Chapter 20
Chapter 20
This is Native!!!
“How should I do this? I said ‘mul dewo’ instead of ‘mul depyo,’ and it caused an accident? Or is my visualization just off?”
After a magical accident, it’s really hard to empty your mind and perform a spell cleanly like the first time. Her second attempt failed entirely.
“Ugh. The spell won’t come out, Teacher? Ah, Baroness.”
“It’s fine. Not many wizards can perform a spell immediately after a magical accident! Don’t worry, try once more.”
Baroness Bylem encouraged Idnia even after her failure. And even she was surprised.
“This isn’t supposed to happen…”
Memories of the humiliations and indignities inflicted by Idnia’s mother, Flora, surfaced. But as a mage, her desire to understand why this happened took priority.
“Ah, then I’ll try the original incantation again. Uh… ‘mul depyo’?”
Still, it didn’t work. The more she tried to focus, the more auric interference, the “Despot Pulse,” seemed to disturb her.
“You’re still failing. Hmm… I don’t feel the mana.”
Baroness Bylem clicked her tongue at Idnia’s inability to properly channel mana under stress.
“Let’s stop for now. If you can’t perform the magic, there’s no risk of further accidents…”
But then…
“Hmm. If I relax my body and just imagine it, it seems to work better… ‘mul depyo’ again.”
Idnia unconsciously performed the spell without a verbal incantation. The water moved suddenly, heat rising. Steam swirled upward—this time, it was fully warmed to bath temperature.
“Oh?”
“S-success!?”
The students gawked. Even the ones with prior training were astonished.
“No way… a silent spell?!”
“Incredible. I heard she had no prior training.”
“And to succeed on the first day with a silent incantation!?”
Crown Prince Rudolf was amazed at Idnia’s performance. And Isolde Polzen… felt an indescribable mix of emotions.
“This is impossible!”
Until now, Isolde had been unmatched in magical ability—a true prodigy. She had even started learning magic at five years old. Even so, it took her three weeks to master basic water-heating magic.
“Three weeks, but that was at age five. These academy entrants already have aptitude and mental training. In three years, the academy gathered the empire’s brightest. For them, mastering basic water-heating magic usually takes a week… but to succeed silently on the first try? Never heard of such a thing.”
Isolde Polzen’s dream of being hailed as the academy’s greatest prodigy was shattered. And by the audacious girl who’d snubbed the Crown Prince, no less!
Everyone’s attention was fixated, and Baroness Bylem felt something odd.
“This… what on earth.”
The safety code had activated. The energy injected heated the water to the set temperature without waste. Yet the mana input didn’t seem that high. Incredible mana efficiency. Incredible incantation resonance.
If these readings were correct, Idnia could understand and call forth this magic better than any mage the Baroness had ever seen.
“Comparable to tenured professors’ mana efficiency. Impossible… a freshman achieving this?”
Startled, she approached Idnia. This wasn’t just talent—this phenomenon was too strange to call mere aptitude.
“Pardon me, may I examine you briefly?”
“Ah… yes.”
Idnia nodded, flustered.
Baroness Bylem held Idnia’s arm and closed her eyes.
“Huh?”
The flow of mana, the pathway for willpower, didn’t exist. Only auric veins were detectable.
“So, she’s a master of auric energy? At this age?”
She sensed incredible aura power from Idnia, but that wasn’t the main point. What about mana?
“No mana veins!”
To investigate, Baroness Bylem sent a portion of her own mana as a probing wave into Idnia. If it hit something, reflection patterns would reveal the shape of the target’s mana veins, allowing an estimation of magical skill.
But in Idnia’s case, no reflection returned.
“If this is possible…”
Could her entire body be pure mana, a living vein network? No, that’s impossible—then she’d be a god of magic in human form.
Perhaps she had pulse-type mana veins, only activating when casting spells?
Even so, pulse-type veins usually prove fatal unless one is extremely exceptional—the only living example Baroness Bylem knew was the academy head. And now, a freshman has the same constitution as a legendary archmage?
“Um… Professor?”
“Call me Baroness. Ah, I got distracted. Everyone else, practice until you succeed.”
Baroness Bylem instructed and applied protective magic to the other students. They peeked curiously at Idnia, fully aware that the real focus was her and the Baroness.
“Why a silent spell?”
“Oh, I thought my pronunciation was a bit off.”
“You did a silent spell because it sounded off? Try again.”
“Mul depyo.”
“…….”
“How is it?”
“Perfect.”
“Eh?”
“How do you pronounce it so well…”
Baroness Bylem was shocked at the quality of Idnia’s incantation.
“Perhaps because she’s Korean?”
But Idnia couldn’t say that.
“I see why the incantation resonates so well. But these mana veins… what? Are you tired? Can you cast again?”
“I think I can.”
“Try it. I’ll prepare new water.”
Baroness Bylem arranged another beaker. Idnia attempted the spell again but failed.
“Ugh…”
Conscious effort disrupted her visualization. The imagery must come naturally. Overthinking to control mana only made auric energy surge instead.
“Seeing her attempt magic confirms she’s a novice, yet her incantation resonance is unbelievable. Pronunciation isn’t the problem—it’s unprecedented. I have no clue unless I dissect her.”
“Eh? Dissect?”
“Just joking. I won’t dissect a student, especially one from the family…”
“….”
Idnia, being half-demon, disliked invasive exams.
“Ah… no, I’m fine. Nothing hurts.”
She refused a full inspection. Unlike other students, she had status. Baroness Bylem saw no reason to force it.
“If I investigated and she mastered her skill fully, how irritating would that be? Her pronunciation is good, but she probably overtrained her aura.”
Baroness Bylem felt conflicted. Her pride as a teacher conflicted with the memory of her powerless, bullied self. She jotted notes and turned to the other students.
“Now, this should help with hygiene moving forward?”
“…No.”
Except for Idnia, no one else managed to warm the water.
Interestingly, Maria of Astraea, though capable of powerful holy magic, had poor incantation resonance.
“Mul-depyo!?”
Maria’s mana was extraordinary—nearly unmatched. Yet she failed a simple basic spell like water-heating.
“Clearly she hasn’t done prior training. I’ll report 5 penalty points to Professor Drnove.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Not something to thank me for. Even peasants entering Dunais Academy should progress beyond basic spells.”
Other students sneered as Maria got scolded.
“Really? She can’t even handle basic magic?”
“Can you?”
“Not really, I’m not a saint.”
“Also, you’re male, idiot.”
“Stop thinking only girls can be saints!”
Most students struggled with even basic magic today. Baroness Bylem identified and guided them individually. She may favor the elite, but she was undeniably a good teacher, quickly recognizing students’ issues and advising improvements.
“This should let you heat water for hygiene. Don’t stop here. Read the basic magic textbook fully. I’ll quiz you next class to ensure you’ve read it.”
“Wha?!”
Everyone panicked at the massive homework load.
“From day one, I know it’s shocking to cast magic suddenly. But you all passed the entrance test, proving your capacity. Learning magic quickly is vital. Reading the textbook isn’t just homework—it enriches your academy life.”
Baroness Bylem assigned the full textbook and ended class.
“Surprisingly… fair. Biased, yes, but fair.”
Idnia admired the Baroness’ fairness. Even as the daughter of the girl who bullied her, she was treated reasonably. The Baroness naturally favored nobles, but without realizing, it seemed she simply treated others differently.
“Not as problematic as I feared. But what about this magic?”
Idnia still didn’t understand why her magic went berserk.