WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 189

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189.

Professor On quietly watched my puppet, then tilted their head. They had not found anything special about it. A block of wood. I could fully understand why Professor On had called it that.

From Professor On’s perspective, this really would look like nothing more than a simple piece of wood. And Professor On was not the only one looking at it that way. The other students, and even Tiena, were looking at my puppet with slight frowns.

I knew exactly why they were looking at it like that. Not a single trace of magical power could be felt from the puppet before them. To a puppeteer, and to a mage, such a puppet had no value at all.

In that sense, it could also be called an unfinished puppet. After all, a mage’s puppet usually began by breathing life into a piece of wood like this.

Unfinished meant incomplete. I quietly tapped the puppet’s head and smiled. And I liked incomplete things. They were so much like me.

I looked at Professor On and spoke. To explain this puppet properly, there was one thing I needed to tell them first. Judging by Professor On’s reaction, they had not grasped everything about this puppet either.

“Professor, do you know about the grain of life?”

I placed a hand over my chest. Then Myoil, who had rooted itself there, changed form and poked its head out. I stroked its head and pointed at the puppet. Myoil looked at the puppet, and its eyes sparkled faintly.

“The grain of life... you mean?”

Professor On rubbed their chin for a moment, then shook their head. In other words, they did not know about this grain, this flow, either. I watched the flow of magical power rippling from Professor On and scratched my head.

“My puppet is the result of being made along the grain of life. It took this form in order to create a single flow. ...Perhaps because of that, as you said, it ended up looking like nothing more than a block of wood.”

A faint bitter smile touched my lips. Originally, I had intended to bring a completed puppet here. But while handling this puppet, I had sensed one thing.

If I completed this, my puppet would move one step further. That was why I had stopped. I wanted to make the puppet right here.

“So I will complete the puppet here. Then I believe you will naturally come to understand what I mean by the grain of life.”

Facing Professor On, I bowed my head. I felt the tree beyond my chest slowly release magical power. The magical power flowing from it followed the faint flow carved into its stem and vanished.

Feeling the flow of magical power gradually deepen, I smiled lightly. This was a kind of performance. If I wanted to pass, this much was only natural, was it not?

Of course, if I was going to put on a performance, I needed a result worthy of surprise. If Professor On or Tiena disliked it, this performance would clearly turn against me instead.

But I had plenty of confidence in the puppet I was about to make. Making puppets was my talent. So I quietly looked at the puppet and let my magical power flow.

It had not been long since I gained certainty about my puppetry. Only after coming to the university and joining the puppeteer association Tiena had created was I finally able to awaken to my talent.

Thanks to that, my tree had grown sturdier as well. It had gained a deeper foundation. But even before I gained that confidence in my talent, making puppets had been important to me.

The magical power flowing from me wrapped around the puppet and began drawing circuits. I could feel Professor On examining the magic circle. Well, there would be nothing to see even if they examined it. It was only simple stabilization magic.

Only one thing mattered. The puppet. I had brought out this puppet as the thing I was most confident in because it was an extension of every puppet I had made until now. Looking at the stiff wooden puppet, I smiled lightly.

Making puppets without a single trace of magical power was not something I had only started doing recently. If I traced back to when I first started making puppets like this, it would probably lead all the way back to when I was young.

Before I left my hometown island. This was something I had continued since back when I was nothing more than a novice. Making puppets like this was my hobby, and also a kind of training.

And this was the result of that training. Of course, to a mage, this puppet without even a trace of magical power would clearly look extremely ordinary. But in my eyes, it was more valuable than anything else.

I gently stroked the puppet’s head. A rough sensation traveled through my hand. The puppet held the thick life force of wood inside it.

That life force was circling inside the puppet along a single flow. The flow traveled along my fingertips and reached me. And now, it was creating this clear sensation.

Feeling that vast flow, I quietly closed my eyes. The memory of when I first learned about this flow still remained vivid to me. It was from the time I had been struggling on the island.

How could I handle wood that carried magical power? That was my concern. Looking back now, it was laughable, but to me back then, that concern was like a huge wall.

And the one who gave me the answer was not a mage, but an old man. A shabby old man scraping by day after day with a stall in the market had handed me the answer.

As someone who had carved wood his whole life, he knew very well how to handle it. And in exchange for a few gold coins, he handed over the knowledge he had built up over his lifetime.

