Chapter 94
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Great Mage of the New Semester (6)
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"Let's do it just like last semester."
The professor in charge of practical magic said to me with a tone of resignation.
"This semester too, if you show one magic demonstration, I'll exempt you from attendance and assignments for the entire term. How does that sound?"
"Oh-"
This professor was pretty reasonable. I liked his flexibility.
"Should I just blow up something moderately flashy?"
As I asked with a bit more enthusiasm, the students huddled right against the auditorium walls started hiccuping in fear.
Terrified eyes poured toward me.
No... I haven't done anything yet. I wasn't even planning to.
"D-don't blow up the auditorium!"
The professor frantically waved his hands.
"S-show something moderate that can inspire the students' learning motivation."
In other words, something our budding mages could look at and think, "Ah, I want to become a mage like that."
A goal, huh—
If it was the romance of a mage, there was only one thing that came to mind.
"Got it."
I readjusted my grip on Arke.
Better wrap this up quick and head back to crash.
A low resonant hum—woooong—echoed from Arke.
In an instant, the auditorium ceiling vanished.
Thick darkness and a sparkling galaxy blotted out the sunlight leaking in from the windows.
In the center of this space, temporarily severed from reality.
I twirled the tip of Arke in a circle.
A massive ring etched itself across the night sky.
Starlight gathered over the empty circle, forming a complex and enormous magic circle.
The dream of a mage, since ancient times—
[Star Caller.]
-Rumble rumble rumble!
The center of the magic circle glowed red-hot in an instant.
Then a heavy vibration crushed the air.
Soon, amid sizzling heat, a burning meteor emerged from within the magic circle.
"Me-Meteor...!"
Hearing screams erupt from all around, I raised Arke and pointed it toward the distant horizon.
This space wasn't an illusion magic creation—it was another reality. Dropping magic around here would be seriously dangerous.
The massive meteor trailed a long parabolic tail as it soared toward the far sky.
It wasn't long before—
-KABOOM!!
A deafening explosion shook the entire space.
At the same time, a pillar of fire filled the entire view.
A scorching blast that stole the breath rushed in.
The aftershock made my clothes flap wildly, and my hair flew in disarray.
I lightly swung Arke once more to restore the space to normal.
Leaving the meteor's heat behind in the night sky, we returned to the auditorium.
The silence stretched on a bit long.
The students—and even the professor—stared blankly, blinking in a daze.
"Great job—"
I bowed politely toward the professor on the platform.
Only then did the professor snap out of it, speaking to me in a trembling voice.
"Uh... Lunaris."
"Yes, Professor."
"This semester, I'll exempt you from exams too."
"Is that okay?"
"You're just gonna come, sign the attendance sheet, and leave anyway."
"True enough."
"No need to bother. I'll handle everything."
"Thank you."
Wasn't he the epitome of a true mentor in this era?
I bowed to the professor once more and headed toward Princess Celestina, who stood against one wall in a daze.
"Princess, I'll head back to the room first."
"Y-yeah..."
Now, if I could flop into bed, I could pass out for a solid sixteen hours.
If anyone dared wake me midway? Even the princess wouldn't get a pass.
As soon as morning's Basic Magical Theory class ended, Edwin headed straight for the library.
He skipped lunch altogether, and even blew off the afternoon practical magic class.
Skipping one class was no issue for him, the undisputed top student among the first-years in the Magic Department.
Of course, not long after, when he heard that Lunaris had unleashed a meteor in that very practical class, he'd regret skipping it enough to beat the ground—but that's a story for another time.
For the Edwin of now, there was a far more pressing matter.
'That theory... that magic system... what the hell...!'
Edwin's heart pounded wildly.
The casual remarks Lunaris had tossed out in the lecture hall while teasing Claire.
The other students around probably just jotted them down blindly, figuring anything from the great mage must be profound.
But to Edwin, this was revolutionary content that could upend the entire field of magical academia.
At the very least, it had completely flipped his world upside down.
The magic Edwin knew prioritized bloodline first, talent second.
Mana qualities and capacity were largely hereditary.
