WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 188

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188.

I felt magical power begin to gather little by little around us. All of it came from the puppets the students had brought out. The sight of so many different puppets leaking magical power was fairly intimidating.

I nodded quietly. Every puppeteer had their own way of making puppets. In that sense, the puppet they were most confident in could also be called the puppet most familiar to them.

As if to prove it, the puppets the students had brought out came in all kinds of forms. Armor, swords, magical beasts, and more. Among them was even one made from a human corpse.

I stroked my chin while looking at the corpse puppet’s face. It was a fairly welcome face, too. That was the body of the person Ugo had defeated during the first trial of the last competition.

Of course, the owner of that body had already been revived. Professor On had made a new body for him. After his revival, he had chased after Ugo, so I had ended up seeing him from time to time as well.

I never thought I would meet his main body again like this, as a puppet. It felt a little strange. The fact that they had only now turned that into a puppet also meant they had put that much effort into this assignment.

As if proving it, the corpse puppet was giving off strong magical power. The same was true of the other puppets. They had changed completely from when the students had first started this lecture.

After all, every puppet had improved enough to fully contain its puppeteer’s individuality. As I watched the scene in silence, I felt like I could understand a little better why Professor On taught puppeteers.

I looked at Professor On, who was watching us with an indifferent face. Professor On and Tiena dreamed of creating a world only for puppets. That was something Professor On had personally revealed when this lecture first began.

A world was always made of complex things. In that sense, puppets developing in their own ways like this could be seen as crystals of new possibility.

So, as someone who wanted to create a new world, Professor On must have been facing those possibilities and trying to include more things in that world. It was like sowing one new seed.

Then could the puppet I had made belong to the world Professor On dreamed of? I had no way of knowing. I opened my spatial pouch and took out a puppet.

The gazes around me gathered at once. The memory of the competition was probably deeply rooted in them. After all, I had seized victory there.

They naturally began examining my puppet. Then I started to sense a strange confusion from them. It was probably because my puppet was different from what they had expected.

Looking at the puppet, I let out a light laugh. I understood why they were reacting like that. There was nothing special about my puppet. Compared to theirs, it only looked lacking.

I gently stroked the puppet’s head. A rough texture lingered at my fingertips. The puppet had no decorations, nor was any magic engraved into it.

A puppet that could not hold magical power inside was nothing more than carved pieces of wood joined together. It was no different from an ordinary puppet made by people who could not handle magical power.

Was that why? Compared to the various puppets they had shown, this puppet looked endlessly lacking. And if this alone was all there was to it, then yes, it really was lacking. But this was the puppet I would submit this time.

I lightly tapped the puppet’s head. Then magical power rising from my fingertips slowly began connecting to the puppet. The magical power stretched out like thread and wrapped around its body.

Since it was an ordinary puppet with no work done on it, I had to move it myself with magical power. Riding that magical power, the puppet slowly took a step. Maybe because it had been a while since I controlled a puppet, its steps were a little awkward.

“Hmm, I think it would be best for you to go last. We’ll be considerate.”

Gunda burst into loud laughter and approached my puppet. After looking it up and down, he tilted his head slightly, then placed my puppet at the very end of the evaluation line. The others nodded as if they agreed.

“Will that be all right? I think first would be better for me.”

“Hoho, you are the star of the show here, so it would be no fun if you were evaluated early. Besides, if you go first, who knows what else you will pull? We should hurry up and finish first. We will not fall for your scheme this time.”

Gunda shrugged. I gave him an aggrieved look. What had I even done all this time for him to misunderstand me like this? I had simply carried out my assignments and tried my best to pass somehow.

But the smile on his face stayed firm. I had no choice but to click my tongue lightly. My plan to show my puppet from the very beginning and influence the later evaluations had fallen apart.

If they wanted to be evaluated first, I had to accept it. Even if my turn was pushed back, it was not a major loss to me. I glanced at Professor On.

The standards Professor On used to judge puppets were absolute. That firm judgment would not be swayed by whatever came before. Even so, the reason I had wanted to be evaluated first was to affect the other puppeteers’ puppets.

