WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 75

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“Um....”

I glared at the enormous pile of papers in front of me. They were covered in a dizzying spread of writing and diagrams, all describing the different elements that made up the human body.

“It would be better to twist the angle of the wrist a little farther inward. The current structure puts too much strain on the muscles.”

At my words, Mira shook her head slightly. Then she held out a sheet of paper to me. I took it and looked it over. Written on it were the various changes in Cassian that she had observed so far.

“I actually think it would be better to move it farther outward. That body holds far more potential than you think, Evron-ssi. Even what seems like strain could be transformed into new possibility.”

I nodded slightly. I had been foolish. Until now, I had been comparing this structure to the things I was used to handling.

This body was different from anything I had ever seen. As she said, if more pain could grant it more possibilities, then moving in that direction seemed worthwhile.

“Excuse me, mister....”

I looked back over the papers I had been working on. In that case, they were only reference material. I needed to establish an entirely new standard going forward.

I sorted those papers to one side and took out a fresh sheet. No wonder I had always felt something was missing whenever I made Cassian’s puppet before.

Of course something had been missing. I had not properly grasped these limits. If Mira had not been here, I never would have known. Our new direction had been set. I could feel my hands itching.

“In that case, we will need to run an experiment. It seems I still haven’t properly grasped that body.”

“Hehe, that sounds like a very good idea.”

Mira and I looked at each other and smiled.

“Urgh.”

Along with a short cry, I heard something flop onto the floor nearby. When I looked that way, Cassian was sprawled limply on the ground.

“Can’t I rest for just a little while....”

She looked at us with those blank eyes of hers. They were slightly wet, enough to stir pity. Mira approached her, smiled, and stroked her head.

“Oh my, I didn’t know you would be this exhausted.”

Mira slowly hugged Cassian. Cassian looked at her, eyes sparkling. Mira began softly releasing fog. It wrapped around Cassian’s entire body.

“But there’s no time to rest. This is all for your sake, Cassian-ssi.”

“Eeeh....”

Cassian shook her head wildly with a look of horror. But the fog naturally guided her body. Just like that, she stood up again.

Mira slowly placed her hands on that body and began touching it here and there. Under those hands, Cassian’s body began transforming once more.

“Now, shall we swing the sword again?”

Mira stepped away from Cassian as she spoke. Cassian swung her sword with a sullen face. I nodded quietly.

It was exactly as Mira had said. The sword’s trajectory was forming even more perfectly than I had imagined. That sword dance, achieved with physical strength alone, was extremely beautiful.

I recorded the whole process on video, wrote it down on paper, and kept thinking.

This happened on the sixth day after we had been locked in this room. The second duel was scheduled for tomorrow. But I was confident. She was in a completely different state now.

How much effort had it taken to make her like this?

At first, it had taken her a full day just to wake up.

Her wounds had been deep, and she had been badly exhausted too.

While she lay collapsed, I had many conversations with Mira. The first question that came to mind was why Cassian had been injured.

If she had dueled an opponent on her level, she would not have suffered a single wound. That was the Cassian I had seen over the past five years.

She had even dealt easily with members of great families and those who had reached the third floor. Across twenty lectures, she had always survived until the end, and whenever she participated in the tournaments I occasionally held, she won.

For someone like her to be injured this badly. What on earth had happened?

“It’s probably because she can’t use magical power, right?”

Mira said.

“She has an innate talent for handling magical power. As much as her talent for the sword and the talent contained in her body. No, perhaps even more than that.”

She released fog. The fog split into three layers, each carrying a different color. They mixed together and formed a human body. It looked similar to Cassian’s.

Then that human body began to move. The three kinds of fog inside it were naturally drawn along with those movements.

“You can think of this as the total sum of her talent. All of these talents blend into one and make up the whole of her. But if she can’t use magical power during a duel, then what happens if you remove that?”

She pulled out the darkest fog. A large gap began to form. The movements became awkward, and the fog could no longer properly maintain the body.

“This is what happens. Of course, just because she loses magical power doesn’t mean all her talent disappears. Still, for her, moving magical power is as natural as breathing, and that has been blocked.”

“But her opponent won’t be like that,” she said with a smile. I nodded.

If what she said was true, then it made sense. If her talent was really at that level, then from Cassian’s perspective, it was as if holes had opened all over her body.

The fact that she had won under those conditions was even more impressive. Her opponent must have already been prepared for the duel.

From there, we poured out question after question and answer after answer. And in the middle of that conversation, one idea came to mind.

“Mira-ssi, do you need a lot of time to adjust Cassian-ssi?”

“No. The reason I keep touching her is so I can perfectly handle that body while dwelling inside it. Simple adjustment doesn’t take much strength.”

Mira shook her head slightly. Resting her chin on her finger, she looked at me.

“Did something come to mind?”

“Yes, probably.”

