"The Article was released at 2 A.M."
'She released it the moment she returned…'
Vaan realized.
He resisted the urge to facepalm.
Vaan had no clue why this woman was working so fast, especially when his father made it clear that he wanted to go together with her to see his grandfather's reaction.
Considering how much she respects his father, shouldn't she fulfill this little request and wait a little before revealing it directly to the Grandfather?
Actually, why even make a public announcement?
Wasn't it akin to shaming the Headmaster of the Academy? Nothing good would come from doing something like that.
After all, as much as the Academy talks about being independent and students' fates being in their own hands, in the end, it was still a place that was controlled by the Headmaster.
If the Headmaster wanted you out, then 80% of the time, you would be out.
'What is she thinking…?'
Vaan tried to make sense out of this action, but then,
"Vaan Astra Vesta."
The Professor called out.
Vaan glanced at the Professor, the old man was pointing at him and with a calm look on his face,
"Can you tell me what is so important that you felt the need to ignore what I am about to teach and have a conversation of your own?"
"Hah?"
Hearing those words, Vaan frowned.
Do not forget, he was hardly the type to sit on a place and learn earnestly.
He has spent 10 significant years of his life fighting like a fool, his patience was extremely limited.
The fact that the Professor pointed him out when the other two students were the ones who were talking all the time and he only jumped in at the end…
This combined with how the old fart was lecturing him just a few moments ago…
Vaan has had enough.
"It was an important topic, Professor."
He replied.
All the students blinked in surprise, they couldn't believe that a student stood up in front of a Professor. This was a clear act of disrespect, even if he was the Celestial Standout, this didn't give him the right to disrespect the Professors. It might be used against him in the future and even the Disciplinary Hall could be involved.
Professor Magnus narrowed his eyes as he stared at Vaan. He didn't like the tone Vaan used in front of him, narrowing his eyes, the Professor decided to probe,
"Oh? Can you tell me what it was about?" he questioned.
"It was a question related to your Class, Professor.
The question that I have been wondering for quite a while now." Vaan replied.
"Oh? Then do you not think that as the Professor, I should be involved in that discussion?"
"I do, I actually wanted to ask my fellow students if it was alright to raise this question in the classroom, but now that the professor's interest has been caught,
Please allow me to ask my question, Professor." n.--(//--(.).1--n
"Please, do ask."
"Enhanced Armors, Enhanced Swords, all with different properties, as Magic Engineers and before that, Mages, we have been creating things that benefit Swordsmen.
It is to the point where the Swords Division has taken over and is currently suppressing the Magic Engineers.
Why is that?
Why are we not creating things that would benefit the Mages instead?"
Hearing that question, Professor Magnus's expression changed,
"Have we not created Enhanced Carraiges? I am sure you have seen it in the Academy. There is also the SIC, the Teleportation Portals, not to mention countless other things that we now use in our daily lives,
Are you telling me all these inventions are not useful for the Mages?"
"Please do not deviate from the Topic, Professor. I believe my question was clear enough, sure, all those things you mentioned are useful, not just to Mages, but to everyone. While things like Enhanced Swords hardly help normal people.
My question is why are we not creating things that would give Mages an advantage in battles and allow them to stand against Swordsmen."
Vaan rephrased, this time, being more direct.
The students in the classroom started thinking about this as well and no matter how much they thought, they couldn't come up with a reason.
The Professor, however, was different.
"An Enhanced Armor is an Armor that, using the Magic Engineering, has been strengthened to the point where even basic Spells would have a hard time destroying it. Yes, for Mages, it might be disadvantageous,
However, we, as Magic Engineers, do not think about who our invention would be beneficial for. We create things that would help people. Just think about how many lives these enhanced armors protect, won't you feel proud if your creation saves many lives?"
"That is quite a na?ve answer, Professor.
What about the lives the Enhanced Swords would take? Won't that make the Magic Engineers fall in despair?"
Hearing those words, Professor Magnus couldn't help but laugh out loud. He understood that the bookish answers won't work on Vaan.
Therefore, he decided to be honest,
"We Mages use Mana, unlike swordsmen, who rely on tools, we rely on our Mana, the way we fight is extremely close and complex, we gather Mana, we Circulate it, we create Magic Circles, we Draw our Magic Patterns, and release our Spells.
So the inventions that would help 'only the mages' would need to deal be related to this close and complex area, something that would help a mage in these departments, maybe helping them Draw Magic Patterns faster, increase their precision when they release their spells, or the best case scenario, something that would help a Mage reduce the time it takes to gather and circulate Mana.
However, we simply are not advanced enough to interfere with this complicated process. Even the Strongest of the Mages alter these steps.
We need to follow the basics and none of the Artifacts we create can help us through it."
Professor Magnus introduced the problem and Vaan finally realized it.
It wasn't that the Mages didn't want to make something that would help Mages, it is just that…
They cannot.
The Magic Spell Casting process was just so complicated that Magic Engineers couldn't alter it using their 'inventions'.
"Also, it may not be the same for you, but some of our inventions are more beneficial for mages rather than swordsmen,
An Armor is a prime example of that.
Who do you think would feel safer using the Enhanced Armor, a Basic Mage who can't even move and has no way to defend himself, or a Swordsman who can parry, dodge, block any upcoming attack, having complete control over his body?
It may not be much for you, since you are the only Basic Mage who can move while casting Spells and it may not be much in case of one-on-one duels between Mages and Swordsmen since having an armor or not wouldn't battle if a Swordsmen closes the distance and places his sword on the Mage's neck,
However, in normal, more practical scenarios, Armors are more beneficial for Mages than Swordsmen."
Professor Magnus spoke and now, Vaan's perception of this old man started to change.
This man wasn't just good at blabbering his mouth and spouting nonsense, he also had the knowledge required to become the Professor and answer his students' questions.
'I guess you can't become the Professor in the Academy by sheet luck eh…'
He realized.
"I understand, Professor." Vaan nodded.
Professor Magnus smiled and,
"Though I and all the Mages in the world do hope that some exceptional Magic Engineering come forward with a way to interfere with the closed magic system and create something that would benefit all the Mages in the world.
Who knows? Maybe you will become that Genius Magic Engineer."
"Hahaha~
You are overestimating me."
Vaan shook his head as he laughed out loud.
He wasn't the studious type to begin with. He could already tell that Magic Engineering is a complicated study, he already had his hands full with Spells and Sword Training, although he would look into it for a while to try and understand the basics,
Vaan was 100% sure that he wouldn't be pursuing Magic Engineering.
Familiar Training sounded much more interesting and useful.
After all, who didn't dream of fighting together with a Dragon?
Thinking about it, Vaan couldn't help but look forward to the last class of the day.
Time passed by, Vaan listened to the theories of Magic Engineering, trying to understand how the darn thing worked, although he did understand the little bits, before he could fully concentrate, the class was over.
Not wanting to stay even a moment longer, the Professor quickly rushed out of the class, all the students stood up, getting ready to move to the next class,
But then,
"Vaan Astra Vesta."
Someone called out loud and once all the students turned toward the source, their expression changed when they noticed two Swordsmen walking into the classroom.
"Are you the one who challenged us?
In a two-on-two battle? That's interesting."
