I got into school for nothing - Chapter 49
I got into school for nothing (49)
Lesson 11. Apprentice Mage Ban Yuwon - 4
“Everyone, Ban Yuwon from Class 11 has joined our class! Let's give him a round of welcoming applause!”
At Yumina's abrupt declaration, made right as class began, Ban Yuwon instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
What was truly infuriating was that the students were clapping with such fervent enthusiasm.
“I want to kill him.”
“Did you see him earlier, laughing and chatting with Professor Yumina as they came in?”
“I genuinely want to kill him.”
“I haven't even had a single private conversation with the professor...”
“Control yourself.”
And with curses like these, no less!
Every single student in her Magical Combat class was an ardent devotee of Yumina, and they certainly didn't look kindly upon Ban Yuwon, who belonged to Class 11—directly overseen by Yumina herself—and was now even taking her magic lessons.
Yet Yumina, as if utterly oblivious to the atmosphere, simply beamed and clapped along.
‘I roughly expected it, but this place is hostile territory too.’
Still, since every single one of them was a devotee of Yumina, they surely wouldn't openly attack Ban Yuwon.
But that was a naive assumption.
“Professor!”
“Do you have a question, Misty?”
Misty? She was the one who had just stopped her friend from trying to kill Ban Yuwon.
Ban Yuwon turned his head to see a pretty girl with golden bobbed hair rising from her seat.
Wait, that face seemed familiar; she was a student from Class 1!
Moreover, the friend who had wanted to kill Ban Yuwon was also from Class 1.
Including Ban Yuwon, there were exactly nine students in this lecture hall, and a surprising three of them belonged to Class 1.
‘But... she's sitting separately from that Aire. Is that how it is?’
If they were in the same Class 1, it would make sense for them to sit closer.
Instead, Aire sat aloof and alone, as if there were a wall separating her from the other students.
Seeing this, Ban Yuwon suddenly recalled a conversation he'd had earlier with Dokgo Yeon.
When Ban Yuwon had mentioned that Ortima was considered the top prospect among first-years, Dokgo Yeon had distinctly said:
‘There's at least one more person in the same class who's more useful than him.’
He had been too preoccupied to worry about other classes until now and had forgotten, but looking at it, he suspected that woman might be the one she was talking about.
“If that student can also use magic, why hasn't he been taking this class until now?”
While Ban Yuwon was pondering Aire, Misty unhesitatingly questioned Ban Yuwon's qualifications, and Yumina, without a moment's hesitation, dropped a bombshell.
“An artifact?!”
“Oh my, haven't you subscribed to the Rebellion channel? The exploration video from last week is up, so check it out. There's even a video with me in it!”
“I am subscribed, Professor!”
“Yesterday's video was truly excellent, Professor!”
“You are beautiful!”
Misty was aghast at Yumina's words.
...And the students, seizing the opportunity, showered Yumina with flattery!
Thanks to that, it took a little while for the shock to spread throughout the entire classroom.
“Wait, he became the owner of an artifact? You mean it was an artifact that chose its owner?”
“There are artifacts that awaken a mage's talent too?”
Artifacts were, of course, incredibly rare items, but even the exceptional talents chosen from higher-ranking dimensions to enter Union Academy usually had one or two artifacts within their families.
But even they had never heard of an artifact that could awaken a mage's talent.
From the start, humans born with magical talent were exceedingly rare, and cases of acquiring such talent later in life were almost nonexistent, so their reaction was only natural.
“Hehehe, of course, it's impossible to turn just anyone into a mage. The artifact chose Ban Yuwon as its master because his magical talent was hidden within him all along!”
Yumina calmly lied, placating the students.
At that, the students' gazes shifted once more—to be precise, they changed from jealousy to outright hatred.
His innate talent was already so great that he had been selected from a lower-ranked dimension, and now he had even gained magical talent on top of that—it felt like too much, truly excessive.
Misty narrowed her eyes, glared at Ban Yuwon, and spoke again.
“Then, Professor, may we ask Ban Yuwon to show us some magic? Without the artifact, of course...”
“Hmm, well, about that.”
“Sure, why not?”
Ban Yuwon had only acquired the artifact last week.
Yumina, judging that he likely wouldn't be able to properly wield magic, tried to intervene, but Ban Yuwon abruptly nodded and stepped forward himself.
“However, please keep in mind that since I only started learning magic recently, it might be difficult to use proper spells.”
