“Next is Illuminate.”
“【ᛏᛃᚪᛖᛚᛜᛏᚠᚪᛡᛃᛋקיᛚᚺᛜᛖᚾהᛤ】”
Since Collette didn't signal her to stop, Shulim continued her demonstration.
A bright white light radiated from Shulim's fingertips. Even on such a clear day, the light was exceptionally vivid.
“She actually cast it, a second magic!”
“Shulim is amazing...”
The crowd began to murmur in admiration, and those voices of praise sounded incredibly harsh in the ears of a certain girl standing among them.
The girl stared intently at Shulim, her heart filled with anger and irritation. At the same time, an intense feeling of embarrassment washed over her, making her cheeks burn.
Had she really been outdone again?
Worst of all, she had just made that grand declaration of victory earlier. Talk about an immediate slap in the face!
She had made a complete fool of herself; the other girl must have been laughing at her mockingly in her head the entire time.
This was so embarrassing! She wanted nothing more than to find a hole to crawl into and hide.
But most importantly—
Why did she lose to her again?!
Damn it, Shulim, how dare you look down on me! I will absolutely not let this go!
“【ᚳᛃᛄᛖᛚᛜᛈᚠᛞᛃᛡᚪᛚᛏᛗᚠᚺᛜᛖᛗהᚠᚷ】”
“Wow! That's the third one!”
“Is that Non-Elemental magic?”
While Fran was seething with rage and embarrassment, Shulim finished demonstrating all three of her spells.
“Teacher Collette, is that enough?”
“...”
Collette gave Shulim a long, searching look, before a sweet smile broke across her face.
“Of course! Thank you for the demonstration, Shulim. You may head back now~!”
Shulim bowed politely and returned to the crowd.
Yet the moment she returned to her spot, the intuition forged from her long combat training made her sense an intense gaze from behind. She spun around and locked eyes with a pair of slightly red, teary eyes.
“Hmph!”
But as soon as their eyes met, the owner of that gaze let out a cold snort and whipped her head around to the side.
Shulim: “...”
What is she doing? Did I do something to offend her? She was like this earlier too.
Shulim couldn't figure it out. Shaking her head, she decided to just ignore it.
Well, as long as she wasn't an enemy, it didn't matter what she did.
Fran, who had turned away in a huff, kept her eyes glued to Shulim through her peripheral vision. Seeing that Shulim had stopped looking at her, her irritation flared up even more.
What is her problem?! She actually turned back just to look at me. Was that revenge for earlier? It has to be! Damn it, Shulim, I really won't let this go!
“It seems only three students have mastered magic so far~!”
Collette noted the lack of any more raised hands and spoke in a seemingly regretful tone, before immediately beaming with a bright smile.
“But still! That's more than I expected. Excellent job~!”
“...”
So, does she think it's a lot or a little?
The students couldn't help but mentally complain about this highly unpredictable new teacher.
Of course, oblivious to her students' thoughts, Collette pressed on with her lesson.
“Since three of our students have already mastered magic, I'm sure you all have a basic understanding of magical concepts by now.”
“The magic of our world is divided into seven elements based on attributes: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Light, Dark, and Non-Elemental. Every student here should possess an aptitude for at least one of these magic elements. As Ander and Fran demonstrated earlier, the First-Tier magic they cast proved they have a Fire Aptitude and a Wind Aptitude respectively.”
“Of course, there are a select few who possess multiple aptitudes, like Shulim.”
At those words, everyone instinctively cast their eyes on Shulim once more.
“So, the first thing everyone needs to do is discover your magic aptitudes, just like these three—”
“Teacher Collette!”
A boy in the front row suddenly raised his hand and called out, interrupting her explanation.
“Yes? Do you have a question?”
Collette asked with a pleasant smile.
“May I ask what elements of magic you specialize in? Could you show us your magic, Teacher?”
As soon as he asked, the other boys and girls couldn't help but look at her with eyes full of anticipation.