A puppet was an object filled with its puppeteer’s conviction. Because of that, if that conviction wavered, the puppet would naturally waver too. In that sense, my puppet was enough to throw them off.

The puppets I made based on the characteristics of my soul were always far removed from existing methods. That was why I always brought results they had never expected. And I had passed with them, too.

Those who saw me pass like that had gradually lost confidence in the puppets they had made. That was also what had happened to Gunda in the previous lecture.

I smacked my lips slightly and pulled my puppet back. Since I had seen some people shaken like that, I had meant to try it again this time, but it seemed it would be hard to use twice.

Once I pulled my puppet back, No. 0, who had been standing behind it, took out their puppet. It was a small sphere giving off black light. I lightly shook my head. I had not thought they would really complete that.

No. 0 shook the bead in front of Gunda. It meant they wanted to stand at the front. Gunda stroked his chin while looking at them.

Grades had no meaning for No. 0. They were attending as an auditor. Even so, No. 0 always did their best in this lecture. That was the result they had made through Professor On’s teachings.

“Mm, since you yielded, shall we send your familiar friend first instead? I’m sure everyone else will agree.”

Gunda smiled and gestured. I could feel that he was looking down on No. 0. Seeing the others readily nod, I wore a bitter smile.

I looked at the black sphere No. 0 was holding. That was something even I could not make. So if they let their guard down like that, they would definitely be in for a nasty surprise.

I shrugged. There was no need to warn them. No. 0’s puppet would have a similar effect to what I had planned anyway. Like that, the evaluation order was decided.

No. 0 held the sphere and showed a bright smile. They stood in front of Professor On and held it out. Then Professor On, who had only been quietly watching us, lightly flicked a finger.

Magical power blooming from Professor On’s fingertip wrapped around the sphere and made it rise into the air. Floating in midair, the sphere slowly began rotating within Professor On’s magical power. Magical power seeped into it and searched its interior.

A short time passed, and Professor On stared intently at the sphere while stroking the chin. The magical power swaying in the professor’s eyes gave off a sharp light, as if piercing through the sphere.

Soon, that magical power flowed back to the fingertips. Holding the sphere, Professor On quietly toyed with it. And watching that, the students, including me, could not help being a little surprised.

Because we could see the small smile on Professor On’s lips. Aside from when Professor On faced Tiena, I had only seen Professor On smile once before. It was during the last competition, when Professor On saw the armor Miorang had made.

Miorang had lost to me, but the armor puppet he made had been outstanding. If I had not earned extra points through a trick, he definitely would have taken first place. But for Professor On to react similarly now.

The smile Professor On wore soon disappeared. That probably meant there were lacking points as well. Even so, the fact that Professor On had smiled did not change. It meant No. 0’s puppet pleased Professor On that much.

“This is... interesting. You made it properly.”

Professor On spoke softly. No. 0 looked proud and raised both hands high. Professor On filled a finger with magical power and lightly tapped the sphere. Following that touch, I saw the surface of the sphere ripple faintly.

“It has a structure that shows your effort. Open it once. I want to see what is inside.”

No. 0 began to hesitate. I understood why. Last time, when they had opened that in the tower, an accident had happened. Professor On looked at No. 0 and slightly shook the head.

“Do not worry about cleaning up afterward. Whatever you made, I can control it.”

Professor On floated the sphere back into the air. No. 0 glanced at Professor On, nodded, and slowly released magical power. No. 0’s magical power headed straight toward the sphere suspended in midair.

The sphere touched by the magical power gradually began writhing. Soon, I felt it spit out murky magical power. That murky magical power swallowed No. 0’s magical power in an instant and gradually swelled.

Following that magical power, the sphere also grew in volume. It expanded in an instant and covered the classroom. It covered even us inside it.

I drew a magic circle to push away the murky magical power and looked around. Thick darkness entered my sight. Inside that darkness, I began to see a writhing flow.

When I quietly looked down at my feet, I felt my shadow seep into the darkness along that flow. Inside that shadow, blackish tentacles were swaying.

