"So, can someone tell me what the purest form of mana is and where it originates?" Professor Antoine asked, writing several words across the board before suddenly stopping. "Actually, not someone. Belozersky, stand up."
Ilya looked up from his book.
"Me again, sir?"
"Who else?" Antoine turned around and pointed the chalk at him. "Unfortunately for you, I genuinely want to know what kind of tricks you pulled to sneak your way into this class. You may have convinced the Department Head that you belong here, but you haven’t convinced me."
A few students chuckled as Ilya reluctantly pushed himself to his feet. Antoine didn’t seem to be joking either, and judging by the smile on his face, he had apparently found himself a new source of entertainment for the semester.
"Until you prove that your knowledge is at the level expected of this class, I’m going to keep calling on you," Antoine continued. "So, Belozersky, what is the purest form of mana?"
"Æther."
"Continue."
Ilya sighed.
"Æther is mana before it acquires an attribute, property, or affinity. Fire mana, water mana, natural mana, even the mana inside our bodies are all altered forms of it, so Æther itself is generally considered the closest thing to mana in its original state."
"And where does Æther come from?"
"The World Tree, Yggdrasil."
Antoine’s smile disappeared.
Ilya continued.
"Or at least, that’s the accepted theory. Nobody has actually reached Yggdrasil to confirm it."
That much was obvious for one simple reason. Yggdrasil was not a tree anyone could simply travel to.
According to the oldest records, the World Tree existed somewhere beyond the known boundaries of the physical world, with its roots extending through realms mankind had never reached and its branches reaching into places that ancient texts could only describe as other worlds.
What humanity called mana was believed to originate from Yggdrasil before flowing outward through those roots and branches.
Æther was that mana at its source.
However, by the time it reached the world, it was no longer pure.
"Mana changes depending on what it passes through," Ilya continued. "Æther that enters the earth becomes influenced by minerals, soil, living organisms, and whatever else it encounters. The same happens when it passes through the atmosphere, the oceans, or a living body, which is why naturally occurring mana is almost never found without some kind of property attached to it."
Antoine placed the chalk down.
"And what evidence do we have that Yggdrasil exists?"
Ilya paused. "Direct evidence? None."
A few students exchanged glances.
"But there are the Roots."
Antoine’s smile returned.
"Explain."
Ilya scratched his cheek.
"Mana currents don’t behave randomly. If you trace the largest mana currents across the world back to their origin, they converge toward nine major pathways beneath the continents..., and those pathways don’t match any known geological structure. Scholars call them the Nine Roots because they’re believed to be parts of Yggdrasil that intersect with our world."
He glanced toward the board.
"That’s also why mana density isn’t equal everywhere. Regions close to a Root have much higher concentrations, while places farther away tend to have less. Voids complicate that now, obviously, but the pattern existed long before the first recorded Void appeared."
Professor Antoine remained quiet for several seconds.
Ilya shifted awkwardly.
"...Can I sit down now, sir?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because now I’m curious."
"...."
Antoine crossed his arms.
"One final question, Belozersky. If Æther is the purest form of mana, why can’t a wizard simply use it?"
"Because we’d die."
Ilya raised his hand and looked at his palm.
"A human body doesn’t process Æther. We convert the mana around us into something compatible with our constitution before circulating it, and even then, our affinity changes it further. Trying to directly absorb Æther would be like forcing something completely foreign through channels that weren’t made to contain it."
He lowered his hand.
"In theory, anyway. Nobody has enough Æther lying around to test it."
"Correct."
Antoine stared at him for another moment before gesturing toward his chair.
"Sit down."
Ilya immediately sat down.
By then, however, the way the other students looked at him had noticeably changed, and the skepticism from earlier had mostly disappeared.
The moment Professor Antoine dismissed the class, several students gathered around Ilya’s desk before he even had the chance to close his book.
Elise, who was still sitting directly in front of him, looked over her shoulder in surprise when she realized that every person surrounding him were... women?
"Hey, what Circle are you at right now?"
"The First Circle."
"Ah, I see. Then how long have you been learning magic?"
Ilya thought about it for a moment.
"Four months?" He counted backward in his head. "Nearly five now."
"...."
The girls stared at him.
"You’re joking."
"No."
"Four months and you’re already at the First Circle? That’s impossible."
"You must’ve been learning before that," another girl said. "There’s no way someone builds their First Circle in four months."
"I didn’t."
"Then how?"
Ilya scratched his cheek. "I studied?"
"That doesn’t explain anything!"
"I don’t know what else you want me to say..."
