Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Twin Dragon Hall
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The dormitory was called Twin Dragon Hall.
It had earned that name because two identical dragons coiled around a pair of twin towers.
The left tower was [Jin].
The right tower was [Ri].
Dormitory assignments were first divided by social background. Nobles went to [Jin], commoners to [Ri].
Originally, they had been mixed freely, but frequent conflicts led to this separation.
From there, they were further sorted by grades and year. Higher years and better entrance exam scores meant higher floors in this straightforward setup.
“Which floor are you on?”
“Top floor for first-years, no doubt.”
Christa tilted her chin up with a haughty sniff and climbed the stairs. Gertrude gave a light bow and followed behind. As an additional exam admittee assigned to the lowest floor, Rain had no need to climb.
“Look at that, first floor.”
“The Ludwig family heir.”
“Ha, ridiculous. Hey, I don’t know why the young master took the supplementary exam, but if he’d done the regular one, he’d be right next to Christa Warden.”
“Who’d buy that? If he had the skills, he would’ve taken the regular exam.”
The murmurs came from commoner students peeking in from outside.
A typical noble might bristle at that.
But Rain felt no urge to do so, nor any need. He was used to such treatment from his life as Lin.
He held his student ID and dragon ring from the dormitory supervisor to the door. A magic square blazed to life on the surface, resonating with the ring.
The square meshed like gears, rotating until—click—the lock on room 107 released and the door swung open.
‘Single room in the dorm….’
Some rooms held two, but heirs of the great houses got singles. Desk, bed, bookshelf, lighting magic tool—everything needed for study was perfectly equipped.
“Ha, what’s this, a magic tower experience…?”
Magic towers were the home bases of each academy, the so-called towers of mages.
Built in remote natural spots away from worldly clamor, the one Lin had lived in was the same.
Amusing. Maybe to help them adapt to tower life later….
‘Even before, I shut myself in a cramped room like this, obsessed only with magic study.’
Thinking of Osarius Academy’s magic tower—his soul’s homeland—brought an uncontrollable wave of sorrow, so he shook his head to drive the memories away.
- Lin, promise me?
He flopped onto the plush, feather-stuffed bed and reached for the ceiling’s lighting magic tool, casting a shadow over his face.
Long, pale white fingers.
The hands of a noble who’d never known hardship. Hands he couldn’t have imagined as Lin. His first day at university, unimaginable as Lin.
‘It still doesn’t feel real.’
The first day’s classes had been entertaining but offered nothing useful. What was there to learn? It might’ve been better to storm the papal office and search Lin’s corpse.
The problem was Rain’s status and abilities.
Stirring up that kind of chaos could topple his house, and above all, he didn’t yet have the power for it.
‘My physical talent seems a bit lacking compared to Lin’s time, too….’
A magic square bloomed in his palm, flaring like flame. One, one more, another. Three layers meshed in harmony, spinning.
As a fourth tried to form, a sharp sting hit his scapula where his magic core sat, and the squares scattered into mist.
‘Still short on mana, can’t cast 4th circle… Hmm.’
He’d have to find a way to follow the school curriculum faithfully while training his magic properly.
─Flap flap.
Then came the sound of wings from the wide-open window. He looked up to see an owl perched on the sill.
“An owl?”
Mages used owls—the only birds with mana sensitivity—as messengers.
A wooden tube nearly as big as the owl itself dangled from its leg.
Wondering who sent it, he took the tube to check, but the owl flew off.
[Delaiten 1388th Class Cadet Rain Ludwig.]
No sender’s name, just the odd tube marked only for the recipient. His father?
“Huh?”
Inside were two books.
The larger one looked freshly rebound and pristine, while the smaller’s leather cover was so worn it flaked off in tatters.
His heart pounded wildly. Intense déjà vu roughened his breath, beading cold sweat on his brow.
『The Life and Deeds of the Archmage Lin.』
The real shocker was the worn one, not the new cover. Without opening it, Rain knew what it was.
This was Lin’s diary.
Not Rain’s—Lin’s.
Not this life, but his past one’s diary.
The one he’d carried through the five-year expedition, jotting new spells he devised or found in distant lands. The one he’d entrusted to Rista at the very end….
“What the—who?”
He muttered blankly, then rushed to the window, but the owl was long gone.
* * *
<Delaiten> provided magic training facilities beyond classrooms and dorms. Advanced facilities infused with magical engineering were essential for proper practice.
How else could you test your spells at full power without a [Shock Nullification] magic tool?
Or raise attack precision without a [Magic Target] activator?
“30 seconds remaining to target.”
The place was called Battle Dragon Field.
This enticing high-tech spot drew fierce competition from second- and third-years during peak hours after dinner.
So newbies still intimidated by upperclassmen usually avoided it then—but there were always exceptions.
Two first-years had been showing up boldly since the semester’s start, ignoring the seniors’ annoyed glares.
“25 seconds.”
The girl with the old-fashioned ponytail, Gertrude Fenton, stared at her stopwatch, calling out every five seconds. To Christa Warden, sweating buckets in the mana sphere field.
