Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Summer's Flower Field
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“Wow, this is…….”
The professors peering into Rain’s magic circle exchanged gasps of admiration laced with wry chuckles.
“It’s beautiful as well.”
“To think he’d complete a 5-star spell in such a short time!”
“This alone is impressive.”
Among mages, 5-star magic was renowned as the most beautiful magic circle. The primary reason was its perfect pentagram—the most flawless star shape.
“If the previous two cadets’ circles looked like attempts to blend art and magic…….”
The runes and equations filling the paper densely, extending in orderly directions all around, appeared as a single work of art in the eyes of the professors.
“Cadet Rain’s magic circle is pure magic through and through! It brims with the confidence to win solely on the essence of magic!”
As Vice-Chair Professor Kyle poured out such fervent praise with a genuine smile, the audience’s mood, which had been leaning toward Christa, shifted dramatically.
“Vice-Chair Professor is praising it so highly?”
“Of course! He completed a 5-star spell!”
The later-year students from the Eight Great Academies—Logan, Lilian, and Norah—muttered in stunned voices, unable to tear their gazes away.
“If there’s not a single error in Young Master’s computation for that 5-star spell…….”
“He might actually win…….”
“Against Warden and Harimun……★”
The sheer volume of magic a 5-star spell displayed was explosive—something a 3-star or even 4-star with dual runes couldn’t match.
“That’s right, exactly!”
In the VIP box, Elin Ludwig clenched her fist and nodded vigorously. Seri’s face lit up brightly.
“Did Brother do well?”
“Of course! Even for Rain, he couldn’t bridge the gap in artistic sense in that short time.”
So just push through with overwhelming power from the start. What power? Naturally, the kind his peers couldn’t even approach.
“What are you blabbering about just looking at the circle, you fool! Especially for high-rank magic like this.”
High-rank magic was delicate and sensitive.
Imagine five gears turning simultaneously. If even one had a flaw, wouldn’t problems arise?
“Then let’s see how far that confidence reaches!”
The moment Marhena infused mana into the magic circle, a golden ripple suddenly spread gently across their vision.
Huh……?
Sensing something off, she closed and opened her eyes once. By then, the Dragon Hole Field had vanished, replaced by a new world filling their sight.
As if that prior ripple had been a door opening to this new realm.
“This place is…….”
“A flower field……?”
Summer insects dyed the hillsides yellow with wildflowers in full bloom, hiding amid them and singing their songs.
Far off, where the horizon met the eye, the sun sank behind mountain peaks, making this golden world all the more thrilling, distant, and eerily frightening.
A breeze carrying summer’s warmth swept through, caressing the flower field. Petals scattered, brushing past the professors’ faces.
‘Much of it is blurry and incomplete.’
Like a child’s immature landscape painting, it was far from nature’s true grandeur. Yet, precisely because of that, this magic……
“But what’s that smell?”
A scent wafted from somewhere.
Earthy yet acrid…… tobacco smoke? The bizarre experience didn’t end there.
The wind settled softly atop their heads, bringing a comforting warmth like someone stroking their hair.
It was a memory lingering in Rain’s heart—sensations, longings…… Fride’s cigarette smoke and Kies’s hand ruffling the boy’s hair.
“……!”
It tenderly touched the fragile ends of memories cherished deep in the hearts of these professors, now adults and elders.
Everyone had visited a flower field like this once. With precious family—parents or siblings.
And the things they’d done for you, the laughter and chatter shared with them……
‘It’s not just manifesting a landscape from the heart…….’
Marhena blinked dazedly amid this impossible experience.
‘Somehow, it conveys the emotions felt that day, and even those felt now recalling it, so vividly…….’
Everything was palpable.
The thrill of gazing at the dazzling scenery, the wistful distance from summer’s scent, the loss of never returning……
‘He’s barely sixteen. How does one evoke such emotions from a single place?’
But as if the illusion ended there.
