Chapter 43

Thanks to clearing the Main Quest and receiving a large amount of experience at once, I instantly leveled up to 20.

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<LapidemyBunnyPrincess> Lv. 20 (+14)

-Class: Writer (Unique)

-Title: Possessor, One Who Contracted with an Ancient Demon (new!)

-HP: 80

-Mana: 51(+40)

-Strength: 8

-Agility: 7

-Physical Resistance: 5

-Magic Resistance: 5

-Intelligence: 45 (+5)

-Luck: -99~99

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Perhaps due to the level up, my Mana stat increased quite a bit. Moreover─

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▷Skill: Mana Operation

An excellent magician can use mana efficiently.

※Current Efficiency: 17.2% additional operation possible

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Thanks to the significant increase in the efficiency of Mana Operation, I didn’t feel a lack of mana even after practicing magic dozens of times. At the same time, I was certain.

‘The I Am the Writer skill is a mana-guzzling hippo!’

When I captured Baal, when I healed Lerwon, and when I teleported to the Academy, it felt like my blood was truly drying up.

I guess that’s natural since I was bleeding from every orifice.

Anyway, I could feel my mana being sucked dry. Maybe that’s why using mere magic barely felt like using mana at all.

《Excellent. I would believe you even if you called it a feat.》

“Well, this is pretty much a feat.”

A ball of fire moved according to the movement of my fingers. It felt like I had become a circus clown, but it was truly amazing.

《There’s nothing more to teach you now.》

“You’re declaring a strike so boldly?”

Where are you trying to bail out now? After just adding a single spoon to the fire magic that Lerwon taught me everything about.

“There’s one thing I want to do, you know?”

Smiling confidently, I shared an idea that had occurred to me with Albedo.

Albedo, who listened to my words carefully, slightly furrowed his brow.

《It’s not that difficult, but it’s by no means easy to do at your level.》

“But, wouldn’t it be amazing if I pull it off?”

If I can pull it off, they’ll have no choice but to acknowledge it, even if I, who has barely attended any classes, take first place.

At my confident question, Albedo let out a small groan.

《*Keung*, I admit it, but… you’ll have a hard time.》

That’s right. To pull off ‘that thing’ I mentioned, everything has to be perfect. It would be an event that couldn’t be described as just a ‘hard time’.

《Moreover, you have other exams, so you’ll have to cut down on sleep, right?》

“You know, Albedo. Do you know this saying?”

《What saying?》

“Sleep is for the dead.”

I proudly gave Albedo a thumbs-up.

Albedo’s expression became subtle.

Why, it’s a famous quote that has deeply moved the people of the Republic of Korea.

“Let’s really grind ourselves down.”

And, caffeine is every student’s friend. Mmm, what a sweet phrase.

* * *

Just because the exams were ahead didn’t mean the professors wouldn’t hold classes. Rather, they abused the students with a mindset like, ‘Since the exams are ahead, you must learn even more, right?’

As expected, the creature known as a professor must be bloodless and tearless.

Except for my father.

Why, what, what are you gonna do about it.

And so, a week of preparing for the exams passed.

…Why was time skipped? I feel like I sensed some kind of authorial manipulation.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“I feel like I’ve become a graduate student, but I’m fine.”

If I get stranded on this godforsaken island again─ ah, that’s not it?

“Still, once the midterms are over, it’s the Flowering Festival , right?”

“Ah, right.”

The Academy held festivals in the first and second halves of the year.

The Flowering Festival held in the first half was closer to a sports day than a festival.

Students taking combat lectures, like Lucian or Zephyros, were required to participate.

And, that included me too.

“Wow, I really don’t want to do it.”

How on earth is someone with low durability like me supposed to fight?

“Did you finish your Imperial History assignment?”

“Zephi, you don’t know. That kind of assignment is always best done the day before the deadline.”

Have you ever heard of the miracle of the deadline?

“I did finish it.”

The midterm assignment was what I did while practicing basic magic. Thanks to that, I could now use basic magic even while lying down.

It had come to the point where Albedo would clap with his short legs watching me, so that says it all. Since it’s flawless magic even from the perspective of a former Demon King, I’m confident, but.

“Isn’t there some kind of medicine to relieve tension?”

My heart was pounding so much that it was perfect for going crazy.

