It Works, Though?

"Mana originates in the middle dantian. Magic is the act of extending that mana to other parts of the body and releasing it, isn't it?"

"Usually, yes."

"Usually?"

"Not. Always."

"..."

A heavy silence fell over the lecture hall. In this fleeting moment of quiet, Rubelia summoned every ounce of knowledge she possessed. She chewed over the facts once more, then reached a conclusion.

"You are incorrect." A smile of absolute certainty touched Rubelia's lips.

"About what?"

"What you just said, Professor. It's wrong."

"Which part?"

"The part about the middle dantian."

"No."

Soon, a tense anxiety began to seep into the silence. Students flipped through their textbooks, trying to determine who was in the right. However, no such concept seemed to be written in their texts.

Still, those with academic foundations comparable to Rubelia's concluded that Selene had to be wrong this time. This was a theory that had remained unbroken for centuries.

"Tsk, seriously!" At that moment, someone cut in with a sudden, irritated outburst. "I'm bored to tears! If you're not even going to teach a proper class, why don't we just end it here? Is this a lecture or a Q&A session?"

"Kyran Valcazar..." Rubelia glared at the bronze-skinned, blonde male student who had just stood up, muttering his name under her breath.

"Yeah, yeah. Since the Estel girl clearly can't wrap this up, I'll step in." The blonde youth, Kyran, sauntered down from his seat toward the podium.

"Hey, whatever-your-name-is Professor. This is getting boring, so let's call it a day."

"Call it? What?"

"The class, obviously. The class. Honestly, I don't understand a single word of your explanations. So, yours truly wants to wrap things up here."

"Class time. Not over."

"She is correct, Valcazar. Class is not over yet." Kyran seemed to be unwelcome by both the professor and his peers alike.

"Shut up, Estel! How dare a mere noble raise her voice to a member of the imperial bloodline?!"

"...Imperial bloodline? Since when does the law of any land dictate that a distant branch-family member is royalty? By that logic, the House ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Estel is part of the imperial family as well."

"..." Rubelia stood her ground, pressing him without yielding an inch.

"W-Whatever, I'm bored!" Kyran threw a tantrum, clearly lacking the logic to win the argument.

"Bored?" At that moment, Kyran flinched. "Huh?" Selene had approached him without making a sound.

"Yes, damn it! I'm bored to death! So end the class already!"

"..." Selene stared blankly at Kyran for a moment.

"W-What?" Kyran tried to take a step back, masking his fluster.

"Bored. Practical application. Want to try?"

"What?" And Selene recalled the conversation she had with Mona the previous day.

"Practical application?"

"Yes. Practical."

"What kind of bullshit is this all of a sudden?"

"Mona said. Practical classes are fun."

"Mona?"

Hummmmm.

"W-What?!" Kyran instinctively recoiled as he felt a sudden surge of mana.

"Practical. Want to try?"

"Practical? Here? Wait, aren't you a theory professor?"

"Do not want?"

"Huh?" Kyran flinched at Selene's casually tossed question.

"Practical... cannot do?"

"C-Cannot?"

"If cannot, nothing to be done."

"W-Who said I can't?!"

"Sorry. Actually. Weak student. This practice is hard."

"Weak? Me?!"

(Tilts head) "Not doing because weak, no?"

"You little...!" Kyran's mana flared violently. The word 'weak' had struck a nerve. In reality, she had spoken without any hidden malice, but he was thoroughly triggered.

"W-Wait! In the classroom?!"

"K-Kyran! I don't think Professor Selene meant a dueling practice..."

The other students belatedly tried to stop Kyran, who had clearly misunderstood. But the sword—no, the mana—had already been drawn.

"Watch out!"

With his eyes locked onto Selene, Kyran swung his fist. "I'll show you what a real practical lesson looks—"

However—

"Huh?"

The impact Kyran expected never came, nor did his surroundings match his predictions. Instead, his gaze was directed upward...

"What?"

He was staring directly at the classroom ceiling.

"Ugh?!"

He tried to recall what had just transpired, but his mind was a blank. Had he lost consciousness? No, that wasn't it. In truth, not a single person in the room understood what had just happened. Just a fraction of a second before Kyran's fist could connect with Selene's face, he was suddenly sprawled flat on the floor.

"Wh-What?! Cough!"

He was lying about ten paces away from Selene.

"..."

"What? Did he lose?"

"She took down Valcazar?"

The students began to murmur in unison, only to quickly cover their mouths. Even before coming to the academy, Kyran had a reputation for picking fights and causing trouble. There was no need to needlessly provoke him now.

But...

"Ugh? Argh..."

For some reason, Kyran remained spread-eagled on the floor, unable to budge. It was as if his entire body had been paralyzed.

"Ngh...?"

"Thank you."

Selene had closed the distance without a sound, looking down at him as she murmured, "Sorry."

"Mmph?"

"Student. Not weak."

"Mmmph?!"

"Practice. Will begin."

"Mmm-gh?!"

Selene slowly began to drag Kyran, who could do nothing but let out muffled groans.

"Ngh?"

Gripping one of his legs, the petite Selene dragged Kyran across the floor like a sack of potatoes, bringing him right to the center of the lecture hall.

"Student."

Selene beckoned with a small hand.

"Huh? Me?"

Looking closely, she was gesturing for someone to come over.

"Yes. Student with many questions."

Rubelia was well aware of Kyran's combat prowess. Thus, seeing Selene easily subdue him, she swallowed hard, a wave of tension washing over her.

"What on earth..."

