The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City-Chapter 75: Violet Dreams of Becoming a Magical Girl! 3)

When I faced the test proposed by Professor Albert, I felt like my breath was being choked.

How on earth was I supposed to solve that three-dimensional puzzle called a formula?

I’ve always been bad with numbers.

「That was a truly tricky barrier.」

「Still, at least bombs worked, right?」

I had no idea how it functioned, but that barrier absorbed or blocked all magic.

When I heard “use any means necessary,” I initially tried emitting magic to create clones beyond the barrier.

However, the clones bounced back and were created outside.

After dozens of trial-and-error attempts, I realized the barrier’s nature, by which time there were Violets scattered all over the place.

Next, I tried smashing it with tools.

I attempted to demolish it using the strength of my enhanced body and sword aura.

I even called other Violets waiting nearby to ram a car into it. No success.

「Our car!」

「It was secondhand. Don’t be too upset. One of them was even flood-damaged, remember?」

At that point, I’d half-lost my mind. Enraged, I went around to the back of the invisible barrier in the park and summoned personnel from the workshop.

「Bombs! Do we have any finished ones?」

「That’s all we have… Fine! I’ll bring them right away!」

The number of improvised explosives we had was more than I expected. It was the result of purchasing fertilizer bit by bit through various channels and modifying it.

Ultimately, we succeeded in breaking the barrier.

「It worked perfectly!」

「This could even work against Awakened beings.」

However, after witnessing Professor Albert’s furious reaction, it was as if we had been splashed with cold water and abruptly returned to reality.

“What in the world are all these bombs? What the hell are you doing, kid?”

“Hehe…”

“You’re laughing? You think this is funny?! Are you blind to the mess around here?”

The enraged Professor Albert pointed his staff at me.

At its tip, an intensely concentrated flame of magical power burned fiercely.

I desperately rattled off excuses that came to mind.

“They’re for hunting beasts!”

“Good grief. You might as well say you made them to blow up the academy! I’ve never in my life seen a student make homemade bombs!”

The professor’s words unintentionally struck a nerve.

How did he know?

Truly, his status as a first-generation senior and a tenured professor wasn’t for nothing.

As the professor berated me harshly, I heard the distant sound of sirens.

I focused my vision in the direction of the sound. Police cars were approaching.

“This is strange. I set up a soundproof barrier and a perception-blocking barrier… Damn it, your bombs must have blown it all away.”

“Let’s get out of here!”

“Before that, we need to clean this up.”

The professor hurriedly waved his hand and used his staff to draw various intricate shapes and formulas on the ground.

The soil of the park, which had been wrecked by the explosion, began to move and fill in the holes.

Marks resembling footprints were stamped on the ground one after another, as if by a seal.

“This should pass as the rampage of a magical beast. Rustlum’s police are lazy pigs, so they won’t even bother investigating thoroughly. What about those cars?”

“I can move two, but one’s engine is busted!”

“Then remove the license plates… Oh, you’ve already done that. What’s that you’re holding?”

What else?

Thermite.

Even before the professor could give instructions, I had already removed license plates and any evidence that could identify us. I installed thermite cans in the cars. Once ignited…

A dazzling flame erupted, voraciously devouring the vehicle. We quickly left the park.

Fortunately, the police did not pursue us.

A short while later, I arrived at Professor Albert’s house.

Having visited the place once before with Irene, it felt somewhat familiar.

The hallway of the house was as dark as ever.

“…That Vulture bastard, did the trauma from back then make him lose his mind? What was he thinking, sending such an insane girl…”

The professor grumbled as he reclined on the sofa and lit a cigarette.

“…What, you got a problem? This is my house.”

“No, not at all! More importantly, I passed the test, so you’re going to teach me magic, right?”

Albert adjusted his glasses and exhaled a puff of smoke.

“That bomb, and your unique abilities… Well, it seems like you’ve got your circumstances, so I won’t ask further. But,”

With a casual wave of his hand, a large hand emerged from the floor and dragged me forward.

