Chapter 19 - The Nail Which Sticks Out, Will Be Hammered Down (2)

Everyone was looking at Basil expectantly, even Chester was no exception. He had accepted the fact that Basil had finally bloomed, however he couldn't fathom how good he would perform. Undoubtedly, he had a high expectation in Basil.

Receiving the gazes of the kids, Basil stepped forward graciously. His footstep was smooth, however it wasn't slow. None of the students paid attention to how he walked, however Chester who observed him, was amazed.

Upon arriving beside Chester, he put his hands before his chest and clasped them together. He looked like praying. He just stood still and closed his eyes. The other students looked at him curiously, while Daniel had a condescending look evident on his face.

Chester who was observing him calmly had a look of surprise on his face. The Mana concentration around Basil was increasing in every second.

'This kid, is he probably..?'

Just before he finished his thought, Basil once again answered him.

Boom!

An explosion of Mana happened. Everyone was hit by the wind the explosion had caused. It didn't take a keen sense to understand that the Mana Basil had exuded was abnormal.

When the wind died down, everyone gasped in surprise and awe.

"Ah.. that.. that is.."

"What? Really..? In the middle of a test?"

"That is Magic Circle! He is officially a Mage in training!"

Magic Circle was floating above his head. The pattern was intricate and unique. The content of the Circle couldn't be understood, however it gave a strange aura of profoundness. Of course, the reason of all this was a special method Basil used to carve his Magic Circle.

"It is a Grand Circle..."

Chester muttered in awe. While Carving Circle, according to the method and one's talent, the result would be different. There were three quality of Circle. They were Minor Circle, Major Circle, and Grand Circle.

Grand Circle was known to be the highest quality Circle one could make. It was formed by seven layers of Inner Circle that was stacked on top of each other congruently. It was a legendary Circle that only genius could have.

Chester was awed and dumbfounded. He had expected highly of Basil. However, it was too much. Chester himself had only three of Major Circle, and he was already regarded as a genius from Woster. His heart beat faster, Basil would undoubtedly be greater than him.

It wasn't wrong, however he had mistaken one fact. It wasn't a Grand Circle, it was in fact, an Ultimate Circle. A quality that was incomparable to a Grand Circle. It was formed by nine layers of Inner Circle in the same manner like Grand Circle.

He had found it out from the knowledge the Guide had provided him. Grand Circle was in fact, a failed Ultimate Circle. He had had Grand Circles in his past life, and he thought it was the best a Mage could get.

However, when he got the knowledge of Circle Carving by the Guide, he felt like an idiot. At that point, he had finally agreed to the Guide that he had been a retard. The knowledge he had accumulated in the past had always been useless in front of the knowledge the Guide had provided.

Basil finally opened his eyes. Deacon had long been on the ground watching him from afar. He extended his hand forward, and the Mana he exuded was retracted back to himself. Everyone's eyes were glued onto him, no one wanted to miss his every moves.

Daniel's face had already stiffened, while Shirley's heart was in turmoil. She was full of expectation, pride, and also insecurity.

Unaware of the reaction of the people around him, Basil muttered softly, "[Gale]!"

Three whirlwinds emerged out of nowhere and quickly spinning around him like a barrier. Everyone without exception gasped in surprise and awe.

"Ah! This is.."

"Amazing! He did it in one try."

"Look at the size. It looks like a real gale."

Compared to his performance, Daniel's earlier performance was no more than a joke. However, what was amazing wasn't the size of the [Gale] or how many he could make it.

"It is.. chantless. He didn't chant any spell!"

As a Spellcaster, Chester took pride in his chanting ability. He could manipulate the chant to produce results he desired, however to produce the same result as Basil without chanting was close to a dream. Basil was undoubtedly a genius.

"A genius that is only born once in a thousand years."

Basil didn't pay any attention to the reactions of the people. He wasn't satisfied with his performance.

'Although it is impressive for a First-Circled Mage, with the quality of my Circle, I could do more than this.'

He wasn't used to it yet. After all, he had only established his Circle a few moments ago. It was natural. However, Basil was different. He had been the most skilled Mage in his last life for years, he had many skills in his repertoire.

With that kind of background, he was struggling in utilizing his Circle? It was laughable! Therefore, he would train himself intensively after the academy ended.

Snap!

He snapped his finger and the whirlwinds surrounding him instantly dispersed themselves. The crowd was once again in awe at this display, however he didn't plan to stop here.

Snap!

[Blaze]!

He snapped his finger once again and muttered the name of the Spell softly. He was quickly surrounded by a raging flame. The flame made a circle with him in the center as if to protect him. However, it would flicker here and there signifying it would attack anyone who came close.

Everyone gulped in awe, and Chester was dumbfounded yet again.

'Not one, but two? Just what is he made of!? Flesh. I know, stupid question.'

