Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Storm-Calling Freshman (4)
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Often, stars bestow their power upon humans.
Some call it a contract between humans and stars, while others describe it as divine grace.
Personally, I'd lend more weight to the former... but the public largely favors the latter hypothesis.
'It's not incomprehensible.'
Those who haven't experienced dealing with stars tend to revere them as sacred. This hypothesis probably stems from that very assumption.
Stars are akin to gods.
What comes from the gods is grace and blessing.
That's the rough logic. I smiled wryly and picked up a piece of chalk. In truth, it didn't matter how it was written or what it was called.
'What matters is the content itself.'
I slid the chalk across the blackboard. Swish. Chalk dust drifted down to the bottom. What I inscribed was the topic I'd be covering from here on.
[Grace of the Stars.]
The talent received from the stars.
[Basics and Application of Stars.]
How to wield it.
This was an unsystematized field.
The power of the stars was inherently mysterious, residing in the realm of sensation... and its possessors were exceedingly rare.
'Owners of a mere handful of starlight.'
Even they couldn't properly explain how to wield that starlight. It was the domain of instinct and enlightenment. Translating instinctive enlightenment into words was always a daunting task.
"So."
I muttered as I set down the chalk.
"This is a lecture only I can deliver."
I had always been close to the stars.
I traveled with the hero chosen by the stars.
I journeyed with the saintess who worshiped the stars.
Whenever they attained enlightenment, I was right there beside them. I observed from the closest vantage how they handled the stars.
Because I saw, I know.
Because I know, I too can wield the stars.
Once, I had inscribed starlight into my soul at the cost of my lifespan. Though that starlight had long since faded, the sensation from then remained vividly etched in my memory.
The remembered sensation.
Instinctive enlightenment.
Verbalizing it—as I've said—is no easy feat. But I am a mage. Mages are beings who constantly explore. How could one call themselves a mage if they couldn't even organize a single enlightenment properly?
This was my area of expertise.
Clack.
I set down the chalk and turned around.
In the spacious lecture hall, only two students were seated.
"Grace of the stars...?"
The child chosen by the stars. The hero.
Chloe.
"......"
The one who reads the context of the stars. Watcher.
Resti Eleanor.
"Listen well."
I smiled at the two of them.
"You won't find this lesson anywhere else."
2.
[Grace of the Stars.]
Chloe stared at the words on the blackboard before shifting her gaze slightly to the side. Another student sat not far from her.
'...Purple hair.'
Pale purple locks.
A neat bob falling to her shoulders.
An elegant, coldly beautiful impression.
'I wonder what her name is.'
Having ended up in the same lecture together, Chloe was curious about the girl's name. But she couldn't bring herself to speak up easily. The purple-haired girl exuded an aura that made her hard to approach.
"Chloe."
"Yes, yep. Professor Lania."
In the midst of her wandering thoughts, Chloe's shoulders twitched briefly as her name was called.
"I've already spoken with your guardian—the Black Mage Tower Lord—but I'll say it anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"Your constitution."
Lania looked at Chloe.
Chloe blinked.
"That you're the next hero candidate—this child knows too. Hiding it was impossible anyway."
Lania's gaze shifted sideways.
It stopped on the purple-haired girl. The moment the word "hero" came up, Chloe swallowed dryly and posed a cautious question.
"...Impossible to hide?"
"Because I can see it."
It wasn't Lania who answered. The purple-haired girl tapped lightly around her eyes.
"I'm not born with starlight like you, but I do have eyes that can see things related to stars."
Purple irises matching her hair.
A platinum ring encircling the pupils.
She continued as she revealed them.
"In my eyes, you look like a lump of platinum."
"...R-Really?"
"Yeah."
The girl nodded impassively.
She was a girl who was hard to converse with. Chloe shot Lania a troubled glance. At Chloe's gaze demanding an explanation, Lania opened her mouth.
"This is Resti Eleanor."
