WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 106

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Before inspecting the first puppet, Professor On spoke.

“I said I would give you a reward if you completed the assignment. This is that reward. Since this is your first assignment, I prepared something very special.”

In Professor On’s hand was a small bottle about two finger joints long. Professor On opened it, and the thing trapped inside began wriggling out.

Professor On lightly blocked it with magical power. I quietly watched it with the other students.

It was a strange thing. It looked like a mollusk with dozens of tentacles, but while it seemed to have a shape, it wavered faintly like mist.

Was it some kind of magical beast? A bizarre magical power radiated from it as it felt along the curtain of magical power Professor On had made and tried to escape. Professor On gave the bottle a light shake.

“This is Wriggler No. 1, a puppet-use pill I made. It makes puppets more perfect. All the puppets in my tower carry it too. It will improve the performance of your puppets.”

At those words, the students’ faces brightened at once. Mine did too. That meant the naturalness in the tower’s puppets came from that thing. Wriggler No. 1. The name suited its appearance perfectly.

“Wriggler No. 1 will also judge your assignments. It will enter your puppets directly. And if your puppet pleases it, it will be absorbed by the puppet as it is. Assuming you completed the assignment properly, of course.”

“Hmm, how fascinating. It feels as if my body is being naturally drawn to it.”

Mira murmured. A line of drool ran from the corner of her mouth. I took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped it away. She rubbed her cheek lightly against my hand.

As if proving her words, the puppets in front of the platform were all twitching too, like they wanted to approach the bottle at any moment. Professor On looked at those puppets and quietly nodded.

“Then shall we begin the inspection?”

Professor On said that and stood in front of the first puppet. It was a gemstone puppet shaped like a person. The gemstones set into its body scattered brilliant light in every direction. I glanced at the student who had made it. The student looked very confident.

Professor On released the magical power blocking the mouth of the bottle. At the same time, Wriggler No. 1 inside instantly swelled up and pounced on the puppet in front of it.

It sprayed murky dark red magical power as it corroded the puppet’s body. Its amorphous body burrowed straight inside the puppet and disappeared.

A little time passed, and a strongly wriggling flow of magical power began to pulse inside. The puppet started trembling all over and creaking.

I was startled. The puppet’s body was becoming more perfect. There was no other way to describe it. Just like the puppets in the tower, that puppet made of gemstones was gradually beginning to hold vitality.

I watched with my eyes wide open. Was it a success?

But that lasted only a moment. The magical power changing the puppet corroded it even further, and the puppet instantly began rotting from within, just like a human corpse.

Soon, it melted completely and became a handful of translucent liquid. Professor On rummaged through the liquid with magical power and pulled out Wriggler No. 1.

After sealing it back in the bottle, Professor On glanced at the traces of the melted puppet and tilted their head.

“Hmm, it looks like the puppet wasn’t loved enough. This one eats love. If there isn’t enough of it, the puppet melts like this...”

Professor On raised the liquid formed from the melted puppet into the air with magical power. Then they began lightly shaping it. Soon, it became a puppet again and settled back onto the ground.

It looked very similar to before. But the sight made my face stiffen. What filled it now was not the student’s magical power, but the professor’s.

“There should be a punishment for an assignment too. Puppets that aren’t loved are unhappy. So I’ll collect all of your puppets that fail to pass.”

The puppet lightly bowed toward the student who had originally been its owner, then went to Tiena’s side and stood still. Tiena smiled and gently patted the puppet. I stared blankly at the scene.

“Now then, next.”

Professor On said that and threw Wriggler No. 1 at another puppet. What happened afterward was the same as before.

The puppet melted down, was reconstructed, and became the professor’s. That was why the students’ faces turned pale. It was no different from having their puppets stolen right before their eyes.

My face hardened as I watched too. Taking away control of a puppet. I had never imagined such a thing. I had no idea what kind of power that thing called Wriggler No. 1 contained to make that possible.

The next puppet, and then the next. Six puppets were judged like that. Half had gone by. But not a single person had passed the assignment, and every puppet melted down and became Professor On’s.

I looked at the armor that had melted last. It too rose again and went to stand beside Tiena.

Then the next puppet’s turn came. It was turtle. The little guy trembled. Seeing that, I nodded. My answer was clear. So turtle would be safe. Uh... probably.

I glanced at the puppets that had melted earlier. They stood still, ignoring the connections with the students who had once been their masters.

If I failed, my turtle would become like that too. Maybe I would suffer serious damage as well. Turtle was basically me, after all. Thinking that made my confidence waver a little.

