WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 171

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171.

The soul slowly floated upward, then gave a little stretch. It yawned, drifted through the air, and stopped in front of me.

The little thing, small enough to fit in my palm, met my eyes with that faint magical power inside it. Its appearance vaguely resembled the woman inside the gem. The difference was that this one looked a bit more like a young girl.

After staring at me for a while, it gave a small snort and whipped its head away. Prickly, maybe. That was simply the temperament this soul had.

It flew higher, as if trying to get away from me. Since it had been asleep all this time, this was its first time facing the world. Its curiosity about its surroundings seemed to have stirred it up.

But it stopped right there. Then it flinched, made a tearful face, and flew quickly back to me. It hid behind me and released a will that was almost a scream.

The message that will conveyed to me was very clear. There was a monster in front of us, so I had to be careful. I laughed a little at that.

Because I was not the only one who had heard that will. The person in front of us had heard it too. I glanced at Professor On, who had gone stiff. He had frozen in place while reaching a hand toward it.

The monster it had meant was definitely Professor On. The reason it felt that way was clear. I glanced at the magical power surging from Professor On.

That magical power must have felt impossibly dangerous to it. Perhaps because it had the form of a soul, it could sense the power inside another person’s soul with extreme sensitivity.

Magical power was power that came from the tree, and the tree had taken root in the soul. In that sense, magical power was practically the power of the soul itself.

So one could also say that the strongest mage was the one with the largest soul. After all, a mage grew a single tree to greater perfection.

From the moment I took it out, Professor On had shown a deep interest in it. That was probably why he had scattered his magical power.

And when the person here with the most powerful soul let his magical power flow toward it, he must have seemed like a monster from its perspective. Professor On’s eyes gleamed faintly while he remained frozen.

Then, as if changing his approach, he refined his magical power. That magical power quickly gathered back into Professor On’s body. After removing every threat, he took a step toward it.

Perhaps sensing that the threat had vanished, the soul poked its head out and met Professor On’s eyes. Professor On stared at it, then stroked his chin and tilted his head.

“How interesting. Are you saying that soul is a puppet?”

Professor On looked at me. I gave a slight nod. Then I carefully led the one hiding behind me forward.

It writhed a little, as though its fear had not fully faded, but I raised my hand, filled it with magical power, and patted its head. At that, it calmed down a little and looked up at me.

I smiled faintly at it. Professor On was certainly overwhelmingly powerful. If he filled his magical power into a strike and hit it, as he had done to Miorang’s armor earlier, it would clearly be torn apart on the spot.

This soul was a very faint and fragile existence. I glanced at Professor On. But I knew he would not treat it carelessly.

It was not simply because I trusted his realm and skill. Rather, it was because I trusted his love for Tiena.

I held it out to Professor On. He slowly reached out and accepted it with gentle magical power. Then he began observing it carefully within that magical power.

It was the same as when he examined the puppets of the previous competitors. He inspected puppets quickly like that. This time, though, it was a little different. The magical power he used to examine it began to flow in a slightly more complex way.

As he examined the puppet, he soon frowned slightly. He had recognized that it was a soul, but it must have been giving him a strange sensation. And he had surely noticed very quickly where that strangeness came from.

Professor On glanced at me. I sensed a trace of disbelief from him. It could not be helped. This was a possibility even he had never managed to create. It was an artificial life.

I took a gem from my clothes. I could feel a faint connection to it. It was the object containing the woman’s soul. I carefully handed it to Professor On.

Professor On accepted it, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly. He had sensed the similarity between the two. I bowed my head slightly to him.

“If the soul you are looking at is the puppet I wish to present, then that gem contains the soul that became its source.”

Professor On narrowed his eyes and let his magical power flow even more strongly. Then he drew it out like thread and wrapped it around the two souls.

I felt the small soul panic at the sudden torrent of magical power. I released a little magical power and soothed it. There was no real need to worry. This was nothing more than a simple test.

Professor On connected the two souls with threads of magical power. He had forcibly created a connection between them and tried to form a single flow. It could be called a kind of offshoot body test.

Like that, the magical power held by the two souls flowed toward each other. If the two possessed the same soul, the magical power would have clearly seeped into both of them. But the thread of magical power was cut off in the middle.

