Ann was returning to class, repeating the explanation Jamie had given her.
“It is difficult. There are parts which I don’t understand despite listening to the explanation.”
To that extent, the magic circle which Jamie and Keniac showed was difficult for them to understand.
However, when she listened to the explanation, she seemed to have a rough idea on where she made a mistake in understanding. And decided to correct where she went wrong once she went back to class.
As her heart turned lighter, so did her steps.
“You.”
Someone called her from behind.
She turned to see Lennon following her with a dark expression.
“Lennon?”
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
Did he have any questions about the class?
Ann was still a bit shocked so she didn’t get out of the situation. She was under the impression that a student was asking her to resolve his doubts.
“What is it? Any questions? Ah, it’s lunch time now. Do you know where the canteen is? I’ll guide you since I need to eat too, so…”
“Please stop imagining and saying such things. You didn’t even give me time to talk.”
Lennon said, which made Ann stop speaking right away.
This was the first time she experienced someone forcibly shutting her up.
“Are you calm?”
She wasn’t even excited in the first place to calm down!
Ann was puzzled by it, but she calmly nodded her head as she thought that speaking wouldn’t help this situation.
“Phew. How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Magic circle. A while ago. Jamie… teacher, you did it in front of him.”
“This?”
Ann created the three dimensional magic circle on both palms without much difficulty.
Lennon frowned.
‘How is she doing it?’
To put it bluntly, Lennon was confident in the fact that there were only a handful of students who could excel more than him. And the elementary Alpha class was nothing but child’s play and not a single thing in the textbook seemed difficult.
However, Jamie came and presented that Magic circle created by layer technique which made the story weird.
That alone was a headache and then came Keniac who leveled up the Magic circle into a three dimensional one.
Fine. It was fine till that point. It was because it was a new thing and it wasn’t an easy fusion at all.
And he was sure that not a single student could even understand it.
“But how did you do it?!”
Without caring, Lennon shouted.
Ann flinched at it, because Lennon’s expression had distorted badly.
It was as if Ann had done something wrong to him. She was just showing off the magic circle to appease him but this happened.
“… I was just following what I saw.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes.”
Each of her answers made Lennon want to pounce on her.
Neither Jamie nor Keniac had given any explanation about the three dimensional magic circle. It was because the kids couldn’t understand it yet, and they made sure to let them know that they didn’t have to learn it.
Lennon admitted it, he too didn’t have the confidence to follow it with his current skills.
However, leave the mana alone, the talent to follow a magic circle and replicate it.
It didn’t matter if that was perfect or not.
‘She did what I couldn’t do.’
That was the point here.
Lennon was a proud child. And that pride was shattered half a year ago when he met the greatest talent of all time, Jamie.
And now,
“Damn it.”
Lennon’s pride was hurt again.
After completing the classes, Jamie returned to the house provided by the magic world.
It was a huge house for a small child to live in.
And he was offered servants which he refused. Still they insisted so he agreed to them coming in the morning and evening only for food and cleaning.
Throwing away the uncomfortable clothes he had on, Jamie put on his robe and entered the study.
“That child.”
With a serious face, he sat down and thought of Ann Myers.
He only showed it once.
But she followed it right away. Although she couldn’t create it perfectly, the fact that she managed to do it itself was important.
“I knew she was good at analysis, but I never thought she could mimic it right away.”
A genius.
Even if such a thing was explained in a very detailed theory, 1 out of 10 would understand it, and that wasn’t certain either.
Ann Myers. From the first time they met she didn’t seem ordinary, but this was something different.
The problem was that she didn’t take her own skills seriously.
‘But.’
Jamie frowned.
Ann was obviously a genius, but unfortunately, her magic was so-so. And that was the problem.
This academy was for magicians. A place where magicians are trained. A magician does require a brain but they need more excellent magic.
Mana. The things magicians deal with and which leads them to new awakenings and takes them to another level.
Ann Myers’s talents with mana weren’t great. In other words, what Ann Myers is, is ‘the possessor of scholarly talent.’
It means her brain was smart. That too, on a terrifying level.
“There is no way the other teachers don’t know of it.”
At least Javelin and Keniac must have already figured it out. And Siegfried seemed close to Ann too.
Before Jamie, Siegfried was praised as the greatest talent so it didn’t make sense why he still kept her in here.
As soon as he thought that, Jamie got up and headed to the principal’s office.
He needed to talk with Siegfried.
Siegfried was reading an old book in the principal’s office.
It wasn’t easy to decide what he should make with the ‘Fragment of Aion’ which he obtained.
So he borrowed a few old books from the Great Library of the Magic World and continued to read.
“Not this either.”
Title [Infinite power].
However the contents which filled it were all delusions which couldn’t be achieved. Why would such a thing be placed in this library? This was the kind of thing which should be burned in bonfires.
“Next one.”
Eternal shards were difficult to work with, but if what one wants is crafted, what would be created was huge.
It might take several years, but considering the future, it was a necessity. And it was time he concentrated and read another old book.
A knock was heard.
“Who is it?”
“It is Jamie, elder.”
“Young lord? Come in.”
Jamie entered the office. Siegfried closed the book in his hands and offered a seat on the sofa.
“Sit down. What would you like to drink?”
“No, it is fine.”
“Then let’s just talk. What are you here for?”
“Do I need to have a reason to come to you?”
“No.”
“But I do have a reason for coming.”
Siegfried frowned.
