Chapter 25
At this rate, we’re both just going to lose.
Dean Raymond rubbed the temple with a weary hand.
“Well, if we keep trading blows like this, all that’s going to happen is that the poor academy building gets torn down.”
Honestly, I have no desire to keep being mistaken for that annoying academy-bombing terrorist.
“So, what I mean is, let’s set the rules for magic battles from now on.”
The dean had made exactly the proposal I expected.
“From now on, let’s have our battles in the main practice annex of the Magic Hall at 9:00 a.m.”
Then surprise attacks are off the table.
We really should have made up our minds last week. I’m too soft-hearted for my own good.
“And... I promise too. From now on, I’ll summon exactly one primal spirit.”
Dean Raymond slowly ran a finger across the four spirits floating behind the dean’s back.
“Of course, which spirit I summon is my choice. But once the battle starts, the student may use any means necessary—truly any means necessary.”
Besides, whether you use magic tools or anything else is fine, the dean added.
The spirits themselves are already an unfair advantage, though.
“Honestly, I think summoning a spirit itself is cheating.”
When I grumbled that, the dean snorted.
“Are you forgetting something? Why do you think we ended up doing this every week?”
“...Huh? Come to think of it, why was it again?”
“It’s all a class to turn Student Lunalis into an archmage.”
Ah, right.
This was a class, after all.
“The essential requirement for an archmage is to stably wield top-tier magic through a contract with a primal spirit.”
At some point, Dean Raymond’s eyes had begun to gleam with seriousness.
“So if you want to beat me, Student, contract a primal spirit yourself and earn the right to be called an archmage.”
When Dean Raymond snapped their fingers, the mattress pinning me down returned to normal.
The moment I was freed, I climbed straight onto the bed and wrapped myself in the blanket.
Huaa... this sense of security wrapping around my body... this fullness that satisfies desire... the best.
Dean Raymond watched my limp form silently for a moment, then cleared their throat and began to speak.
“Since the topic of magic levels came up, let me add one more thing: your spell power is already at archmage level. As for your mana reserves, well, they’re about average for a high-ranking mage.”
However.
What followed was a somewhat serious remark.
“The problem is that the mana cost of every spell you cast is at the absolute worst level. Your mana efficiency is at the level of a beginner who has just learned magic.”
A pang of discomfort hit my chest.
Even so, Dean Raymond, as an educator, had a decent grasp of what my problem was.
Of course, my real problem was actually something else entirely.
“But that problem is actually the easiest one to solve.”
At those words, my ears perked up before I knew it.
Before I realized it, my body leaned slightly forward.
“Really? How do you fix it?”
“Simple. Once you become an archmage, it naturally gets resolved.”
“...”
For a moment, I was speechless.
No, I mean, an archmage isn’t some all-purpose solution, and besides, this isn’t something that easy.
“What I’m saying is that, at the very least, your mana efficiency will definitely improve.”
When I shook my head in disbelief, the dean hurriedly added an explanation, looking flustered.
“The reason you contract a primal spirit in the first place is precisely for mana efficiency.”
“Ah, so the spirit is kind of like a staff?”
“If anything, it’s the other way around. A staff is a magic tool made by imitating the principles of spirits.”
A staff.
A magic tool in the shape of a long rod with a jewel imbued with a spirit's power set into the end... or so it seems.
It's said to improve mana efficiency and have all sorts of other magical effects, but I've never used one, so I don't really know.
Not that I needed to, because they were outrageously expensive.
And they don't look cool.
If I had to compare it, it’d be about as ruinously tacky as putting training wheels on both sides of a high-end carbon-frame bike.
“Anyway, let’s start by trying to commune with the spirits today.”
No sooner had the dean finished speaking than four glowing ore stones settled onto the desk.
Each gave off a faint glow of red, blue, turquoise, and brown.
“This is a mineral called Spirit's Breath.”
When I tilted my head, Dean Raymond explained with their chin held high.
“Using this makes communication with spirits much easier, so even someone who’s never met a spirit before can communicate with a primal spirit to some extent.”
I carefully examined the stones.
The palm-sized ore stones held a soft, rounded glow.
“How is it? Pretty amazing, right? In the Empire, I’m the only one who can run a class like this.”
The dean's voice was full of an unmistakable pride.
“Using Spirit's Breath, an expensive mineral, as class materials? Summoning the primal spirits of the four basic elements all at once? That's only possible because it's me—me!”
“Oooh—”
So I let out a flat exclamation toward the shameless middle-aged woman standing there with both hands on her hips and her chest thrust out, saying I needed to respect myself more.
“You’re really amazing—seriously.”
Perhaps unhappy with my soulless reaction, Dean Raymond frowned slightly.
“If you know I’m amazing, how about coming to my personal lab as an undergraduate researcher right now? At the very least, you could even transfer to the Department of Magic—”
“So what am I supposed to do with this stone, then?”
As I cut her off and picked up the red ore, Dean Raymond let out a sigh.