Passed down through generations, magic evolved and grew more refined.
It wasn't for nothing that they said the children of the prestigious Belka magical family cast spells before they could even speak.
Built atop that blessed bloodline was applied skill, purely in the realm of talent.
In other words, intuition.
Complex formulas? Tedious calculations?
Those were for the deficient minds lacking imagination—the domain of magical engineering, he'd dismissed.
He believed true mages shaped the world through instinct and sensation.
Like Lunaris Evermoon.
But today, that very Lunaris had shattered his convictions head-on.
-Magic is ultimately just mimicking natural phenomena, after all.
-You just need to understand the essence.
-Don't just slap things together intuitively by feel. Approach it rationally.
Why does it happen that way?
What laws are at work?
The great mage he'd thought of as the epitome of genius.
The one he'd assumed was the most intuitive of all.
In truth, she possessed eyes that pierced every phenomenon in the world with equations.
"Haa..."
Seated in a corner of the library, Edwin rubbed his dry face.
A dizzying sensation made his head throb.
It had been a while since he'd stopped seeing Lunaris as a rival.
Back during last semester's finals, on the day of the full school rankings.
The awe and defeat he'd felt upon first seeing her solution to the final problem in Basic Magical Theory still burned vividly in his mind.
He'd thought nothing could shock him more after that day.
Yet the glimpse of the great mage's talent he'd witnessed today rivaled that impact.
With trembling hands, Edwin opened his notebook.
Hastily scribbled memos jumped out, lest he miss a single character.
[New Classification of Ice Magic: Crystals, Frost, Chill.]
[Rearranging Water Mana for Muspel State Changes.]
Ice magic, treated as a mere inferior version of water-attribute magic, had been elevated to the level where it could stand as its own independent attribute.
Especially the way she defined the ice magic system based on crystals—it was an idea he couldn't even dream of.
Not just lowering temperature, but altering mana arrangement.
At this point, couldn't she found a new school like the Frost Scholar faction?
"What a shame, such a shame."
If his specialty had been water-attribute instead of earth-attribute magic, would it have been easier to grasp?
And the most shocking final part.
[Inducing Lightning from Ice Crystals—How???]
"Insane... Does this even make sense?!"
Forgetting he was in a library, Edwin let out a groan.
Out of curiosity, he'd even asked the theory professor about last week's assignment problem.
The answer? It wasn't even a problem meant to actually form a spell—just a theoretical exercise for equation practice.
...And yet Lunaris had derived natural laws from that nonsense problem and forced a spell into existence.
A realm utterly unreachable by intuition alone.
A truth attainable only through rational analysis and logical inquiry.
Having witnessed it firsthand, his mind as a mage was spinning out of control.
"Sugar crash..."
He wanted to reach it somehow.
He wanted to steal even a glimpse of the world as seen by the great mage.
-Scratch, scratch.
Only the sound of pen nibs scraping echoed faintly through the library.
Edwin expanded equations based on Lunaris's words, formed hypotheses, tested them, repeating the cycle.
A thick notebook filled with dense equations and intricate magic circles in no time flat.
"Haa..."
Unconsciously, Edwin pressed his temples.
It still felt like groping through fog. He wasn't sure if he was making real progress.
Frustrated, he looked out the window—the sky was already dyed red. The day was gone.
Edwin finally packed up and left the library.
"I wonder how the others are doing."
On the way back to Linea Hall, he stopped by the square's student bulletin board, which was plastered with messages from students in the same boat as him.
Any first-year underclassmen who took Basic Magical Theory today?!
Buying notes from today's Basic Magical Theory class for 5 gold coins. Willing to pay up to 20 depending on note quality!
Recruiting for study group! Topic: New Theories on Ice Magic
Anyone want to share notes from what Lunaris said and study together?!
Edwin couldn't tear his eyes away from the board for a while before finally picking up a pen and writing in an empty spot.
Need help from 3rd or 4th-year Magic Department seniors proficient in intermediate ice magic.
Please contact first-year Magic Department student Edwin Belka via Linea Hall's head maid, Odette.