Another girl leaned over his desk, her curiosity only growing.
"When did you first start sensing mana?"
"Around the same time?"
"And when did you form your Circle?"
"Not long after."
"How long is not long after?"
Ilya paused. "Do I have to answer that?"
"Yes!"
"No?"
A collective groan came from around his desk.
Elise watched the entire exchange in silence. She had expected people to approach Ilya after the lecture, especially after he had answered Antoine’s questions so easily, but she hadn’t expected him to become surrounded almost exclusively by women within thirty seconds.
One of them suddenly pulled an empty chair closer.
"So, Ilya, right? Are you taking Spell Construction too?"
"I think so."
"You think so?"
"I don’t remember my schedule."
"I can show you where the classroom is."
Another girl immediately interrupted.
"He didn’t ask you."
"He doesn’t know where it is."
"I can show him."
"Why would you show him?"
Ilya’s eyes moved between them.
"...."
He slowly reached for his bag while the girls continued arguing among themselves, then discreetly slipped out of his seat the moment their attention shifted away from him.
None of them noticed him leave until he was already through the door and walking down the corridor.
"Haa..."
Ilya had barely made it a few steps when someone bumped a shoulder against his.
"You sure are popular."
"Uh?"
Ilya turned and found Elise walking beside him as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
More than her teasing, however, he was surprised that she had joined him so openly in the first place.
A few months ago, Elise had barely wanted to acknowledge their relationship in public. She had always been conscious of the attention she attracted, and whenever they happened to meet around the academy, there had been a sense of distance between them that Ilya had simply learned to accept.
Now, she was walking right beside him.
"...."
Ilya glanced around the corridor.
There were plenty of students nearby, and more than a few had already noticed the two of them together, yet Elise showed no intention of putting any distance between them.
"What?" Elise asked, catching him staring.
"Nothing."
"You’ve been looking at me for five seconds."
"I’m just surprised."
"About what?"
"Hm."
Ilya rubbed his shoulder but otherwise let the matter go. He didn’t particularly mind the change, and if Elise herself no longer cared about being seen with him, he certainly wasn’t going to complain about it.
Still, he couldn’t help finding it strange.
Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had changed over the past few months. The last time Ilya had seen Elise, she had been in a terrible state, so seeing her walking beside him with some of her old energy back genuinely made him happy.
"Hey, want to eat lunch together?" Elise asked.
"Don’t you have other friends?"
"I mean, I can skip out on them if you want." Elise shrugged. "I could introduce you around the Magic Department building too, since you’re probably going to get lost at least once."
"Uh, that’s fine, but I already have a lunch appointment with someone."
"Already?" Elise looked at him curiously. "Who is it?"
Ilya didn’t answer and continued down the corridor until they eventually stopped in front of a certain office.
Elise looked at the door, then at him, but before she could ask what they were doing there, Ilya raised his hand and knocked.
"Senior."
A few seconds later, the door opened, and Vera poked her head out.
"It’s about time." Her eyes traveled over Ilya before a small smile appeared on her face. "Oh? That uniform certainly suits you."
"You’ve already seen me wearing it."
"Not properly enough."
Ilya didn’t bother arguing and simply walked past her into the office. Elise stared after him in confusion before naturally moving to follow, only for Vera to step into her path.
"Sorry. You can’t come inside."
"Ah?"
Vera stared at her.
Elise stared back.
"Wait..." Recognition finally crossed Elise’s face. "Assistant Professor Adelheid?"
"Yeah, that’s me." Vera tilted her head. "Who are you, though?"
"Elise Margaux de Beaumont. I’m in—"
"I don’t care. Shoo."
Bang——
The door slammed shut in her face.
"...."
Elise remained standing in the corridor, blinking at the closed door as she tried to process how quickly she had just been dismissed.
"What in the world...?"
More importantly, why had Ilya simply walked into Vera Adelheid’s office like he belonged there?
Elise knew who Vera was. Almost everyone in the Magic Department did, and the Assistant Professor wasn’t exactly known for being friendly, much less for casually inviting students into her office for lunch.
If anything, Vera was notoriously difficult to approach.
Of course, that certainly hadn’t stopped her from becoming popular, especially among the male students.
With her gorgeous looks and the kind of confidence that made her stand out wherever she went, Vera had gathered plenty of admirers despite making absolutely no effort to entertain any of them.
There were even rumors of students deliberately taking classes she assisted with just to see her.
Yet that same woman had opened the door for Ilya, complimented his uniform, and let him walk into her office without so much as a question.
"...."
What the hell was going on?
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