WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 57

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- Isamael: I... haven’t been drinking tea properly all this time.... Today, everything I drank before feels meaningless....

[A picture of tea with two flowers floating in it]

┗ Marco: Isn’t it just ordinary tea brewed by a puppet? Why is everyone suddenly making such a fuss?

┗ Isamael: It tastes different from that. The depth of flavor is different.

┗ Marco: Then did it use special tea leaves or something?

┗ Isamael: Mm, if you visit the information board, Marco-ssi, you’ll understand too.

┗ Marco: I just got here, so I don’t know. What was posted there?

┗ Isamael: Yes. Take a look at Evron-ssi’s “How to Brew Tea Perfectly” there.

The vast amount of information, knowledge, and experience transmitted through the puppets flowed along the spinal cord extending from the shadow tree and into the brain. In that way, information continued to accumulate inside it.

The stars floating on the shadow tree examined that information and digested what appealed to them. Through that, they grew into better beings.

It was a beautiful structure. Beautiful enough that I sometimes found myself watching it blankly like this.

After it was completed, I ran many experiments. The result had been perfect, but the process had strayed far from what I had expected.

I had to understand exactly where that change had happened and what had caused it. A result that relied on coincidence could not be called my achievement.

Only after systematizing it and making it part of my own knowledge could I finally say I had accomplished it. With that in mind, I continued my research, and eventually I learned why an ego had failed to form in it.

The wraith tree brain was already a dead thing. Since the traces of the life that had existed before remained so clearly, any attempt to bloom a new ego there was doomed to fail.

If it had been another part, this kind of rejection probably would not have happened. The influence would have been extremely faint.

But this brain had existed for a long time as the wraith tree’s core center. Because of that, the traces contained within it were also very intense. So intense that the ego I created could not dare intrude.

Was this the power of an expensive material? When I first realized that, I gave a bitter smile.

When making puppets from ordinary magical beast materials, both their magical power and their life were weak, so there had been no rejection to speak of. That was why I had never considered this kind of variable.

It was an accident born from handling something like this for the first time. I could only take it as experience and be more careful next time.

I swallowed my regret as I looked at the sphere before me. Unlike the other shadow puppets, it had no ego. Because of that, it could not develop at all. It could only weave the stars together like this and absorb information. It was a real shame.

But because of that, it had instead produced a result far more special than I had imagined.

It happened after I escaped the thirteenth lecture.

This Treasure Hunt took place in an extremely strange location. The sky was full of stars, and the ground was covered with nothing but rocks.

There, both my magical power and my body felt light. Just by kicking off with a little force, I could leap more than five meters into the air.

The treasure Professor had prepared was an old suit of armor. According to her, it was something that had fallen from outer space.

Its function was also very odd. She said that when wearing it, one could peek into the memories of its previous owner. The memories left behind by an extraterrestrial being.

People wandered around the place in great excitement, and, as expected, everyone failed. I was the same.

I left the infirmary clutching my dizzy head, only to find an astonishing sight waiting for me. All the shadow puppets left in the tower were moving just fine.

The reason they could normally think in such a natural way was that they were connected to me and the shadow tree. If they had no connection at all, their immature egos could not even properly control their own bodies.

So when I entered a lecture or left for somewhere else, they became almost ordinary puppets. They entered a state where they could barely carry out simple commands. I had thought it would be the same this time too.

But to my surprise, they were moving just fine. They were a little more awkward than usual, but even so, they were acting on their own.

Startled, I examined them. And I soon found the reason.

The puppets were connected to the brain. To that sphere I had carefully enshrined in the workshop because it was far too precious to bring along to a lecture.

While I was gone, they had formed a firmer connection with the spinal cord extending from the brain in order to maintain themselves. The flow had pushed all the way into the brain itself.

I stroked the sphere before me.

“I really never imagined something like this.”

If it had an ego, this would have been impossible. It would have tried to exist independently, like the other shadow puppets.

Because it had no ego, it had instead formed this enormous connection. It had come to replace a very small part of the role the shadow tree had held.

To commemorate that, I named it Fake Tree. Then I guided the other puppets to go through the same process.

If I did this, it was clear that the shadow puppets would continue operating even if I was not present. Even if their performance dropped compared to usual.

And because this connection had been made, I could finally add this function. I left the sphere behind and went to the table. The tea set No. 0 had prepared in advance was waiting there.

I took a brief deep breath and sorted out my thoughts. Soon, my mind settled completely. The preparations were done. Now it was time to begin.

The mirror bug received my magical power and floated into the air. It did not open the message board screen, and instead reflected me purely as a mirror.

Watching magical power settle over it, I bowed my head deeply.

“Hello, my name is Evron, and I am responsible for managing the tower. Today, I would like to explain the ‘Perfect Tea’ spell.”

