Chapter 130
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Looking at the clone that was her spitting image, Iliana wore a wary expression.
‘Is this Professor Albi’s magic?’
It was a well-known fact that Albi could wield fairy magic through the power of his evil eye.
Even someone as belligerent as Iliana couldn't recklessly charge at a magic she had never seen before.
As Iliana stood on guard, her clone’s lips curled into a smirk.
“Did it just laugh at me? This clone just laughed at me!”
Iliana flared up, pointing an accusing finger.
But seeing her clone stirring its mana, she was taken aback and prepared to counter the spell.
Flash—!
“Huh?”
Iliana was startled by the magic that was cast.
The clone had used none other than her own signature spell, ‘Shining Blade.’
For a moment, Iliana was flustered by the shower of light blades, but then she grinned.
“Are you trying to be a mirror?”
Iliana cast her own Shining Blade, canceling out the clone’s attack.
“This seems like some kind of illusion magic, but that stuff doesn’t work on me!”
Iliana shouted with a confident face as she deployed her magic.
Before long, the duel had become Iliana vs. Iliana.
The students watched the duel with intrigued expressions.
To be honest, a duel between Albi and Iliana wouldn't have been interesting at all.
It was, quite literally, a fight with a foregone conclusion.
But now that Albi had used some unknown magic to create a perfect replica of Iliana, the outcome was impossible to predict.
Brilliant magic of light embroidered the dueling arena.
The two Ilianas moved swiftly, flinging spells at each other.
A moment later, the students of the Magic Department looked bewildered.
“Which one is the real Iliana?”
Albi’s magic was astounding.
As if mocking their assumption that it was merely a high-level illusion, the clone possessed the exact same amount of mana as Iliana and used the exact same spells.
You could believe there were two real Ilianas.
Amidst the confusion, Karl muttered.
“Isn’t the prettier one the clone?”
“Indeed!”
“Then that one over there must be the real one!”
“Hey! You wanna die?! We look exactly the same, how can one be prettier than the other!”
Iliana snapped, incensed that her classmates had so accurately identified the fake.
“You idiot! Ignore them and focus on the duel!”
“Oops!”
Startled, Iliana refocused on the battle.
The clone was becoming increasingly difficult to handle.
‘We’re using the exact same magic, so why is there such a difference? Is it because it’s a clone created by Professor Albi, so it’s stronger than me?’
The thought came to her unbidden.
At that moment.
The clone cast a spell.
Iliana’s eyes widened in shock at the magic pouring down on her.
‘Shining Rain?!’
It was a unique spell she had perfected over the break.
As the magic rained down on her, Iliana squeezed her eyes shut.
Just as she braced for impact, both the clone and the spell vanished.
The outcome decided, Iliana’s strength left her, and she collapsed to the ground.
“Excellent.”
Albi said nonchalantly.
But knowing this was high praise from him, Iliana blushed slightly, looking embarrassed.
“Th-Thank you.”
“Next person, come up.”
Iliana stepped down from the dueling arena.
After her, the other magic students went through the same process.
As the students’ defeats piled up, the first to claim victory against their clone was none other than Chelsea.
“That’s amazing. It felt like its overall specs were higher, even though it used the same magic as us.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? It had the same power as me.”
Chelsea gave Karl a puzzled look.
The surrounding students were taken aback by her comment.
Most of them felt that Albi’s clone was stronger than they were.
Meanwhile, Chloe and Abad defeated their own clones one after another.
The students of the Magic Department watched them, clicking their tongues in awe.
“They won even more easily than Chelsea.”
“In the Knight Department, they call Celia, Xia, and Duran the monster trio. Shouldn’t we start calling them that too?”
The students whispered amongst themselves.
“Grr!”
Meanwhile, sparks flew from the eyes of Emio, who had ranked third in the Magic Department until the first semester’s midterm exams.
‘What’s the difference between them and me?!’
All but one student had finished their duel.
The last remaining student, Leo, stepped onto the dueling arena under the watchful eyes of his peers.
“I wonder how the class president will do.”
At Iliana’s murmur, Chelsea wore an expression that said the answer was obvious.
“Of course Leo will win! He was the only one who passed the Vice Principal’s magic during the opening ceremony, right?”
“That’s true.”
As Chelsea and Iliana were talking, Emio, who had been listening nearby, scoffed.
“Don’t you know that Leo Flove’s true skill is only displayed when he’s All-Class? There’s no way he can beat Professor Albi’s clone in a pure magic duel when most of the Magic Department students failed.”
Chelsea scowled.
