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chapter 34
When the tournament reached the main rounds, the Academy announced the grades for the previous semester.
The purpose was to recognize top students and encourage the rest.
“Top student of first semester, first year: Luna Einser.”
Applause erupted from Class A of the first-year Magic Department.
Following that, several students came forward to receive gold medals.
“I am pleased that Class A has achieved such excellent results. Especially Miss Einser—your score in the first preliminary round was within the top three overall. We look forward to your future accomplishments.”
“I will do my best to meet your expectations, Professor.”
Luna bowed politely to the professor in charge of Class A.
From the second year onward, students would move between classrooms according to their elective courses, but first-year classes, composed solely of required major subjects and mandatory general courses, were divided into five classes of twenty students each.
The criterion for class placement was simple:
Entrance test scores.
Class A, therefore, consisted of the top twenty students of the year.
There was an exception for students with rare attributes, such as Electricity or Light. Their abilities were hard to evaluate by ordinary standards, so they were given top priority in Class A.
Standing at the front to receive her medal, Luna looked at one such student.
Her new friend, who smiled at her yet carried an inexplicable air of indifference.
“May Eskcliff.”
The second daughter of the prestigious Eskcliff Duke family,
“Apparently, she was raised so delicately that she had stayed at home all this time!”
“I heard the Duke treated her very differently from his eldest daughter.”
“They say that’s why she was sent to the Academy so late…”
“Well, that’s understandable. There are only three healing mages in the entire Empire, including her.”
“Exactly! Senior Claude is a prodigy too, but there’s no comparison with a healing mage.”
…was the subject of such rumors.
Of course, she was now famous for something else.
A 20-year-old Manifestor.
A late-blooming genius.
The protagonist of a dramatic life turnaround.
…and beloved younger sister of Canis Eskcliff.
Luna recalled her distinctive blue hair.
“I wasn’t mistaken back then.”
Even before Canis became the Academy’s star, Luna had had the chance to see her up close—when Canis came searching for May.
“She definitely disappeared right before my eyes.”
At the time, she dismissed it as a hallucination.
Teleportation magic, especially the ability to teleport oneself, was possessed by only one person on the continent:
Ikart, the Viscount of Aleph, a genius mage.
He had mastered teleportation, a magic previously considered close to divine, and instantly put his otherwise magic-barren homeland on the map of the magical world.
Teleportation was not just difficult magic.
The ability to manipulate space and create new matter was the exclusive domain of mages with the Dark attribute.
Dark—Luna’s own attribute.
“I never thought I’d see someone with my attribute in the Empire.”
This was precisely why she was so astonished.
Mages born with rare attributes rarely reach mastery, because suitable mentors are hard to find.
Even professors can understand basic spells outside their own attribute, but once one goes deeper, they all shake their heads.
Magic is a talent-dependent field. Even geniuses in other areas, if non-mages, are limited in understanding the basic formulas of magic.
The same applied to those with mismatched attributes. A fire mage, no matter how much effort, could barely fill a small water vessel.
For example, despite her being a rare talent, half a year after enrollment, Luna still had no professor capable of providing her with specialized instruction. It was likely she wouldn’t have one until she graduated in her fourth year.
All her combat magic had been self-developed.
For example, basic and intermediate spells for the four main elements were standardized and relatively easy to learn.
By contrast, mages with rare attributes had no entry textbooks, and even similar effects required completely different incantations.
Learning a rare attribute meant essentially building everything from scratch.
Of course, at advanced levels, all mages had to develop their own formulas…
“How on earth did she create a teleportation formula by herself?”
Could Canis Eskcliff even do such a thing?
Awakening magical power doesn’t magically create spells. Otherwise, there would be no need to study incantations, runes, and magic circles.
The skill required to develop a new spell was enormous.
Its difficulty was such that only those who diligently studied in at least the upper-middle tier of the four-year Academy curriculum could hope to catch up.
No wonder half of the fourth-years failed the graduation requirement of “Advanced Spell Development” and had to repeat the year.
“Alright, that’s all for today!”
After the grade announcement at the end of class, students began to disperse.
Luna grabbed the back of May, who was about to dash to the cafeteria.
Seeing crumbs at the corner of May’s mouth, Luna’s expression twisted slightly.
“Why is she so serious about eating?”
When had she even eaten that bread?
“May.”
“Cough! What is it?”
Ignoring the 60 cm baguette that popped out of May’s school uniform pocket due to recoil, Luna spoke.
“Are you going to eat with your sister again today?”
“Yeah.”
“Then take me with you.”
May looked at her with round eyes, as if trying to understand her intention.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“I watched the match and became a fan.”
Luna’s excuse slipped out.
It wasn’t entirely untrue, but her intention wasn’t some trivial fan meeting.
“I really want to see her… can’t I?”
“Sure, why not.”
May readily agreed, and Luna blinked, having prepared a long persuasion.
Unlike the lively Claire, May was quiet and rarely had long conversations.
“Then you pay at the cafeteria today.”
“Huh? Okay.”
Luna wondered if even this quiet classmate wanted to become closer to her.
After all, they always went to the cafeteria alone together.
Because the morning menu was so good, there were only the two of them in the cafeteria.
“Choosing just one thing is hard…”
“Pick as much as you want!”
Excited, Luna shouted.
“You’re serious?”
“Would I lie?”
Luna chuckled, thinking the small girl couldn’t eat much—maybe three snack packs at most.
Ten minutes later, she regretted her words.
“Thanks!”
Seeing the pile of snacks, Luna’s hand slipped.
Unaware of Luna’s struggle, the cashier smiled from ear to ear as he totaled the price.
“That’ll be 101 gold coins.”
“…Excuse me?”
“All together, 101 gold coins, ma’am!”
There was no room to argue.
Luna opened her wallet, tears in her eyes, her hands trembling as she handed over the coins.
“I’ll never buy anything for her again.”
Having spent her entire monthly allowance, she gritted her teeth in determination.
“…So, when the minimum of f(x) is an extreme minimum, t = -1, and when f(1) is the minimum, t = 3. But in the former case, 2 < t < 3, which violates the condition.”
I concluded the two-hour-long explanation calmly.
“Therefore, naturally t = 3, and substituting into g(t) formula…”
cover
“Since a = 1 and b = 7, the answer is 8.”
After entering the final equation, the only sound in the classroom was the scratching of pens.
