"We’ve arrived. This shall be your place of learning."
Headmaster Shido came to a halt after we had ascended roughly a hundred meters into the air.
A door stood at the far end of the cobblestone floor, sliding open automatically as Shido raised his hand toward it.
Heh, they’ve even embedded spell formulas into the doors. For all I know, the entire tower might be built that way.
Beyond the open door, the floor remained cobblestone, but there were no walls and the ceiling was a vast, open-air atrium.
A row of numbered targets was lined up across the space, and students were currently aiming their magic at them.
"Headmaster Shido! To what do we owe this visit? And who are these two?"
As we watched the proceedings, a woman who appeared to be a teacher noticed us and came running over.
"Ho-ho, forgive the intrusion. These two are transfer students who just joined us today. I thought I would let them observe a class in session. Please, continue without minding us."
"I-I see..."
At the Headmaster’s word, the teacher instructed the students to resume the lesson.
"Still, this brings back memories. We used to do things like this at the castle all the time."
I muttered to myself as I watched the fireballs streak through the air and strike the targets.
Target practice with magic—once upon a time, I had asked Albert to let me try it as well.
Since I claim to be nothing more than an ordinary magic lover, I couldn't do anything too flashy, so I kept my efforts strictly mundane.
Still, watching other people use magic was a treat in its own right.
The students were excellent, possessing skills that were incomparable to the mages at the castle. Although, naturally, they weren't quite at Albert's level...
—Immediately after I heard the sharp snap of someone's fingers, a tremendous explosion rang out.
I looked over to see that every single target had been blown away. While the rest of the class broke into an uproar, a single boy stood there with a bored expression.
"W-What are you doing, Gazel-kun!?"
The boy called Gazel gave a snort and thrust both hands into his pockets.
He had silver hair and red eyes, and he wore his school uniform loosely, revealing a remarkably toned chest through the opening.
"What do you mean? I just shot a Fireball exactly like I was told," Gazel answered, looking down at the instructor.
The teacher winced slightly but raised her voice nonetheless.
"I did tell you to shoot a Fireball, but who told you to destroy them?! If you do something like that, you’ll cause trouble for the other students!"
"Hmph, that has nothing to do with me."
Gazel spoke with a dismissive tone, then leaned against a wall and closed his eyes.
The teacher’s face turned bright red at his arrogant attitude. Seeing this, Connie turned to Shido.
"Was that just now a Fireball...? To produce that much power with a lower-tier magic... he must have incredible mana..."
"Gazel Bordeaux. He is a boy with magnificent talent, and yet..."
"Bordeaux... You don't mean...?"
"Indeed. He is a scion of the prestigious house that produced the Great Sage and Founder of Magic, William Bordeaux."
Ooh, a descendant of the man who originated magic.
To be able to meet such a grand figure—I’m truly glad I came to this academy.
"Moreover, was that magic just now chantless? Usually, the power drops significantly, but the loss was extremely minimal. Could it be a special spell formula? It happened too fast to tell, but maybe it’s the Bloodline Magic of the Progenitor (William). If so, I’d certainly love for him to teach it to me."
While I was getting excited, Headmaster Shido let out a heavy sigh, his expression gloomy.
"Gazel’s ability as a mage is certainly impressive. However, that attitude of flaunting his excessive power as if to say might makes right is deplorable. I believe a mage is a seeker of knowledge, and one must have respect for all things... Well, there are a fair number of students who admire such a fellow regardless. The number of students who imitate Gazel and try to brute-force everything with mana is increasing. It is truly lamentable beyond measure."
Looking around, I saw that the other students were indeed sending envious glances toward Gazel.
Well, they had just seen that level of power, the precision to target dozens of marks simultaneously, and all of it performed chantlessly.
As people aspiring to master magic, it was only natural for them to admire him.
On the other hand, I could understand Shido’s feelings in treating Gazel as a problem child.
When an unskilled person tries to wield great power, there is a high probability of causing a catastrophe due to a spell formula going out of control.
No matter how simple the spell formula... no, it is precisely because of that simplicity that exercising it without sufficient understanding is dangerous.
