Tou No Madoushi

The Ring Magic cla.s.s was drawing to a close. Most of the students had already taken their turn exhibiting their ability to use the ring, and in fact the only student left yet to step up to the pedestal was Lynn.

A heavy, listless atmosphere had befallen the stadium, but Lynn"s heart was pounding from exaltation at just the thought of touching the Rusend Ring again.

As Lynn walked out to the center of the stadium and up to the pedestal, Shila was shouting encouragement as she watched on.

"Oh look, it"s finally Lynn"s turn. Lynn! You got this!"

He felt a little embarra.s.sed, but he gave a small wave to show his appreciation.

"Looks like he"s the last one", someone from up in the gallery said.

"Really?"

Indistinct voices conferred with one another.

"Let"s give this last one our proper attention".

At the prospect of the last student taking their turn, the advanced students in the gallery who, until moments ago were looking extremely bored, now turned their attention back to the yet ongoing cla.s.s to spectate Lynn. Quite a few of them were now watching him closely.

Lynn extended his hand out, took the ring in his hand, and gently closed his fist. Just at that moment the ring seemed to respond to him, and light began spilling out and overflowing from the cracks between his closed fingers.

Lynn had a premonition. He felt with certainty that this time he would be able to handle the ring far better than before.

This half year at the academy, Lynn had used his staff countless times to move heavy objects and operate the cargo elevators, and the result of all this engagement with magic had culminated in him being able to sense the magic waves that emanated from within him, even if at first they were faint and hard to notice.

He closed his eyes, quietened his mind, and focused.

I"ve come to this academy, and I"ve used my staff almost every single day. I"ve come so far with learning to speak and write magic, and my magical intuition has become sharper. Surely I"ll be able to communicate with the ring on a deeper level than before. Ok then, ring… How do I draw on your power? Teach me… Show me…

The ring answered him.

"Vesper"

Lynn heard a low but crystal clear voice reverberate inside his mind, and in the next instant his body was being engulfed in a beautiful light.

A loud, piercing sound exploded throughout the air, and the rock next to the pedestal split in two.

In the rock was now a long sword that was easily twice as big as Lynn"s height.

After a moment of stunned silence, the stadium exploded in cheer and applause.

Someone was shouting in the gallery. "It"s the Vesper Sword! He manifested the Vesper Sword!"

"It can"t be! Lynn can do that?" Elios remarked in astonishment.

"My G.o.d… To conjure the Vesper on your first try… You"ve got fire in you, boy!" Kruga said in admiration.

"You did it! My Lynn is number one!" Shila shouted in joy.

Lynn, not understanding what he had just done, simply stood there with a blank expression on his face.

"Yes, yes, yes! Incredible! Lynn, the Vesper Sword is the ultimate weapon that this ring [1] can conjure. There"s already nothing more that I can teach you in this cla.s.s", Uisuf told Lynn, visibly excited.

"What? But then that means-".

"You"ve achieved your credit for Ring Magic cla.s.s. Congratulations”.

Lynn looked up at the gallery and saw the advanced students clapping for him. Elios had a surprised look on his face, and Shila was punching the air in joy. Even Kruga and Teedro were smiling and clapping their hands.

Lynn finally realized that everyone was congratulating him, and as he looked around a feeling of joy washed over him.

"I did it! I did it, Theo!"

Lynn moved to rush over to where Theo was, to celebrate with him, but just as his feet started moving he stopped himself.

He realized that some of the other students were giving him loathsome looks.

Wait, of course… Magulheim is spectating this in order to scout just one of us… Maybe me getting a good mark isn"t such a positive thing. Most of us want to get into Magulheim after all… I see..

Just then Lynn remembered something. He remembered the girl who, more than anyone else, had her heart set on making a stand out performance today, and who wanted nothing more than to be selected for Magulheim.

He felt a shiver run down his spine as he sensed a cold, icy gaze focus on him. He mustn"t turn around. He felt this intuitively, yet against his better judgment he did just that.

He immediately regretted it. He saw Yuven staring at him, her face completely expressionless.

Lynn averted his eyes quickly. She was scary. He never thought that a girl"s expressionless face could be so terrifying.

