[V3C10] Mana Control in Shreds
Translated by Jodas 3: The Fateful BrothersThe day after the confrontation between Frederik and Oliver, Hütter made an appearance in that morning’s group lessons with exhaustion evident in his face.
Unusually, Guidance Office Director Hegelich was standing behind him.
Their odd behavior infected the room with a slight tension.
“Good morning…….Umm, first of all, I have an announcement for all of you.”
Hütter took a deep breath, pushed up his sliding glasses, and continued.
“Yesterday, a lot happened, and somehow it’s been decided that all of you will be taking part in a Magic Battle against the Extermination Office. Now, who did it? I won’t get mad, just raise your hand.”
Oliver immediately raised his hand.
His elbow was locked straight out in a beautiful example of raising one’s hand.
“I challenged my brother, in the Extermination Office, to a duel.”
“Yes, well, it’s good that you’re honest. That said, we’re going to have to put off ‘Mr. Hütter’s Magnificent Magical History Lesson: The Three Great Screw-up Mages of the Empire ~ The Mage who Blew Fire From His Butt ~’ until next time! Now, Director Hegelich has an important message for you all, so settle down and listen closely!”
Hütter stepped back towards the wall, and Hegelich walked up to the podium in his place.
It wasn’t unheard of for Hegelich to stand at the podium during group lessons. However, today was different, as he seemed unusually well-poised.
“One month from now, it has been decided that a Magic Battle will occur between the twelve Apprentice Mages of the Guidance office and three mages of the Extermination Office.”
Chatter resounded through the classroom. Those who hadn’t been aware of the previous day’s events were especially shaken.
The Shaman Sophie’s face paled as she spoke.
“Why us too………!”
“While the personal quarrel between the Lange Brothers was the impetus for this, even without that, I had intended to conduct some form of practical battle experience.”
Saying that, Hegelich pasted a map onto the blackboard.
It was a map of the area to the east of the Wedge Tower. The spot where he had marked on that map rang a bell in Tia’s mind.
“The other day, the presences of three Lesser Magic Beasts and a Greater Monster were confirmed at this spot. Regardless of the fact that Monsters should not be able to appear so far from the Crystal Territory.”
The atmosphere in the room tensed.
Wren and Sevil glanced at Tia. The Monsters Hegelich was talking about were Jack and the Snow Boars that they and Tia had encountered the other day.
“It is not yet clear what led to Monsters appearing at this spot. However, I believe it would not be impossible for Monsters to breach the walls of this very Wedge Tower.”
Tia desperately held her breath to stop a chirp from escaping her throat.
In fact, there was a Monster inside the Wedge Tower as they spoke. A Harpy, Folulutia.
“The Wedge Tower is a line of defense to protect the Empire from Monsters. Even if you’re not members of the Extermination Office, if an emergency arises, you must be prepared to do anything you can. That is why real battle experience is indispensable.”
Tia peeked at the faces of the other Apprentice Mages. Tia couldn’t see all of their faces from her seat, but she could tell when their face and body tensed up.
Surely all of them were thinking about it. The worst-case scenario where Monsters attack the Wedge Tower.
What should a Harpy who has lost her ability to fly and wore a human skin do in that scenario?
(…….What would I do then? I don’t have a clue. I don’t know what I should do……)
Tia hung her head and bit her lip. For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to look Wren or Sevil in the eyes.
The atmosphere in the classroom became much heavier. As it did, Hegelich made his voice a little gentler.
“That said, I’m not asking all of you to take up arms. In the Magic Battle one month from now as well, I expect you to divide the responsibilities according to your individual strengths, and share your knowledge to determine how you can win against a superior opponent.”
Share their knowledge. Thinking. That was one of Tia’s weak points.
Seriously, humans thought about so many things.
A string of unanswerable ‘Why?’s ‘How come?’s and ‘What do I do?’s multiplied in her head.
“With the mana evaluations yesterday, you all should understand how much mana you have, and what sort of magecraft each of you are suited for. Over the course of the next month, I expect you to expand your capabilities and take on the challenge of the Magic Battle.”
With that, Hegelich concluded his speech, and Röhm entered the room carrying a large basket.
“Director Hegelich, I brought them.”
“Ah, thank you. Then, go ahead and pass them out to everyone.”
