Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Sign Here, Battle Mage! (1)
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There are such things as fundamentals.
They refer to the origin when something begins, the root and foundation of anything. The word might sound light at first glance, but the meaning packed into those two syllables is anything but.
More precisely, the insult of questioning someone's fundamentals has a way of driving people absolutely mad. Insulting someone's character? Brush it off. Lack of skill? Crush them with achievements.
But bring fundamentals into it?
For example, if someone spits out lines like these.
"A lowborn bastard without any fundamentals."
"A bastard with no fundamentals whatsoever."
"Who the hell is this idiot who doesn't even know the basics?"
Who could keep their cool?
If you've had to listen to crap like that whispered behind your back for years, you'd understand my feelings perfectly.
Back when I was staying at the Ashen Mage Tower.
Back when I hadn't yet piled up the accomplishments to shut the mage lords' mouths, I had those lines drilled into my ears until they went numb.
After that, the word "fundamentals" became my reverse scale. Mentioning it in front of me was as good as picking a fight.
"Battle Mages have no fundamentals."
And now, someone had come picking that fight.
They'd thrown a punch straight at my pride. It hurt—a lot.
'Fundamentals.'
I could endure anything else, but being called fundament-less? That was incredibly hard for me to swallow.
'Who the hell are you to talk fundamentals, you piece of shit?'
I have fundamentals.
So the class I created must have them too. Sure, I'd once misspoke... but that's not the point right now. Anyway.
'Anyway!'
Fundamentals are something you seize.
As the class's creator, I had a duty to cave in Kerlhalrm's solar plexus.
"No reason to turn down a fight that's come knocking."
I headed toward the student bulletin board.
In my hand were a few sheets of paper—the approval notice for a special lecture I'd gotten from Chancellor Aron and Professor MacHart of the Combat Magic Department.
'The topic "How to Exterminate Wizards" got shot down for being too provocative in wording...'
Understanding the Battle Mage.
That title had gotten the green light.
"Uh, Professor Lania? We'll approve it for now, but weren't you originally a Wizard-class holder?"
Even though Chancellor Aron had eyed me with deep suspicion.
"Professor Lania has deep insight into the Battle Mage class, Chancellor Aron. Her skills are beyond reproach... but I'm a bit worried all the same."
Even though Professor MacHart had glared at me like 'What nonsense are you planning now?', the approval had come through regardless. No backing out now.
Thud.
I stopped in front of the student bulletin board.
The eyes of students wandering the hallway turned to me. They glanced at my face, then at the papers in my hand, and gulped.
Slap!
I slapped the paper up vigorously.
The notices on the board fluttered. I'd pinned it right next to Kerlhalrm's special lecture notice. I nodded in satisfaction.
'Bring it, Kerlhalrm.'
I'll show you.
What true fundamentals really are.
2.
Young but skilled professors are rare.
Especially at Aphria Academy, a hub for magic studies.
The average age of Aphria's faculty is quite high. There are a few young professors, but they don't look much different from the old ones.
Magic studies is a field of inquiry.
The more time you invest, the more results you get, and those results become your track record. In that world, young talents are those who burned the midnight oil, pouring in the hours. There's a word for them.
'Wrecked.'
Hollow eyes.
A gauntness like an undead.
A hunched back from endless research hours.
The young professors at Aphria usually wandered around looking barely human. Even the young assistants weren't much different. As professor slaves, they spent their flower-like youth buried in labs.
Of course, not everyone fits the mold.
As with all things in the world, exceptions exist.
For instance, Lania van Trias. She stepped into Aphria as a professor early this year, and she's young. At just twenty-one, not only does she hold the title, but she looks the part too.
She doesn't look wrecked.
Her back is straight, her steps light.
She smiles often and always carries herself with confidence. At the start of the semester, quite a few students harbored romantic notions about her.
It was inevitable.
Young, radiant, skilled, and stunningly beautiful.
She had all the perfect ingredients to win student favor... but now she's reigning over Aphria as a nightmare. Even amid her destructive rampage, no voices of complaint rise—probably thanks to her looks.
Expectations for the faculty had bottomed out.
Anyway, as long as they teach well, who cares about looks? Amid that sentiment swirling at Aphria, a new guest arrived.
A mage from a distant foreign land.
Young, but skilled.
A handsome man with sharp, cold features.
The professor who introduced himself as Letia.