I crossed my arms and looked at Cassian. If her talent was that great, then as long as that sense remained, she would surely continue feeling discomfort in future duels too. I slowly opened my mouth.

“In that case, first, I think we need to remodel Cassian-ssi.”

“Remodel? But I can’t make that child any more perfectly alive. All I’m doing is making that structure a little more solid.”

“No.”

I shook my head. What I wanted was not to make her perfect. It was the opposite. I wanted to make her imperfect.

“Let’s block her talent. Make it so she can no longer handle magical power. So she cannot feel magical power at all. Is that possible?”

At that, Mira narrowed her eyes slightly. A faint smile appeared on her lips.

“It is possible. As long as this child agrees, that is. But why would you do such a thing?”

“As you said before, she has a great many talents. In your eyes, Mira-ssi, how great do you think Cassian-ssi’s talent is?”

She thought for a moment, then spoke.

“Among all the people I’ve seen so far, no one except Irian-nim has surpassed her talent. When someone has exceptional talent, even the fragrance their body gives off changes.”

After saying that, she lightly licked her lips. Then she looked at me and smiled gently.

“Of course, Evron-ssi, you are ordinary. Instead, the scent of your soul is very sweet. It is usually hidden, but sometimes, when it cracks, that fragrance slips out. Ah, how hard it is to endure.”

As she said that, she clung to my side. A line of drool flowed from the corner of her mouth. The puppet standing beside me carefully wiped it away. I watched with a bitter smile.

“...Let’s skip over me. In any case, Cassian-ssi’s talent is so great that it has instead created a weakness. The result is her current state.”

I looked at Cassian, who was covered in fog like a blanket. She seemed a little more comfortable now and was sleeping with a relaxed expression. The scars carved into her body slowly melted away and vanished inside the fog.

“So let’s block her talent for magical power. During the second duel, no, beyond that, throughout every duel she goes through, we will make it so she cannot feel magical power at all.”

I looked at Mira. I trusted her. No, rather than her, I trusted her power. The power to judge what she wanted to eat.

That Mira had treated Cassian as the finest prey. She had not even glanced at the other students. So I could believe in Cassian’s talent too.

“If we make her body into a weapon meant solely for duels without magical power, I think she will have a real chance of victory.”

I paused for a moment and gathered my thoughts. Then I carefully continued.

“Rather, because magical power cannot be used in duels, there may be even more potential. The people who face her from now on will have higher realms than her. After all, there will be an absolute difference in the amount of magical power.”

Mira wore a delighted smile. At that moment, the bear puppet came racing over. Its round eyes were shining brightly.

It tripped over Cassian and rolled across the floor. Apparently, it had tried to leap over her with those short legs. It glanced at Cassian for a moment, then waved its hand at me again.

Its will was conveyed strongly to me. Feeling that, I smiled lightly too. It seemed to have finally succeeded.

The mirror bug sitting in one corner of the room floated up. It was a huge bug with a full-length mirror attached to its body. When I entered the free board, I saw one post I had not seen before.

- Cassian: Come look at this cute bear puppet. Day 761.

[Video]

Below it were many posts piled up with the same title. They were the trial-and-error process it had built up until now. The one just uploaded was the result.

This thing could now use the message board fairly freely. Of course, because it was borrowing Cassian’s name, it still had limits, such as being unable to change the title.

Still, it was fascinating. Other than this bear puppet, no puppet could leave posts on the message board like this. At most, they could only send their will to me.

That meant its connection with Cassian was that strong. Then how had that connection formed? That was something I was curious about too.

But what mattered now was not examining the bear puppet. More important was this video. It would contain the direction I needed to take from here on out.

The mirror bug began playing the video. The video was very blurry. It even cut out from time to time. But all the important points were visible.

Cassian and her opponent. While everything else was blurry, those two moved with a little more clarity. It was a memory video created by the bear puppet wringing out its own mind.

We had not been able to watch the duel. The same would probably be true for future duels too.

But this thing had watched the duel from beside her. So this was the result of badgering it to wring out that memory.

In the scene captured by the bear puppet’s eyes, Cassian moved her sword smoothly. Within that flow, the blade brushed past her opponent.

It was a movement I had seen often during the week we traveled before. Magical beasts caught by it would be split apart smoothly and collapse without even realizing they had died.

But it was different in the video. A deep wound was left on the opponent’s skin, but he moved just fine. It was because no magical power had been contained in it.

Instead, he dug into her guard and crushed her down. It was an overwhelming blow that used nothing but strength.

With that, her flow was smashed apart. He did not miss the chance and kept pushing her.

In the middle of it, wounds were carved all over her body. They were the very wounds Mira had been treating this whole time. She began staggering, scattering blood.

The opponent charged in quickly and brought his sword down on her. Before the sword falling through the wind, she simply stood still.