Five sand soldiers rose around her, savagely spearing moving combat targets with their spears.
This trained mana control while handling multiple summons, honing the Warden bloodline limit.
“20 seconds.”
Gertrude was a lady of a vassal house under Christa. She’d known her since childhood.
This genius with endless thirst for knowledge, always striving. Everyone called her a genius, but to Gertrude, Christa was just a frail swan.
Frantically paddling beneath the surface, several times harder than others, to appear graceful. Always repeating this grueling training.
“15 seconds. Did something happen today, miss?”
“What.”
“10 seconds. You seem more fired up than usual.”
“What?”
“5 seconds. Is it because you met Young Master Rain? I’m curious if something happened between you two.”
Against Gertrude’s expectations, Christa calmly annihilated the targets in the final five seconds. She turned, and the sand soldiers smartly shouldered their spears.
“Something? What something?”
Gertrude covered her mouth with one hand, smirking mischievously.
“Oh, no. I saw you lingering by the gift cookie corner at the kiosk earlier… Why ever? The only boy you tangled with today was Young Master Rain, so I wondered if something happened with him.”
“Oh, that?”
Christa’s mind spun 500 times faster than usual for an instant, then she feigned composure.
“For you.”
“Miss….”
Tears of emotion welled in Gertrude’s eyes. Christa grabbed the head lunging into her arms, stopping her, then sighed.
“Whatever. Stop stalking me already.”
“I can’t. I’m your attendant—always by your side, anywhere, anytime.”
“Sigh. Never mind.”
Christa’s icy response flustered her, but a deep question lingered in Gertrude’s heart.
Well, if the miss was gifting cookies, it meant Rain Ludwig gave massive help in the magic exam—but was that even possible?
Just like when they’d met as kids at the houses’ conference, Rain Ludwig was… Huh?
‘That’s weird.’
Her childhood memories didn’t match this vibe at all?
* * *
The fourth floor of Ri Dorm was the top for first-years. Above were second-years on two floors, and third-years on the last.
“Oh, look, the C-grade loser’s here.”
In the central lounge, heads turned from magic tomes or mana meditation.
“Don’t pick a fight, Logan. You might actually get wrecked.”
The center of attention was today’s hot topic, Weiber—postdoc of the Eight Great Academies’ Rohwinen Academy.
Fearlessly mocking the postdoc was Logan, a muscled guy chewing gum, legs crossed.
“Chill, man. I almost pissed myself in fear just now. If he hadn’t gotten that C today, I’d really be shaking.”
Logan joked, but his eyes weren’t smiling.
The short-haired Logan had shrugged off his uniform cloak tough-guy style, revealing sun-tanned, ripped muscles radiating health.
Proof he was a postdoc of Chaihak Academy, bastion of Wing Type mages who enhanced bodies for melee combat.
“And that Christa bitch carried sandbags and still got an S.”
“Sandbags?”
“She paired with the genius young master. You know him. Is he really useless? Pathetic? Still better than you, right?”
“Wanna try me?”
“If you want.”
Their mana tangled in the air, heat haze rippling with occasional lightning sparks.
“No commotion in the dorm. You own the fourth floor?”
A voice halted their childish spat.
Gray eyes emotionless as ash after burning all creation, long red hair blazing like flame—a beauty.
“Ah, Lily, no. Wasn’t starting trouble. Just messing around.”
Feeling his heart skip, Logan grinned lightly.
All three were Eight Great Academies postdocs, but Lilian was another level. Her sculpted beauty was secondary.
At conferences, she drew every mage’s gaze instantly—not for looks, but absurd skill.
“Was brainstorming how to take down Christa and the genius punk. Wanna join, Lily?”
“That’s why your achievements stall—endless pointless pranks. Christa, maybe, but what’s the gain in bullying the weak?”
“This was a prank too.”
Despite her insulting words, Logan beamed. Weiber snorted.
“They’re mine. Touch them, and I’ll grind your face first, Logan.”
“What?”
Weiber retracted his threatening mana, clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, stormed to his room, and slammed the door.
“Fucking….”
He punched the wall, steadying his ragged breaths.
‘Rain Ludwig, what the hell did that genius punk do? No matter how great Christa is, no way in two minutes….’
It was so bizarre he’d grabbed a Ribarden magic school alum to ask. The guy spouted insane tales of Rain Ludwig.
- Y-Young Master Rain taught better than most professors! So easy anyone could get it! He was super popular!
- What?
- Proof? Principal Skalji dragged him everywhere daily? Three years as his assistant!
Assistant to the previous magic fortress lord for three years?
That wasn’t a nepotism seat. You had to explain magic formulas to students.
Impossible to believe. After all, why else did the Eight Great Academies call him the “genius” young master?
A heavenly disaster on House Ludwig….
But what was that look in his eyes at the end? He hated to admit it, but instinct felt something like fear….
‘If that’s true, what the hell is he? Why no stars at all?’