After the first period ended, the kids busily wandered around, looking for a partner for this performance assessment.
Si-hoo and Seori were, of course, popular with everyone, regardless of gender.
“Isn’t this too much…?”
“Well, you should have formed a group before us.”
“Si-hoo, sorry! Can I borrow your seat for this period?”
Since I had already promised to team up with Yuna, I shooed Si-hoo away to another spot and seated Yuna beside me.
But Yuna seemed really anxious, even shaking her legs after sitting down.
“Are you nervous?”
“Uh, a little…”
“Magic is fun, you don’t have to be that tense.”
“I wish I could think like Na-me.”
Though the performance assessment wasn’t that significant, it was still a grade for the whole semester.
The obsession with grades that had tied Yuna down for so long wasn’t something that would vanish overnight, even if her situation had improved.
There was also a promise made to her mother to help Yuna enjoy school life, and it was something that could be improved over time.
“Hey, don’t bite your nails.”
“Oh, sorry. But isn’t the classroom a bit cold?”
Now it seemed she was even shivering with chills. Poor girl.
Looks like it’s time to whip out my secret weapon.
“Yuna, can you look to the right for a second?”
“Huh? Like this?”
Yuna followed my command without knowing what I was up to.
Occasionally, she’d glance back, revealing her curiosity.
It’s a bit early for elementary students, but it’s a must-have item starting from middle school.
It’s called a ‘tail comb.’
“From now on, your hair is mine.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t turn your head, keep looking ahead. You can’t move.”
“Ahhh!”
Before brushing it all out, I gently untangled the knotted sections of her hair.
Yuna’s hair wasn’t thick, so just a little stroke let it untangle nicely.
“Brushing should only be done on dry hair. Doing it right after washing isn’t good for your hair and scalp.”
“Really? I always brush while drying my hair!”
I brought the tail comb to her nape.
Starting from the nape and up to the crown, I unraveled the red threads of hair against the hair’s natural direction.
“How’s that? Feels nice, right? Brushing from the bottom up helps shake off dust and dead skin from your scalp.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. But isn’t brushing straight bad for your health?”
“If you start from the crown, it stimulates the oil glands too much, which could lead to hair loss later.”
“I don’t want to lose my hair…!”
With each stroke, the tension in Yuna’s shoulders began to ease slowly.
That was evidence that she was feeling relaxed.
I carefully arranged her side hair that could easily be missed and even stood up to style her bangs into the trendy see-through bangs.
I didn’t have hair rollers, so I couldn’t achieve the perfect shape I wanted, but I rolled her hair up with a few pencils instead.
[Simple Magic Circle: Heat Transfer]
To ensure the teacher wouldn’t catch us, I used a small magic circle to fix her hair at a moderately high temperature.
“All done. Want to take a look in the mirror?”
I took Yuna to the full-length mirror at the back of the classroom.
Her big eyes looked like they were going to pop out.
“Wow! You look so pretty! Like a princess.”
Of course, she would be impressed. Even the picky princesses of the empire would commend my skills.
Yuna was so worried about disturbing the bangs I styled that she didn’t touch them and just stared into the mirror.
“Should I do this for you every morning from now on?”
“Really? No, no, that would be too much for Na-me, right?”
“No, I want to do it. I enjoy brushing your hair.”
That was my sincerity.
Brushing should ideally take between 50 to 100 strokes for about 5 minutes. If I added another 5 minutes for styling, that’s a total of 10 minutes.
Every day going forward, I could have this rewarding time to feel mentally and physically stable.
Having had a nightmare last night, I wasn’t in a good mood, but watching cute Yuna smile had lifted all my stress away.
“Should I do yours, then? I’ll brush Na-me’s hair!”
“…I’m good.”
“Why…?”
“My hair is way too long. I think it’s better if I do it with magic myself.”
I felt bad for putting Yuna in such a mood, but allowing her to brush my hair was a bit difficult.
*
Finally, the day of the performance assessment arrived.
For the 20 kids paired up, Teacher Jackie handed out 10 sets of model magic circles, one to each pair.
