I Am a Mage
I am a mage. It's not exactly a common profession. Especially not in a world ruled by beastmen.
Magic was originally the exclusive domain of humans. More precisely, it belonged to dragons, and humans had simply claimed it as their own. Beastmen did use something resembling magic, but it was fundamentally different from the structured spells humans had established.
If beastmen employed anything that looked like magic, it was never true sorcery. It was always a racial ability—an innate power. The daughter of the Vermilion Bird could freely manipulate flames. The successor of the Azure Dragon could command water at will. Bat beastmen could unleash powerful ultrasonic waves, and spider beastmen could shoot webs from their wrists.
Was that magic? At its root, yes, it drew on the mana within their bodies. But it lacked the understanding of structure and principles, the intricate spell formulas that defined human magic. That was why beastmen rarely used proper sorcery. They lacked a deep understanding of human-style magic, and many simply resented using anything created by humans.
But the most important factor was intelligence.
—I-It's not that my brain is too small to learn magic! It's just that training the body solves problems more efficiently!
The vast majority of beastmen simply didn't possess the intellect required to understand and master magic. Among them, there were almost none who could reach the level of what humans a hundred years ago would have called a "great archmage."
The only exception was Bastet. Excluding those who had built their power purely through their own efforts, most relied on the King's Symbol to manifest grand magic or simply copied existing magic scrolls.
That was why being called a "mage" made someone incredibly rare.
There were magic users, of course—those who bought the magic scrolls Bastet sold and treated them like their own spells. But I was different.
The mana stone embedded in the staff I held did help regulate my mana usage, but the circular geometric formula that unfolded the moment I cast my spell? That was something I had created myself.
THUD!
The bat beastman Icaris dropped to his knees. Like before, it looked like he'd fainted, but this time white smoke rose from his entire massive, enlarged body as if it had been scorched. His head hung limp.
CRACK!
A sound like something shattering rang out, and the giant bat slowly began transforming back into human form. The bloated flesh and muscles that had forcibly swelled up vanished, and Icaris discarded his beast form, returning to his beastman state.
His upper body was completely bare—his clothes had been blown away. At least he was still wearing pants.
Shhhhhhh.
Even after his beastification had been undone, smoke continued to rise from his body. It wasn't actual combustion. Having completely lost consciousness, the mana inside him was simply leaking out.
I had defeated him perfectly. So cleanly that I doubted anyone could have subdued an opponent more elegantly with magic.
"...Oh my god."
Vermilion stared at me—and at my staff—with a stunned expression.
"You really... were a mage?"
"That's right."
"How...?"
"Is it that surprising that a sheep is a mage?"
"N-no! It's not that, but..."
It was surprising. After all, the very concept of a mage came with the prerequisite of exceptional intelligence. For most beastmen, learning magic was simply impossible.
"It's been so long since I've seen someone use real magic instead of a scroll. That's why."
And I hadn't just torn a scroll and waved my staff around for show.
"...I see now why you were admitted to Cadelis Academy. Was it some kind of special mage recruitment?"
"Who knows."
It was more like special human recruitment than mage recruitment.
"Personally, I don't really like being called a mage."
"Huh? Why? Are you trying to hide your power?"
"No. If I wanted to hide my power, I wouldn't have revealed it in a duel like this."
"Then...?"
"I'd rather not say any more than that."
Someday the truth would come out. I wasn't particularly worried about the stares I'd get, but I didn't want all the effort I'd poured into learning magic to be dismissed with a casual "Well, he's human, so of course."
It was true that humans generally found it easier to learn magic than beastmen. But that didn't erase the year of brutal, soul-crushing effort I'd endured. Unlike beastmen, who could simply activate their racial traits with a single click and breathe fire or fly through the sky, I had to memorize countless spell formulas, hammer them into my brain, and manifest them through pure force of will.
I didn't want to hear that I'd simply "learned magic easily because I was human."
In that case—
"That's amazing. It feels like all my prejudices about sheep are disappearing."
"Really? Then I'm glad."
It was better to be looked at as a "sheep who somehow" or "a sheep, and yet." That kind of gaze actually helped me hide my identity as a human.
"Now then, about that important conversation—"
"Over here!"
I was about to have a very important talk with Vermilion, but I could hear faculty members running toward us from a distance. I could see them—along with several instructors rushing over in a hurry.
