Chapter 168 : Chapter 168
Chapter 168. Descendant of the World Tree
Professor Marianne was scolding the seniors in a cold voice.
“Does no one still know how to break this?”
A magic circle floated in midair, seemingly a problem Professor Marianne had given the students.
Yet no one had been able to solve it.
“Senior, is it okay to go over there now?”
When Radel whispered with a serious expression, Patien lowered his voice as well.
“It’s still level three, so it’s fine. You just need to be a bit careful. In situations like this, changing the atmosphere usually fixes things.”
As if accustomed to this much, Patien greeted Professor Marianne in a cheerful voice as he approached her.
“Professor, we’re back!”
“Greetings, Professor.”
Radel also greeted her politely.
Professor Marianne received their greetings with an expression that still looked displeased.
Patien spoke up as if he had noticed nothing.
“Radel-junior was completely mesmerized by the Summoning Magic Workshop. It seems it left a strong impression on him.”
“Yes, Professor. I was truly amazed. It’s my first time seeing such a mystical workshop.”
Radel followed Patien’s lead and continued speaking.
“I heard this tree is a descendant of the World Tree. It’s an honor to be able to tour such a wonderful place.”
At Radel’s words, Professor Marianne’s expression softened slightly.
She looked at Radel and said,
“I’m sorry you got caught up in Kaylin’s schemes. I didn’t expect the defensive magic on the Black Hawk Dormitory to be breached.”
Professor Marianne pointed at the magic circle she had been working on with the Summoning Magic seniors.
“This is the defensive magic that was breached back then. If Professor Kaylin managed to solve it, my students should at least be able to handle the first stage, yet there’s been no progress. It’s embarrassing to show this to someone who came to tour the workshop.”
As she spoke, her voice grew colder, as if her anger were rising.
The seniors’ fingers were just about to change to four.
“It’s all right, Professor. Thanks to that, I was able to tour a workshop that only Summoning Magic majors can enter.”
Watching the seniors’ fingers, Radel spoke sincerely.
“Besides, Professor Kaylin said he had a very hard time breaking through your defensive magic. He said he barely succeeded.”
“…I see.”
As Professor Marianne’s mood seemed to ease a little, the seniors immediately switched their fingers to one.
Radel couldn’t help but admire their seasoned reactions.
“Kaylin may be crafty, but I can’t deny his skill. Still, he is a professor of the Imperial Magic Academy, after all…”
Professor Marianne finally announced the long-awaited release to her students.
“Very well. Solve it by the next lecture. From now on, you’re free.”
“Yes, Professor!”
The Summoning Magic seniors rejoiced as if they were about to jump for joy.
However, instead of scattering elsewhere, they began to subtly gather around Radel.
Unaware of this, Radel asked Professor Marianne,
“Professor, is this currently a major class?”
“That’s right. Once you choose a major, you gather at the workshop at set times to train individually or solve shared assignments. For Summoning Magic, that includes handling spirits or giving tasks using elemental magic, like the one just now.”
As Radel listened to the explanation about defensive magic theory using elemental magic, he sensed suspicious gazes and turned around—only to be startled.
There were far more seniors gathering than he had expected.
Some were even trying to hide at a distance while observing him.
As Radel stood flustered under their curious stares, Patien, having noticed the situation, smiled and said,
“Looks like they’re curious about something of yours.”
“Is that so?”
Then one of the seniors spoke up to Radel.
“If you don’t mind, could you show us your spirit? We’re really curious whether you actually contracted with that… spirit.”
When one spoke, the others’ eyes lit up as well.
“Yeah, honestly, I’ve been wondering.”
“Could you just show us for a moment?”
It seemed the seniors who had heard that Radel contracted with the Library Spirit couldn’t contain their curiosity and had gathered.
Caught off guard by the sudden request, Radel looked to Professor Marianne.
She nodded. It was fine—he should show them.
Radel took out his staff.
***
The Academy Library before the semester began.
More and more users were starting to visit the place where the Library Spirit worked.
With academically driven students constantly pulling out books, the Library Spirit was irritated as he dealt with the mounting workload.
“Isn’t it still vacation? Then why are they already studying! Damn overachievers!”
Even using clones, there was no avoiding the drain on his main body’s power.
The Library Spirit grumbled, longing for his sweet vacation days.
“It was better when I was at that guy’s territory.”
Being with his clumsy contractor was never boring.
Radel always managed to create new situations.
Looking back, the incident of purifying a mad Great Spirit wasn’t recorded in any book.
“Well, that was pretty fun.”
Flying through the sky on a griffon’s back, and witnessing a newly sane Great Spirit form a new contract with the contractor’s descendant—those had been enjoyable experiences.
Breathing fresh air outside was far better than being stuck in the library tormenting students’ minds every day.