I clutched my chest where my heart was pounding as if it would go on a picnic out of my throat at any moment, and rested my forehead on Zephyros’s shoulder.

“You’ve been preparing for a whole week.”

“That’s why I’m nervous.”

I prepared until I felt like throwing up, so I was worried I might screw it up.

Even though I feel like I can use magic even while falling! Even though my magic efficiency has already reached 20% from using only magic for a whole week!!

“That much worry is a sickness.”

“Okay, calm down─ I’m not calm!”

It’s been years since I graduated from university!

The last exam in my life was 3 years ago! How can I not be nervous?!

“I feel like Professor Beatrice will be even stricter.”

“Because she’s not on good terms with Professor Evan?”

“You, do you see the professor as that kind of trash?”

For a moment, Zephyros’s gaze became sharp.

“Can’t you take a joke? It’s more a matter of expectations.”

I explained to Zephyros with hollow eyes.

“If an ordinary person passing by uses ordinary magic, it would seem amazing, but if a magician who was taught magic by that Evan Lisitoel uses ordinary magic, the usual reaction is, ‘Ah, I see’, and that’s it, you know?”

So, I prepared even more diligently.

“Right. If I fail, everyone fails.”

The time we’ve accumulated is different, but I did my best for that week. To the point where I really couldn’t have worked any harder.

So, I won’t have any regrets.

* * *

We gathered at the training ground for the Basic Elemental Magic exam.

If a fire were to break out from uncontrolled magic here, it wouldn’t be a problem.

The faces of the students scattered around were filled with tension.

Not long after, Beatrice descended from the sky on a broomstick.

At her truly witch-like appearance, Theo unknowingly let out a gasp of admiration, “Oh.”

“The midterm exam for the Basic Elemental Magic lecture will begin at 13:00, Imperial standard time.”

Beatrice smiled leisurely and took out a magitool from her pocket.

The magitool, in the shape of a clock with bird wings, flew up into the sky.

It instantly split into as many pieces as there were students and stuck to their sides.

“It’s a magitool that detects student cheating, so you don’t have to be nervous.”

Leaning on one leg, Beatrice used magic to float a piece of paper in the air.

“When your name is called, come out in order. Number 1, Victor Howard.”

At the call, a brown-haired student with a nervous face stepped forward.

With a nervous face, Victor took a few deep breaths and immediately cast his magic.

A flame in the shape of a flower bloomed from his fingertips.

The next moment, a spear made of water pierced the training ground’s scarecrow, and a cloak of wind settled on his shoulders.

Finally, an earth doll appeared, bowed to Beatrice, and then disappeared.

Although he fumbled at times, they were all high-level magic for a first-year to use.

As if to prove this, gasps of admiration flowed from all over, but Beatrice’s reaction was not very enthusiastic.

“Next.”

In the chilly atmosphere, the next person came out.

Perhaps due to the tension, he didn’t just fumble, but the magic circle repeatedly broke while he was drawing it.

When the magic circle was finally completed, flames flowed onto the floor, creating a wall of heat.

A curtain of water cooled that wall of heat.

However, before any admiration could flow, the curtain of water completely collapsed.

The magic had failed.

“Do you need another chance?”

At Beatrice’s question, he tried a few more times with a pale face, but the magic didn’t come out, as if it were already impossible.

“So─”

After showing the remaining earth and wind magic with basic magic as if he had given up, the second student went back in.

As the second student ultimately failed, the atmosphere became even colder.

Zephyros was the third turn.

The gazes of the first-years looking at Zephyros were filled with expectation.

A firm expectation that he, none other than the heir of the Nevera Duchy, would show a different level of skill.

“Good grief.”

The expectation was so clear that it was more difficult to pretend not to notice.

A heavy vibration was transmitted through the tips of his toes.

Under Zephyros’s hand, the earth condensed, and something that rose from the ground pushed his palm up.

A rough and heavy Circle of Earth revealed itself, firmly holding the surrounding space with a silent energy.

All forms of magic follow their Origin. The most basic form of magic is inevitably a Circle.

In other words, what Zephyros used was the most basic elemental magic he had first learned.

As Zephyros, who was expected to be able to use the most difficult magic among the students, used the most basic magic, murmurs quietly spread.

“Why is it so noisy during an exam?”

At Beatrice’s question, silence fell once again.

It doesn’t matter if it’s noisy, though.

