Chapter 40: The First Piece (4)

[40] 6. The First Piece (4)

The light of a blue magic lamp drives away the night, as an old pen dances across a sheet of paper.

It draws the diagrams invented and conceived by past mages. The pen connects lines and layers planes with absolute precision. Its dance is so fluid and unrestrained that it looks almost possessed.

*Stop.*

But then, the pen stops. My flowing thoughts come to a halt.

I try to get them moving again, twisting my face in frustration, tearing at my hair, and banging my head on the desk.

But my thoughts, once stopped, refuse to move.

Useless thoughts fill my head.

I lost again.

A perfect loss, one in which I couldn’t even use laziness as an excuse.

After my mother’s admonition, I doubled my study time and reduced my sleep—already down to three hours—to one hour.

Yet, I lost.

After checking the answer sheet, I understood why.

His Dolores Type 4, D-5 Formula luminescence magic circle was, even at first glance, much more efficient than mine.

The professor told me the difference between our circles wasn’t significant, but I knew he was just trying to console me.

I could tell just by looking at his answer: there was something truly ingenious about his concept.

It’s as if it were saying, ‘This… *this* is what true talent is…’

Bullshit!

I shook my head violently, forcing those thoughts away, and glared at the magic circle again.

I am the only sun of this era, a possessor of unparalleled talent.

It must have been just a fluke.

Because of the limited time in the exam,

And because the Goddess of Wisdom happened to bestow enlightenment upon him first,

My answer sheet ended up being inferior to his.

If I’d had enough time, I definitely would have been able to create a much better answer than his. Without a doubt.

Because I am my mother’s daughter.

And therefore, it’s safe to say that there’s no way I’d be defeated in the next regular exams.

I remembered the announcement Professor Gillian had made yesterday.

[We will be replacing the upcoming exam with a project. The project is to recreate the Mystic-Inner’s Type 8, 24-form magic circle, ‘Bloodline Detection’. Submit a completed magic circle by next Tuesday and activate it in this classroom. Your scores will be determined based on the degree of completion; needless to say, those whose magic doesn’t activate will be disqualified.]

A full week—plenty of time. And there was no one in Al-Rain Academy who knew more about Mystic-Inner than I.

My victory is certain.

But I won’t get complacent.

I pulled a syringe from my pocket. I wasn’t sleepy yet, but this drug was excellent at clearing away distracting thoughts.

After piercing the needle into a vein, I gently pushed down the plunger.

Soon, I felt a tingling sensation, as if lights were bursting in my head. Anxiety and troubling thoughts burned away, disappearing without a trace.

And my thoughts, once frozen, began to flow freely again.

Smiling, I placed the tip of the pen back on the paper. Looking at the magic circle I was drawing, I vowed once again

that this time, I would not disappoint my mother.

***

I am a genius of the century.

I achieved a new record:

Three hours of sleep in six days!

To be honest, I had finished drawing the first magic circle within five hours, but I didn’t think that would be enough to beat Rem. After all, his talent, though infuriating, is the real deal.

So, I scrapped it and started over!

And it wasn’t a one-time thing. Whenever I finished drawing the magic circle, if the results seemed mediocre, I would scrap it. And even while I was drawing a circle, if a better idea came to mind, I’d scrap it!

I scrapped 37 magic circles in total!

But failure is the mother of success!

Every time I scrapped a circle and started over, my new magic circle would become more intricate and elaborate.

And this 38th magic circle, the one I was currently drawing, had reached a level beyond mere magic and had become art.

It was only half-drawn, but I already had the design in my head. All I had to do now was put it on paper.

And then, I would regain my rightful place.

“Hehehe…”

I giggled to myself as I walked unsteadily, my eyes unfocused, searching for my room.

“Ow…!”

I tripped over my own feet and went sprawling onto the floor.

I immediately tried to get up. Any mage worth their salt would not simply lie sprawled on the hallway floor.

But I couldn’t.

Drowsiness, which I had been suppressing with medication, took advantage of this opportunity and pressed down on my consciousness.

The cold floor felt strangely comforting. My eyelids felt like lumps of lead.

Sleep seeped into my brain, tasting like sweet cream puffs.

But, gritting my teeth, I rummaged through my pockets and took out a syringe. After pulling off the cork, I held the needle against my arm.

Submission day was tomorrow. I couldn’t fall asleep.

Finding a vein was easy; my arm was already covered with needle marks. I pierced the needle in and injected the drug.

“Haah…”

An invigorating jolt of energy rushed through my body. Standing up, I thought,

*This truly is a blessing. With this, I… *

My vision blurred red.

“…Huh?”

I raised a hand and touched my cheek. It was warm and damp. When I took my hand away, it was covered in red.

Blood. My lifeblood, the very thing that carried magic power, but… why? Why…?

And it wasn’t just my eyes. Blood was pouring from my nose, my ears, my mouth. My head was spinning from blood loss.

“What the… hell is…”

The world tilted.

*Thud.*

And then, blackout.

…

…

…

“Why did I go that far… Huh? Parsley…? H-Hey! Hey!!”

***

A red light, the color of the setting sun, seeped into my eyelids.

