– Student’s Duty (2) –

“The break is in one month, right? Then, this week or next week, Zebedee will give out a magic formula writing quiz.”

“Really?”

“Zebedee detests cramming, so he always does surprise evaluations. That guy has a bad personality.”

“Then how should I prepare for it?”

“It’s that guy’s trap to always put in a magic formula that doesn’t come up in the textbook. If you memorize 『Magic Encyclopedia』 Vol. 1, you’ll get full points for the Year 1 course no matter what questions Zebedee gives.”

“『Magic Encyclopedia』? Can I borrow it from the library?”

“Library, what library?! Are you saying you haven’t bought the necessary supplementary course materials yet? Quickly call the assistant over. Buy the updated versions of all three volumes of the 『Magic Encyclopedia』.”

“If you know the situation that well, can’t you go look at the exam paper for me?”

He was hit by a cat punch.

“Trying to cheat, huh?! Even if you see the questions, would you be able to understand them? Let’s go with the most basic things first. Do you even know what magic formulas and mantras are?”

“I saw Headmaster Zebedee using magic. When he spread out a Circle to cast a magic formula, he said one phrase, [End the leaking of life], and the blood stopped?”

“You saw well; it’s one of his specialties. Then, did you understand how that was set in motion?”

“No, not at all. Not one bit.”

“You don’t even know why magic formulas need to be memorized, yet you’re trying to memorize them!?”

Behemoth looked at the ceiling, and then back at the floor, and then at the empty wine bottle before he regained his calm. The strength of this bribe was truly impressive.

“Hm, I do know what it is. ‘Magic formulas instruct the contents of the magic. A sacred format that grasps the ether to make it follow the mage’s orders. Mantras follow the magic formula and initiate the arranged ether. These are the principles of action for magic.’”

Behemoth watched, seemingly surprised, as Kleio recited the textbook without getting one word wrong thanks to his「Memory」 function.

“But just because someone memorizes it doesn’t mean that they know how to use magic.”

Even in the manuscript, there weren’t any mages significantly mentioned, other than Zebedee, who used healing magic. The thing called magic was an incredible ability, but the problem was that it was difficult to learn. It also took time to invoke, and it only worked within the range of a Circle, so even though there was a use for it in research, it wasn’t much use in battle.

“Hahhh, I can’t tell if you’re an idiot or if you’re smart. Then, I’ll explain it more easily. Let’s compare it to a gun. If loading the magic formula is loading a gun, then the mantra is the same as firing. You need a bullet in order to fire the gun; even an idiot like you knows this much, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Then how do you make the bullet? You need to completely memorize the form of the magic formula and get to the point where you can write it on a blank piece of paper, and then it becomes your bullet.”

“Is there no other way other than that?”

“No. You have to memorize in order to be a mage. Making 1st years memorize magic formulas ahead of time even though they can’t open circles is because that’s the only way they can use them right away after they open a circle.”

“I see!”

“If you try to memorize it later, it will be too late. You need to memorize the one hundred formulas in 『Magic Encyclopedia』 Vol. 1 in order to imitate a mage. You should have it done before the end of Year 1.”

“A hundred… Okay.”

The edges of Kleio’s mouth went up a little. If it was only to that extent, then it was doable. He had tried it out while reading the textbooks. He couldn’t imitate artistic things like a painter’s portraits, but sets of figures and letters like in a magic formula could be entered into his head after he copied and wrote them down once. As long as he inputted it, 「Memory」 was flawless.

‘It’s tedious labor, but it’s not difficult. The problem was that I didn’t know how to memorize what or where I should even start.’

“Then, one more thing. Mantras didn’t come up in the textbook. Do I have to look at the 『Magic Encyclopedia』 for that too?”

“Magic formulas are things from outside of the current world, and the things inside the Magic Encyclopedia are all that exists in the world. But mantras are formed differently according to each mage.”

“Ugh, I don’t have any confidence in writing…”

“That’s why in the required courses there is Classics! Generally, if you’re a great mage, you’re good at language. It is because there is more power in a beautiful composition of language. If you create a mantra well, then even if there is a mage of the same level using the same magic formulas, the difference in force can be as large as double that of the other person’s! The projectile force will change.”

