Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Learning Magic (5)
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Shirone focused his mind even more.
He ignored what he saw through the Image Zone, delving solely into his Spirit Zone. The already massive sphere expanded, doubling in size.
The upperclassmen's jaws dropped.
The figure on the record sheet read: 41 meters in diameter.
Considering the Class Four average was 27 meters, his was a figure approaching that of a graduating student.
“What the—? How is his Zone so big?”
Etella was just as surprised.
Of course, a Spirit Zone's size could be increased through training.
But it required mental growth, including moments of enlightenment, not just the physical asceticism practiced by knights.
The body was honest; though difficult, consistent training would always yield results. The mind, however, was a battle against vague illusions with no right answers.
Countless mages in the world grew frustrated, failing to achieve their desired results even after a lifetime of effort.
This was why magic was said to be the realm of talent.
‘I've never seen a Zone so superior from the very beginning. He must have grown up contemplating the world and exploring his inner self from a young age. But is that really possible for an eighteen-year-old?’
Unlike before, Shirone now felt a sense of conviction. As his Spirit Zone expanded, he could finally feel the frame taking shape.
Unaware that countless students were watching him with looks of astonishment, he was busy connecting the framework of his Spirit Zone.
‘Don't get fixated. I'll tighten it all at once.’
Shirone clenched his jaw, his eyes flashing open. As he entered the omnidirectional defensive form, the massive sphere tightened as if to crush him.
The pressure was so intense that the onlookers could almost hear an auditory hallucination of it creaking and groaning.
“Whoa…”
A groan escaped from somewhere in the crowd.
Shirone examined the omnidirectional defense he had deployed with a sense of wonder. It felt like being trapped inside a hard diamond crystal.
It was a perfectly interlocked form, just like the cube Etella had demonstrated. The Zone's diameter was 13 meters. From 41 meters to 13, it was an efficiency of about 30 percent, but a success was a success.
“He actually did it! A freshman pulled off the omnidirectional defense on the first day!”
As the thoughtless Class Seven kids made a fuss, a few of the upperclassmen frowned.
However, just as many showed their approval. Most of them, of course, were female students.
Amy belonged to neither group. She simply began to find Shirone seriously irritating.
How could she have forgotten? The very reason she had resolved to learn magic was because he had humiliated her.
‘That bastard, what is he?’
This wasn't a school one could enter with talent alone. He must have found a benefactor. Who was backing him?
“Professor, the volume decreased a lot more than I expected.”
“Hm? That's to be expected. But its durability should be much higher now. It should be able to withstand a certain degree of physical impact.”
Shirone agreed. The hardness of the frame was transmitted as clearly as if it were his own skin. At this level, there would be no risk of being forced out of his Spirit Zone even if he took a physical blow.
Etella scratched her eyebrow.
‘So the rumors about him surprising the teachers during the entrance exam were true.’
Of course, one success didn't mean everything. His insight was incredible, she had to admit, but he had only succeeded with the defensive form because of his convergent tendencies, coupled with his abnormally large Zone.
Belatedly realizing how people were reacting, Shirone reverted to a shy boy and returned to a corner spot.
Perhaps because he was buried in all the stares, Shirone didn't notice Amy looking at him with an intense gaze.
The Cold Boy and the Fiery Girl (1)
Shirone was busy immersing himself in various fields of study. While graduating students could choose a major, until then, they had to take every subject, making the scope of their studies immense.
First period was Basic Chemistry. When he entered the Class Seven lecture hall, students were already taking their seats. And standing at the lectern was a familiar face.
Shina Olipher, an authority on ice magic.
Second daughter of the Olipher family and a graduate of the Olipher school of thought. Age 26. A genius who reached the rank of an official Grade 6 mage with ice magic alone. Beautiful face. Cold personality.
Thanks to her frosty attitude during the entrance exam, she had left a strong impression on Shirone.
But surprisingly, she was very popular among the male students.
A beautiful appearance, the title of teacher, and the prickly personality of an older woman. To the students, she was a fantasy with no missing pieces.
With her long, violet hair tied up neatly, she adjusted her horn-rimmed glasses and spoke.
“Good morning. I am Shina Olipher, and I will be teaching the Class Seven chemistry course starting today.”
A thunderous round of applause erupted. Some even whistled or blatantly asked if she had a boyfriend.
Shina ignored their voices and opened her book. Then, she quietly raised her gaze and looked somewhere.
Shirone felt a chill. He had a feeling she was looking at him.
He thought he must be mistaken, but Shirone's feeling was, in fact, correct. The only reason she, the instructor for Class Five, had made time to open another course was because of Shirone.
‘Talent rots if it stagnates. It's best to have him advance as quickly as possible.’
Talent was something that would somehow keep up once you pushed it to a higher level. She planned to promote Shirone to demoralize her rival, Thadd, and uphold her convictions as a teacher.
Whatever her inner motives, the students were simply delighted to be taught by the most popular teacher.
“Professor, is it true you're dating Professor Thadd? It's not, right?”
“Tell us about your first love! It's the first class!”
“Please, Professor! Please!”
As the students' clamoring continued, Shina furrowed her brow. An ice crystal, 30 centimeters in diameter, then materialized beside her.
