Ch.119119 – First Magic Practice

<119 – First Magic Practice>

Son Ocheon couldn’t understand the psychology of fools who trained hard all day long.

“Does that really make an unused body any better?”

“Huff… The body is honest. When you exercise, you gradually build stamina and get stronger. There are differences in talent, but isn’t it better than doing nothing?”

“That’s just talk for those who have nothing. Employer, you have plenty of money. And lots of points too.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Wouldn’t it be much better to just save up and buy a magic armor with physical enhancement functions in one payment and wear it around?”

Giselle felt the urge to kick the shameless monkey beastkin in the shin for making such an ignorant statement without knowing how expensive magic armor was. But knowing her foot would hurt more if she actually did it, she just laughed it off.

“Last week was swimming, so my body didn’t hurt as much, but haven’t we been warned that we’ll be learning horseback riding starting next week? I need to diligently build up my leg strength.”

“I guess so. Tuesday is right around the corner, and there’s no time to earn points to buy magic armor.”

Even Son Ocheon, who was confident in his stamina and toughness, had struggled to the point of exhaustion during Professor Platton’s swimming lessons over the weekend, which were twice as intense. Just as he had trouble because he wasn’t used to water, the riding lessons would also mentally drain him if he wasn’t accustomed to it.

“…Don’t you practice separately to prepare for the lectures?”

“I am practicing. Energy recharging practice.”

“If we could mix half of your laziness with half of Oknodie’s restless bouncing around, it would be perfect.”

Unlike Son Ocheon, who always made excuses about bodyguarding or recharging energy while lazing around, Oknodie was constantly zipping around the Academy grounds. It’s no wonder people say that if you want to meet Oknodie, don’t go looking for her—just wait in front of the cafeteria.

-Ah. Honor student Oknodie doesn’t have to attend supplementary lectures because of her excellent grades.

She didn’t even show up for that hellish weekend swimming special training double event. No one knows where she was or what she was doing during that time.

“Don’t belittle the value of effort. Even you’re working hard, using that brain you normally don’t use.”

“Ugh. Isabelle, did you take a class on landing critical hits instead of developing discernment? Why does your damage hurt so much?”

Isabelle appeared just in time to deliver a sharp rebuke. Son Ocheon, who was pretending to be hurt, couldn’t hide his puzzlement.

“By the way, where’s the little mouse?”

“She was called by a professor.”

“That’s too bad. She really loves eating. Guess we’ll have to eat without her.”

As Son Ocheon was about to head to the cafeteria, Isabelle stopped him.

“Wait. I’d like both of you to consult with me.”

“It must be something serious.”

At Giselle’s words, Isabelle’s expression darkened further.

The dark merchant Giselle’s eyes twitched.

It was a qualitatively different darkness from other students whose expressions had darkened from being overwhelmed by harsh assignments.

Like… the darkness that might be carried by those who harbor deep grudges wanting to kill someone and venture into the streets with a knife.

Something unusual must have happened.

“The noble family that raised Oknodie. I think they’re selling children who don’t produce results to brothels.”

“!!”

“Hey! Oknodie is only about ten years old. A kid that young in a brothel, that’s absurd!”

Son Ocheon raged furiously.

However, Isabelle, though biting her lip tightly, did not withdraw her statement.

She told the two about what had happened during the discernment development lecture.

“…This isn’t good.”

“Isn’t there some way we can help Oknodie?”

“I’m not talking about our little lady.”

Giselle focused on a different aspect.

“It’s difficult to say this about a child who is pitifully innocent, but while Oknodie is a little lady to us, to other students she must appear as a monster lady. She possesses both strength and popularity befitting her title as group valedictorian. Most of her peers don’t even compare to her.”

“So what? Because Oknodie is strong, we don’t need to feel sorry for her?”

“Please don’t take it so unpleasantly. Realistically, there’s no possibility that Miss Oknodie would fail to meet the organization’s standards. The problem is the other candidates in the organization.”

“Other candidates…?”

“Usually, when an organization cultivates agents for special purposes, they raise several simultaneously unless they lack budget or talent.”

Isabelle, with her explorer background, had gained considerable knowledge traveling across the continent.

She quickly understood what Giselle was trying to say.

“Even if Oknodie is safe, the other candidates aren’t… and it would be troublesome if Oknodie found out about this.”

“Exactly. For instance, she might try to perform the organization’s missions herself to protect the failed candidates, or the organization might demand she perform more difficult missions in exchange for not disposing of other candidates.”

