Academy's Drunk Fighter-Chapter 26: Magic (5)

“Didn’t write their name... huh.”

Hyena sat back in her chair, sipping her coffee as she quietly stared at the sheet filled with formulas.

It didn’t make sense, not by any normal logic.

Even the kids who had barely written anything still managed to write their names—and yet the student who turned in something this perfectly written somehow forgot to write theirs?

And this was a student good enough to have passed Central Academy’s entrance exam?

It was honestly hard to comprehend.

“A mistake...”

No, it was too basic of a blunder for her brain to even entertain the possibility that it was a mistake.

“Well, all mages have their quirks.”

Mages were, for the most part, the kind of people who locked themselves away every day to bury themselves in research and training.

And some of them lost their minds a little along the way.

If she really wanted to find out who it was, she could.

But if they’d left their name off intentionally—which seemed almost certain at this point—then forcing her way in just to dig out that identity...

“...Would be a mistake.”

She’d seen it herself, time and time again—professors who made that exact kind of foolish mistake and ended up driving away students who could’ve been priceless assets.

Hyena had no intention of repeating their failures and making an enemy out of someone with that much potential.

Still, if something like this happened again...

“Heh...”

The buzz of caffeine zipping through her brain gave her a strange sense of exhilaration.

It always felt this way, watching younger geniuses solve problems she herself couldn’t crack.

Along with the faint sense of loss, there was something like joy—knowing she’d helped nurture the minds that would illuminate the frontlines of magic’s future.

That alone was reason enough for Hyena to live every single day exhausted, never complaining.

Sure, she could make more money if she wanted to.

But that never mattered—not when the progress of magic itself was on the line.

“Ah... Please, come to me soon.”

So this time, she decided to let it go.

But if they kept teasing her like this...

Then eventually, even she might not be able to hold back.

Hyena was a mage too, after all—and like all mages, she had a bit of madness in her.

She just hadn’t realized it yet.

****

“...Ugh, what was that?”

It felt like a wave of cold death had just swept over his body. Was that... just his imagination?

“Yeah, probably just imagining things.”

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He ran a hand down his arm and tried to shake the creeping sense that some massive catastrophe was looming on the horizon.

Anyway, what was going to happen with the whole “no name” thing?

It was probably gonna affect his grade...!

But that issue ended up getting resolved almost immediately in the next magic class.

“A lot of students were overthinking it or just gave up entirely. So to be honest with you, yes—it was a difficult problem.”

“...Huh?”

“And since it was just a demonstration question, it won’t be factored into your grade. So no need to worry.”

...Wait, seriously?

So it was actually a hard problem, not just something he failed to understand?

Then there was no reason to go bother Charlotte in the first place.

Not that it was a bad thing they met, but still... anyway.

“So! Today, we’ll be learning the fundamentals of magic. Some of you might already be familiar with these, but I encourage you to go along with it as a refresher with your classmates.”

The professor’s tone was so shamelessly upbeat that it left him speechless for a second, but she was teaching magic from the very beginning, so he tried to focus.

“Magic, unfortunately, is something that heavily favors those with talent. It’s a world crawling with so-called ‘geniuses’ and ‘monsters.’”

“What’s the usual growth limit for most people?”

“Someone without talent might only reach the First Circle—or in other words, might never be able to cast magic at all.”

Not being able to use magic at all? That was just... tragic.

“However, even these people can sometimes manifest magic through artificial means. As for the more ‘average’ talents, they usually cap out at the Third or Fourth Circle.”

The professor took a breath, then lifted her cup and took a long sip before continuing.

“Beyond that, we have the geniuses. People so full of magical talent it overflows. If they devote their lives to training, they can reach the Sixth or Seventh Circle... and in rare cases, even the Eighth. Unfortunately, I’m currently at the Seventh Circle myself.”

“Seventh... Circle?!”

Even while admitting she was a genius, she stared at the students with those same perpetually tired eyes—completely unfazed.

“Above that are the monsters that put even geniuses to shame. Some reach the Seventh Circle while still children. Some even push into the Eighth—or in very rare historical cases, the Ninth.”

“How strong is someone at the Ninth Circle?”

“Assuming they aren’t blocked by someone of equal strength, they can wipe out several nations alone.”

“...!”

Power on a level that could erase entire countries.

