CHAPTER 49: A FAILURE? [2]

In the early morning, the screeching sound of chalk sliding across the board echoed through the classroom.

Esther began her lecture the moment she stepped onto the podium.

The class was eerily silent, every student’s eyes fixed on a peculiar, complex geometrical structure drawn on the board.

It was a massive magic formula, one Esther had drawn in a matter of minutes.

Finishing the last line, Esther set down the chalk, then turned to face the curious gazes directed at her.

Parting her lips, she began.

"A magic spell requires two main things to cast: the first being the incantation, and the second, the magic formula.

There is no need to draw the magic formula every time we cast a spell. Instead, all we need to do is visualize it."

She gestured toward the board.

"The one I’ve drawn here is a simple Wind Breeze spell. It’s one of the most basic spells, not because it is easy to cast, but because it is easy to remember the formula."

The class listened intently, hanging onto her words. At the very back, Leon too found himself drawn in by Esther’s teaching.

The way she explained each spell with clear visualization and practical detail was something he had never experienced before.

Catching sight of a few students with confusion in their eyes, Esther narrowed her gaze. With her usual icy tone, she asked,

"Can anyone tell me why I called this formula easy to remember?"

She waited a few seconds, and more than twenty hands shot into the air.

Randomly, she picked one.

"Yes, Miss Mia."

A girl with cherry-pop hair stood up and answered,

"It’s because Wind Breeze’s magic formula doesn’t contain multi-layering."

"Please elaborate. What do you mean by multi-layer?"

The professor teased the girl.

"Yes, professor," she said.

"A ’layering’ is what we call a spell’s distinct mechanisms. You see, every magic formula has functions, and sometimes more than one. Each function is inscribed with patterns and letters, forming a single layer."

Mia continued, explaining it in one go.

"If we want to add another function, we draw another layer on top of the first. When combined, these are known as a multi-layered formula."

When she finished, Professor Esther nodded.

"Fantastic explanation, Mia," she said. "In simple terms, we can all think of it like this—the more layers a magic formula has, the more functions it contains."

For the rest of her class, Esther drew different versions of Wind Breeze, beginning with two layers and ending with five.

She demonstrated the properties of each layer: making the wind spin counterclockwise, raising its temperature, and more.

Each version grew far more complex than the last. By the third layer, the formula already looked like gibberish, and by the fifth, there was almost no space left to draw anything over it.

Still, with years of practice, it was just barely manageable to remember.

Even so, with countless formulas and incantations, it was nearly impossible for mages to recall them in the middle of a fight.

That was why, in this era, mages were trained in weapon arts as well.

’Their brains just can’t keep up with all that information,’ Leon thought, glancing at a white-haired girl seated in the front row.

’Her sister, Eula, cast a seven-layered spell with only three lines of incantation just a few days ago.’

A born genius.

Only someone with a superhuman mind could picture anything beyond seven layers.

"You will all be surprised to know this," Esther said at last, "but the highest we have ever achieved is nine layers."

Murmurs rippled through the room. Everyone was thinking the same thing.

One of the students raised a hand.

"Professor, which noble managed to create a formula up to the ninth layer?"

’Ah, fuck.’ Leon inwardly cursed.

The question caught him off guard. That kind of knowledge was never meant for the general public. In the old tales of the Five Calamities, it was said that each of them could visualize magic formulas of ten layers or even more.

To the common eye, anyone who reached even close to that level would be regarded as nothing less than godlike.

At the curious gazes fixed on her, Esther only smiled before answering.

"Who else? It was achieved just a few months ago by none other than the Blood Tower Head, Lady Veronica."

The moment her name left Esther’s lips, the entire classroom fell silent.

A heartbeat later, more than a dozen pairs of eyes shifted toward a peculiar black-haired boy seated all the way in the back.

’Why me?’ Leon’s eye twitched. ’It was my sister, not me! Did you guys even hear her properly?’

He wanted to shout it out loud, but stopped himself. That would only make him look pathetic, and worse, it would be a waste of time.

A heartbeat later, various comments passed the classroom. Each one was directed at him.

"Is she really his sister?"

"The gods are unfair..."

"It should have been me!"

"How is he even related to Lady Veronica?"

"I heard that he’s adopted."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes..."

"..."

At this point, Leon just wanted to smash each one of their heads against the desks.

’I can hear you all. And more importantly... Who’s the idiot spreading rumours behind my back? I am a pure blood Valentine.’

He quietly took note of every single face, promising himself that one day he’d make them all experience the true despair of filling out adoption papers.

’Heh,’ Leon chuckled at his own thoughts. When he glanced back at Professor Esther, he caught her staring straight at him, her eyes practically screaming, "taste that!"

"Oh?" Ethan, seated beside him, noticed the look on her face. Barely holding back a laugh, he teased Leon.

"Looks like someone’s her favourite."

"Tsk." Leon clicked his tongue and shot back with a crooked grin.

"Then, I wholeheartedly wish you to become the entire Eclipse’s favourite... so I can watch you suffer."

"Well, thanks."

A minute later, just as the class was about to end, Professor Esther gathered her belongings. She stopped at the doorstep, turned back, and said casually,

"Oh! one thing I forgot to mention. You’ll be having your Class Allotment Test after lunch. Good luck."

Slam—!

The door shut behind her.

The students blinked in unison.

"Huh?"

.

.

[A/N]: Sorry something urgent came up today! I will publish the extra ch tomorrow.