He was so dumbfounded that he couldn't think of a reason on how Basil did it. He had even chosen a short way, and that was to conclude that Basil wasn't human. However, he knew it was improbable, since Basil had been human since born.

Shirley who watched this display couldn't utter a single word. Her eyes were glued onto him. She didn't think of jealousy anymore, she couldn't think so. Basil was already out of her league and she had accepted that.

However, her still innocent heart had another problem. She didn't know what she was feeling currently. Whenever she looked at Basil, she felt strange.

Daniel was gaping. He couldn't form any expression to describe the event. It was simply unimaginable that he had been silenced like never been before.

The center of everyone attention, Basil, remained focused on his performance. He was cringing on his skills.

'Sloppy. It's too sloppy! To think that I, Basil Pacifer, performed this sloppily. Outrageous!'

He was disappointed in his self. It was unsatisfactory according to his standard. Surely, if anyone heard what he thought, they would undoubtedly throw up a mouthful of blood.

Deciding to do better than the previous performances, Basil clasped his hands in front of his chest.

Clap!

The sound reverberated through the air, and everyone's focus was heightened to a new whole level. They didn't want to miss what Basil was about to do!

[Fire Storm]

A name of a spell was uttered. It wasn't the third spell that he had to perform. It was the highest spell a First-Circled Mage could perform.

The flame that was surrounding him, quickly erupted to the sky and made a swirl. This was the result when [Gale] was mixed with [Blaze]. It created a storm of fire!

The firestorm was raging with him in the eye of the storm. Everyone could feel the heat and the strong gale, however Basil remained unharmed inside. Everyone could faintly see his shadow in the eye of the storm, and he looked like a fire incarnation.

They gulped in awe and fear. Each of them had already forgotten that Basil had been an untalented student for the whole two years. Currently, he was labeled as Fire Lord in their head. He looked overbearing!

In the midst of all this, Chester had a neutral look. He was calm, however it wasn't because he was unimpressed. He was already numb to it.

'Huh! Genius? Monster.. he is a monster.'

He shook his head and smiled weakly. He decided to just accept it and stopped comparing Basil to those prodigies.

Finally, after some moment, the firestorm dispersed, revealing Basil who was looking at them calmly. He was evaluating his own performance.

'I need more training.'

Of course, it was only his thought. The other didn't think so as they started to clap their hands. Even Chester was swiped in the flow.

"Splendid!"

He even exclaimed rather loudly for others to hear. No one complained, because they had accepted what was in front of them. There were envy at first, however as the time past it turned into admiration.

One can never envy someone that is unreachable.

They had accepted the fact Basil wasn't someone in their leagues. It was less bitter to get defeated by someone they could never defeat. Surely, there were many people who thought this as a motivation to get better. They were even thinking to surpass him someday.

Let the dreamer gets awaken someday.

Basil gazed at his surrounding calmly and patted Deacon who was already in his hand since who knows when.

"Can I have my advancement to the second year now?"

Chester who was clapping absentmindedly was awoken by his voice. He stopped clapping, and the others followed suit. They were looking at Chester's response attentively.

"Second year?"

Gasp!

Instead of an answer, he gave Basil a question. The crowd gasped in surprise as they felt something was wrong.

"No, no, no. You can not advance to the second year."

"Ah..!"

Everyone was astonished by his response. Basil had performed greatly, it was illogical to keep him as a first year.

Daniel's grin couldn't be more stretched. He had been extremely crushed when he had seen Basil's performance. However, at this moment, he couldn't be any happier.

"Serves you right! Do you think showing off will make you advance to the next year?"

He muttered with a condescending smile. If anyone were to see his face, they would think he had lost his mind. He was in a state of euphoria that he wanted to cheer loudly. However, at that moment —

"You will not advance to the second year. You will directly advance to the third year!"

— his face contorted comically.

However, contrary to his reaction, the others were celebrating it.

"Congratulations! You are now our senior!"

"Uwaa! I hope you would still socialize with us."

"Congratulations, Senior!"

In the midst of all this, Basil kept a stoic face. It wasn't enough of an achievement to him. He was merely catching up to his peers after all. He might have advanced his class, however he would only meet his classmates from two years ago.

"Thank you."

Basil merely nodded his head and sat himself on the seat of spectators. He would be waiting for the class to finish so he could have Chester get a letter of recommendation for him.

The other students were still looking at him, however Chester quickly organized them and resumed the practice.

In his seat, Basil observed Chester. He was assaulted by a sense of nostalgia. Chester Cowdray, a genius Spellcaster who had been assassinated after he published an unknown thesis about Magic Theory in his past life.

The content of the thesis had remained unknown even until Basil's death. It was said it had something to do with the origin of human Magic. However, no one could know the truth as the person who wrote it had already died at that time.

This time, he would make sure Chester kept his life, and he would find out the content of Chester's thesis.. Finishing his thoughts, Basil closed his eyes and cultivated both his Mana Heart and Core.