Chapter 86 - Chapter 85: The Child Prodigy Appears
The third month of Water, the first week, Day of Wind. Morning.
"Great Fire God, the spark of creation. O mighty power that envelops all. The karma of fire that burns all things, the power to return them to ash, here and now. Gather, Limit, Intense, Explode. Flame."
Zudodoonnnnn......
Mika's incantation echoed with a thunderous boom, and the entire building of the magic practice field shook with a vibration like a gale.
Flames swirled at the explosion site, and black smoke billowed up to the ceiling.
This was the magic practice field within the academy.
The building, which looked like a gymnasium, was actually a place for practicing with magic.
It seems that by casting [God's Miracle] from a designated spot to a designated spot, the special power installed in the building suppresses the impact on the surroundings.
In other words, the entire building is like one large magical tool.
"Mika-kun, that was soooo amazing!"
"Truly impressive, Mika!"
Rimliche and Cleiria, who had come to watch as Mika actually used [Explosive Flame], clapped their hands and praised Mika with sparkling eyes.
Messerite and Murt, standing beside them, had expressions of being dumbfounded or exasperated.
(...Well, yes, I think your reactions are more correct. I feel the same way.)
There were many other gallery members around, and everyone had a reaction similar to Messerite and the others.
Homeroom Teacher Colina had urgently applied to use the practice field to confirm whether Mika had truly mastered [Explosive Flame].
It seemed the schedule for using the practice field in classes was quite full, and they had squeezed it in with some difficulty.
The gallery members around had heard that "the new students who just entered this year seem to have mastered [Explosive Flame] so quickly," and came to mock, saying, "Hey, hey, that can't be true."
Students from the middle and upper divisions who originally used the magic practice field, and the teachers who instructed there, gathered with amusement, saying, "Let's go see the [Explosive Flame] that this year's first-years have been able to use."
Thanks to that, he ended up making his debut in front of over a hundred gallery members.
(Are they all just idle people? They should have their own practice. Don't come here.)
Thinking that, of course, he couldn't say such a thing, so he decided to use [Explosive Flame] as is.
Mika flashed a polite smile and went to Homeroom Teacher Colina.
"Is this the kind of effect you wanted?"
"...Y-yes. I think it is wonderful."
Colina, who had been stunned, snapped out of it when Mika spoke to her.
"From now on, try to suppress the power a bit more. You should know how much power corresponds to how much mana now, right?"
"Yes."
Impossible.
(I can only go all-in.)
Of course, he couldn't say things like that, so he obediently replied, "Understood."
(I'll try my best. ...But I don't think I can do it.)
While inwardly resigning himself to the situation, he went to where Rimliche and the others were.
The surrounding gallery was murmuring, but he had no choice but to leave it alone.
"Welcome back, Mika-kun. That was amazing!"
"Good work, Mika. You really mastered [Explosive Flame] too, didn't you?"
Rimliche and Cleiria looked at Mika with eyes full of envy.
What is this feeling of total affirmation from these two?
Normally, you'd be freaked out by this.
Mika looked around.
The commotion of the gallery surrounding Mika and the others showed no sign of settling down.
■■■■■■
On the day they were instructed to master [Explosive Flame], the group of students who were to master [Explosive Flame] were taken to a different room than the group mastering [Heal].
They were given a somewhat crude bracelet on the spot and told to wear it.
The dark-colored bracelet had no decorations; it was a fairly heavy bracelet about fifteen centimeters wide and one centimeter thick.
It seemed to be something to wear around the wrist, feeling almost like a wrist weight.
This bracelet was apparently called the "Bracelet of Judgment."
The "Bracelet of Judgment" had a function to hinder the manifestation of [God's Miracle]. When [God's Miracle] tried to manifest, it would hinder it, and the corresponding mana would be stored in the bracelet.
At that time, the bracelet would light up to tell you if the manifestation was successful.
With [Physical Enhancement] or [Heal], even if it accidentally activated, it wouldn't affect the surroundings, but not so with [Explosive Flame].
That is why they seemed to be practicing while confirming whether it manifested or not using such magical tools.
"This 'Bracelet of Judgment' is a bracelet often used in [God's Miracle] practice. Except when wearing this, you are forbidden to speak the [Explosive Flame] incantation aloud."
Colina looked over the children with sharp eyes.
"Depending on the situation, if this [Explosive Flame] were to manifest during a meal in the dormitory, at least dozens would be injured or killed. It wouldn't be surprising if it exceeded a hundred people."
Colina said this casually.
The children who heard this gulped audibly.
"What happens to students who do such a thing? You all should already know without me explaining from scratch, right?"
So, Colina said in a tone that was almost too gentle.
All the children here were from regional academies.
Whether through rumors or otherwise, they must have heard about the fate of students who caused trouble.
"For those who wish, we can lend this 'Bracelet of Judgment' for the entire duration of their enrollment. ...I hope there are no such children in this class who lack self-control."
If they wore this bracelet, accidental explosions could be prevented in the worst case.
However, since they were told not to speak the incantation when not wearing the bracelet, following that rule would make the bracelet unnecessary.