“Eek!”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but don’t act recklessly like today again. Understood?”

“Yes!”

“It’s late today, so go home. Classes start tomorrow. The schedule’s up to me. No tardiness allowed. Now, off you go!”

The next day, some Violets were sent flying into the air by Irene’s spear.

Other Violets crouched down after clumsily getting hit while practicing their ether defense abilities.

Yet another group of Violets experienced minor mishaps, like setting themselves on fire while making rocket candy in the workshop or passing out after recklessly charging at Kalia and getting hit in the solar plexus.

As for me, Violet No. 107, I enjoyed a peaceful morning and arrived at Professor Albert’s house.

「But isn’t Albert not a professor anymore?」

「Well, he wants to be called that, so whatever.」

In the living room, a large blackboard was set up.

“Your first-year magic instructor is some no-name idiot. Before we start classes, let me ask you this: What is magic?”

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It seemed the professor wanted to challenge my preconceived notions from school.

Unfortunately, I had been asleep during those classes and didn’t know much.

Instead, I recited a concept mentioned in the game’s main storyline.

“Manipulation of physical laws using ether?”

“Half right. If that were true, then any act of utilizing ether would be considered magic, wouldn’t it?”

Albert snapped his fingers, and streams of light composed of magical power appeared before my eyes.

The lights intertwined, creating a dazzling illusion of white and yellow hues.

A figure of a person running with a sword came into view.

“That’s an overly broad concept. Physical enhancement or magic emission abilities grant powers that transcend human biological limits. Can an ordinary person run 100 meters in seconds or lift objects weighing tons from a biological standpoint?”

The illusion showing the human figure suddenly shifted into an image of a factory billowing smoke and gears turning.

“Or let’s talk about something else. As you know, the miraculous power of ether is also utilized in industry. I’m talking about etherium extracted by grinding up magical beasts.

Not to mention the energy sector, when processing or creating industrial materials, simply adding a sprinkle of it between manufacturing steps—like a beginner chef adding seasoning—can produce substances with properties we could only dream of.

Antigravity devices on airships, room-temperature superconductors, various ultra-high-strength alloys, regenerative medicine—all miracles unimaginable before the first and second-dimensional invasions. So, should we call these magic too? Should the artifacts of dungeons also be considered magic?”

As the professor waved his hand, the shape of light transformed into a depiction of the human brain.

“No! Those are merely ‘magical things.’ True magic, in its genuine sense, refers to the process of utilizing ether through human thought activities and calculation to twist the laws of physics. It’s the act itself that humans perform. To discuss the concept of ‘magic’ academically, we’d also need to examine historical, cultural, and social traditions….”

Ah, this is something I knew.

The setting that traditional rituals and magic customs from centuries before the magical beasts’ invasion influenced today’s magic.

“…But this isn’t history class, so there’s no need to delve that far. Now that you understand the definition of magic, let’s start the practice.”

After the brief introduction, we moved into the actual practical session.

I began operating magical power as the professor instructed.

“First, let’s start with the simplest illumination spell.”

I knew this too.

In the game, it was the most basic level of magic.

A spell that creates small spheres of light that can float in the air or attach to nearby surfaces.

“This isn’t working well. I tried hard while wishing, ‘Please, just work!’”

“Do you think magic is some god that grants wishes just because you beg? Ether doesn’t simply move according to your desires. You need to gather your will and control it like tethering and dragging something that wants to stay still. If you keep at it, you’ll experience an ‘awakening.’”

Awakening? What could that mean?

I continued operating magical power while imagining the shape of a glowing sphere.

At some point, a small abacus-like shape made of sparkling jewels intricately intertwined appeared before me.

It resembled the formula the professor had shown during the barrier demonstration yesterday.

This is a kind of puzzle. It felt like a toy cube puzzle that you turn to match but with a weight that was anything but trivial.

I came to realize what this abacus-like structure and the formula represented.

The magical formula in front of me was a kind of metaphor crafted to make the principles of the complex world comprehensible to humans.

