Surviving at the Magic Academy

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I stared at the firmly closed door.

As the time for the duel arrived, the two Swordsmen guarding the door took Kashian and left the room. Kashian followed them, half-carrying her Bear Doll on her back. Mira and I could only watch her leave in silence.

I wanted nothing more than to rush after them, but they had blocked our way out. Apparently, we weren’t allowed to observe. So, all we could do was wait in this room for Kashian to return.

But I wasn’t too anxious. The outcome of the duel was a foregone conclusion. Just how much we’ve sharpened Kashian in recent times. It was merely a desire to see her movements with my own eyes that made me want to follow.

With that blocked, I had no choice but to trust the Bear Doll. Honestly, I felt quite uneasy. What if they told me to leave the Bear Doll behind? Thankfully, they didn’t do anything like that.

That thing was Kashian’s possession. They must have seen her clinging to it all this time. They certainly knew how precious it was to her. So, perhaps they figured it wasn’t worth separating her from it.

In the first duel, that thing was able to witness the entire process of the duel and even provided us with footage. It would probably be the same this time.

To that end, I had made a few modifications to it. The footage from the first duel was very blurry. It had been created relying solely on its memory, which couldn’t be helped. Thus, the data was incredibly incomplete.

From the video, I could only grasp the major movements of Kashian and her opponent. I couldn’t discern very subtle movements like muscle tenses or gazes. I merely inferred them through some speculation and Kashian’s accounts.

This time, I couldn’t let that happen. So, I implanted Mirror Bugs throughout its body. The large and small Mirror Bugs sparkled like jewels, adorning its body.

When I first embedded them, it seemed to really like it, moving around and checking itself out. It was quite a natural sight. The Swordsmen who took Kashian didn’t seem to care about that at all.

I gazed at the gigantic Mirror Bug in the center of the room. It would have been best if I could take that one with me. What a pity. I lightly woke it up. The Mirror Bug sensed my will and began to brighten the screen.

Before long, a figure appeared on that massive screen. It was Kashian. Her entire body seemed to have been perfectly dismantled, with its insides expressed through the Mirror Bug.

This was data analyzed by Mira while tending to Kashian’s body. I merely entered the data she provided. Even if I were to dissect Kashian myself, I certainly wouldn’t be able to identify it in such detail.

This data was immensely valuable to me. It allowed me to surpass the limits of my understanding and lay the groundwork for a better Doll.

Mira said that the body’s abilities were quite remarkable. In that case, what would happen if I made a Doll based on that? Of course, I couldn’t capture everything. The compositions are different.

But if I could capture even a part of it, that alone would be enough. Plus, it wasn’t perfect yet. My eyes lit up as I stared at the data. I had to fill in the gaps ahead.

“You will win, right?”

Mira said. I glanced at her. She met my gaze with a smile. She was quietly sipping tea while perched on the chair I made for her. I nodded and replied.

“Of course.”

Once again, I glanced at the door. I felt no presence whatsoever. Speaking of which, I had something to ask Mira. I looked at her slightly and opened my mouth.

“Is modifying a body like Kashian’s something that you can’t do for others?”

“Yes, because I would have to get inside directly to understand the structure. I have no intention of going inside any of the other kids, nor could I. Ebron has bound me to this body.”

She chuckled while stroking her own body. I sighed, feeling a bit regretful. There was nothing I could do about it. I certainly couldn’t free her from within. If I did, she would surely slip out of my control.

“If I weren’t bound here, I would have snatched that girl’s body right away. But given the situation, I can only adjust it so that I can temporarily use that flesh.”

Really, she had no idea how inconvenient this body was. She complained about that. I let out a wry smile. I always felt her words strayed slightly from the realm of living beings. That must be the perspective of a treasure.

Yet, thanks to her, I was able to muster some confidence. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t pay me any mind.

But her minimal strength allowed me to step into this duel, albeit a little bit. That meant the points I poured into her weren’t wasted.

“I will definitely make a proper body for you someday.”

At that, Mira nodded. After a moment of looking at her, I spoke again.

“What happens if you forcibly adjust a body?”

“If it’s like Kashian, where the whole body is modified, she would probably die. Flesh is delicate. A wrong tweak could bring it crashing down.”

“Then what if you adjusted it just a little? If you overlaid this data recorded by Mira over others, they could experience that talent for a brief moment.”

At that, she fell into thought for a moment. While she quietly sipped her tea, she tilted her head and said,

“That might be possible. But you could only capture it a little. At most, it wouldn’t last 5 minutes. After that, due to a rejection, it would probably fall apart.”

I nodded. If that were the case, there was at least a chance. I subtly approached her and extended my left arm. She looked at my face.

In her eyes, my reflection appeared. I could tell there was a bit of excitement on my face. That was inevitable. It was a chance to experience a talent firsthand.

“Then would you let me test it once? I have something in mind, and I need to go through it to judge.”

