Chapter 67
Weekends exist in Academia too.
One day a week is designated as a day of rest, with no classes taking place.
Most students use this golden holiday to catch up on sleep, hang out with friends, or focus solely on studying.
Just like in the real world.
And here I was, rising at the crack of dawn, now three hours deep in my personal time inside my room.
It’s a day where I can spend time without any restrictions. What’s the point of a day like this if I don’t spend it ‘properly’?
Zuuuuh?!
I extract pure mana, ensuring no foreign substances are present, and materialize its form. A sphere with a diameter of 1 meter. I bring my hand closer to adjust the inside.
If I leave it as is, the sphere won’t last long and will disperse into the air.
I set a special attraction between the particles of mana and reduce the distance to its maximum capacity without causing a disturbance, thus shrinking the sphere.
The size of the sphere gradually diminishes through this transformation. The strength and hardness rise, and the surface becomes increasingly smooth.
Thus emerges a flawless orb, without even the slightest bulge. When I place the 5 cm diameter orb on the desk, it rolls off with a unique sound, resembling glass.
I carefully grab it to prevent it from moving erratically.
Four previously created orbs stand lined up on the desk. They aren’t just stuck together; graphically speaking, they form a line along the y-axis, not the x-axis.
I attempt to place the newly created orb on top of the orb tower. Very carefully and delicately.
To an outsider, it might just look like I’m wasting time having fun, but I was currently honing my mana with utmost concentration.
Thanks to the relic given by Helion, adjusting the output and intensity of my mana is quite challenging and exhausting.
Creating such pure mana crystals with this body isn’t easy, and maintaining their form through compression into a solid state is no small feat. I even manage to create an orb so perfect that it shines on the surface.
Not to brag, but, okay, maybe a little bragging.
Even those with moderately renowned capabilities would feel dizzy from the overheating mana circuits under the control of a relic at my level.
But I didn’t stop there. I’m slowly stacking this orb tower, carefully aligning it so that even the slightest misalignment or unstable orb would cause an immediate collapse.
The mana orb I created is a pure crystal of mana, mixed with none of the other properties.
Thus, if it collides with another mana crystal without any intervention, the maintained state will clash, creating a new form or bouncing off.
In simple terms, it either gets squashed or collapses.
Though it’s a comical comparison, placing one orb on another is several dozens… no, considering the mana manipulation, it’s hundreds of times harder than it seems.
Building a tower of orbs is a technique a hundred times harder than just stacking one orb on top of another, considering the mana involved.
“……!”
At this moment, I finally succeeded in stacking the fifth orb.
It’s a historic moment.
When I first started this training, I could only manage to stack four 5cm orbs at best. And now, I’ve advanced to five…!
“Ah.”
Thud.
With a rolling noise, the carefully built tower crumbled. The orbs dispersed, wandering around the desk.
Reflecting on the history of this abruptly fallen orb tower, I let out a sigh of despair.
“Huh….”
It’s a lament for a fleeting moment of glory. Not a petty annoyance or any childish resentment.
“…….”
I pinched my brow and finished a moment of mourning before channeling mana to create a new orb.
Creating orbs is a crucial part of training, so any orb I use gets destroyed.
Currently, I’m continuing the process of compressing a 1m sphere into 5cm, but later I’ll have to make even smaller orbs.
The lower the density, the harder it is to maintain a stable form, so this is a more advanced version.
Once again, a pure mana orb is completed.
I spent a golden holiday in my room, repeating the process from before. This is the best way to increase my current mana capacity.
“Ah….”
Thud.
What a truly productive time it is!
*
Knock knock.
Alicia stood at Vargan’s door, knocking.
“Young Master, it’s Alicia. May I come in?”
No response comes from beyond the door.
Tilting her head, Alicia knocked again. Still, no sound echoed back.
“Hmm….”
She had always visited at the same time for her assessments, except on specifically designated days, so this was the first time this had happened.
