"Next, Illuminate."
"[ᛏᛃᚪᛖᛚᛜᛏᚠᚪᛡᛃᛋקיᛚᚺᛜᛖᚾהᛤ]"
Since Colette had not told her to stop, Shulim simply continued the demonstration.
A bright white light spilled from her fingertip. Even under the clear daytime sky, it still stood out.
"She really used a second kind of magic."
"Shulim’s amazing..."
The students broke into excited chatter.
Among them, one particular girl heard every word like nails scraping across glass.
Fran stared fixedly at Shulim, mortified and furious all at once. Her cheeks had already begun to burn.
She beat me again?
And the worst part was that just a moment ago I practically declared victory to her face. That backfired way too fast.
I must have looked ridiculous. She was definitely laughing at me inside, wasn’t she?
This is so humiliating. I want the ground to open up and swallow me.
And more than anything else...
Why did I lose to her again?
Shulim, just you wait. I am absolutely not letting this go.
"[ᚳᛃᛄᛖᛚᛜᛈᚠᛞᛃᛡᚪᛚᛏᛗᚠᚺᛜᛖᛗהᚠᚷ]"
"Whoa. That’s a third one."
"Is that void magic?"
While Fran was still drowning in her own embarrassment and outrage, Shulim finished demonstrating all three spells.
"Ms. Colette, is that enough?"
"..."
Colette looked at Shulim for a long moment, then put on a sweet smile.
"Of course. Thank you for the demonstration, Shulim. You can go back now."
Shulim gave a small bow and returned to the group.
The moment she stepped back into place, the instincts drilled into her through long combat training picked up a strong stare from behind.
She turned and met a pair of reddened eyes that even seemed to be glistening slightly.
"Hmph."
The instant their eyes met, the owner of that stare let out a sharp huff and whipped her head away.
Shulim said nothing.
What is she doing? Did I offend her somehow? She was acting weird earlier too.
After thinking about it for a second, Shulim gave up.
Well, as long as she’s not an enemy, she can do whatever she wants.
Fran, meanwhile, had turned her head aside like she was sulking, but the corner of her eye never left Shulim for a second. And when she realized Shulim was no longer looking at her, she got even more annoyed.
What is that supposed to mean? She turned around just to look at me. Was that revenge for earlier? It was, wasn’t it? Ugh, Shulim, I’m definitely not letting this go.
"Looks like we only have three students who already know magic."
Once it became clear no one else was raising a hand, Colette said it in a tone that sounded almost disappointed.
Then, just as quickly, she flashed a bright grin.
"That’s still more than I expected, though. Wonderful."
...
So which is it, exactly? More than expected, or not enough?
That was the collective thought running through the students’ heads.
Of course, Colette had no idea what they were thinking, and she continued teaching without missing a beat.
"Since we already have three students here who can use magic, I’m sure all of you have at least some basic understanding of how it works."
"In our world, magic is divided by elemental attribute into seven branches. Wind, fire, water, earth, light, dark, and void. Every one of you will have affinity for at least one of those elements. Just like Ande and Fran showed a moment ago. From the first-circle spells they used, we can tell that one has fire affinity and the other has wind affinity."
"Of course, a small number of people are born with more than one. Like Shulim."
At that, everyone’s eyes drifted back toward Shulim again.
"The first thing all of you will need to do is figure out your own elemental affinity, just like those three have..."
"Ms. Colette."
A boy in the front row suddenly raised his hand and interrupted her.
"Yes? Do you have a question?"
Colette asked with a smile.
"What kind of mage are you, Ms. Colette? Could you show us your magic too?"
The moment he said it, the rest of the class lit up with interest.
Of course.
If she was their magic teacher, then it only made sense that she should show them what she could do.
"Oh dear. Oh dear. I suppose I have no choice."
Colette pressed a hand to her cheek dramatically.
"Well... if you all want to see it that badly, I’ll show you. After all, I doubt any of you would take me seriously until you’ve seen the real thing."
The students immediately perked up.
"Really?"
"What kind of magic does she use?"
"It’s probably second-circle, right? I mean, she’s a teacher, so second-circle has to be a given..."
"All right, all right, settle down. Everyone move to the edge of the field first."
Colette did not cast right away. Instead, she made the students retreat to the edge of the training grounds.
"Huh? The field’s huge. Why do we have to move all the way back?"
"Maybe she doesn’t want us getting caught in it."
"No way. How much area could a second-circle spell even cover...?"
The students were puzzled, but they still obeyed. Soon the entire field had cleared, leaving only Colette standing alone at the center.
"All right, everyone. Watch closely. This is your teacher’s magic."
Colette raised her staff high in her right hand, called out to the class, and then began chanting rapidly under her breath.
"[ᛏᛈᛒᛜᛖᚾᚠᚲᚢהᛤᛜᛚᚲᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᛓᚠᛏᚱוᚠᛃᛖᛜᛓᚠᛒᛖᛚᛡᛚᚢᛡᛣᛃᛜᛖᚾהᛤ]"
"...Flame, rise as high as you please."
Boom.
A vast wall of fire erupted upward from the training field, surging so high that it stained the sky red. All over Mente, townsfolk in the middle of their work stopped and looked up.
"Whoa."
Several students stumbled backward and fell to the ground at the sight of the enormous blaze swallowing most of the field.
At the same time, they instantly understood why Colette had made them move to the edge.
If they had stayed in the middle, a spell like that absolutely would have swallowed them.
"T-that’s incredible. That’s not second-circle. It’s third-circle. It has to be third-circle."
Once the initial shock faded, the excitement exploded.
"Third-circle magic? Ms. Colette, that’s incredible."
"Does that mean Ms. Colette is a Rank C mage? There are barely any Rank C mages in the whole town."
As everyone shouted in amazement, Shulim stared without blinking at the towering blaze. Deep in her eyes, something almost seemed to light up.
The moment Colette cast the spell, Shulim had already recognized from the mana pulse alone that it was third-circle magic.
And if she was not mistaken, this was one of the hardest fire spells in the third circle to master.
Scorching Flame Curtain.
Among third-circle fire spells, it had the widest offensive range of them all.
"Third-circle..."
Maybe I’ll reach that point myself before long.
That thought crossed her mind, and the excitement inside her gradually settled into something calmer.
Then, just like that, the blazing wall vanished.
One instant it had been roaring across the field, and the next it was gone without a trace, as if it had never been there at all.
Only the lingering heat in the ground proved it had really happened.
"Ms. Colette, that was amazing."
"I can’t believe this school actually has a Rank C magic instructor now."
The moment the spell ended, the students rushed forward and crowded around her.
"Ahaha. I’m really not that amazing..."
"Ms. Colette, your magic was so cool. Can you teach me that one?"
"Well, that depends on whether you can even learn fire magic first."
"Oh, I’m sure I can. The second I saw that spell, I knew it. I’ve definitely got fire affinity."
"I really think you should wait before deciding that..."
"Ms. Colette, I heard you came from the royal capital. I thought that was just a rumor, but does that mean it was true?"
"Huh? Fran, where did you hear that?"
"Wait, really? Is Ms. Colette actually a big deal?"
"No, no. Nothing like that. All right, stop crowding around me and pay attention."
No matter how much they pressed her, Colette refused to say any more. Once she had everyone lined back up, she went straight into the lesson.