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Stella Cloud's eyes reflected the softly moving figure of Bonita Fortis.
A natural shift of weight as her left foot moved forward.
But it wasn't conscious.
You couldn't achieve such a smooth movement by consciously moving each joint of your body.
It was a difference that ordinary people couldn't distinguish.
But Stella Cloud could definitely tell.
As could Leo Martiang, the head of the Department of Swordsmanship.
"Hmm..."
Swoosh.
Bonita's sword moved.
The blade cut through the air, and the tip grazed the Pereanium pillar.
Only a few professors and Davian were gaping.
The rest of the students began to murmur, unaware of what had happened.
"What? Is she done?"
"Did the sword even touch that pillar?"
"It looked like it touched it slightly."
"Nah, she's just warming up. She'll cut it now."
"Oh? Look over there!"
Swoosh.
The upper part of the Pereanium pillar, cut diagonally and lengthwise, slid down.
Clang!
It fell to the floor with a loud, solid sound.
"Wh-What!"
"When did she cut it?"
"She didn't even use aura, did she?"
Leo Martiang opened his mouth.
"Amazing. And that's the skill of a mere eighteen-year-old student. In swordsmanship alone..."
Leo Martiang, the head of the Department of Swordsmanship, didn't bother to finish his sentence.
At least in terms of swordsmanship, she had already surpassed the faculty.
No, she surpassed me.
'When was the last time I poured so much passion into perfecting my swordsmanship...?'
It was true that in modern swordsmanship, the importance of swordsmanship decreased as internal energy increased.
Once you passed a certain level, it became more important to raise your internal energy through cultivation than to swing your sword once or twice more.
That applied to Leo Martiang himself as well.
Of course, there was a time when he was obsessed with swordsmanship.
But to become a more skilled swordsman of 7-star or 8-star rank, mana cultivation became more important.
That was how he ended up as the head of the Department of Swordsmanship at Elton Academy.
But he couldn't help but feel that in terms of swordsmanship alone, that young student down there might be more skilled.
"Stella."
"Yes, Head Professor."
"It's too late for me, but it seems it's not too late for you, so never neglect swordsmanship training as well as cultivation."
"Yes, Master."
Stella had been swinging her sword every day since the battle with the Mad Dragon Inanis anyway.
The sword she swung every day wasn't coated with aura or anything.
That was how it was when she cut the Mad Dragon too.
'Bonita Fortis... You've broken through the wall, too. And all by yourself.'
Stella Cloud was looking forward to next year so much.
"Wow!"
"You two are amazing!"
Latia and Karin's free project was in full swing.
Latia created a giant ice chandelier and floated it in the air.
Karin created several small flames and pushed them into the empty spaces inside the chandelier.
Karin's flames filled the space inside the chandelier without touching the ice that made up the chandelier.
The light from Karin's flames passed through the chandelier's transparent glass, creating beautiful lighting.
The two's collaborative work shimmered throughout the gymnasium.
Camilla Lucia shook her head.
"You two are really amazing."
Kinesis and Professor Wendy were also amazed at the two's magic control.
And the person who was more surprised than anyone else was.
Liliana Rachel, the new professor of mental magic who had been newly appointed to the academy after the Lich's wide-area mental magic incident.
Latia, who had chosen mental magic as her major in magic studies, had been seen several times in class, but she hadn't shown much talent in mental magic.
The only student who showed talent in mental magic was Liber Specula.
"She's a magical genius girl... She's amazing, Latia Meridiem."
And Karin, who majored in 4-element magic and psychokinesis magic, had only met her in passing, apart from today.
"That black-haired female student is amazing too."
Liliana Rachel.
She was an Elton Academy graduate, and the modifier "genius" always followed her because her brain was so extraordinary.
The fact that she, who memorized every story she heard and every book she read, called her "black-haired female student" meant that she had never properly heard Karin Obelia's name.
The modifier "genius magician" had followed her only until she graduated from the academy.
Liliana Rachel, who graduated from Elton Academy at the top of her magic department, did not enter the Magic Tower or the Royal Magic Department.
Her genius was manifested in an unexpected place instead.
Liliana, who had mastered almost every magic, fell in love with mental magic, which was rumored to be difficult, around the time of her graduation.
After graduating, she devoted herself to mental magic research, wandering around various libraries.
In the meantime, she had become a reclusive loner who wandered around famous libraries, almost cutting herself off from the world.
Several years passed.
Sirims Andrian, the head of the Department of Magic, came to visit the genius magician who had cut himself off from the world.
"Are you still doing that?"
"Oh, yes. Professor. I haven't been able to solve mental magic to my satisfaction yet."
"How much has your mental magic improved during that time?"
"Well... I've never actually cast it. I'm just reorganizing the theory while researching this book and that book."
"If you're going to be like this anyway."
Liliana Rachel stared intently at Sirims Andrian.
"Come to the academy."
"Head Professor, I'm sorry. I don't have time to spend elsewhere until I solve this problem."
"So. That mental magic. Come to the academy and research it. By becoming a professor at the academy."
