Editor : Amethyst00



“Hey, isn’t expulsion… a bit much?”

Carl spoke with cold sweat trickling down, and Chloe asked,

“Are you nervous?”

“Of course! If it’s a Lumene magic test, the difficulty’s bound to be insane!”

“No way he’d give problems beyond the freshman level, right?”

“Lucky you, honors student.”

Carl had barely scraped by in the entrance exam, so the very idea of a test unsettled him.

And it seemed he wasn’t the only one.

“Expulsion?”

“That’s too much!”

“The professor has the authority to expel students. Everyone should all know this fact, right?”

“But you can’t expel someone without a valid reason!”

“Of course, without a valid reason, expulsion isn’t possible.”

Professor Len tapped the exam paper with his fingertip.

“But if you can’t even pass a this level of test, you don’t even qualified to learn magic at Lumene.”

Then a male student, apparently from another department, raised his hand.

“What about students who just want to take magic as a minor?”

“You can still take non-major magic classes.”

“What about those who want a dual class?”

“A dual class, huh…”

Professor Len trailed off with a smile.

“Perhaps some of you hope to discover hidden magic talent through these provisional classes.”

At that sudden remark, the students looked puzzled.

“It’s precisely because there are such complacent thoughts that even minor students must take this same test.”

Flinch—several students trembled.

“For someone who’s never studied magic to try to stand alongside those who’ve devoted their whole lives to it. Isn’t that itself an insult?”

Though Professor Len was smiling, his eyes were cold.

Chloe’s eyes sparkled as she nodded enthusiastically.

“The test is out of 100 points. Pass mark is 40.”

At the lenient cutoff, students sighed in relief.

Len snapped his fingers, and a giant hourglass appeared in midair.

“Time limit: one hour. Anyone who finishes early can submit their paper and rest outside.”

Students pulled out their writing tools.

“Then—begin.”

The hourglass flipped, and sand began to pour down.

Students grabbed their quills and checked the test papers.

The test included a question sheet, an answer sheet, and several pages for formula work.

As the sound of quills scratching filled the hall, Leo’s face stiffened upon seeing the first problem.

'Describe the effect produced when the given magic formulas are combined.'

His head began to ache.

'What kind of formula even is this?'

If he had to pick the ability most changed since his days as Kyle, it was magic.

Magic was fundamentally a field of inquiry.

The basic runes remained the same, but the methods of using formulas had changed with each era.

Especially now, formulas had advanced drastically thanks to the Hero Record.

Since reincarnating, Leo hadn’t even seen a magic tome, so he was completely illiterate in the formulas of this era.

Glancing beside him, even Carl, who had been on the verge of tears, was at least working through the problems.

Chloe, meanwhile, was rapidly writing down answers.

'Kids these days… they can solve these complex formula combinations mentally?'

With a fed-up look, Leo took a deep breath.

'Alright, let’s at least get a sense of what today’s formulas look like. Even if they change each era, if I can grasp the structure, I can more or less guess it out.'

He steeled himself.

'There’s no way I’m getting kicked out on the first day! I’ve got my pride as the Great Hero who saved the world!'

Eyes flashing, Leo began tearing through formulas at incredible speed.

'Thank goodness! It’s only formulas I know are showing up!'

Meanwhile, Carl, working through his own test, let out a sigh of relief.

Contrary to his worries, the test wasn’t impossibly difficult.

The formulas on it were ones he’d memorized.

The combinations were tricky, but as Professor Len had said, if you couldn’t solve at least this much, you had no right to study magic at Lumene.

'As expected, Chloe’s solving all these combinations in her head.'

Carl clicked his tongue as he saw Chloe write answers without any workings.

Turning his head toward Leo, he saw the quill flying across the page at a blinding pace.

But despite that speed, Leo’s answer sheet was still blank.

'What the—? Leo? He said he aimed for dual class, but maybe his formula knowledge is lacking?'

At this rate, Leo would clearly be barred from the magic major.

Carl felt disappointed at the thought of not being able to take magic classes together.

“Thirty minutes left.”

'Yikes, no time to waste. Focus on my own paper first.'

Meanwhile, Leo had already filled an entire sheet of scratch paper and stopped his quill.

'What lunatic made these formulas this absurdly convoluted?!'

Given enough time, he could have analyzed them.

But short time was the problem.

The next problem was also full of formulas he’d never seen.

Clutching his head, Leo kept scanning through—until his eyes stopped on the last problem.

There were 50 questions total.

Questions 1 through 49 were formula combination problems. The final one asked him to interpret a formula and derive its result.

Compared to the earlier problems, the formula wasn’t that complex.

Calculating mentally, Leo wrote the answer and stood up.

Every student’s gaze snapped toward him.

'He gave up. Well, he hadn’t solved even the first question, any more would’ve just been a waste of time.'

Carl clicked his tongue as he watched Leo hand his paper to the Associate Professor.

'Let's forget about magic classes'

When you only know the answer to one out of 50 questions, how could you attend?

'I’ll have to self-study on my own.'

Blaming his own complacency, Leo walked out of the lecture hall.

Time kept flowing in the hourglass.

But no other students stood up.

Even the non-majors, despite their casual attitude, had at least the basics of magic if they’d chosen it as a minor.

