All the students had been looking forward to Bahil’s curse class. He was ranked number one for most respected professor, number one for most desired role model, and his class satisfaction was at the highest level in Kizen, along with Hongfeng. Bahil always acted professionally in the lecture hall, and not only were his personal abilities outstanding, but his skill as an educator in breaking down his vast knowledge for students to easily understand was also exceptional. To this seemingly perfect Bahil, there was recently a big worry.
Bahil turned around at the hand tapping his shoulder. The head TA, Chehekle, was sending him a sharp glare. "Professor. You’re making that face again. That face."
"Ah, my apologies."
"Wipe your drool, too."
Bahil lightly wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and stared at one side of the lecture hall again. It was currently Class A’s practical session. While the TAs were scattered around guiding the students’ curse practice, Bahil’s gaze was fixed on one spot.
"Just so you know, I’m not going easy on you." Her sky-blue hair flying freely, irin was stretching her arms. "Of course. There’s no point if you do." Her opponent was Simon. First of all, irin was an all-around elite with an average of 90 points in all subjects. In Cursology, she had a whopping 96. When they first ford Team 7 for the group project, she had shown her confidence in Cursology by volunteering to take the curse specialization. In truth, the chances of Simon beating her with his curses were slim; the skill gap in that subject was that wide. The two stood a certain distance apart, facing each other. "Simon Polentia, irin Villenne. Are both students ready?"
"Yes!"
Besides the two of them, 1-on-1 sparring practices were happening in other places as well. The TA held up a clipboard and shouted, "Then, begin!"
Simon imdiately spread his legs shoulder-width apart and brought both arms forward. Jet-black flickered and gathered between his facing palms, forming the circle of a magic circle. In contrast, irin was leisurely completing her magic circle with just her right arm raised. "Take this."
’Exhaust.’
The basic and multi-purpose curse they learned in the first class of the first sester shot out in the form of a gray gas. On the other hand, Simon’s magic circle was still in preparation. Its completion was only about 60%.
’Hmph!’
Seeing the curse approaching, Simon’s eyes hardened. Suddenly, the completion speed increased dramatically, and without even seeing the magic circle finish, Simon sent it toward the curse irin had thrown.
’Cancellation.’ By a hair’s breadth, the curse and the completed magic circle canceled each other out and disappeared. Simon, staggering from the impact, fell on his butt. In this class, they had learned about ‘Cancellation,’ a curse that nullifies an opponent’s curse. This practice was also for learning the ‘Cancellation’ curse, a practical session of exchanging attacks and defenses with a partner student.
"Do you have ti to be sitting on the ground?" This ti, irin was deploying a ‘Cancellation’. Not to be outdone, Simon imdiately prepared an ‘Exhaust’ from a sitting position. By the ti Simon had completed his ‘Exhaust’, irin was standing with a leisurely completed ‘Cancellation’, tucking her hair behind her ear. ’Wow, she’s really amazing. The gap is too wide with just curses.’
He couldn’t win with a direct approach. Simon slightly tilted the ‘Exhaust’ magic circle he had prepared and squeezed out so Jet-black from his fingertips, adding a few characters to the formula. Seeing this, irin’s eyes widened. ’Huh? What did he just add? I didn’t see...!’
’Exhaust.’
Imdiately, Simon’s curse shot out. As she braced herself, bringing the ‘Cancellation’ magic circle she had made on her right palm forward, the direction of the curse suddenly dipped downward. ’An ‘Exhaust’ that changes direction?!’
The ‘Exhaust’ passed her right hand and headed straight for her waist. A triumphant smile appeared on Simon’s face. ’I won!’
But suddenly, her left hand shot out and blocked the ‘Exhaust’. Her center of balance wavered, and she stumbled a few steps to the side, but she was unhard by the curse. ’Two ‘Cancellation’ spells!’
"Idiot! Did you already forget I can multi-cast!" She raised both arms and smiled. The tables had turned. Simon hastily prepared a ‘Cancellation’, but an ‘Exhaust’ shot out from each of irin’s hands. Simon blocked one and was hit by the other, stumbling backward. The TA checked his clipboard and said, "Alright, good work."
"Yes, I won!!" irin threw both arms up and cheered. Simon let his arms hang, disappointed, but he felt he had put up a good fight against irin in a curse battle. "It’s a friendly match with no winner or loser, but," the TA said in a chic voice, "if we had to decide, student irin lost for breaking the rules."
"What? Ah, why!" "You were supposed to exchange only one shot each. I explained it three minutes ago, did you already forget?" irin’s mouth fell open with an aggrieved expression. Simon laughed out loud. "You keep breaking the rules, just like in dodgeball."
"Sh-shut up!" irin’s face turned red as she shouted. Just as Simon was about to laugh and say sothing more...
"Just now."
Suddenly, he felt a presence approaching from behind. Bahil was standing behind Simon, his eyes gleaming. "What formula did you add to the ‘Exhaust’?"
