...
Although Collette had given off a rather unreliable impression at first, that feeling vanished once the lesson actually started.
“Before we officially begin, I'd like to ask, are there any students among you who have already mastered a spell?”
As Collette posed the question, the students began to whisper among themselves.
“Is there anyone who can use magic among us?”
“Hey, Ander, didn't you already learn a spell?”
“Yeah, Ander, show everyone!”
Following the boys' brief chatter, a brown-haired youth named Ander stepped forward.
“Teacher Collette, I can use magic.”
“Oh~ your name is Ander, right? What kind of magic do you know? Would you mind demonstrating it for everyone?”
“Sure, Teacher Collette.”
Ander nodded, then turned to face the crowd. “Both of my parents are C-Class adventurers, so they've been drilling magic knowledge into me since I was little. By now, I've already learned First-Tier fire magic. Watch closely, everyone—”
Striking a firm pose, Ander extended his right hand.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᚣᚲ】”
“Flame!”
Whoosh!
A small cluster of flames appeared in his right hand.
“Awesome!”
Ander's friends immediately cheered for him, and many of the others clapped as well. Even though it was only First-Tier magic, he was still far ahead of those who hadn't mastered any magic yet.
Collette smiled with satisfaction.
“Very good, Ander. Thank you for the demonstration. You may head back.”
“Okay, Teacher Collette.”
As Ander returned to the crowd, Collette continued to ask, “Are there any other students who have already mastered a spell?”
“Teacher, I can too!”
A5 small hand was raised high in the crowd.
“Excellent. Please come forward.”
Then, Fran with her blonde twin-tails walked out in front of everyone.
Collette asked with a smile, “And what is your name, young lady?”
In response, Fran performed an elegant curtsy before introducing herself. “My name is Fran Bandun. My father is Baron Bandun, who governs Mente Town. Because my father values education highly, I have been fortunate enough to already learn magic.”
“Oh, so you're Baron Bandun's daughter. It's no wonder you can use magic then. What kind of magic can you perform, Fran?” Collette continued to ask.
“Teacher Collette, I have a Wind Affinity, and I have already mastered First-Tier wind magic,” Fran answered with poise.
“Wind magic? Very nice. Would you mind demonstrating it?”
“It would be my honor.”
Fran bowed, then began to chant her spell.
“【ᚷᚲᚠᛏᛗᛜᚻᚠᛏᛖᛡᛣᛏᚠᚳᛜᚻᛄᚾ】”
“O Wind!”
Whoosh!
A miniature whirlwind erupted from Fran's palm, stirring up a cloud of dust across the playground.
Clap! Clap! Clap...
Energetic applause erupted from the crowd. Compared to Ander's demonstration, Fran's magic was clearly much more visually impressive.
“Splendid! Thank you for the wonderful demonstration, Fran. You may return to the ranks,” Collette praised Fran with a warm smile.
“If you'll excuse me.”
Fran curtsied once more and turned to walk back to the group.
As she passed Shulim, she cast a provocative glance her way, whispering, “I win this time~!”
“Hmph~!”
Then she walked away with her chin held high.
Shulim: “?”
Shulim was completely baffled. She had no idea why Fran had suddenly huffed at her, let alone what Fran had supposedly won. She couldn't remember competing in anything with her at all.
Shaking off the thought, Shulim decided not to dwell on it. Up front, Collette was still asking if anyone else could use magic.
Although Shulim knew magic—and not just a little, she had already mastered numerous Second-Tier spells—she had resolved starting yesterday to keep as low a profile as possible. Thus, she had absolutely no intention of going up to show off.
“Are there really no other students who can use magic~?”
Collette's gaze swept back and forth across the crowd.
The students also began looking around.
“Come to think of it... isn't Shulim a noble too?”
“Oh, yeah! Shulim probably knows magic too, right?”
Shulim: “...”
Sensing more and more eyes falling upon her, with even Collette staring her way, Shulim had no choice but to raise her right hand.
“Teacher Collette, I can too...”
“Great! Please come to the front, dear~!” Collette waved her over with a beaming smile.
Shulim threaded through the crowd and soon stood at the front.
“Now then, what is your name, young lady?” Collette maintained her friendly smile.
“Shulim... Shulim Hayeral.”
“I see~ Shulim Ha... Hayeral?!”
Collette's smile suddenly stiffened, her voice raising a few pitches completely on instinct.
“Um, Teacher Collette, is there something wrong with my name?”
“Uh, no, nothing at all... Right! Shulim, what kind of magic do you know?” Collette asked with a somewhat awkward smile.
“As for magic, I know Ignition, Illuminate, Cleanse, and things like that,” Shulim replied according to the plan she had prepared in advance.
“Oh~ you know quite a few, Shulim! Ignition and Illum... Wait, what did you just say you know?!”
Collette swore she had done an immense amount of preparation today, even rehearsing potential scenarios in advance. She had been highly confident in leaving these students with the impression of a very reliable teacher.
But now, because of this single student, she had nearly lost her composure twice in a row.
Trying her best to stabilize her emotions, Collette pressed further:
“No, no, no! Wait a minute, Shulim. Was there something off about what you just said? Didn't you say you know spells from three different elements?!”
Shulim gave a quiet nod.
Truthfully, she hadn't wanted to reveal her triple affinity right from the start. However, just as she had discussed with Semilis, she couldn't just use a single type of magic in public forever; doing so would only make it more likely that she'd arouse suspicion. It was actually safer to let people know she had multiple affinities right off the bat.
While three affinities were surprising, that was the extent of it. It was far from world-shaking, and she had a perfectly rational explanation for the elements she revealed.
The Hayeral family had historically leaned heavily toward Non-Elemental magic, while her mother Lilia was a dual Light- and Fire-Affinity mage. From a genetic standpoint, no one would doubt her inheriting these three elements.
Once she established the setup of being a multi-element user, the risk of exposing her all-element aptitude in the future would naturally be much lower. After all, even if she occasionally slipped and revealed other elements in front of others, they would probably just assume it was part of her multi-element traits, subconsciously ignoring the fact that she had cast an element she wasn't supposed to have.
But if the same thing happened to a single-affinity mage, they would be found out in an instant...
The playground fell dead silent.
It wasn't just Collette; these students, having already completed two years of preparatory school, also generally understood that possessing multiple affinities was exceedingly rare.
“Um... Shulim, could you please demonstrate for us?” Collette asked cautiously, not even knowing herself why she was walking on eggshells.
“Sure, Teacher Collette.”
Shulim nodded, extended her right hand, and swiftly chanted the incantation.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᚣᚲ】”
“Ignition.”
Whoosh!
A ball of fire ignited in her palm.
Gasps and applause immediately broke out from the crowd, while Collette stared intently at the flame in Shulim's hand. She remained silent, but internally, she was completely dumbfounded.
Since these students hadn't even begun learning proper magic, they likely didn't understand that the same spell could yield completely different results depending on the caster.
For instance, the "Ignition" Ander had used earlier was merely a tiny flicker in his hand, which was standard for a normal First-Tier mage.
Yet, what Shulim had produced could no longer be described as a mere flicker—it was practically a full-blown fireball! And typically, only higher-tier mages could wield a First-Tier spell to such an effect...
At that thought, the way Collette looked at Shulim became deeply strained.
Rate on N.U.
