章 13: Rumor (4)
"Ah······. Guh······."
Her heart beat as if it was about to explode and her mind went blank. All her plans have gone down the drain.
Epherene tried to somehow sneak back.
"You're in the way. Move."
However, there was something wrong with these words.
Why are you telling me to move?
Epherene bit her lips and raised her face. Then, she held the paper out straight.
"······I!"
She was going to do it with one hand but she ended up doing it with both of them in a very polite way. It was a fiasco.
"I······."
Deculein was still looking at her with cold eyes.
Epherene took a deep breath and calmed down her racing mind. Just at that moment, she promised herself something.
These arrogant eyes, if not now, one day, I'll definitely gorge them out...
"I'm planning to create a club. However, we need the signature of an advisor."
Although she didn't receive a response, a situation that would make others blush in embarrassment, Epherene continued speaking.
"······We'll never bother you or anything. It's just that the other professors wouldn't agree to something like a commoners' club, so, just the signature..."
Epherene used up all her energy just to say that. Her stretched out arms were shaking. Deculein's silent pressure seemed to crush her.
──However.
Something unexpected happened.
Deculein took the paper Epherene handed to him. Without saying a single word. He just stretched out his hand and took it.
"······Huh."
Epherene let out a sound signifying her surprise.
Deculein read through the plan.
She was nervous. She was scared that he'd just tear it up saying something like 'How dare you try to trample over me?!'.
She was already hearing the sound of tearing paper in her ears.
However, Deculein took out a fountain pen out of his pocket.
She was nervous. She thought he'd tear the paper with his fountain pen, mocking 'Did you expect I'd sign it? How dare these filthy commoners-'.
However, Deculein signed it with his pen.
She was nervous. She thought he'd just tear up the paper after signing it, saying in his icy voice 'Did you really think something like this would happen?'.
However, Deculein did not.
All he did was hand over the fully signed document.
"Please write down all the details later and send them to my office."
"······Yes?"
Then he walked past her.
While she was staring ahead in a daze, his scent slowly seemed to fade away.
"······."
Epherene just stood there looking at the 'club creation plan'.
There was a signature on it.
Deculein's signature.
······Let's not let our guard down just yet.
Maybe he put a spell on it so that it tears itself apart at a later time.
But even as Deculein got further and further away until he only seemed like a dot the paper remained intact.
"U, uwah, uwauwauwa! Wow! Awesome!""
Only then did the other students, who hid away, come out again.
"Wow, you got his actual signature... Epherene, you're really courageous."
"Look! I was right! That professor doesn't care whether they are commoners or nobles!? He ignores everyone equally!"
Everyone was laughing and making a fuss, but Epherene wasn't in a good mood.
This is the worst.
Without meaning to, I, once again, begged for sympathy.
She got angry. The heat was spreading throughout her whole body.
She wanted to ask Deculein:
Why do you keep being so generous towards me?
I don't need any of that petty sympathy and pity you feel for me. It's rather funny. Do you really think you can soothe me with these cheap feelings?
No, if you were really sorry, why don't you just confess all your wrongdoings to the whole world and apologize to my father······.
"Iffie, you're going to join, too, right?"
Julia asked tactlessly. Epherene clenched her fists and turned around to look at her.
"I won't. And you, if you push me like this one more time, we're going to have some serious problems, got it?"
Although she was coldly pushed away, Julia was already focused on something else.
"Ah~ no. What are you saying? Iffie, thanks to you, we were able to create this club, so you're going to be its manager!"
"Are you crazy?"
What the hell is she doing?
Epherene shook her head in exasperation.
"Hey. I obviously said no-"
"Right. We'll celebrate, so let's get something good! Do you want to go to the store? My got a roahawk boar airlifted to him."
"······."
Roahawk Boar.
Epherene never had boar before. No, it's not very common for anyone, not only Epherene.
Boars are so high-class. They're so much better off than me, who grew up only chewing on perilla leaves. It's said that as soon as one bit into that meat, juice would come bursting out and the meat is softer than any other meat in the world······.
"······Iffie! You're coming, too, right?!"
"No. I'm not going."
Epherene still had her pride. She pouted her lips and pretended to be angry when Julia put her hands together and bowed her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Were you surprised? I was really flustered, too. Don't be like that, let's go out together, just once."