“Time’s up. Everyone submit your answer sheets to the assistants.”

“Ughhh, that was tough.”

Stretching, Carl turned to Chloe.

“Hey, what was the answer to the last question? I couldn’t solve it at all.”

Looking annoyed, Chloe frowned.

“I couldn’t finish either, ran out of time.”

“Yeah, it was ridiculously hard.”

“What about Leo?”

“From what I saw, he did not solved a single problem.”

“So that’s why he left.”

Nodding, Chloe rose and walked over to someone.

Curious, Carl followed behind.

“Brother! This one’s right too, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, correct.”

“Yes!”

Chloe had approached Abad and Chelsea.

“Hi, Chelsea.”

“Huh? Carl? And who’s this girl?”

“This is Chloe Müeller.”

“The honor student from the north?”

Chelsea’s eyes widened.

“Nice to meet you, Abad Lewellin. Did you manage to solve the last problem?”

“I couldn’t finish, not enough time. You?”

“Same here.”

Chloe pulled out her test paper.

“I’d like to compare solutions, see how different we were—want to check?”

“Perfect, I was curious too.”

Chloe’s sheet was crammed with workings for the final problem.

Abad’s was no less full.

Carl clicked his tongue.

'As expected of the honor students. With more time, they’d have solved it all.'

“What about Leo?”

“Since he left earlier, I think he didn’t solve a single problem.”

“Figures. Those aren’t problems a knight could solve.”

Chelsea, who knew Leo as a skilled knight, nodded.

At that moment, Professor Len returned to the stage, and the students quickly returned to their seats.

“Good work on the test, everyone.”

He wore a crisp smile.

“The assistants will finish grading soon. Until then, I’ll briefly explain what my magic theory class will cover.”

Professor Ren’s lecture began.

As they listened, students couldn’t help but be impressed.

His content was clear and engaging.

They could tell instantly they had met a top-tier professor.

'To think we’ll get to learn from someone like this!'

Excitement swelled in their hearts.

As his explanation ended, a male assistant came up to the stage.

“Professor, the results are ready.”

“Shall we reveal them?”

Other assistants brought in a board listing the rankings.

“In fact, this exam was structured as forty-nine 1-point problems, and one worth 51 points.”

As murmurs spread, Len explained further.

“This test isn’t just to select magic majors, it’s also the core of my class.”

“In recent centuries, formulas have advanced rapidly. Thanks to that, spells once requiring full comprehension can now be used simply by memorizing activation conditions.”

Len spread his palm, and a rune-based formula activated.

Then he clenched his hand.

Crash! The formula shattered, scattering mana fragments.

“Such progress has caused the decline of true mages!”

His sudden outcry startled the students.

“The modern trend is memorizing as many formulas as possible! Sure, it makes magic easier to use… but! That is not the essence of a mage! True magic is not rote memorization but research and understanding! And what are young mages doing now? Neglecting comprehension, chasing memorization! Advancement in formulas has brought about the regression of mages!”

He raised both arms overhead.

An immense array of formulas unfolded in the air.

“This is the essence of my own magic. Not an activation script anyone can learn, but an original formula I crafted from start to finish. How many mages today create their own?”

It was the distilled essence of an individual’s unique magical world.

To a mage’s eyes, Ren’s magic shone beautifully.

“A duel between mages is not just a clash of mana, but of who can understand and dismantle the opponent’s formula faster. With only activation scripts, one cannot ascend to the higher realms. Therefore—!”

Shhhh—

Ren’s formula faded away.

“I will teach you to raise your comprehension of formulas! So that you may become true mages!”

He spoke with fervor.

The students, moved by his passion, burst into applause.

The phrase true mage struck deep in their hearts.

Satisfied with their reaction, Len gestured toward the board.

“Check your scores and ranks. Anyone under 40 points, I regret to say, must leave this hall.”

The students crowded forward.

As Len watched with a thoughtful gaze, the assistant approached him.

“Professor.”

“What is it, associate?”

“There’s a student who solved problem 50.”

“A perfect score?!”

Professor Len was genuinely shocked.

“To think such a genius would appear! Abad? Chloe? Ahh! At last, my life’s disciple!”

“Not a perfect score.”

“Not… perfect?”

Ren’s face twisted strangely.

A student capable of solving the final problem wouldn’t have struggled with the earlier ones.

So how was it not 100 points?

“Perhaps they missed some while focusing on the last?”

“That’s not it either. Except for the last problem, the paper is completely blank. Look here.”

The assistant handed him the sheet.

Len, staring at the pure-white answer sheet with only the final problem filled in, asked gravely,

“…Who is this student?”

bl

Chloe checked the board, naturally starting at the top ranks.

And then froze.

2nd place: Chloe Müeller, Abad Lewellin (49 points)

3rd place: Chelsea Lewellin (48 points)

Clearly, she and Abad were tied for second.

But the very top name was—

1st place: Leo Plov (51 points)

Face stiff, Chloe turned toward the front row where Leo had sat.

There lay the test paper he had worked on.

She rushed forward to check it.

'What… what IS this?'

Seeing the formula workings of the very first problem Leo had attempted and abandoned, Chloe could only gape in shock.

'Leo Plov… just what kind of person ARE you?!'