Those tentacles were not only on the floor. The more my shadow spread, the more tentacles there were. The space created by the sphere was made of shadows like this.

Feeling the flow that repeated, moving, forming, and disappearing, I quietly nodded. I had not thought No. 0 could make something like this. Professor On seemed to think the same as me, because the professor looked somewhat satisfied.

This could be called a domain No. 0 had created. I touched the tentacle flowing on the floor with my foot. This was part of the puppet No. 0 had made. As if proving that, the tentacle held the rough texture of stone within it.

The puppets No. 0 made were based on stone statues like this. And intertwined with shadows like this, they also took on half-amorphous forms. It was probably because No. 0’s main body was a shadow.

A shadow was incomplete. But because of that, shadows could overlap with each other. Just like No. 0’s puppet had seeped into my shadow now.

This domain was like a lump made from endlessly overlapping shadows gathered in one place. It could be called a massive colony formed by binding together the puppets No. 0 had made so far.

This domain tangled with shadows also seemed to contain a scene I had seen somewhere before. I stroked my chin while observing the movements of the tentacles flowing around us. The tentacles moved in a steady flow, as if crawling along walls.

And that flow resembled the shadow world Professor Heisen had made before. No. 0 was a shadow that came from there. So they must have imitated this flow by following their origin.

No. 0 had managed to create a new world, even if only a small one. That was probably why Professor On had smiled. I had also been unable to hold back my admiration when I first saw this.

I looked at No. 0 and nodded. This had probably become possible because the foundation they were based on was me. It was only natural that a familiar born through my will would contain a fragment of my soul.

Maybe that was why there was also a small problem. I felt the tentacle beneath my feet writhe and try to climb up my body. I lightly pressed it down with magical power.

The fact that the tentacle was moving like this meant No. 0 had failed to control the world. Like that, tentacle puppets that had escaped No. 0’s magical power began targeting us. Facing that hostility, I clicked my tongue slightly.

So it really did turn out like this. Last time too, the tentacles had escaped No. 0’s control like this. It was probably because their instincts as shadows had grown stronger after overlapping countless times. Shadows always wanted living things, after all.

“Hoho, it really is interesting. It is delightful to watch.”

Mira, who was beside me, looked around and smiled with her eyes. This sight seemed to please her. I had no choice but to shake my head. Was the sight of writhing tentacles really nice to look at?

Well, from a treasure’s senses, those might look rather cute. Treasures tended to like the puppets No. 0 made. So this little world made by gathering those puppets would please them even more.

If I had still been soaked in a treasure’s magical power like before, I might have thought the same. But now I had succeeded in purifying my magical power, so my perception had returned to normal. That was at least fortunate.

The magical power of the shadows covering the area surged violently and poured toward living things. I saw the others release magical power to block it. Professor On watched quietly, then lightly gestured.

Magical power flowing from Professor On’s fingertips headed straight toward the shadow tentacles. As the magical power brushed past them, the tentacles melted away in an instant. That flow of magical power soon swept through the entire classroom.

The small shadow world that had covered the classroom quickly melted within Professor On’s magical power and began gathering into one. Soon, it returned to the shape of a sphere. Professor On quietly looked down at it, then handed it to No. 0.

“Well made. I can see where it falls short, but the method of making a simple world itself was interesting.”

Meeting No. 0’s eyes, Professor On stroked the chin briefly and sank into thought. Soon, the professor tore the air and took out a scroll from a rift. Professor On threw it to No. 0.

“You pass. Since you completed the assignment, I should give you a reward. It should help a little with the path you want to take. You may go back now.”

No. 0 accepted it and looked excited. Holding the sphere, No. 0 quickly came back to my side. They held out the scroll to me and shrugged.

I smiled and gently stroked No. 0’s head as they showed off. To No. 0, Professor On could be called the first teacher they had met. Since someone like that had acknowledged them, they were definitely happy.

No. 0 toyed with the sphere, then dropped it at their feet. It changed form and became No. 0’s shadow. That was No. 0’s shadow transformed, just like now.