That revealed that the two souls were clearly different existences. After confirming the result, Professor On quietly shook his head. Then he let his magical power flow and created a structure more complex than before.

He was about to conduct another test. After using several spells for quite some time, he soon let out a light sigh and looked at me. I could tell there was a little surprise in his eyes.

“You, how did you make this? ...No, don’t tell me. I will check it myself.”

Professor On closed his eyes. Then he raised his magical power. That storm-like magical power instantly wrapped around the surroundings and began weaving a thick barrier.

The barrier, separated from the outside in an instant, was like a new otherworld. It also felt similar to the sensation I had felt in the competition arena. Within it, I could feel magical power slowly vibrating and beginning to construct a world.

Like that, a single space began appearing around Professor On. I blinked quietly as I looked at it. It was the sealed room where I had made the puppet.

And I could see myself entering that room. This space Professor On had created was recreating the past and drawing it before my eyes.

I let out a sound of admiration. This was high-dimensional magic that surpassed time and space. He was a powerful mage, powerful enough to weave together a spell like this so easily.

Perhaps he was even stronger than our Professor. No, that was probably not a guess, but the truth. That must have been why he could create a space capable of shaking the university’s rules.

Inside that space of the past, Professor On slowly looked around. The flow of time inside the barrier passed very quickly under his touch. The past me inside it moved the same way.

Inside it, I cut down the tree. Then I made it dwell inside the puppet. I trapped the soul inside it, and went further, gathering that soul into one. Every part of the process was revealed in detail.

It could not be seen as a simple recreation. I could also feel the flow of magical power I had moved in great detail. And the flow of time soon advanced to the point where I planted the soul inside myself.

Then it ended with my body swelling up and exploding spectacularly. The soul was completed inside that explosion. After showing that final scene, the barrier slowly melted away.

Professor On, who had been standing still, opened his eyes slightly. Then he looked at me and stroked his chin. His eyes held an extremely deep interest. He quietly opened his mouth.

“You are excellent. Apart from this puppet, I like your attitude very much. To not even hesitate to sacrifice your body for the sake of making a puppet. There was a reason you had a puppet’s body.”

I nodded at that. Puppets were bound to love me endlessly. To create such a puppet, should I not be prepared to accept this much loss?

Professor On patted my head. The eyes looking down at me were like those of someone looking at a kindred spirit. For some reason, his behavior carried a bit of closeness toward me.

Mm. Since I needed to earn points, forming this kind of closeness was a good thing. Professor On examined the soul and nodded.

“It was a very interesting structure. Even I could not help admiring it. So the score I can give you is 5 points. That is the highest score I promised all of you. But I do not think you will be satisfied with that.”

His gaze turned toward the association heads behind him. They quietly nodded. It seemed that a tie for first place was unacceptable to them as well.

“So I will leave the choice not to myself, but to Tiena. She is the one who created this gathering, so I believe all of you will agree with her judgment.”

He glanced at Tiena beside him. Professor On met her eyes, smiled slightly, and spoke to her gently. Unlike when his gaze turned toward others, his eyes were endlessly soft.

“Tiena, I think I need to show this soul to you. It seems this is for your sake. Your will matters more than mine.”

Professor On reached out toward Tiena. The gem in his hand slowly flew through the air along with his magical power. Tiena carefully accepted it.

The small soul also headed toward her along the flow of magical power Professor On created. Tiena gently received it and lightly stroked its head.

Tiena looked slightly puzzled. It seemed she had not yet noticed the peculiarity inside it. I bowed my head slightly to her. She glanced at me, then raised her magical power.

The magical power she created was also extremely strong. Aside from Professor On, it was almost certainly more powerful than anyone else’s here. Since she was the puppet he cherished as much as his own life, perhaps even more than his life, that made sense.

Like Professor On had done, Tiena lightly examined the two souls with her magical power. During that process, the faint smile on her face vanished without a trace.

She looked at me in disbelief. Then her eyes soon began sparkling with excitement.

As if unable to contain that excitement, she came straight toward me. Then she lifted my body high with both hands. My body rose lightly into the air in her hands.