Epherene was grateful for that request.
"······Then I'll go. But don't do something like this next time."
"Oh, of course~ Let's go, let's go~"
"I thought you had good intentions, so I deliberately-"
"I know, I know. Let's go, let's go~"
Julia started walking with her arm intertwined with Epherene's..
Then, Epherene, pretending to get dragged away by Julia, arrived at her family's restaurant [Pig Flower].
The food of this restaurant with a luxurious signboard and interior was delicious, delicious and delicious.
Especially the enchanting taste of the Roahawk Boar meat... It was so good that she didn't want this taste to leave her mouth for the rest of her life.
* * *
On the last Thursday of March, in a detached building of the Yucline estate.
In this place that got completely remodeled as a training ground, with no sunlight entering, I brushed back my wet hair.
My whole body reflected in the mirror was covered in sweat caused by the intense training I kept up for a long time.
If it were the former me I wouldn't have cared but because of my changed personality, it felt like bugs were crawling all over my body.
Tak─!
I used a common type of basic magic. Since it was just a three-stroke magic, I could manifest it just by flicking my finger.
It's name was called 'Cleans'. It's a temporary method to use before actually showering. It gathered the sweat and dust from all over my body and removed it.
I roughly cleaned myself with that and looked at the watch
6 a.m.
It's been about 2 hours since I woke up at 4 a.m and 5 days since I started exercising at dawn daily.
I looked at my body using a full-body mirror.
The results of my exercise were clearly visible. The muscles all over my body were sculpted practically and perfectly, not too large or too small. I didn't look much different than those sculptures.
This was definitely thanks to [Iron Man]. I didn't have any difficulty doing the exercises and even if I had muscle pains I'd recover quickly.
With just one or two month of steady effort, I could easily surpass even NFL or NBA players who are said to have bodies packed with pure athletic ability.
"Now for the next routine······."
'Sword Control'.
I took out my main weapon I requested the blacksmith to make the other day. However, there wasn't only one. There were quite a lot. Exactly 20.
They were made of wood steel. It was one of the finest metals that inherently had the same color and weight as wood, but was harder than steel.
The armament that was produced was, in two words, a sharp octahedron..
It's about half the size of my forearm and was similar to a shuriken, but it didn't have a handle and both sides of the black blades were symmetrical.
The weapon was sharp on all sides, making it very efficient to handle with psychokinesis.
Not only could I easily stab, cut, pierce, puncture and attack with it, in case of emergency, I could use it defensively as a shield.
Anyway, it roughly was like a shuriken, it'll be my main weapon until I could buy alabaster. Of course, I planned to process the alabaster in the same way.
"Arise."
At my word, the twenty shuriken rose up.
Gooooo······.
A number of the shuriken quickly flew about, but they collided with each other shaking violently.
Kang─ Chang─! Tang─! King─! Chink─!
The roof and pillars were smashed, so I quickly reduced the number to 10.
I still wasn't used to this either. The metal called wood steel was extremely high quality.
Five of the ten shurikens slanted to the right and the rest slanted to the left. Ten shuriken were crossed in the air as if they were building a match tower.
I wondered if I could move them more precisely as I reduced the number... And so I tried.
Let's speed up
Ting─!
Two shuriken hit each other and bounced off.
"······!"
One of them cut my shoulder.
Shit.
I mouthed and held back. However, just then, another one soared towards me and stabbed me in the thigh.
"······It hurts like hell."
This time it hurt so much that I couldn't stand it. This disaster was created because the speed of each of the ten shuriken was different.
Thanks to that I got to feel their destructive power with my own body.
I almost got myself killed in an almost funny way.
"······Hup!"
I pulled out the shuriken in my thigh with a sharp breath.
Blood flowed out, but there was no treatment needed.
I was an Iron Man. Whether it's mana or stamina, my recovery speed was superhuman.
"One more time."
Before the wounds on my thigh could heal, I recalled the ten shuriken again using my mind.
Chaeeng─!
One of them suddenly flipped and stabbed me in the shoulder.
"······!"
It hurt like hell.
However, I didn't do such a thing as clench my teeth, scream and open my eyes wide.
No, I couldn't. I wanted to spite out every swear word I knew, but they just wouldn't come out.
