Ch 9 9th-Circle Magic

Asterion successfully slipped out the doors under the cover of the classroom’s chaos.

He thought he heard a furious gasp of “Ivan…!” echoing down the hallway behind him, but he completely ignored it.

Listening to a micromanager yell once a day is more than enough, Asterion grumbled to himself, rubbing his temples as he walked. If I have to listen to that guy for another second, my ears are literally going to bleed.

Besides, theory-obsessed academics rarely changed their habits.

Lenia had only been practicing for a short while, and because she was open to a new approach, she had managed to fix her flow.

But there was zero reason for Asterion to stick around and educate some greenhorn professor on the fundamental laws of the universe. He wasn’t getting paid to teach, and he certainly wasn’t about to start doing it for free.

Classes must have just let out, because students suddenly poured from the lecture halls, flooding the marble corridor in a sea of blue robes and loud chatter.

Perfect, Asterion thought.

But before he could melt into the crowd, someone grabbed the loose fabric of his robe from behind.

What? Don’t tell me that professor already found me—

He whipped his head around. It wasn’t Professor Eckert.

“Ivan! Wait! Just for a second, can you please listen to me?”

It was Lenia.

Even after confirming who it was, Asterion didn’t stop walking. In fact, he sped up, trying to lose her in the throng of students.

But Lenia gave his sleeve such a desperately yank that it actually jerked his upper body backward, his boots skidding slightly on the polished stone.

Wh–why is her grip so ridiculously strong?

“What now?”

Asterion sighed, stopping and turning to face her with a look of exhaustion.

“What was that back there? How did you do that in two steps? No, forget that for now—what did you do to my mana circuits?”

Lenia’s eyes were wide and manic, burning with an almost terrifying, obsessive curiosity.

“That path you showed me just now…” she breathed, her hands trembling. “I have absolutely never, ever felt a sensation like that in my entire life!”

Asterion understood what was going on. She had spent her entire life hopelessly wandering a pitch-black maze, only to suddenly have someone kick down a brick wall and reveal a sunlit exit.

Looking at her flushed face, Asterion flashed back to a very specific high elf.

…Faylen used to look exactly like that when she cracked a new spell equation.

The moment he made that mental connection, a realization punched him in the gut.

Did I subconsciously go out of my way to help just because she reminded me of Faylen?

He couldn’t exactly deny it.

He was thoroughly exhausted, so had been prepared to ignore everything, yet, he had even gone out of his way to feed her a thread of his own mana.

I just opened up a huge can of worms, he lamented, mentally kicking himself.

Asterion looked down at Lenia with eyes full of fatigue.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“But I felt it! When you stood behind me, you clearly—!”

“Hey, Lenia.”

Asterion cut her off, his voice dropping to a low drawl.

He leaned in slightly.

“Do you not see me literally walking with my eyes half-closed right now? I am physically incapable of holding a coherent conversation.”

“You seem to be talking coherently.”

“If you’re that curious, ask me tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? You don’t even attend class every day!”

“…Well. If you’re lucky, maybe we’ll bump into each other.”

Or rather, she might bump into Ivan.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Once Asterion got his relics back, he wouldn’t be stepping foot inside this academy again. Not waiting for a response, Asterion gently pried his sleeve out of her grip.

Leaving Lenia standing dumbfounded in the middle of the crowded hallway, he rounded the corner and vanished.

Asterion let out a long sigh and pulled up the hood of his robe, casting his face in deep shadow.

This wasn’t good. Remembering Faylen had put him in a bad mood.

If Eckert tried to pull the same shit now, Atserion would blast him through a wall out of annoyance.

No, gotta stay calm.

An unstable mage was a walking disaster.

He closed his eyes as he walked, reaching out with his tuned senses to grab hold of the tangled, invisible threads of ambient mana drifting through the air.

Amidst the buzzing white noise of thousands of novice students radiating unrefined mana, he felt it. A low and grand vibration resonating from deep within the earth.

The hum of his treasure.

Gotcha.

He opened his eyes again.

That probably helped calm him a little. But he decided to quickly leave the crowd just in case.