Ch.39The City of Three Magic Towers. Ortus (5)

The next morning.

And today’s class.

Fortunately for them, despite their misfortune, today was a day for theoretical lessons.

I stood at the podium as their instructor and wrote the 11 letters ‘spell caster’ on the blackboard while looking at them.

“What does spell caster mean?”

“…Someone who casts spells.”

When I asked, the brown-haired girl answered hesitantly.

I didn’t like her hesitation, but her answer to the question was correct nonetheless.

“Right. Someone who casts spells. Then, how can we measure the strength of a spell caster? It’s common knowledge even I understand, so I assume you wouldn’t be clueless about it.”

Despite their embarrassing display yesterday, they’re still students talented enough to apply for early graduation.

They shouldn’t be ignorant of standards that even I, who knows nothing about magic, am familiar with.

“..It’s usually measured by three factors.”

“And those are?”

“The number of spells one can cast. The intensity of the cast spells. And the speed at which spells are cast.”

That’s right.

If you’re lacking in number, you have to treat each spell like an ultimate skill, carefully conserving even trivial ones. If the intensity is insufficient, they’re simply useless, and if you’re slow, you’ll be killed before you can kill.

That’s why spell casters with high measures in these three areas were considered high-level, and that was indeed the case.

“Good. Well answered.”

“Th-Thank you.”

After giving the white-haired girl praise points, I erased the word ‘spell caster’ and wrote the three words: intensity, speed, and number.

“I don’t know much about magic, but I can at least read what’s written in books.”

After that opening, I turned to look at them and said:

“Yesterday, you all rolled around on the floor, unable to do anything against me.”

“Ugh…”

“Well, that itself isn’t particularly strange. I’ve been through countless real battles, and you all are… uh…”

I looked at Professor Felice.

“We’ve hunted monsters, but never killed people.”

“…So you lack experience.”

When I said that, the brown-haired girl who had suffered the most from me started to express her dissatisfaction with puffed cheeks.

“But that doesn’t mean we can kill people, right?”

“That’s right. Because you’d die before you could kill.”

“…”

I’ve seen many children like these before.

Children who haven’t witnessed the filth of the world and the ugliness of humanity.

In truth, they’re right.

People like me who would kill if things go wrong, and who actually have the ability to do so, are rare in this world.

“As mages, you should never allow close-quarters combat with vanguard classes of equal or higher tier. You know that, right?”

Nod, nod.

They all nodded in unison.

If mages could compete with vanguard classes in close combat, mages would be ruling the world by now.

“Then, how should you respond if you’ve allowed a vanguard class to get close?”

“Um… cast a defensive spell?”

“Cast a spell as quickly as possible, right?”

Two answers came out, and I drew two circles on the blackboard.

I wrote ‘mage’ in the left one and ‘vanguard class’ in the right one.

Tap!

When I tapped the blackboard, they started focusing on me again.

“Now. The left is you. The right is the vanguard class… your enemy. When facing an enemy, it’s important to first identify their appearance and equipment. Green hair?”

“Y-Yes?”

“The enemy coming to kill you, what kind of weapons do they have?”

“Um… well…”

The green-haired girl couldn’t answer.

It’s not particularly strange.

She’s only filled with thoughts of repelling the enemy, without ever considering ‘what kind’ of enemy she’s facing.

I had her sit down again, then began to explain the enemy in detail.

“Let’s assume… the enemy is a trivial thief. Wearing worthless cloth armor, with only a longsword as a weapon. Purple hair?”

“Yes!”

“What’s the most effective spell here?”

“One that’s short and easy to cast, and can create distance between you and the enemy.”

“Specifically?”

“The ‘Kus’ spell.”

“Demonstrate that spell.”

At my command, the purple-haired girl looked toward the back of the classroom, chanted the spell ‘Kus,’ and a rippling wave-like energy emerged from her hand.

Unable to gauge its power accurately, I stood directly in front of the purple-haired girl, and she cast the Kus spell once more.

Whoosh!

“Ugh..!”

I barely avoided falling over.

This level of impact… would be more than enough to knock down an adult male.