Kyran, unable to move his body, rolled his eyes and locked gaze with Rubelia as she approached. He, too, looked utterly bewildered by the situation.

"Paralyzed state."

"Paralyzed?"

"Yes."

"..."

"Injuries during practice. Bad."

"Um... what exactly do you mean by... practice?"

At the question, Selene quietly raised a finger. Rubelia's instincts screamed in terror, and she squeezed her eyes shut. But nothing happened. When she opened them again, Selene's finger was pointing at her body—specifically, right where her middle dantian was located.

"Dantian."

"Dantian?"

"Yes. Will show you."

"Show me...?"

Selene grabbed Kyran's leg and rotated his body slightly. Kyran was now laid out for everyone to see, looking for all the world like a lab rat in a public dissection.

"..."

Selene looked around. Since this lecture hall was shared by various classes, it was stocked with a variety of tools.

"That. Bring it."

"Pardon? The... mana stones?"

"Yes."

Driven by an instinctual urge to obey, Rubelia picked up the mana stones piled in the corner.

"Three. Bring."

"Ah, yes."

Rubelia returned with three mana stones in her hands.

Selene placed one mana stone on Kyran's head.

"..."

After a brief moment of contemplation, she placed the other two on his navel and his groin.

"...What... are you doing?"

"Dantians."

"Pardon?"

Selene pointed at the mana stones one by one.

"Upper dantian. Middle dantian. Lower dantian."

"What? Those are Kyran's dantians?"

"Yes. Lab rat student's dantians."

"How can you be so sure? How can someone locate another person's dantians so easily?"

"Yes."

"...I find that hard to believe."

Selene quietly stepped closer to Kyran and brought her finger near the stone resting on his middle dantian.

Crackle!

With a sharp spark of static, Kyran let out a strangled groan.

"Argh?!"

At the same time, the mana stone began to glow.

"I-It really is his dantian!"

"What is that? What's happening?"

"She transferred the mana from his dantian into the stone."

"Yeah, mana stones are used like that to map out the flow of a dantian."

"But she did it with a single tap of her finger?!"

The students began to whisper in sheer astonishment. But the spectacle they were about to witness had only just begun.

"Now. Severing."

"Severing? Severing what?"

"Dantian."

"What?"

Snap!

"Mmph?!"

Kyran let out a muffled gasp. His lower body, which had been twitching slightly despite the paralysis, suddenly went completely limp.

Snap!

"Ngh!"

With another tap of her finger on the remaining stones, Selene completely blocked the mana of his middle and lower dantians. The glow of the mana stones died out. Kyran's dantians had been cleanly severed.

"W-Wait a minute! Did you... did you actually sever Kyran's dantians?!"

"Yes."

"B-But..."

Rubelia turned pale, utterly horrified. The watching students gasped, covering their mouths in shock.

"Th-Then Kyran won't ever be able to use magic again—"

"Huh? No."

"Pardon? But you severed his dantians."

"Yes."

"Then his mana flow is completely ruined!"

"Huh? Can just reattach."

"What?"

Snap!

"Huh?"

Selene tapped her finger again, repeatedly connecting and disconnecting Kyran's dantians.

"..."

It was like flicking a light switch on and off.

"Now, beginning practice."

"..."

With Kyran's middle and lower dantians severed once more, Selene commenced the demonstration.

"Middle dantian. Completely severed."

"...Yes. In that state, he shouldn't be able to use magic. Mana originates from the middle dantian, after all." (A severed dantian usually leaves a person crippled for life...)

"But light is on. In the mana stone."

"That is true. But that isn't enough mana to cast anything. It's only the residual trace of mana that the dantian itself uses to sustain its own existence."

Despite the spine-chilling nature of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠situation, Rubelia forced herself to focus, reciting her knowledge clearly.

"No."

But...

"Only need dantian."

As they watched what happened next, Rubelia and the rest of the students had no choice but to accept it.

Crackle!

The absolute truth they had believed in...

"Mmmph?!"

And their entire understanding of the world was shattered to pieces.

Whoosh!

The mana stone on Kyran's upper dantian flared with brilliant light, and a pillar of fire erupted from him. It was, without a doubt, fire magic generated by Kyran's own dantian.

Snap.

Selene manipulated the mana stone, instantly extinguishing the pillar of fire that had been forced out of Kyran. Soon, the stones on his middle and lower dantians lit up as well.

"Aaaargh! Wh-What did you do to me?!"

Finally freed from his paralysis, Kyran scrambled away from Selene in sheer terror, pressing his back flat against the wall.

"...Ah."

Selene watched him with her usual blank expression.

"Helpful student. Applause for lab rat student."

She suddenly began to clap, praising Kyran.

Clap, clap, clap.

The solitary sound of Selene's clapping echoed awkwardly through the silent lecture hall.

And with that, Selene's first class came to an end.

"..."

Rubelia sat down in her quarters back at her estate.

Who on earth is she?

The unbelievable scene she had witnessed kept replaying in her mind. At the same time, she felt a sensation she hadn't experienced in a very long time—the sheer thrill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of receiving instruction from a teacher of overwhelming ability.

Even if it was Kyran... to sever a dantian so casually... Did she target him on purpose? Because of his arrogance?

But along with that thrill came a memory she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had desperately wanted to forget.

Because he's a noble?

A deeply humiliating memory began to resurface.

Professor Selene... she isn't just a Reformist. This woman is...

The figure from that shameful memory began to overlap with Professor Selene.

She is dangerous... Someone like her must not be allowed to stand at the podium.