The Weight of Genius
The dawn sky, still without a sun, was stained a deep blue-green.
Meina sat on the tree stump in front of her house and let out a long sigh.
Ordinarily she was the type to keep wriggling under her blanket even after the sun was up, but today her chest felt too heavy, and she had come outside the moment her eyes opened.
It was because of Luciel. Two days had passed since she began teaching the girl magic.
Though I'm not sure "teaching" is the right word for it…
Luciel had mastered 1-Star magic on the first day, and 2-Star magic on the second. In just two days, she had become a 2-Star mage.
It was an astonishing pace. Most mages poured over a decade of their lives into magic just to reach the 2-Star rank.
A genius, without a doubt. No — a genius beyond all measure.
Taking such a genius as her disciple filled Meina with joy, yet at the same time her heart felt heavy.
Yesterday, after mastering 2-Star magic, Luciel had asked her this:
"Master, what Star rank mage are you?"
At that, Meina had lowered her eyes without even meaning to and answered.
"M-me? Still 3-Star…"
Still 3-Star.
A 3-Star mage was a high-ranked mage who commanded respect wherever they went. And hadn't Meina risen to that rank remarkably fast? She had been a talent who drew considerable attention even at the Magic Research Institute in the heart of the forest.
And yet she was ashamed of her own accomplishments.
Anyone would feel that way, probably, standing before Luciel's talent.
What would happen if the Magic Research Institute learned that a girl had become a 2-Star mage in just two days?
They'd all be floored.
They would flock to Luciel's door every day and pester her endlessly, all in the name of "discussing magic."
Meina had been through exactly that herself, and it was why she'd come to this village to escape it — though partly, too, out of shame at having stalled at 3-Star.
The sun rose slowly, and light began to spread over the surroundings.
Meina grew restless.
Luciel would be here soon. Today was the day the girl would learn 3-Star magic. Surely she would grasp the 3-Star formulas at a glance, too.
And in the end, she would surpass Meina's own level.
Even then, could I still call myself her teacher?
The more Luciel's talent shone, the smaller Meina felt beside it.
It wasn't jealousy. She simply wanted to stand tall as a teacher.
Of course, even now, calling herself a teacher was a stretch — she was closer to someone who supplied books and mooched sandwiches.
And so, inevitably, thoughts like these crept in.
…Maybe I should just ask if we can stay friends.
Today, once again, I headed to Meina's house for my magic lesson — and found her dozing on the tree stump out front.
"…Master?"
When I shook her shoulder gently, she opened her eyes at a leisurely pace.
"Mm… oh, you're here…?"
"Why are you sleeping out here?"
"Ah, that's… it just, sort of happened? Haha…"
"Here, have this."
I held out the food basket to Meina. No sandwiches today — this was a bread made by stir-frying potatoes, mushrooms, and onions, folding them into dough, coating it in breadcrumbs, and frying it. Something like a croquette.
"Ooh, that looks tasty. What is it, though? I've never seen this bread before."
"It's my mother's newest invention."
Mother loved cooking, and she often invented new dishes. It was a shame there was no meat, but everything she made was delicious.
"I'll have to thank her later. Shall we head inside, then?"
"Yes."
I followed Meina into her house. On the desk today sat the Advanced Magic Grimoire.
Taking my now-familiar seat, I opened the book.
What the Advanced Magic Grimoire contained were 3-Star spell formulas.
Compared to 1-Star or 2-Star, the difficulty was clearly far higher. The formulas were much more intricate, and they demanded that much more magic power.
But it posed no problem for me.
A brief look was enough to understand the formulas. On top of that, my magic power had nearly doubled since I'd begun learning magic.
According to what I'd read in the Intermediate Magic Grimoire yesterday, increasing one's magic power required repeating a cycle of expending and recovering it.
"When magic power is spent, mana circulates through the body, is converted into magic power, and gathers once more in the heart. Through this process, the total volume of one's magic power increases."
In short, expending and recovering magic power was how one grew its reserves.
Recovery time depended on how finely tuned the body's circuits were, and on average it seemed to take at least half a day.
My case, however, was different.
Over those two days, I had burned through magic power freely while manifesting 1-Star and 2-Star spells. And whenever my reserves ran low, instead of waiting for a natural recovery, I drew in mana directly and circulated it through my body myself, converting it into magic power.
Forced recovery, in other words. Repeating that process over and over had swelled my reserves to nearly twice their original size.
3-Star magic shouldn't be a problem either.
I suddenly felt a gaze on me. Meina was standing there blankly, still holding the food basket, staring at me.
"Is something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, no, it's just… I wanted to see you cast 3-Star magic…"
I nodded. Most 3-Star spells carried so much force that casting them indoors was dangerous.
For reference, the lightning Meina had once dropped to blow up a tree had also been a 3-Star spell.
If I wanted something that wasn't dangerous…
Barrier magic would be the right choice.
