For the first time since I came to the academy, I was acknowledged for a practical exam.
My burning heart became warm for another reason.
I felt deeply moved.
Yeah.
This recognition that I couldn’t get anywhere else.
Maybe I needed it.
And then,
“……”
The crumpled expression on Michael’s face.
It was perfect.
I could finally smile.
* * *
* * *
After the end of the test, the examiners all gathered in the main conference room.
There was only one reason.
‘Ruin Ardell’.
If they could say that the magic he performed could be considered ‘Magic’.
The 10 professors were sitting at the round table, and at the head of this table sat Director Tirion.
The first one to speak was Professor Elrick.
“Respectfully, Director Tirion and fellow professors, we all know and have seen today. Ruin Ardell has made a mockery of the test that should be fair to everyone. To use a different method while everyone else was trying their hardest with the correct one. I believe it’s only natural that we give him a fail.”
There were some apart from Professor Elrick who nodded their heads in agreement.
The first one to refute his point was none other than Professor Hydel.
“A fail? Are we going to give the most outstanding performer since the academy’s founding a failing mark? I can’t agree to this.”
“Didn’t he hold magic in his palms and punch with it? I have never heard of something like this ever in my life. Have you seen it before, Professor Hydel?”
“This was indeed my first time seeing it as well. But what Ruin showed was definitely magic. I will not deny this fact.”
“……”
As Professor Elrick hesitated for a moment, Professor Hydel stood from his seat to proclaim,
“Ruin followed the time limit to show off his power and created tens of Fireballs with a single casting, and he only took the test with those Fireballs. Ruin hasn’t broken any rules. The fact that he punched with magic? What’s the problem with that? If you hold magic and punch, does it suddenly become not magic? Ruin has had trouble with releasing magic, but he never gave up. Rather, to overcome his weakness, he trained his body for the past few months. This is the result of that training. Shouldn’t we instead congratulate him on his achievement?”
At Professor Hydel’s point, most of the professors nodded and showed signs of agreement.
But Professor Elrick started talking as if he couldn’t accept this.
“Did you see the casting speed of Ruin?”
“Of course.”
“He’s only a student, but how can he cast that fast? Collect, Empower, Process. He ignored these 3 steps completely. Many archmages, including me, would not be able to do that! He’s definitely used some cheap trick.”
A sizable number of professors agreed to this statement.
The movement and magic shown by Ruin had a lot of weird quirks that couldn’t be overlooked.
But Professor Hydel held his ground.
“Think back. What is the first thing we learn when we start learning magic?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“‘Magic has no limits. It is the land of infinite possibilities. Isn’t that why it’s such a fascinating and exciting endeavour?”
“We’re not here to discuss such things, stay on to-”
“There will always be things outside of our expectations. If everything went according to calculations, would that be Magic or Maths?”
Magic.
A lot of magicians thought they knew magic well, but they were only in the area of ‘knowing about magic’.
The owners of magic were dragons, not humans.
And the humans who had borrowed this magic still had areas they had no idea about.
Maybe that’s why sometimes, magic would be created that shook the heavens and the earth, and magicians would be born that would change the world.
Also, each magician’s magic held a unique personality.
This was what magic was.
Even if we disregarded everything else, Academy Director Tirion put this endless learning and research about this topic of magic above everything else.
Tirion spoke.
“What Professor Hydel says is true. Magic is always a fascinating subject. Isn’t it natural that each magician has a specialty that no one else does?”
The magic Ruin showed was definitely one that had never been seen before, but to interrogate him on this was to go against the nature of magic.
Sometimes, it was correct to leave it alone and let it flow.
For these reasons, Tirion was having a pretty good day.
“Today, I witnessed a student perform a miracle. A perfect magical miracle. But it seems the professors don’t think that way.”
The pride of the Radian Kingdom.
The 7th-class archmage who’s also the Academy Director, Tirion Ignit.
His questions carried this meaning.
‘I dare you to oppose this.’
The professors who knew this slowly started speaking up.
“What the director said is correct. This is a miracle. A magical miracle.”
“I agree. To overcome his disability and perform like this, I can only feel glad.”
“Right?”
Tirion’s sight had reached Professor Elrick.
“…ah. Yes.”
He could only close his mouth in embarrassment.
So, it was determined.
They knew that Tirion liked people like Ruin, who’d diligently train and strive, but for it to be to this extent.
His decision had already been set, so Elrick couldn’t object again.
Not just in the academy, considering the entirety of the magic world, Tirion was someone who you must never have as an enemy.
Professor Elrick clenched his eyes closed and said,
“…What the director said is correct.”
Then, Tirion replied while smiling brightly,
“So it seems all the professors agree with me. Good. We’ll end our meeting here.”
“……”
At this, Professor Elrick swallowed a thought into his heart.
‘Dangerous.’
This was dangerous.
For there to be a random kid that appeared out of nowhere and could threaten the valedictorian position of the Galehill child.