The Persistent Divine Beast and the Magic Control Test
Lick, lick. The morning sun blazed brightly overhead. “Ugh…” The harsh sting of sunlight across my face made it obvious I’d overslept. Well, I was already late, so I might as well sleep in a bit more. With Lena stuck doing self-reflection in the girls’ dormitory, no one was around to ruin my lie-in. Or so I thought as I kept my eyes shut and tried to drift off again.
But then—lick. An unidentified wet sensation smeared across my face, and I frowned. It was damp. And ridiculously rough. What the hell was this? Lena Youngstern? No way. If it were her, she would’ve kicked the mattress and shouted, “Hey, Ian Ashy! Aren’t you getting up?!” She definitely wouldn’t have licked my cheek. Plus, she was currently confined to the female dormitory.
When I cracked my eyes open halfway, a fluffy white bundle of fur was waggling its tail right in front of my nose.
“…Freya.”
The water-attribute divine beast that had nearly torn the academy apart not long ago.
…Or at least, that’s what she used to be. Right now she was just a tiny, sleek white cat small enough to fit snugly in my arms.
“…Hey. Slobbering all over someone’s face first thing in the morning is kind of messed up, don’t you think?”
“Nyaaang—”
Freya rubbed her head against my chest with an indignant little noise. Ever since the rampage incident ended, she hadn’t gone back to wherever she came from and had been trailing after me everywhere like a lost puppy. Why? Even if I asked, it’s not like a cat could answer.
“Pets are banned in the dorms. Especially you, since you’re a divine beast. If anyone finds out, I’m screwed. Get out.”
I grabbed her firmly by the scruff and yanked. Then I flung the window wide open and hurled her outside without hesitation.
“Miiyaaaang—!”
It was only the first floor anyway, and she was a divine beast. There was no way she’d get hurt from a drop like that. I slammed the window shut and locked the latch with a decisive click.
“Whew. Alright, back to sleep.”
Come to think of it, I was pretty sure I had an Introduction to Magic Theory class this morning. But Lena got slapped with dormitory confinement because of yesterday’s mess and was skipping, so as her childhood friend, wasn’t it only right that I show solidarity and skip with her?
“Whoa. Ian Ashy, your loyalty is next level.”
I nearly admired my own character for a second there. I was just about to pull the blanket over my head when—
Knock knock knock knock—
Something was tapping on the window. Wind? Ignore it.
Knock knock knock knock knock knock—!
No, that rhythm was way too consistent for wind.
“Aaaargh! Seriously!”
Annoyed, I kicked the blanket off and looked over. Beyond the glass, Freya’s white rear wiggled back and forth as she diligently hammered the window with her long tail.
“I’m not opening it! Go home already!”
I yelled whether she could hear me or not and flopped back onto the bed. No matter how hard she smacked it with her tail, the glass wasn’t going to break, so there was no way she could—
Slide… click.
“…Huh?”
With an absurd scraping sound, the firmly locked window slid open. I stared at the windowsill in disbelief. The water in the cup on my desk had morphed into something resembling a cat’s tail, manipulated the latch, then slipped one delicate claw into the gap and flicked the lock open with pinpoint precision.
“Nyaang.”
She stepped over the sill with elegant grace, leaped onto my bed like she owned the place, and curled up neatly.
“……”
A lock-picking magic cat. I guess a divine beast really is a divine beast.
“Haaaam…”
After reluctantly preparing breakfast for a cat that wasn’t even mine, I figured I could still make it to class if I left now, so I headed toward the annex auditorium.
The place was buzzing.
“Has the Magic Tower Master not arrived yet?”
“I only signed up for this class to see his face.”
The Magic Tower Master was as popular as ever. For me, that was perfect. I only planned to mark attendance and zone out anyway. I leaned against the wall, doing my best to erase my presence, when—
“Ian Ashy.”
The sudden call made me flinch. Gentle swaying golden hair. Passionate eyes that made me instinctively take a step back the moment they met mine. It was Princess Eiphrid.
Shit…
Right. I was taking this class with her. I’d let my guard down. On pure instinct I pretended I hadn’t heard and took several steps backward.
Why was I suddenly avoiding the princess? Because this was our first meeting since I’d kicked her square in the back! Sure, it had been an emergency situation, but a mere baron’s second son kicking a princess? That was a serious crime worthy of execution for insulting the imperial family.
“Why are you running away after making eye contact?!”
Unfortunately, ignoring her had zero effect. Eiphrid marched toward me, fuming. I was screwed. Was she going to drag me away? Had she brought her royal guards?
A cold sweat trickled down my back as I watched her take a big step forward. Yep. Guess I was getting slapped. Better than the guillotine. I tensed my neck, preparing to absorb the impact—
Grab.
Instead of slapping me, the princess took my hand.
…What?
Was she a saint instead of a princess? What was this noble gesture?
“Thank you, Ian Ashy! My mana has grown by leaps and bounds! I express my deepest gratitude for that lesson!”
Her eyes sparkled. Pure joy radiated from her face.
“…Pardon?”
“That extreme situation! When you shoved me into danger, it was actually a Spartan-style training method meant to shatter the limits of my mana circuits!”
No, I just needed bait and you were convenient. If I hadn’t kicked you, you would’ve frozen up and done nothing.
The princess, completely unaware of my inner thoughts, was lost in her own perfect delusion, enthusiastically beating her own drum.
“Thanks to you, the output and reaction speed of my magic have improved dramatically!”
At this rate, she’d probably claim I gave her enlightenment just by breathing. I forced an awkward smile and tried to pull my hand free, but she squeezed it tighter, shook it a few times, then gracefully released it and stood proudly before me.