At that moment, Mira stroked my back. Mist flowed softly from her hand and cooled my body, which had grown a little hot. When I looked at Mira, she met my eyes and smiled.

“Hehe, there is no need to worry. Evron, you made something very interesting.”

I nodded. She was right. I could not doubt the answer I had found myself. Professor On stood in front of turtle and quietly stared at it. In response, turtle let out a bleating cry.

Professor On turned the bottle upside down toward the little guy. At the same time, Wriggler No. 1 inside the bottle pounced on turtle.

Turtle trembled and quietly accepted it. Wriggler No. 1 created a torrent of murky magical power and seeped into turtle’s body.

I quietly closed my eyes. Then I focused on my connection with turtle. My tree intertwined with its tree, and it held on tightly as well. Along with that, the sensation that I had become turtle spread through my mind.

Within it, I naturally felt Wriggler No. 1 moving as it burrowed into turtle’s body.

It was gradually encroaching on turtle from the inside. It rummaged through the puppet’s interior with its tentacles and freely changed the structure. Turtle could not resist that flow.

No, feeling it myself, I understood. There was no need to resist in the first place. This was an item that only helped puppets. Professor On had called it a puppet-use pill. They said all the puppets in the tower carried it too.

It was exactly as they said. The circuits along the paths it passed began pulsing like a single living thing while carrying dark red magical power. They changed like blood vessels and settled into turtle’s body more perfectly.

Even as I felt the process directly, I could not understand how it was possible. But one thing was clear. Through this process, turtle’s body was beginning to contain life.

Like the other puppets, turtle’s body began to take on a slightly more natural form. Turtle’s happiness reached me. Of course it was happy. A more complete sense was flowing through its whole body.

But I could not let down my guard. The other puppets had reached this point too. They had only melted afterward. I held tightly to my connection with the little guy and prepared for what came next.

Wriggler No. 1 slowly changed turtle’s body like that. It could even be called a kind of infection. After infecting every other part, it headed for the final remaining place. The mana heart where turtle’s core was located.

The moment it touched the mana heart, a massive shock struck.

Intense mental pressure began pouring through those tentacles like a raging current. In that shock, turtle half lost consciousness. Even that sturdy mind, like the Moon itself, did. Along with that, I understood why the puppets had melted.

Professor On had said this thing ate love. Just as those words suggested, Wriggler No. 1 ate turtle’s mind. More precisely, it was eating the connection toward me that existed inside, in other words, love.

And with that power, it reshaped the mana heart. The sprout on turtle’s back was the same. Feeling that made me realize it. This could be called a kind of molting.

There was no other reason the others’ puppets had melted. They had simply lacked the material needed to complete this molting perfectly.

I smiled bitterly. I had not known that this thing called Wriggler No. 1 would eat the mental network connected to a puppet. This connection came from will toward each other, that thing called love.

If someone did not properly love their puppet, as Professor On said, this connection would only exist one way, from the puppet toward the puppeteer. And the moment that thing ate it, the connection would have been severed in an instant.

I did not know how that thing ate connections, but I understood the process itself. Then there was only one thing I had to do.

I filled the collapsing connection with turtle using my own mind and held it tight. Then I poured in magical power and began strongly supporting turtle’s body.

At that, turtle’s body, which had been about to melt, began taking shape again. Along with it, I felt a flow of magical power begin corroding my mind.

Turtle’s mind alone could not endure that change. I had to fill in something that thing could eat in the little guy’s place. Like that, my mind began being torn away.

How much time had passed like that? Turtle began waking up again. Once awake, the little guy wove the connection strongly with me again and quietly endured the shock.

The process of change continued very slowly. And during that time, Wriggler No. 1 gradually began to fade. Soon, it wavered like a shadow and seeped into turtle’s body.

At last, turtle recovered, rose to its feet, and let out a light bleat. A natural vitality that had not existed before poured from its body. I stared at it with blurry eyes, then collapsed flat where I was.

My body and mind were completely exhausted. To think they would use such a strange method to check assignments. Of course, as Professor On had said, this could also be called a reward. Turtle no longer seemed like a puppet. The little guy really seemed alive.

“The first pass. I can see that you carried out the assignment faithfully. You pass.”

Professor On said that and nodded lightly.

At those words, the tension drained out of me. Anyway, I had succeeded. The answer I had thought of had been correct. I saw turtle twisting its body this way and that to check itself. My connection with the little guy felt stronger than before.

“Hehe, you worked hard.”

Mira smiled faintly and patted my back. Mist from her wrapped around my body and helped me recover little by little. I thanked Mira with a small glance.