“Hehe, that sounds fun. Let’s give it a little poke.”

Mira smiled brightly and grabbed my hand. Then she slowly began to stroke it. Mist started to ooze from her palm, gently seeping into my arm.

My magical energy, and my flesh being eroded felt quite strange. Everything in my arm loosened softly in the mist. A pleasant thrill was felt in that spot.

I began to understand why Kashian kept entrusting her body to Mira. Sinking my magic as I silently rode that flow, I pondered the nature of that talent.

In the next moment, I found out what it was. My arm suddenly felt lighter, and an unprecedented strength began to fill it. The intense sensation from my fingertips flowed throughout my entire body.

Whoa, is this Kashian’s body? I was awed by the power. It felt like everything in my arm was under my control. Beyond just the flesh, even everything beyond that.

And then, I lost consciousness. It was due to the immense shock starting from my arm. The sensation of something misaligning and shattering flowed through my arm. It all happened in an instant.

“Wow, it hasn’t even been 20 seconds.”

I heard Mira mumble that as I collapsed onto the table.

I opened my eyes again two hours later.

As soon as I woke up, I felt someone touching me. I immediately checked my arm. The previous sensation felt dreamlike and blurry, and my arm felt incredibly heavy.

I clenched my fist, then opened it repeatedly. It clearly felt like my arm was completely shattering, yet during the time I was out, Mira must’ve treated me. Still, the aftereffects lingered.

I understood Mira’s warning that such talents couldn’t be given casually. Had I lasted 20 seconds? Just that short amount of time had left my insides in such a mess.

I used magic to heal it while giving a wry smile. Was that what a bit of talent felt like? If so, what must the complete state mean? I could grasp why Mira wanted that body so bad.

I couldn’t remember what I felt at that moment. Almost as if it had been forbidden to me. Still, this much was enough. I had felt the magnitude of that talent in my own body.

What would happen if others felt this? I was pondering that when someone tapped my shoulder. Turning my head, I saw Mira smiling.

“I woke you up. That girl has come.”

She gestured to the door. The two Swordsmen were seen entering. Kashian was following them with hurried steps. She was a bit battered, but she looked much more whole than before.

A strong sense of satisfaction lingered in her trademark docile eyes. She looked at us and smiled faintly. Then she raised her arms and said,

“I won!”

“You did great.”

I quietly nodded. Mira beside me quietly rose from her seat. She then slowly approached Kashian and gently embraced her.

Kashian looked at her with a puzzled expression. Mira smiled warmly and began to gently check her body.

“More bruises. You can’t have that. You must win more perfectly. Does this hurt?”

“Eh.”

Mira blew mist into Kashian’s body. I could see Kashian flinch in surprise. I looked away for a moment. When I hadn’t experienced that sensation, I hadn’t cared, but now I felt a bit embarrassed.

“How about here?”

“Huh.”

“Hehe, then how about here?”

Mira kept exploring Kashian’s body. Kashian’s face began to turn a bit red. I felt the Swordsmen standing by the door glancing over at us.

Since we hadn’t set up any barriers, our figures were clearly visible to their eyes. I bowed my head toward them, layering a few barriers. After playing around with Kashian for a while, Mira returned to my side.

“For now, let’s sit and take a break.”

She said that while signaling the Dolls. The Shadow Dolls, which had been standing like statues, carefully guided Kashian. She sat in line with them.

The Dolls began to cast magic on her as she leaned into the chair. Recovery and regeneration, along with various auxiliary spells to manage her body. In that flow, the wounds on her body began to vanish rapidly.

I had modified the Shadow Dolls I brought and created various Dolls, all purely to create the optimum composition for Kashian. Over the past week, those Dolls had managed to keep her body in the best possible condition.

Kashian slowly began to relax under the touch of those Dolls. Her eyes softened slightly, starting to take on a dreamy light. Mira watched that scene with a smile.

As I turned away from them, I looked at the Bear Doll. It came rushing towards me, arms raised high. As it reached me, it began to tremble. In that trembling, things attached to its body began to fall off.

They were the Mirror Bugs. I released my will into them, and they quickly began to fly up. I quietly examined the footage they contained. It vividly captured the scenes from the duel.

I nodded in satisfaction. Just to be safe, I hadn’t connected these. After all, they could potentially notice that magical energy if I watched the duel through these Mirror Bugs.

So, I entrusted that management solely to that thing, never expecting it to capture brilliantly like this. I gently patted the Bear Doll’s head. It was way beyond my imagination.

I quickly stored the footage in the bulletin board. Then I turned around and approached Kashian. A huge Mirror Bug appeared before her. I began to project the video from the bulletin board into it.

“Alright, let’s discuss the duel together.”

I said to Kashian. At those words, her eyes widened. She stared at me intently.

“…But I just got back.”

“That’s why we’re doing it now. We must review right away. To fill in the gaps more effectively, we need to recall the duel while the memories are fresh.”

“…You told me to rest.”