This is a common method used by dark organizations in the underworld to handle talents who don’t follow control.

“I’ll investigate the candidates from the same organization as Oknodie in my own way. You two should stay by Oknodie’s side as much as possible without disrupting your academy life.”

“If you’re going to conduct a dangerous investigation, shouldn’t I be by your side even more?”

“Oknodie is more of a concern than I am. For now, those with good hearts have promised to keep the secret, but as time passes, we don’t know how those with evil intentions who hear the rumors might torment Oknodie.”

Son Ocheon groaned and pulled out the staff he had been carrying on his back.

“I just hope I won’t have to use weapons on campus.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll help as much as I can too.”

Having safely passed the entrance exam with Oknodie’s help, now it was their turn to protect her.

The three firmly strengthened their resolve.

* *

<Basics and Understanding of Mana Usage> class.

Today they would finally move beyond theory and formula memorization to learn actual magic.

“Rozini. Can I go home with you? I heard fire magic works really well against mosquitoes.”

“Rozini~! Ignore those people and come with me~. Okay? We’re friends!”

“That wicked girl. How dare she smile and wag her tail at Rozini?”

A master of nature magic.

A druid class from the Dryad race.

A wizard professor with insane note-taking speed.

The fire attribute student the professor disliked most had skyrocketing popularity.

Dorothy was badmouthing Rozini beside her.

“I heard she’s really rude.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just thought so right now.”

“Pfft. What kind of reasoning is that?”

Dorothy, the source of bad rumors, clearly didn’t like Rozini.

“But no one thanks Sandcooker and me for our hard work, while everyone is desperate to look good to Rozini.”

“That’s because Rozini has the power of fire magic! When Dorothy learns magic, you’ll be popular too!”

“You think so?”

Rozini, apprentice mage of the Red Tower.

Or a portable mosquito repellent.

Dorothy made a firm resolution to become just like her as they entered the lecture.

“Today we’re going to learn magic. Do you remember one of the most basic mana formulas you learned called <Amplification>?”

“Yes~”

“Amplification is a useful formula that can be used anywhere. You can amplify the growth rate of plants to use a vine binding spell, or amplify the sweetness of sugar solution to create a sweet water spell.”

The first one is magic commonly used by tiny mages who struggle with staffs as tall as themselves at the Adventurer’s Guild.

The latter is a practical magic often cast by wandering mages when they visit local dignitaries asking for a night’s lodging.

Both are advantageous because of their low difficulty!

“Today you will use these two types of magic. Create a vine suitable for tripping ankles from the vine pieces on your desk, and turn water into sweet water.”

Dorothy diligently carved mana path symbols onto the vine with an arrowhead.

“Is this how it’s done? This is right, isn’t it, Oknodie?”

“Hmm… it’s not wrong, but that will be difficult!”

“Why?”

“Directly carving symbols is classified as a different field of magic, like tattoo magic or engraving magic!”

“Then how should I do it?”

“First, you need to determine the power source for the magic. What medium will you use to activate the magic, other than tattoos or engravings!”

Normally, magic is used by creating a mana path in the air with a staff that gathers specific attribute mana.

But a staff is difficult to use like a dual-wielded weapon when holding a sword in one hand.

“How do you use it, Oknodie?”

“I use this!”

A short rod with a pearly, glowing round bead!

It’s a magic wand, much shorter than a staff.

“Wow. Is that stone at the end also a rock?”

“This isn’t for eating! It’s a wand!”

“…Rocks aren’t for eating either.”

A wand is a medium that’s good for gathering attribute mana, though not as good as a staff.

It acts as a kind of filter and concentrator that filters the disordered attribute mana in the vicinity and converts it into the attribute mana the user wants.

It can be said to provide a great advantage in magic use, which is often compared to puzzle solving or cube solving.

“Huh?”

But the color of the gathering mana puzzle pieces seems a bit strange.

Nature mana is green.

Cold mana is blue.

Fire mana is red.

Most should have these colors.

But the mana gathering around my wand is black, a symbol of evil magic and ominousness.

Amplification magic used with such black mana is unlikely to produce good results.

<Amplification>

The vine stem affected by the magic turned pitch black, becoming a vine covered with very dangerous-looking thorns.

“Wow. I couldn’t tell when it was just a piece, but this was a thorn vine!”

Dorothy, unaware of the situation, just marveled innocently.