I spat out the cookie and went straight to the nearest bathroom.
"Uuugh—"
Only after heaving once more did my stomach finally feel empty.
Stomach acid coming back up was never a pleasant experience under any circumstances, but right now it was especially wretched.
A burning throat, a sudden cramping ache in my gut as though my insides were contracting, and that sharp, acrid smell that kept wafting up from my mouth.
Disgusting.
"Bleh."
I shoved my face into the sink and rinsed my mouth. The bile that had been stinging my tongue washed away, and the burning gradually settled.
And then—
*splash*—
I pushed my face in deeper.
I submerged until the water was just about to trickle into my ears, and closed my eyes.
*…*
A quiet space where the only sound was dripping water.
Still. Peaceful.
*blub*—
Every time I exhaled, bubbles rose and tickled my cheeks.
"Pah."
After some indeterminate stretch of seconds, I quietly lifted my face above the surface. Water soaked through my collar and ran down my neck, drenching my shirt.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
Like a drowned puppy.
*Honestly.*
What a pathetic face.
Vender and Kael came to mind.
They had tried to use Elline.
Of course, even if I'd gone along with it, there was no way Elline would have been fooled. But the fact that they'd even entertained the idea—that alone left a foul taste in my mouth.
Why, though.
…
*You already know.*
I slowly raised my hand and pressed it against the mirror.
Droplets fell from my wet hair and chin, striking the basin with a clear, ringing sound that seemed to echo inside my skull.
Because I'm beside her.
That's why she looks like an easy target to them.
*…*
Balrod's words came back to me.
Like it or not, once a topic gets thrown out there, it makes the rounds.
Talk about Elline had come up, and it would keep coming up.
And the reason for that was me.
A feeling I never wanted to experience again.
The last thing I wanted was for her to be talked about like that because of me.
I quietly dried my face with a towel and looked in the mirror one more time.
…
I'd been naive.
I'd thought it was enough to just aim for Alpha Class and ignore the stares around me.
Ignore it, look away, and it would be fine.
It wasn't.
*'We've got Elline, don't we.'*
My hand pressed harder against the mirror.
The wind stirred, and the water on my face began to dry. With each passing moment, my head grew clearer.
*plop*—
The last drop fell from my chin, sending a small ripple through the water below with a clean, bright sound.
If I didn't want to look like an easy target—
*I'd have to prove myself.*
Getting into Alpha Class would take care of it.
And for that, I needed to be more serious than ever.
The warning bell for the start of class rang out.
* * *
West Training Ground No. 5.
Unlike most training grounds, which were enclosed by marble floors and walls, this one was defined by a wide-open plain.
The well-tended grass and greenery had been shaped by human hands, yet they boasted such a high degree of naturalism that they looked as though they had always grown that way.
With no assigned seats or designated spots, students sat freely within their allotted area, resting or chatting among themselves.
The mild weather and the sprawling plain gave the space a relaxed atmosphere, even during class hours.
Across that peaceful plain, a man in a rather incongruous outfit came walking with a cane, his gait uneven.
Not the flowing, mysterious robes of a mage, but a form-fitting uniform—and pinned to his chest, a rusted medal: the insignia of the former Magic Inspection Bureau.
As the man with the eyepatch covering a scar across his left eye drew closer, the students who had been chatting freely fell quiet one by one.
"Everyone here."
Raen swept the group with his one good eye.
A former member of the Magic Inspection Bureau, now one of the academy's practical-training instructors.
Raen was particularly notorious for his emphasis on live combat against human opponents.
"Raen Ignir. You all know who I am, but introductions are customary. I look forward to working with you."
His deep voice carried no particular force, yet it was more than enough to command the room.
As if by agreement, the students responded with quiet, measured applause.
"The schedule changed without much notice, but you're third-years now—you've learned what there is to learn. No need for theory today. We'll be assessing your capabilities."
A capability assessment.
It was Raen's signature way of opening a course—something of an initiation rite.
The format was simple enough.
"You're third-years now. I can afford to have some expectations, can't I?"
A one-on-one duel with Raen himself.
Pure magic, attack and defense—but given the clear gap in ability between Raen and his students, it ultimately came down to how long each person could hold out.
While other professors had students face conjured monsters or spar against each other, Raen had always preferred to step in himself.
During his years at the Magic Inspection Bureau, he had faced not monsters but intelligent human opponents. To him, there was nothing more important than person-to-person combat.
"In a year—no, a few months now—you'll graduate and scatter to all kinds of places."
