“Go back to your seat, Aion Iskar.”
Aion gave a brief bow and returned to his place.
Until he had walked back and sat down, not even the sound of breathing could be heard in the classroom.
Every gaze was fixed on Aion’s back—and on Professor Helsen standing at the podium.
With his arms crossed, Helsen slowly swept his eyes over the discouraged students.
“I will be honest. When I gave this problem to you monkeys, I did not expect even one of you to find the correct answer.”
The students flinched.
“However...”
Helsen tapped his temple with his index finger.
“Even monkeys come in different kinds.”
“...”
“What I wanted was not the answer. It was thought. I merely wanted to see you wrack your brains, twist them every which way, and struggle to uncover the intention of the unseen designer.”
Helsen’s gaze brushed past Kael and Leila in the front row.
Leila maintained her confident posture, but Kael avoided his eyes.
“I did not care if your answer was wrong. What mattered more was how you thought and how you looked at the problem.”
Helsen lightly tapped the lectern.
“Now that you have entered Exion, you all intend to become mages. But you still need time before you can become true mages.”
His voice settled low over the classroom.
“During that time, think and reflect thoroughly. Consider what kind of mage you wish to become.”
No one spoke.
“If you cannot even manage that, you will remain monkeys until the day you die.”
With a short scoff, Helsen gathered up the attendance register.
“That concludes today’s class. Aion Iskar, come to my office later.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Even after the professor left, the classroom’s silence remained unbroken for some time.
The students stared blankly at the blackboard or wore expressions of deep thought.
...I’m tired.
Aion rolled his stiff neck as he packed his bag.
Professor Helsen’s speech had been impressive, but after barely sleeping for the last two days, Aion’s more urgent concern was lying down.
Scrape—
The sound of a chair dragging across the floor shattered the silence. Only then did every student’s gaze converge on Aion.
Their eyes were complicated.
Suspicion and confusion. And something difficult to put into words.
He began walking as though nothing had happened. As if they had been waiting for it, the students started speaking again.
“Being treated like monkeys feels strange....”
“I’m not used to being treated like this either....”
“...But did Aion really find all of them?”
“Right? I never expected the professor to demonstrate it at the end.”
On his way toward the classroom’s back door, the students discreetly stepped aside to clear a path.
One of them looked at Aion and spoke.
“That thing earlier... was pretty amazing.”
“...?”
“I never even thought of Water Ball.”
“R-right. Even though we worked on it together, we only found a few.”
Heh....
Just as Aion was about to respond—
Thump!
Someone bumped his shoulder as they passed him.
“Move. You’re blocking the way.”
With an annoyed expression, Aion looked at the person who had deliberately brushed past him.
Whispers followed from behind.
“...It’s Kael.”
“He must be upset. He could not solve it, but Aion did.”
Kael’s eyes met Aion’s.
It was only for a brief moment, but the emotion in them was unmistakable. His eyes burned with it.
“...You were only lucky this time.”
“...I suppose so.”
...Halt.
Kael stopped walking.
He slowly turned his head and looked at Aion.
The surrounding students’ eyes shifted to the two of them.
“...What?”
“If it makes you feel better to think that, then think whatever you like.”
Silence followed.
Kael’s expression hardened. Aion did not avoid his gaze, meeting it directly.
“...Young lord, do not waste your time on something so trivial. Let’s go.”
The female student clinging closely to Kael’s side gently tugged at his sleeve.
“...Hmph.”
With a snort, Kael looked away, roughly opened the door, and disappeared.
After he left, the students who had been about to greet Aion smiled awkwardly and went their separate ways.
【Fire: That tiresome brat has taken notice of you.】
【Lightning: Heeheehee! He’s famous! He’s probably among the worst-tempered freshmen!】
【Life: Aion, I hope you do not get involved with that child for a while.】
The Ultimate Points’ assessments of Kael were unanimous.
Aion had no particular interest in him either, so he quickly put Kael out of his mind.
What a strange fellow. More importantly, I was told to visit the professor’s office, wasn’t I?
He slung his bag over his shoulder and left the classroom.
But then—
Tap.
This time, someone did not bump into him. They tapped him on the shoulder.
...Again.
Swish—
Before Aion could turn his head to see who it was, a sweet fragrance greeted him first.
“...You?”
It was her.
Her name was...
He remembered.
Leila Draconis.
The female student who had come closest to the correct answer apart from Aion.
“You found them all.”
“...?”
“I couldn’t.”
She spoke calmly and did not wait for his response. It seemed she had simply said what she wanted to say.
In any case—
“Leila.”
“...Hm?”
“Leila Draconis.”
