Life as a Magician Starting from the Academy
Right after the first collision.
I immediately opened the contract menu and pulled in my mana.
But the enchanted bullet shot didn't follow through.
'Where the hell is he?'
Ray and the monster's clash was the first and only one.
Naturally, with my vision sealed right now, all I could rely on to pinpoint his location were my hearing and touch.
I could get an approximate position, but locking onto the exact target was tough.
Meanwhile, Leaf, who didn't need to depend on her own senses, jumped in to support Ray.
"Undine! Help Ray. Interrupt that monster's movements."
Undine appeared with the bubbling sound of boiling water and followed Leaf's command.
The sound of waves rose above the wind from Ray and the monster's collision.
Ray was executing her role as vanguard flawlessly.
She wasn't the classic tank blocking the enemy head-on with defense, but she used her rapid movements to draw out and evade.
Leaf was the same.
Right now she was standing there dazed like me, but her power, Undine, was faithfully supporting Ray, wasn't it?
Vanguard and supporter.
Now it was my turn as the dealer to do something.
I condensed mana for instant firing while quickly turning over options in my head.
'How is Undine recognizing Ray and the monster?'
Like a heat-sensing vision, does she detect heat?
But Undine wasn't a fire spirit or a water spirit?
At least, it wasn't using the five senses with a physical body.
Then, what about mana?
'If it's identifying objects through mana, I should be able to do it.'
Unlike other mages who handle their own mana, I deal with another's mana.
I've seen countless times how to perceive external mana.
Even without a contract as a connection, my brain had learned that it existed.
'Something... it feels like I can see it.'
Blurry, a silhouette appeared.
The optic nerve handles seventy percent of sensory information, and the eyes are the sensory organ most directly connected to the brain compared to any other.
My brain, having learned mana, interpreted mana as another signal.
**Mana Sight.**
Even without the mana glow emitted by external mana, my eyes began to capture it.
The figure of Ray encased in body reinforcement was visible.
Undine circling Ray was also visible.
And the massive lizard furiously pursuing from the wall behind.
"Leaf, ask Undine to stop that guy for a moment."
The urgent tone slipped into casual speech.
Leaf quickly replied, understanding the situation.
"I'll try. Undine!"
Undine stopped abruptly at Leaf's call and shot out water to block the lizard.
At the moment the lizard's movement froze, the enchanted bullet flew through the air.
*CRACK!*
A boulder-crushing impact echoed through the cavern.
Even with vision sealed, I couldn't precisely gauge the damage.
But I could guess it hadn't inflicted a fatal wound through the lizard's mana.
"Ray, aggro!"
"Got it."
Before the lizard recognized me, Ray charged in and slammed her fist into the lizard's lower jaw.
The pursuit resumed.
Within the allotted time, I prepared for the next shot.
'Compress... compress... four isn't enough power. I need to cut it to three.'
I pushed the mana, pushed it again.
This was different from my days as a hallucination mage.
Unlike then, when it was just an illusion, this had substance.
There was no way Leaf was holding a real monster here, so it had to be an artificial construct or a high-level hallucination mage manifesting a vision.
Then this lizard must have a core serving as its body center.
'The place with the highest mana density.'
Eyes narrowed while focusing on the Mana Sight, like squinting in dim light.
The narrowed vision chased the lizard.
'At the moment it stops once more...'
"Sun Roman!"
Thoughts cut off.
At Leaf's scream, the lizard's mana filled my vision.
'Aggro's gone.'
Evade or confront.
At the fork in the road, I chose confrontation.
The compressed enchanted bullet raced forward without needing aim.
No need for straight-line pursuit; shooting straight back at the incoming threat was enough.
*WHIRRR-!!*
The compressed bullet left my fingertips.
*SHRIEK!*
The two manas collided.
The light of mana visible on the giant lizard vanished with the hit.
The collapsing mana form signaled the end of the battle.
The enchanted bullet shot from my three fingers had succeeded in bursting the lizard's mana core.
