『Sound Binding』 had left the lecture hall stunned.
The students' minds spun as quickly as their eyes.
'A spell that blocks all sound in an area. Don't tell me it's 『Silence』?'
'If it's a different spell, that means a mere Level 2 mage created something similar.......'
'......What a monster. It would be more believable if he had used 『Silence』.'
His skill was so overwhelming that it was difficult to believe he was a lower-level mage than they were.
Once again, they realized just what sort of person stood at the lectern.
Oscar Crucian.
A man who had once received offers from every magic tower in the world, and whom countless archmages had wanted as their disciple.
A genius among geniuses, said to possess the greatest talent in history.
"......Perhaps."
He spoke while scanning the attendance sheet through slightly lowered eyes.
His calm, pleasant voice held an inexplicable persuasiveness.
"Some of you are probably disappointed that I'm the instructor."
Nod, nod.
Unable to make a sound, the students nodded.
They had expected a high-level mage, or at the very least an intermediate mage, to teach the class.
'He may once have been called a genius, but that's all in the past.......'
'Even if he's our senior, having a lower-level mage teach us is a little awkward.'
Oscar looked at their troubled expressions and said what they wanted to hear.
"If you're uncomfortable taking my class, you don't have to. You're no longer academy students under a teacher's control."
The students' faces instantly brightened.
Contrary to the rumors, had he not made a surprisingly reasonable judgment?
But as if he had not finished, Oscar took an hourglass from inside his coat.
"There's one condition."
TAP. He placed it on the lectern and spoke.
"Just as growing older doesn't make you an adult, graduating from the academy and entering a magic tower doesn't make you a mage. You need skill worthy of the title."
"......?"
"Proving your skill is simple. Tell me you don't want to take my class. I'll give you 10 minutes."
The instant he finished speaking, he turned over the hourglass.
The grains of sand inside began to fall slowly but steadily.
"......."
"......."
Some students gaped in disbelief, while others cursed him with their eyes.
They were currently unable to make any sound because of Oscar's magic.
'Is he insane?'
'......He's just forcing us to take the class.'
'At least release the spell before telling us to speak.'
However, a strange light entered the eyes of several quick-witted mages.
'I see...... This is a test.'
'That man is a Level 2 mage. I don't know how his spell works, but.......'
'It can't be at a level we're utterly incapable of dispelling.'
'If we aren't skilled enough to break the spell ourselves and speak, he's telling us to shut up and take the class.'
Having grasped the situation, the mages quickly began analyzing 『Sound Binding』 according to their own methods.
'Now, shall we see how good you are?'
Oscar sat with his legs crossed and leisurely watched the students.
'I deliberately left weak points in the formula, but that doesn't mean it'll be easy to dispel.'
To be blunt, it was not something an unskilled Level 3 mage could break through by luck.
Any mage capable of dispelling it alone would have to be at least remarkably gifted.
"......."
Yet there was no one who passed until the test was nearly over.
This was still the White Tower. Oscar had expected at least three or four people to solve it.
'......We have a long way to go.'
Oscar was once again reminded of the White Tower's current state and gave a bitter smile.
"I-I did it!"
At last, someone passed.
The boy who threw both hands into the air in delight was a head shorter than his peers.
Oscar's eyes gleamed; before the lecture, he had memorized the personal details of every White Tower mage.
'Damian Proud.'
The only son of the count of House Proud, one of the prestigious families of mages.
"Congratulations."
"......Hmph. It was so much easier than I expected that I had a hard time dragging it out."
"Oh, impressive."
Oscar replied without emotion and lightly snapped his fingers.
SNAP!
Sound returned to the world as though a tightly drawn thread had come loose.
"......Huh? I can hear again."
"What? Is time up?"
"Ah! I almost had it!"
The lecture hall instantly grew noisy, and Oscar stood up.
"Everyone, quiet."
Although he used no magic this time, they all closed their mouths as if by agreement.
In only 10 minutes, the mage they had subtly looked down on for his low level had brought the lecture hall under control.
"The sole person to pass the test is Damian Proud."
"......He solved that?"
"Well, I expected as much. That guy may be obnoxious, but he isn't unskilled."
Damian basked in the envious gazes of the students and spoke.
"I passed the test, so I don't have to take your class now, correct?"