“Now then, shall we move on to the next puppet?”

Professor On said that and took another glass bottle from their chest. Wriggler No. 1 was twisting its body inside it. And another puppet melted.

They melted, and melted again. After inspecting every puppet like that, Professor On shook their head slightly. There were only two puppets standing in front of them. Excluding me, only one person had passed.

I quietly looked beside me. No. 0 was sobbing silently while holding my half-melted puppet.

I lightly patted the little guy’s sorrow-heavy back. The little guy had failed too. Still, it could be called half a success, so that was a relief.

According to Professor On, the little guy failed not because of love, but because of the puppet. The puppet could not endure the power Wriggler No. 1 possessed. In other words, No. 0’s puppetry skill had been lacking.

Still, since the little guy had proven love, at least the puppet could be returned. A strong will to learn began rising from No. 0. Those two eyes, which had been sunk in grief, sparkled.

I quietly looked around. I saw plenty of students in shock after having their puppets taken away. Other than me, only one person had passed. I glanced at him.

He was a young man with a slightly sharp look. The puppet he had presented was a single sword. For some reason, his clothes felt quite familiar too. It was the kind of outfit I had often seen before in Canyon City.

Mm, was he from Canyon City? Then it made sense that he passed. I quietly nodded. The young man was not a swordsman. He had simply made a sword into a puppet.

But there were no bad people among those who handled swords. My experience had proven that fact. For some reason, I began feeling a sense of closeness toward him.

Professor On looked over us and sighed. Tiena, who was standing beside them, lightly poked their waist. Professor On embraced that woman and spoke.

“Hmm... I suppose I miscalculated. To think only two would pass. It has been a while since this many students gathered, so I was expecting a little more. I think I will have to lower my expectations for you.”

Professor On said that and clicked their tongue softly.

“Then I will begin class right away. I will explain it very simply to match your level. Let us start from page 20. What you will learn today is why each individual puppet comes to have its own individuality...”

Along with those words, the book in front of us began turning its pages on its own. At the same time, the puppets in front of the platform moved to find their own seats. Of course, there were only two. The rest were standing quietly behind Tiena.

“The basic connection structure that forms the core structure of a puppet is, hmm, would this be hard to understand if I put it that way? Then a little more simply...”

Like that, Professor On began explaining with some difficulty. As they said, the explanation had become incredibly kind compared to the previous lecture. So much so that No. 0, sitting beside me, nodded along on their own.

During that time, turtle returned to my seat and let out a light cry. When I placed turtle on the desk, the little guy proudly showed off its body.

I lightly tapped turtle’s head. Turtle quietly rubbed its head against my finger.

I used magical power to peek slightly into its body. The circuits making up its whole body were pounding as if alive and breathing out vitality.

“Hmm, even I want this a little...”

Beside me, Mira lightly smacked her lips. She was right. This would clearly be a great help to her body too. With her power, she should be able to ignore what we had gone through earlier and accept the change. I quietly nodded.

“If I get the chance, I will obtain one for you.”

“Hehe, I will look forward to it.”

She said that and leaned against my arm. Then she looked up at me and smiled lightly with her eyes. Meeting that gaze, I fell into thought for a moment.

Would I really be able to obtain that again? I could not know. But if I kept attending this lecture, the chance would come one day. That was what I thought.

I had not known that chance would come before even a few hours had passed.

I quietly blinked. I felt a piercing pressure from somewhere, as if a gaze was trying to drill through me. I glanced that way. Professor On was glaring at me with narrowed eyes. I could see fierce hostility wavering in those eyes.

It was probably because of this woman. I met clear, shining brown eyes. They belonged to Tiena. She smiled brightly at me. At the same time, the pressure from Professor On grew even stronger.

Cold sweat ran down my back. Watching me, turtle let out a small cry. The little guy was sitting on Tiena’s lap. It looked very comfortable.

She lightly stroked turtle’s back and held out a bottle. A strange magical power could be felt inside. It was exactly the same thing that had seeped into turtle’s body. Wriggler No. 1.

“Here, please accept this. It is a gift. I thought the person beside you would need it.”

This happened after the lecture ended. The strange carriage that had carried us there spat the other students outside, leaving only Mira and me behind.

They clearly had something to say to us. But I had no idea what it could be. I quietly watched Tiena’s expression.

She was looking at turtle on her lap. Soon, she spoke softly.

“After seeing this child, I became interested in the puppets Evron makes. So I prepared this place because I have one request to make.”

“You could also call it a commission,” she added, smiling softly.

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