"This is...?"
"SAPIEN!!"
Instructor Dragonaut looked shocked at the sight of the unconscious bat beastman, while Instructor Anju ran straight to me, grabbed my shoulders, and started shaking me.
"Are you hurt anywhere? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Really? Whew, thank goodness. Seriously, what a relief."
Instructor Anju let out a huge sigh of relief, then immediately turned and headed toward the faculty members.
"Um, Instructor Anju, that's—"
WHAM!
With a single punch, she sent two faculty members flying.
Whoa.
The impact was so powerful that they smashed through more than a dozen trees as they flew. Even if I reinforced my strength with magic, I doubted I could create a fan-shaped clearing in the forest with that kind of explosive force.
"Those damn bastards! They're supposed to be faculty, but when a student is in danger, they don't even think about throwing their own bodies in the way?!"
Was this professional anger? I wasn't sure. On the surface, she looked like the perfect teacher, but if that was an act, maybe Anju should have become an actress instead.
"You don't appear to be injured, student Vermilion."
"Yes, Instructor. But that..."
"It's time. We'll end the duel here. I'll take care of Icaris and Kromhart, so you should return to the dormitory, student Vermilion."
"But..."
Vermilion glanced at me, then carefully pointed at Icaris.
"What will happen to Icaris now?"
"......"
"No matter what, he tried to kill a fellow student."
"Simply attempting to kill someone doesn't result in severe punishment."
I wasn't sure if that was something an academy instructor should say, but it was actually what I wanted to hear. I'd caught a slight nuance in Instructor Dragonaut's words.
Trying to kill each other? Fine. In a world where people fought over the King's Symbol, killing and being killed was simply the law of the wild.
But even in the wild, there were things a beastman academy could never tolerate.
"Using beastification changes everything."
The fact that he'd willingly become a beast. The fact that he'd abandoned his reason through beastification and still lost.
"If he refuses to leave the academy himself, we'll have no choice but to make him leave—for the sake of his own future."
After the duel ended.
"......"
The daughter of the Vermilion Bird, Vermilion, watched the retreating figure of the golden sheep Sapien as he left with Instructor Anju. She gently stroked her hand.
"...What a strange person."
He was strange. Truly strange.
She'd thought he wasn't an ordinary beastman from the moment they met in the library, but she never imagined he would be this.
"A mage... and a pure one at that."
Gulp.
Her mouth felt dry.
"Ah, seriously. Why couldn't he be a bird?"
An eagle or a hawk would have been fine. Even a long-tailed tit would have worked. Because the Vermilion Bird could embrace all things.
Whether male or female, as long as one of them carried the blood of the Vermilion Bird, the lineage would continue. Especially if the female was the Vermilion Bird—the male's talent and the female's race could merge into something greater.
If that "pure mage" who had taken down a beastified bat beastman in a single strike had been part of the avian race?
"......"
Vermilion's imagination ran wild.
A dark night. A study filled with books. A blond man sat at a polished wooden desk, slowly turning the pages of a thick tome while wearing glasses.
Rustle. Rustle.
The spacious study was filled only with the sound of pages turning.
Creak.
The moment the door opened, their eyes met. The man, who had been expressionlessly reading, looked up.
"My dear."
He set down his book, smiled gently, and approached. His clothes carried not the scent of beastmen, but the rich aroma of countless books.
A man intelligent enough to master magic, yet who never abandoned scholarly research and continued his studies without pause.
"What book have you brought today? Ah, you wish to discuss the Bremen Revolution and the beastman class struggle? Excellent. Let us debate all night long. Until the dawn breaks."
She used to dream of birds. That was the instinct of the Vermilion Bird's daughter, of the avian race.
But now, the image had changed. The wings on his back had vanished, replaced by horns upon his head.
"...Those who obtain the King's Symbol can make one wish to the Dragon."
Lick.
"I absolutely must have it."
Vermilion tried to suppress her excitement as she quietly placed a hand over her heart.
"Tomorrow is going to be so exciting..."
"Ah."
I'm screwed.
I still needed to discuss with Vermilion how we should coordinate during the remaining duels against the others.
"Let's go, Sapien! Everyone in Class 13 is eating dinner together!"
How could I possibly skip a group dinner?
"I'm treating everyone tonight!"
It was free food from outside instead of the dormitory cafeteria. There was no way I could turn that down.