He instantly won overwhelming support from Wizard-track students... and his status only rose with time. Chancellor Aron, who knew his true identity, broke into cold sweats, but that wasn't for students to worry about.
"Did you see Professor Letia's class? He hit the second part on circuit applications—insane!"
"So fresh. Splitting a single spell for use. With that alone, you get so much..."
His lectures were universally praised.
"No homework either. Everything wraps up in class? Unlike Professor Lania..."
"Definitely, no assignments and easy-to-follow lectures..."
Naturally, Professor Letia started getting compared to a certain professor with similar traits. Not just the lecturing style, but the vibe too.
"You keep comparing to Professor Lania? You're gonna get in big trouble. For real."
"Charlotte, what's with you?"
"Just... be careful. Don't say her name lightly. Seriously."
Some worried the rumors might reach the nightmare's ears, but it was far too late for that. By the time gossip centered on Professor Letia had circled Aphria... a new notice appeared on the student board.
[Understanding the Battle Mage]
- Instructor: Lania van Trias.
- Combat Magic Department students strongly encouraged to attend.
Lania van Trias.
Combat Magic students screamed at the name. They hadn't forgotten that practical exam deep in the forest for three days and nights one summer day.
The forest's edge.
Aphria's nightmare awaiting them there.
She was supposed to be a Wizard, but she'd taken down challengers barehanded without a single spell... that sight was etched as a nightmare in their minds.
'Strongly encouraged to attend.'
No student mistook that for anything but a threat to attend. As Combat Magic students foamed at the mouth, the fight quietly raised its curtain.
The madman, Kerlhalrm Bell Artia.
Aphria's nightmare, Lania van Trias.
For a superhuman clash, it was an absurdly unglamorous brawl.
3.
Understanding the Battle Mage.
A class that half the Combat Magic Department ended up taking.
"Let me start by explaining why I opened this lecture. Everyone here is Battle Mage-class, right?"
A professor stood at the podium.
The one everyone knew well, reigning as Aphria's nightmare: Lania van Trias. Before the special lecture, she was explaining its purpose, but she looked a bit different from usual.
Ash-gray hair neatly tied back.
Not her usual suit, but something closer to activewear. And above all... her lake-blue eyes, usually serene, now burned with fervor.
"How long are you all going to take the mockery?"
She clenched her fist as she spoke.
The students tilted their heads at the sight.
Mockery? What?
"Battle Mage is a new class. A groundbreaking one based on that famed Ashen Mage's combat style, right?"
Yes. Groundbreaking and fresh.
"Groundbreaking and fresh means unfamiliar. And as with all unfamiliar things... the Battle Mage class gets belittled by lowly mages. It pains me deeply."
Uh... does it?
Belittled? Ever?
'Oh yeah, that visiting professor said something like that.'
The students couldn't care less.
A few old professors trashed Combat Magic, but they were a tiny minority. Battle Mage's practicality was proven on battlefields. Students had the patience to let such jabs go in one ear and out the other.
"Who in the world is a mage that could stomach being called 'no fundamentals'?"
Not Lania, of course.
"It's outrageous."
She raised her voice.
"You all deserve to stand taller, walk prouder. You're not the kind of mages who should hear 'no fundamentals' anywhere."
The professor on stage boiled with passion, but the seated students couldn't keep up.
"Battle Mage."
She wrote 'Battle-Mage' in elegant script on the blackboard. Then slapped the board with her palm and continued.
"Battle Mages are mages—optimized to hunt other mages."
The unknown fundamentals.
The origin people mistakenly assumed.
"Beating down mages. How to hunt mages. The combat system built around that insight—that's the root of Battle Mage."
Those words from the class creator's mouth.
Only two students who knew her identity nodded unconsciously as she caught her breath.
"From today, for 14 days."
Lania clapped sharply.
"I'm going to teach you all how to hunt Wizards... er, take them down."
Her eyes burned with unprecedented resolve.
Students felt burdened by her intense gaze.
『Wizard Hunting.』
The fancy script on the blackboard.
Looking at it, students harbored one question.
'...Isn't Professor Lania a Wizard too?'
It was a perfectly natural doubt.
But no student there had the guts to voice it.
Author's Note Writing this episode, I wondered if the protagonist could look any uglier... But since she's already ugly, I recalled the saying: lose like a loser, win like a loser—better to win as the loser. She's ugly anyway, so let's see it through to the end, right?