"Something the likes of a shuriken······."
Rather, I got angry.
How dare a shuriken, a mere weapon, refuse to obey my control.
You've chosen the wrong opponent. I'll do this until I succeed, I swear....
This guy's characteristic [Competitive] got activated.
Wasn't there this famous saying, why learn by book if you can learn by body?
The more my body got hurt, the quicker my proficiency would rise, so I had nothing to lose.
······That day.
I was cut exactly 108 times and got stabbed 13 times before I finished my training.
Of course, this match wasn't over yet and I still had enough resources, but I had no choice as my lecture started at 3 p.m.
* * *
3 p.m. The Tower's Class A lecture hall.
Unlike the previous class, there was a different tension than that time in that spacious lecture hall.
The cause were Sylvia and Epherene. This was the first lecture after the two of them fought after all.
"······Hum. Ehem."
Epherene tried not to pay attention to Sylvia, but her eyes continued to drift towards her, while Sylvia didn't even attempt to look at her.
Almost naturally, the class was split into factions. The commoners seemed to support Epherene and the nobles seemed to belittle her by Sylvia's side.
In the midst of this uncomfortable, hostile atmosphere,
Katchak─
The door to the lecture hall opened and Senior Professor Deculein appeared.
He was perfectly dressed as always.
Epherene unconsciously clenched her hand around her pen. As soon as she reached her room yesterday, she recharged (?) her anger by reading her late father's letter, so just looking at his face made her feel complicated.
Deculein climbed to the podium of the spacious lecture hall. He adjusted his clothes as usual, and then laid down the lecture materials on his desk.
"Nice to meet you."
Everyone reflexively greeted back to that elegant tone.
"Today's lecture will pertain directly to the understanding of 'Pure Elements'."
The magician's opened their readers. Today was an ordinary indoor lecture, so everyone brought a book called "Understanding Elements" written by Deculein with them.
By the way, Epherene couldn't buy it because she didn't have money.
"As all of you know, 'Elements' are the basis for almost all magic. However, there are still many magicians who confuse the difference between 'Type Magic' and 'Pure Elements'."
For example, 'attribute' comes first, and 'type' comes after.
For example, the act of making fire. That in itself is a 'Pure Element'.
The act of expelling the fire that has been created. That is part of the 'Destruction Type'.
"So today I want to teach you this magic."
The magicians' hands were busy. They tilted their heads and flipped through the reader. None of the things written in it had anything to do with today's lecture.
Tak—!
The lights of the lecture hall were extinguished with just a snap of his fingers. In the dark a magic circle and its name appeared.
「Scorching Fire」
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
Everyone was surprised. 「Scorching Fire」was one of the most difficult of all the 'Pure Elements'.
"There's nothing to be surprised about. I'm not telling you that you have to learn this magic. Compared to this magic, your skills are lacking.「Scorching Fire」is just a textbook example."
Deculein calmly continued the lecture.
"As you all know, 8 strokes would be enough to create ordinary fire."
No sooner had he said these words flames rose into the air. It was Deculein's magic.
His flames flickered with unnecessary grace.
"However「Scorching Fire」needs 88 strokes."
Fire without sound nor shape.
This upper-intermediate-level magic used for genocide and arson required 88 strokes purely for "ignition". If one wanted to use it offensively one had to add 60 more.
"Did any of you ever wonder why that is? Just because it's a strange sort of fire? Or is it because 'Pure Elements' are a mixture of Control and Illusion type magic?"
Everyone just blinked.
"But why is it classified as a pure element, not a type when it's just a mixture? Just what on earth are these pure elements? So many questions."
His lecture had a strange attraction to it.
"You must have lived without harboring such questions. Theories are just ingredients after all and you must have learned magic through your intuition."
Then the fire spread to the ceiling. It was red. But soon it turned blue and then completely black.
The 150 magician's just blinked blankly.
"You must clearly and completely understand the formula of the pure element 'Fire'."
Before long, a much simpler magic circle was projected.
It was just the 8 stroke [Fire].
From that point on─
A number of magicians, Epherene included, who were only watching up until now, naturally took out writing tools.
Sylvia, on the other hand, remained stubborn.
I have nothing to learn from you. Whether it's theory or intuition, you can't teach me anything······.
