

Far cleaner than the original on the paper, and faster to form. My own original Chogitan, you could say.

"……Let's just say we made it together."

Hermann's voice came from behind me.

"That is……"

I didn't have the luxury of turning around. Keeping the mana gathered at my fingertips from scattering, I took aim at the first target.

"Chogitan."

A white light the size of a fingertip condensed at the center of the magic circle.

"Go."

Bang!

The mana projectile punched through the first disc.

After that, I barely had time to think. I moved my fingertips along the red path and shoved mana in whenever the speed dropped. Every time the white light changed direction, short bursts of impact cracked through the training ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Past ten, I gave up counting. The AI showed me the path, but keeping the projectile on it was my job. The slightest misapplication of force and it felt ready to fly off course.

"Uh."

I twisted my wrist on reflex. The projectile skimmed the edge of a disc and slipped through.

Fortunately, that was the only close call. The white light punched through the remaining targets one after another, then swept in a wide arc all the way behind my back.

Fwoom!

The mana projectile scattered into empty air. I lowered my arm and flexed my stiff fingers a few times.

"Whew. That was sneakily exhausting."

No one answered.

Celia was counting the perforated discs, and Hermann was staring blankly at the spot where the magic circle had vanished.

……Did I mess up?

I didn't seem to have missed any. Celia spoke first.

"Hermann. What was my best record again?"

"……Twenty-seven."

She turned to look at me.

"Congratulations, Leon. You just broke that record."

"Excuse me……?"

"Incredible. In terms of mana control, you're better than I am."

Hermann was silent for a long moment. His gaze swept across the holed discs.

"……Boy. Are you truly saying that yesterday was the first time you ever learned magic?"

"Yes."

"And a single Fireball was the extent of it?"

"That's what I've been saying……"

Confusion surfaced on Hermann's face for the first time. Beside him, Celia covered her mouth with her hand, clearly holding back a laugh.

"And yet with Chogitan, you pierced all thirty?"

"I figured I had to hit all of them to pass."

"Who told you that?"

"Well, you put up thirty of them."

Hermann pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I said to pierce as many as you could."

"So I asked the AI if all of them were possible, and it said yes, so……"

Celia tilted her head.

"AI?"

"Ah — nothing. Just talking to myself."

"……Talking to yourself?"

She didn't look convinced. Hermann, though, was preoccupied elsewhere.

"The magic circle you just used was different from what is written here."

He held open the paper I'd returned and tapped the original formula with a finger.

"I tweaked it a little."

"A little?"

His voice rose.

"This spell is designed to calculate a new set of coordinates every time it changes direction. Yet you linked each calculation into a single trajectory formula. You even converted the output loss generated mid-flight into the next burst of propulsion."

I'm sorry, but I genuinely did not understand a single word of that.

The AI must have reworked it that way, I supposed.

"Well, uh…… I just cleaned up the calculations a bit. That's all."

"And you call that 'a bit'?"

"I only reduced the overlapping parts."

Hermann looked back and forth between the paper and me. The suspicion from earlier was gone. In its place, his eyes wavered like a man confronting something he couldn't explain.

"He reconstructed a Chogitan he'd never seen before on the spot, then cast it perfectly without hesitation……"

He muttered under his breath.

"……A genius."

Celia smiled with satisfaction.

"See?"

……I was pretty sure I was being thoroughly misunderstood.

"I'm not a genius."

"After hitting all thirty?"

"I had help."

"From whom?"

"That's……"

The questions had circled right back to an awkward place. I shut my mouth.

Celia didn't press. Instead, her eyes narrowed with interest, and she stepped closer.

"Leon. Interested in working at the White Magic Tower?"

"Working?"

"I'll register you as a Climber affiliated with our Magic Tower. Your main duties would be investigating magic formulas and magical tools discovered in the Tower."

Climber.

I'd heard that was what they called people who went into the Tower to hunt monsters and dig up treasure. Some were sponsored by nobles or wealthy merchant houses, but most operated under a Magic Tower or a guild.

I'd always figured it was a profession that had nothing to do with me. As of yesterday, that had still been true.

"Does it come with a salary?"

"Base pay plus climbing allowances."

"Lodging?"

"We can give you a room in the dormitory."

"Meals?"

The corner of Celia's mouth curved up slightly.

"Three meals a day. Plus unlimited snacks on top."

"Well, hell. Sign me up."

They'd pay me, house me, and feed me. Even if the contract had a few shady clauses buried in it, those were terms worth signing first and reading later.

"Quick decision."

"It's a food-related issue."

Celia laughed and nodded.

"So when do I enter the Tower?"

"In two days."

Celia held up two fingers.

"There's an orientation for newly registered Climbers. The White Magic Tower's newcomers will go up to the 30th floor as a group and come back down."

"The 30th floor?"

"It's the section where beginners get familiar with the Tower's structure and combat methods. There'll be an escort, and they'll avoid the dangerous floors, so you don't need to worry."

The AI seemed to like the idea.

Well, I didn't think it was bad either. With an escort assigned, at least I already knew who to run behind.

"Let's finish your Climber registration today. You'll need to receive your equipment and check the dormitory as well."

"When's dinner?"

"Around the time registration wraps up."

"Then let's hurry."

Celia gave a small laugh and headed for the training ground exit. I followed her straight outside.