Indeed, as their magic teacher, it was only natural for her to give them a demonstration.
“Oh my, oh my! What can I do? Well... since you all want to see it so badly, I'll give you a demonstration. I suppose you won't take my classes seriously until you see what I'm truly capable of anyway.”
Hearing Collette agree, the students instantly grew excited.
“Really?!”
“What kind of magic can you use, Teacher?”
“It has to be Second-Tier magic at least. Since she's our teacher, Second-Tier should be a breeze...”
“Alright, quiet down everyone. First, I need all of you to head over to the edge of the playground.”
Instead of casting immediately, Collette had everyone retreat to the playground's edge.
“Huh? There's so much space on the playground. Why do we have to stand at the edge?”
“Maybe she's worried about accidentally hitting us.”
“No way. How big of an area could a Second-Tier spell possibly cover...?”
Although the students found her request puzzling, they still complied and backed away. In an instant, the massive playground lay empty, save for Collette standing alone in the center.
“Everyone, watch closely! This is my magic~!”
Gripping her wand with her right hand and raising it high above her head, Collette called out to the crowd before rapidly whispering her incantation.
“【ᛏᛈᛒᛜᛖᚾᚠᚲᚢהᛤᛜᛚᚲᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᛓᚠᛏᚱוᚠᛃᛖᛜᛓᚠᛒᛖᛚᛡᛚᚢᛡᛣᛃᛜᛖᚾהᛤ 】”
“...O Flame, rise with all your might!”
Boom!
A colossal curtain of fire suddenly erupted from the playground, soaring toward the heavens. The surging blaze dyed the sky red, catching the attention of many working townsfolk in Mente Town who stopped what they were doing to look up in awe.
“Whoa!”
Staring at the sudden, massive veil of flame that swallowed up more than half the playground, several students fell backward onto the ground in sheer terror.
Now, they finally understood why Collette had ordered them to the edge. If they had stayed in the middle of the playground, they would have certainly been caught in a spell of this scale.
“So... so powerful! That's not Second-Tier magic—it's Third-Tier magic! It has to be!”
Once the initial fright wore off, the crowd burst into wild excitement.
“A Third-Tier spell! You're incredible, Teacher Collette!”
“Wait, so Teacher Collette is a C-Class mage? There are barely any C-Class mages in our entire town!”
Amidst the clamor of the students, Shulim kept her eyes locked onto the roaring flames, a deep gleam reflecting in the depths of her eyes.
The moment Collette's spell was invoked, Shulim had already sensed through the wave of mana that it was indeed a Third-Tier spell. Moreover, if she wasn't mistaken, it was the highly challenging “Searing Shroud,” which possessed the widest area of effect among all Third-Tier fire spells.
Third-Tier, huh...
Perhaps it wouldn't be long before she reached this level herself. At that thought, Shulim's excitement gradually settled.
Whoosh!
At that moment, the raging curtain of fire vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed in the first place.
Yet the lingering heat radiating from the ground reminded everyone that it had been entirely real.
“Wow, Teacher Collette, you're amazing!”
“I can't believe our school finally has a C-Class magic teacher!”
As soon as Collette finished her spell, the students eagerly rushed forward, surrounding her on all sides.
“Ahaha~ I'm really not that amazing~!”
“Teacher Collette, your magic is so cool! Can you teach me?”
“Well, that depends on whether you have an aptitude for fire magic first.”
“Don't worry, Teacher, as soon as I saw your spell, I knew! I must have a Fire Aptitude for sure!”
“I wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly if I were you...”
“Teacher Collette, I heard rumors that you came from the royal capital. I thought it was just gossip, but is it actually true?”
“Eh?! Fran, where did you hear that?!”
“Is it true? You're actually a big shot, Teacher Collette?!”
“No, no, no... nothing like that! Alright, stop crowding around me. Let's get back to the lesson!”
No matter how much the students pried, Collette refused to say any more. Once she got everyone back in their lines, she immediately commenced her lecture.
Rate on N.U.