The old man had smiled happily then. Probably because the gold coins I gave him would allow him to live a few more years. He had clearly thought that receiving that much in return for the knowledge he had built was enough.

But he had not truly known what he had achieved. I shook my head with a bitter smile. Perhaps because I had gained some certainty about the level of talent I possessed, I had also begun to develop a standard for judging others.

And the old man had possessed more remarkable talent than anyone I had seen until now. What he told me was knowledge worth a thousand gold, something that could not be exchanged for anything else.

What he taught me was how to carve wood. It was also how to see the grain dwelling in wood. By learning that grain, I was able to recognize the flow of magical power for the first time.

And after carving puppets, then carving them again and again, I had reached where I was now. Feeling the puppet’s life force flowing through my hand, I smiled faintly. I held knowledge even Professor On did not know. It was hard to believe.

Maybe that was why I felt a fresh sense of regret. What if that old man had become a mage? If he had, he would surely have become a better puppeteer than me. He had enough talent to discover such a grain, after all.

But he had remained a weed and died. There was nothing to be done about it, since only a handful became mages. If someone failed to seize an opportunity, even outstanding talent would fade away like that.

Even so, his will had continued through me. Though I was still lacking, a little of the sense that old man had shown me had settled at my fingertips.

I quietly looked down at my hand. A mage’s body had magical power flowing through it and always maintained an optimal state. Even so, my hand was covered in calluses.

This body I had entered was different from my original flesh. But even though I had entered a new body, calluses had once again been carved into my hand. Just like the dark circles left beneath my eyes.

The things that continued even after I changed bodies could be called traces left on my soul. The countless hours of training I had piled up had been carved all the way into my soul.

After the old man taught me about grain, I kept thinking. Why did a carving gain liveliness when the grains were connected? Why did a flow form when the grain continued? Those were the kinds of questions I had.

And through the process of building up these calluses, I came to understand the reason clearly. In truth, when looking at the entire world, beings with magical power were an extreme minority. Even mages were only a handful compared to all humans.

Even without magical power, life still lived. And what the old man taught me was the flow of such life. It could be called a primal power that existed before magical power.

That was why the puppet I made did not need magical power either. This was a puppet where the flow of life had been condensed. I quietly checked the magic circle and nodded. Now all preparations were complete.

I gently tapped Myoil’s shoulder as it played along my finger, and resonated with it. Myoil received my will and slowly floated into the air. Then it carefully began approaching the puppet.

Myoil slowly looked over the puppet’s body, then tilted its head slightly. It must have been because of the familiarity it felt from the puppet. It slowly put a hand into the puppet’s body, and its eyes sparkled.

It seemed to like the puppet’s body. Myoil looked at me, waved once, then entered the puppet and disappeared inside. Seeing that, I let out a small smile.

Myoil had been created during the previous competition. I had introduced it to Professor On and Tiena as a Fake Life. I had also seized victory through it. It was a result created by my strategy.

But Myoil back then was not enough to call life. It only had a hazy soul body. Even so, Tiena had chosen me because she saw possibility in it.

I looked at Tiena beside Professor On and smiled lightly. The lecture was ending too, so should I not now show a result that could satisfy her?

So I intended to truly complete a single Fake Life here. With that, I looked at the puppet. I saw the body Myoil had entered tremble slightly.

Soul and body were uniting. I quietly nodded at that. The two mingling inside the magic circle were not producing any great rejection. It had been worth carefully refining the puppet.

There were three elements that made up life. Soul, mind, and body. In that sense, Myoil possessed a soul of sufficient size. Its mind had also clearly bloomed together with its soul.

That was the result of tearing off and offering both my flesh and my tree during the process of making it. Even so, Myoil could not be called life. It had no body suitable for it.

That was also a problem with the direction I had taken when making it. I had gone in reverse order from the way life was created, and pushed the body to the end.

Of course, it could wear another puppet’s body as I did. But could something that simply dwelled in a body like that be called life? I quietly felt my hand. Then I felt the firmly settled calluses.

These calluses had not appeared when I took the form of a child at Mira’s request. I knew the reason clearly. It was because the flow of my soul was slightly missing the flow of life carved into the body.

With the form of an immature child, it was impossible to reveal the things I had built up. That was why I was satisfied with my current appearance. These traces of my soul could be called the greatest elements that made me who I was.