*Shhhhk! Shhhhk!*
The ice began to rotate and grind, scattering snowflakes in all directions. The particles of cold air instantly lowered the classroom's temperature.
The students, who had initially laughed and said, “It's a bit chilly,” found their expressions rapidly freezing over. The temperature continued to drop endlessly until, eventually, they were too frozen to even move their mouths.
“Professor! It's… c-cold…”
“Let's begin the lesson.”
Shina stepped down from the lectern and approached the students. As the ice's rotation slowed, the temperature rose. But it was still below freezing.
“What is the principle behind the ice magic I just activated?”
Shina opened her palm, levitating the ice crystal above it.
“What is cold?”
With the question, she clenched her fist, and the ice crystal shattered into pieces.
“Coldness refers to a state of lacking energy. There is no such thing as cold energy. Therefore, while temperature can rise infinitely, it cannot fall infinitely. A state of zero energy. We call that absolute zero.”
Shirone frantically scribbled her words in his notebook.
“You can create an ice crystal by taking energy from the atmosphere. Just ordinary ice, of course. But what happens if you break it down to the particle level and then scatter it with the power of wind? As you just saw, even simple ice can lower the temperature to a level lethal to humans.”
At the word 'lethal', the students' faces turned pale.
“So, how does one absorb energy? No, how does a mage cast magic at all?”
Shina held up two fingers, ticking them off one by one.
“Omniscience and omnipotence. A mage casts spells through omniscience and omnipotence. The Spirit Zone aligns the mage's mind with the world. Within that domain, the mage holds a god-like status. This is what we call omnipotence. But that alone is not enough to activate magic. The temperature inside the Spirit Zone won't rise just because you command it to 'get hot'. This is where the knowledge of *how* to raise the temperature is needed. That is omniscience.”
Shirone found himself nodding. He now understood why he hadn't been able to cast magic so far: he had only trained in omnipotence, while his omniscience was sorely lacking.
“From now on, with me and your other instructors, you will encounter various fields of study. The Spirit Zone is only half of magic; without omniscience, you cannot become an outstanding mage. Now then, let's begin our basic chemistry lesson.”
Only then did Shina turn and begin writing on the blackboard. The lesson had truly begun, and the students' concentration was higher than ever.
‘I see. A teacher doesn't become popular just for being pretty.’
Trust in a teacher inspires a student's desire to achieve, so Shirone too lost all track of time as he listened to the lesson.
There were parts he found difficult to understand, but he didn't mind.
The backbone of his knowledge was already complete, and starting today, he planned to devour all other fields of study.
***
5:00 PM.
When classes ended, students poured out of the lecture hall. Feeling his head heavy with new information, Shirone also headed for the dormitory.
Students who had joined research societies were walking in small groups, carrying their lunch boxes. Having no society to attend, Shirone planned to grab a quick bite and then go to the library.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, his body felt light. He came to his senses with a feeling of floating, realizing his feet were off the ground as he was being dragged somewhere at high speed.
The force pulling on the back of his collar was so strong it was hard to breathe. The strength and speed were nothing short of superhuman.
After running for about three minutes, they arrived in a wooded area of the garden.
As the speed decreased, Shirone's body flew forward, and he landed hard on his rear.
The impact shot up through his tailbone.
He coughed, catching his breath for only a moment before hastily looking up at the person who had brought him there.
A mysterious figure with their face covered by a black mask looked around nervously, then removed the mask after confirming no one was there.
“Huh? Uh?”
Shirone's eyes widened. The mysterious figure was none other than Carmis Amy. She was radiant even from a distance, but up close, her delicate features were truly beautiful.
As if realizing something from Shirone's expression, Amy raised a hand and conjured a flame.
“Just as I thought. You remember me, don't you?”
“Uh, ah?”
“I knew I couldn't just leave you be. I'll sear your lips shut and make you mute.”
Shirone didn't dodge the approaching flame, simply watching it. Unless she was a madwoman, even violence needed a reason and a purpose. Burning someone's face at school lacked plausibility.
As expected, her palm stopped right before his eyes. The flame had already vanished. Having intended to intimidate him, she frowned and asked,
“What are you? Are you really that coward from before?”
There was no trace of the boy who had been caught by the back-alley thugs, his face pale and legs trembling.
“So you remember me too, senior?”
Amy grabbed Shirone by the collar and hauled him up.
“Who are you calling senior, you bastard! What the hell happened? You're a commoner, a total country bumpkin! How did you get in here?”
Shirone didn't understand why she was so agitated. If she were merely bothered by a commoner entering a school for nobles, she wouldn't have brought him to a quiet place like this in the first place.
“There are circumstances, but before that, why did you drag me here?”
“Huh? Why?”
In truth, it had been an impulsive decision. At first, she had planned to ignore him, but she couldn't.
She was the type to get so anxious over even a minor secret being exposed that she couldn't focus. And Shirone was holding a bombshell that could end her school life.
“Tell me the truth! How did you get into this school?”
This time, it looked like her fist wouldn't stop, so Shirone hastily confessed.
When he explained that he had entered as a guest under the sponsorship of the Ogent family, Amy let go of his collar.
“Hoh! A guest of the Ogent family?”