Ch.8080. Riding Compatibility Test (1)

The news about the Cutelli family and Adel spread like wildfire, and the past few days flew by faster than usual as everyone was caught up in the commotion.

Before long, the festival came to an end. It was time to return to being students once again.

Many things had changed compared to last year.

The festival concluded successfully, and the once-lively streets were now filled with merchants packing up their stalls and people from the provinces gathering their belongings to return home.

There was a lingering sense of regret in the air, with people wondering if the festival couldn’t have been extended a bit longer—quite a different sentiment from before.

At one point, I had been frustrated when the festival transformed into a series of noble banquets.

Instead of being vibrant, people had become cautious, and I had wished for the festival to end as quickly as possible.

Isn’t this quite a positive change?

And if I had to point out what had changed the most, it would be the atmosphere within the Academy.

While the night market had been dismantled and the bustling festival streets had quieted down, the students’ fighting spirit burned more fiercely than before the festival.

New year, new semester. Students who had been promoted to new classes were filled with expectations, eager to seize this opportunity.

However, as I had worried in advance, problems arose.

“You didn’t bring magic stones! How do you expect to take the magic aptitude test in that state?”

When students rushed to purchase magic stones, they found that the supply had already been depleted.

Still, students hadn’t been overly concerned, believing they could borrow them as usual, but this time, that wasn’t the case.

Even though they wanted to buy them, there were none available for purchase, and the Academy’s own supply of magic stones had run out as well. The students were thrown into confusion.

“Kuk kuk kuk.”

“What business do commoners have with magic aptitude?”

“Know your place.”

While a truckload of students came empty-handed due to the shortage of magic stones, there were some smug individuals who had somehow acquired these precious items. Among them, some had even managed to obtain stones with such vibrant colors that they must have been quite expensive.

As expected, those who were sneering belonged to that particular social class.

“As you all know, without magic stones, you can’t even dream of manifesting magic. Get out of here.”

“P-Professor…!”

“Aren’t you blocking the spots of those who need to take the test next when you haven’t prepared anything? Come out at once!”

This professor shouting at the students was likely of the same mindset.

He was undoubtedly using the lack of magic stones as an excuse to prevent them from even taking the magic aptitude test.

Soon, students without magic stones would be driven away and would have to postpone the test that would visually confirm their growth metrics.

‘But if that were the case, I wouldn’t have come here.’

Why take unnecessary steps? I always had a plan.

“…Professor Siphon. Are you grabbing a student by the collar to forcibly remove them?”

“Professor Dahlia…?”

Seeing Professor Dahlia’s appearance, Junon quietly raised the corner of his mouth.

“Leave immediately. You have no right to exercise authority in a place where students’ magic is being awakened.”

“Hmph, I apologize, but I am the professor in charge of the Academy’s magic aptitude test. No matter what you say, Professor Dahlia, there are qualifications to consider.”

“That’s precisely why I’m telling you to leave.”

“What are you saying…”

Professor Dahlia, who had been firmly pushing back against Professor Siphon, confidently handed over a document.

Only the two of them would know its contents, but everyone present could see that it bore the Grand Duke’s seal.

“Tch!”

After checking the document, Professor Siphon couldn’t say a word. With a contorted face, he flung open the back door and stormed out.

Presumably, the document stated that Professor Dahlia had been entrusted with this magic aptitude test. That must have been the content.

“Professor. But it’s true that those students didn’t bring magic stones, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. It’s a magic aptitude test, and without magic stones to be consumed, how can they take the test?”

“It seems there’s no room for excuse regarding what Professor Siphon said about them being a hindrance.”

A group of noble students, who found this scene uncomfortable, rushed in to pick at the details.

By principle, they were right.

Without magic stones to check an individual’s magic compatibility, the test couldn’t proceed.

However, if there was a theory based on academic knowledge, this principle could be boldly shattered.

“You’re right. Magic stones are needed for the magic aptitude test.”

“Right? So those students…”

“You want to say they should leave because they don’t have magic stones. But you know what? On the contrary, I don’t want those of you who possess magic stones to be here.”

“What? What on earth…”

“This magic aptitude test won’t be held here. Although the Grand Duke’s approval came not long ago, considering the number of students taking the test, we’ve moved it to the Mizar Hall.”

That makes sense. This is the Dubhe Hall, where magic practice rooms and laboratories are located—the perfect place to create magic stones.

Professor Dahlia isn’t just knowledgeable in alchemy; she’s considered a master of the craft in the current generation.

It was easy to predict that the magic stone issue would be resolved here.

‘The real problem will come next, I suppose.’

Now that the magic stone issue has been resolved, there will surely be those who aren’t happy about it.

***

Those with complaints followed Professor Dahlia’s instructions and moved to a separately prepared testing venue.

The students who remained here were instructed to wait a bit while Professor Dahlia fetched the necessary materials.

A few minutes later, Professor Dahlia arrived carrying that thing again.

Everyone would be shocked once they realized what it was… but that was the core material for this magic aptitude test.

“Professor…? What is that?”

“It’s the blood of a magical beast.”

“W-What?!”

As Professor Dahlia explained, magic stones are essentially rocks that contain natural magical energy.

If so, wouldn’t condensing and solidifying a similar substance that contains natural magical energy create a magic stone?