"...Pardon?"
Chloe's eyes went wide. She had heard the name Resti Eleanor before.
"By any chance... the next Ashen Mage Tower Lord...?"
Lania nodded.
Chloe's mouth fell slightly open as she glanced at the girl sitting beside her.
'The successor to the Ashen Mage, the next Tower Lord.'
She had heard rumors about a girl her own age.
'What an incredible person.'
As Chloe marveled inwardly, Lania cleared her throat and lightly rapped the blackboard with the back of her hand.
"You're probably wondering by now."
She said.
"Why I put the two of you in the same lecture. Curious, right?"
Why they had ended up receiving the same special lecture.
Lania explained.
"You two will serve as textbooks for each other."
She extended her arm fully.
She pointed first at Resti.
"Resti, how much do you know about your own talent?"
"...Eyes that pierce to the core—that's my basic understanding."
"Half right, half wrong."
"...Pardon?"
Resti blinked.
Lania continued.
"Your eyes don't pierce the core. They 'see' phenomena from an entirely different perspective. But it doesn't stop at mere seeing."
She pointed at Resti's irises.
"You understand at the same moment you see. 'Seeing' and 'understanding' are one and the same for you."
No gap between 'seeing' and 'understanding'.
The gap that should normally exist doesn't for you.
With those words, Lania picked up the chalk.
"It's been called by various names across eras."
Scribble.
"Some called it the Insight Eye, others the Exploration Eye, and some the Wise Eye... but the essence is 'seeing'."
Scribble.
"And the ancient dragon mage put it this way."
Clack, Lania set down the chalk.
Turning around, she pointed to the words on the blackboard.
"The one who reads the context of the stars, Watcher."
The being that sees. Watcher.
"You 'see' and simultaneously 'understand' everything related to stars. Since every spell bears even a faint trace of star essence, it's a talent second to none for a mage."
Spells, circuits, balances, familiars...
Lania listed them one by one on the blackboard before pausing the chalk midway. She turned around while still paused.
"And then, the stars themselves."
She looked not at Resti, but at Chloe.
"Not the mere residue of starlight in ordinary spells—pure starlight in its raw form. Unrefined starlight itself."
The girl who bore it was right here.
"Hero."
Resti looked at Chloe.
Chloe swallowed hard.
"For you, Resti, this child is the perfect example. See the example and understand it. Then verbalize that understanding and analyze it..."
"...The basics of a mage."
"Exactly."
Lania smiled.
"Over the half-year special lecture starting today, you'll come to understand the stars. You'll analyze them. You might even grow in the process."
"Certainly..."
"And I'd like you to share those results with this child. Sound good? You receive something, you give something in return."
Resti nodded.
It was a good deal for her. Deeper understanding of the stars would surely lead to growth. If she could gain enlightenment, sharing her analysis was a small price to pay.
"And Chloe."
"Y-Yes, yep."
"You'll learn based on the results of Resti's analysis. As I said, you'll be each other's textbooks."
"Hmm, uhmm..."
Chloe wore a puzzled expression.
An expression that she hadn't fully grasped it yet. Lania shrugged and took a step back.
"Well, even explaining it like this... it won't be easy to understand. A thousand words aren't worth a single glimpse, after all. It'll be hard to get until you see it for yourselves."
Leaning against the podium, she said.
"So."
The two girls would be each other's textbooks.
So what would she, the professor of this class, do? Lania answered that question.
"I'll show you."
As always, she'd simply provide the example.
"What I know right now, what only I can teach you. I'll demonstrate it for you."
Clap, she clapped her hands.
"Chloe."
She softly called Chloe's name.
Chloe nodded slowly.
"Draw out your mana—all of it."
"...All of it?"
"Just as much as you can manage. You might not know how to handle it, but releasing it should be within your power, right?"
"I can, but..."
Chloe hesitated.
She knew exactly how her mana was released. She had tried it once in front of the Black Mage Tower Lord.