The boxes looked plain, like ordinary magic boxes.
But since each box was a different color, the kids were impatiently trying to get the one they wanted.
It’s strange how important it seemed when the contents would be the same anyway.
Kids have a unique way of thinking that can be hard to grasp.
“Everyone has a different type of set, so remember what color each of you receives, got it?”
“Yes!” (in unison)
“If you think you might forget, you can write it down on your desk or notebook. Now, I’ll start handing them out, so open them up and start experimenting.”
As the teacher moved between the desks, handing out boxes in the colors the kids wanted…
“What color do you want, Na-me?”
“I don’t really care.”
“Just pick one!”
“Then I’ll take red?”
“Is red okay?”
I answered without much thought, and hearing this, Yuna asked, worried.
“What’s wrong with red?”
“Everyone hates plain red! It’s not pretty at all…”
“Your hair is red, though! I like this color.”
The color of hair doesn’t change a person’s character, after all.
But my comment made Yuna’s lips curl into a smile.
“Isn’t my hair really weird? Really, really? Last year, kids in my class always asked me why I dyed it red, and they all hated it… It’s natural, but no one believes me.”
“I used to be blonde too, so I can say that bright colors suit lighter skin.”
“Blonde? Did you dye it in the past?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
“Kids, could you hurry up? I need to pass them out to the other kids too!”
Teacher Jackie cut in during our chatter, so we needed to quickly choose from the remaining four boxes.
Unfortunately, red was already taken by Si-hoo’s group.
As a backup, we chose the black box, which matched my hair color.
“Ugh, I really hope it’s an easy magic circle. Do you know how to use the model magic circle, Na-me?”
“The teacher just explained it to us.”
“No, I’ve tried it a few times last year, and it’s harder than you think. Sometimes the numbers don’t even show up correctly, even when you bring it right in front of the box.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Even when the magic circle works fine, sometimes it just shows 0. I’ll show you how first!”
Yuna opened the box excitedly, just like a young child happily explaining what they learned at school.
Despite her earlier nervousness about the performance assessment, seeing her enjoying this made it clear that magic suited Yuna very well.
“Um… which one should I try first? They all look too complicated. Should I try the smallest one first?”
The model magic circle up close was a dim turquoise disk.
Its round shape, reminiscent of the Nebra Sky Disk, had sparkling crystals embedded in it.
All five were between 20cm to 40cm in diameter, and following the teacher’s words, there was a red button in the center that made you want to press it.
Yuna took a short deep breath and pressed the button to activate the magic circle.
With a clank of gears, the turquoise cover that had obscured the front of the disk completely disappeared to the sides.
The disk was indeed taking on the form of a ‘model magic circle.’
Since there was another circle in the center, this magic was a 2-circle type.
Runes engraved at the north, south, east, and west served as fuel for the magic circle’s circuit.
“Wow… I don’t understand any of this at all. What do we do? Should I inject mana anywhere?”
“Yeah, why not give it a try?”
“Okay…! Then I’ll start by putting in 10kE from the north.”
“Will that even work?”
“Do I need to put in more?”
Since it’s a 2-circle magic, the optimal amount should be around 100kE.
If I keep giving her hints, I might end up spilling too much, but my mouth was itching to suggest something.
It felt like taking a kid to the movie theater and wanting to spoil the ending.
“Let’s try increasing the output a bit.”
“Okay! So I’ll trust you and start with 50kE?”
Yuna closed her eyes, tuning into the flow of mana in the world.
To better understand how she handled mana, I also closed my eyes to focus my senses.
Waves of mana rippled through the world.
Yuna dove her hand into those waves.
Just like how a human cannot control the waves crashing on the beach, it was impossible for a weak human to change the flow of mana.
But they could ride the waves.
It was like surfing, where a person lets their body be carried by the waves.
All a human can do is ride the board while gently brushing their hands across the waves, yet that alone was sufficient for each individual.
And those who had mastered riding all the waves were revered as ‘Great Sages.’
Beep-
[0.3]
“How did that come out?”
It seems like Yuna still had a long way to go as a beginner surfer.