I used the tea set to cast a simple spell. Then, when I poured it into a teacup, several flower petals bloomed inside.

I lifted it and savored the aroma. A very clean scent of tea brushed past my nose.

“This is the ‘Perfect Tea’ spell that the puppets use. It is also the spell I posted on the information board. The tea you usually drink is made with this simple spell. But,”

I poured the tea straight into the air. The tea oxidized within the magical power and disappeared. Watching it, I slowly spoke.

“This alone cannot be called perfect tea. Magic alone cannot brew tea properly. From now on, I will teach you how to make true ‘Perfect Tea.’”

About thirty minutes passed like that, and I finished the “Perfect Tea” demonstration very successfully.

Now I had to check whether it had gone well. I called over the mirror bug. It floated in front of me and began reflecting my image.

It was not the current me. The me inside it greeted the mirror and slowly began brewing tea. Every action I had taken until just now had been captured inside it.

Satisfaction filled my chest. It was finally a success.

This was a function inspired by seeing Professor look around the tower through a mirror before.

Professor’s mirror reflected every situation exactly as it was. The vivid expressions on people’s faces, the movement of magical power, even the atmosphere of the surroundings. It was full of things that simple writing and pictures could not convey.

No matter how much something was described in writing, no matter how many dozens of pictures were included, it could not beat the amount of information and experience contained in a ten-second video.

That was why I had always wanted to place videos like this inside the shadow tree. I was sure they would make the egos I created even richer.

But until now, I had never even imagined adding this function. The basic problem was a lack of storage space. It struggled even to hold writing or pictures, so how could I add far more information than that?

But the wraith tree brain had solved that problem. Now I had secured enough storage space to hold videos.

So the moment this storage space was created, I recorded a video. I wanted to see whether the information board could display it properly.

The result was very different from what I had expected. The video kept cutting off, and it was crushed into a crude mess. The information contained within it was extremely poor. It was because the connection between the stars was very weak.

I had almost half given up, but when the last lecture ended, I learned how to build such a powerful connection. And within it, the video was now appearing perfectly normally.

So I posted the video I had recorded on the information board. It contained a lecture on how to use the “Perfect Tea” spell. Then I wrote a notice.

- Evron: From now on, a function for uploading videos has been added. You can record any video you want through a mirror bug, so I hope everyone enjoys using it.

I have posted a simple video on the information board as an example, so please check it once.

┗ Cassian: A video?

┗ Jun: Oh, this is another fun function.

┗ Isamael: The way you pour the tea looks very cool!

The reaction was quite large. After that, many videos began to appear on the message board.

- Cassian: Our bear puppet is cute, right? Day 127.

[A video of the bear puppet rolling around]

[A video of the bear puppet tearing the air with its claws]

It’s so cute, right?

┗ Hao: Why do I feel like I’d lose if I fought this thing?

┗ Luka: You’d definitely lose. I heard the points that went into this bear puppet alone are over ten thousand.

┗ Hao: Are they seriously insane?

┗ Cassian: Excuse me?

┗ Hao: No. I meant it’s insanely cute.

- Goro: I defeated another magical beast today. It was quite a tough opponent.

[A video of a muscular man fighting a snake]

I cleared this path, so everyone can rest easy.

┗ Omon: Oh, mister, you’re pretty cool.

┗ Goro: Haha, is that so?

┗ Omon: Though you’re weaker than me.

┗ Goro: It seems you still haven’t come to your senses after losing last time. I’ll fix that once more. Come to the central hall on the second floor.

┗ Omon: No, I won back then. Who was the one almost crying after one of his swords broke?

One month passed like that. As they did now, videos began to decorate the shadow tree in three dimensions while carrying a great deal of information. Watching that sight, I slowly rubbed my face.

The world formed by the shadow tree had become almost perfect. It would continue expanding, and someday the stars within it would reach completion.

Inside my chest, the tree was swelling greatly. It absorbed the magical power of the shadow tree and increased its own strength. Before, this was something I could not even attempt out of fear that it would harm the shadow tree.

But now, everything was on track. I could simply move toward completion. My tree, having accumulated enough strength, grew another span taller. Along with that, I felt my magical power become a little stronger too.

At that moment, the space before my eyes suddenly split open, and a sheet of paper fell out. It happened in the blink of an eye. I slowly picked it up.

Did Professor send this? Thinking that, I slowly read the paper. But that was not it. The contents inside surpassed my imagination.

“This is....”

My eyes widened.

They said it took an average of five years to go from the first floor to the second floor.

After coming to the university, I had never once thought of myself as outstanding. That was why I had not even dreamed of the second floor. Advancement was that distant to me.

But the contents of the paper were telling me that was not the case. My heart began to pound.

[Advancement Evaluation Notice]

It said I was to come to the city next month for an advancement evaluation. It had been four years since I came to the university.

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