After the practical session ended, Jenny quietly shuffled out of the training ground with her head down.
“Is the class over then?”
It’s only 11 o’clock…
“Kind of early, but yeah, that’s it for today. I mean, there were only about ten of us, so it moved quickly. Technically, you can use this space until noon if you’d like. What do you think?”
“Hmm, what about that robot?”
“I’m sure they’d lend it out if you asked.”
Would they really lend it to me, after I broke it?
“Hey, isn’t there some kind of compensation due? The teacher seemed pretty shaken up…”
“It’s an asset, so no need for that. She was just upset that her own magic got countered, that’s all.”
Didn’t she keep yelling about how much it cost?
“You guys didn’t break it, did you?”
“That thing had some serious reinforcement magic. Not just anyone can break through that.”
“Tok…uh, La Folle?”
“Yeah, probably. In this class, Yuika might be another one.”
“Hmmn…”
“Toko was unusually using advanced magic, wasn’t she?”
“Must’ve been trying to compete. Toko’s all pride and prestige. Just showing off the prestigious family stuff.”
Nah, this is just the twins’ rivalry in action.
We’ll argue over anything and everything. That’s just how twins are…
“Hmm…well, never mind. It’s the first day, so let’s just head back.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
We left the training grounds and climbed the hill towards the dorm. Along the way, we parted ways with the two girls and returned to the boys’ dormitory, where we settled into the lounge on the second floor to learn about something called spatial magic.
“There’s the formula written here, right? All you have to do is follow it. It’s not that hard, is it?”
Frank showed me a magic textbook, but it was filled with some sort of equations that made absolutely no sense to me.
“I don’t get it…”
“What, seriously…you don’t even know how to read the formula?”
“Formula…?”
Isn’t this math?
“He’s for real…”
“How did this guy even pass the entrance exam?”
The two of them stared at me incredulously.
“Backdoor…”
“Ah, that explains it.”
“I wonder how much your parents bribed?”
La Folle’s connections…
They probably pitched in some money too, but still.
“Is that bad?”
“Not really, everyone knows there are ways. Nobody says it outright, but it’s understood. Frankly, my family might do the same. I passed the test fairly, but as the next head, I couldn’t afford to fail.”
“I see.”
“Hmm, alright then. In that case, teach me about this so-called formula stuff. I didn’t get anything from today’s lecture.”
“Alright, let’s start from the beginning then.”
“This is gonna be a pain…”
I was then taught about the formulas by the two of them. They were patient and very understanding when explaining things, I thought.
“I kind of get what the formulas are about, but I don’t feel like I can use them.”
“Why not? You can do enhancement magic, right?”
“Enhancement magic is just controlling the magic power within me, I guess I’m good at that. Pushing it out externally is where I struggle, though. That’s why I never wanted to become a wizard anyway.”
Not even Toko’s simple lighter-based fire magic.
“Ah, you’re one of those types…they’re rare, but they exist.”
“Yep, some people with high magical power still don’t use magic much.”
“Isn’t that…weird? Am I some kind of underachiever?”
“Are you serious? Having that much magic power and still being an underachiever doesn’t make sense…”
“Well, academically speaking, you probably are an underachiever…Tsukasa, there are all kinds of wizards out there. From our perspective, we envy your reservoir of magic power.”
“I envy you guys.”
“No, you’re just being greedy.”
“Probably. You said you can’t use magic, but being able to do that level of enhancement is more than enough.”
“Enough, huh…”
“Tsukasa, what kind of wizard do you want to be?”
“What kind?”
“The ideal wizard you want to become in the future. For example, I come from a warrior family, so I’m going for combat skills.”
“I’m the head, so not much combat for me, but I’m more versatile.”
“Hmm…probably disenchantment.”
“Disenchantment?”
“Why’s that?”
Can’t tell them the real reason…
“My parents are good at that kind of magic.”
That’s not a lie. Mom’s good at it, I think.
“Wow…disenchantment’s pretty tough.”
“That’s such an unexpected answer. Honestly, I think you’d do better in combat magic…”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Impossible?”
“Not entirely. Sure, it’s hard, but…”
“At the very least, you’ll need some academic skills. Disenchantment formulas are pretty complex.”
“Academic skills…”
“Study, I guess. Some important figure once said that magic is a science, right? Either way, if you want to learn disenchantment, you’ll need to memorize these formulas.”
“How many?”
“At the very least, everything basic in this textbook.”
I flipped through the book. There appeared to be an immense number of formulas, but they probably constituted the basics.
“All of them…did you guys memorize them all too?”
“Of course.”
“Obviously.”
“Wow…”
“I’m pretty dumb, so I doubt I can do it…”
“Nah, I’m more on your side. We’ve been doing this since we could think, so we’ve had practice.”
“Yeah. Memorizing this kind of stuff instantly is impossible, even for us. When we were kids, we hated it.”
So that’s the difference in experience. Even though we’re the same age, I gave up as a kid while these guys kept at it.
“Alright…”
“Anyways, you have to memorize. It’s just rote memorization.”
“Moreover, you need to or there’ll be trouble. There’s gonna be tests, you know?”
“Tests…”
That’s my least favorite word.
“Will it be a written exam? No practical test?”
“Generally, no practical exams.”
“No?”
“Would knocking a teacher off their feet count as passing?”
“Don’t go knocking teachers off…never thought I’d be making that kind of comment in life.”
“You’re such a brute…so medieval in your thinking.”
Hmm, guess I need to study…
Thank you for reading.
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