Röhm and Hütter divided the paper and ink contained in the basket, and passed it out to each desk.
Hegelich took one sheet of the paper, scribbled something, then posted it on the board for the whole class to see.
The sheet of paper wasn’t terribly large. It was a palm-sized rectangular sheet of paper that was wider than it was long. There, he had written a magical formula with a pale gray ink.
(That’s the one we learned about in group lessons……)
Tia flipped through her notebook and pieced together the meaning of the magical formula.
(Element, wind. Mana, strength 1. Emit…..please. Is that right?)
In addition to Tia, Wren and Sevil were also flipping through their notebooks in the same manner.
Once everyone had been passed their paper and ink, Hegelich spoke.
“From today onwards, we will conduct lessons on mana manipulation. Miss Roswitha, please explain this magical formula to the class.”
Pointy-hatted Roswitha, who’d been singled out, answered as if it was obvious.
“Convert mana to wind attribute, and emit with minimum strength…….I don’t believe there’s a need for me to explain something so simple.”
As Roswitha said that last part, she directed her glare towards Tia and company. Her eyes said ‘you can’t even understand something this basic?’
Hegelich elected not to dignify Roswitha’s snide remarks with a response, and placed his finger on the left edge of the paper posted on the board.
“Each one of you, write a formula of your respective element on the paper in front of you, and place your finger on the edge. Then, when you pour mana into it……”
Starting from the left edge of the page where Hegelich’s finger was touching, the gray ink glowed with a yellow-green light.
“This is a practice technique designed to make it easier for you to visualize the flow of mana. We will pass out ink to each one of you, so all of you should try writing a formula of your element and flow mana into it.”
Tia inadvertently made a cheerful “Piyoyo” sound. Wren and Sevil’s eyes both lit up as well.
“This is it, this is what I’ve been waiting for!”
Wren danced in his seat as he took the ink that was handed to him and immediately started writing a formula on the page. His hand flowed like a coursing river.
Wren, with his special ability to copy other people’s handwriting, was also talented at writing magical formulas. He wasn’t quite as good at deciphering those formulas, but as long as he had something to go off of, he could write them quickly and beautifully.
Sevil was a little slower to start writing. Wren was lightning, while Sevil was water. Tia’s special attribute was wind, so she could just copy the example that Hegelich wrote earlier.
“Uuu….. Wind is Vela and…… the lowest level of mana, so dax, vaw…… vela marte? ……Huh, that doesn’t feel right……. do i specify the element first? Pirorororororoo….”
Groaning, Tia wrote the magical formula with awkward letters.
Once she’d finished writing it, she checked it over three times.
(It’s the same as the one Director Hegelich wrote. It’s okay, it’s okay……..!)
As Tia, unused to using a pen, struggled, the others succeeded at their mana control one after another.
The magical formula that Wren wrote glowed weakly, but it nevertheless glowed yellow.
“Amazing……! I can use magecraft!”
Wren blushed with joy, but Hegelich spoke to him with an exasperated face.
“You, that’s not magecraft at all. It’s no different from using a magical device.”
“Even then, it’s so awesome to see something that I wrote glowing like this……!”
Wren’s excitement was inextinguishable. He flowed mana into the page countless times, each time repeating “Awesome!”
Wren had the lowest mana reserves in the class, but it seemed this level of usage was not a burden on him.
“Piyo, I wrote it! I, too, can……!”
Confirming that the ink had dried, Tia set her hand on the end of the words.
Then she poured mana in. The next moment, the paper in Tia’s hands tore itself to shreds. Like thin, crumbling ash.
“Pefuu?”
“What happened?”
Röhm shouted and ran over to Tia.
Tia scooped up the shredded paper with her hands.
“Ms. Röhm……My paper is all torn up……”
Looking at the paper in Tia’s hands, Röhm said “Give me a second,” pulled out a spare sheet of paper, and quickly wrote a magical formula on it. A world away from Tia’s awkward handwriting, hers was a gorgeously written formula.
“Can you try again with this?”
Maybe what happened before was just because Tia’s handwriting was just that bad. That had to be it.
(Ms. Röhm wrote this magical formula, so it’ll definitely be okay!)
Fully believing that, Tia once again poured mana into the page.
However, this piece of paper once again crumbled into an ash-like consistency beneath Tia’s fingers.