“Pulling my leg?”
“I haven’t done it in long.”
“… say the reason, please.”
“Ann Myers.”
The moment her name was mentioned, Siegfried’s eyebrows rose.
“Why are you neglecting her?”
And the eyebrows came down at the word neglect.
“Neglect?”
“You must know why I am saying this.”
Siegfried stayed silent instead of answering. And that meant that he knew.
“I showed this in my first class today.”
Jamie raised both his hands and spread out a layered magic circle and a three dimensional magic circle and then a large magic circle which several magic circles used as a symbol.
Seeing that, Siegfried’s eyes widened.
“Young Lord! This is-!?”
Magic circle wasn’t his area of expertise, but as soon as he saw it he knew that Jamie developed a much higher magic circle than what was being used now.
But Jamie shook his head.
“I didn’t show you to brag about it. Ann Myers did it by seeing it just once.”
“What?”
“Not perfect, but the important thing is she followed it. It is a theory difficult for students, so I didn’t even explain it. you get what I am saying, right?”
Siegfried is a genius, he couldn’t have not known what it meant.
“The talent of a scholar. It’s an overwhelming insight that can be understood by looking at a thing.”
“Young lord.”
“Why is she still attending this academy? Why is the magic world leaving her alone? Why is her talent being wasted like this?”
“Sigh. Young lord. I knew that the young lord would recognize it right away.”
“You expected me to recognize her talent.”
Siegfried nodded and continued.
“Yes. Ann, that child is a genius. She has the most brilliant mind to absorb all that is shown. But young lord should know.”
“That she wasn’t born with magic.”
She wasn’t like Venna without talent.
She was just ordinary.
In other words, if she hadn’t been born with such a brain, she would have been in the lowest class now.
Or not even get an entry into this academy.
‘No matter what, Ann is smart. Amazingly smart. But one can’t be a magician simply because they are smart.’
Siegfried sighed, and smiled bitterly.
“As said, you are aware and so are we.”
‘We’ meant the elders here.
“Even if you aren’t a magician, there are endless possibilities. And if you have that level of talent, one can use elixirs or such things to raise the level…”
“But how far will that even go?”
Jamie didn’t answer it.
“There are people born like me and young lord, and there are people born like Miss Venna.”
Venna wasn’t human, but Siegfried knew as soon as he saw her that she was inexperienced in magic.
“It isn’t that Ann is without any talent, but she is too ordinary to stand out. If the expectations for growth are high enough to take on a change in the magic world, like the young lord said, we would have done it, but didn’t the young lord see her in person?”
“The magic world considered Ann as worthless.”
“I don’t want to use such an expression on my students, so I will not answer it. but let me inform you one thing, young lord. The magic world is the core of the Seldam Kingdom, and one of the most powerful forces. In other words, one has to be strict about everything. I know it is cruel but that is how it is.”
Jamie nodded.
In a way, this place was like a corporation.
All the costs of research and training magicians. All of that is done because of the investments coming in.
So, they couldn’t just pour these investments to just anyone who might look talented. Because no one can see what future that person holds.
However, people might argue about investments which are being carefully handed at the excuse mentioned about, but what about the visible growth?
Like Ann Myers.
“Then we should have sent her to somewhere else other than the magic world. A place where her talents can be put to the right use.”
Ann’s talents will bloom in any other place. She isn’t blooming here because this place focuses on magic.
“She can be raised into something like a magic researcher. If Ann walks the path of a researcher, she will be the possessor of skills that even magicians will have a hard time comparing with.”
A magic researcher was a term used to refer to those who approached magic like a science.
For example, the creator of an artefact also has the role of a magic researcher in a way.
Siegfried nodded and replied.
“Right. The problem is that she doesn’t want to.”
“You talked to her?”
“I didn’t explicitly ask but I did consult her. And she said this.”
Siegfried clearly remembered what Ann said.
-I am going to become a great magician and restore the fame that my family once had. I won’t be ignored by anyone again.
At that time, the expression on her face was too serious to consider it as a child’s dream.
“Of course, I don’t plan on leaving it like that. The future of a child is at stake here. But as she is a child, there are things I need to be wary of. Because one can never know how things change. Like young lord.”
“…”
“Well, there were times when in fact the talks came about making Ann a disciple or not. Without magic too, her talent in understanding was shocking.”
“And the conclusion?”
“Some refused because they had too many disciples and some refused as she had no magical talent. And that was how it ended.”
“And the elder?”
“I will not take in a disciple.”
Well, Siegfried has skill but no disciples till now.
It probably won’t happen in this lifetime.
“But, didn’t Ann Myers call you Master?”
“… she just follows me like that. I feel bad. If she had been my disciple, I would have taken her in as my apprentice.”
Knowing his character, Jamie nodded.
Since there was nothing to say, Jamie got up. At least he confirmed that everyone knew about her talent but could do nothing about it.
Then… the talent has to be let go.
“I’ll get going now.”
“Sure. If there is anything else, do come here at any time.”
Jamie bowed his head and walked to the door when Siegfried called.
“Young lord.”
“Uh?”
“If you feel bad about it, why don’t you take her under your wing?”
Jamie didn’t respond.
Siegfried looked at the blank face and said,
“You can bring in the disciple. A teacher and a disciple who aren’t much different in age. Not bad, right?”
Jamie slammed the door and walked out of the office without answering.
Alone, Siegfried shrugged his shoulders.
