novelraw Chapter 81 : A New Benefit (6)
Chapter 81 : A New Benefit (6)
Chapter 81: A New Benefit (6)
“Thank you for the compliment.”
As always, I tried to end the conversation.
Fortunately, Cullem seemed to think the same, as she skipped a reply and only gestured for me to go inside.
When I had returned to the dormitory and was resting like that, a timid knocking sound echoed.
‘Kiena or Hei didn’t say they were coming.’
Then again, were we really the kind of people who made plans and met?
Weren’t we the sort who could drop by without a thought even while passing?
Without any hesitation, I flung the door open.
But standing in front of my dorm room were not Kiena or Hei, but a trio of brown-haired students.
It was Keled and his friends.
“……What is it?”
They were such unexpected guests that an unfriendly tone slipped out without me realizing it.
Keled fidgeted awkwardly, even wriggling his fingers, before finally forcing his mouth open.
“Um…… you know…….”
“What?”
“Th-that…….”
What on earth did he want to say, to drag it out like that?
It wasn’t just Keled— the students on either side of him were the same.
“If you’ve got nothing to say, I’m going back in.”
“H-how should we do it……?”
When I made a motion to close the door, he finally found his voice.
“What?”
“How can we do Tap-Taking as perfectly as you do?”
Keled asked on behalf of the group, while the students beside him only nodded.
“Could you maybe teach us……?”
It seemed they really wanted to know that badly.
Well, considering what Cullem had said to me, even Keled, who had experienced it firsthand, wasn’t unreasonable.
And seeing his current attitude, the reason his eyes had suddenly sparkled after the duel was explained all at once.
These three shared the same dueling style.
Since they were the type to share anything good among themselves, they must have come wanting to learn together after hearing it from Keled.
“Hm…….”
I crossed my arms and swept my gaze over the three of them in turn.
Unlike the other Class 3 students, these were students capable of using Tap-Taking.
Just how eager were they to learn, for students who had openly picked a fight on the first day to now come looking at me with the eyes of someone facing a teacher?
With truly pure intentions, if there was something to learn, they learned it.
Whether the other party was a teacher or a student didn’t matter; these three were faithfully following that mindset.
“You know too, that it’s not something that works just because someone teaches you.”
But there was a realistic problem left.
Namely, that Tap-Taking itself really wasn’t something you could do just because someone explained it, just as I had said.
All magic was like that, but Tap-Taking was especially so.
Strictly speaking, it could be called the domain of pure talent.
“That’s true, but…… even some kind of trick or tip…….”
The three, including Keled, had no intention of giving up.
From the start, with such stubborn persistence, it made sense that despite being from a commoner mage background, he could place first in Class 3 and learn Tap-Taking faster than others.
This kind of pure attitude toward learning.
I liked it.
Looking at the three of them reminded me of the students at the magic school in my previous life.
“You three— how did you learn Tap-Taking in the first place?”
“Well…… while looking at a stone, we manifested magic, and thought about merging that stone into our magic…….”
It was exactly the method used by the Class 3 Fire Element students.
Since they weren’t students hostile toward me, I judged that it wouldn’t hurt to give them a small tip.
“I don’t know if it’ll help, but I learned it differently.”
At that, the three of their eyes shone again.
“Try manifesting magic while holding a stone in your hand. When the stone is perfectly absorbed into the magic, move on to a rock, and then after that, to the very ground we’re standing on. Do it step by step.”
In the end, Tap-Taking was about merging nature and magic into one.
It was the exact same method I had taught Hei.
The only difference was that since fire couldn’t be held in the hand, it had to be placed inside while the magic was manifested.
“Oh!”
The three wore expressions of immense satisfaction at my answer.
It seemed to be because it was a method they had never tried before.
“Thanks! Artel!”
Now they were even calling my name familiarly.
Pure— and that was nice.
Just as Keled was about to head back, he suddenly asked me something out of the blue.
“Um, later on, could you look at my Tap-Taking level and evaluate it for me? I’ll practice the way you said, and when my level improves a bit more, I’ll show you.”
But he was treating me a bit too much like a teacher.
“You can show it to your assigned teacher. I don’t know the Earth Element.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Yeah. Show it to your teacher, not me, and get evaluated. I’m not really someone who can evaluate others.”
“I think you’re more than enough of that kind of person…….”
Keled muttered in a voice as small as a mosquito.
“I’m going back in now.”
I was about to hurry inside, afraid some pointless chatter might continue.
“Uh, um……! Artel!”
Keled urgently grabbed my wrist and spoke.
“What now?”
“When our level improves a bit more…… then, can we become your friends……?”
What on earth was he talking about now?
“All the students in Class 3 are friends. Is there some kind of level required to be my friend?”
“You’re a Double Caster! We have to become friends worthy of that!”
“That’s right! All three of us lost to your friends! We need to be on equal footing! That way neither you nor we would be embarrassed!”