“Fine. Then let’s start with the fire primal spirit.”
*
A very trivial problem had come up.
Honestly, I don't even think it's a problem.
“How on earth did this...?”
Seeing Dean Raymond tear at their own hair with the face of someone who'd lost everything made me think it might actually be a serious problem.
The problem was that all the spirits had declared they were refusing to talk.
And not just in the sense of ignoring me.
The instant I tried to communicate while holding the ore, every spirit recoiled and fled.
-Ugh, what?! This human... somehow feels really bad!
-S-sorry, could you come back later?!
-Hiiiek~! Scary!!
-It's a bit... too much for me.
Honestly, I was dumbfounded. It's not like I was trying to eat them or anything.
At the same time, the way they fled was strangely cute.
“The spirits are cuter than I expected. They’re just like little kids.”
At my words, Dean Raymond’s expression grew even more serious.
They muttered to themself in disbelief.
“There’s no way the primal spirits would be that intimidated...?”
According to Dean Raymond, spirits were supposedly beings that naturally looked down on humans with arrogance.
It seemed impossible for the dean to believe that those spirits were all cowering in fear.
A long, awkward silence hung in the air.
I looked at the ores sitting there in front of me, then slowly opened my mouth.
“By the way, Dean, do we really have to make a contract with the spirits?”
At my words, Dean Raymond lifted their head slightly.
“As long as I can use top-tier magic, that’s all that matters, right?”
I said it because, since I couldn’t even hold a proper conversation with the spirits, I figured we might as well look for another method.
If something won't work, why waste energy on it? It's just tiring.
Dean Raymond still had a dazed expression.
Then, after barely collecting themself in response to my question, they wiped the cold sweat from their forehead and nodded.
“Controlling top-tier magic without a spirit contract is... practically impossible in theory.”
“What exactly is the principle by which spirits control top-tier magic?”
“Well, top-tier magic is magic that touches nature... wait, thinking about it, that’s a new approach.”
Dean Raymond's eyes sparkled for a moment.
“If we can identify the principle precisely and apply it, there might be a way to use top-tier magic without contracting with a spirit.”
Soon, as if the scholarly passion peculiar to mages had come back to life, the dean launched into a lecture.
“Good. To answer Student Lunalis’s question, we need to approach the essence of magic first.”
Ah, here it comes.
Boring, pretentious, unfun magic theory.
“Magic, you know, originally began as the reproduction of natural phenomena through mana. The early mages—”
“I already know that, so just tell me the key point.”
Before it could drag on any longer, I cut it off right there.
Haaaam— after I yawned, Dean Raymond gave an awkward cough, looking sheepish.
“...Ahem! Anyway, to put it simply, spirits turn the mana humans handle into a form similar to the nature mana dissolved in the air.”
In short, they improve mana efficiency.
But after thinking it over carefully, I started wondering whether there was any need to borrow a spirit's power at all.
“Wouldn’t it work if I just drew in atmospheric mana directly and used magic?”
Come to think of it, that's an enormous innovation.
If I use it well... maybe it could solve the problem of charging mana into magic tools, too?
Like a solar panel.
The connection was still hazy, but my talent for magic was telling me this wasn't a completely impossible idea.
“If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it, wouldn’t they?”
The dean snorted, saying that was ridiculous.
“Really? It looks doable to me.”
“Of course, a few papers on the subject have been published at the Magic Tower, but they only say it might theoretically be possible; no mage has actually succeeded.”
Why wouldn't it work? It looks much easier than appeasing those picky spirits.
I quietly raised my hand.
Then I cast telekinesis magic and tightly gripped the surrounding space.
With a whoosh, as if the air had leaked away, the flame on the aroma candle went out.
The papers on the table fluttered and flew up in the wind.
Around the vacuum created in that space, the air swirled and rushed in.
The fierce wind, loud enough to batter my ears, filled the room.
I gently closed my eyes and focused my awareness on the surroundings.
A familiar energy I hadn't been able to feel just moments before was caught at my fingertips.
...Found it.
I gently turned my wrist.
Carefully, like wetting the tip of a quill with ink.
Once I'd thoroughly coated my fingers in mana.
“L-Lunalis? W-what in the world is this...?”
I twisted my waist and hurled my arm hard toward the window.
As if drawing a picture, I scribbled a magic circle in the air.
Soon, flames burst from my fingertips.
-BOOM!!
With a sudden explosion, the window glass shattered.
Shards flew in every direction.
The flames shot high, leaving black scorch marks on the wall around the window frame.
By the looks of it, the power was roughly at intermediate-magic level.
Before long, I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs from below.
“What on earth happened?”
“D-did a fire break out?!”
Neither Dean Raymond nor I could answer the maids’ questions.
“U-uh, how... how is this... this is impossible...”
Dean Raymond could only gape in shock, their mouth opening and closing.
“...What, it really works?”
I was also pretty stunned that it had worked so easily.