I did not know whether the soul had come to resemble the body, or the body had come to resemble the soul, but every soul tended to have a flow similar to its body. So I had to create a body with a similar flow for Myoil as well.

That puppet was the result of the time I had invested solely in Myoil’s body. I observed the flow of life coming from the puppet’s body. It resembled the flow carved into Myoil, who was inside it.

I glanced at Mira. The thick life force flowing through her body made her look like a person. It was thanks to Wriggler No. 1, which had seeped into her body.

Wriggler No. 1 had also helped me create this flow of life. I had learned how to construct a puppet body by peeking at the flows from the many puppets in this tower, and by studying the ones I had bought before.

Showing Professor On the process of making a puppet like this was also because I wanted to show them this flow. This could be called repayment for everything Professor On had taught me until now.

Also, I was expecting a little benefit to fall my way too. I laughed lightly. Professor On had created Wriggler No. 1, and beyond that No. 2, without properly grasping the grain of puppets.

Then what would happen if Professor On recognized the grain of puppets? A work even better than before would surely come out. Then Professor On would share a little of that result with me, the one who had given them such knowledge. That was what I wanted.

Myoil gradually mixed the wood and itself together. Within the cycle where the flow of life chased the flow of the soul, and the flow of the soul chased the flow of life, I felt the wooden-block puppet’s form wriggle.

The puppet originally had the shape of a rough wooden carving. It was meant only to contain the flow of life more clearly. But during the process of mingling with the soul like this, the puppet’s roughness gradually began to disappear.

Beyond that, I felt the puppet’s size slowly shrink as well. It was the result of the flow of the soul and the flow of life joining into one. Like that, the puppet soon took the shape of a small girl.

That shape was also similar to Isabella’s appearance. It was probably because Myoil was something born from her soul. It could be called the result of the soul’s appearance being carved into the body.

And as the puppet gradually took on a clearer form, the magical power rippling inside my chest also grew thicker. I quietly placed a hand over my chest. I felt the magical power from the tree settled beyond my chest churn.

And within that flow of magical power, I felt a faint trace slowly reveal itself. Feeling that, I could not help but laugh. Something that had been no more than a possibility had finally taken form.

The new flow of magical power that had existed since I created Myoil was being clearly carved into my tree. It could be called a unique magic. While cultivating Myoil’s body, my tree had finally created a magic.

I felt that unique magic slowly flow toward Myoil. That magic was weaving Myoil’s soul and the puppet’s body together, creating a clearer flow.

And the more the soul stabilized inside the body, the clearer this new unique magic became. At the end of it, it fully revealed itself.

Feeling fulfillment fill my chest, I looked at the puppet. The little one in the form of a small girl slowly opened its eyes. Then the puppet jumped up and settled on my shoulder.

When I stroked the puppet’s head, I could feel a thick flow of life. It was not simply imitating life like the puppets of this tower. From the one who had seeped into this body, I could not feel any connection to me.

This puppet Myoil had entered was a completely independent existence from me. It had become something that was a puppet, and also life. I quietly felt the unique magic inside my chest.

This could be called a magic that created a body suited to a soul like this. A magic that bound the Fake Souls I created to puppet bodies. Well, should I name it Fake Life for now?

This was the puppet I had made. It was also the final gift to close this lecture. I looked straight at Tiena.

She was looking at Myoil with round eyes. I could glimpse a little surprise in her eyes. I smiled lightly at her, then met Professor On’s eyes.

Professor On seemed deep in thought. Professor On would be able to understand how this puppet had been made. Even if they did not know the flow of life, they must have recognized the flow of magical power mingled with the soul.

Soon, Professor On nodded heavily.

“...Wonderful.”

Professor On added nothing after that. Looking at them, I smiled slightly. Even without a word, I could predict the result well enough.

A little time passed, and Professor On came back to their senses. Then they faced the students and announced the results of the lecture. At Professor On’s words, some quietly accepted it, while others looked sad. There were also those who were happy.

With that unsettled mood as the end, the lecture finally concluded. The short and long journey of five years had at last come to an end. I looked at the paper in my hand and quietly laughed.

Then I felt someone approaching me. I glanced over and had no choice but to frown. Gunda was approaching me while wearing the armor he had made.

Gunda, with his whole body plainly exposed, stood in front of me and rubbed his chin. No matter how many times I saw that unsettling appearance, I could not get used to it at all. He seemed unaware of how he looked and simply wore a calm expression.