“Is that why Headmaster Zebedee says [End the leaking of life] instead of [Stop bleeding]?”

“It’s exactly that. The name of the magic formula for that magic is that unexciting [Stop bleeding]. Of course, even with those simple words, the magic would be conjured.”

“!!!”

Kleio thought back on the memory of when he had invoked defense magic before. He remembered he had shouted something like ‘save me’ right before it happened.

‘That was a mantra?!’

“But if you use it like that, even Zebedee wouldn’t be able to heal two people at once. It’s thanks to the fact that he used the phrase ‘leaking of life’, that the power was that strong.”

“Then, for example, for defense magic, do you have to say something cringy like [Protective barrier, defend me] instead of [Save me] for increased effect?”

“Of course.”

“You can’t copy from someone else?”

“Choosing classics as a reference is encouraged. But whether it’s the sequence or the composition, you have to change at least one letter for it to become your mantra. The children of the goddess who passed down magic to humans were strict when it came to hymns and lyrical poetry. Using the exact same mantra reduces the power of the magic.”

“That’s nuts.”

‘Doesn’t this setup have too much of the author’s personal feelings put into it? Whew, even if it’s liberal arts, I guess it’s not all the same. I should have done Korean literature instead of history if I wanted it to be of help here.’

***

In the end, he couldn’t sleep a wink. Whenever his eyes drooped with exhaustion, the cat’s front paw smacked him. Behemoth, who hadn’t had even a speck of expectations for his student, had completely changed his attitude when Kleio memorized chapter 1 of the 『Magic Encyclopedia』 the attendant had bought within several hours. In the end, Kleio stayed up the entire night while being hit by the cat’s paws. Fortunately, there were results.

“You did well; you have the qualifications to become my disciple. Since you’ve memorized 『Magic Encyclopedia』 Vol. 1 within a day, now you have to raise your ether level. I’ll make you breakthrough level 3 within the next four weeks. After that…”

“Let us go slowly, the mystical cat of academics and arts, Master Moth.”

The light of dawn was bright. The cat, whose meows had grown quieter because it was tired, and the human who couldn’t even move his eyelids because it was too hard, looked at each other and giggled. He went outside just like that and ran just one lap around the school before changing into his extra uniform and leaving for class.

Since this was the first time he hadn’t gone to sleep in class, he heard whispering about the ‘unfairly accepted student’ and ‘suicide attempt’ somewhere in the lecture room, but they weren’t directly picking a fight, so he ignored it. Kleio focused on class more passionately than when he had when he was in the third year of high school. Because the professor lectured on the contents Kleio had prepared for yesterday, it was easy to listen to. And in the 3rd period, Zebedee, who had finished the previous two hours of Magic Basics lecture, dropped a bombshell.

“Then, we’ll rest for 10 minutes, and in the next period, take a magic formula test. There are a total of ten questions. I will mark prospective mage Group 2 as getting full points for matching ten, and prospective swordsman Group 1 getting full points for writing out three. This quiz will be 30% of the final exams’ combined points.”

The inside of the lecture room buzzed at the professor’s announcement. Most of the students were taken aback, except for Group 1’s Arthur, who was planning on handing over a blank paper, and Group 2’s Kleio, who was confident.

‘That Behemoth, what a miraculous guy. A marvelous cat.’

Kleio, who had been covering his mouth as he continuously yawned, hid his laughter behind his palm.

‘Spending 600 dinars turned out to be a successful investment.’

Not only was he able to easily understand the contents of the class, but it also wasn’t hard work to get the ten problems on the quiz right. Listening to sighs sounding out here and there in the lecture room, Kleio filled out the exam sheet in a good mood.

‘Even the way it’s written was in the way Behemoth presumed. There are four questions from the『Magic Encyclopedia』.’

Arthur, who clearly just wrote his name and handed over a blank sheet, was the very first to leave the lecture room. The second was Nebo, who kicked away his chair as if he had given up.

The third was Kleio, who turned in his completely filled exam sheet and returned to his dorm with a light heart. The teaching assistant audibly clicked their tongue as if he thought Kleio had also given up, but it didn’t matter.

