I’m Not Becoming a Graduate Student! – Chapter 23

Clif Devrong, a first-year student in the Magic Department at the Byzantine Academy, hailed from the renowned Devrong knight family. Rarely dabbling in magic, he enrolled in the magic department and lately, he had been irritated by a particular individual who was like a thorn in his side.

“Sion… that lowly commoner.”

Crunch.

Clif ground his teeth and glared ferociously at Sion, who was chatting aimlessly with Patrick and Geivolg.

Clif loathed him intensely.

It was already annoying that this commoner disturbed the class with his nonsense, but this time it was during swordsmanship class.

“What the hell! Who’s that punk?”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Uh… p-professor…?”

“If you don’t leave for three seconds, I’ll consider it a challenge to my teaching authority.”

In Professor Heruj’s swordsmanship class, Clif managed to catch the professor’s interest with a decent performance, but after throwing a few words at Sion, who looked at him mockingly, a fight ensued.

Such battles during class were, of course, a grave insult to the professor.

The sentence of expulsion from the class stirred Clif’s anger.

Being from a knightly family, Clif had always excelled in swordsmanship classes, making his rage boil over even more.

“All because of that damn commoner…!”

Clif never once considered his own faults.

He simply redirected his fury toward Sion.

He had already hinted to his close acquaintances that he would deal with Sion soon, yet before Clif could get his hands on him, another incident erupted.

“I’ll be right back; just going to the… bathroom with Sion, okay…?”

“……What??? What do you mean…?”

“Hurry up… come on…!”

Professor Lunia left, claiming to take Sion to the bathroom.

Clif was furious at the sight.

Just yesterday he told them to quietly go about their business at the academy, and now she was acting like that again.

The students nearby eyed the scene with skepticism.

“Where are they going?”

“I doubt it’s to the bathroom…”

“I’ll make sure Sion pays for this.”

“Sion? Oh, you got kicked out of class yesterday?”

“Just seeing that commoner getting cocky is enough to make my stomach churn.”

“Heh, honestly, I feel the same. He did that with Professor Magret too…”

Clif expressed his irritation with a snort.

The surrounding students chimed in with their agreement, busy tearing into Sion.

Since he was a commoner, they wouldn’t lose any of their dignity or run into any trouble by gossiping about him. What did they have to lose?

However, someone was watching such behavior with disapproving eyes.

“Anyway, I’m definitely going to crush that guy—”

“It’s not right to talk about others behind their backs.”

“…Huh?”

With a voice like a rolling pearl, Clif turned around.

There stood Estroja Perrawell, with a gentle expression.

“We are nobles. Nobles must always maintain their dignity and propriety. I believe that our honor and respect stem from that.”

“Y-yeah, I-I think so too. Haha.”

“Let’s forget about yesterday’s unpleasant incident and look to the future. That’s how we can ensure progress.”

With those words, she looked slightly surprised, as if she hadn’t meant to interrupt.

“I’m sorry for butting in. Please, carry on your discussion comfortably.”

With a soft smile, Estroja left.

Clif watched in a daze as she returned to her place.

The anger that had been boiling over him just moments ago melted away like snow.

The students around Clif nodded in agreement.

“Indeed, Estroja is wonderful. So noble.”

“She’s always so stunning… truly a model noble.”

“Clif, don’t get so worked up. Estroja is right.”

“Hmm… Well, I suppose she has a point…”

Though Clif couldn’t bring himself to agree with Estroja’s words inwardly, he kept silent, not wanting to show any dissent, as the other students were too enchanted by her reputation and gentle charisma.

To keep attacking Sion would now be a challenge to Estroja’s authority.

Thanks to Estroja, the atmosphere had noticeably softened, and the students awaited the professor’s return.

After about five minutes, Sion and Lunia returned.

However, it was not Professor Lunia who stood before them, but Sion.

“I apologize for the interruption in class. Actually, after our contract with the spirits yesterday, I had a little chat with the professor. We talked about various things related to spirits; it was quite enjoyable, wasn’t it, Professor?”

“Uh? Ah, yes, it was… um, enjoyable… Sion…”

Seeing the commoner’s face made her feel a rush of anger once again—

But something about him felt different.

It wasn’t his usual awkwardness and childish nature… there was a sense of ‘overwhelming’ presence.

“And so, I proposed to lead the next class. The professor responded positively, and as a result, I will be in charge for today. Are there any objections?”

As Sion smoothly led the class, Clif found himself momentarily breathless.

Could this be the same guy who swung a sword clumsily just yesterday?

But Clif shook his head and steadied himself.

His fist clenched tightly in his pocket.

That was his firm will not to forget the humiliation from yesterday.

“So he wants to teach it? Fine, I’ll make him utterly embarrassed.”

A brilliant idea popped into Clif’s mind.

He would throw difficult questions at Sion, who was acting all pompous, to make him look foolish.

Especially since spirit magic was one of the areas Clif was well-versed in.

He had prepared to bombard Sion with questions that were above the first-year level since he had done his homework before coming to the academy.

“Today, we will learn about the types of spirits. Spirits can be broadly categorized into general and special attributes. To put it simply…”

Snap!

Just as Sion explained the types, he snapped his fingers.

Without any chanting, magic began to unfold.

Six spheres of various attributes.

“…??”

