Genius Among Geniuses
"Did you two fight?"
Seah asked, glancing back and forth between me and Linea.
It was understandable to jump to that conclusion.
Ever since our honest conversation last night, Linea had refused to meet my eyes. She would flinch the moment I even stepped close.
If we were going to talk, I'd have to speak without looking at her.
I should have Ray give her some etiquette lessons.
Before, Ray had spent hours lecturing me on the importance of making eye contact during conversation as part of her so-called etiquette training. At the time, I hadn't understood why she was explaining something so basic.
But now it looked like Linea needed to start from that very lesson.
"We didn't fight."
"Then why...?"
"Think of it as similar to what you did to me yesterday, Professor."
In truth, it wasn't all that similar. Seah had simply acted on pure impulse, while Linea had finally voiced the worries she'd been agonizing over.
Still, both were embarrassing enough to make one's face burn.
"H-hey! I told you not to talk about that!"
Seah stamped her feet in frustration, her hands fidgeting restlessly as if she had no idea what to do with them.
But Linea paid no attention to Seah's distress. Instead, she fixed me with a sharp, glittering gaze.
"Linea, you finally with me..."
"...What did you just say?"
Something was off.
"What did you say?"
"Linea, you finally with me..."
"Before that."
"I said we didn't fight."
"In the middle."
It was like one of those comedy skits from a humor video I'd watched before my possession. But reality wasn't a skit.
Linea's face twisted with murderous intent as she shoved it close and gripped my shoulder hard.
"Master, would you say that again?"
"Yesterday I did something similar with the professor as I did with you, Linea..."
"So you embraced the professor too? Tightly. With those arms. Until she couldn't breathe. Until she couldn't escape. Feeling every inch of your skin."
Linea emphasized each word, her voice heavy with accusation. I couldn't begin to guess why she was so angry.
"Huh? That's right. No, it isn't."
"...I only took her home because she was drunk."
Why was I even making excuses? The situation hit me with a wave of embarrassment, but those eyes were terrifying.
If not for the brand, that glare alone might have secretly buried me.
"L-Linea!"
Seah called out desperately.
Linea didn't even bother hiding her icy expression as she turned her head.
"You shouldn't torment Ethan. You two need to get along!"
"Professor Seah."
"Linea...?"
"Did you enjoy it?"
The spark jumped to the previously quiet Seah.
"Wh-what are you talking about..."
Seah's face flushed crimson. At the same time, Linea's grip on my shoulder tightened.
Ting!
The brand activated, repelling Linea's hand. Any force beyond a certain level triggered an automatic counter.
Linea bowed silently in apology to me, then resumed her conversation with Seah.
"The professor received Master's embrace as well."
"That was unavoidable..."
"Did you like being held by a man who could be your son?"
At that moment, the air froze solid.
The shy Seah instantly hardened her expression. Linea seemed to realize her mistake and tried to correct herself, but it was already too late.
"Linea. Ethan is not like a son to me. And... yes, I liked it. Being escorted like that by my student."
Seah spoke with a smile, but it was different this time.
It wasn't her usual silly grin. This was a bitter, mocking smile laced with sarcasm.
"Have you never thought that was... rather impulsive of you?"
"I simply received a gift from Ethan, who is both my precious friend's disciple and my own. How exactly is that impulsive?"
The verbal sparring continued.
"Then what about you, Linea? Are you allowed to treat Ethan however you please?"
"Because Master dotes on me."
"Even if he dotes on you, there are still things you shouldn't say or do. Should I add that to the curriculum?"
"I'd rather not learn anything from you, Professor."
The atmosphere was rapidly overheating. If I didn't intervene, anything could happen.
Why did she have to poke at the age thing?
Given Seah's personality, she would usually overlook rudeness with a generous laugh. But touching on her age flipped a switch, and Linea had to know that.
"Enough."
I spoke softly.
The two women, who had been glaring daggers at each other, froze and waited for my next words.
What is with these two?
Suddenly they were perfectly in sync, both staring only at me.
"Huu. Stop it right there."
I spoke to both of them but deliberately used casual speech. Right now, that seemed like it would be more effective.
And sure enough...
"...Yes."
"Uh, yes."
They both squirmed as if on cue.
"Professor, didn't you say you'd teach me your Unique Magic?"
"...Don't use honorifics. S-speak to me like you just did..."
"Teach me."
"Y-yes..."
Seah stammered and headed off to make coffee. It was part of her lesson preparation.
Man, I just don't get it.
I pressed firmly on my throbbing forehead. The whole situation was a parade of events beyond my understanding.
"Here, sit."
Seah handed me the coffee and took the seat across from me. Whenever it came time to teach, she always turned serious.
That kind of professional spirit was truly something to be feared.
"It's warm."
I had returned to my usual way of speaking. Seah simply smiled gently and chose not to comment on it.
"You know what Unique Magic is, right?"
"Yes."
Unique Magic was the ultimate spell a mage created by pouring their entire essence into it. It essentially contained a mage's whole life, making it impossible to learn through simple observation.
Even systematic lessons made complete transmission difficult. No matter how diligently Seah taught, mastering her Unique Magic should have been impossible.
For a normal person, that is. I was different.
I could imitate it to a degree just by watching. Take the dean, for example.
His Unique Magic was Transformation—the ability to freely change the properties of anything.
It didn't matter what. Living beings, objects, mana—anything could be transformed in his hands.
The staff he always carried was the prime example. That object, which could also turn into a fedora, was a product of his Unique Magic.