‘Wait and see after it’s graded.’

.

.

.

The happiness of doing well on the exam lasted but for a short moment. Four hours was too short, even after eating lunch and sleeping well. At about four in the afternoon, the Dorm Supervisor, Reuba woke him up for the campus service. He could see dark circles around his eyes, reflected in the mirror.

‘They say life is sweet and salty, but this will end soon. Just see when vacation break comes… I’m going to leave school and never come back.’

Kleio walked to the library. The roses on the fences that were only buds last week had bloomed, and the weather was as lovely as ever. Even so, the previous week when he had just laid around sleeping, and playing around while drinking, felt as far as a year ago. Arthur waved to him at the library entrance, but he ignored him. He had no interest in speaking to him.

The librarian took Kleio and Arthur to the storage in the back annex. The punishment that had been meted out to the two boys was to move out the discarded books and documents that had piled up for decades and clean the storage. Staring at the lumps of books, dust, and papers that were stacked taller than his height, Kleio’s expression darkened again.

‘This weak body will break down trying to move all this. It will probably work if I use [Disassemble] from among the magic formulas I’ve learned. I should learn how to cast magic as soon as possible.’

Arthur continued to be noisy in the meanwhile.

“Leeeei, are you really not going to talk to me?”

“…”

Instead of replying, Kleio put on the gloves that the librarian gave him and picked up the closest pile of documents. When he did, Arthur snatched the pile and tossed it behind him. He was so strong that it flew away without giving him a chance to respond.

“Why don’t you reply already?”

He still had a widely smiling expression, but Arthur took off his gloves and strode over with strangely scary eyes. Kleio instinctively felt danger and drew back a couple of steps.

‘Is he taking off his gloves in case blood would get on them when he beats me up?’

In the previous manuscript, seventeen-year-old Arthur had an ether level of 4, a mid-rank swordsman’s valor. Even in the current final manuscript, he was a guy who already could use a sword aura. That meant he could easily crush Kleio’s bones if he hits him.

‘Would I be able to endure with defense magic? I can’t open Circles when I want yet, though.’

Arthur’s right hand moved out in front of Kleio, who immediately dodged. It was the hand that had been injured by Editor’s Authority before.

“Did I say I was going to hit you? Why’re you acting defensively? Look, something like this appeared.”

“What’s supposed to be there? It healed without even a scar…”

“You can’t see it? Hah, I’m going to go crazy. It’s faint, but there’s a mark. You’re the one who made it, so shouldn’t you be able to see it?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“No, you did something. I don’t know exactly what you did, but this is the clear proof that you did something that day.”

Proof? The moment he said that, Promise on Kleio’s left hand let out a flashing light that could be seen even outside of the gloves. Kleio felt his heart thumping suddenly.

[Personal Item: □□□’s Promise

[–From increasing the user’s level of narrative intervention, the stage 2 function of ‘Promise’ is opened.]

[–You can 「Understand」 the narrative’s components in depth.]

Cramped golden letters floated up around Arthur’s right hand. Unable to withstand the amount of information suddenly pouring out, Kleio stumbled. A design that covered half of it had appeared on the back of Arthur’s hand. Now it was clearly visible to Kleio’s eyes as well. It had a small circle in the middle, layers wrapped around two-thirds of the outside of the circle, and there was a long rectangle underneath the circle. They were unusual metallic lines that seemed to make a clamshell shape at a glance. It was a clear Stigma that drew out the floor plan of an amphitheater.

[Inherent Skill: Foregrounding

–Creates a subspace that cannot be invaded with any physical force or magic.

–Separates the user and the person the user designates from the incident and background setting and moves them into the subspace.

–The subspace’s duration time and the number of people allowed to enter increase in proportion to the user’s ether level.

User: Arthur Riognan

Time Limit: 00:00:40

Number of people allowed to enter: 4, including the user]

That Stigma was an Inherent Skill given to Arthur as a reward after breaking through the ‘Amphitheater’ dungeon in the past manuscript.

‘Why did that appear on Arthur now?!’