CHAPTER 12

"The Lady of Warden seems to be no exception—when the genius young master holds her back, there's nothing she can do."

Melanie laughed cheerfully.

She and Hubert were outstanding magic cadets from the Rohinum School. The two were making their way to the podium for an assessment.

"You still haven't solved such an easy problem? No, I suppose it would be tough to do it all alone."

The duo from Rohinum School had taken 13 minutes to solve the problem. Undoubtedly, they were the overwhelming top performers in the class.

'Did they give up?'

Before submitting his answer sheet to Professor Owen, Hubert glanced over at the magic duo.

It was noticeably different from before.

Krista seemed to be assisting while Rain was diligently writing something on the rice paper.

'Still, no matter how much of a genius he is…'

There was no way they would be able to submit their answers in time. Was the so-called genius young master trying to teach the solution instead?

'Hah, it's over.'

Hubert smirked with satisfaction and handed his answer sheet to Professor Owen.

Owen quickly scanned the answer sheet, placed his hand on the parchment, and infused it with magic.

Light filled the rings of the magic square drawn on the paper. As it reached its peak, a thick mist swirled through the classroom before abruptly vanishing.

"The runes of 'Evaporation' and 'Disappearance' are functioning properly. For such a short amount of time, this is well done."

The parchment, once covered in complex magic square inscriptions, was now blank. The magic had activated, transferring the square from the physical world to the supernatural realm.

"Haha, thank you~!"

"Don't puff out your chest, you monkeys of the Eight Great Schools. You belong to the Eight Great Schools. More than that, you're from the Wind-specialized Rohinum School! This should have been solved within two minutes. That's why it's a C grade."

A C grade? Melanie hesitated in confusion, while Hubert frowned.

"Why a C? We were the fastest in class, and our mathematical composition should have been flawless."

"You, of all people, should know the hidden answer best, monkey friend."

Could it be… he noticed?

No way. Even the senior disciples of the school hadn't caught on. Hubert, feeling uneasy, remained silent.

"I don't know what you mean. Why?"

As Melanie was about to protest, she suddenly sensed a presence behind her.

"If the grading is done, how about making way?"

Hubert's eyes wavered. The other students' attention turned to the podium. Professor Owen raised an eyebrow with interest.

It was Rain and Krista.

A piece of parchment fluttered in Rain's hand like a spring breeze, carrying the strong scent of ink from the written magic square.

"Now, please evaluate ours as well, Professor."

Constructing a written magic square was a race against time.

No matter how talented a mage was, unless they had the ability to "write numbers quickly," the time required would be roughly the same as anyone else's.

Unlike mental calculation-based magic, written magic was known for narrowing the gap between geniuses and ordinary practitioners.

For this reason, most of the mages in the Empire were written magic users.

Of course, written magic had clear limitations. Its ability to create and adapt to new variables was vastly inferior to that of mental calculation magic.

Thus, to reach the ranks of a Grand Mage or a Sage, one had to become proficient in mental calculation magic.

Aside from their own unique, self-developed spells, high-level mages needed the ability to select and use common spells created by previous generations.

Miranjo's Great Azure Domain, Orbos' Celestial Flame Surge, Lin's Thunder Barrier Drain, and many more...

Written magic users compiled magic squares in books and retrieved them as needed, earning the title Remidier—"The Readers."

The reason for explaining this is simple: Most Remidier-type magic users took about the same amount of time to construct magic squares.

"Did they really complete it? How infuriating! The school was eagerly waiting to expel you magic society brats!"

"If a mage can't use magic just because of a little wind, they don't deserve the title."

"Hah, I like your spirit. It's about the size of my mother's booger, though."

As Professor Owen took the parchment Rain had submitted, Hubert, observing from the side, couldn't believe his eyes.

'They completed the magic square?'

Impossible. How much time had passed? Two minutes? Did they complete that in under three minutes?

"Hm?"

As Professor Owen reviewed the answer sheet, his expression subtly shifted.

"This magic square... it's different from the one I provided."

The one Owen had assigned was a dual-sector fan shape—strictly a wind-element magic square.

"Yes. I drew one as a fan shape and the other as a circle."

It was a magic square where a large circle encompassed the fan. Circular magic squares infused magic with a water attribute.

In short, this was a dual-attribute magic square containing both wind and water.

"Why?"

"The 'Evaporation' rune works well with water magic. If I use water magic as the foundational attribute, the mathematical equations required to construct this rune become significantly simpler."

"That's correct. In that case, you could derive the required values for 'Evaporation' using just linear equations."

Krista stared at Rain in disbelief.

"What? That kind of thing isn't even covered in secondary school lessons. Where did you learn that?"

"That just means your secondary school curriculum is flawed. Until you fully understand runes, you can't use magic perfectly."

"!!!"

Was he able to shorten the required time drastically by having an overwhelming understanding of runes...?

Owen smirked, intrigued, and placed his hand on the parchment.

"Still, I need to see if this is skill or just a bizarre stunt."

"Please, go ahead."

"You're ridiculously confident, aren't you? But adding a secondary attribute means the equation for 'Disappearance' became even more complex."

Even if the equation for 'Evaporation' had been simplified, the overall difficulty had undoubtedly increased severalfold. A single miscalculation in magic could result in failure.

"Mana infusion."

Mana flowed from Owen's palm into the magic square on the parchment, breathing life into the inked curves, lines, and numbers.

As the energy filled the magic circle, a dazzling burst of light replaced reality with something surreal.

Evaporation.

Droplets of mist danced in the air.

Then, Disappearance.

The mist expanded outward like unfurling white wings before abruptly vanishing.

"...!"

"...!"

"...!"

The magic display was different from the textbook-perfect solution presented by the Rohinum School duo. It felt almost artistic.

'Impossible. This must be a fluke…'

Hubert couldn't comprehend the phenomenon he had just witnessed. No, he didn't want to comprehend it.

'There's no way such magic could be completed in such a short time…'

The other students, however, were shocked for a different reason.

The gorilla-like Professor Owen—who was infamous for never giving out praise—was clapping with a satisfied smile.

"In my 13 years of teaching, I've met many geniuses, but this is the first time I've seen such an innovative answer to this problem."

Owen, who had never once complimented his own disciples, had just lavished praise upon Rain Ludwig?!

No, it couldn't be.

Surely Krista had done everything. The genius young master must have done nothing.

"Though it infuriates me, I will award you an S grade—the highest grade I have never once given on a mere quiz."

Krista, who had been filled with despair moments ago, suddenly lit up. She couldn't believe what was happening, glancing between Owen and Rain.

"You flatter me."

Krista clenched her fists in excitement.

"Thank you!"