Amid the feeling of release, Ray's silhouette grew hazy as Mana Sight dimmed, like an outline approaching.
The tired brain seemed unable to process all the optic nerve information.
"Not bad."
At Ray's words, I added, despite my head ringing from extreme concentration.
"Ray, you deliberately brought us here."
§
I was certain.
Ray had known where we were yet still led us here.
Even so, Ray played it cool.
"I don't know what you're talking about?"
"No. You never stopped once. No hesitation. Even at the fork, you decided instantly, like you had a map. It's impossible without knowing something."
"I just moved without thinking. And it's a training expedition; of course there are monsters."
There it is...
My claim was purely circumstantial evidence.
If Ray kept dodging, I'd have nothing more to say.
"Okay. Suppose it was pure coincidence that we came to a place with monsters."
But Ray made one last mistake.
"But releasing the lizard just now was abandoning your role as vanguard, wasn't it?"
"...It wasn't that dangerous anyway. It was just an illusion. Before the collision, the manifestation would have ended."
Ray's excuse was essentially an admission.
While the danger wasn't high, she had deliberately released the lizard.
"You intentionally tested us. To check our abilities. Am I wrong?"
"Then?"
"You should have asked for permission in advance. Said you wanted to check the team's abilities. Then we'd have agreed. But acting freely like this can't be tolerated."
At my firm words, Leaf added.
"Yes! This time Ray was too much. Especially since Roman has limitations on using mana..."
"...Yeah. I was too much. Fine?"
With Leaf joining in, Ray reluctantly agreed.
I could have let it slide if we ended it here.
But I wasn't going to.
Even that wouldn't work.
Crying over spilled milk wouldn't change anything; there would just be another collision later.
"You want to end it like that?"
"Huh? We had to do it once anyway. Good thing we did. We figured out each of our capabilities this time."
"If it was under agreement, sure."
Ray was right; the danger wasn't that high.
The instructors weren't idiots.
They would have intervened if something serious was happening.
But this was about trust.
"You betrayed the team's faith."
The belief in guiding us on the right path.
The belief in blocking the enemy as vanguard.
"But, I'll admit it was a necessary process."
It was bound to happen once.
Distinguishing between observing battle power in duels and conducting joint battles with position divisions was a different matter.
We definitely needed to confirm synergy with teammates through coordination.
If there was no legitimacy, it wouldn't have ended with just words.
"So, apologize. Sincerely. If you promise not to do it again, that's it."
I waited for Ray's reply.
If Ray acted freely here too, I'd draw a firm line.
"Mi..."
Ray's voice came out very small.
"Mi... sorry..."
Ray's pure, simple voice was so gentle it left me momentarily speechless, the same girl who had hurled insults at me without mercy.
Leaf must have been imagining it too, her dazed exclamation "Eh?" perfectly conveying my inner turmoil.
"Done! It's over! I apologized!"
"Um, yeah. What do you think, Leaf?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah. Me too... it's fine, right...?"
It seemed like there had been some sharp conflict, but the atmosphere had relaxed to the point where it felt like such a moment had never existed.
"L-Let's go! Next time, I'll go properly."
"Ray."
"..."
"If you don't want to answer, just listen. I'm not mocking."
I called out to Ray, who was about to leave, and continued.
"From now on, we're making rules."
"Rules?"
Yeah.
I'm glad Leaf is here.
How earnest she is.
"Yeah. Rules for the team. Whether you like it or not, we're a team and we have to operate together for now. But we can't keep clashing by acting like this."
"Yeah... we can..."
"So we need rules."
I spoke the content that came to mind instantly.
One, team opinions decided by majority vote.
Two, absolutely no physical conflict.
Three, no actions harming teammates.
Simple but necessary and rational items for being a team.
Leaf clapped enthusiastically and agreed.
"Great! There are exactly three numbers, so no worry about ties with majority vote!"
"Ray, what about you?"
"...Hmm, it's not bad."
