Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Grun gulped drily again and again.

What was happening right now? He had gone over on Altur’s orders, and he was just going to bring them back and introduce them to each other…

Of course, he thought they would be grateful.

If anyone knew anything about the Magic Department, it was that the ‘power’ was centered around Altur, a student with overwhelming talent. In fact, among the freshmen, there were some who were moved just by being spoken to like this and by Altur showing interest in them.

But, these two weren’t like that.

Was it because they were new and didn’t know anything?

‘What should I do…?’

As Grun was at a loss at the completely unexpected situation一

“Oh my, oh my. How grim. I’m sorry. I was just curious about the rumored top student. Though you are in the Autonomous Major, I heard that you passed our dean’s test? Naturally, the Magic Department should pay attention.”

Altur appeared.

Grun felt like he had met his savior.

“That’s right. I asked Grun to call you over. Someone with outstanding talent should be with us, after all.”

At those words, several freshmen in the Magic Department looked at Dane with envy.

Altur, the 5th-year representative.

It was a name that the freshmen of the Magic Department had already heard before they entered school. Although not as talented as Arabella Sogres, he was someone loved by the professors for his abilities and skills.

His influence within the department was enormous, and several magic towers had already shown interest in him.

Getting Altur’s interest was bound to make life in the academy easier.

But Dane’s reply shocked everyone.

“Who are you again?”

The shock came for two reasons.

One was that Dane didn’t recognize Altur.

Another was…

“Doesn’t the Magic Department teach its students to introduce themselves when meeting someone for the first time?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Dane gave Altur a blow by mentioning basic manners. Altur’s face hardened coldly.

“What?”

“If you have something to say, I think you should tell me who you are first. That’s how I was taught.”

In an instant, Altur, who had been likened to an uneducated boy, realized that something was slowly starting to boil inside him.

‘This insolent brat…’

Arabella Sogres.

He was the younger brother of the senior he admired, so he had asked someone to bring him over with the intention of helping him out, but he didn’t even know that and was acting so arrogant?

Alright, he was still young after all.

Since he was new and didn’t know anything, he probably thought the power of his house was his own.

But didn’t he know?

His house’s power didn’t really mean anything here at the academy.

Of course, as a member of House Sogres, he had already gained an advantage, but this was not the case for Altur.

“Have you ever considered that your actions right now could affect your family’s reputation?” Altur asked softly, as if teaching and soothing.

Of course, Dane’s answer was simple.

“I haven’t really thought about it.”

Altur barely managed to suppress his urge to gather his magic power right away.

“…You seem to be the one who lacks manners.”

Dane went a step further and snickered, “Isn’t it natural when someone comes and tries to teach you without even revealing their name and without even knowing who they are?”

Another decisive blow.

“So who the hell are you?”

The atmosphere became cold, stiff, and heavy.

Altur was a scary being. At the very least, in the Magic Department, if you went against him, you could consider your life at the academy to be over.

Altur knew how to use these facts to his advantage, always turning every situation to his advantage.

Was that why?

Even though this boy in front of him was the younger brother of his ideal Arabella, he felt like he had to take him down a peg.

‘I’m sure Senior will understand.’

Because Arabella cared for him.

Because she praised him in front of others and said that he had great talent.

“I think you need some training.”

When Altur said that…

“Is something wrong?”

Professor Dinavo, the dean of the Magic Department, entered the classroom. Everyone pretended nothing happened, as if they had made a promise.

“Haha, Altur, you’ve already got your eye on him? Be careful, that boy is frightening. He’s the first Autonomous student in fifty years, after all.”

Altur answered with a smile on his face, “No, Professor. I was just trying to say hello because he is the younger brother of my respected senior, Arabella Sogres.”

“Ah. That’s right, Arabella. I met her on my way here. Haha. Okay, let’s get to know each other after class.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Altur returned to his seat. He then gave instructions to Grun and the two students who were his subordinates next to him.

“Bring him ‘there’.”