'The results weren't great...'
All sorts of magic tools had malfunctioned.
The Black Mage Tower Lord had screamed and collapsed. The sight of an uncle dozens of years her senior crumpling and shrieking... it lingered as a rather unpleasant memory in Chloe's mind.
"It'll sting the eyes a little... no, quite a lot...?"
"It's fine. Go ahead."
"Alright, then..."
Chloe took a short, deep breath.
She inhaled deeply and exhaled. In time with her exhalation, Chloe closed her eyes.
Whoosh!
And the starlight overflowed.
3.
Starlight overflowed.
The surging waves of starlight churned the interior of the lecture hall.
To eyes unable to read mana, it would seem as if nothing had happened at all. To those who could perceive even a little mana, the entire room would gleam platinum.
And to Resti.
In Resti's eyes, which could read the context of mana, everything was crystal clear. Resti stared, entranced, at the starlight spreading through the room.
Ripple.
The starlight flowed.
It undulated and flowed like ripples on water. Waterways spreading from the center of one girl flowed into every nook and cranny of the lecture hall. It was the most essential form.
'...Starlight. A galaxy.'
Platinum streams flooded forth.
Resti unconsciously extended her hand. She placed it against the flowing starlight. The starlight slipped through the gaps between her fingers. It wouldn't be grasped.
'Understand this...?'
Her head throbbed.
An overwhelming volume of information poured into her mind. Her eyes saw and understood everything... but whether she could process it was another matter entirely.
"...Ugh."
Her head rejected the influx of information.
Only a limited amount swirled within her mind. Resti pressed her temple and let out a groan.
"Take it slow."
A voice came from somewhere.
Resti looked up. She saw the girl with her eyes closed, pouring out starlight. Directly opposite her stood a figure at the center of the starlight.
"Don't try to take it all in at once."
She said.
"For now, it'd be best to focus here."
Her ash-gray hair swayed.
She—Lania—extended her hand. She dipped it into the flowing starlight. Starlight leaked out between her fingers. Up to that point, it was the same as Resti.
But what followed was different.
"Slowly."
She wiggled her fingers.
"But surely."
Starlight coiled around her index finger.
"Seize it. Just like taking control of mana."
Starlight wrapped around each joint of her fingers.
The streams extended in all directions, but their origin was bound to Lania's fingers. Resti grasped the meaning.
'...Control of mana.'
It was just like seizing control of mana.
"Chloe."
Lania touched Chloe's shoulder.
"Open your eyes."
Chloe slowly opened her eyes.
She saw Lania standing before her. She saw the professor gripping the radiant stream of starlight.
"Watch closely."
Lania moved her starlight-wrapped hand.
She first wiggled her index finger.
Splash!
The extended stream surged wildly. The starlight, which had been flowing at a steady pace, now rushed fiercely. And then, the flow began to change.
Thumb, middle finger, pinky, ring finger.
She moved her fingers in sequence. Some slowly, some quickly. Her movements dictated the stream's path. The chaotically splayed streams were rearranged.
Squeeze.
She clenched her fist.
She pulled as if drawing in a net.
Sploosh!
The streams followed her hand. The waterways scattered in all directions converged into one spot.
"...Ah."
Chloe witnessed it all from the closest vantage.
She let out a gasp of admiration.
Until now, Chloe had no idea how to handle her starlight. She knew it pooled within her heart. But she had no clue how to wield it or put it to use.
The answer lay right before her eyes.
The once-overflowing starlight was no longer chaotic. The disordered starlight now neatly gathered around a single point. The starlight enveloped the professor before her eyes.
"Once you've seized it."
The professor who had taken control of the starlight.
Lania van Trias moved her gripped hand. She slipped her remaining hand into the coiled stream, like a ball of thread.
"The rest is just like handling mana."