Simon’s expression stiffened. There was a reason professors emphasized the originality of magic circles. A magic circle was a single, complex ‘ecosystem,’ and if even one trivial thing was touched incorrectly, the whole thing would collapse. It was like catching too many bugs, causing the flowers to die because they couldn’t be pollinated, and then the birds that fed on those bugs all dying as well. Accidents from the explosion of recklessly modified magic circles were so common they were called a necromancer’s destiny. There was a reason for every formula and sequence in the magic circles taught at Kizen. "Professor, that was..."
"Answer the question." Bahil’s expression was very serious. Simon stamred as he said, "I mixed a load into the ‘Exhaust’s projection formula. That way, the curse becos heavier right after projection and sinks down, and..."
"You used that to induce a directional shift."
"Yes, that’s right."
"What was your reason for thinking that mixing a separate formula wouldn’t damage the original formula?"
No matter how he thought about it, the question sounded accusatory. Simon answered with a stiff face. "It was... my gut feeling that it might work. I’m sorry." Simon bowed his head deeply. The atmosphere was so tense that even irin couldn’t interfere and just stared at Simon’s back. That was a relief. It was a relief that the two of them didn’t see the expression Bahil was making at that mont. ’A genius that makes one’s blood run dry.’
Bahil thought of a sentence he would write in his future autobiography. ’He wouldn’t have understood it with a gut feeling, but with his skin. The hand that added the formula was comfortable, without any hesitation. Just casually, like jotting down a thought that ca to mind.’
The corners of Bahil’s mouth went up to his ears. ’Never before has my profession been so satisfying.’
"Professor Bahil!!"
Chehekle, who had been watching, ran over with a horrified expression. "D-didn’t you say you had to go to the research lab?"
"Thank you for letting know, Chehekle." Bahil’s expression returned to normal. The two also raised their heads. "Simon Polentia, follow ."
"Yes."
The two of them walked out of the lecture hall side by side. Thinking that Simon might be disciplined without a chance to defend himself, irin, with a determined expression, followed them. "Professor! Please just listen to what I have to...!"
"Stop." Chehekle ca over and blocked her path. "You can rest assured. Professor Bahil didn’t call Simon to scold him."
"I...!"
’Scold him? He probably feels like singing a song.’ Changing a magic circle he had just taught on a whim was sothing an educator should sternly reprimand. This kind of advanced technique was in the realm of upperclassn. But Bahil was no ordinary educator. And just as Chehekle had predicted...
"That was well done earlier." Bahil was praising Simon. "Continue to display that kind of brilliant wit in the future. Of course, this is not speaking as a Kizen professor, but my personal wish."
"P-Pardon?"
"It’s not a very interesting topic, so shall we talk until we get to the research lab?" Bahil brushed it off lightly and said in a low voice. "The kind of normal talk that normal people have."
Simon gave an awkward smile. Wasn’t it a characteristic of people who weren’t normal to emphasize ‘normal’ like that? On the way to the research lab, Bahil, who had been looking out the window for a mont, spoke again. "How did you spend your vacation?"
’Wow, it really is normal talk,’ Simon thought, relieved. "I spent it helping my father with his work."
Bahil’s eyes shone intensely. "Oh! What kind of person is your father? Was he a necromancer? His na? His profession? Did he ever attend Kizen? What is he doing now?" He couldn’t say his father was the forr Legion Commander Yona, even at gunpoint. As Simon hesitated, Bahil belatedly realized his mistake and cleared his throat. "Ahem, my apologies. There are students who don’t wish to reveal their family matters."
"I’m sorry."
"Let’s go back to normal talk." Bahil smiled brightly. "What black magic did you practice during the vacation? Any new skills you learned?" "Yes! I did! I modified ‘Corpse Explosion’ and a Mud Golem into a rideable form and..." ’Summoning again! Ughh!’ Enraged, Bahil violently swung his arm without Simon noticing. The curses that spewed out from Bahil’s fit of anger went out the window with a crackling sound. "Professor. Didn’t you just hear sothing?"
"I didn’t hear anything."
A mont later, the screams of a couple whispering sweet nothings on a bench below were heard. They had both turned into raccoons and fallen off the bench. It was a curse that turned people into animals for two hours. "It’s a bit noisy." Simon’s gaze went out the window at the sound of the animals screeching like mad. Bahil shrugged. "It seems a wild animal has wandered in. By the way, how much have you figured out about the the of this exam?"
"I don’t know anything for sure yet, but I’m thinking it might be sothing like a trap dungeon using multiple weapons." Simon said, glancing at Bahil’s face, but Bahil showed no change in expression. "I’m sorry that a professor can’t give a student any hints. So, how is student Simon preparing?"
"A golem..."
Enraged, Bahil swung his arm violently again. This ti, the bones of the male students playing ball in the distance all turned like a mollusk’s, and they collapsed on the ground, writhing. Their screams poured out. "What was that sound, really?" Simon looked out the window in confusion, but it was peaceful outside. The curse had fallen on the other side of the building. "Now, co in." Bahil, with a straight face, brazenly stopped walking and stood in front of the lecture hall door. "I have sothing prepared for you."
After today, the balance of power in Simon’s studies would change.
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