“Ee─ I’m William Taylor, the one who will be teaching you basic magic theory.”
The professor of the new class was a man with long hair like Damian’s, but while Damian’s was neatly groomed, William’s gave off the vibe that he just couldn’t be bothered to cut it and ended up with long hair by default.
As William brushed away his messy locks that fell all over, he lazily scratched his head and explained the outline of the class.
“There might be some students from the Knight Department who can’t use magic here. The reason I’ve called you all here is simple. You’re the ones who need to face those sorcerers.”
In times of war, the role of knights was crucial.
Destroying enemy soldiers, assassinating enemy sorcerers, or protecting allied sorcerers.
In other words—knights were mostly tasked with either killing or guarding sorcerers.
“To win a fight, you must know your opponent; similarly, to counter a sorcerer, you must understand magic.”
After showing statistical data proving that knights trained in magic were better at handling it than those ignorant of it—William instructed everyone to remember their partner seated next to them.
“This partner sitting next to you won’t change until the end of this semester.”
“Professor…? What if we don’t like our partner……?”
“I personally assigned each of you partners based on your grades and characteristics. If anyone disagrees with my judgment, leave the class immediately.”
Still—even though he looked a bit clumsy, a professor was still a professor. William showed no intention of changing his mind, and eventually, the cadets had no choice but to get along with whoever was sitting next to them.
As the cadets resigned themselves to this fact and started chatting with students from other departments seated beside them, Kail scratched his cheek as he watched Sera, who sat silently with her head bowed down.
‘Did I tease her too much earlier?’
Perhaps she was still sulking because of how much he teased her. Thinking this, Kail confidently extended his hand towards her.
“I’m Kail Meyer. Nice to meet you.”
“Uh, uh? Oh- I’m Kim Sera. Nice to meet you too…”
Still looking defeated, she flinched when Kail slapped her back to pump her up, letting out a weak scream as she straightened her hunched body. Meanwhile, Kail laughed heartily and focused on the lesson.
The content of the lesson was simple: learning about the structure, history, and types of magic—and then watching as mage cadets cast spells for the knight cadets to experience firsthand.
Though it seemed like a crazy lesson, theoretically, there was no real danger since none of the cadets were unable to use Aura anymore.
“Magic is—”
Up front, William lectured on the history of magic, while the mage cadets seated next to the knights began calculating their spells with maximum malevolence, realizing they now had a legal opportunity to attack the knights.
The power of magic alters physical laws, and sorcerers freely manipulate these altered laws.
A 1-star sorcerer can alter one law at a time, a 2-star sorcerer two, and so on—making 3-star sorcerers the first to truly hold their own in battle.
“Hey, Kail?”
“Yeah.”
“My spell—it’s ready. Should I fire it?”
Sera said this as she pointed the flame flickering at her fingertip toward Kail. Kail nodded confidently, drawing upon his Aura.
Pew-! The fired flame hit Kail’s Aura, bounced off, and landed directly onto the textbook.
“Ahh.”
“Oh no.”
Sera, who almost burned her textbook, hastily used magic to create water and extinguished the flames. She then stared bitterly at her soaked, ruined book.
“…It didn’t work.”
“Isn’t there a spell that just shoots out pure magic power instead of fire?”
“Well, not exactly none…”
Pew-!
The next moment, Sera fired a blast of magic power with surprising speed. Traveling at light speed, the magic collided with Kail’s Aura barrier and was instantly neutralized.
With a shrug, Sera explained the downside of this magic.
“Pure magic power is just a lump of energy… It’s inefficient.”
Indeed, the beam of magic power Sera fired barely scratched Kail’s Aura before dissipating. Unless one was a grand sorcerer capable of freely manipulating vast amounts of magic or a dragon generating infinite magic from its heart, using magic in other ways was far more efficient.
“Besides, Aura’s main advantage is being unnecessarily tough. Brute-forcing things puts magic users at a significant disadvantage.”