In that sense, that could be called a domain no puppeteer except No. 0 could make. Who could handle the shadow of a shadow? That must have been why Professor On liked it. Of course, it looked extremely unpleasant.

I felt the gazes of the other students gather on us. When I looked at them with a smile, I saw some faces looking a little pressured. They must have thought No. 0 would not be able to produce this kind of result.

Maybe that was why the way they looked at me seemed to have grown a little sharper. I could clearly glimpse what they were thinking.

No. 0 was nothing more than my familiar. But No. 0 had brought out such an excellent result, so they must have been worried about how outstanding the puppet made by No. 0’s master would be.

Reading those thoughts, I quietly scratched my head. Mm, I did not think the puppet I made was at that level. Even I had been flustered when I first saw No. 0’s puppet. I only felt sorry because I thought I might end up disappointing them for no reason.

Professor On moved on to the next puppet. The professor’s face while observing the puppet was completely indifferent. Even so, I could read a faint satisfaction in it.

“The puppet you made is rather crude. Still, I can see potential.”

Professor On returned the puppet to the student. The student who received it let out a sigh of relief. After giving that simple evaluation and declaring a pass, Professor On moved on to the next puppet.

Professor On’s steps were without hesitation. The process of checking the puppets was thorough, and the hand that pointed out mistakes and corrected unclear parts was perfectly precise. Even so, there was not the slightest sharpness in the atmosphere.

Professor On declared another pass and moved past the puppet. Not a single student received harsh criticism from Professor On. Just like now, Professor On generally passed by with satisfaction.

That was not because Professor On was applying lenient standards. Rather, it meant the others’ puppets were that excellent. I glanced at the other students.

They were all serious about puppetry. If not, each association would not have accepted them. So their talent was clear.

Those people had spent five years building knowledge, and at the very end, they had poured their hearts into the results now before us. Since the puppets were like that, it was only natural for Professor On to be satisfied.

Just like No. 0 had done, the students withdrew one by one while holding gifts for the assignment. But even though they had been told they passed, their faces were slightly tense.

It was probably because they recognized the limits of the evaluations they had received. Professor On had not shown a reaction toward them that surpassed the one No. 0 received. That meant it would be hard for them to pass this lecture.

Not surpassing No. 0 meant not surpassing me. They must have noticed that from Professor On’s attitude too. It seemed sending No. 0 first had worked quite well.

But not everyone was shaken like them. There was someone who gave Professor On a small smile. I saw Professor On stroking the chin in front of Gunda.

“Now, please take a look.”

Gunda struck a pose and fully showed off his huge build. The muscles packed all over his body stood out clearly along with his magical power. A small smile brushed across Professor On’s lips while looking at Gunda.

“Interesting. This is the first time I have seen someone use a shell like that. You worked what I said in class into it well.”

“Thank you for your kind words!”

Gunda bowed deeply. I could not help frowning at that. It was not because he had been praised. Rather, it was for a more primal reason.

Gunda often made armor into puppets. What he had made now was the same. The circuit and magic structure of the armor he made this time were truly beautiful. Beautiful enough for Professor On to praise them.

Even I had no choice but to acknowledge it. But perhaps because he needed to contain that kind of magic, he had created a new form of armor. It covered his whole body like thin rubber.

In terms of protecting the body, there might be nothing better than that. But perhaps because of that thin material, the rubber armor clearly revealed Gunda’s body. Literally every part of it.

I tried to examine the structure drawn by the armor’s circuits, then quietly closed my eyes. I could no longer endure the strain on my eyes. I would admit that thing was excellent, but looking at it while enduring this much pain felt far too much.

I did not have a hobby of observing a man’s body. The bizarre sight presented by that armor could perhaps be compared to No. 0’s tentacles.

Wondering whether Mira liked it, I looked at her, only to find that she was also frowning slightly. Thankfully, it seemed she disliked that form too. That meant she did not like tentacles simply because of their shape.

After hearing Professor On’s praise, Gunda withdrew with a grin. He winked at me. Under that pressure, I had no choice but to let out a small dry cough and look away from him.

Still, to think he would receive praise like that. No wonder he had been so confident earlier. He really was worthy of being called a mage of the fourth floor.