It made sense, though. Unlike other combat classes that balanced attack and defense, mages sat at the rear and unleashed overwhelming firepower. That kind of destruction was expected.

And it wasn’t like their defense was anything to laugh at either.

“But magic does have a very clear weakness.”

There was a reason mages didn’t always dominate the battlefield.

“That weakness is the limitation of mana itself.”

The amount of mana a person was born with—and the amount they could draw directly from nature—was finite.

This was why, during the siege defense chapters in the game, players who tried replacing knights with mages in the rear never cleared the stage.

The more mages you had, the faster they burned through the ambient mana in the air.

And once all that mana was gone?

You had to use the mana inside your own body... or start beating enemies with your staff.

Granted, very few mage characters in the game ever resorted to staff-beating.

Most just collapsed or ran away once their mana was gone.

“Excuse me, may I ask a question?”

“Of course, go ahead.”

“If a mage is confronted by a swordsman or other close-range fighter... what should they do? Can they even win?”

“Hmm...”

The professor paused for a moment, thinking.

“Assuming equal skill levels, if someone strong in close combat gets near you—don’t even think about running.”

“Shouldn’t putting distance between you be the first step?”

“Mages have great senses for magic, but their physical reflexes are poor. If a mage has noticed the enemy, that usually means the enemy’s already noticed them. All you can do is take minimal defensive measures and rain down high-powered spells—bombard them with everything you’ve got.”

“And what if we get caught in the blast?”

“You’ll just have to deal with that too. If a mage is wandering around alone and runs into an enemy, then they were already in a bad spot to begin with.”

“......”

She sighed, either out of fatigue or irritation, and resumed the lecture.

“Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent. Today’s actual lesson will focus on the fundamental characters that make up magic...”

...

...

...

Much later—class finally ended.

“Uugghh... my brain... too much informationnn!”

“Memoriiiiize!!”

Even though it was just a single class session, the sheer volume of notes being crammed into his skull felt brutal.

Some students already looked like they were halfway to losing their minds.

And those so-called "basic magic characters"?

There were a damn lot of them.

Each one practically filled an entire page—and these were supposed to be the basics? What the hell, it wasn’t like they were ancient Chinese characters or something.

Even if the game said that magic characters were used to explain the world, this was getting excessive. Like, suspiciously excessive.

Maybe these "basic" characters were actually supposed to be learned at an advanced level, like that demo problem from earlier.

“Couldn’t they have skipped on the whole ‘realism’ thing just this once...?”

It was too realistic.

This wasn’t some kind of Korean college entrance exam—the difficulty was completely insane.

He sighed and popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth as he headed toward the library.

Munch.

Crunch.

That bittersweet taste spread /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ across his tongue.

Though honestly, after eating so many, he was starting to get sick of them.

He really should start looking for another method soon... but he still had no idea what that would be.

Maybe try putting the liquor into bread or something instead of chocolate?

Lost in thought, he eventually arrived at the library without even realizing it.

And sure enough, today too—he ran into Charlotte again.

“O-Oh, you came!!”

“Yeah. Is something wrong?”

“N-No! I just... I didn’t think you’d actually come back... to visit me again...!”

“Didn’t I say we were friends?”

“Huaaaaah...!!”

“Come on, let’s go inside and talk.”

“U-Um... you're not supposed to eat food in the library, though...”

Charlotte glanced at the chocolates in his hand and quickly reminded him of the rules.

So out of the four he had, he handed her two.

“Chocolate... from a friend...! I-I’ll treasure them for the rest of my life...!!”

“You really don’t have to go that far, you know?”

“No! This is—this is a priceless family heirloom now! I mean, my heirloom!”

“Uh... okay.”

He watched as she carefully placed the chocolates into her pocket like they were sacred relics, then followed her into the usual supply room where she always stayed.

“Haaah... A place without a single ray of sunlight... it’s perfect...”

“It’s definitely cozy in here.”

The space gave off a strange comfort—probably because it reminded him of all those days he spent holed up in his room, gaming non-stop.

But the real reason he’d come to see her today wasn’t just nostalgia or habit.

Originally, he would’ve tried other ways to deal with the Doomsday Cult’s plan—but since he’d already met Charlotte, he figured he might as well make the most of her.

“Hey Charlotte, can I ask you something?”

“Y-Yes!”

“Do you know how to cast an extremely large-scale magic circle?”

He looked straight at her as he asked.