To imperial territories, to the direct agencies of the Mage Tower, to the imperial court, to the front lines.
"But don't forget. In the end, the thing you need to be most wary of isn't monsters. It's people."
Raen gave a light tap of his cane against the worn eyepatch that had weathered years of hardship. Mana compressed in an instant—
Wind surged and swirled around him.
"Support branch or not, no one is exempt. The threat to your life comes for everyone equally. That's the end of orientation. Questions?"
No one raised a hand. Raen's easy smile spread across his face, and the grass around him began to slowly flatten.
"All right then. I'll be calling names."
He gripped his cane and let his gaze move across the students.
*bang—!*
A sharp crack rang out as Mana Bullets from both sides collided.
Light flashed. Dozens of Mana Bullets streaked through the air—the first few were blocked, but the ones that followed were overwhelmingly Raen's, and they punched through the debris and flew straight at their target.
"Aaagh!"
The student screamed as though he'd actually been hit, but the Mana Bullet burst just before impact, leaving only a fading afterglow before it vanished.
"Stop being dramatic. One minute forty-one seconds. Not bad. Next!"
Raen deftly pulled a potion from his bag, drank it, and called the next name.
Being third-years now, a few familiar faces were visible even to Raen's eye.
Students who were genuinely talented, whose abilities stood out.
"Three minutes twenty-eight seconds. Well held. You've gotten better, Gat."
"Thank you, sir."
Raen went through them one by one—offering encouragement here, pointing out flaws there.
"Two minutes thirty-nine seconds. Yudit, don't rush in just because you spot a weakness. Think first."
"Yes, sir. I'll keep that in mind."
The residual mana in the air grew thicker, and the assessment was drawing toward its end.
"Guh—!"
Moltz's comically ungainly tumble drew a burst of laughter from the training ground.
"Thirty-two seconds. Work on your fundamentals, Moltz."
"Y-yes, sir."
Raen clicked his tongue briefly at Moltz, who had just set the shortest record of the session.
"Your theoretical knowledge is impressive, but you're still soft in practice, Moltz. Even if your heart is set on academic work, you need at least a baseline level of combat capability."
"…I'll keep that in mind."
Moltz gave a small bow and shuffled back to his spot on short legs. Only a handful of students remained.
Raen tapped his cane lightly and drank another potion. The fatigue in his body eased, and his mana settled.
"Next."
At his call, a student stepped out from the group.
As Raen tucked the potion back into his bag, there was a faint clinking sound.
"Ready, Rutess?"
"Yes."
Rutess Liperto.
Black hair with a faint trace of light brown mixed in. A name Raen remembered, but one that had never left much of an impression.
Raen looked Rutess up and down as he loosened up.
A brief silence.
"Let's begin."
Raen gave a light tap of his cane, and mana coiled around him as though it had never left—
And in response, Rutess's body gave a small, involuntary shudder.
That was to be expected.
Mana couldn't be seen with the naked eye, but any mage sensitive to it could feel the difference. When faced with mana that vastly outstripped their own, anyone who hadn't been pushed to their absolute limits would instinctively flinch.
Rutess was no different. And yet—
*…Hm.*
Raen's grip on his cane tightened, just slightly.
*His eyes…*
Those steady eyes were still fixed on Raen.
Had this student always been like this?
*No.*
If he had, Raen would have remembered him.
Unfortunately, the Rutess in Raen's memory had never made much of an impression.
Chalking it up to imagination, he did what he always did at the start—he formed a light Mana Bullet.
Simple magic: compress mana and fire. Nothing more.
*fwsh—*
Several Mana Bullets flew.
Rutess watched them with his eyes, then opened his left hand and compressed mana—before releasing it in a burst. A barrier tinged with a deep amber light materialized.
*bang—!*
Raen's shot glanced off it cleanly. The barrier shattered, but the Mana Bullet scattered and dissipated along with it.
Raen's eye narrowed, just barely.
There was no textbook answer in real combat.
Unlike theory, where you read the material and produced the expected response, real combat was full of variables—every step, every movement. No perfect, predetermined answer existed.
But there were statistics, distilled from experience written in blood.
Dodging was viable. Deflecting was viable. But deploying a barrier was the stable choice.
"Not bad, Rutess."
"Thank you."
Raen raised his output slightly, put more force into his right hand, and sent a greater volley of shots at him.
Rutess threw up barriers with both hands, buying time as best he could while also reacting to the shots aimed directly at his body.