I glanced at Biogan. Now he was the only one in front of me. As if he had felt my gaze, he slowly moved forward. Then he held out a sword to Professor On.

It was the sword he had carried around all this time. It was also the one he had made during the last competition. Professor On naturally accepted the sword and quietly flowed magical power into it.

Then the sword seemed to sense Professor On’s magical power and began giving off a sharp energy. Professor On lightly ran a fingertip along the blade. In that process, the magical power loaded into the finger and the sword’s magical power repelled each other, spitting out a shockwave.

Professor On slowly removed the finger from the sword. Then, looking down at the finger, Professor On let out a slight laugh. A single drop of blood was falling from that finger.

The small wound left on Professor On’s finger vanished in an instant inside the magical power. Professor On lightly flicked the blade and nodded.

“You refined it well. Did you cut the connection I made? It seems your puppet has surpassed its previous limits.”

I could feel a little interest in Professor On’s gaze as the professor looked down at Biogan. Biogan bowed deeply to Professor On.

I looked at the sword in Professor On’s hand. I could also immediately tell why Professor On was interested. That could not be called a mage’s method.

A swordsman raised the sword that accompanied them. Because of that, the sword they held could be called the swordsman themselves.

Biogan had refined his puppet like a swordsman refining a sword. Though he was a mage, he had followed the method of a swordsman. It was unbelievable. I let out a groan.

Because I had steadily watched Cassian from nearby, I knew. That was not something that could be done by simply imitating the surface. The sword would only respond when even the mindset was the same as a swordsman’s.

I quietly closed my eyes. I had known long ago that Biogan was not a fake sword-user. Yes, of course. How could I fail to recognize a swordsman? Even during the competition, I had definitely thought there must have been unavoidable circumstances.

“I have nothing to say to you. Those who use swords are outside my interests. But the way you make puppets is extremely interesting.”

Professor On tore the air again and opened a gap in space. After flowing magical power into it, the professor soon took out a small sword. The sword, split in half, contained traces of dense magical power.

“You pass too. I obtained this from someone I met before. It seems it will suit you, so I will give it to you as a reward.”

Professor On waved a hand. Then the two swords dropped toward Biogan. Biogan took them in hand and bowed again. I gave him a thumbs-up. It was a truly excellent puppet.

Biogan glanced at me, then closed his eyes. I felt sharp magical power rise from him as he stored the sword away. Mm, that kind of taciturn attitude. He really was like a swordsman. I quietly nodded and looked at Professor On.

The evaluation of every puppet was over. Then the only one left was me. Mira gently linked her arm with mine and let out a small laugh. Somehow, I could glimpse amusement in her eyes.

“Will that puppet be all right? The others seem to have worked quite hard. If you are truly worried, I do not mind going out. Am I not the puppet Evron is most confident in?”

Mira winked at me. I could glimpse a slightly mischievous air from her. I lightly shook my head at that.

As she said, not only Biogan and Gunda, but every student had passed the assignment. Just as I had grown over those five years, this was the result of them building up their skills too.

So I needed to present a puppet that surpassed them. In that sense, Mira could be called a puppet suited to the assignment. She was the core of my puppets, after all.

But if I accepted her help this time, I had no idea what she would make me do in return. This time, she might tell me to stay in a child’s form for about a year.

That could not happen again, could it? So this time, I intended to solve this assignment with my own strength. I had enough confidence in that puppet alone.

I saw Professor On stand in front of my puppet and tilt the head. As the professor looked down at the puppet, a strange expression began to settle on that face. After lightly stroking the chin, Professor On turned a gaze toward me.

“What kind of puppet is this?”

I walked to the front of the platform and gave Professor On a slight bow. Professor On was using magical power to examine every part of my puppet. Soon, the professor narrowed the eyes and looked at me.

“This seems to be nothing more than a simple piece of wood. Is this truly what you are presenting as your puppet?”

I quietly nodded. The professor was right. What I had presented was nothing more than an ordinary puppet. A simple wooden puppet anyone could make. But that was also the puppet I was most confident in.

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