My blurry consciousness returned, followed by the memories…

My reddened hand, and the thick streams of blood pouring from my nose, ears, eyes, and mouth.

“…!!”

I opened my eyes and sat up. I frantically ran my hand over my face, wiping away the blood and trying to staunch the bleeding.

“You’re awake?”

A condescending voice startled me.

I turned my head slowly and looked toward the source of the voice.

Black hair, an oversized robe,

“Rem…?”

The blood flow had stopped. Confused, I mumbled,

“What the…”

Rem frowned.

“You owe Priestess Bandhi-gira an apology. She came all the way here on her day off because of you.”

Only then did I realize I was in the infirmary. Both Rem’s and my robes were soaked with blood.

My genius brain quickly grasped the situation.

Rem must have found me, collapsed in the hallway, and carried me here. He must have stayed by my side, waiting for me to wake up.

“….”

I lowered my head, feeling a surge of shame.

To think that the greatest genius of this era had to be saved by her rival! And I hadn’t even properly thanked him!

It was a disgrace, not only for me, but for my entire family.

I opened my mouth to at least express my gratitude.

“Thank…”

“Are you fucking stupid?”

…But the unexpected words left me speechless.

I looked at Rem, my eyes wide with shock. I was too confused to even be angry. In fact, he’s the one who seemed to be angry.

He glared at me, muttering softly,

“[Andh]”

Then, he levitated a syringe from the table in front of him. Some blue liquid remained.

“You injected this? Do you even know what this is?”

“…I know, It’s Melania solution. I just wanted to stay awake, so I…”

“You used *this* to stay awake? Are you an actual fucking idiot?”

Another insult. But maybe because I’d already been shocked once, this time, irritation surged through me.

Calling the great me an idiot!

I opened my mouth to counter his accusations logically.

“I know Melania solution is toxic. But a certain dosage isn’t fatal. I even had an antidote, just…”

“And that’s why you ended up collapsed on the floor, covered in blood?”

I was speechless.

But not for long.

“I misjudged the amount because I was tired. Next time, I won’t…”

“Yes, *I* was the idiot for trying to have a conversation with you. [Shup]”

Before I could even cast a protective barrier, Rem threw me onto the bed. I tried to sit up, but he was faster.

[Ragtyti]

A faint pressure pressed down on my chest—just enough to prevent me from sitting up, given how fatigued my body was.

“Hey!! What the hell is this!!”

“Shut your mouth and go to sleep. I’m not releasing this spell until you do.”

I couldn’t even retort. Rem, oblivious to me, or rather, not even looking at me, picked up a book with his telekinesis.

He really was planning to keep the spell activated until I fell asleep.

I tried to break free, but it was futile.

First, I was already sleepy despite having just woken up,

And second, his gravity magic was much more advanced than I’d expected, as if he had cast this spell thousands of times.

A sage is not someone who repeatedly bashes their head against a wall when they know something won’t work.

I quickly changed my strategy.

Struggling to lift my heavy eyelids, I said,

“…I was wrong. Just please release the spell…”

Rem’s gaze finally landed on me. I continued, my voice laden with sleepiness,

“I still haven’t finished drawing the magic circle… the one I have to submit tomorrow… And the Melania solution… I-I’ll use it just once more, and from now on, I’ll use less than usual… About one a day… Is that okay…?”

That was my compromise. It was an offer where I had to really, really, reeeally swallowed my pride.

A rational person would accept it without hesitation.

“Are you saying that, knowing that you almost died?”

…But I guess Rem wasn’t as rational as I thought.

He rubbed the space between his brows, frowning.

“You almost bled to death, and yet you still want to use that Melania solution… a drug they use to euthanize the elderly… haah…”

He trailed off with a sigh and placed his chin on his hand, staring down at me.

“Let me ask you this. Why are you going that far?”

“…Because I need to beat you. I need to be at the top…”

“Why do you *need* to be at the top? You’re even injecting yourself with a drug they use to kill people.”

No one had asked me that question in a long time. The answer had been solidified from having said it countless times.

I answered unconsciously,

“…Because I want to be the master of the magic tower.”

Perhaps because my consciousness was being overtaken by sleep, but words started spilling out.

“…There’s never been a time when a mother and daughter have consecutively become the tower master… and I’m sure if I try to become the tower master, there will be objections. So I need as many achievements as possible… and being at the top is… the first step…”

My sentences were no longer complete. I raised a hand with effort.

“So… Release… the spell…”

“But why do you have to be the master of the magic tower?”

I frowned.

Why was he asking such an obvious question?

“Because… I… I’m going to become the greatest… tower master… Greater than anyone… So that my name can…”

…So that I could become my mother’s proud daughter,

So that my mother, who is always so busy, could look at me and smile,

So that my mother would stop giving me the cold shoulder,

So that my mother would love me.

But I stopped myself from saying anything more about my mother. Sleep had finally taken over.

I felt my eyelids droop. I squeezed out the last of my strength and glared at Rem.

*I’ve answered you, so release the spell.*

But Rem was just staring at me with a confused look-

An expression that seemed to say he’d heard something unexpected.

I lost consciousness.