I had not expected this situation. Tiena met my eyes and gave a bright smile. I could feel at once that her eyes were filled with expectation.

“My goodness, did you truly create a new life?”

I quietly opened my mouth to answer her question. But before I could say anything, she hugged me into her arms. Buried in that strong pressure, I had no choice but to blink quietly.

Mm. So this was the problem with being small. My magical power and strength had become too weak, so I could not put up any clear resistance. Held in her arms like that, I slowly began getting drunk on her scent.

A strange sensation filled me, as if my mind were loosening and my heart were opening. It was a scent that came from her magical power. Feeling that, I nodded.

I remembered talking with Tiena from time to time after the lecture ended. And each time, the turtle would play around on her chest. I had thought it was very lecherous, but now I understood the reason.

The magical power wafting from her was like a relaxant. That fullness was also very cozy. Just as I was thinking, while drunk on the magical power, that maybe I should stay like this a little longer, I felt a sharp gaze pierce down from somewhere.

That gaze also contained powerful killing intent. At that, I snapped back to my senses. This was bad. Drawn in by the magical power, I had half lost my mind.

The direction that killing intent came from was very clear. Professor On was glaring at me. If I stayed like this, I would definitely die from his jealousy. Then forget puppets, I certainly would not be dreaming of resurrection either.

With that sense of danger, I let out a dry cough and raised my magical power. Then I aimed for a gap in her hold and quickly escaped from her arms. At my resistance, Tiena gently let me go.

I glanced at Professor On. He seemed satisfied that I had escaped Tiena’s arms, and was watching her with his arms crossed.

Tiena looked at me with sparkling eyes. Satisfying that expectation was simple. I only had to lie. Then I could probably receive a high score.

But this was a request. So I needed to tell her the truth. I met her gaze and shook my head slightly.

“It is not enough to call it a complete life. It is only an object made to look that way. So its limits are also clear. If you examine it closely, Tiena, you will naturally understand.”

After hearing my words, Tiena raised her magical power. Unlike before, that magical power began flowing a little more delicately. That flow of magical power headed straight toward the puppet I had made, the small soul.

It showed fear for a moment, but I soon saw its face relax as it wore a loose, silly smile. It had clearly become drunk on the cozy energy contained in Tiena’s magical power.

Seeing that, I clicked my tongue softly. What had happened when I lost myself in Tiena’s arms just now was similar to that. There was a kind of addictiveness to her coziness. That was probably the trait her magical power possessed.

I had not noticed it well when I was in my own body, but after entering this small body, it was very difficult to escape its influence. And the same was true for the small soul.

While it was drunk on magical power, Tiena gently let her magical power flow and wrapped the soul’s body. It soon tangled together like a cocoon and created a connection with the gem.

Like Professor On earlier, she had begun comparing the two souls in her own way. The more the magical power flowed, the more her face filled with a smile. It seemed she had noticed that this life had originated from a puppet.

At the same time, though, she grew just as disappointed. She had realized the limit it possessed. With hope and sorrow slowly mixing on her face, she smiled gently at me.

“It is just as you said. With the method used to create this, it would be impossible to make a child between him and me. What a shame.”

Tiena shook her head with a bitter smile. Then she gently released the one bound inside the cocoon. The one that had been drunk on magical power quickly came to its senses and looked around.

It soon flew through the air and returned to me. I could no longer see the sulky air it had shown before. It looked at me with a pitiful face and whined softly.

Even though I had reassured it, being covered in magical power must have been quite frightening. I carefully received it and gently patted its head.

On the surface, it looked like a single soul. Of course, there were quite a few people who used souls as puppets. Even in our association, there was someone who had made something like a ghost ship into a puppet.

But this one had a different grain from those puppets. It possessed a perfection inside it that made it hard to believe it was a puppet. That was why it felt like a single life, just as Tiena had mistaken it for one.

But that was only an imitation. In the end, it was nothing more than a lump created by gathering incomplete souls. And that was also the result of stealing my individuality.

Before it took its current form, it had stolen the puppet’s individuality. And in the process of forming its current shape, it had eaten my flesh and soul. Then, within the pressure I created, it had begun imitating me.