"Then I'll have to spend time teaching students. Besides, I'm not good at teaching anyone."
"There's a kid as smart as you in the academy. Enough to share opinions on mental magic with you."
"..."
That's how.
Liliana Rachel came to the academy as the successor to Professor Billian Discipulus.
She was able to confirm that Sirims' words were not false in the first class.
"If a drift phenomenon occurs due to mana fluctuations, you have to connect the brain waves and brain waves into a single line using mana fluctuations."
"Professor, the book says that you have to connect mana fluctuations and brain waves."
"Haa. That's because it's a textbook, so it's to help you understand..."
"But I think Professor is right. Mana fluctuation is just the medium that connects brain waves and brain waves. It doesn't stimulate brain waves with mana fluctuations to send magnetic field signals to the body. If that were the case, the theory of operating other people's mana with mental magic wouldn't be explained. It would just stimulate muscles."
"What's your name?"
"Liber Specula."
Liber Specula.
As Sirims Andrian said, he was definitely a genius.
Professor Liliana Rachel spent the entire first mental magic class talking to Liber.
The only difference between them was that he was so bad at handling mana that he didn't show talent in other magics.
But it didn't matter.
Professor Liliana Rachel's head was already full of images of reorganizing the theory of mental magic and elevating it to the next level with Liber Specula.
There were two students who surprised Professor Liliana Rachel even more.
They were Latia and Karin, who were currently working on their free project in the gymnasium.
"They're really amazing kids."
Camilla Lucia reacted to Professor Liliana Rachel's mumbling.
"Amazing, right? Those two."
"Ah, yes. They're really amazing. They're only in their second year... I don't think there are many students in the upper grades who can control mana as much as they can."
"That's right. How is it? Did you do well to come to Elton Academy?"
Camilla Lucia was Liliana Rachel's senior.
But they hadn't really met during their academy days, and now that they were both professors, they were being respectful to each other.
Liliana Rachel hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
"...Yes. I think I did really well. To come back to Elton Academy."
She was serious.
Liliana Rachel, who was called a legendary genius when she was a student.
Not only mental magic, but also 4-element magic, psychokinesis magic, summoning magic, and healing magic.
There was nothing lacking.
'Was my mana control better than those two when I was in my second year...?'
I don't know.
I don't remember it well because it's been so long, but I don't think so.
"That's right? They're really amazing kids, right?"
"Yes."
While the two professors were talking.
Latia created a phoenix with fire elemental magic, and Karin created a golden lion with water elemental magic and made them fight each other.
Of course, they weren't really fighting, but it was closer to a kind of mana control performance.
The midterm exam evaluation was still in progress, but applause and cheers burst out from all over the audience seats.
"Those two are amazing!"
"To be in the same grade as those two... Is this a blessing or a curse?"
"Is it just those two? What about Davian Nowane?"
"At this point, shouldn't we just take those three out and rank them separately?"
After Latia and Karin's free project, which surprised everyone, was over.
It was Liber's turn next.
The staff came out and installed various objects here and there in the gymnasium.
It wasn't like the hard-to-find objects that were placed during the other students' free project evaluations.
From ordinary wooden planks to lead blocks.
They were teaching materials used during psychokinesis magic practice.
Dennis Pion came out hesitantly with a troubled expression and stood in the center of the gymnasium.
"What? Isn't it Liber Specula's turn? Why is the teaching assistant coming out?"
"Where's Liber?"
"Oh! He's coming out over there."
Liber was struggling to carry a desk in each hand.
His skin was dry, his eyes were sunken, and dark circles completely covered under his eyes.
He took a seat on one side of the gymnasium and placed two desks side by side facing the center.
On the front desk, he installed a specially processed magical stone to be used as a medium for mental magic on a tripod.
He climbed onto the desk behind him and sat cross-legged.
Then, he concentrated on setting up, moving the medium magical stone and his seat little by little several times.
"What in the world is he doing?"
"It's mental magic, right? That's all he can do properly."
"But why is it taking so long to prepare? It's not like he has any special tools."
In order to maintain maximum concentration, he sat in his usual cultivation posture.
And he matched the height of his head with Dennis Pion, who was standing in the center of the gymnasium, in order to achieve an even closer connection.
Dennis Pion's head, the magical stone fixed on the tripod on the desk, and Liber's head, cross-legged on the desk, were located exactly on a straight line.
A smile formed on the lips of Professor Liliana Rachel, who was looking at Liber Specula, who was preparing for the free project evaluation.
'He's calculating to increase the probability of success even by a few percent. Good posture, Liber Specula.'
If someone who didn't know saw it, they might think, "Why are you going so far?" and "Can such a fussy mental magic be useful in actual combat?"
But Professor Liliana Rachel's thoughts were different.
Because she already knew what Liber Specula was trying to do.
'You have to increase the probability of success even by 1 percent, Liber Specula. You can drag out the time as much as you want.'
A week ago.
Liber Specula had come to Professor Liliana Rachel's laboratory.
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