Chapter 23: - Practical Training (2)

༺ Practical Training (2)༻

Professor Fernando stood at the final destination. He looked at me with his usual cold blue eyes.

His teaching assistant walked over and took the performance evaluation bracelet from me while muttering, “That, yes, yes...” He looked like a zombie, overworked and exhausted.

Professor Fernando, who handled such an assistant, was like a necromancer.

“Group F, Practical Training is over. The results will be announced and feedback will be delivered in a week. Good work.”

“Can I tell the people in my group about that?”

I asked, since they had all been eliminated.

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I’ll deliver it to them all at once before class starts tomorrow.”

Professor Fernando then told us that we could go home. Alan and Ethan, the first to fail, had already returned to their dorms.

The manner in which the performance evaluation was conducted, as well as the specific assessments made, were strictly confidential. Hence, there was no need to worry about the student council president, Alice Carroll, discovering something suspicious like the Sheath of Disaster.

The only thing made public were the Grades. A week later, the results would be posted in the central hall of Orphin Hall.

‘Can I expect a better grade this time?’

Even though I only got to perform once because of Rose, I still managed to defeat the final boss.

Can’t I have some expectations?

Of course, now that I had enough gels and had tested the performance of the Sheath of Disaster, there was no need to actually dwell on the results of this performance evaluation.

Still, it would be nice to get a good grade.

I walked out of Kalis Hall. The bright sunlight shining down was so dazzling that I momentarily shielded my eyes with my hand.

My entire body felt unusually light. It reminded me of how I felt in high school when I went home early after midterm exams.

But it wasn’t time to play around. I had to begin training immediately.

I’d barely begun walking outside Kalis Hall when I was stopped by someone saying “Wait a minute!” It was a fierce, yet delicate, young lady’s voice.

“How did you do it?”

It was Rose who asked me that. She stood in the shade of the building with her arms crossed while glaring at me.

“What?”

I knew what she meant, but I was deliberately pretending to be clueless.

Snap.

Rose took a step toward me, veins forming on her forehead.

“I don’t understand how you, a Grade-E, can defeat Tauro! Even if it was an illusion, I don’t see how you could have defeated something so powerful! And besides, what the hell did you do? There’s no way you, a Grade-E of Class D, the lowest of the low, could have used five-star magic already!”

Her voice was filled with tears, the way she tried to deny it was truly pitiful.

It was probably her tendency to restore her self-esteem by putting others down.

But her pride was crushed in front of the person she looked down upon the most.

She must have been devastated that another person had so effortlessly jumped over a wall that she couldn’t.

Therefore, she tried to hide her own weakness by denying me. Otherwise, she would fall apart.

I often saw people like her in Sillim-dong1Sillim-Dong is a statutory division of Gwanak District in Seoul, Korea. Korea National University is here which is most likely what Isaac is referring to here.. Those kids definitely couldn’t pass the exam.

“You conceded to me a hundred times, why didn’t you save me when you had the means to defeat the enemy? Are you kidding me?”

But there was a very good lesson in this.

What’s the secret to being happy? It’s to not argue with fools.

“Whatever.”

“Eh...!”

When I snapped at her with an icy glare, Rose’s face blushed red, angry to the point of tears. I wonder if she was speechless because she was so angry and frustrated.

Well, I was sure she was aware of how pitiful she sounded.

“Ah, ughhh...!”

Rose gritted her teeth and stomped her foot.

She didn’t seem to have anything else to say, so I just started moving my feet again.

You stay down there.

I’ll head to the top.

‘Mateo Jordana is pretty good.’

Mateo Jordana, one of the top students in the Magic Department, was one of the topics of gossip among students. Contrary to rumors, he had a diligent side.

Compared to Luce Eltania or Kaya Astrean, he was on the weak side.

During his practical training, he used effective tactics while aiming for the weak points of the demonic creatures.

In addition, he had the charisma to make his members follow him. He possessed the qualities of a leader.