“Ah! In that case, I'll put up a barrier first. Ban Yuwon, would you show us?”
Seeing Ban Yuwon's confident demeanor, Yumina's face brightened, and she quickly created a defensive barrier composed of mana.
Ban Yuwon had two types of magic he could choose from.
One was elemental magic, absorbed from a staff.
The other was casting magic in his own unique way, by combining magical languages he had personally come to understand and could manifest.
‘I'd rather use Language Magic, which can leverage my authority, instead of elemental magic.’
He hadn't properly conceptualized it or even practiced it yet, nor was it something to display in a setting like this.
Therefore, Ban Yuwon decided to showcase elemental magic.
Elemental magic, commonly referred to as the magic based on the four great elements—water, fire, air, and earth—manifested in various forms by combining the powers of countless attributes.
It was also what Ban Yuwon himself thought of first when 'magic' was mentioned, and it was said to be the most common form of magic in reality.
While there were various systems for elemental magic, he could only wield pure elemental magic that generated and transformed the power of attributes.
‘Whirlwind.’
The element to control: air. The form: a vortex.
The origin point: above his palm.
The instant he determined these three intentions and infused Hyungi into the concept of elemental magic within his body, a small whirlwind materialized above his palm.
“Ah!”
“It's incredibly fast!”
“There was no incantation... Isn't that closer to psychokinesis than magic?”
“But it's definitely magic. Will-based magic that doesn't require incantations!”
As Ban Yuwon focused his Hyungi, thinking he wanted to enlarge it, the whirlwind instantly swelled in size again.
He shot it towards the barrier Yumina had erected, and with a thunderous roar, the whirlwind dissipated.
Yumina lowered the barrier, revealing a satisfied smile.
“It's surprising enough that there was no incantation, but the power is also remarkable. It's impossible to believe he's just started learning magic. Don't you all agree?”
“Y-yes, Professor.”
“He didn't use an artifact, did he? No, he wouldn't, not with the professor watching...”
“Hah, Special Admissions. Is that the talent of Special Admissions students? Damn it, he seems to handle magic better than me...”
Ban Yuwon was slightly surprised by the students' reactions.
He hadn't expended much Hyungi, and the result was exactly as he'd expected.
No, actually, it felt a little stronger than he'd expected.
In any case, he hadn't thought it was particularly remarkable, so he wondered if the students were overreacting.
However, Aire merely observed as if finding it trivial, and Misty and her friend from Class 1 also wore relaxed expressions that seemed to say, 'So that's all he can do.' This confirmed his suspicion that the Special Class was indeed on a different level.
‘Hmm, as expected, I don't need to concern myself with the regular students, excluding the Special Class.’
Union Academy was a place that selected and nurtured only the most exceptional talents from across all dimensions.
That's why he had thought even regular students couldn't be underestimated.
But Ban Yuwon was a Special Admissions student from a Lower-Rank Dimension.
Despite being from a lower-ranked dimension, he was a genius specifically chosen for his talent, which surpassed other prodigies from higher-ranked dimensions.
His other companions, not just him, were also on a different level compared to the regular students.
He needed to objectively recognize and accept this.
“Professor, I'm curious what would happen if he were to receive support from his artifact.”
“That's right, Professor. If it's an artifact that awakens a mage's talent, its power must be immense, and we'd like to see it too!”
The peculiar silence and uncomfortable atmosphere that had settled after Ban Yuwon's magical display.
Misty and her friend's voices broke it once more.
“An artifact is personal property, and no one has the authority to request its use during class.”
Yumina, with a gentle smile, flatly rejected their request.
However, she didn't forget to add, with another sweet smile, “But—”
“You all know there's a special activity for three days, starting tomorrow, right? Class 1 will be accompanying the students of Class 11, so perhaps you'll have a chance to observe the artifact's abilities then.”
“Ah...”
“Huh.”
This was the first he'd heard of it.
Just as Ban Yuwon widened his eyes and was about to ask about it, Yumina clapped her hands and declared,
“Well then, shall we truly begin class now? Today's a special lecture on various magical languages! Students who answer my questions well will get plenty of bonus points!”
Oh.
Ban Yuwon couldn't help but smile, seeing Yumina wink at him.
It seemed his first class was going to be an unprecedented 'courtesy lecture'.