It was because she was still sulking.
"Take a close look. You can change the color of the flame by adding these two thin strands to the [Fire] circle."
Red one, blue two strokes.
"Adding four strokes will make the fire bigger."
To make the fire even more destructive it needs four strokes.
"By the way, [Fire] with 7 strokes added here will cause it to suddenly 'flow'."
The Flames flowed down like an illusion.
It seemed like magma. The fire was really 'Flowing'.
"······."
By then, Sylvia, who had been trying so hard to ignore the lecture, became a little restless. Her hands were itching at the unexpected content.
That's not it. Deculein's lecture was extremely 'theoretical'.
Elites, or geniuses, usually use magic by intuition. The theory just set the frame, so one had to fill in the details using one's own senses.
If magic was only all about the theory, then all magic would have already been copied and pasted into that mold.
Sylvia didn't fall out of that category of geniuses. Her properties were origin and not elemental in the first place. She had no knowledge of these complexe theories pertaining to pure elements.
Also, if one were too biased towards theory, one wouldn't have enough time to learn actual magic.
Each line has this and this much mana. What function does this circuit have? What function does that circuit have?
If one wanted to understand all those things, it would take more than a year to 'memorize' a single magic and it would become harder to use it in praxis as well.
"Well then, please take a look at these 7 strokes again."
This could be called a 'contradiction'.
To be counted as an elite, one had to have great intuition.
However such elites couldn't explain what they understood intuitively.
Therefore, in order to teach well, one had to be well-versed in theory.
However, those who are outstanding in theory were not elites as they were buried in theories or because they lacked intuition to implement magic above the intermediate level.
That's probably why professors were kind of half and half. They gave the young magicians enough theories to build a stable framework so that they could get a sense for it, but they were only able to explain magic using intuition.
Deculein wasn't like that.
"These 7 strokes, added to the magic circle, make the dire flow. However this circle is likely similar to something you have already seen before."
She seemed to know what he'd say next.
Water.
Since the property of the water element got magically separated from it and added to fire , said fire seemed to 'flow' like water.
This was the combination of two pure elements.
"Indeed. This formula is an attribute of water. Fire and water. This combination of pure elements is very difficult to implement, but if one knows the principle behind it, one can easily understand it."
At that moment- Sylvia felt goosebumps rising up her back.
It was a strange experience because this subject was rather unexpected, and it's been so unfamiliar to her as it's been so long since she last felt this.
Right now I- I'm learning.
I feel like… I'm learning from Deculein.
The only problem, however, was that Sylvia didn't bring any writing tools with her. It was because she was deliberately being stubborn about not planning on studying any of what was said here.
In other words, who'd have thought, that Deculein, who was so jealous of the talented new magicians, would prepare such a lecture for them. They thought he'd only brag about himself.
"······."
Everyone in Class A was concentrating on Deculein as if they were possessed.
They are all taking notes, except me.
She was getting anxious.
I can apply this lecture much better than all of you. I can learn much more deeply. Why was I studying alone all this time?
The anxious Sylvia carefully stretched out her fingers. A female magician next to her had left her pencil case open, so she slowly was stretching out her fingers like a spider stalking her prey.
At that moment─ Their eyes met momentarily.
The student quickly went back to focusing on the class, however Sylvia was overcome with shame that she got caught in the act.
"······."
Sylvia, who was struggling, clenched her teeth, and nearly expressed her distress through her magic. She had to be careful not to let waves of mana explode from her body.
The mana that originated from her abdomen quickly rose through her veins and escaped through her finger tips. It was just blue, but soon it took on a variety of colors and took the shape of a long, blunt writing tool.
It was a pencil.
"Therefore, the properties of 「Scorching Fire」 are very complex."
Wind was shaking silently.
What rose up without form or shape was smoke, that is, fire and water.
A combination of three properties made up 「Scorching Fire」.
"It's pure elemental magic because the pure forms of fire, water and wind were combined to create it. Now, let us simplify 「Scorching Fire」. Let me show you what calculations one needs to implement."
Sylvia was absorbed in this lecture.
For the first time in such a long time, she poured her everything into listening to the voice and observing the face of a professor she could call a 'teacher' and his teachings.
One day, I might recover some of those pure feelings I thought I had lost when I was very young...
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