Become My Comrade
"Uh— I'm William Taylor, here to teach Basic Magic Studies."
The professor for the new class was a man with long hair like Damian's, but while Damian's was neatly groomed, William's gave off the strong impression that he'd simply grown it out because he couldn't be bothered to cut it. Brushing aside the messy strands that kept falling into his face, William scratched his head in annoyance and launched into an overview of the class.
"There are probably some Knight Department students here who can't use magic. The reason I called you all here is simple. You're the ones who'll have to face mages in battle."
In wartime, a knight's role was crucial. Breaking through enemy lines, assassinating enemy mages, or escorting allied mages. In other words, a knight's most common missions involved either killing mages or protecting them.
"Just as you need to know your opponent to win a fight, you need to understand magic to know how to deal with mages."
After showing them statistics proving that knights who'd studied magic handled mages far better than those who knew nothing, William told them to remember the partner sitting beside them.
"Until the end of this semester, the partner next to you won't change."
"Professor…? What if we don't like our partner…?"
"I personally assigned your partners based on your grades and traits. Anyone who disagrees with my judgment can leave the class right now."
Still, even if he looked a bit scatterbrained, he was a professor. William showed no intention of changing his mind, so the students had no choice but to get along with whoever sat beside them, whether they liked it or not.
While the cadets chatted with the students from other departments seated next to them, Kyle scratched his cheek as he watched Sera, who sat with her head bowed and said nothing.
Did I tease her too much earlier?
Thinking that, Kyle boldly extended his hand toward her.
"Kyle Meyer. Nice to meet you."
"H-huh? Uh, yeah— Kim Sera. Nice to meet you…."
He smacked her on the back to forcibly inject some energy into her. As she let out a small yelp and straightened up, Kyle laughed and turned his attention to the lesson.
The class content was straightforward. They would learn the structure, history, and types of magic, then the Knight Department students would experience the spells actually used by the Magic Department students. It sounded insane, but since none of the cadets here couldn't use Aura, it wasn't theoretically dangerous.
"Magic is—"
While William lectured on the history of magic at the front, the Magic Department students beside them, realizing this was their chance to legally attack the Knight Department students, began calculating their spells with maximum malice.
The power of mana that changed the world altered physical laws, and mages freely manipulated those altered laws. A 1-star mage could change one law at a time, a 2-star mage two, and only from 3-star onward did a mage truly become capable on their own.
"Um, Kyle?"
"Yeah."
"The spell's ready… Can I, can I shoot it?"
Sera aimed the flame flickering at her fingertip toward him. Kyle nodded, telling her to go ahead, and raised his Aura.
Ping—!
The launched flame struck his Aura with a soft thud and bounced away, landing on his textbook.
"Ah."
"Aah!"
Panicking after nearly burning her own textbook, Sera hurriedly conjured water magic to extinguish the fire, then stared at the soaked, ruined pages with a bitter expression.
"……It didn't work."
"Instead of flames, don't you have something that just shoots pure mana?"
"It's not that I don't…."
Ping—!
The next moment, Sera fired pure mana at an astonishing speed. The beam of mana struck the wall of Aura at the speed of light, canceled out, and vanished.
Shrugging her shoulders as if to say "see?", Sera explained the drawback.
"Pure mana is just a simple clump of energy… It's inefficient."
Indeed, the mana beam Sera had fired disappeared without even shaving off much of Kyle's Aura. Unless you were a grand mage who could freely wield the mana spread throughout the world or a dragon that generated infinite mana from its heart, using magic in other ways was far more efficient.
"Aura's pointless toughness is its advantage, after all. If you try to win with brute force, mana is at a huge disadvantage."
"Is that so?"
"……Wouldn't the person who actually uses Aura know that better than me?"
"I've never handled mana before."
Aura did seem to gather more easily than mana. But mana had its own advantages.
"By the way, this class is really boring. Is it actually helpful?"
"The professor's going to hear you……!"
"Sorry for finding it boring."
Thud—
Kyle flinched as the professor suddenly appeared right behind him. He had definitely been at the front just moments ago. Glancing sideways, he saw the professor was still standing there. Kyle quietly raised his Aura and confirmed that both the professor at the front and the one right in front of him were real.
What the hell is this……
"Surprised? Yeah, that look in your eyes says you are. Good."
William snapped his fingers. The illusion of the professor standing at the podium began to fade. At the same time, the mana presence from the professor right in front of him also started disappearing.
"This is my innate supernatural ability. Commonly called a Force."
"……So this is a Force."
"Yeah. Can you tell what it does?"
Kyle nodded quietly. It was a presence even an Aura Master like him couldn't detect. But if he concentrated a little harder, he could sense it. It simply had less presence than a water flea and got buried under other energies.
"The ability to erase your presence…… Is that it?"
"Why? Do I look like someone who'd have that kind of ability?"
"Honestly— yeah."
"……Correct. Forget what I said about it being boring. But there won't be a second time."
William created another duplicate of himself at the front. Only then did Kyle understand how William had tricked him and moved behind him. William's own presence was less than a water flea's, and compared to the mana from his spells, the difference was like the Grand Canyon versus a single grain of sand lying beside it. In other words, if he cast an illusion spell projecting his appearance and layered an invisibility spell on his real body, everyone's attention would naturally focus on the duplicate.
Impressive.
It wasn't the Force ability itself that was impressive. It was his magical skill in maximizing that ability. Kyle once again realized that simply being good with a sword wasn't enough to survive in this world. What if William had tried to assassinate him? He would've taken a massive spell to the face, no doubt about it.
To block something like that—
Swinging a sword alone would never be enough. He needed to swing his sword, master Aura, and something more beyond that.
Kyle glanced sideways at Sera sitting next to him. She was still sulking after being scolded by the professor, but if it was her……
She was definitely a huge Dairos Academy fan.
A veteran player who knew everything. She'd even called herself a walking wiki of Dairos Academy.
In that case—
She might know about the hidden opportunities within the Academy too.
* * *
After class ended, I went straight to Sera. Having collected herself during the lesson, she greeted me.
"Hey."
"What?"
"I need a favor."
At my sudden request, she tilted her head in confusion.
"—Are there any hidden treasures or opportunities inside the Academy?"
"Plenty. But… do you really need those?"
"After seeing what happened today, I think I might."
She asked as if wondering why an Aura Master like me would need such petty tricks, but being an Aura Master didn't make you invincible. If it did, I would've become emperor long ago. The reason I hadn't was obvious.
After thinking it over, Sera began recalling the opportunities most useful to an Aura Master like me. Nodding to herself, she held up a finger in front of my face and answered.
"—But there's a condition."
"What is it?"
"You have to become my comrade!"
It was the catchphrase from Japan's greatest pirate manga. Sera recited the line. If I became her comrade, she'd tell me.
What the hell is with this "comrade" stuff.
Since there was no real reason to refuse, I accepted.
* * *
The weekend after making the promise with Sera, Kyle headed to the meeting spot.
"Ah, over here, over here!"
In the distance, Sera stood waiting for him. Several people who looked like her comrades were already gathered around her. As he approached, they flinched upon seeing his face.
"……What are you guys doing here?"
"That's what we want to ask you."
Yuri and Arthur. Both of them were waiting there for him.