A Secret Lesson for Two (3)
"Th-there's blood... you're bleeding!"
There was no mistaking it. Bright crimson drops slid down both sides of his nose—not a waterfall, but nothing one could simply wave away. For mages who lived by magical power, bleeding and internal injury were bound up with life itself.
"D-don't panic. Just stay still!"
Levian swept a hand across his face, wiped the blood away, and stood there as blank as ever. Ivy, far more rattled than he was, crept in close with her shoulders twitching. She shot one hand straight up, as if she meant to pinch his nose.
Hop. Hop.
"C-could you... bend down a little?"
With her short little stature, there was no chance her hand would ever reach his nose. Only after Levian bent at the waist—wondering, flatly, what she thought she was doing—did she seize it.
"F-fortunately, I don't sense any trace of magical power."
No fault in the mana circuit, no unusual sign. Only then could she relax.
No mana to begin with. Of course there's no trace of magical power.
From Ivy's examination, Levian worked out the sudden bleed for himself. The description of Mana Link carried a warning that it placed an enormous burden on the body. The spell he had just cast, folding in the principle of Creation, must have strained him.
Even so. A nosebleed from a single Basic spell. The power really is that unstable.
Push a state like this too far, and collapsing where he stood would be no surprise at all. Until he found a steadier way to use Mana Link, he would have to avoid casting whenever he could.
While he silently revised the plan ahead, Ivy—who had been watching his vacant figure with growing unease—dug frantically through her pocket.
"Uuugh... i-if you were tired, you should have said so."
She had dragged him here on her own after he refused the offer to become her Exclusive Disciple, so the words carried no credit whatsoever. She could not even keep a promise she had made herself, and her feelings shifted by the hour. Levian's gaze went cold.
She knew it, too. She had acted as she pleased without so much as waiting for an answer.
"Th-this is expensive, you know..."
She held out the bag of candy she had fished from her pocket.
"Is it poison?"
"P-poison?! I-I'm not some mad black mage! Why would I carry a thing like that!"
Ivy scrunched her already compact face, looking as if the loss physically hurt. The attendant watching privately captioned the scene Levian pries a girl's candy out of her hands and, unable to help it, snorted a laugh. A thoroughly human, warm little moment. Surely scenes like this, one after another, might do something to thaw that cold heart of his.
Levian, for his part, found the inexplicable gift anything but simple.
"I-if you lose blood, y-you have to replenish the sugar, so this is special...! Uuung... it's limited-edition milk flavor... you can't resell it, and you can't throw it away...!"
Until now, the only gifts anyone had ever given Levian were things that had already lost their use—broken, or spoiled.
"Mm."
The bag he accepted, almost without meaning to, was unmistakably well kept. Anyone could see it had been stored with care. Why hand over something she begrudged this much? He tilted his head, then, under the weight of her stare, turned the bag over. A pure white candy tumbled into view.
Ivy could not hide her regret. She swallowed, dry, again and again. Levian did not decline the gift, and he did not feed it back to her. Without hesitation, he bit down.
"Mm..."
Sweet. A thick, clinging sweetness spread through a mouth that had never even known bitterness—a primal sugar so sharp it stung the tongue. It tasted like the powdered milk the orphanage had sometimes handed out in place of a meal.
"Th-then we'll stop here for today. B-but the lesson we missed continues tomorrow, so don't forget..."
Only then did Ivy swallow her tears, snatch up her things, and flee as if she were running away.
What could possibly be that urgent?
Well. Mana Link connected with Professor Ivy. It wasn't a complete waste of time.
Only a few hours, and yet the whole of it had been dizzying enough to scramble his head. Even so, he had confirmed that Creation was working as it should—and that magic made through Creation was nothing ordinary. A spell of a single stroke had done this much. How far would it go once he spent more mana and cast in earnest?
In the past he had been able only to watch, knowing full well that other mages' magic was wrong. For a moment, the future felt worth looking forward to.
...I really do need to find a friend. Quickly.
The ancient hollow mattered that much. Incomplete as it was, it had passed on a power that could stand in for his destroyed mana circuit. If he meant to complete Mana Link and develop it further, he needed to clear the task fast and claim the reward.