“Even in the Tower, traps and mechanisms utilizing magical languages can appear, and depending on the magical system you've learned, the importance of magical languages can be extremely, extremely high. Simply knowing magical languages can open your eyes to a whole new understanding of magic, so even if your magical system is different, you must pay close attention in class!”
“Yes, Professor!”
During that day's lecture, Ban Yuwon deciphered five magical languages that no one else knew, earning himself five bonus points.
At this rate, winning the dormitory championship cup with the highest score by the end of the year wouldn't be impossible!
Even though such a thing didn't exist!
* * *
“Wait.”
As the lecture ended and Ban Yuwon was about to leave the classroom, a voice stopped him.
He had roughly expected it, but when he turned around, Aire was indeed standing there.
As Ban Yuwon faced her, he felt the stunned gazes of the students, who had been swarming Yumina with all sorts of questions and flattery, now directed towards them.
Among them were Misty and her friend, who had been constantly keeping Ban Yuwon in check during class.
Ban Yuwon realized that her isolation was, indeed, self-imposed.
“You still haven't answered my question from earlier.”
“I think I answered everything, though?”
“You mean you analyzed and interfered with all the codes the Chancellor inserted?”
“Is that really such a difficult thing to do?”
“I would understand it better if you had acquired the authority to edit spatial teleportation coordinates.”
Honestly, Ban Yuwon couldn't quite grasp the difference between the two.
He did, however, get the feeling that Yumina might have set up spatial teleportation coordinates using the latter method.
“Student Aire?”
“Professor Yumina.”
Before they knew it, Yumina was standing before them.
Unlike how she had glared at Ban Yuwon, Aire bowed respectfully to Yumina.
“Is there something you needed from me?”
“Not from you, Aire, but from Ban Yuwon. He actually has an interview scheduled.”
“......”
Ah, is she a devotee too?
Ban Yuwon felt the gazes piercing him intensify even further, and he could only offer an awkward smile.
“Moreover, Ban Yuwon has never acquired an editing authority. That's an authority reserved only for tenured professors.”
“Ugh, if that's the case, then he really did it with his own abilities...!”
“Are you satisfied with the answer? Then I'll see you tomorrow during the special activity. Ban Yuwon, please follow me.”
Aire's sharp glare remained fixed on Ban Yuwon's back until the very moment Yumina led him out of the classroom.
Why do all the pretty ones have to live up to their looks?
Just thinking about having to mix with them in class in the future already made Ban Yuwon's stomach ache.
“From what I hear, you seem to have edited your student ID?”
Yumina asked as they walked down the corridor after leaving the classroom.
Ban Yuwon nodded, asking with a hint of concern.
“I thought I could do it. Is it perhaps forbidden?”
“No. A student ID is merely an item fashioned by the Principal from fragments of authority originating from the Tower, making them easier to handle. As long as you don't destroy the student ID itself, the Principal won't mind.”
“Phew.”
“Besides, it's impossible for a student to edit the functions of a student ID in the first place.”
“Ugh.”
Seeing the mischievous smile playing on Yumina's lips, Ban Yuwon realized he had truly messed up.
It made sense why Aire had been so desperate.
“Hahahaha... I thought your abilities would mesh well with magic from the very beginning. And sure enough, you've done quite something as soon as you've awakened them, haven't you?”
Her speech had become less formal.
“Professor, no, Big Sis, surely I'm not being dragged off because of that, am I?”
“Of course not. The Principal isn't so idle as to summon someone for such a trivial matter in the first place.”
“...The Chancellor? Not Big Sis, but an interview with the Chancellor?”
“Yup.”
Yumina stopped walking.
Ban Yuwon, stopping his steps with her, realized that his surroundings felt incredibly familiar.
It was the corridor leading to the very secret room where he'd had his interview with the Chancellor on the first day of admission!
“Big Sis, wait a moment, at least tell me why I've been summoned...”
“Alright then, be on your way, Yuwon.”
Just as expected.
This time too, Yumina giggled and pushed him forward.
Ban Yuwon trembled as he was drawn into the corridor.
He could have just walked in by himself!
—It seems you've forged quite a bond with Professor Yumina. Be careful not to be discovered by her followers.
“—Rather than that, Chancellor, no, Master, I think we should be more careful about concealing the fact that I'm having such meetings with you...”
—Good. You remember well. Continue to address me as Master.
First year, first semester, third week.
It was his second interview with the Chancellor.
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