Lost in memories, the Library Spirit fluttered about the shelves, then suddenly snapped back to his senses.
“Am I crazy? What am I even thinking!”
He must have lost his rationality for a moment.
Yet the instant he heard his contractor’s voice from afar, the Library Spirit found himself involuntarily anticipating it.
Bang!
“Honestly, why are you causing a fuss and summoning a busy spirit again! What is it this time?”
The Library Spirit appeared while grumbling.
But standing before him was not Radel.
It was the Academy students he used to bully in the library!
“It’s real! It’s really here!”
“I can’t believe it. To think he contracted with ‘that spirit’…!”
They cheered as they stared at the Library Spirit Radel had summoned.
As if they had been waiting for this day, they surrounded him in an instant.
“H-Hey, wait! Who are these brats? Where is this place?!”
Sensing danger, the Library Spirit shouted at Radel.
“This is the Summoning Magic Workshop. The seniors said they wanted to talk with you a bit.”
“What?!”
At Radel’s casual reply, the Library Spirit trembled.
Academy students wanted to talk with him?
While in the library, constantly supplied with mana, he had nothing to fear.
But now, summoned outside, he had shrunk and weakened due to Radel’s pitiful mana.
A dark future loomed before his eyes.
“I’ll go tour the workshop, so please chat with them for a bit. I’ll be right back.”
“You brat, don’t tell me…?!”
Radel waved at the Library Spirit, who was being surrounded by seniors.
Perhaps because they were Summoning Magic majors, they seemed especially interested in a Great Spirit.
“Where do you think you’re going, leaving me alone with these guys!”
The Library Spirit shouted, but since he always spoke angrily anyway, it didn’t seem particularly serious.
Leaving his spirit behind, Radel went off to tour the Summoning Magic Workshop.
“Aaaah!”
All that echoed in Radel’s wake was the pitiful scream of a spirit caught by the seniors.
***
“This is the underground training chamber.”
Professor Marianne guided Radel through the workshop, starting from the lowest level.
The first place they arrived at was a chamber filled with water.
Tree roots were submerged beneath the surface, and the floor gradually grew deeper the farther one went in.
“This is where Summoning Magic majors train water-element magic or cultivate elemental affinity.”
Patien explained from beside him.
It was an environment so close to nature that it was hard to believe they were inside a building.
“Are those roots real?”
“Of course. Everything inside this workshop is alive.”
Just as Patien said.
Perhaps because the entire workshop was inside a living tree, vitality overflowed everywhere.
There was also a training room filled with heat like a sauna.
Inside, seniors were forming mental images for fire-element magic, while others summoned fire spirits.
“There’s probably nowhere else you can see spirits this easily without going to the spirit realm.”
According to Patien, spirits summoned here could remain for a long time, drawing power from the tree even after the contractor’s mana ran low.
There was also a completely empty space.
Wind blew constantly through large windows carved into the tree trunk.
Small wind spirits rode the breeze, playing freely in the air.
Such a refreshing wind!
This feels amazing!
As Radel moved through the Summoning Magic Workshop along wooden staircases, he felt different mana in each training room.
It felt as though training here even a little would significantly increase elemental affinity.
“The better a mage is, the stronger their ability to bring mental images into reality. But to strengthen that power of imagery, understanding nature is essential. No mage can deny that mana originates from nature.”
Professor Marianne said, stroking the tree trunk.
“I wanted to build the finest workshop in the Empire. I dreamed of a place imbued with the raw power of nature. To achieve that, I received this tree’s help.”
From Radel’s perspective, the Summoning Magic Workshop was exactly as she described.
A workshop built inside a massive tree—could there be a place closer to nature than this?
Marveling at the tree that had grown as large as a building, Radel asked,
“I heard this tree is one of the descendants of the World Tree. Is that correct?”
“That’s right. It’s something I brought with me when I left the elves.”
Professor Marianne answered while gazing out the window.
Even in Marcellent, where many mages gathered, elven mages were rare.
As far as Radel knew, elves and dwarves were extremely closed-off and rarely interacted with humans.
Professor Marianne, who had come to the human world and even become an Academy professor, was an exception.
“As a descendant of the World Tree that supports the Middle Realm, you could even consider it a fragment of the World Tree itself. It possesses consciousness and is connected to the World Tree. Summoning Magic majors who wield powers close to nature must receive this World Tree’s permission to enter the workshop.”
You needed the World Tree’s permission just to enter?
Only then did Radel recall that no status-effect nullification message had appeared when he entered the Summoning Magic Workshop.
Unlike other workshops hidden by magic, this was a space governed by the will of the World Tree itself.
“Then the reason I was able to enter here is…?”
When Radel asked in surprise, Professor Marianne smiled and nodded.
“Yes. The World Tree permitted you. It means you have talent in Summoning Magic.”