Then the screen went black. I looked at the bear puppet. It pretended to cover its eyes. It meant it had covered its eyes at that moment.

There was nothing to be done about it. It could not put something it had not seen into the video. I clicked my tongue and watched the mirror bug quietly.

Soon, their figures appeared again. The bear puppet had opened its eyes. In the video, her sword was piercing her opponent’s chest. The opponent’s sword had stopped near her shoulder.

The opponent collapsed. She could not bear the weight of her own sword either and fell with him.

Could this really be called a simple duel? It was not simply an exchange of swords. More than that, it had to be called a bloody battle with lives on the line.

Of course, they must have arranged this because they were confident they could at least keep everyone alive. The Cassian in the video looked far worse than when we first saw her.

I thought of the tower’s infirmary. These people clearly had something similar too, though its power would be much weaker.

Mira, who had been watching the screen beside me, covered her mouth and looked distressed. Her expression seemed truly sincere.

“I simply cannot forgive it. Some worthless thing put so many scratches on that beautiful body.”

“I agree.”

I nodded. To us, it was an extremely important body. Even if it was a duel, treating it this carelessly was unforgivable. I had to make sure this never happened again.

“Mira-ssi, did you understand the entire process of this duel?”

“Hmm, roughly. This child really worked hard. She knew she lacked strength and deliberately used that against him.”

Could her eyes properly read that process? I gave a bitter smile. I had only seen swords clashing and flowing. I half closed my eyes.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t properly understand how this duel unfolded, or why she was able to win.”

“That makes sense. After all, Evron-ssi, your level is a bit low compared to theirs.”

Mira nodded. A very mischievous smile had appeared on her lips. I simply nodded quietly. At that, she pouted slightly, as if it was no fun.

“But I was able to examine her body. I could see just how inefficiently her body moves without magical power.”

It was a sense I had gained while making puppets all this time. I had dissected all kinds of bodies and studied their structures. Human bodies had taken up the largest portion among them.

So I knew those movements very well. How they should move most efficiently. What kind of method was most beautiful. That was what I had pursued.

To my eyes, Cassian’s movements in the video looked extremely shabby. Every motion broke off somewhere, and the flow created by her sword was awkward.

As Mira had said, it was the result of magical power disappearing. By contrast, her opponent’s movements were very smooth. As if used to a situation without magical power, he received Cassian’s sword without hesitation and moved.

“Seeing this makes me feel the need to block that talent even more. It seems we need to reconstruct her movements, and beyond that, her thoughts, more efficiently.”

Mira slowly nodded. Then I felt someone tapping my leg from the side. When I looked there, Cassian was staring at me.

It seemed she had woken up from the shock of being kicked by the bear puppet. I took her hand and stared hard into her eyes. Then I spoke with conviction.

“You must trust me completely. Cassian-ssi, you only need to trust us.”

A bright light began to emerge from Cassian’s slightly hazy eyes. She nodded a little. I nodded with her.

If Cassian was a genius as Mira said, and if she contained the talent they wanted so badly, then surely she would be able to adapt perfectly to the body we newly constructed. That was what I thought.

And that was exactly what happened.

The result now stood before my eyes.

I smiled in satisfaction. Look at that movement. Even though only the structure of her wrist had changed slightly, her movements had become even more beautiful.

As she was now, she would surely be able to cut down her first opponent in just a few exchanges. She had changed that much.

Mira, who had come to my side at some point, looked at Cassian with satisfaction. Leaning her head against my body, she murmured.

“She is a work we created. I’m very satisfied. To think she would develop even in this way.”

“Right. With this, she should at least be able to defeat her next opponent.”

“Only her next opponent?”

She gave me a puzzled look. My expression stiffened a little. The current Cassian was better than her previous self. But she was not perfect.

At this rate, a limit would certainly come someday. We lacked data. Data about the human body, data about sword-users, and data about Cassian too.

But for now, this was the best we could do.

Cassian quietly stopped moving. Seeing us talking, she seemed to be trying to rest. I stared fixedly at her. She looked close to tears for a moment, then began moving again.

The information about her opponent had already been fully injected into her head. It was what had been written on the paper they had given us.

Of course, I could not know whether that information was reliable. Still, it would be enough to use as reference. Surely not all of it was false.

If she defeated the next opponent, we would also gain a chance to obtain more information. I glanced at the two sword-users blocking the door. Because of the layered barriers, they could not see us.

When a sparring match ended, they would grant one request. Remembering that Cassian had brought us here, I had asked them about it. They said they would grant it as long as it was not an unreasonable request.

Then we needed to expand our possibilities little by little through such requests. To do that, we needed to end the second duel perfectly.

My eyes flashed as I watched Cassian’s movements. If even the slightest inefficient part appeared, I had to correct it immediately.

For one more day, we had to polish her further. And so, the day of the second sparring match approached.

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