To use an analogy, it’s like giving explosives to a child. Even a slight mistake in the operating procedure would cause it to bare its fangs at the user, resulting in immense damage to the surroundings.
"Indeed, just like Master Lloyd, for instance."
"Yes. Doing exactly as he pleases, however he wants. Causing immense damage to his surroundings... There is no mistake about it."
Grimo and Jiriel were looking at me with weary, knowing eyes, but I’ll have them know I am being incredibly considerate of my surroundings. How rude.
...Still, Gazel, huh. He doesn't even make a pretense of hiding that much mana, and he doesn't seem to care about standing out at all.
If a student like him is around, the attention on me might decrease relatively, which might make things easier for me in various ways. In that sense, I might be lucky.
"Oh, honestly, the targets are completely ruined. What should I do...?"
"Um, if you like, shall I help?"
Connie called out to the teacher, who was pacing frantically around the charred remains of the targets.
"...Are you a new student? I appreciate the sentiment, but these targets have spell formulas embedded in them that are more complex than they look. They aren't something that can be fixed right here on the spot."
However, Connie ignored the teacher’s warning. She sat down beside a fallen target, picked it up, and began to observe it closely.
"I see. There are certainly multiple spell formulas incorporated here. Impact Absorption, Elemental Effect Nullification, Material Strengthening... But yes, I can fix this much myself."
"Wait, you—"
No sooner had she spoken than Connie pulled out a tool kit and began dismantling the broken target.
What incredible handiwork. It wasn't just fast; it was perfectly accurate. I couldn't believe she was performing those movements without any magical assistance.
For example, if it were me, I would have to layer Sense Enhancement and physical reinforcement several times and then manifest a third or fourth arm to finally achieve movements equivalent to that.
"Movements equal to Master Lloyd's with just her physical body... Hah! Could it be that what that girl gained in exchange for losing her mana was...?"
"Yeah. What is manifesting as superhuman physical ability must be that dexterity."
The difficulty of making the magic tools themselves wasn't that high, but she must have undergone considerable training to acquire that level of skill. A Magic-Housed Constitution is a trait where a person with the talent for magic gains great power by pursuing a different path. For Connie, that must have been her manual dexterity.
Before long, everyone was entranced by the beauty of her work.
"...Phew, it’s done."
Connie let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from her brow.
I activated Appraisal on the finished target and analyzed the embedded spell formulas.
...Hmm, the defensive capabilities have been significantly improved compared to before it was broken.
It was a robust spell formula that combined flexibility and rigidity. This should easily withstand that earlier Fireball.
In addition to that, there were various spell formulas incorporated that I don’t usually get to see.
Nice. That looks interesting. I wonder if she’ll let me test it.
"Erm... Lloyd-kun, if you like, do you want to test the strength of the target?"
"Is it okay? Then, don't mind if I do."
It seemed she had noticed my longing gaze. It was unseemly of me, but I couldn't help it.
I nodded immediately and held my hand toward the target.
"Master Lloyd, you mustn't! If you destroy that target, you'll stand out!?"
"I’m not going to do something like that."
What does he think I am? How rude, Jiriel. There’s no way I would suddenly go and break something Connie worked so hard to fix.
...Well, I’ll aim for just one step short of that, though.
"Fireball."
And so, I fired a Fireball at the target.
The created flames arced through the air and struck the center of the mark.
With a roar, the flames flared up for a moment before instantly subsiding and vanishing.
The heated target took on a slight red glow, but it quickly returned to its original color.
Good, I managed to hold back just the right amount. This shouldn't make me stand out... although, having said that...
"That reaction... if there had been a bit more power, it would have been melted... Even though I raised the resistance that much, Lloyd-kun is amazing..."
"Hmm, to fire a Fireball comparable to Gazel’s... and Connie-kun’s target which withstood it is also magnificent. Mmm-hmm, some good students have joined us."
Connie and Shido were muttering something or other to themselves.
Even so, I tried to imitate Gazel’s spell formula, but it feels slightly different somehow.
Could this be his original spell formula? Or maybe it really was William’s Bloodline Magic? If so, I’m very curious.
I’d certainly love to ask him about it in detail. Yes, indeed.