A single drop of water formed in the center of the magic.

The gentle moisture that had seeped through the earth spread, and a blue and transparent Circle of Water bloomed on Zephyros’s hand.

Soon, the water disappeared, leaving behind a tremor, and the warmth left in its place bubbled like a red dot.

A small spark ignited and instantly flared into a fierce flame, and the hotly shimmering Circle of Fire shone as if to color the empty air.

And, as if to wrap around that heat, the wind raged.

The whirlwind born from the edge of the flames became a single stream at Zephyros’s fingertips and spread out.

A current sharper than a blade swallowed the flames.

The wind that embraced the fire became a single distinct form.

The bird of wind that had perched on Zephyros’s arm flew up at some point and scattered, drawing a splendid flame.

“…Good, next.”

As Beatrice personally expressed that it was ‘good’, a commotion spread once again.

Mixing the basic elemental magic of wind and fire certainly looked amazing, but was it really to the extent of expressing it as ‘good’?

No matter what, if you were to discuss the difficulty of the magic used by the first two students, wouldn’t the difference be so great that comparing them would be meaningless?

The commotion did not subside, but slowly grew in size on its own.

“Next, are you not coming out?”

Beatrice, unable to watch him any longer, asked with obvious displeasure.

Among the students who had quickly quieted down, the next person came out with a look of utter dismay on his face.

Even after Zephyros, the situation did not change much.

Each time they came out, the students used the most difficult elemental magic they could.

In any case, there were those who were a little clumsy but ultimately succeeded in all their magic, and there were also students who failed after a few attempts and eventually used basic elemental magic and returned.

Theo was the last turn. Transfer students were added to the end of the attendance book, and exams generally followed the order of the attendance book.

“The last student.”

Theo came out with a face full of tension and stood in front of Beatrice.

Expectation was reflected in Beatrice’s flame-like red eyes.

In those eyes, which were different from her usual indifferent ones, Theo slowly took a deep breath.

In an instant, a cold wind that seemed to sharply graze the skin scratched his ears.

With a sound of splitting sharper than a blade, a Circle of Wind swirled like an invisible blade tip in Theo’s hand and took form.

Embracing that air, the wind instantly created a flame. A circle resembling the sun rose, and its light gathered the surrounding warmth and pulsed like a ball of fire.

However, at the most brilliant moment of the flame, a single cold drop of water shot out from his fingertips.

Swallowing the sun, a bluish Circle of Water formed.

When the Circle of Water fell and touched the ground, a small vibration was felt there.

Like a firm and slow breath, a Circle of Earth rose in a form that held weight.

Theo also used a completely basic form of magic.

It was a perfect and ideal magic, without a single flaw to be found, but at the same time, Beatrice was a little disappointed.

She had thought that since he was Evan’s son, he would show something a little more amazing.

“That’s─”

That’s enough, go back, Beatrice’s words were not fully completed.

Because the four forms of elements had appeared once again in Theo’s hand.

And at the same time!!

* * *

For this one single moment, I had to use basic magic for a whole week.

To borrow Albedo’s expression, this was a crazy act of drawing a circle with one hand, a triangle with the other, a square with one foot, and a star with the other.

Even Zephyros didn’t use fire and wind magic at the same time, but mixed the wind he controlled with fire magic.

It was truly a crazy act accomplished through patience and perseverance.

But, from now on is the start of the real crazy act.

The four elements, layered like a four-leaf clover, slowly rose into the sky.

In the transparent air, each circle rotated, imbued with its own light and texture—and in an instant, a wind blew.

The earth, water, and fire made of mana gently scattered with the wind, brushing against each other in the air, swirling, and overlapping to create a small mist of light.

The heat of the fire mixed with the water and vaporized, and the particles of earth added a soft weight in between and shimmered.

And at that moment.

A single streak of rainbow spread like ink and hung in the sky.

Not clear, but a definite, beautiful color like a final farewell left by the magic.

It began to slowly scatter, leaving behind a thick wave.

I looked at Beatrice while proudly admiring the rainbow I had created.

How sweet could the anticipation be, which had been broken once and then bloomed again.

I let out a laugh as I faced the astonished Professor Beatrice.

“Haha.”

Just seeing that expression on Professor Beatrice’s face made me feel as if the week-long ordeal had been washed away.

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