“You can watch it while resting. It’s possible to have a conversation while relaxing.”

I played the video just like that. The two people faced each other and leaped at one another. After that, the course of the duel went rather one-sided. Kashian displayed an overwhelmingly aggressive style of combat.

The opponent’s sword grazed her a couple of times, but she turned it into opportunities to stab her opponent deeper. With each of those exchanges, the wounds on her body were matched by wounds on her opponent. Ultimately, the opponent fell.

Seeing that, Kashian nodded confidently.

“I won super easily.”

“No, it’s lacking.”

The video reached its conclusion, and the Mirror Bug began to vibrate. The footage slowly rewound back to the beginning. On top of the video Kashian’s head, a score appeared. 100 points.

Seeing that, Kashian made a horrified expression. The video began anew. The two charged at each other again. When the opponent’s sword gently pricked her, she brushed it off, slipping under and shaving off their shoulder.

At that scene, Kashian’s score dropped by 1 point. I paused the video and looked at her.

“What was your intention moving like that?”

“I just darted in and just barely dodged while cutting.”

Kashian replied vaguely. I sighed at her answer. That was the same kind of response I got when we watched the first duel together. She failed to give an answer beyond that. Mira had said it was purely reflexive moving.

“Then I’ll continue the discussion based on that intention. Now, if you look here, your arm’s angle is not ideal. That’s why it grazed the blade. And your footing was half a step further forward than usual. So…”

And I continued explaining. I talked about stance, balance, and the flow she generated. My focus wasn’t on the combat per se. That wasn’t my specialty, nor was I intent on interfering.

What I aimed to analyze was solely her body. Through studying her body, I roughly gleaned how much movement she could manage, the most beautiful trajectory she could draw.

I kept on making observations and deducting points. Mira also chimed in occasionally with comments on the video. Her analysis of the combat was her domain. I added deductions based on her insights.

As the video played about halfway through, I halted for a moment. Kashian’s eyes were half-lidded, and the score had already dropped to 30 points. This duel saw 70 inefficient movements occur.

Kashian stared at me with a blank expression. She probably found it tough to keep the conversation going right now. Someone seemed to have arrived. I glanced at the door. The sharply cut magical energy was approaching from beyond.

“Hmm, let’s take a short break then.”

“Wow!”

Kashian’s eyes sparkled as she raised her arms. Soon, I heard the sound of the door opening. A young man with a cold demeanor stepped into the room without hesitation. The two Swordsmen bowed their heads slightly toward him.

I discreetly dropped the Mirror Bug to the floor. It began to disguise itself like a mirror, shutting down the feed. At the same moment, the young man naturally tore through the barriers I had set up.

As he surveyed the room, he began to walk slowly toward us. Standing before us, he bore a calm smile. He then clapped his hands as he looked at Kashian.

“The duel was very entertaining.”

Kashian nodded slightly. The young man gazed at her, then turned his attention to us.

“It’s probably thanks to your assistance. It was a movement far beyond what we had anticipated.”

I slightly bowed my head. Mira waved her hand, smiling. She cautiously opened her mouth to him.

“By the way, may I ask why you came?”

“Ah, I came because of Kashian’s request. You asked that she be allowed outside for 6 hours a day?”

Hmm, is there already news about that request? I had informed Kashian to request permission to go out after the victory. No matter what she did, she needed to get out of here at the very least.

He began to scrutinize our faces slowly. He brushed past Kashian’s face and stared directly at Mira before finally fixing his gaze on me.

“That must have been what Ebron mentioned. I apologize for my earlier rudeness.”

He knows my name. No wonder he’s been so polite today. He must have scanned for information about us. It’s likely he learned that we are affiliated with Professor Ilian’s Tower.

I couldn’t tell how much he knew. I awkwardly smiled and shook my head. He kindly nodded and continued.

“6 hours is fine. As long as you don’t leave the city, that is. Within the city, I won’t interfere with whatever you choose to do.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I answered, slightly widening my eyes. That was unexpected. I hadn’t anticipated that they would agree to such terms. I figured they would reduce the time or at least limit the date.

But I never imagined they’d freely accept without any conditions. What was their angle? I couldn’t ascertain.

“However, they will follow you around. Some level of monitoring is still necessary.”

He glanced at the Swordsmen standing at the door. Then he slightly bowed his head to us and said his goodbyes.

“Then I will take my leave.”

He turned around and exited the room. Had he come just to relay that short message? He could’ve easily told the guards instead.

I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or what the Blade Association’s intentions were. However, one thing was clear: we had secured full permission to go outside the city.

Yes, that’s how we stepped into the city.

I took a deep breath. The iron scent filled my chest. Yet that musty feeling was oddly welcome. After being cooped up in the room for nearly a week, just stepping out felt uplifting.

“Alright, let’s start moving right away.”

I said as I looked towards Kashian and Mira. We needed to move quickly. We had to gather information.

 

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