“Good. This should be sufficient to create distance. What comes next?”

“…”

“You need to subdue the enemy with an attack spell.”

“More specifically!”

“Um… I think lightning-type spells would be best because of their speed.”

“Good. Show me.”

“Rect!”

Crackle!

“Argh…!”

Sizzle…!

“Whew!”

The sensation I felt once in Rascal vividly replayed itself.

The only difference was that Evelyn’s was much more intense.

If Evelyn’s was thick stew, the blue-haired girl’s was more like thin soup.

I waited until Professor Felice cast a healing spell on me, then regained my strength and returned to the podium.

“Well… you should understand the general approach now, right? Use telekinetic spells like Kus to create distance from the enemy, then subdue them with lightning-type spells that can strike quickly before they regain their stance. As fast as possible. Everyone understand?”

“””Yes!”””

“Good. Now, let’s have each of you come up and practice. Professor Felice?”

“Mannequin.”

Poof!

As the professor cast her spell, a large adult-sized mannequin appeared in the middle of the classroom.

“Now… that distance is good… start!”

“Ku…Kus!…..Rect!”

The brown-haired girl was a bit nervous, making a mistake with her first spell, and her combination wasn’t very smooth.

“Next!”

“Kus…! Rect”

The purple-haired girl unnecessarily increased the intensity of her first spell, casting it too late, and her follow-up spell was too weak.

“Kus! …Rect!”

The white-haired girl’s first spell had good intensity and speed, but she failed to properly aim at the fallen mannequin, causing her to cast the follow-up spell a bit late.

“KusRect!”

The green-haired girl’s combination was too quick, casting the Rect spell before the enemy had fallen, which nearly caused the spell to harm her.

“Kus! Rect!”

The blue-haired girl’s spell speed and combination were perfect, and her spell intensity was the highest.

“Practice is over! Everyone back to your seats!”

Having assessed each student’s level, I had them return to their places and pointed to the student who performed best in the practice.

“Good. As everyone knows, the blue-haired girl took first place in this exercise. I’m sure you all understand why?”

“Yes…”

“If you can’t cast spells in real combat, you die. If you cast spells too rapidly, you die. If you cast spells too late, you die. You can only survive by delivering the right spell to the right place at the right moment. Understand?”

“””Yes!”””

“Good. Then by tomorrow, I want you to think about and practice restraint-suppression combinations. It doesn’t have to be the spells we used today. Practice spell combinations that can first restrain and then suppress the enemy. Understood?”

“””Yes!”””

“Then today’s class is dismissed!”

*

After class, Professor Felice and I were sharing refreshments in the staff lounge.

“You have quite a knack for teaching. Have you worked in this field before?”

“I worked at an orphanage when I was younger. Compared to taking care of dozens of children who can barely speak, anything else becomes easy.”

“Haha. That certainly sounds difficult. Seeing how those children performed today… I think hiring you was definitely the right decision.”

“You think so?”

I turned to look at her as I spoke.

Actually, I was half-doubting myself since I was just acting based on what I’d read in textbooks and memories of observing military training… her words reassured me somewhat.

“I’m not a perfect person either. I’ve just experienced much more than others at a much younger age.”

“Victor, you should take pride in your wisdom and knowledge. Not all battlers have to live as illiterate brutes.”

“True. But what I’ve learned is just fragments of knowledge I pieced together while fighting sleep in libraries. I can’t compete with real scholars like you.”

My knowledge is like a pond.

Useful for quenching thirst, but too small a water source for fields and paddies. That’s the sum total of knowledge in my small brain.

“Then learn more. You may not be able to become a mage, but gaining knowledge about magic is another matter.”

“That’s… true.”

“When this job is over, I’ll give you some books I have as a gift. That should deepen your understanding of magic considerably.”

“I heard books written by mages themselves are expensive…”

“Don’t worry. They’re not originals but transcriptions. Besides, they’re not that rare. Giving away a few theoretical books is quite common.”

“In that case, I’ll gladly accept your kindness.”

I shook hands with Professor Felice, then got up and headed to the inn.

It seemed I was about to gain something more valuable than a rank.