*thud thud thud—*
*clang—*
Brilliant bursts of light flared and faded, and the residual mana in the air grew steadily denser.
One minute thirty seconds.
*Interesting.*
Raen watched Rutess and let his mind drift briefly to the past.
In his second year, Rutess had lasted about a minute, if memory served.
His physical conditioning had been solid, but his magic was sloppy—and more than anything, there had been no will behind his eyes.
And now?
*He's tracking my magic.*
His gaze was different.
The dull, faded look Raen had seen before was gone. Now those eyes held Raen's Mana Bullets—every single one, not a single shot slipping out of his field of vision.
It was interesting.
Two minutes.
Time to start pushing harder.
To make his magic more precise, Raen began using his left hand—the one that held the cane.
From a blind spot, from somewhere out of sight, he formed a small Mana Bullet, gripped the cane, and sent it cutting through the air toward him.
*ping—*
"…!"
The first flicker of surprise crossed Rutess's face. Raen didn't miss it.
*Weakness: blind spots.*
Raen began casting from the angles more carefully, more deliberately—
And Rutess, instead of the bold movements from before, minimized his motion and turned his head more, focusing his attention on the edges of his awareness.
*tss—*
*fwsh—*
Of course, no one could anticipate every attack. As Rutess's range of movement shrank, Raen pressed the advantage, targeting those blind spots with relentless persistence.
Two minutes thirty seconds.
*Not bad at all.*
It wasn't his imagination.
Too early to draw conclusions, but Rutess Liperto had changed.
Since retiring from the Bureau and spending ten years at the academy, Raen had seen all kinds of students.
He had seen plenty whose impression shifted dramatically in an instant.
Whatever the reason, the fact that someone was pushing themselves, training, and moving forward—that was exactly the kind of thing Raen found admirable.
Gradually, the name Rutess was beginning to take root in his memory.
Three minutes passed.
*Now then…*
Time to wrap this up.
Raen raised his right hand and began unfolding a spell formation. Behind him, an enormous number of Mana Bullets began to take shape.
"Whoa…"
"How many is that?"
The students watched in awe, while Rutess, for his part, seemed to be preparing a barrier—his hand was already extended.
A predictable preparatory motion.
To ensure a clean takedown, Raen shifted his gaze ever so slightly.
From a position Rutess hadn't noticed, he cast—a sharp Mana Bullet aimed straight at Rutess's thigh.
Then Raen opened his right hand and began the incantation. The Mana Bullets rained down like a summer downpour.
At the same time, he put force into the cane in his left hand.
A two-pronged attack with no room to evade.
*bang bang bang bang—!*
Watching the Mana Bullets falling like a summer storm, Rutess hesitated for a moment—then deployed a barrier with one hand.
*A double-layer barrier.*
Rather than using both hands to push for a triple layer, he poured as much mana as he could into one hand and raised a double barrier.
*And with the other hand, he plans to watch for the blind spot.*
Not bad. Actually, a good choice. Raen gave a small nod.
*Of course—only if he can actually react in time.*
*hmmm—*
Like water striking a surface, Mana Bullets began to embed themselves in the barrier one by one—then a massive volley hit all at once, and with a thunderous crack, the barrier fractured.
Both layers shattered. The remaining Mana Bullets grazed past Rutess's body—but he had narrowly avoided a direct hit, and he was still standing, barely, swaying on his feet.
"He actually held through that?"
"That's impressive."
The students murmured among themselves, admiring him—but at the same time, a few were puzzled.
"Wasn't it a bit straightforward, though? There was no attack from the blind spot either."
"Right. Did the professor go easy on him?"
No.
Raen had already formed a bullet aimed at Rutess's thigh, and had intended to send it simultaneously with the frontal barrage—to neutralize his leg and end it cleanly.
But contrary to plan, the bullet he had formed in the blind spot was still there.
Still aimed at Rutess.
"…Ha."
Raen let out his first genuine sound of surprise.
"Now this is interesting."
Because his left hand had not moved.
And because Rutess's other hand was extended, open, and pointed directly at him.
*creak creak creak—*
The sensation of his hand being bound—a trembling in his fingers as something locked around them.
Crude. Clumsy. He could break free of it immediately. But that didn't matter.
"Rutess."
The corner of his mouth curved upward in a satisfied smile.
He looked up. Rutess stood there unsteadily, sweat pouring off him, his mana clearly on the verge of exhaustion.
"Very interesting indeed."
What had caught on Raen's hand was a binding spell.