Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 94: The Dullard, Deis (2)

The rumor that the hot-topic student, Deis, was actually lacking in basic magic quickly spread across several lectures.

It wasn’t just in telekinesis. In various fields such as herbalism, alchemy, structural transformation, curses, and potion studies, he displayed the characteristics of a total beginner.

“Did you hear? That famous new student who caused a stir as the master of Mityel.”

“Oh, Deis?”

“You mean that ridiculous hype?”

“Yeah. I heard he can’t keep up with the lessons at all.”

“They say he has no foundation whatsoever.”

“I heard that in telekinesis class, he struggled just to lift a single dish.”

“And in alchemy, all he can do is basic material structuring.”

“Puhaha! Isn’t that the stuff we learned when we were ten?”

“I finished material structuring in two months and got tons of praise from the teacher. They said I had talent in alchemy.”

Deis had become a laughingstock. Although he rarely spoke and didn’t particularly cause harm to others, the fact that a mere commoner was generating so much buzz, overshadowing nobles, only caused his image to deteriorate further.

Of course, not all students thought this way.

“So what? He’s handsome, isn’t that enough?”

“Are you talking about that 8th-year underclassman? He’s super cute…”

“I can tell just by looking at him. Kids like that, once they grow up a little, their faces will just radiate, you know?”

“You think you’re the only one who knows that? Everyone knows.”

This was the result of superficiality. Some senior students defended Deis just because he was good-looking. But even they couldn’t overlook his lack of magical ability.

Either way, his appearance was disappointing compared to the buzz surrounding him, especially since he couldn’t even properly handle basic magic.

‘…Idiots.’

As she overheard students mocking Deis, Princess Citrinne sipped her drink through a straw.

Back in the imperial palace, she had countless maids by her side to listen to her every word, but here, she couldn’t expect the same.

The Herrael Imperial Family was practically in competition with Arniel, so it was impossible for her to have any faction backing her in this place.

The only source of amusement she found while staying here was observing Deis.

‘Is this really the level of Arniel? Has no one realized yet?’

Since most of the mandatory classes for 8th-year Rank 0 students were taken together, Citrinne had witnessed all the incidents Deis had gone through firsthand.

He had been learning most basic magic for the first time today. Which means… he had been performing an astounding magic ability like triple casting purely through talent, without even a basic foundation, hadn’t he?

Citrinne, who understood just how difficult it was to build a tower without a solid base, found Deis even more extraordinary.

Even more astonishingly, despite learning most of the basic magic for the first time, he had easily accomplished in a single day tasks that took others months of struggle to master.

Most of the students might have found it laughable that Deis was only managing to do at fourteen what they had mastered by the age of ten as elite students. However, almost no one noticed how frighteningly fast he was actually progressing.

‘Well… not everyone has failed to notice, it seems.’

Citrinne glanced over at Ailka Willed. The genius girl with blue hair, like Citrinne herself, had been unusually fixated on Deis and hadn’t been paying proper attention during class.

Indeed, Deis had an odd pull about him, a certain charisma that drew people’s gazes.

His unique magical abilities were part of it, but his very presence carried a mysterious aura. It was as if he were somehow disconnected from the world around him…

‘But still, what could it be? What was that Triple Casting he showed during the entrance exam, and why is he so lacking in basic magic?’

No matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t find an answer. Citrinne even found herself falling deeper into confusion, beginning to suspect that Deis might be Harang in disguise.

Thus, another day passed.

Just as the rumor that “Deis was all hype” began to solidify in the minds of the students, a very small—no, an extremely small—turn of events occurred.

In a class where almost no one had done any advanced studying beforehand—meaning everyone was on equal footing, learning from scratch—Deis’s performance stood out remarkably.

“…Deis, have you ever tried communing with the Veins of Nature before?”

In the expansive outdoor lecture area, the students stared wide-eyed at Deis.

A droplet of water floated above his palm, drawn purely from the mana of nature.

Natural mana, when not properly refined, was difficult to use. It was usually only drawn upon in situations where one had insufficient mana of their own or needed to use large-scale magic.

Because of this, communing with nature was part of the regular curriculum at Arniel, but no student was expected to have pre-studied it before the class.

In other words, this was the first time any of them were using natural mana, and the professor, who taught the communion with nature, had assumed it would take the students at least a month to succeed.

“How…?”