“By ‘there’, you mean…”

“Grun. As soon as the lecture is over, pretend to apologize ‘politely’. As politely as possible. Then bring him over.”

“Uh…would that be alright? A while ago, he said you should personally… o-okay.”

Grun lowered his head when he saw Altur’s expression. It was scary, so much so that it was hard to make eye contact.

Altur smirked at the thought of what would happen after the lecture.

‘Senior Arabella will understand, too.’

How meaningless one’s house was in the academy.

Senior Arabella was like that, too. Rather than relying on her family name, she competed solely with her skills and was respected by many people. It was time to show that boy how scary the world was.

“Hmm. Let’s keep today’s orientation simple. I think that’s what everyone wants. But since it’s a ‘practical’ class, I’m going to do a light magic aptitude test.”

Meanwhile, the lecture started. Professor Dinavo looked around at the hundred or so students and smiled.

“Measuring your magical power is simple. You come in front of this machine and pour your magic power into it. Since everyone who is taking this class knows how to handle magic power, I will skip over that part. This is how we measure your overall magic power rank.”

Professor Dinavo then opened his subspace, took out a machine, and held it in his hand.

And after a while…

“Oooh!”

“As expected of the professor…”

The machine projected magic power into the air, and the magic power wove itself like thread, forming eight rings.

What that meant was simple.

8 circles.

The first qualification to become the head of a magic tower, and the highest level among existing mages.

Professor Dinavo waited for the cheering to die down and then shrugged.

“It’s like this. Of course, even if the circle is the same, the color expresses how powerful it is, like this. The color will be darker if it’s a little higher.”

“What if there is no circle?”

In response to a question from a student who appeared to be from a department other than the Magic Department, Professor Dinavo told him not to worry.

“Don’t worry. Just because you don’t have a circle doesn’t mean you don’t have talent. A circle is literally a prerequisite for using chain-level magic, so just because you don’t have a circle right now doesn’t mean you don’t have talent for magic.”

The student who asked the question was relieved by the answer.

But Professor Dinavo immediately added, “Of course, you can’t just test your magic power. At least if you take this class, you should already know how to do basic introductory magic.”

So-called prior learning.

Amid the students’ shock, Professor Dinavo took out something else from his subspace. It was a transparent bowl containing dozens of marbles.

“Look.”

Whooong.

As Professor Dinavo waved his hand in the air, dozens of marbles slowly rose to the surface. Then, when they rose above his head, the beads began to move and finally formed letters.

It was one of the runes being used currently. It could be called a kind of performance.

“Oooh!”

“Amazing…”

Telekinesis was basic magic. However, even for basic magic, the power could vary depending on the user.

For example, in the case of someone who had just developed their magic and had just learned basic magic, no matter how overwhelming their talent may be, they could only float two, or at most three, marbles at the same time.

After all, you had to apply magic power to each marble.

Of course, they couldn’t even dream of rearranging the beads to form letters, as Professor Dinavo showed them.

‘Adorable.’

Professor Dinavo smiled with satisfaction and gathered the marbles together again, placing them neatly in the bowl. Then he stepped aside and pointed at a student.

“Altur? You’re just sitting in today, but if it’s okay, would you please come up to the front and demonstrate?”

“Yes, Professor.”

Altur also stepped forward confidently. The students of the Magic Department looked at him with admiration. Altur was enjoying their gazes.

‘I must show my majesty.’

Altur glanced at Dane as if to tell him to take a good look.

Dane was expressionless, as if he wasn’t interested, but Altur paid him no mind and placed his hand on the machine, injecting magic into it.

“Oho, you’ve advanced already.”

There were four rings floating in the air.

It meant 4-chain. They were also very dark blue circles.

“It’s thanks to the professor’s teachings.”

“Haha. How did I help? Now now. Did you all see? Normally, 4-chain is something you can only achieve after graduating from the academy. Even then, most only reach 4-chain. However, your senior here is already a 4-chain. Truly an overwhelming talent. Be nice and maybe he can help you learn something and your skills can improve faster.”