I had no idea what was supposed to be embarrassing or not, but wasn’t this just the thinking of kids?
The reason they came to think like this probably had a lot to do with the influence of family mages in Classes 1 and 2.
There were students who tried to establish hierarchies based on whether a family mage belonged to a constituent family or a representative family.
Russel had been like that from Class 0, and Hapert, whom I parted ways with in Class 1, had been the same.
It was all meaningless to me, but explaining it to these students who knew nothing would only waste time with no results.
“Fine, think whatever you want.”
That was the vague answer I gave them.
“Thank you! Artel!”
But the three seemed satisfied even with that answer and quietly departed just like that.
I closed the dormitory door and lay still on the bed, thinking.
‘Friends, huh. That’ll never happen.’
Just because the path we were walking was the same didn’t mean the destination would be.
Living in the same era didn’t mean we were living in the same time.
The students lived for a future advancing to the 4th Class, but I lived for vengeance over a death 300 years in the past and for correcting the misguided Magical Society.
Still, I thought that rejecting them on the spot would cool the academic fervor they had finally built up, so I had answered that way for now.
At the very least, I liked students who approached learning with purity.
‘Do your best, Keled trio.’
I wished I could see even a little of their growth before I graduated this year and left for the next class, but that would probably be difficult.
Because I would definitely be leaving the 3rd Class at the end of this year.
I didn’t expect those three to grow that much within a single year.
The next day, when I entered Fire Element class, I showed how to make use of a campfire.
Since Cullem had handled even lava during yesterday’s duel, it was obvious that it would have already reached Balak’s ears.
“Impressive, Artel.”
Balak showed no particular reaction and only left a formal compliment.
But the eyes of the other students looking at me were filled with admiration.
Every one of them held looks of envy and respect.
How could a kid who hadn’t even been in the 3rd Class for more than a few days already do that?
Is this the talent of a Double Caster?
They were probably each thinking something like that.
“Thank you.”
“But just because you succeeded alone, I can’t conduct a separate lesson just for you. Class is for everyone.”
“I know.”
“Good. Thanks for understanding.”
I felt that Balak’s attitude was strange.
Cullem too.
Despite my abnormally rapid growth, instead of being surprised, they simply accepted it and looked on indifferently.
It felt like behavior that surely carried some meaning, but the problem was that I had no idea what that meaning was.
After that, Balak continued the lesson without sparing me a single glance.
I merely watched how Hei handled things.
About a week after I succeeded in Tap-Taking.
“Oh……? Huh? Ah?”
After me, Hei succeeded in Tap-Taking as well.
The difference from me was that when Hei manifested his magic, all the campfires in the classroom were sucked into Hei’s magic.
“…….”
Balak alternated his gaze between Hei and me, unable to continue speaking.
Even seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe it.
Hei looked dazed, but the fact that he absorbed the surrounding environment the moment he manifested magic— this was fundamentally different.
Tap-Taking was more accurately described as briefly ‘borrowing’ natural elements that had no owner.
But Hei’s looked more like a thief forcibly stealing what belonged to others.
Fortunately, Balak didn’t seem to sense that much depth.
“Hei…… you also picked it up really quickly. How did you do it?”
“……I just kept doing it, and it turned out like this?”
“Well, fine. Rest together with Artel.”
“Yes.”
Only two out of twelve succeeded.
The problem was that those two were students who had jumped straight from the 1st Class to the 3rd Class.
The students who had been continuously taking classes in the 3rd Class remained completely in the dark.
It wasn’t unreasonable.
Even by the standards of my previous life, this was the point where the most students gave up.
And it was the section that took the longest amount of time.
On average, three to five years.
But the disparity was so severe that there were students who took as long as twenty years.
But did Hei’s success become a clue for the students?
Now, the remaining ten students all began copying exactly the methods that Hei and I had used.
It seemed they had accepted this as the only correct answer.
“Artel, doing it your way really does seem easier.”
Hei whispered into my ear.
“……Does it?”
But I couldn’t answer cleanly.
No matter what, this wasn’t something that could be accomplished in just one week.
No— in the entire history of the Magic Academy, this level of talent could truly be counted on one hand.
‘Was Hei’s talent temporarily overshadowed because of my existence as a Double Caster?’
Hei’s rate of growth really gave me a lot to think about.
How could a student who had always struggled in Class 0 and Class 1 possibly…….
Just as I was trying to sort through my complicated thoughts, Mob delivered a new notice.
[Student Ability Evaluation Additional Proposal]
Students who possess 200 points or more will be granted one privilege.
Namely, using all 200 points to apply for an interview with a professor.
After passing the interview, the student may, whenever they wish, receive a special screening and advance to the 5th Class— two stages higher— at any point during the semester.
This professor looks forward to many interviews from you students.
Author : Ed Cullem