Of course, it wasn’t unheard of for a student to successfully commune with natural mana within a single day. One or two such prodigies would emerge in each academic year.

But the rumor that Deis was just an overrated fraud had already spread so widely that no one expected him to handle the communion with nature so effortlessly. The professor, understandably, was caught off guard.

“You haven’t studied the Veins of Nature outside of class?”

“No. Is it surprising?”

“N-no, not really. Most students are in the same boat.”

The professor quickly wiped away his startled expression and spoke with a subtle hint of curiosity.

“By any chance… have you thought about studying Elemental Magic in the future?”

The professor was of the elf race, known for their pointed ears, and had a deep understanding of elemental studies.

“I’m not interested in elemental magic.”

When Harang—who was disguised as Deis—flatly refused, the professor’s face showed a trace of disappointment.

“With your extraordinary affinity for nature, it’s hard to believe you’re human… What a shame. Ahem, well, if you ever take an interest in the Elven Magic Academy, let me know.”

Although Deis had no particular interest, he nodded politely.

“‘It’s already overwhelming to learn both magic and swordsmanship. Why bother with spirits on top of that?’

Harang had no real interest in elemental magic. Summoning a spirit that couldn’t be controlled properly would only become a weakness for him.

“What’s up with him?”

“Is that even possible? He doesn’t even have the basics.”

“Isn’t he pulling some kind of weird trick again? There’s no way that idiot could do something like that.”

“I think Mityel, which he keeps hidden in his coat, must have helped him.”

“Doesn’t that make sense?”

“…”

People were whispering suspicions from all directions, but Harang didn’t particularly bother to deny anything.

It wasn’t because he didn’t need to.

He just didn’t know how to respond in situations like this.

‘Well, it’s not like I’ve ever properly attended school before.’

After finishing the “Communion with Nature” lecture while being scrutinized, Harang moved on to his next class.

‘I need to change my schedule.’

Attending back-to-back classes that required him to drain his magical energy for practice would be exhausting, even for someone like Harang.

Moreover, the school had so many stairs that, despite the presence of elevators and warp gates, wearing full-body weight bands was no joke, and it drained his stamina significantly.

By the time Harang finished mandatory classes like “History of Magic,” “Advanced Mathematics,” and “Basic Magic Theory,” the morning session had come to an end.

Harang found most of the classes interesting.

The “History of Magic” was as thrilling as reading a fantasy novel, and “Elemental Magic Theory” was one of the few subjects he could somewhat understand.

However, subjects like mathematics and other theoretical courses weren’t as exciting. To be honest, they were just plain boring.

Since he couldn’t stay at school for long, Harang had decided to only extract knowledge from the subjects that were fun and piqued his interest, completely ignoring anything that didn’t catch his fancy.

“You’re Deis, right? Taking ‘Magic Refinement Studies’? That’s an excellent choice.”

One of the courses Harang found interesting was “Magic Refinement Studies.”

Though not a popular subject, it had a certain appeal precisely because of its unpopularity.

What does that mean? It means that students with low grades would flock to unpopular classes in a desperate attempt to scrape together enough credits.

But this year, things were different.

In addition to Deis enrolling, Citrinne of the House of Herael and Ailka Willed suddenly switched their schedules to also take “Magic Refinement Studies”!

With the most talked-about, not to mention stunningly attractive, students in the school suddenly signing up for an unpopular subject, rumors spread like wildfire that it was now easy to get high grades in the class. Naturally, this led to an overwhelming number of students applying.

“Oh ho ho, I’m delighted that there are so many students this year, all thanks to you!”

Professor Millie, who was in charge of “Magic Refinement Studies,” was all smiles, seemingly pleased that the most sensational new students had joined her class this year.”

“The hero of Ainglass, Rielz, once said, ‘The best way for a mage to excel on the battlefield is not by crafting superior fireballs or summoning lightning from a clear sky. It is by being thoroughly prepared.'”

It was a famous saying.

Why was it so famous? Because, in modern times, no one adhered to it anymore.

In this day and age, there were no mages who prepared in advance for battle. The lack of situations that allowed for preemptive preparation was one reason, and another was the inherent inefficiency of strategies that involved placing pre-arranged spells on the battlefield.

The technique of inscribing spells onto terrain, known as “Memorize,” not only had poor mana efficiency, but also significantly reduced the spell’s power.