As if the daydream concluded.
The next instant, sounds from the outside world poured in, and the flower field at twilight began to distort.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
As if they’d watched a play, the younger professors exchanged lingering chuckles in a daze.
“To embody the grandeur of summer nature so vividly…….”
The elder professors, recalling irrecoverable childhood thrills and tenderness, quickly wiped their eyes.
“Cadet Rain, what spell was that? An illusion-type mage?”
“No, I lack talent for illusions.”
“It felt like a perfect illusion.”
“It wasn’t an illusion. The key rune for my spell was ‘World’ (世).”
‘World’ (世)……?
The professors fell silent in bewilderment for a moment.
“Isn’t the ‘World’ rune one only Sages at the 6-star level use?”
“It’s famous for use in mental image barriers.”
“It couldn’t have been easy to employ…….”
Rain shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.
“Using the formula I created made it not so difficult.”
e^(ix) = cos(x) + i sin(x).
This formula elegantly linked exponential and trigonometric functions.
“Put π in for variable x, and the complex formula simplifies to a constant. More concisely, e^(πi) + 1 = 0.”
“……?!”
“With this formula in mind, expressing the relationship between pi, irrationals, and imaginaries for unfolding a mental image uses constants, so it’s not hard at all.”
The audience doubted their eyes.
What was this boy’s true identity, teaching mathematics to the Empire’s top scholars at <Delaiten> magic university?
And weren’t the professors nodding as if enlightened by his potentially rude remark?
“Complex numbers in the exponent……?”
“Exponentials are only defined for reals, making mental image domains impossible……?”
“If we develop functions with complex exponents like this……?”
The boy hid no knowledge.
Nor did he flaunt it.
The dean who had taken him in as a child shared knowledge freely, so he believed that was the right way.
“To think such a beautiful formula exists in the world.”
This reaction came not just from professors but from the elder figures of the 8-to-16 watching the chief deciding match.
“Did he derive that formula himself?”
“Is he really sixteen?”
“Why was he called the Heaven’s Disaster Young Master?”
Amid the wave of praise, Kasena Page, shoulders swaying unconsciously, looked up at Madelia and asked why. A trembling voice replied.
“That was…… a formula worthy of being called a monumental discovery of the century. It could advance modern mathematics several times over.”
Kevn Ludwig, you bastard……
How did you raise your son? What did you do to make him so brilliant?
“Now, now, it’s certainly a remarkable formula, but shouldn’t we focus on the judging?”
Vice-Chair Professor Kyle reined in the venue’s drifting atmosphere. He scanned the circle, marveling repeatedly.
‘A mental world built with the ‘World’ (世) rune, and the ‘Light’ (明; illuminating brightly) rune etched into a fire-attribute circle to depict twilight…….’
And the smell’s source: an ‘Incense’ (熏; burning fragrance) rune in an earth-attribute spell.
Chose olfaction to counter sight and sound?
Olfaction excels at evoking emotion. If intentional, another brilliant choice.
“One regrettable aspect was the spell’s duration. It vanished just as we began to feel it. Why?”
Rain smacked his lips, a bit sheepish.
“Truth is, those flowers were made with a spell I learned from the Rural Development Magic Club.”
Ah, Logan’s eyes gleamed, realizing the flowers’ secret. The spell from that match, briefly reviving dead plants at the end.
“No matter what I tried, I couldn’t extend that spell’s duration. In conclusion, it’s my own shortcoming.”
Professor Owen felt his muscles twitch.
‘Christa, I thought that shit monkey absorbed everything around her…….’
This one too.
No, an even greater monster.
How much stronger does he plan to become, absorbing everything around him instead of resting on his talent?
“You’re modest. Finally, what intent drove this spell? To widen the gap with pure magical prowess?”
“I think those two are excellent mages too…… I chose this because I lack any aesthetic sense.”
Can’t do music.
Can’t do art.