That’s exactly what processing means.

“Blood of a magical beast…? What are we supposed to do with that…?”

“Won’t we die if we touch it?”

“No, it would only be dangerous if we drank it!”

“Either way, it’s still a harmful substance, isn’t it…?”

The deep purple liquid that filled the interior of the magical beast.

The students began trembling at the sight of the repulsive substance, and Professor Dahlia tried to calm the frightened students as she continued her explanation.

“There’s no need to worry so much. If touching it caused problems, how could I have brought it here? And while drinking it would be disastrous, no one would do that. Even inhaling the evaporated vapors isn’t good for you, but this amount shouldn’t cause significant issues in your body.”

—I see…

While it was a relief to hear there wouldn’t be problems, the students hadn’t completely let their guard down yet.

Since most of them hadn’t even properly experienced real combat, they still felt uneasy about the blood of a magical beast.

All that’s needed is to show them what benefits they can gain from it.

“I understand your fear, but.”

She placed a small amount of the liquid in a container, added other substances in precise quantities, and finally, Professor Dahlia infused magic into the viscous substance. The liquid gradually contracted, transforming into a solid.

“This is perfect for creating what we need for this test.”

“Ohhh…!”

“H-How do we do it?”

“I want to try too! Please teach us!”

Having witnessed the creation of an artificial magic stone, the students rushed forward, eager to learn.

But rushing like this would only lead to failure and potentially endanger those around them. After all, they were handling a dangerous substance—the blood of a magical beast.

Of course, Dahlia had taken all of this into account.

“I won’t allow students who don’t follow safety protocols to proceed with the creation. Especially not those who crowd around with only greed in their hearts.”

“We’re sorry…”

The students bowed their heads at the professor’s warning and quickly acknowledged their mistake.

“First, I’ll need one student to demonstrate according to my instructions.”

At the mention of a demonstration, the students once again filled with anticipation. Dahlia broke into a sweat at this.

‘Sorry, but I can’t choose any of you who are so openly impatient.’

One wrong move could lead to an accident, instilling fear rather than confidence…

‘Let’s see, who among them was calmly staying in place?’

As Dahlia’s eyes darted around, one person suddenly caught her attention.

The face of the boy reflected in her fixed gaze was unchanged from then till now.

“You there at the end? You’ll be perfect for the demonstration.”

“The end…?”

“That’s Junon, isn’t it?”

The black-haired boy pointed at his own face with a bewildered expression.

“…Me?”

Why me all of a sudden?

“Why so timid? Are you scared?”

“That’s not it…”

Come on, I’m just confused about why the professor specifically called on me.

Junon wondered why, out of all these students, including those who had attended alchemy lectures, he was the one chosen.

“You might be in a hurry with the magic aptitude test right around the corner, but you need to calmly follow my instructions. Understand?”

“…Yes.”

So that’s what she was thinking.

The students were anxious, facing the imminent magic aptitude test.

And having just witnessed something new, they were dealing with a dangerous substance—the blood of a magical beast.

Her words implied that rushing into the synthesis out of impatience could lead to mistakes.

‘Besides, if someone fails here, it would only increase fear, regardless of magic stones or anything else.’

She was looking for someone who wouldn’t panic and would follow instructions in this situation, perhaps recalling the Osoftera defense battle.

“What should I do first?”

No need to overthink. Just get it done quickly and move on.

***

At first, it didn’t seem strange that students were fearful at the mention of magical beast blood.

Still, as a professor and scholar teaching a discipline, such occurrences are rare.

“Ohhh…”

The students gasped in awe as they watched Junon synthesize the artificial magic stone.

But… it wasn’t something that deserved just that level of amazement.

‘He succeeded on the first try?’

The mixing ratio could be off, or the timing of the mixture could be too fast or too slow—these are common issues.

Looking into the details, there are bound to be mistakes, so failure was expected.

Crucially, the process of infusing magic requires intense concentration for magic control, so there’s no need to elaborate further.

But how?

How could someone succeed on the first try by simply mimicking what they saw?

Moreover, a student who had never attended alchemy lectures and was in Class E last semester would surely be just taking their first steps in the field of alchemy.

Yet, there was a sense of incongruity about him, as if he had prepared in advance.

“Professor?”

“Yes, yes. What is it?”

“You stopped in the middle of your explanation earlier.”

“Explanation… Ah, that’s right.”

She had been so distracted by Junon’s immediate success in creating the magic stone that she momentarily forgot her explanation.

But where had she left off?

“You were explaining that after magic stones are formed by the condensation of natural magical energy, some of it is naturally refined inside to form a ratio.”

“…Thank you. I was a bit taken aback because Junon succeeded so easily.”

“It’s all thanks to your clear explanation, Professor.”

“Anyway, continuing with the explanation, you need to condense natural magical energy and refined human magical energy in a specific ratio. Like Junon, you might succeed on the first try, but normally, it’s expected to go through trial and error. Understand?”

While she continued her explanation without showing any outward signs, Dahlia’s mind was in turmoil.

She had tried to forget the sense of incongruity she felt during the Osoftera defense battle, but what she had just witnessed was a vivid scene that would remain etched in her memory no matter how hard she tried to forget.