Barrier magic existed at 1-Star and 2-Star as well. The difference was size — the higher the rank, the larger the barrier.
For example: a 1-Star barrier could shield one side of a person's body, a 2-Star barrier could shield a person entirely, and a 3-Star barrier could protect something the size of a building.
Defensive strength was a separate matter. Magic power was consumed to absorb impacts, so the greater one's total reserves, the stronger the defense.
I decided to deploy the 3-Star barrier formula and enclose Meina's entire house in a barrier. That much, at least, posed no danger.
Manipulating my magic power, I began arranging it to match the formula.
"……"
But before long, I scattered the magic power instead.
"Hmm, I'm afraid 3-Star magic might still be beyond me."
"Oh…? Really?"
"Yes. Would it be all right if today I just skimmed what formulas are in the book and practiced 2-Star magic some more?"
"Ah, um… yes, that's… that's fine…"
Meina blinked in visible flusterment. I climbed down from my chair and walked over to her.
"Before that, may we eat the bread together? Mother made more than usual today, so there's plenty to go around."
"O-of course! Would you like some milk, too? Ines brought some over last night."
Ines was Kusran's mother. She looked after the village's dairy cows and did the milking.
"I'd love some."
A week had passed since I began learning magic. In that single week, I had reached the 3-Star level.
For reference, Meina said it had taken her fifteen years to become a 3-Star mage.
"And that's with talent of my own — for most people, it takes twenty or even thirty years."
Considering that, my talent must have been quite extraordinary.
That I had reached 3-Star, however, was a secret I kept from Meina.
The very first day I opened the Advanced Magic Grimoire, I had already understood the 3-Star formulas. But in front of Meina, I pretended otherwise.
The reason was nothing special. That day, I had read anxiety in her expression.
She might have believed that once I reached the same rank, she would have nothing left to teach me.
Of course, matching ranks didn't actually mean there was nothing left to learn.
I had no experience and only limited knowledge. Countless things never written in books would remain — and those, I could only learn from Meina.
Besides, whether I stood at her level or surpassed it, nothing would change the fact that she was my teacher. It was through her that I had come to learn magic at all.
Even if a day came when I had nothing left to learn from her, I wanted to keep our relationship just as it was now.
So I practiced 3-Star magic in secret, where she couldn't see, and during lessons I either practiced 2-Star spells or refined my formulas.
It meant I wouldn't be able to learn 4-Star magic for a while, but that hardly mattered. I didn't need higher-ranked magic at the moment, and what I had already learned satisfied me plenty.
Incidentally, refining formulas was quite fun.
Today, I had modified a 1-Star freezing spell.
I had altered the connecting joints of the formula so that the magic power would be distributed unevenly — producing ice, but preventing it from forming solidly.
The ice made this way looked perfectly fine on the surface, yet the slightest pressure made it crunch and crumble apart.
If the goal had been to create solid ice, it was a failed spell.
But this crumbly ice was exactly what I wanted.
I drizzled syrup over it and added honey and milk.
I had made bingsu — shaved ice. When I gave it to Meina, she was over the moon.
"Ah, this is so good! How did you even think of this? When everyone else refines a formula, all they think about is raising efficiency and power — I never imagined you could use one like this. Could I possibly have one more bowl?"
"Of course."
Meina polished off the bingsu in no time, and I cast the modified spell again.
A fist-sized mound of ice formed in her bowl.
Since the ice was born from magic I had manifested, its ownership belonged to me — which meant I could move it at will.
But the moment Meina thrust her spoon deep into it and broke the ice's shape, the formula's arrangement collapsed and that ownership was released. The ice wouldn't vanish, but it would no longer respond to my will. Not that it mattered — it had been made to be eaten, after all.
"Heheh, time to dig in."
Meina drizzled syrup over the ice and added honey and milk. She was already on her third bowl.
"If you eat too much, you might make yourself sick."
"It's fine — it's delicious!"
Just as Meina scooped up a heaping spoonful and raised it to her mouth —
Puuuu!
A horn bellowed from outside. It was the alarm sounded whenever an emergency struck the village.
Thud-thud-thud!
At the same moment, someone pounded on the door and shouted.
"Lady Mage! We have a crisis!"
Meina set down her spoon and hurried to the door. An elf warrior stood on the other side.
"Wh-what's happened?"
"Orcs have invaded! The Warrior Chief and the warriors are holding the line, but there are far too many of them — we need your support, Lady Mage!"
"U-understood. I'll come at once."
Meina looked at me. Before she could open her mouth, I spoke first.
"I'll head to the evacuation shelter."
When the village alarm sounded, there was only one thing for anyone but the warriors to do.
Move to the shelter.
We had drilled for exactly this.
"R-right. D-don't be frightened, now — go straight to the shelter…!"
"Yes."
If anything, it was Meina who looked afraid.
She hurried off somewhere with the elf warrior, and I set out for the evacuation shelter.