She hooked her curved index finger and pulled at the starlight. She drew out the desired stream. She treated the bound waterways like paint. Her fingers were the brush, the starlight the pigment.
Her fingers danced.
The starlight followed.
She painted upon the empty lecture hall as her canvas.
"Bend it."
The starlight surged.
"Extend it, swing it, twist it, and inscribe it anew."
It surged and transformed into meaningful patterns.
It was just like a flower blooming. The starlight blossomed. Chloe etched the blooming starlight into her very eyes.
...This should have been impossible by all rights.
A hero's starlight remains confined within.
Since it doesn't emerge, no one else can seize control over it.
However, Chloe was a mage.
The starlight coursing through her body was optimized for application in spell forms. Casting a spell meant drawing internal mana outward.
"This is how it's done."
And there was a mage here.
Not blessed by the stars, yet she knew how to wield them. She was displaying before others' eyes the enlightenment gained at the cost of her lifespan.
Enlightenment grasped on the boundary between life and death.
Obtained by forsaking the future.
Yet now forever out of reach.
She unveiled it before the very eyes of the next hero candidate. Chloe watched, utterly spellbound. It was beautiful. An endlessly beautiful spectacle.
'Seize it, weave it, twist it...'
It was like playing cat's cradle.
In the process so casually demonstrated... Chloe sensed something indescribable. Chloe's eyes sparkled.
Jingle.
A pattern materialized before her eyes.
Lania's azure eyes and Chloe's jade eyes met across the platinum circuit. Chloe unconsciously leaned forward. She brought her face closer. It felt as if she were being drawn in.
The platinum circuit.
The moment it neared completion.
Crack!
The circuit shattered, and all the starlight returned to Chloe's interior. Chloe coughed out a "Kek" and bowed her head deeply.
"Hmm."
Lania stroked her chin and muttered.
"Can't form a spell after all, huh."
"Y-Yes?"
"Even if I seize control, the mana still belongs to you."
Lania smacked her lips regretfully.
"With an ordinary mage... I could wield it as I please once I take control, but not in your case. Well, you're no ordinary hero for nothing."
Practically a natural predator for that skull-headed bastard.
She muttered and nodded to herself.
"Let's call it here for today."
Quite some time had already passed.
Chloe gazed at Lania as if entranced by something. The scenes that had unfolded before her eyes just moments ago... still lingered vividly in her vision.
'What on earth was all that just now...'
At that moment, like someone freshly awoken from a dream trying to sketch its scenery, Chloe was fidgeting her fingers across the desk.
Clack.
A sheet of paper was placed before Chloe.
"Then, your homework for today."
Chloe looked up. Professor Lania was smiling down at her.
"Record everything I just showed you right here. We'll review next week."
"...Pardon?"
"Instead of fiddling your fingers on the desk, pick up a pencil and draw it here."
"Uh, uhhh..."
"Oh, and this is a summary of the concepts I just demonstrated... Ah, this too? One moment."
Clack, clack, clack.
A stack of papers piled up on the desk.
The height was anything but ordinary. The towering pile cast a shadow over Chloe's face. Chloe's pupils quivered.
"Wh-What is all this...?"
"What else? I just told you."
You're asking the obvious?
As if to say that, Lania gave a curt reply.
"Homework."
Homework? This? All of it?
Chloe whipped her head around. She looked at Resti sitting beside her. Without a word of protest, Resti was calmly stuffing an identical stack into her bag.
"Uh, uhhh..."
Was this the average?
Was this what passed for... average homework at Aphria?
At Resti's utterly nonchalant demeanor, Chloe's pupils trembled even more fiercely. At that moment, Chloe sensed that something was deeply amiss. Yet she couldn't pinpoint exactly what—or from where—it had gone wrong.
The stars merely sang a dirge of despair.
That song seemed to whisper, 'See? What did I tell you?'
"Hii, hieeek..."
Chloe's face drained of all color.
Regrettably, the first session of the special lecture had only just concluded.