If they lack what I have, it’s experiences of beautiful places.
“So I thought, why not show it vividly? The scene I saw and truly found beautiful.”
Of course, it didn’t go perfectly.
The flower field I saw with everyone back then was even more beautiful, even more radiant than this.
Rain Ludwig scratched his cheek with a shy smile.
“But as expected, I’m still lacking, so it didn’t turn out as I envisioned.”
But would anyone here see Rain as lacking after this?
The cadets present vaguely sensed it before, but now they were convinced.
Rain was on a whole different level…… except for one.
‘Rain Ludwig, as expected, you…….’
It was Christa Warden.
In her eyes gazing at Rain’s back flickered a fighting spirit undaunted by this gap.
‘Meeting a rival like you is truly fortunate. Watching you, I can grow several times over.’
Carolline smiled faintly at her disciple’s gaze. Though inwardly, her lips pursed in anxiety……
‘I thought Christa would surely take first in such a favorable theme.’
Rain Ludwig was too high a wall. Beyond mere genius—something inexplicable dwelled in that boy.
“It was undoubtedly a splendid spell with an immense formula, but this was a judgment on beauty.”
From the judges’ table, Professor Theon, deep in thought, finally spoke softly.
“What I focused on was artistic detail. Cadets Kaden and Warden made one feel beauty at a glance.”
“I agree.”
“But Cadet Ludwig’s had quite a few shortcomings. In details, like a child’s scribble—blurry.”
Vice-Chair Professor Kyle smiled brightly, as if well said.
“A child’s scribble, exactly. That’s how I felt too.”
Kyle, that bastard……
As Elin Ludwig gnashed her teeth.
“But the direction of evaluation differs.”
“……?”
“When you see a child awkwardly yet earnestly expressing their inner image on paper, what do you feel? ‘Wow, they drew terribly’ first?”
“Of course not.”
“Right. But as we become adults, we stop drawing like that. Fear of failure.”
Adults who matured first teach the immature thus.
Walk only paths of success.
Don’t touch what might fail; time is finite…… Human thought and challenge shrink.
“But this spell showed it. A childlike pure curiosity. And in finals where failure isn’t allowed, the spirit to pioneer new paths. Lastly, the skill to support it perfectly.”
Another professor shook his head slightly, opposing Kyle.
“But didn’t Cadets Kaden and Warden do the same?”
“They were excellent too. But couldn’t another Harimun Academy or Warden genius do it someday?”
“……!”
“Magic’s progress birthed countless styles. Harimun’s Seven String Harp, Warden’s Bloodline Limit—among them. But were they perfect from the start?”
“No…….”
“What Cadet Rain created is just the beginning. Imperfect and clumsy is natural.”
But someday, at some future point, a new academy might specialize in such magic.
“Personal favoritism, you say? No argument there. But I like Cadet Rain Ludwig. As I said at midterms, his magic glimpses magic’s future.”
Kyle smiled once at Rain, then took his brush and inscribed his precious score on the paper.
[10]
Arms crossed, watching juniors debate, Marhena chuckled “Ahaha……” and lifted her brush.
“You’re right, you rascal. Then it’s an elder’s duty to push a promising child’s back.”
The moment Marhena set down her brush, silence like a frozen world fell…… followed by an explosive roar.
“Crazy! Vice-Chair and Chief Professors gave 10s for the first time?!”
“First time I’ve seen them give 10!”
“Is Rain Ludwig really winning?! Beating Harimun and Warden?”
Elin, anxiously watching other professors scribble scores, had Brim approach and grip her hand tightly.
Their hands trembled wildly.
From prideful joy and tense anticipation shaking their bodies……
“The judging is complete.”
Finally, the professors raised their papers.
In the thundering silence of heartbeats, the assistant tallied scores on the mobile whiteboard and opened trembling lips.
“With this, <Delaiten> Class of 1388’s first-semester finals chief cadet is decided. The called cadet, step forward.”