Pondering what to do, she knocked once more and gently turned the doorknob.
She recalled being told that if something like this occurred, she should check if the door was open. If it was, she should enter, and if it wasn’t, she should leave.
The doorknob turned.
That meant she could enter.
“Excuse me….”
The dark energy from the room began seeping through the crack. His room was filled with darkness, with no lights on.
“Uh…?”
Alicia discovered something round scattered all over the floor.
What she thought was a space filled with only darkness was actually covered in dull orbs.
There were so many that they couldn’t all fit in one glance.
Vargan’s room, which was always tidy and clean.
Feeling something was off, Alicia wove through the orbs to search for Vargan.
He was sitting stiffly at the large desk.
“Young Master…!”
Upon spotting Vargan, Alicia smiled involuntarily and slowly approached him.
Upon closer inspection, there were things standing erect on his desk, identical in shape to the orbs littering the floor.
The forms were remarkably perfect.
Not a single quiver could be seen.
“Young Master… what is this…?”
Once she got right next to him, Vargan turned his head. His eyes were deeply set and more intellectual than usual.
“Ah, has it really become that time?”
It felt as if time was flowing only after Alicia arrived. She repeatedly glanced at him and whatever was sitting on the desk, to which Vargan explained.
“These are the ‘Five-Layer Orb Towers’ I’ve built. I’ve just now made mass production stable enough.”
A room full of five-layer orb towers was on his desk. Each orb was uniform in size and color, standing so uprightly that it left one wondering how they managed to do so.
It stands so straight that it raises doubts about whether it’s actually there.
“Young Master, are we really going to do this all day…?”
“Alicia, that’s before the inspection.”
Vargan, casually loosening up, says, “Let’s start by cleaning the room.”
The orbs he created were sturdy and wouldn’t easily dissolve.
*
Alicia quickly turned on the light and began cleaning the room, and with her busy hands, the messy space regained its original appearance in no time.
I sat in a chair, watching Alicia. Today, I can’t squeeze out any more mana to pass something onto her. The mana circuits are getting too hot, and if I push it further, something strange might happen.
Hmm… let’s just do a growth inspection or pass on some theory today.
Oh, but there’s something I need to check first.
“Alicia, have you completed all your assignments?”
“Yes, they are all done. I’m confident that I produced the best results I could in any subject.”
“Oh, good. That’s settled then.”
Hearing her say that means she must have invested a lot of time and effort. Of all people, it’s Alicia’s work.
Looks like the assignment season is coming to an end.
Most of the incidents that occur in the first semester are wrapping up.
As I was getting lost in the nostalgia of the smoothly progressing storyline, suddenly, Louisa’s assignment came to mind. The topic was clearly… “Write about what you want to accomplish before you die.”
I became curious about how she answered and in what manner.
“What did Louisa write for her assignment?”
“…….”
Alicia blinked several times, her lips moving but nothing coming out.
“Since it said ‘specify’, it didn’t just mean listing words. You could have used magic to visualize something, or come up with some extraordinary method that others couldn’t replicate.”
It was a highly flexible assignment.
“Oh, that’s right. …Something that can be expressed in various ways… a task like that….”
Alicia’s reaction is peculiar.
She avoids my gaze, fidgeting with her fingers. That’s a classic sign of Alicia trying to hide something.
She claimed to achieve the best results, yet did she just breeze through Louisa’s assignment?
…I doubt it.
“Alicia.”
“Ah… yes! Young Master.”
“I still haven’t heard your answer.”
What’s the deal?
Did she pick a strange subject? Something difficult to tell others about? Something even hard to share with me?
As I began to narrow my eyes, Alicia noticed my rising temper and grew even more flustered.
However, realizing that she couldn’t hide it any longer, she finally spoke.
“Um, that is…”
“That is?”
“That is….”
“…….”
“Ah…!”
Alicia lowered her head to hide her face, but I tugged her hand firmly. No matter how much she lowered her head, she couldn’t hide her expression.