“Leo is amazing at magic duels too, you know? Besides, you lost miserably to him in the flight magic competition back in the first semester.”
“That was a test of flight magic. There was some combat, but he even used Aura.”
Emio stated it as if it were a fact.
“In a pure magic duel, I won’t lose to him.”
Seeing Emio’s strong confidence, Chelsea looked at him as if he were pathetic.
‘What’s there to be proud of, beating Leo, who isn’t even a pure mage, in a pure magic duel… And I bet Leo would win in a pure magic duel anyway.’
While the students each predicted the outcome, Ren straightened his posture and focused on Leo.
‘Let’s see how much you’ve grown over the break.’
Seeing this, Anna let out a deep sigh.
‘Professor Ren’s obsession with Student Leo has gotten even worse over the break.’
During the vacation, Ren and Anna had stayed at the academy to prepare lessons that might persuade Leo to switch to the Magic Department.
Though Anna hadn’t even been able to return to her hometown, caught up in Ren’s plans, she came to realize anew just what a genius the man called Ren truly was.
The second-semester class Ren had prepared over the break was a magic combat class.
Of course, it wasn’t just any simple magic combat class.
‘A class that teaches how to defeat knights and summoners with magic.’
It was literally a class designed to unequivocally demonstrate the superiority of magic, a declaration of war from the Magic Department to the other departments over Leo.
When she first heard Ren’s plan, her head had spun.
She tried to reason with him, but Ren wouldn’t listen.
‘I have no intention of belittling Student Leo’s All-Class talent! No! In fact, I completely misjudged his talent during the first semester!’
For Ren, who was absolutely uncompromising when it came to magic, to acknowledge other talents and take a step back was truly remarkable.
‘However, my belief that magic suits Student Leo best remains unchanged! No! I became even more certain after the first semester! Only magic can make the student named Leo Flove complete! Therefore, Student Leo’s main focus must be magic!’
So, when Ren, a professor of theory, started preparing for a practical class like magical combat studies, Anna had her doubts about whether he could actually entice Leo with it.
After all, if theory was his main strength, his practical application was bound to be a little lacking.
But watching Ren’s preparations changed her mind.
‘It’s enough to tempt even me, a mage. Professor Ren really is a genius.’
Ren’s meticulous class preparations continued throughout the break.
The problem arose about a month after the vacation started.
Anna shuddered, recalling that time.
***
That day, as always, Anna stopped by the department office before heading to Ren’s office and found a letter addressed to Ren, the professor in charge of the first-year Magic Department.
“Where is this from?”
Anna picked up the letter with a puzzled expression and checked the sender.
“Seirun Academy?”
With a surprised look, Anna headed to Ren’s office.
“Welcome, Assistant Professor Anna. Shall we joyfully prepare for class today as well…”
“Do you think preparing for a class that’s keeping me from going back to my hometown is joyful?”
“Huhu. Not being honest, are we? I’m already aware that you enjoy helping me with my class preparations. Assistant Professor Anna. It means you can’t help being a mage.”
Seeing the smug Ren, Anna couldn’t deny it and let out a deep sigh, handing him the letter.
“A letter came for you.”
“Who is it from?”
“From Seirun Academy.”
“Seirun?”
Receiving a letter from what could be called their rival school, Ren looked puzzled.
He read the letter and then burst out laughing, “Hahahaha!”
‘What’s with this man now?’
“As expected, Student Leo is meant to be a mage! Look at this! Assistant Professor Anna! It’s a letter from Seirun acknowledging and praising Student Leo’s magical talent! It says we must teach the future Archmage well! Hahahaha! As expected of our Lumerne’s rival! They certainly have an eye for talent!”
“Well, Student Leo did decipher the magic of the progenitor of the nebula.”
Though it hadn’t been officially announced yet, the magic of Luna that Leo had restored was causing a huge stir in the elven magic community.
Anna read the letter Ren handed her, impressed.
Then she saw the rest of the letter, which Ren had missed, and her face turned pale.
“Huhuhu! I’m curious about the rest. Assistant Professor Anna, give me the letter.”
“Pr-Professor. It’s better if you don’t read this… It’s not really important… S-So! Class preparation! Let’s prepare for class! Yes?”
Anna tried desperately to keep the letter from Ren.
“What’s in it that’s making you so flustered?”
“N-No! Professor! You can’t look!”
Anna shook her head frantically.
But the letter eventually ended up in Ren’s hands, and seeing this, Anna covered her face with both hands.
As Ren’s eyes scanned the letter, the expression on his face slowly vanished.