“Ian Ashy!”
Now what?
She raised her index finger and declared, “I have decided to acknowledge you as my perfect rival!”
“Huh? Wait, suddenly what are you—”
My voice didn’t even register. Like a dump truck with broken brakes, the princess kept rolling.
“Your ruthless yet effective real-combat training methods, and that courage that doesn’t waver even in the face of crisis! In order to surpass my brother, I will step over you and move forward!”
This is actually insane.
“You can step on me and move forward right now if you want.”
“Hah! Provoking me already! I commend that spirit!”
No, I literally just told you to step on me and go! This was actually driving me crazy. The princess was a formidable opponent in a completely different way from Judith. Nothing I said got through to her!
I scratched my head in frustration and she puffed out her cheeks.
“Why are you being so lukewarm? The imperial princess herself has named you her rival. You should feel honored!”
“Ah, yes. I’m so honored I might cry from joy.”
I answered in a dry monotone like I was reading from a textbook and pinched the bridge of my nose. Great. Now I had a noisy tagalong.
That was when it happened.
“Be quiet.”
A chilling voice echoed throughout the entire auditorium. The Magic Tower Master was nowhere to be seen, yet his voice rang clearly in everyone’s ears as if whispering directly into them.
“I believe each of you gained many insights from this recent disaster. From now on, I will summon one mana sphere before each of you.”
The moment the Magic Tower Master finished speaking, palm-sized spheres of pale light appeared in front of every one of the hundred or so students in the auditorium.
“…What is this?”
“Are we supposed to catch them?”
While the students tilted their heads in confusion—
“Handle the spheres as you see fit.”
That was all.
“……”
Magic Tower Master, aren’t you just phoning it in? Apparently no one else shared my impure thoughts. Everyone was already busy poking and prodding at the spheres floating in front of them. I reached out toward mine as well. The sphere instantly swerved like a fly and dodged my hand.
Whoosh! Swish! Swat!
And so the chaos began.
“What the—what is this thing?!”
“It’s so fast!”
Every time someone tried to approach, the spheres zipped around like crazy, bouncing around like punching bags. And they were ridiculously loud. The auditorium descended into pandemonium in seconds.
“Why does it keep running away?!”
“Are we supposed to catch it?”
“No! This is a magic practice! It must be a test to see if we can strike the sphere with our mana and send it flying far away!”
The students’ theories spread like a virus. Everyone started drawing up their mana, desperately trying to hit the fleeing spheres. Even Princess Eiphrid standing next to me had a glint in her eyes as she gathered earth-attribute mana at her fingertips.
“If it’s a simple output test, I can confidently claim to be the best in the empire! Hah!”
After a few missed swings—
—Kwaaaaaang!
Clean form, perfect timing. The princess smacked the sphere, which was moving so fast it was nearly invisible. The boulder she launched slammed into it, sending the sphere rocketing toward the ceiling like a cannonball. Highest and farthest. Eiphrid lifted her chin and glanced at me with a look that clearly said, Did you see that?
On the other hand.
Whoosh, whoosh! Swish, swish! Papababababa!
The sphere in front of me started taunting me outright. Are you a mosquito? Are you seriously a mosquito?! I hadn’t planned on touching it, but this noise was getting unbearable.
As long as I don’t send it flying far, it should be fine, right? I’d just do it subtly so no one noticed. I lightly flicked my finger. A black mana bean made of dark mana shot out toward the sphere. From the opposite side came a water-attribute mana bean I’d learned from Lena. When the two mixed, they’d create mud that even Freya couldn’t escape.
Let’s just trap it and keep it still. I only wanted to stop the annoying distraction. The moment the two bean-sized masses of mana met above the sphere—
Papabat!
The sphere that had been trying to flee froze perfectly in mid-air like a bug caught in a spiderweb.
“Whew.”
I left the sphere hanging there like hardened clay, crossed my legs, and yawned. Princess Eiphrid clicked her tongue at the sight.
“Ian Ashy! Is pinning it in place all you can do? Look at mine. It’s still stuck in the ceiling and hasn’t come down for thirty seconds…”
“Enough.”
The invisible Magic Tower Master’s voice rang out through the auditorium once more. Every sphere in the room lost its light and dropped to the floor with soft thuds. Every sphere except the one floating motionless in front of me.
“Today’s exercise was to confirm each person’s ability to control their mana. Controlling mana is the most basic of basics.”
I nodded without thinking. I had just witnessed the princess’s incredible mana control, after all.
“First, those who couldn’t even touch their spheres. You will all receive a fixed C grade. Furthermore, you need not attend this class anymore. Since you received a C, retaking it is also impossible. Do not appear before me again.”
Whoa. A pure T-1000 example of the worst personality of a golden-haired male lead. Several students burst into tears while those beside them tried to comfort them, creating a small commotion.
“Those who accurately struck their spheres may continue attending this class. Do not become arrogant. That was merely the minimum requirement.”
“Kgh! Hmph!”
Beside me, the princess puffed out her chest. He literally just said not to get arrogant, Your Highness.
“And.”
A strange heat entered the Magic Tower Master’s voice.
“Only one person perfectly sealed the sphere’s movement.”
A hundred pairs of eyes instantly focused on a single point. The one mana sphere that remained completely motionless, floating perfectly still in the air.
“……”
And right in front of it, the guy standing with his legs crossed, yawning, who suddenly found himself unable to close his mouth. Me.
“Remain behind, Ian Ashy.”
A cold sweat trickled down my back.