‘Tristan Humphrey... has talent in magic, but he has a lot of problems.’

Tristan Humphrey was another outstanding first-year student in the Magic Department. While his elemental magic was powerful, he had a lot to work on.

To begin with, it was a major issue to give up the task of analyzing the weaknesses of the demonic creatures while simply firing powerful magic.

While the power of his magic was strong enough to defeat the demonic creature illusions, it deserved the worst score in the ‘whether they fought while considering magic efficiency’ evaluation section.

In addition, because of his family’s prestige, he compelled the students to follow him. His collaboration score was also zero.

In the midst of evaluating the students, Fernando stopped moving in the material for Group F of the practical training.

“This kid...”

If he had to choose the student who stood out the most today, it would definitely be a male student named Isaac from Class D.

Silver hair with a hint of blue and blood-red eyes. He was a student who came out with Grade E during the mana measurement class and was clearly embedded into Fernando’s memory.

This student had used the 5-star spell [Frost Explosion] today. The skill level seemed low, but it was certain.

It looked like he used a magic tool. Was there a magic tool that could engrave a 5-star magic circle?

The world of magic tools was vast, so Fernando couldn’t easily figure it out. However, common sense dictated that the existence of a magic tool capable of engraving a 5-star spell was an anomaly.

In theory, there was no problem. As long as the number of mana circuits in the magic tool was extremely high and the durability was very good. However, that level must be extremely high in order to withstand 5-star magic.

In other words, you couldn’t get away with the structural issues of the tool. However, his main concern was the user of the magic tool.

It was hard to put anything above 3-star magic into a magic tool. This was because the magic circuit itself was much more advanced than that of a 1-star or 2-star magic, and the amount of mana that needed to be stored was different.

This meant that, even if a magic tool contained 3-star magic or higher, the user must be able to use the magic in order for the complex spell to be triggered. Otherwise, the trigger wouldn’t activate. Exceptions belonged in the realm of the impossible and were unworthy of discussion.

Perhaps the professors who acted as examiners were searching through the books right now to figure out the identity of the magic tool Isaac used. It would be difficult to ask directly, as contacting students about exam content was prohibited by the Marx Pact.

Fernando was curious as well, but he was no exception to the ban.

‘The mana evaluation was only two months ago. What are the odds that a student with Grade-E mana would be able to learn 5-star magic in just two months?’

...Not impossible. However, it was extremely, terribly low.

If he was originally a genius that lived without realizing that fact...

Is it possible that he realized his genius only after entering the academy?

‘It’s not a novel or a play...’

Could there be such a dramatic story?

Fernando stroked his chin, pondering, then shook his head.

There could be such a student. In fact, this student’s performance scores had been steadily rising.

There was also a record of him recently repaying all of his bank loans at once, including the interest at maturity, without waiting for the loan’s scheduled deadline and without paying the accrued interest.

He must have been working diligently. It could have been a case of him awakening to his magic talents.

This was the prestigious Märchen Academy, after all. It was a place where nothing was out of the ordinary, no matter how brilliant the student.

“...”

Professor Fernando decided it would be better to give a positive review this time.

He wrote an additional personal evaluation of Isaac’s feedback.

[Isaac is a student who has shown exceptional growth. He tends to rely heavily on magic tools as an alternative to mana, but given the timing at which he uses it, he deserves a positive evaluation for his actual combat ability. However, as a first-year student, it seems necessary to refrain from using magic tools as much as possible and focus on developing the ability to effectively apply pure personal abilities.]

Students who demonstrated their potential were fascinating to watch. Aside from Isaac, Ian Fairytale, who was also evaluated as Grade E in terms of mana, was also showing incredible growth these days.

“It’s fun...”

Watching the students you teach grow.

That was Fernando’s favourite aspect of his job as an Academy professor.

“>

Footnotes:

1Sillim-Dong is a statutory division of Gwanak District in Seoul, Korea. Korea National University is here which is most likely what Isaac is referring to here.