With both Leaf and Ray agreeing, I added one more clause.
"And four. Always remember that we are one team."
In other words, let's work hard together.
Please.
§
"One hour fifty-one minutes. Lowest rank."
In the evaluation by Aaron, the responsible instructor for the exploration function, our team by Roman was silent.
"You seem too loose. After aptitude tests, we usually don't expel unless there's a major disqualification, but don't forget that severe ones result in forced expulsion."
Roman nodded hesitantly.
Something felt off.
Instead of the expected flow, the instructor's words filled Roman's mind with bewilderment.
What? Is it over just like that?
We didn't say a word about catching that giant rock lizard?
"And you should master the universal mana early. At least acquire glow magic to some degree. The Abyss has lots of dark places."
At those words, Leaf's hand twitched.
Although no one could tell with her gripping the staff tightly.
"Finally, trust each other more. Team changes are possible, but... you seem set to stay as is. Don't forget that even if it's not the final exam, the intermediate exams are performed as a team."
Aaron waved his hand as he finished speaking.
"You can go now. Today's training ends here. Use the remaining time as you like. Dismissed."
Aaron left right after giving the dismissal order.
Roman stared blankly at Aaron's back, then exchanged glances with Leaf beside him.
'Is this really the end?'
'We're just going to overlook it?'
I don't know.
It looked pretty strong, but apparently everyone handles guys like that.
"So, do you want to go wash up separately? Or do something about the aftermath?"
"I feel like I should wash too. And today, let's practice that universal mana a bit. Ray is... ah, she's already gone."
Looking at Ray's retreating figure already far away, Leaf said in a drained voice.
Even though we're a team... at least a greeting would have been nice.
The dismissal was carried out amid the regret.
While Roman and Leaf headed back to the dormitory to wash, Ray's footsteps headed in the opposite direction, toward the free training building.
Ray's mind was a mess.
The reason I approached Roman in the first place was to learn about demonologists through him.
Demonologists were one of the archenemies Ray had to defeat herself.
She had intended to figure out countermeasures and weaknesses by observing that seemingly inept demonologist through this training.
It was the same context as what happened in this training.
Ray had brought them to a place that seemed like the strongest enemy rather than the destination.
To watch how Roman fought, to see the demonologist's battle.
Finding a strong enemy would reveal more dirt since the opponent was strong.
But, Roman was right.
'That shouldn't have happened...'
Betraying trust by turning your back.
That's exactly like those guys.
At least, I never should have done that to myself.
And the one who taught me that was none other than Roman, the demonologist.
'Acting like that guy.'
Using confidence when I'm weak and can't even use body reinforcement.
Really, I look just like him.
Weak in strength, but strong in spirit.
The person who disciplined me when I was wrong.
And the one who finally faced me straight and said.
"We are one family."
A weakling...!
Weakling... am I?
The wall basilisk was a monster Ray knew.
It was not a favorable matchup against Ray herself.
The wall basilisk I met on the lower floor was an illusion overlaid on an alchemy frame.
It was naturally weaker than the real thing, but even Ray would have had to go all out to break through head-on.
However, Roman caught such a wall basilisk.
Without magic, just with pure mana projection.
Could I do it?
If I excluded body reinforcement and magic, I would be in serious trouble.
But why?
No matter how I tried to recall the power Roman showed, all that came to mind were the words he had said.
"Whooo...!"
Why, why did I sound so stupidly apologetic from there...
"Forget it! Forget everything! Erase it from my brain!"
*THUD! THUD!*
Ray pounding her own head, if anyone had seen it, would have been so deranged they would have clicked their tongue.
Had she realized her stupid act?
Ray's fists loosened powerlessly, arms hanging limp.
*Thunk.*
Leaning her head against the wall, Ray muttered dejectedly.
"Why... did you say it like that person...?"
The only person who had ever scolded her.
And now the person she couldn't see.
Forcing down the rising grief, Ray moved her feet again.
Ray's back as she entered the training building looked especially small.