Chapter 16
Bien acknowledged him.
"You mean the one with the flowing blonde hair who carries a rabbit familiar?"
"The rabbit's name is Weavre."
"Is that important to the current conversation?"
"Aren't you curious?"
Bien lightly shook his head.
"Anyway, I've never once suspected Maiya of being a Black Mage."
"Me neither."
"Then what's the basis for her being a Black Mage?"
"It's internal Madowon information. I don't know."
Bien nodded as if he understood.
"Hmm, alright. The Madowon has a large influence and receives a lot of miscellaneous information. At least since they knew information about me, you have credibility. For now, let's focus on your problem rather than Maiya Onyx."
"My problem?"
Bien asked.
"Ethan, how do you plan to pass the Basic Magic Practice?"
∞
As soon as Ethan opened his eyes, he came to meet Bien. So Ethan had to go to the Basic Magic Practice class soon. And if he didn't pass that class, he would receive a failing grade and later be expelled from school. Naturally, Ethan had a plan.
Ethan told Bien not to worry, as he would handle it himself.
Before the Basic Magic Practice class, Ethan went to Rebilton's workshop and informed him beforehand about the test method. Hearing Ethan say he needed a large stone, Rebilton decided to change the last Basic Magic Practice class from an indoor lecture room to an outdoor lecture. Anyway, with the exception of Ethan, the students had essentially passed the test, and there was no reason to insist on indoors.
The outdoor lecture was held in the wide testing grounds next to the lecture building. In the testing grounds was a large stone, placed there by who knows whom. It was a rough stone block, taller than the knee and too wide to reach around with both hands.
Professor Rebilton said to Ethan.
"Ethan, this is the last practice."
"Yes."
"It's prepared as you requested. Does it look alright?"
"Yes."
The other students looked at Ethan with eyes full of disbelief, but in Rebilton's eyes, there was a subtle anticipation.
"Start when you're ready."
Ethan walked out in front of the students bare-handed and stood before the stone. Then, he bent his legs, hugged the stone, and steadied his breath. It was the Ruure breathing technique. The Mana Ethan inhaled stimulated his lower abdomen, and that Mana was converted into Magical Power, circulating back through his body to reach each muscle.
According to the first Archmage Zarada's work, "Introduction to Magicology," Mana has the property of changing impossible things into possible things, and that property follows 'desire'. For example, because what a stone desires is hardness, magic stones are harder than ordinary stones, because what wood desires is growth, magic wood grows faster than ordinary wood, and because what humans desire is to turn impossible things into possible ones, mages accomplish such feats. Of course, such ancient magicology doesn't apply consistently to all cases, but this basic principle of Mana itself was common sense. In general magicology, this principle is seen as occurring even more partially. For example, because what muscles desire is greater strength, muscles imbued with Magical Power have greater strength.
Ethan exhaled shallowly, then hugged the stone and stood up from his spot. Its weight was approximately 270kg. While not impossible for a human who doesn't know magic to lift, it seemed utterly impossible for the slender physique of a boy still growing. Ethan had not neglected the training he learned from Rebilton during the roughly 10 months he spent talking with Bien, and he was able to lift the stone of the size that Rebilton said would allow him to pass even Basic Magic Practice if he could lift it.
'If I had taken the test as is without the incident of the Mazok visiting, I would have failed Basic Magic Practice, though.'
Even the students who were about to mock and ridicule Ethan were momentarily stunned into silence. The moment Ethan fully straightened his legs and stood up, he lost his grip on the stone due to lack of strength in his fingers, but no one could fail to see that Ethan had accomplished something like magic, even if only for that brief moment.
Ethan, with a flushed face and panting for breath, asked Rebilton.
"How was it?"
Rebilton said with a broad smile.
"My word, Ethan. Why were you hiding such Body Enhancement Magic?"
"It's not exactly the proper posture for a noble, but I wanted to surprise the professor and the other students."
"Is that so? In any case, you've passed. ...We'll end the class here. Ethan, I'd like you to stay and talk for a bit."
After the other students left, murmuring amongst themselves, Rebilton placed his hands firmly on Ethan's shoulders.
"Excellent, Ethan. Although it cannot be called an outstanding achievement compared to knights who learn Body Enhancement Magic from a young age, learning Body Enhancement Magic itself is rare in mage families. That strength will be of great significance to you as you seek to become a mage."
"Thank you."
When Ethan replied, an unexpected offer came from Rebilton.
"Speaking of which, would you be interested in learning more about Body Enhancement Magic from me during the break?"
"Excuse me?"
"Of course, what I can teach you is Body Enhancement Magic, swordplay, and Combat magic, so depending on what kind of magic you wish to learn, it might not be very useful, but in my opinion..."
