All That Bluffing and That's It?
All That Bluffing and That's It?
"First up: Hailey Lumian."
Relieved sighs burst out from the other students, certain they weren't first.
Meanwhile, even though her name had been called first, Hailey showed no trace of fluster.
She flashed a fetching eye-smile at Louis, then walked past the other students with light, graceful steps.
Suddenly, Becky poked me in the side and spoke in a small voice.
"Hey, Plan."
Instead of answering, I glanced her way.
"She's the one we ran into at the shop earlier. How good is she?"
"Don't know."
"You don't know...? Weren't you two acquainted?"
I shook my head. I knew nothing about her. I had no interest in her to begin with, so that was to be expected.
Becky made a little "hmph" and crossed her arms.
"I don't like her much. Let's see how good she really is."
Becky, who had been glaring intently at Hailey, suddenly tilted her head as if something else had occurred to her.
Her gaze swung back toward me.
"Hey, Plan. Something just crossed my mind. Can I ask?"
"I'll decide after I hear it."
"Why did you pick the same Trivia as me..."
Just then, Violet began the test.
"Let's begin, Professor Audrey."
At the signal, Professor Audrey began channeling her magic power.
Soon she produced a single mana crystal in the shape of a jewel and guided it in front of Violet's wand. It was about the size of a child's fist.
"Support the output of this mana crystal."
The moment Violet finished speaking, a formula formed at the tip of her wand.
A clean, unadorned manifestation followed.
With a bang— the mana crystal shot forward. The output was clearly tremendous, and the students broke into exclamations of admiration.
The mana crystal, which looked as if it would fly on forever, stopped at a specific point. At that spot, Violet conjured a marker and planted it.
"This is the absolute limit the crystal can travel without its body breaking apart."
Violet created a mana crystal in front of Hailey.
"If you can't even reach halfway, you fail. Beyond that, the farther it goes, the higher the grade."
"What if it passes the marker?"
"If the crystal bursts, naturally you fail. Remember that this is purely support."
"Yes, Professor."
Violet pointed her chin at the mana crystal.
"When you're ready, go ahead."
Hailey took a calm deep breath and placed her index finger on the mana crystal.
Soon, with a poof, the mana crystal shot forward.
Its trajectory flew straight toward the marker, admirably. A few watching students let out murmurs of approval.
"A Grade."
Violet delivered her verdict. The two professors seated far away nodded along.
"Waaah~ Thank you, Professor!"
Hailey beamed and returned to the seat next to Louis.
"What the... she's good."
Becky muttered as if it stung.
'Admiration, huh...'
I felt the youth of this place keenly. To those with little experience, every little thing like that must seem worthy of admiration.
"Next, Kissepi Lumir."
Violet's frog kept spitting out name cards bearing students' names, and the test proceeded in sequence.
Summoning, Destruction, Support... the magics Violet demonstrated before the students were diverse.
"A Grade."
"If there were a grade between B and C, I'd give it to you. C Grade."
"E Grade."
"D Grade."
.......
Violet's judgments came very quickly, yet she never once disagreed with the other professors.
Honestly, to me the very concept of grades is a little childish.
Having come so impossibly far, everyone from A to E simply looks like tiny sprouts.
Of course, there will be some sprouts that look promising. I intended to keep an eye on those.
Violet called the next name.
"Next, Becky."
"Huh?! That's me."
Becky jumped in surprise, then shuffled forward.
The looks the other students gave her were noticeably different than before, probably because her name had no family name. A commoner's name.
"The type is..."
Violet's frog spat out a card.
She showed it to Becky and the other students; it read 'Manipulation'.
"Phew..."
Becky let out a relieved sigh and nodded. I was probably the only one who knew why she was relieved.
Violet tightly packed the dirt from the ground and shaped it into a rectangular solid hovering in the air.
"Manipulate it freely. Aesthetic standards will not be considered in the evaluation; I will assess your manipulation proficiency alone."
Becky took a few more deep breaths, then with an empty expression, spread both hands.
I observed her closely.
The rotation rate of the mana coiled around Becky's hands was about fourteen times per second. The exact same rate I had taught her in the lab.
'She isn't completely oblivious, then.'
The rotation rate alone was enough to understand that she had absorbed my advice. Soon Becky began manipulating the rectangular solid.
A rotation rate of fourteen is never rushed. It's stable.