Just as soul fragments gathered together to form the existence called me, it had also gathered those incomplete souls and formed a single shape. The lump of souls completed inside the explosion had gained its current form.

I lightly tapped its head. Then it looked up at me. From it, I could feel only a faint connection toward me. It felt quite different from my connections to other puppets.

The reason such a connection had formed was clear. It had become an existence clearly distinct from the gem that was its source. In the literal sense, it had become something that could be called Fake Life.

An existence that did not rely on me like that was bound to have this kind of connection. Mira also possessed only a faint connection like this. Like her, it meant this one had also become an existence complete in itself.

But just as Tiena had noticed, it also had a clear limit. In creating this small soul, there was not a single part that could be called proper magic. It was filled only with shortcuts.

Every soul fragment engraved inside this soul came from me. In that sense, it could not be made without my unique magic and soul. It could be called a method only I could use.

Tiena had likely realized that at once too. I felt her staring at me. When I met her eyes, I could recognize the emotion inside them.

It was clear greed toward me. She was definitely considering what would happen if she used me as a kind of sacrifice. But that light of desire quickly faded.

It was probably because she realized the possibility was slim. Even if she used me as ritual material like that, creating a pure child between Professor On and Tiena was close to impossible.

Even if I became a catalyst, Professor On’s soul could not be merged with Tiena’s in the end. Touching his powerful soul was almost impossible.

And that was also why I had revealed this soul puppet to them so freely. To me, I held a value greater than that faint possibility. I bowed my head slightly toward Tiena.

“Until now, I have been working to resolve Tiena’s request. This is a possibility I discovered during that process. Presenting it here could be called a declaration. A declaration that I will certainly resolve the request Tiena has given me.”

I lifted the one in my hand high. It looked around, then crossed its arms with a slightly smug face. Since it had not been born long ago, it was an extremely pure sight.

At my words, Tiena looked moved and came toward me. She was clearly trying to hug me again. Was it because I had become small? Her movements had no hesitation at all.

I hurriedly tried to avoid her, but this body was only fragile. So escaping her grasp was impossible. Tiena hugged me into her arms just like that.

Unexpectedly, though, Professor On did not release such strong killing intent. I glanced at him. He was stroking his chin with a face deep in thought.

From the way he looked at Tiena, I could feel many thoughts flowing through him. He was clearly exploring this new possibility I had presented.

I stretched magical power toward the small soul in my hand. At this rate, it would clearly get drunk on Tiena’s magical power again. So I needed to evacuate it first.

Like that, it was drawn by my magical power and burrowed back into my chest. Professor On looked at me and nodded. It seemed he had finished organizing his thoughts. He looked around and quietly opened his mouth.

“Tiena, who do you think made the more outstanding puppet?”

At those words, Tiena gave me a gentle smile. The meaning shown on her face was very clear. Professor On met her eyes and nodded.

“I understand. I have never seen Tiena look so satisfied before. ...So please get out of there now. There is a limit to how much I can tolerate your little deviation.”

Professor On narrowed his eyes and glared at me. I felt a slight killing intent ripple from him. At that, I quickly escaped Tiena’s arms.

Professor On met my gaze, and his killing intent began to fade little by little. With his face expressionless again, he looked at me and spoke.

“I will add 1 point to your score because Tiena was satisfied. This is also an expression of my respect. So I hope you will properly keep the promise you made with her.”

I nodded with a serious face. Promises had to be kept without fail. Even more so if they had been made out of goodwill.

Behind Professor On, I saw Aronia frown slightly. It was probably an unexpected result for her. Mauro showed his delight and muttered something toward her.

Aronia tried to shut his mouth by releasing magical power, but Mauro did not stop teasing her. And in the end, he was hit by her magical power and collapsed onto the floor.

Watching that, I lightly shook my head. As their actions showed, the result of this competition had become extremely clear. With the 1 point Professor On added, I received a score of 6 points.

And that also meant I had won this competition. I looked down below the platform. I could feel the other participants looking at me. Miorang was among them too.

I saw him narrow his eyes as he looked at me. I smiled gently at him and shrugged.

The strategy he and I used in this competition had the same direction. We targeted not Professor On, but Tiena. Like that, he had hit Tiena’s tastes directly and received a perfect score.