Since Ethan had originally intended to ask Rebilton to teach him Body Enhancement Magic, swordplay, and Combat magic, there was no reason for him to refuse Rebilton's offer.
"Alright."
When Ethan answered immediately, Rebilton smiled and lightly tapped Ethan's forearm.
"Good, good. Ah, but where did you learn that breathing technique?"
"Breathing technique?"
"The Ruure breathing technique, I mean."
Demi said.
<As expected, he seemed to know just by looking.>
<Professor Rebilton doesn't exactly have eyes that can see Magical Power like the Mazok, though.>
Fortunately, Ethan had anticipated this situation.
"Ah, well..."
Ethan began to make excuses. A family is always a good excuse. The Charasen family, like other large noble families, received many guests, and among them was a Ruure hunter from far away. The Ruure hunter, upon realizing Ethan had no talent in various magic and also Body Enhancement Magic, felt pity for Ethan and, in return for the Charasen family's hospitality, taught the Ruure breathing technique to Ethan.
"Indeed, that makes sense."
As Rebilton seemed convinced, Ethan felt relieved. But it was a little too early for relief.
"But what is that hunter's name? Ruure hunters are exclusive and rarely leave Ruure, and they don't travel much. If they came down to Charasen, they might be from a clan that had exchanges with the North. Then they might be someone I know."
Ethan hid his tension and replied.
"I don't know the surname, but the name was Olson."
"Ah, Olson. That Olson?"
Ethan quickly started racking his brain, wondering if it was the Olson the professor knew.
Rebilton's answer was different from what Ethan expected.
"I heard there's a wandering Olson among the Ruure hunters. It might be him."
Ethan felt relieved. He had anticipated this level of questioning and had familiarized himself with names commonly used by Ruure hunters. Ruure hunters often name themselves after great hunters from the past, and thanks to that, the name Olson was quite common. Ethan's plan was to deflect by suggesting it might be someone else with the same name if Rebilton suspected it was the same person.
"Anyway, that's good. Looking at the level of training, it doesn't seem like it's been very long, does it? Roughly..."
"Ah, yes."
"...5 to 6 months?"
Ethan resisted the urge to correct him to 11 months.
"...Yes. That's right. 6 months. I wanted to learn more from that person, but I had to enroll in school."
"I see. Since there was no one to guide you, it couldn't be helped."
Ethan felt somewhat wronged as he scheduled his training during the break with Rebilton.
∞
The Onyx family was originally a knight family but split in a previous generation when an ancient magic lineage manifested. Separation refers to a family splitting into two or more, and in the case of the Onyx family, it was because the knight lineage sought to erase the mage lineage, and the mage lineage sought to rise above the knight lineage. Although knight and mage lineages traditionally oppose each other like this, in this case, the mage family was allowed to keep the Onyx name on the condition that they weren't interfered with in exchange for giving up assets and land. So, if there are two Onyx families, they are called the Knight Onyx and the Mage Onyx separately, but at the magic school, there is naturally only the Mage Onyx, so they were just called Onyx.
Maiya Onyx was the eldest child of this Onyx family, and because there was a significant age difference between her and the other children in the family, she was already recognized as a minor head of the family, beyond just an influential figure, and there was little doubt that she would become Baron Onyx later. Her magic skills were also excellent among the first-year students, and there were quite a few other students who wanted to form a friendship with the Onyx family beforehand due to her outstanding sociability, culture, and appearance.
"...To summarize, she's a normal magic school student."
"Normal magic school students don't learn things like Black Magic."
Ethan and Bien sat in the dining hall, looking at Maiya who was among other students in the distance.
Bien said.
"As expected, just by looking, I don't get the feeling she's a Black Mage. Do you have a plan?"
"Well."
The Mazok from the Madowon, by some method unknown to Ethan, had discerned that Maiya Onyx was a Black Mage as soon as they came to the school. But Ethan didn't know the Mazok's method, and even if he did, he might not be able to use it.
"I'll write a letter."
"Are you going to confess?"
"To challenge her to a fight."
"A challenge. It's a good idea, but just by looking at the envelope with your name on it, she'll think you're confessing and tear it up, so she won't see the contents and won't come out to fight."
"Why would Maiya think that? Okay. Then you do it."
"I don't want to tarnish my reputation that much."
"And I'm okay?"
"You have nowhere further to fall, don't you?"
Ethan glared at Bien.
Bien ignored Ethan's gaze, thought for a moment, and then said.
"Or how about this?"
"What?"
"You block Maiya's path in a dark alley. Then I'll make it look like I'm driving you away."
"Just blocking her path is enough to be driven away?"
"That's the extent of your reputation."
Ethan was about to question what was going on.
If only a fluffy brown furball of a rabbit hadn't jumped onto the table.
The rabbit spoke.
"Fear not."