Moreover, if the pre-inscribed magic was discovered by detection spells, it could easily be dispelled, or the enemy could simply change locations, rendering the spell useless. In most cases, it was impossible to use these pre-cast spells at the desired moment.

However, the mage hero Rielz placed great emphasis on preparation.

He was a man who knew how to utilize Memorize to its fullest, using magical crystals and more. In fact, he had a record of defeating three seventh-star mages simultaneously, despite being only a sixth-star mage himself.

With environmental variables, meticulous preparation, and a stroke of luck from the heavens, he was able to achieve victory in such an impossible battle.

Professor Millie excitedly lectured about Rielz, but few students paid attention. To modern mages, a victory achieved through careful preparation was a dull topic.

In this era, where stronger mana and more powerful spells were considered the key to victory, the philosophy of preparation didn’t resonate.

The only one who listened intently was Harang.

“A prepared strategy, huh. I used to enjoy that when I was hooked on RTS games.”

Seeing Harang’s eyes sparkle as he attentively listened, the professor, delighted, shared even the magic refinement techniques she had never taught to any other students.

Of course, the only student who seriously paid attention and learned was still Harang.

“Alright, now that the theory is over, let’s begin the practical exercises.”

The theory lesson only took about 30 minutes. The key part was the practical application, and Professor Millie emphasized again and again how important it was to practice as much as possible.

Mana crystal refinement involved controlling mana with precision to mold it into an orb, then placing it inside an empty crystal sphere to complete the process.

The higher the amount of mana stored, the higher the grade of the crystal. Harang’s final goal was to achieve the “highest grade.”

Crackle! Shatter! Clang!

“Kyaaa!”

“Aaaah!”

“Damn it, why is this so hard?”

“Ugh! It feels like when I first learned telekinesis…”

As the practical session began, mana crystals exploded, shattered, and broke all over the place.

Despite the fact that this was a course taken by third-year students and above, all of whom had decent control over mana and could use basic magic, refining mana into crystals was no easy task!

“This is pretty tough.”

Even Harang couldn’t succeed on his first try. However, he had an advantage—a system that allowed him to condense several rounds of trial and error into just one attempt.

[You have refined a mana crystal.]

Vroom, vroom, vroom!!

A bright blue crystal floated gently above Harang’s palm.

‘Oh, I did it.’

Although he hadn’t taken long to activate other spells when learning them for the first time, refining the mana crystal had taken him an entire hour.

It had been quite difficult for him as well, and as he wiped away the cold sweat from his brow and turned to get it inspected by the professor…

Thud!

Professor Millie, upon meeting Harang’s eyes, collapsed to her knees on the floor.

“Th-that… How did you…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, this is just the first class…”

No student had ever refined a mana crystal on their first lesson.

On rare occasions, some students managed to refine a mana crystal within a week, but they all went on to become great mages who left significant marks in history.

In other words, even for those destined for greatness, refining a mana crystal during their school days took at least a week of hard work.

“Is this really such a big deal? Is it perhaps the highest grade?” Harang asked, hopeful after seeing Millie’s extreme reaction.

The professor shook her head.

“No, it’s a mid-grade crystal. But that’s still amazing. Even refining a low-grade crystal on the first day would be shocking, yet you’ve made a mid-grade one…”

The younger students whispered amongst themselves, wondering, “Is it really that impressive?”

Since Mana Refinement Studies was a rather obscure subject, they had no grasp of just how remarkable this feat was.

However, the older students stared at Harang with trembling lips or pale expressions.

Mana Refinement Studies.

It wasn’t a bad discipline by any means. If someone had ample time to prepare, wouldn’t it be beneficial to have pre-refined mana crystals ready to use?

So why had it fallen out of practice?

The reason was due to a single flaw.

‘Because it’s unnecessarily difficult.’

If only the difficulty of refining mana were lower, even with the advancements of modern breathing techniques and spells, Mana Refinement Studies would have survived.

The technique of pre-refining mana was certainly helpful in battle.

In short, despite all the advantages it offered, the sheer difficulty of the task had buried this subject.

Yet now, on the very first day, in just a single day…

Harang had not only refined a mana crystal but had done so at the mid-grade level, making it impossible to dismiss the significance of the achievement.

‘There’s definitely something off here. I need to record this and report it to the higher-ups. There’s something going on for sure!’

Amid the crowd of students, someone quietly observed Harang with sharp, gleaming eyes.