When Professor Dinavo praised him, the students looked in awe. As expected, Altur looked at Dane, enjoying those gazes.

‘See? You might be the precious youngest son of Count Sogres, but I am superior to you in this academy.’

“Let’s continue.”

Altur immediately put his hand towards the beads.

How many were possible? What was certain was that he could lift a lot more than that boy over there. No matter how talented Dane was, Altur was still a 5th-year. The difference in experience could never be ignored.

“Hup.”

The moment Altur gathered his magic power一

“Oh my god!”

“How many are there?”

“I see more than ten?”

As many as fifteen beads floated into the air.

“Hmph!”

Altur was giving it his all. His face was slowly turning red as he held his breath, and his hands were shaking slightly.

He was overdoing it, but he couldn’t get caught.

‘I can do it.’

Finally, the fifteen marbles that Altur had floated were divided into five groups and formed three lines.

“As expected. Great job. Now, everyone, applause!”

Altur barely managed to put the marbles down safely without being caught amidst the applause.

“Thank you for your hard work, go sit.”

“Yes, Professor.”

His legs and hands were shaking, but Altur kept smiling. He should always appear dignified and relaxed.

“As expected of Senior Altur.”

“Which tower will he go to?”

Professor Dinavo added, as if he had forgotten, “Oh, by the way, if you have no magic power at all, nothing will come out, so if you’re worried about that, you can leave now. It’ll be hard to continue with this class without magic power anyway.”

No students got up. The other undergraduate students also came to this lecture knowing at least a little bit about magic. Professor Dinavo nodded after confirming that no students were leaving.

“Alright. Then let’s begin.”

That was how the orientation began.

In fact, it was almost like a test to showcase the students’ talents in front of everyone.

A talented person got attention, and a talentless person got the cold shoulder. If you worked hard and made a lot of effort, you would be lucky, but there were also cases where you lost confidence.

But that was exactly the kind of place the academy was.

“Hmm. Let’s try a little harder. Next.”

Many students were shocked to realize that their magical talents were less impressive or more ordinary than they had thought. Some students couldn’t even float a single marble properly, and at best, they dropped the marbles right away.

“Hmm.”

Professor Dinavo called out the next person’s name with a somewhat vague expression.

“Dane Sogres.”

As Dane stood up, all eyes turned to him. It was a complex and subtle gaze.

Most of the students in the Magic Department who had just seen what had happened with Altur were looking at him with a ‘let’s see how well you do’ attitude.

On the other hand, the eyes of the students from other departments were filled with curiosity.

‘I’ll laugh at you plenty.’

He passed the dean’s test, so he must have talent. However, Altur thought it wouldn’t be as much as his own.

“Begin.”

Until Dane put his hand on the machine and started injecting magic into it.

Whoooooong.

It seemed to glow with a green light before一

[Not measurable]

A single sentence was magically projected into the air.

“Not… measurable?”

Professor Dinavo’s eyes widened amidst the absentminded muttering of the students. As a mage, he was thinking of all sorts of possibilities in his head.

This machine was 100% accurate.

It was enough to filter out all the guys who were lying about their level.

But what did ‘immeasurable’ mean?

He’d never seen this before.

‘Why does it look strangely green?’

The color seemed a little different, but that wasn’t important. Everyone’s eyes were on Professor Dinavo and Dane.

In the end, Professor Dinavo had no choice but to explain the situation in a plausible way.

“Ha, haha. Looks like the machine is overloaded.”

He tried hard to hide his surprise, but it only lasted for a moment. Then, the moment Dane reached for the bowl of marbles, Professor Dinavo realized it.

‘What the hell…?’

Incredible talent.

Overwhelming talent.

Unsurpassable talent.

“Wh-what the hell is that?!”

“All of the beads floated…?”

“How does that make sense?”

The bowl was empty, dozens of beads floating in the air.

“…”

Thanks to that, Altur was speechless.

“There he goes again.” Leila just shrugged, as if she wasn’t surprised anymore.