Watching her carve the dirt packed hard as stone like it was wet clay was oddly soothing.
Becky's expression was more serious than I'd ever seen it.
Already, the lump of dirt held in the girl's mana was no longer a rectangular solid.
Petals layered upon petals, a straight stem—closely resembling a columbine flower... no.
It was a columbine flower itself.
"A Grade."
"Yes."
Becky nodded, then went back to shaving the flower. Then suddenly she jerked her head up.
"Huh? Yes?"
"A Grade. What are you doing, not sitting back down?"
"Ah, ah, yes!"
With a dazed expression, Becky rushed back and plopped down next to me.
As if she still couldn't believe she'd received an A, she kept clenching and unclenching her fists.
Becky looked at me with a strange little expression.
"Hey, hey... I got an A."
I didn't bother answering. With properly working ears, even a toddler could have understood that she'd gotten an A.
But Becky grabbed my arm.
"Plan! I got an A, I'm telling you! It really worked just like you taught me!"
"...Is that something to be so happy about?"
I gave her a half-hearted answer. The sensation of another person touching my body isn't especially pleasant.
"Next, Plan."
Just then, Violet called my name. I walked past the other students with a calm stride.
"Looks like he's a commoner too."
"Plan... he's the one who confessed to Hailey."
"I think I heard that story too. He was supposedly weeping and clinging to her."
Gossip abounded, but there was no reason to pay it any mind. A mage ought to speak through magic.
"Student Plan."
I was waiting to see which type of magic would be assigned when Violet suddenly addressed me.
"Behave yourself this time."
She must still be suspicious about the orientation incident.
Not being stupid enough to fall for a leading question, I responded with my usual expressionless look.
Violet snapped her fingers, and the frog spat out a name card. Written on it was 'Support'.
The other students stirred when they saw the type.
"Support type, huh? Hailey had support earlier too."
"He's about to get compared publicly."
"Is he any good?"
"That's why he got dumped. If he were any good, would she have dumped him?"
Violet created a mana crystal in front of me.
Up close, I could see the mana wasn't especially pure—probably because it was just a test crystal.
Violet gestured toward the marker with her chin and murmured.
"If you're ready, start immediately."
I considered for a moment.
The act of supporting something branches into a great many directions. Manifestation, purification, output, direction... even just what came to mind right now was this many.
If it were up to me, I would assist in all of them, but the reason I was hesitating was, of course, this shabby body.
I closed my eyes and quietly checked my remaining mana. This body holds a mana limit, and it is by no means a large amount.
Therefore, what I needed now was selection and focus.
'Purification would be best.'
Magic is best performed with as much dignity as possible. Advancing in a shabby manner is, in a word, shabby.
That also applies to the refinement of my magic.
So first, I purified the crystal's essence to be even purer.
Like spreading dye, the color of the mana crystal deepened. What had been like a lake now held the depth of the sea.
My remaining mana was low. Because Violet's mana was so dense, purifying it had cost me quite a lot of mana.
"...When the hell is he going to start?"
I had started long ago. The saying that you only see as much as you know is indeed an eternal truth.
Mana gathered on my fingertip. Tearing through the air, the mana crystal announced its trajectory.
"......!"
The students' eyes went wide. I understood why.
A crystal holding pure mana is itself a paint. The sight of it coloring its own path behind it is precisely the appeal of purification support.
However.
"......?"
This time, bewilderment spread in the students' eyes.
Because the distance the mana crystal traveled was utterly pitiful.
It barely exceeded half the distance between me and the marker. Purely in terms of distance, it had just barely avoided disqualification.
"All that posturing, and that's it."
"Looked promising only at the start."
"So Hailey really is good. He'll probably get a C or something."
The students began muttering.
Regardless, I quietly waited for Violet's evaluation. Ultimately, it was Violet who decided the grade.
Even if it was a low grade, I would have no regrets. A mage is finished the moment they lose their own standpoint and intuition.
Meanwhile, Violet's expression was hard to read.
She looked at me with an utterly unreadable expression, then turned her head and met eyes with the other two professors.
The three professors regarded each other with subtle expressions. They gathered and quietly discussed something with serious faces.
While they talked, the three professors kept stealing glances at me. The students' muttering grew proportionally louder.
"What's going on?"
"Did he cheat? Like using a scroll or something."
A moment later, Violet returned and spoke with a subtle expression.
"Student Plan... is postponed for now."