—–

Up in the gallery, Teedro looked to be br.i.m.m.i.n.g with satisfaction. Now, not a single trace of the displeasure that wrote its lines across his face just a little while ago remained.

"Well, it seems clear who we should add to the advance party. Hazel, would you deliver a letter of invitation to Magulheim to him… To Lynn" Teedro said, his voice full of pleasure.

"Oh- Okay!"

"This was time well spent. Let"s get going then".

At that, Teedro and the guild members that accompanied him turned and left the gallery.

—–

While Lynn was withering in the icy gaze of Yuven, Theo on the other hand was jeering and gesturing toward her, as if to say "this is the winner! My friend was the winner!"

"Yahoy! Just as one would expect from you! You"re not pompous, and you don"t put on airs, not like some rich kid from the upper aristocracy who"s been here for a whole year".

Theo embraced Lynn in a rugged hug, and congratulated him wholeheartedly.

"And this friend of mine is my attendant, my lover, my tail? What were you saying again Yuven?"

"Theo, don"t get carried away", Lynn said.

Some of the other kids were looking at Theo, mouths agape. It was clear he was having a dig at Yuven.

"You…"

Lynn jumped at the sound of that voice, which at this particular point in time, seemed to be const.i.tuted of nothing more than inorganic matter. He wanted nothing more than to run away, but being addressed directly by Yuven, he found himself unable to ignore her.

"Uh, yeah?" He said, turning around to face her.

Her mouth was cracked in a half smile, but her eyes showed no signs of humour nor delight. It was an unsettling thing to witness.

"How about it? This is the true ability of the man you continued to ignore", Theo said, trying to provoke her. But she didn"t take any notice of him, and simply continued talking to Lynn instead.

"You"re the one who"s always clinging to Theo aren"t you. You don"t have much presence about you, so I"m afraid I can"t remember your name".

Lynn, not knowing quite how to respond, only managed to murmur a vague reply.

"Yes, well…"

"Isn"t this a little unfair? To hide your true ability like that all this time. I more or less marked Theo as a potential threat, but other than that I thought I was surrounded by nothing but small fish".

"No, it"s not like… I wasn"t hiding my ability on purpose".

Her shoulders shook as she spoke, and gradually her voice became harsher as she became angrier and angrier.

"The whole time you were scheming to find the right time to get in my way. You knew how much today meant to me, and to then crush my chances like this… You"re scary [1]. You have an innocent face, but you"re quite the schemer aren"t you? And you"ve done all this just as someone with the position of a common rat!"

Her persecution complex had clearly kicked in. She seemed to be the type of person who couldn"t stop once she got started.

"Wait, I didn"t mean to…"

"What"s your name?"

"Huh? It"s Lynn…"

"Your surname?"

Lynn murmured something indistinct as his head spun trying to figure out what to say [2].

"You don"t need to worry about my surname".

"Oh, I see. You"re like me then- you don"t like revealing your name for no good reason. It"s only fitting you should be like that, after all you"re a great, great wizard who manifested the Vesper Sword on their first practical lesson, right?"

Why did she take what I said like that?

Lynn, fl.u.s.tered, wanted to correct her misunderstanding, but she didn"t afford him the opportunity.

"I"ve never been disgraced in such a way before. Well, whatever. You"re called Lynn. I"ll remember. I won"t forget this".

She turned around and walked away at a brisk pace. Her final words, "I won"t forget this", seemed to contain a bottomless resentment.

Lynn, left dazed and confused, simply watched as she walked away.

"So she really didn"t remember your name huh…" Theo said in amazement.

Lynn fell to his knees, as if all his strength had left him.

This was how Lynn managed to finally get the most gorgeous girl to remember his name- although he was now clearly marked as some kind of adversary as opposed to someone of amiability.

Next time… Chapter 23, "Under a girl"s surveillance".

[1] It appears there are different tier rings, each one with different capabilities. The one used in the trial and the ring cla.s.s seems to be a more ‘basic" one

[2] Because Lynn lived his life as a slave, right up until the moment his current master bought him from wherever he worked, he has no surname. For obvious reasons he withholds this information from everyone- Theo is the sole exception at this point.