"Of course. Do as you wish."
"......."
But when permission came so easily, he felt an inexplicable disappointment.
'......If the opening greeting was this impressive, will the actual class teach something even more advanced?'
Where else would a beginner mage have a chance to examine such a high-level magical formula?
More importantly, solving it had been tremendous fun.
Rather than solving a rigid problem, he had needed to pour every scrap of his knowledge into it.
Thanks to that, he had been able to forget everything else and immerse himself solely in magic for the first time in ages.
But after loudly declaring that he would not take the class, it was awkward to reverse himself.
Oscar watched him and chuckled.
'Maybe it's because he's still a teenage kid, but every thought shows on his face.'
For Oscar, who had dealt with countless kinds of people in his life, handling children like this was simple.
"Still, you're the only one who passed, so I should give you a reward. I'll teach you a spell. Come up to the lectern."
"......A spell?"
Even the mighty Damian could not help perking up at that.
After all, had he not personally experienced a spell similar to 『Silence』 moments ago?
'Ahem, this is a right I earned through my own skill.......'
Pretending reluctance, Damian descended the stairs, moved to the lectern, and asked brusquely.
"What is it? This spell you're going to teach me."
"Damian Proud. What's your favorite basic spell?"
"Wind Cutter."
The answer emerged without even a second of hesitation.
"Cast it."
"......What a bother."
Damian quietly clicked his tongue, and a blade of wind instantly formed above his palm.
It had the shape of a dagger, the most basic form, and looked exceptionally dazzling and sharp.
The students began to murmur when they saw it.
"It looks different from my Wind Cutter?"
"Everything from the casting speed to its structure is immaculate."
"Wind Cutter is that guy's specialty."
"The blade looks sharp enough to cut through almost anything."
When Damian lowered his hand, the Wind Cutter began to orbit his body like a satellite.
"There. Satisfied?"
"Hmm."
After examining his Wind Cutter for a moment, Oscar nodded.
"Good. The spell I'll teach you today is 『Wind Cutter』."
"......Forgive me, but are your eyes just for decoration? Can't you see this floating around me?"
"I'm sorry, but by my standards, that isn't a Wind Cutter. At best, it's only half of one."
His magic was only half complete?
Damian's eyebrow twitched at those words.
"......Now that you've gone that far, would you explain exactly what is so defective about my Wind Cutter?"
His aura was so ominous that he seemed ready to challenge Oscar to a duel if he failed to give a convincing answer.
"If you're curious, I'll tell you. Listen carefully. Your Wind Cutter has exactly two problems."
Oscar abruptly stretched out his hand and grabbed the Wind Cutter.
"W-what are you doing......?!"
What lunatic grabbed a Wind Cutter with his bare hand?
The image of Oscar dripping blood flashed through Damian's mind.
"The first problem is that it isn't made of wind."
BANG—!
The Wind Cutter, which had radiated a vicious edge the entire time, dispersed as though it had been an illusion.
"......."
"......."
Everyone stared at the lectern, forgetting even to breathe.
"......What?"
A weak sound escaped Damian like air from a deflating balloon.
Wind Cutter was his signature spell.
It made no sense that it would be caught by a bare hand and disperse so feebly.
'He didn't even have mana infused into his hand?'
Damian was certain because he had seen it from directly in front of him.
Then how had he done it?
As the unresolved question drifted through his mind, Oscar asked.
"Damian, what is wind?"
"......What?"
"Exactly what I said. What do you think wind is?"
Damian flinched without realizing it when he met Oscar's eyes.
They were quiet eyes that cowed a person through mere eye contact.
Within them, Damian even sensed the wisdom that reminded him of his grandfather.
"W-wind is...... moving air."
"Correct. Wind is moving air."
Water remained water even when still, and fire remained fire no matter how quickly it flickered.
Wind, on the other hand, only became 'wind' when air moved and flowed without cease.
Oscar's eyes grew calm.
"That's why what you created isn't Wind Cutter. If I had to classify it, it'd be closer to Air Cutter."
"......Ah!"
Damian exclaimed as something clicked into place.
"Remember this. The White Tower fundamentally handles wind. In other words, our magic must flow without ceasing. Otherwise, it'll be broken just as easily as yours was."