“Really?”
“…Don’t you know better, being an Aura user yourself?”
“I’ve never handled magic before.”
True, Aura did seem to coalesce better compared to magic power. But magic had its own strengths.
“Anyway, this class is pretty boring. Is this even helpful?”
“The professor might hear you…!”
“Sorry for being bored.”
Thud- Kail flinched as the professor suddenly appeared behind him. He could’ve sworn the professor was up front just moments ago?
Glancing sideways, sure enough, there he still was. Closing his eyes slightly and raising his Aura, Kail realized both professors—the one in front and the one right before him—were real.
‘What the heck is this…’
“Surprised? Yes, you look surprised. Good.”
William snapped his fingers as he spoke. Then, the figure of the professor standing at the podium began to disappear. And in the next moment—the presence of magic emanating from the professor before him also started fading.
“This is my innate superpower. Commonly known as ‘Force.’”
“…So this is Force.”
“Yes. Do you understand what kind of ability it is?”
Kail quietly nodded. Even as an Aura Master, he couldn’t detect it at first. However, with closer focus, he could sense it. Its presence was fainter than a flea, drowned out by other energies.
“An ability to erase one’s presence…?”
“Do I look like someone who’d have such an ability?”
“To be honest—yes.”
“…Correct. But forget you ever said you were bored. There won’t be a second chance.”
William spoke as he created another clone of himself up front. Only then did Kail realize how William had tricked him and moved to the back.
William’s presence was fainter than a flea’s. Compared to the magic power emanating from his spells, it was like comparing the Grand Canyon to a single grain of sand.
In other words, if he cast a simple projection clone spell and cloaked himself with invisibility, attention would naturally focus only on the clone in front.
‘Impressive.’
It wasn’t that the Force ability itself was amazing. What was impressive was how skillfully he utilized it through his mastery of magic.
Kail once again realized he couldn’t survive in this world just by being good at swinging a sword. If William had intended to assassinate him? One big spell would’ve surely landed.
‘To stop something like that—’
Simply swinging a sword wouldn’t be enough. Swinging a sword, mastering Aura—something beyond that was necessary.
Glancing sideways, Kail looked at Sera seated next to him. She was still sulking after being scolded by the professor, but still…
‘This girl—she’s definitely a die-hard fan of Diaros Academy.’
A player who knew everything, she herself claimed to be like a walking wiki of Diaros Academy.
‘If that’s the case—’
Wouldn’t she know about the hidden opportunities within the academy?
* * *
After all the lessons ended, I approached Sera immediately. She, having composed herself during class, greeted me warmly.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“I need to ask you something.”
At my sudden request, she tilted her head, wondering what it could be.
“—Are there any hidden treasures or special opportunities within the academy?”
“Plenty. But—do you really need them?”
“After seeing today’s lesson, I think I do.”
She questioned whether someone like me, an Aura Master, needed such trivial skills, but being an Aura Master didn’t make me invincible.
If that were the case, I’d already be emperor. Why hadn’t I become one, then?
Sera pondered my words silently, then began thinking of the most suitable opportunity for an Aura Master like me.
Nodding, Sera raised her finger in front of my face and answered.
“—But, there’s a condition.”
“What is it?”
“You, become my comrade!”
The catchphrase from Japan’s biggest and greatest pirate manga.
Sera recited the line.
She’d tell me if I became her comrade.
‘What’s with this “comrade” thing.’
Seeing no reason to refuse, I accepted.
* * *
On the weekend, Kail headed to the meeting spot he’d arranged with Sera.
“There, over here!”
From afar, Sera stood waiting at the meeting spot, already surrounded by a few people who appeared to be her comrades.
Approaching closer, they flinched in surprise upon seeing Kail’s face.
“…Why are you all here?”
“That’s what we’d like to ask.”
Yuri and Arthur, the two of them, were waiting there for him.