Gunda did not say anything and looked at Myoil sitting on my shoulder. His eyes showed a great deal of interest. Soon, he shook his head heavily.

“So this is a real puppet, huh. I saw it with my own eyes, but I still can’t believe it.”

Gunda quietly held out a hand toward Myoil. At that, Myoil snorted and slapped his finger. The little one showed a prickly air and growled softly.

Facing Myoil, Gunda awkwardly withdrew his hand. After looking at Myoil with wonder for a moment, he soon met my eyes. Then he lowered his head slightly to me.

“I saw something good. Grain, was it? Interesting. I learned something new.”

“Gunda, I believe you can learn it too if you work hard. After all, you passed this lecture.”

I glanced at the paper in Gunda’s hand. The paper carved with Professor On’s magical power was also an acceptance certificate for this lecture. Gunda lightly shook the paper and burst into hearty laughter.

“Well, didn’t you pass too! Though I didn’t expect Professor to hand out this many.”

Gunda quietly looked around. Just as he said, I had also been able to pass this lecture. I put the paper in my hand into my clothes and nodded.

“I came to tell you thank you. Then I suppose I’ll head off first. I have to pass news of you to the association head too.”

Gunda winked one eye, then flexed his body. I turned away from the clear sight of the muscles he created and gave a slight dry cough. Gunda burst into laughter again and left.

After him, the others also approached me and said their farewells. While I returned their greetings, the last person soon approached me. It was Biogan, the one with sharp magical power. He bowed his head slightly to me.

“I came to thank you for sharing your knowledge.”

“Haha, it was nothing. Aren’t we all puppeteers? It’s a good thing for us to share knowledge with each other like this.”

I waved a hand and smiled. At that, Biogan nodded and put a sheet of paper into his clothes. Like me, he was one of those who had received an acceptance certificate.

At first, I thought only one or two people would pass, but Professor On presented something we had not expected. Out of twelve people, Professor On gave acceptance certificates to as many as five. That was far more than a tenth of the lecture’s capacity.

According to Professor On, it was something they could do at their discretion. To think they could even increase the passing capacity as they pleased. As expected, Professor On was an elder professor who could look down even on Professor Irian. There was a reason she called Professor On an old fossil.

The fact that Professor On had shown this consideration also meant that those who had taken this lecture were that excellent. That was also why I had revealed a little about the grain of puppets to them.

They were people I would continue being with in the future. Buying their goodwill with knowledge was something I had done a few times before. And learning this grain was not easy either.

Like that, everyone left. Just as when they came here, the transparent carriage took them and instantly left the tower. One day, I would probably see all of them again at a gathering. I was looking forward to that time too.

I quietly fiddled with the acceptance certificate inside my clothes. To pass the fourth floor and graduate, I needed three acceptance certificates. And with this, I now had two.

If I passed just one more lecture, I would gain the qualification to graduate from the university. Of course, it would be a shame to complete the foundation stage and leave the university. Even if I went outside like this, what could I do?

So I still needed to think more about my path. Even so, just knowing I was moving forward little by little gave me a great sense of satisfaction.

“Congratulations. You finally did it. I believed you would.”

Mira smiled and linked arms with me. I laughed softly at her congratulations and thanked her. As I spoke with her, I suddenly felt the transparent carriage ripple with magical power in front of us.

Its strange movement was the same as ever. It seemed it was trying to carry us, just as it had sent the others outside. I bowed slightly toward the carriage and climbed in.

The carriage moved through the wall. And the direction the carriage headed was different from the others. It began heading deeper into the tower instead of outside.

At the end of that, we soon arrived at a room. It was a reception room glittering with many decorations. Professor On and Tiena were seated there. Facing them, I bowed deeply.

Tiena smiled warmly and pointed to the sofa in front of her. I smiled back at her and sat down as she guided me. Then Tiena quietly looked at me with sparkling eyes.

I had expected her to call me. I lightly stroked Myoil’s head as it sat on my shoulder. Showing this little one had also been for the sake of discussing her request.

I placed a hand over my chest and felt the magical power of the tree settled beyond it. The newly bloomed unique magic, Fake Life, was slowly emitting clear magical power.

If I handled this, perhaps I might be able to resolve their request. Arranging this meeting was also meant to confirm that possibility.

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