Just as stagnant water rotted, magic composed of air that did not flow easily lost its form.
Damian, visibly shaken, asked.
"......What's the second problem?"
"You use more mana than necessary when creating the spell. You're wasting mana in the process."
When Oscar precisely identified the flaw he had vaguely sensed, Damian felt pure admiration.
"How, how can you tell even that from seeing my magic once?"
"Let's simply say I have good instincts."
Once one's magic reached a certain realm, much could be learned merely by observing another person's spell.
Things such as personality and habits, and beyond that...... even a little of their past.
"As House Proud has produced high-level mages of the White Tower for generations, you must have grown up watching your grandfather's or father's Wind Cutter. You probably worked tirelessly to imitate their Wind Cutter even before you formally began learning magic. But Wind Cutter is among the most difficult basic spells, so it couldn't have been easy. You likely forced it into completion by using more mana. That habit has remained with you to this day."
The dazzling appearance of his Wind Cutter had probably been meant to conceal the shortcomings he sensed within himself.
"......."
Damian gave a hollow laugh after Oscar struck the heart of the matter.
He had not expected the man to learn so much from seeing the spell only once.
'There's no room to argue.'
As Oscar had said, what Damian had handled all this time was not Wind Cutter.
It was merely something that repeated a childhood mistake.
'The difference in talent...... No, is it ridiculous to hide behind that excuse and evade my mistake?'
Oscar was an elite in the field who had published several papers on basic magic.
Damian was the one who had ignored him and viewed him through prejudice simply because his level was lower.
Damian's head sank as he suddenly felt ashamed of himself.
"However, if you correct those problems, you'll create a truly perfect Wind Cutter."
Oscar wore a sincerely regretful expression.
"It's personally disappointing that such an outstanding student refuses to take my class."
"......."
A proud guy like Damian could not be won over from the start with a few sweet words.
'First, I need to firmly impress upon him that I stand above him. Then I can appeal to his desire for recognition.'
Sure enough, Damian perked up and slowly raised his head.
"......Well, I suppose it can't be helped. Since you think so highly of me, I'll listen to a little more of your class."
Oscar watched Damian quietly return to his seat and smiled silently.
Naturally, the students' concentration rose visibly after that.
***
About 2 weeks after Oscar's lectures began.
A strange rumor began to circulate through the White Tower.
"Did you hear the rumor? Oscar Crucian is completely insane."
"Why say it like that's news? Didn't everyone already know?"
The mage chatting in a corner of the 2nd-floor cafeteria shook his head vigorously.
"No, I don't mean his personality. I'm talking about the A Reinterpretation of Basic Magic lecture."
"Oh, the one he opened recently? Well, it was too much for a Level 2 mage to handle."
"It's the opposite. You really haven't heard anything."
Mindful of the people around them, his friend lowered his voice and whispered cautiously.
"They say he's a true star instructor."
"......What's a star instructor?"
"An expert instructor who identifies every flaw in a mage and even teaches them how to fix it. They say he even gives each person customized advice on mana-control methods and mana-circuit installation."
"Oh, stop talking nonsense."
Oscar Crucian might once have been called a genius, but he was now merely a Level 2 mage.
How could someone who was not even a high-level mage correct every flaw in another person?
Frustrated by his friend's deeply skeptical expression, the mage spoke.
"No, I'm serious, okay? You know Damian Proud, don't you?"
"That obnoxious kid from the count's family? What about him?"
"Oscar identified every one of that guy's problems and how to compensate for them in front of everyone."
"......With his personality, he must've caused a scene without caring whether Oscar was his senior."
"Surprisingly, he turned into a meek little lamb and went back to his seat. He's attended every class since."
"What? How does that make sense?"
If Oscar could silence that kid with the filthy temper, the lecture really must have been good.
"But even then, wouldn't it only apply to beginner mages?"
"Who knows? There are even Level 4 and 5 mages planning to observe the next class. There's always a chance."
The mage swallowed hard as he considered it.
"If that's true, shouldn't we go too?"
"Exactly. See you in front of the Fourth Lecture Hall at 6 on Thursday morning."
"Wait. I thought the class started at 9?"
"Are you stupid? We have to line up early. If we're late, we won't even get inside."
Rumors about Oscar's lecture were spreading rapidly through the White Tower.