Part of the principles constructing the world had manifested before me on a stage of magical power.

Sensing my hesitation, the professor spoke up.

“Something is coming into view, isn’t it?”

“I see gems and something that looks like an abacus.”

“You’ve succeeded in awakening.”

「This is magic? Where are the mysterious runes or spells?」

「Argh! This is programming!」

Calming my frantic thoughts, I carefully examined the formula.

Spending time on it, I could partially grasp what these were.

In terms of a computer analogy, this was a type of console window.

Each jewel acting as an abacus bead represented one physical element in this room.

I couldn’t tell exactly what they were—molecules?

Electromagnetic fields? Atoms? Gravity?

It might be another force entirely.

As I focused more intently on the formula, an overwhelming pressure began to build.

Confronting something incomprehensible forced dizziness upon me.

Even attempting to slightly move one abacus bead consumed an immense amount of mental energy.

My brain instinctively began counting and calculating, though I hadn’t instructed it to.

I concentrated on solving the formula.

My head throbbed.

This is hard!

If I could move those jewels to their correct positions, I’d achieve my desired result. But how should I move them?

The professor offered calm advice.

“The abilities of an awakened individual are based on their personal imagery. I can’t say exactly what shape yours might take, but what you’re seeing now is a magical formula. If the term formula doesn’t resonate with you, think of it as a combination lock, a mathematical equation, or a program’s source code. Input the correct values, and the magic will activate.”

“Ah… Professor, how does this magical formula appear to you?”

“To me? I see a series of clockwork mechanisms lined up in front of me. But don’t stress too much. You’ve only started learning magic today. I didn’t expect you to succeed immediately.”

I tried as instructed, but it was too difficult.

After five minutes of intense focus, I barely managed to move one jewel into its correct position.

This process drained my magical power and left me mentally exhausted.

Solving this calculation required mental strain equivalent to performing multiplications involving over ten digits mentally, just to move a single bead the size of a fingernail.

Even calling it multiplication was a simplification—the actual process involved incomprehensible formulas, forcing me to brute-force input values.

It was too much to handle alone. I wish I could pass this off to someone else….

「Should we try this together?」

Right, couldn’t I entrust this computational burden to the other Violets?

Like assigning the red jewel to No. 15 and the blue jewel to No. 74.

If we could distribute the calculations, the burden would decrease.

The process might even speed up.

We quickly implemented the idea.

「Done! Everyone has been assigned one jewel each.」

「Now, let’s start calculating!」

The formula required a total of five jewels to be moved.

By assigning one jewel to each person, the computational burden lightened, and the formula began to operate smoothly, like a well-oiled machine.

Magical power flowed to its correct locations, and the hazy shape became more concrete.

The jewels started moving slowly. Our ability to share thoughts applied even to magical calculations.

「Let’s bring in more people!」

「Anyone idle, get to work!」

Difficult calculations?

Just keep inputting values until it works!

When the brain feels stuck, use more brains!

More Violets meant more computational power!

The previously stalled formula unraveled like flowing water. It was working. I could finally see the path forward.

“Still, it seems like too much for now. That’s enough for today…”

Just as Albert was about to conclude the day’s lesson, a sphere of light appeared before my eyes.

“You… actually succeeded.”

The professor’s eyes, magnified behind his glasses, widened to the size of lanterns.

Albert tried to maintain composure, but I could clearly see his astonishment.

My approach had succeeded. If one person couldn’t handle it, why not share the load?

「We did it!」

After pondering deeply, the professor brought several thick books and set them before me.

“What are these?”

“They’re magic books.”

“Wow!”

“Don’t get excited just yet. The ones beside them are workbooks. They contain the various mathematical knowledge required for magic use and computation. Don’t forget to look at those reference materials, either. Did you think you could use magic without any foundation? Magic doesn’t come free. Study up to the marked sections by tomorrow.”

“Argh!”

My brief joy from succeeding at my first magic was short-lived.

It seemed my workload had only increased.

Nothing in this world comes easy.