And I had managed to clumsily replicate the dean's Unique Magic. The slave brand I'd engraved on Linea's back had been transformed into a reinforced brand with even stronger binding power.
Unfortunately, since I hadn't officially inherited it from the dean, I needed to find another way to strengthen it further.
And now...
"You seem to know a lot already. To be clear from the start, my Unique Magic is Amplification."
I had found a clue in a completely different direction.
No need to obsess over reinforcement.
If this Amplification worked the way I thought it did, I could simply flip the entire board.
The biggest flaw in my reinforced brand magic was its unstable transformation. That instability led to ambiguity.
The core elements—binding power and compulsion—weren't as strong as I wanted them to be.
"Amplification?"
"Yes. It makes mana burst with a bang in an instant. It's temporary, but it can be applied to any spell."
"So it's literally amplification."
"Exactly! Bang! Bang! I can make it explode!"
Seah raised her arms dramatically as she explained. I'd never seen anyone express onomatopoeia with such vivid enthusiasm.
I need to master this properly.
Seah's Unique Magic had clear strengths and weaknesses. The advantage was its firepower. True to its name, the total instantaneous power increased exponentially.
The drawback, however, was equally obvious. It was temporary. Unlike Transformation, it couldn't be maintained for long.
That was exactly why I wanted to lay a new foundation.
"Can you amplify the amplification itself?"
"Uhh...? That's an interesting idea, but the recoil would be huge. You need to learn Amplification first. Don't rush...! Haste makes waste."
Seah poked my forehead as she spoke. Her tone was playful, but genuine concern lay beneath it.
She probably thought I was being impatient. She was right, but I was a genius.
"It's true you're a genius, Ethan, but Unique Magic is a whole different story. Let's take it slow, okay?"
Seah smiled warmly as she ruffled my hair. A pleasant scent tickled my nose.
Grind—!
I heard teeth grinding somewhere but chose to ignore it.
"I'll show you a demonstration first."
Seah opened her palm for me to see clearly. A small sphere of blue light rose above it—high-purity mana in spherical form.
"Watch carefully."
She gently tossed the sphere from her palm. It bounced a few times on the floor before being absorbed into the ground.
Immediately, a wave of intense heat spread across the entire lab floor.
"This is one of the standard high-temperature spells, right?"
Seah snapped her fingers. The scattered mana on the floor returned to her palm.
"Now, if I amplify it..."
She repeated the exact same process, but added one extra step.
The sphere, which had been the size of a fist, grew until it was nearly as large as Seah's face.
"This is Amplification."
She didn't throw the sphere to the floor this time. There was no need.
The smaller sphere from before had only revealed its power after being absorbed. But this one was already erasing the surrounding chill just by existing.
Even without merging with the floor, a faint haze was visible to the naked eye.
"Now I'll explain the principle."
"I think I understand it."
"Bragging isn't attractive, Ethan."
"No, I'm serious."
Unique Magic contained a mage's entire lifetime. I didn't know the dean's life story—only that he was the dean of Rosewood Academy and had reached the pinnacle as a magic swordsman. That was all. So there were limits to how well I could learn his Unique Magic.
Would it be the same with Seah? No.
Through our teacher-student relationship, we had shared many things. I had learned her magic. I had heard her stories.
I was a part of her life, and she was a part of mine. We were not only master and disciple, but friends who had formed a genuine human connection.
Seah's life was something familiar to me. There was no need to analyze the principles. Seeing it once was enough.
Because I already knew the method.
"...Huh?"
"H-how... right away...?"
Seah covered her mouth in shock.
"I'm quite hurt."
I muttered slyly and cast the spell.
A wave of cold spread from the tips of my toes.
Crack!
The lab was covered in frost in an instant. Small, transparent crystals floated above the completely frozen coffee.
My breath came out in white puffs.
Wow. I did this, and it's...
My backside was freezing. The chair I'd been sitting on had frozen solid long ago.
I tapped the table where I'd set the coffee.
What kind of iron is this?
How could ice be this hard?
The Amplification magic exceeded my expectations. It had been a casually cast spell, but with amplification applied, it rivaled an ultimate technique.
"Master, it's cold!"
Linea shrieked.
"Ethan. Ethan. Ethan...!"
Seah clenched both fists tightly against her chest as if overwhelmed with emotion, then bowed her head.
"This is incredible! Absolutely incredible!"
She jumped up from her chair and tried to throw herself into my arms—
—Slip.
"Hiyak?!"
She landed hard on her backside.
"Are you alright?"
"That's not important! Ethan! You really...!"
I extended my hand to Seah.
"Thank you."
I pulled her up. Once on her feet with my support, she first restored the lab to its original state.
Then she pressed her cheek against mine and rubbed it frantically.
"Incredible, incredible! How did you copy it after seeing it just once?"
Was I some kind of pet dog? It felt like I'd turned into a beast rather than a human, but being adored like this wasn't entirely unpleasant.
"A genius among geniuses! There can't possibly be anyone more talented than you, Ethan."
As I enjoyed the excitement in Seah's voice—
Come to my room.
Coincidentally, the devil's voice echoed in my head. I had resisted its suggestion at the time, but the suggestion itself hadn't disappeared.
That's why I'd been hearing the voice faintly. Most of it had been generic nonsense about serving it, so I hadn't paid much attention.
This was the first time it had given a direct order.
Shall I go see what it wants?
It was the perfect opportunity to test my amplified reinforced brand.