Of course, that score had not been earned by strategy alone. His puppet was also excellent. In that sense, if one looked only at the puppets, it could be called the most outstanding among us.

Even I could not imitate his puppet. My foundation was unstable. With my realm, soul, and magical power all faint, reaching a limit like he had was as distant as ever.

That was why I chose a method only I could use. This small soul could be called proof of that. And through it, I took a slightly different strategy from his.

Miorang had simply tried to please her. But I tried to go further than that. By showing her hope that could exist in her future, I tried to give her a greater happiness.

And that strategy worked very well. I had come to stand tall among them. I placed my hand on my chest. I could feel the sensation of magical power rippling inside it more strongly than ever.

I quietly closed my eyes. Why had I joined this competition? It was to gain certainty in my puppetry.

And now, I had finally seized that certainty. This was a result I had created without anyone’s help, with only the power I possessed.

I could feel that experience, and that certainty, soaking my soul like rain. I smiled at the fullness filling my soul. Then I focused on the sensation beyond my chest.

Winning made me endlessly happy. I had been able to gain certainty in my talent. But that certainty was not the only thing I had obtained through this process.

The tree beyond my chest was half destroyed. I could feel it groaning beneath that pain. The shadow world beneath it was also swaying faintly.

My mental world looked as though it might collapse at any moment. The tree forming its center had been completely snapped. It would not have been strange for that world to fall apart at any time.

But although that world was precarious, it was maintaining its shape in a stable way. Because there was an existence supporting the world in place of my tree.

When I let magical power flow beyond my chest, I began sensing the presence of a small Sapling near the half-destroyed tree. That tiny tree with a faint form was supporting this world.

It had not come from me. It had formed when the new puppet I made, that small soul, settled into my foundation.

The Sapling gave off a blunt air, yet scattered a little magical power as it tried to raise my tree back up. Feeling that effort, I smiled softly.

It had eaten me. And in that process, it had taken the form of a Sapling and settled inside my mental world like that. Facing it, I could understand. That was the direction I needed to move in.

The previous me had split the tree and created Fake Souls. And those dwelled inside the shadow tree, becoming stars. Beyond my chest, traces of those stars remained everywhere.

I had started carving down my tree like this to make up for my lacking skill. Even if I built up my realm alone, my shabby talent had clear limits.

I raised them, and they raised my tree. In that kind of cycle, I had tried to achieve mutual growth. And this could be called a direction different from the one ordinary mages walked.

Mages dreamed of perfection. That was why each of them drew a single tree. So it could be larger, grander, and able to contain more magical power.

In that sense, their souls were endlessly perfect, and the tree created based on them was also extremely clear. And the one who had reached that limit could be called the archmage who founded this university.

Among mages like that, I had always carried small doubts about the path I was walking. I could not find anyone who used the same method as me, and because of that, it was difficult to get advice from anywhere.

So I had no choice but to quietly carve out a path for myself. And now, at this point, I could be certain that I had not been wrong.

Because at the end of walking this path, even if it was nothing more than a fake, I had been able to create a new life. I looked at the one growing beside my tree. If anything, the form of an incomplete thing like that suited me.

Mages grew a single tree until it was full. That could be called the method created by a perfect soul. Perhaps the reason it had been difficult for the previous me to build my realm was because of that.

That was something hard for an incomplete me to achieve. So this direction was the one that fit me. If they raised a single tree high, then I would do the opposite and plant small trees endlessly.

I would create a single forest. That was why it did not matter if my tree was cut away. Like now, another life would support me beside it.

A forest raised life by giving itself away, and life grew through the forest. And in that process, the forest I created would become richer and greater. It could be called a virtuous cycle created by love for each other.

Like that, this long competition came to an end. Just as I had been certain when I first entered the competition arena, with my victory.

And after some time passed, I ended up kneeling.

I felt a cold gaze digging into me. At that, I glanced upward. Then I saw Mira looking down at me with her arms crossed.

Her eyes had gone very cold. I lowered my head again before those glassy eyes, where I could not feel a single emotion. The turtle rolling on the floor saw me like that and let out a laugh.

“Meeeng.”

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