* * *

In fact, Cadel’s expectations for Lydon’s teaching were less than 10%. He didn’t think Lydon could really impart knowledge to anyone, and he didn’t think he would take it seriously.

Surprisingly, though, Lydon was eager to teach Cadel. Maybe it was because he couldn’t wait to finish Cadel’s studies, but he was also unexpectedly determined.

“You’re completely mistaken, Cadel. This technique is better applied to single-attack magic rather than wide-range magic.”

“However, if you use several of these spells, you can create a wide-range magic with a single level of destructive power…….”

“Hmm, do you really think so?”

“Don’t…… you……?”

“It’s impossible! It’s a waste of mana! How can you not know this basic common sense, Cadel?”

He never thought he would see the day when Lydon would point out common sense to him. Cadel twiddled his thumbs, glancing discreetly at Lydon, who sighed heavily in genuine frustration.

Perhaps it was true that these were simple theories that Lydon had learned in infancy, as he clearly and simply solved what Cadel did not understand. Was this a difference in experience?

In retrospect, Lydon’s magic had always been a great help in combat, providing the right amount of firepower. His magic never failed him. It was hard to see it in his lighthearted behavior, but Lydon was a genius on par with Cadel. A master of even the most basic theories.

‘Anyway, I can’t believe Lydon treated me like this. I’m strangely upset.’

Even though Cadel tried to ignore his selfish interests and focus only on the lesson, he felt a little intimidated by Lydon’s strict attitude, which was so unfamiliar to him.

“The method of operating this fire magic is the same. Cadel is a multi-attribute magician, right? Then, just by modifying this magic circle’s formula slightly, you can cast much more powerful multi-attribute magic. Is not it?”

“……That’s correct.”

“But why did you just memorize this as fire magic? Just memorizing it is of no use. Surely you haven’t just accepted all these theories as written?”

“That, that’s…….”

“Cadel loves efficiency, right? Why were you studying in such an inefficient way?”

“About that…….”

Studying was supposed to be about memorization, and if Cadel memorized properly, he wouldn’t fail the test. But Lydon seemed to want Cadel to go beyond the test and transform all the theories into his own. No, he thought that was natural.

Cadel stammered, unable to answer. A quick glance at Lydon’s face revealed no smile; it was as stern as a stern educator’s, and when Cadel nodded his head in affirmation of his own ineffective study methods, a low sigh escaped him.

“Ah, so when are you going to take the test? Can we get out of here?”

“……Sorry.”

“Cadel, what are you doing by apologizing to me? What do you want to apologize for? Are you really sorry?”

Cadel’s shoulders gradually slumped as he was hit by Lydon, who had become a completely different person. As he became extremely sullen and repeated his mumbled apology, Lydon’s cold, sunken red eyes narrowed.

“If you’re really sorry, give me a kiss.”

“……What?”

“Show me how sorry you are.”

All of a sudden, why was there a kiss mentioned here? Sensing something was amiss, Cadel lifted his eyes to see Lydon’s face, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Cadel’s brow furrowed as he recognized him.

“You……!”

“Ahaha! Obedient Cadel is so funny! Are you upset because I behaved meanly? Huh?”

“……Go away.”

Cadel realized that Lydon had been teasing him by deliberately playing the stern teacher. At the sound of his familiar laughter, all the feelings he had been intimidated until now evaporated.

Lydon tugged on Cadel’s shoulder, which had completely turned away, to make Cadel look at him. Then he kissed Cadel’s irritated cheek.

“Cadel is so cute! Why are you so adorable?”

“Go away. I’m annoyed.”

“Uh-huh, no. I won’t go away, ever.”

“Do you enjoy making fun of people?”

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had!”

He flailed his arms, shoving Lydon as hard as he could, but Lydon didn’t budge. Clinging even tighter, Lydon pressed one hand to each of Cadel’s cheeks, creating a ridiculous expression. Cadel’s brow furrowed, he was truly annoyed, but his sparrow-like lips couldn’t even form the right words.

Lydon, who’d been watching Cadel’s face playfully as he was holding it in one hand, kissed him as if swallowing his cute open lips.

“……!”

Cadel’s eyes widen in surprise at the sudden kiss. Lydon stared into those lovely eyes and breathed in the air with their mouths pressed together. Cadel’s cheeks puffed out in the irresistible rush of air. Lydon relaxed his grip on Cadel’s face, patted Cadel’s plump cheeks, and parted his lips. Lydon spoke with a bright smile in front of Cadel, who was blankly spitting out the air that was filling his mouth.

“I don’t want other humans to see our darling’s sexy face.”

What other humans? Cadel’s eyes moved along Lydon’s moving head. There was Mamil, who had appeared at the perfect moment like the last time.

He looked at Lydon, who was laughing helplessly, and Cadel, who was astonished, and muttered in an equally helpless manner.

“F*ck my life.”

* * *

The exam was to be held exactly five days later. In the meantime, Cadel had been poring over books like a madman, with little sleep, and with the help of Lydon and Mamil, he had been applying and deepening his theories.

Cadel did his best within the time limit he had given himself.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Well then, let’s start with the written exam.”

Mamil slid a total of ten test papers in front of a nervous Cadel. All of them had been written by Mamil himself. Cadel panicked at the sheer volume of questions but quickly regained his composure. He was confident that he would be able to solve at least some of the questions he knew.