With a dramatically flushed face, she blurted out the truth. It seemed surprising, just like yanking her along would be.
So, what did you specify for your answer, Alicia, about what you want to accomplish before you die?
“I, ‘family’…!!”
She squeezed her eyes shut and continued.
“I submitted a vision of the family I dream of… in a hallucination….”
Ah, family… family.
I released her hand and fell into deep thought. Yes, that’s a sufficient answer for her. She has a significant deficit regarding family due to childhood trauma. Yes, that makes sense….
Alicia glanced up at me, peeking as I showed no particular reaction.
I slowly closed my eyes and spoke softly.
“Alicia.”
“Yes, yes, Young Master…!”
“I won’t conduct inspections for a while. You don’t need to come at night.”
“…What?”
I let out a long sigh.
“You don’t need to come to greet me in the morning. Just comfortably do your own thing.”
“…Young Master? Why… oh, oh! I-I didn’t mean it like that…!!”
I shook my head, interrupting her.
“Today is enough. You can go back now.”
“Really, Young Master, you’re misunderstanding…! I just…!!”
“Well, this is awkward. What should I say to Erica…?”
So, for a while, I teased Alicia and relieved the stress that had built up today. Lately, I’ve been feeling like this might be my kind of hobby.
At least, it’s quite effective at lightening my mind.
If you have a servant like Alicia, I’d definitely recommend it.
*
Meanwhile, inside the Academia at the training ground.
A few students, having forgotten it was late at night, were wholly dedicated to their training amongst various forms of scarecrows and artificial structures.
“Hahaha! Great! Training without fatigue is the source of strength! Such admirable perseverance, Bell!”
“Ouch! This really hurts! I’m going to get bruises! I mean it! Can you please lower your voice? It’s disturbing others!”
Among them were Leon and Bell, students from Class 3, with Bell taking a beating from Leon’s pot-like hands.
Leon was too busy laughing like a fool to care about anything else.
Tears welled up in Bell’s fatigued eyes. No matter how he thought about it, he felt utterly pathetic in this moment.
“I didn’t want to push my body to the limit this late! Why do you always drag me out of my room and force me to train? Please just let me go back!”
Bell cried out sincerely.
However, his words didn’t reach Leon.
“Bell! I already understand your true feelings! Showing such weakness is just embarrassment! Let’s overcome that embarrassment through training!”
“Oh, seriously…! Can someone stop this guy?!”
“Hahaha??!”
As Leon continued his laughter, he turned his gaze to a man on the side.
A silent man was fighting with his sword, making him the earliest to arrive and the last to leave the training ground recently.
?Thwack!
He swung his sword without a moment of rest.
Targeting the scarecrow with a sword enveloped in aura, he moved like a machine.
?Thwack!
“Hmmm….”
Leon rubbed his chin as he watched the man train. Even though Leon was someone who reveled in training, this person was taking it too far. He was pushing his body to the limit, trying to sustain himself with healing magic.
?Thwack!
The faint aura, as if it could extinguish, clashed with the scarecrow.
Noticing that Leon had diverted his attention, Bell followed suit and looked as well.
The figure grappling with the scarecrow was Toylen Troa Finn, a student from Class 1.
“Hmm!”
Leon finished pondering.
“…What are you trying to do now?”
Having lost all faith in Leon through the class battle, Bell cast a suspicious glance at whatever he might do.
Leon replied heartily.
“Bell! It’s cooperative training.”
“Oh, my ears are going to burst. …Wait a moment. Suddenly cooperative training? What does that mean…?”
“I found an opponent for you to spar against!”
Leon boldly walked toward Finn.
Sensing that something annoying was about to happen, Bell tried to stop him but decided against it. Once Leon sets his mind on something, he pushes through. No matter how much he tries to hold him back, he would probably just charge ahead.
“Haah… just let me sleep in peace, will you?”
With a sigh of resignation, Bell followed behind Leon.
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