After reading to the end, Ren let out a soft, “Huhu,” laugh.
Fwoosh—!
The letter in his hand burned to ashes.
“Have these knife-ears lost their minds?”
Harsh words, unimaginable from the mouth of Ren, who was known for his gentle demeanor, came out.
He was a man who never lost his composure.
But the contents of that letter were enough to enrage him.
Anna shivered at the killing intent flowing from Ren’s eyes.
The letter’s content was simple.
It was a request to invite Leo Flove to Seirun as an exchange student.
The problem was the duration.
A minimum of one semester.
In other words, they were telling him to let Leo study at Seirun for half of his first year.
Studying at another school for an entire semester would completely disrupt his class progress.
On top of that, the letter stated, ‘Student Leo Flove possesses an outstanding understanding of Star Magic, so only by studying at Seirun can his magical abilities be properly drawn out.’
“So what? They want me to just let him transfer? Hahaha. Amusing. Very amusing.”
“P-Professor. Calm down. Calm down.”
Anna tried her best to quell Ren’s anger.
Ren was the type of person who didn’t show his anger outwardly, even when he was upset.
But once he snapped, he saw nothing else.
This rude demand to hand over a student he considered his greatest treasure was more than enough to push his anger to its peak.
“Don’t worry, Assistant Professor Anna. I am perfectly calm. Huhu.”
But for some reason, Ren was composed.
“This is all because Student Leo is just too exceptional, isn’t it? Huhu, Seirun has a good eye.”
Ren, who had been smiling faintly, spoke in a chilling tone.
“We will change the lesson plan. The enemy within is not important right now. In this year’s Lumerne-Seirun match, I will utterly crush those Seirun bastards.”
A vein throbbed on Ren’s forehead as he smiled ferociously.
This wasn’t simply a matter of having his favorite student stolen.
It was, quite literally, Seirun throwing down the gauntlet to Lumerne.
For Ren, a proud Lumerne graduate, it was an absolutely unforgivable act.
If that was the case, shouldn’t he respond in kind?
“Huhu. I’ll grind the faces of those Seirun magic instructors until they look like flattened slimes.”
***
Recalling the events of the break, Anna let out a deep sigh.
‘And later, when Azonia also requested Student Leo’s transfer, he really did destroy his entire office.’
While Anna was reminiscing about the break.
Leo stood still, facing Albi.
As the other students looked at Leo with puzzled expressions.
Albi’s evil eye glowed, and Mirror Force was activated.
‘Mirror Force. A magic that creates a clone identical to the enemy.’
It was considered the strongest of all illusion-type magic.
Of course, the spell wouldn't activate if the target was a being who overwhelmingly surpassed the caster's power.
‘But against a weaker opponent, it creates a perfect copy of oneself. Just like a mirror.’
And Mirror Force drew out the copied target’s power to its absolute limit.
That was why most of the first-years had lost to their own clones.
The clone was better at utilizing their abilities than the ‘real’ them.
It was a magic that exhibited almost invincible power against opponents of lower skill.
The completed clone of Leo stirred its mana.
Flash—!
The students gasped in shock at the magic formula woven in the air.
“Is that… Star Magic?”
“Wait! That Leo guy can use Star Magic that proficiently?”
Ignoring the students' shock, the Star Magic poured down on Leo.
Leo looked at the magic descending upon him and let out a smirk.
Zing—!
Mana gathered in Leo’s eyes.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack—!
The sound of the magic formula shattering echoed loudly.
The magic that had been right in front of Leo’s nose was instantly dispelled.
“How did he block that?”
“There was no sign of him casting any magic.”
The students murmured among themselves.
“What? Leo, how did you do that?”
Karl asked, flustered, while Chelsea wore a look of disbelief.
“He dispelled the magic.”
“What?”
Karl’s expression was one of pure shock.
Abad and Chloe also stared at Leo with surprised eyes.
‘Professor Albi’s Mirror Force is a magic that copies a target. The magic used by the copy is, in the end, one’s own magic. That’s why it can be dispelled so easily.’
It was a technique any skilled mage could perform.
The problem was that the standard for a “skilled mage” was at the professor level—mages on par with Ren or Albi.
And yet Leo, a mere first-year, was pulling it off.
‘Ah… it’s only natural that Seirun would be after Student Leo. Anyone would drool over such outstanding talent!’
Ren’s body trembled with exhilaration.
‘Student Leo will go down in the history of Lumerne’s Magic Department as the greatest mage of all time! I will make it so! Be it Seirun or Azonia, I will never let them take him!’