“The time given is one hour. Solve all of those questions in that time frame.”

“What? Only an hour? There are 10 test papers. Teacher, your conscience is…….”

“It’s now 59 minutes.”

Even if you don’t have a conscience, how can you not have this much? Cadel sighed inwardly and lowered his head down on the test papers. Mamil sat across from him and watched Cadel. Lydon had been expelled under the pretense of taking a walk to prevent cheating during the test.

‘Wow, it’s all short-answer questions? It’s crazy.’

Cadel, who quickly skimmed over the questions, narrowed his brows. Not only were all the questions short-answer questions, but it was also difficult to find a question where the correct answer was a short one. He became a little impatient with the extremely vicious level of difficulty.

‘Stay calm, stay calm. This too is a kind of battle. I shouldn’t show any weaknesses.’

He studied as much as he could. There wasn’t a theory he hadn’t seen, and he didn’t leave out a single formula, which meant it was all solvable.

Grabbing a pen with a fierce grip, Cadel began scribbling down answers. With the clock ticking, there was no time to think about his answers, he just spit out the knowledge he had and moved on to the next question.

And that was how Cadel finished the last question.

“Time’s up. Hand over your test papers.”

“Let, let me check it just once…….”

“No.”

Shaking off Cadel’s clinging grip, Mamil resolutely grabbed the test papers and, contrary to Cadel’s expectations of a straightforward grading session, stuffed them into his bag and walked out the door.

“Take a 10-minute break. You’re going to take the practical test right away.”

He gave Cadel ten papers to complete in an hour and only gave him ten minutes to rest. Cadel took out the candy Lydon had packed for him and ate it, silently furious at Mamil’s vicious behavior.

Exactly ten minutes later. Mamil returned, his hands clutching a bag full of unidentifiable items.

Cadel looked into the bag that had been delivered to him. What was inside were fist-sized stones and chunks of ice that had melted and dampened the surface.

“This time, I’ll give you two hours. Carve a rose and a crane with minimal mana and maximum operation.”

“Carve……?”

“Carve it out of stone or ice, it’s up to you. Your fickle mana attributes have changed yet again, but fire and wind remain the same, and you can use whatever materials you have on hand.”

To be asked to carve something he’d never done in his life, and so suddenly. Cadel, remembering his own hopeless dexterity, tried to protest, but it fell on deaf ears.

“It doesn’t have to be beautiful, because what I’m looking for in your piece is how delicately you handle the mana. Of course, additional elements will count towards your score, but it’s up to you to decide which ones to include.”

Mamil threw up his hands in annoyance and sat back in his chair, watching Cadel. Cadel made a pained sound as he fiddled with the myriad of ingredients in front of him.

‘Roses and cranes……? How do you make that with all these round lumps?’

It was overwhelming, but he couldn’t give up. In the end, Cadel decided to take out the materials and try carving.

Time passed quickly.

“Ahaha! It’s ugly, Cadel! What is this, a giraffe that’s gotten so fat that it can’t hold its head up?”

Lydon, who burst in while Cadel was engrossed in carving, chuckled at the ‘failures’ on the floor. Cadel dutifully ignored Lydon’s teasing and took out a new stone that was barely left.

‘It is more difficult to partially apply power to a small amount of mana than to control a large amount of mana. I guess it’s because it’s a type of operation I haven’t tried before.’

Although cutting the material was easy in its own way, creating a specific shape was quite difficult. Cadel never thought that carving stone and ice like this would require more complex techniques than attack magic. Was that why Lydon had been also impressed by the puppets carved out of ice in Elvie’s ‘Tower of the Demon Realm’?

He felt like he had been fighting his whole life and was suddenly being put to work on something as delicate as jewelry making. Or he felt like a giant in front of a small animal.

Cadel’s eyes widened as he broke the chunk of stone he had been carving in half.

“This dog-liked……!”

“And now you’re cursing in front of me while you’re doing it?”

“Dog-like cuteness……! The stone is cute like a dog!”

“I see you’re using your strength.”

It was hard enough to keep it in shape, let alone carve it, and time was ticking away, with only 30 minutes left. Cadel, quickly becoming frustrated, rummaged through the bag and pulled out a fresh block of ice. At least he didn’t have to worry about the ice melting away as Lydon ignored Mamil’s protests and gave it a blast of cold air.

Lydon stared at the faint flames that were beginning to make their way across the ice, then shuffled to Cadel’s side.

“Go away, Lydon, you’re distracting me.”

“Hmm, darling. Have you forgotten all the hot nights you spent with me?”

“What a load of crap.”

“Bad student. A sculpture like this is more about fundamentals than talent. Didn’t you learn everything?”

Lydon lightly kissed the corner of Cadel’s eyes as he looked at him, then placed his hand on the already half-melted block of ice and froze it anew. He shrugged off Mamil’s protests and went back to check out the graveyard of failures. Cadel looked serious as he stood over the new block of ice.

‘Fundamentals……. Yeah. This is a test. There’s no way he’s going to ask me to do anything other than what I’ve studied. Think about it.’

All magic starts with a strand of mana, a line of formula, and a handful of hope.

‘Don’t rush it, take it one step at a time.’

The rekindled flame gnawed at the surface of the ice like a red blade, sharp and careful. Lydon watched, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as the carving progressed at a pace not even close to the first.