Colina was saying, "You certainly aren't among those children who can't even follow that," for children who couldn't even do that.
If anything, this was nothing but a threat.
Although she said she would lend it if requested, she didn't seem to have any intention of actually lending it.
(Once you leave the academy, it's normal to not have such a bracelet. It seems they really believe they don't need fools who have to rely on bracelets. ...It's scary. ...They are still children.)
Mika glanced to his right.
Rimliche seemed concerned about how the bracelet felt, frequently touching it and moving her wrist.
He then looked to his left.
Cleiria was listening to Colina's words seriously, nodding occasionally.
The other children seemed a bit frightened, but perhaps having made up their minds, they were listening seriously.
It seemed only Mika was going against the academy's policy.
(The reason for educating them while they are children seems to be right here.)
If you hammer it into them that it is so, they will easily accept it as such.
Once they become adults and their values solidify, it won't be so easy.
Reforming one's character truly requires a great deal of effort and time.
Just like Mika now.
After making everyone wear the bracelets, the reading of the incantations began.
Mika was currently in the state of "Limiter On."
Thinking it would be bad if it manifested suddenly like during [Physical Enhancement], he carefully confirmed that he was in the "Limiter On" state.
(But what a strange incantation. What is that last part, 'Gather, Limit, Intense, Explode. Flame'? Is it random number adjustment?)
Random number adjustment was a joke, but he felt this part must be placed for some kind of adjustment.
Mika believed that something related to the effect was built into the incantation itself.
Perhaps it wasn't attached later just to make the story fit because the text part alone didn't yield the desired results.
(Can you attach things later? Does that mean the [Physical Enhancement] I'm using now can also be modified...?)
He felt like investigating various things, but he had too many things he was interested in.
To unravel the mechanism of [God's Miracle], analyzing the incantation mechanism is indispensable.
But he couldn't reach that far yet.
More important than the mechanism of such incantations was alchemy for Mika.
If he was going to pour the same passion into something, he wanted to aim for a fortune through alchemy.
As he thought such things while reading the incantations aloud, his consciousness turned to the heavy weight of the bracelet.
(...This 'Bracelet of Judgment'. Does it only hinder [God's Miracle]?)
He was very curious if other magic he used was also hindered.
(Just by speaking the incantation aloud, I can feel my mana moving inside me... If I cast it now with 'Limiter Off', the bracelet will definitely react.)
However, he was extremely curious.
So, he decided to try it out a little.
(You're exactly the type to do that!)
While roasting himself, he did it anyway.
(If this so-called [Explosive Flame] manifests, it will be a disaster, but if I'm wearing the bracelet, I'll be fine, right? Then, I just need to hide the fact that the bracelet lights up.)
He just needed to not read the incantation aloud during "Limiter Off."
He would just briefly release it and lightly use [Blast] to confirm.
Even if the bracelet reacted, if he put his right arm wearing the bracelet into his pocket and hid it with his robe, no one would notice.
"Limiter Off."
While everyone else read the incantations, he prepared in a low voice.
"Blast."
He felt wind coming from his right hand, which was in his pocket.
It seemed this bracelet only hindered [God's Miracle].
Mika peeked into his pocket and checked the bracelet.
(It's not lighting up. Does it really only hinder [God's Miracle]...?)
That was a strange effect in itself.
It seemed it didn't just absorb the gathered mana, but discriminated the portion to be offered by [God's Miracle] before absorbing it.
How on earth could it do such a thing?
He had no idea about the mechanism.
(Do they really discriminate?)
It didn't react to Mika's magic.
So, would it really react to [God's Miracle]?
(I should try it.)
He also used [Absorb], and now the preparation was okay.
Mika kept his right hand in his pocket and began reading the incantation written on the blackboard together with everyone.
"Great Fire God, the spark of creation. ————."
Just like during [Physical Enhancement], mana was immediately pulled.
(As I thought, it's a mechanism like this. I don't know how they do it, though.)
And at the exact moment he finished reading to the end, his mana was stolen root and branch.
[Absorb] immediately gathered the mana and recovered it to above the limit line for fainting.
His body stiffened for a moment due to a feeling of nausea, but he took a deep breath to calm his mind.
(Even after doing it many times, I still can't get used to this moment...)
Thinking such things, he peeked into his pocket, and indeed, the bracelet was glowing.
It was glowing a bit more than expected, but thanks to the black robe, the light didn't leak to the surroundings.
(Using [God's Miracle] is the same as going all-in with mana. I guess I just have to go with it as such.)
As Mika thought such things while looking at the bracelet in his pocket,
"Ah..."
A voice was heard.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Rimliche was looking at where Mika had his right arm and had a surprised expression.
(Damn. Did the light leak out?)
It seemed the light had leaked through the gap in the robe.
Mika shook his head slightly at Rimliche and pleaded with his eyes, "Don't say anything more. Keep quiet."
"Mika! What is that!?"
From the opposite side, Cleiria raised a voice of surprise.
Panic over being noticed by Rimliche made his hiding method sloppy.