Levian was left alone in the quiet, putting the study room back the way he had found it, when—
"Hah—hah—hah—hah...!"
"Professor Ivy? Where are you rushing off to?"
"Ah—aah... d-don't talk to me...!"
She went scurrying down the hall as if a monster from a dream were at her heels, and even her fellow professors tilted their heads.
Did she actually see a monster?
The cause was Levian's magic. She could not forget the mysterious spell he had cast, and her head was packed full of it. Midterm preparations, the curriculum she had meant to ready for the struggling students—useless, all of it. She shoved the lot aside like so much trash and started tearing through the bookshelves in her laboratory.
"The Birth of Magic Circles... A History of Mystery... Ancient Ruins... mm... Circular Magic..."
These were the volumes she had devoured in search of insight, and in preparation for her research papers. What mattered was this: nowhere in all the writings of countless scholars was there so much as a mention of the absurd possibility of revising a magic circle.
Until now, no one recognized Student Levian's talent. And his body looked strong, but his health seemed poor.... What if he quits magic?
She was anxious. His will mattered that much.
It had only been Beginner-grade Move, and yet the spell was beautiful enough to steal the eyes of even Ivy, who had been through everything. Levian had shifted that heavy bookshelf with deep blue mana the color of his own eyes. The thought came late, but if she could have her way, she would have recorded the moment and shown it to everyone. It had been, quite literally, a historic instant.
Ugh... and I don't actually know a thing about Student Levian. He even turned down the disciple offer...
Ivy's small hands had been flying through the shelves. All at once she dropped her head. The drive drained out of her. She could not stop worrying that Student Levian might announce, as soon as tomorrow, that he was done with magic. Once her nerves latched onto a needless fear, every stray thought came crowding in. What if he hated milk-flavored candy? What if he gave up on the academy and got himself expelled? What if he refused the private lessons and started avoiding her? And so on.
"Uuung..."
Even the pink hair tickling her forehead had begun to feel like a nuisance.
There was nothing for it. Sitting here and worrying would not change a thing, so she would simply have to follow him until he gave her a firm yes.
Out of habit, Ivy dug into her pocket for a milk candy.
"Ah..."
Too late, she remembered she had given Levian the last one. She sank a little further into gloom, and then into a rather drastic idea.
Then I'll cast Spirit Form and just go see what Student Levian is doing...!
Anyone else would have shaken their head at a professor stalking a student. She had her excuses ready.
He might have a training method all his own! Mm-hm! A-and if I figure out his hobbies and interests, I can use them for the disciple offer!
Spirit Form, cast at her full strength, would not snag on anything so crude as a surveillance spell. No one would catch her, and no one would make a nuisance of it.
"Heh... hehehe..."
Maybe this time she would get a look at something higher than Move. Forgetting entirely that Levian had been called a half-wit who could not use magic, Professor Ivy swelled with expectation and cast Spirit Form.
It was a fairly high-grade spell. A considerable store of mana drained away as she turned, little by little, transparent. Without a moment's hesitation she slipped out of the laboratory and made for the Abyss dormitory, where Student Levian lived. She had forgotten even to shut the door. It stood wide open, pouring light out into the corridor.
The assistant who had watched the whole bizarre performance in real time sat on the edge of the lab bed, a strawberry candy in hand—the piece meant for Ivy—and shook their head.
"Uh... well. It's probably nothing."
Once the professor latched onto something, no one in the world could talk her down. Best to let it pass. Temporary Professor Ivy might look the way she did, but she had cleared dungeon after dungeon and dealt with every kind of person. She would never bumble like that in front of the other students.
"Uh... she'll really be all right, won't she...?"
The assistant, staring blankly down the corridor, scratched their head and heaved a sigh. Just in case, they ought to follow. And so, rubbing at the dark circles under their eyes, the meticulous assistant gathered up the candy and set out.
Levian, meanwhile, had actually made it back to the dormitory.
"Levian. Don't be late next time."
He had arrived exactly as roll call was underway, and still he could not return to his room. The dorm supervisor, unwilling to make a fuss, waved a hand and tried to settle the matter. The students lined up along one side rose against it as a group.
"Hey, that half-wit was late too!"
Caught in yet another quarrel, he had already forgotten Professor Ivy's disciple offer entirely.