An astoundingly complex magic cast in an instant, without so much as a whisper of a chant.

Just performing two spells simultaneously was enough to earn the title of ‘Double Caster’… so what could this be called?

It seemed Sion continued his class unnoticed, even as the other students grew flustered.

“There are six attributes in general: water, fire, wind, earth, light, and darkness. Essentially, you can understand it as the four classical elements of elemental magic augmented with light and dark…”

Sion waved his hand, and the water collided with the fire.

Naturally, the flames extinguished upon touching the water.

“Just like elemental magic, spirits also have their attributes. Water is strong against fire, fire against earth, earth against wind, and wind against water. It’s like a food chain of sorts.”

As Sion inserted water into the wind sphere, the water scattered and vanished.

When he placed a rock into the wind sphere, the rock remained unmoved, and the wind dissipated instead.

Finally, as Sion summoned the fire sphere once again, the flame engulfed the round rock.

He had demonstrated the mutual dominance relations in a simple first-circle magic.

‘…He’s explaining it so clearly?’

Clif internally admired.

The nature of elemental magic could sometimes go beyond common sense.

While he knew water was strong against fire, grasping why earth was strong against wind and wind against water was difficult.

Sion had managed to convey that understanding instantly through direct demonstration with elemental magic.

With his proficiency in magic and consideration for the students’ level, Clif found himself focusing on Sion’s fingertips and every word he uttered.

“Light and dark attributes are polar opposites. They reliably counter each other, which makes it easier to think of them that way.”

When the light sphere collided with the dark sphere, they rotated together, fusing, and then disappeared as if they had never existed.

They were entities that consume each other… that was the relationship between light and dark.

“Special attributes refer to all attributes excluding the six basic ones. In addition to commonly known time and space attributes… there are quite a few diverse attributes. They are exceedingly rare in nature, and the probability of a contract is faint. Are there any questions up to this point?”

Clap.

As Sion lightly clapped his hands, vitality returned to the students’ eyes.

They were instantly captivated by the vibrant lecture that utilized magic.

Like a spell had been broken, the students blinked, wide-eyed.

The first to regain his senses was Clif.

‘I-I need to ask a question. I have to humiliate that flashy guy…’

Sion was smiling at the students, looking like he could easily be mistaken for a professor if it weren’t for his school uniform.

To Clif, that sight was infuriating.

‘I’ll soon strip away that mask.’

With his question decided, Clif raised his hand high.

“Yes, student. What is it?”

“Hi, I’m Clif Devrong. I have a question regarding the relationships of attributes in general. As far as I know, there are not only dominant relationships but also complementary ones. Can you explain that?”

First-year spirit magic only dealt with attribute dominance.

But once students reached the second and third years, the concept of ‘complementary’ relationships would emerge regarding spirit attributes.

It could confuse younger students, so they would save that for later.

As expected, Sion rubbed his chin with his finger, musing.

‘What an idiot. Serves him right.’

What? Teaching in front of students? A lowly commoner?

He defied his kind-hearted advice to keep quiet in class, and now, he’d regret stepping up to teach and exposing his ignorance in front of all the students—

“Um, that’s a good question. I pondered how to explain it, and I think this approach will work better… Barrier.”

Ziiing-!!

A massive barrier formed in front of Sion’s palm.

Thanks to the terrain of the forest, the formless barrier was visible because of light distortion and shadows.

…And that shape was entirely different from a typical barrier.

‘Is that… art?’

It was a work of art.

Four points connected by line segments, with two points distinctly isolated.

“I’ll use water as an example. Water is strong against fire. At this point, we refer to water as having a ‘strong attribute’ against fire. Conversely, it’s weak against wind, so we’ll express water as having a ‘weak attribute’ against wind… And finally, water and earth exert minimal influence on each other, hence we call that a ‘complementary attribute.’”

Sion continued to explain while pointing to that bizarre-shaped barrier.

It was a chalkboard and an impromptu teaching tool created for explanation.

‘Is that really a barrier?’

It’s even a first-circle magic barrier, not something resembling second or third-circle magic.

All first-year students had probably learned and tried this worthless spell at least once.

To modify something so trivial and use it as a teaching aid like that?

“Did that answer your question, student?”

“………..?”

“Clif?”

“Uh? Ah, I-I’m sorry… uh, no, that’s not it…”

Clif had unconsciously addressed him as ‘professor.’

The eyes of the students turned toward Clif.

Addressing Sion as ‘professor’ was a moment as embarrassing as calling one’s instructor ‘mom’ or ‘dad.’

“Ah… um, I…”

Faced with the embarrassment, Clif turned a deep shade of red, not knowing what to do, while Sion chuckled softly.

“No, it’s okay to miscall someone. Did I resolve your inquiry?”

“Uh, y-yeah… it’s… resolved.”

“Then I’ll continue with the lesson. Next, I’ll explain the commonly known special attributes. First off, about the time attribute—”

Sion continued the explanation as if nothing had happened, while Clif slumped his shoulders.

He had tried hard to ask a difficult question to trip Sion up, and yet Sion answered it as if it were no big deal.

Meanwhile, Clif, as a student, had been subjected to the embarrassing blunder of calling him ‘professor.’

Until the end of Sion’s class, Clif couldn’t bring himself to look directly at him.

It was a complete defeat.