Cleiria, who noticed Rimliche's voice, had seen the bracelet glowing.
"Hey, it's glowing?"
"It is glowing."
"Eh, no way. Really?"
"Wow, it's really glowing."
The children who noticed Cleiria's voice turned around and were caught red-handed seeing the bracelet glowing.
(............I-I'm definitely going to pull your cheeks later.)
He vowed to punish her in his heart, thinking if Cleiria hadn't spoken up, but this was entirely Mika's own doing.
If Mika hadn't lost to his curiosity and done unnecessary things, this wouldn't have happened.
They had said the bracelet would light up if [God's Miracle] manifested, but Mika had assumed it would only be for a moment.
But in reality, the time it glowed extended according to the amount of mana absorbed, and the intensity of the light also changed.
The bracelet, which had absorbed almost all of Mika's mana, continued to glow for a while.
And, of course, Colina saw it too.
Thus, it was completely revealed that Mika had seemingly mastered [Explosive Flame].
He could have lied and said he tested it with [Physical Enhancement] to see if the bracelet really lit up, but it was troublesome, so he gave up.
Even if he lied, there was no benefit in doing so.
Then, it might be better to just master it quickly to gain benefits.
However, until he actually used it, he couldn't feel the reality of what kind of [God's Miracle] it was.
So, when the bracelet started reacting, he asked what one usually does next.
Then Colina told him that the academy had a facility called the magic practice field.
Although the schedule was full with reservations, she negotiated with an upper-grade class somehow and, with excitement, said she would let Mika use it even just once.
Well, Mika had somewhat expected this result, so he wasn't surprised.
But since he had mastered [Explosive Flame] as instructed, he wanted to master [Heal] too.
When he told Colina this, she was quite surprised, but she didn't oppose it particularly and allowed him to master [Heal] as he wished.
And regarding [Heal], it manifested immediately upon chanting the incantation, which went without saying.
Difficulty of mastery?
There was none.
Since it manifested automatically when spoken, there was no difficulty whatsoever.
However, contrary to Mika's thoughts, this "incident" would echo throughout the academy.
Mastering two [God's Miracles] on the very day they were taught was unprecedented.
A few days later, he managed to get permission to use the magic practice field, and when he actually used it, the power was sufficient, not at all like a first-time user.
The surroundings became noisy with talk of genius and child prodigy.
(A child prodigy at ten, a talented person at fifteen, and after twenty, just a commoner...)
Such words flashed through Mika's mind.
■■■■■■
In the morning, he used [Explosive Flame] in the magic practice field, and afterwards, he trained in mana manipulation as usual.
Mana manipulation training was already quite strenuous, but it wasn't something that required such intense effort.
So, he mostly just watched the practice of manifestation by the [Explosive Flame] group and the mana manipulation training.
With the morning training finished, he came to eat lunch, but...
"I can't even eat my meal calmly..."
Muttered Mika while holding a spoon in his mouth.
"...Everyone is watching..."
"Well, of course they are watching. With all the rumors going around."
Charl and Cecilia muttered while glancing around.
"...Mika-kun, you were already a celebrity..."
"Eh, why?"
Mika couldn't help but ask back at Charl's mutter.
"Why not! Did you forget what you did on the first day!?"
"Oh, yeah..."
He had probably knocked out those idiots.
"...Because of that, some people became fans..."
"What the hell is that!? I don't get it!?"
Apparently, Mika's cute, girl-like appearance and the ferocity that couldn't be imagined from his looks had struck the fetishes of some students.
Mika was usually quite quiet. Or rather, normal.
But apparently, the gap that once he bared his fangs, he became uncontrollable, was irresistible.
It seemed there were quite a few older sisters like that in the girls' dormitory.
"...And now, more will be added..."
Charl muttered such things and grinned.
(No, it's scary normally. You too, and those older sisters.)
His appetite, which didn't disappear no matter how tired he was, was now quite gone. ...Though he would still eat.
"Oh, it is natural for talented people to attract attention. I am proud to have you as a friend."
Cleiria was always the target of attention, so she was probably used to being looked at by people.
She didn't seem to care particularly and was acting normally.
"...I just want to live quietly."
He wanted to live freely and carelessly.
He muttered such thoughts, but the Leventein Group members looked at him with exasperated faces.
"Mika... are you saying that seriously?"
Cecilia looked at Mika with eyes that seemed almost pitying.
"I can say with certainty that such a way of life is absolutely impossible for you. People who live quietly don't smash through walls in front of them and keep going. You don't even think of going around; you smash through all the walls in front of you. Absolutely."
"Ugh..."
Somehow, Kifrod had said something similar to me before.
Something like you can't live normally or whatever.
Confronted with the truth he wanted to avert his eyes from by Cecilia, he couldn't help but sigh.
At that moment, he noticed that Rimliche next to him was quiet.
"What's wrong, Rimliche?"
Rimliche's expression was dark, and she was looking down.
In the morning, at the magic practice field, it was as usual.
Did something happen after that?
"No, nothing."
Saying that, Rimliche somehow felt like the time when they had just met.
Like that time when she looked down without confidence.