She pointed at herself while saying her name, then pointed at Aion.
“Aion.”
“...”
“Aion I... something.”
“...Iskar.”
“Ah. Right.”
Nod.
And as soon as she had confirmed it, she left as though nothing had happened.
...What was that?
【Fire: ...She has not changed.】
【Earth: Seeing her again almost makes me glad.】
【Arcana: Refrain from saying anything that could affect Aion’s future future.】
【Waterflow: Yes. We should be careful.】
The Ultimate Points seemed to know something, but Aion was not the type to pry into every detail.
Besides, they did not appear inclined to tell him anything.
First, the office.
That was the matter he needed to deal with right away.
***
Arcanum Central Library.
At the first-floor desk of the place known as the heart of Exion Academy of Magic, an elderly librarian peered at Aion through her glasses with suspicion-filled eyes.
“I did not hear that wrong, did I? A special third-floor reading permit?”
Her gaze moved back and forth between Aion’s young face, the student brooch on his chest, and the silver card he held out.
“It is rare for a freshman to obtain third-floor access already. This is not forged, is it?”
“Professor Helsen issued it himself. Please verify it.”
When the librarian held the card to the identification device, Professor Helsen’s seal appeared in blue light.
Her eyes widened.
“...It is real. What is that eccentric old man doing at the beginning of the year? Did he eat something wrong?”
Clicking her tongue, she exchanged the silver card for a new one that glowed yellow.
“You may borrow only one book today. Go on in. And do not make a disturbance.”
As Aion climbed the stairs, he remembered what Professor Helsen had said when he tossed him the silver card the previous day.
—To think someone would actually take this reading permit. Good grief.... Still, a promise is a promise, so take it.
Thoom—
The instant he stepped onto the third floor, Aion felt that the air against his skin had changed.
While the first and second floors had been lively with freshmen working on assignments, this place was frighteningly quiet.
But it was not the silence of an empty house.
Students read books or circulated mana between the shelves. The aura they gave off was on an entirely different level from that of the freshmen.
Even when Aion entered, they did not spare him a glance. They were focused solely on what lay before them.
...This place is ruthless.
Holding his breath, Aion moved forward.
Mahogany bookshelves rose so high that their ends were impossible to see.
Between them drifted the scent of old paper and ink, mixed with the cool air unique to a place saturated with mana.
Armored guard golems stood like statues throughout the corridors, their red eyes gleaming.
【Arcana: Old-model guard golems.... Still, they are cutting-edge technology for this era.】
【Earth: I once saw someone who tried to steal books here get his arm broken by one of those. ...It was quite a sight.】
Clank—
One golem that had detected Aion brightened its red eyes.
Without deliberately meeting its gaze, Aion kept walking.
Whoooom—
Spiral staircases floated in midair without touching the ground.
With the groan of old twisting wood, the stairs slowly rotated. Whenever students stepped onto them, they moved on their own and connected a path to the shelves they wanted.
...Amazing.
That was not all.
Towering bookshelves dozens of meters high flowed along the walls like living creatures, or repeatedly separated and reassembled in the air like cubes.
“Hup... there.”
When a student trying to retrieve a book from a high shelf gestured through the air, a transparent mana platform formed beneath his feet and lifted him upward.
...It is another world entirely.
Aion stared upward in a daze.
【Arcana: Even seeing it again, the efficiency is not bad. They put effort into the design.】
【Earth: If you fall, they will not be able to gather all your bones. One of my classmates fell from up there once....】
【Life: ...Do you have no stories that are not about someone getting hurt?】
With the Ultimate Points’ chatter as background noise, Aion slowly looked through the shelves.
They were strictly separated by subject.
Elemental studies and summoning, astronomy and philosophy.
Naturally, Aion’s steps led him to the deepest corner, where little light reached.
Unlike the other areas, which moved with dazzling activity, everything here lay still as if dead. Even though it was cleaned every day, the scent of age could not be erased.
Ancient Magic.
A bookshelf neglected by sunlight.
It was where spells that had been pushed aside by the efficiency of modern magic—or forgotten because they could not even be interpreted—lay dormant.
As though possessed, Aion approached it.
Rustle—
He walked along the shelves, slowly running his fingers over the spines of the books.
The rough texture of leather covers traveled through his fingertips.
Tap.
Aion’s hand stopped.
He slowly stepped back and placed his fingertips once more on an old book he had just passed without thought.
It had a distinctive cover, difficult to forget once seen.
Then a voice resembling the sound of metal echoed in his mind.
【Fire: ...Fortunately, it is still here.】
Slide—
Without hesitation, Aion pulled the book from the shelf.