Simon entered Bahil’s research lab. ‘Oh.’
It was just like Bahil. While other professors’ research labs were somewhat complex or disorganized, Bahil’s lab was so neat and well-organized that it felt like it belonged to a mysophobe. A simple interior combining black and white tones, flower beds decorating various spots, and expensive famous paintings hanging on the walls. The whole room smelled of pleasant coffee. And on the farthest wall, a giant blackboard was attached. It was filled with traces of countless writings and erasures by Bahil. "Have a seat."
"Ah, thank you, Professor."
As Simon sat on the sofa, Bahil immediately brought coffee. It seemed to have been prepared a long time ago, as the coffee was getting cold.
But the moment the teacup was placed on the saucer, it started to bubble and heat up. Simon watched it with fascination. "I believe I’ve said something similar before."
Bahil crossed his legs and placed the hat he was wearing on the table. "It’s a shame that there’s a prejudice that curses are only harmful. Among the magic circles that enrich human life, there are almost none that don’t include a curse formula." Nodding quietly, Simon lifted the teacup and took a sip of coffee. It was warm and sweet, and somehow it made him feel good. He had expected Bahil to enjoy bitter, high-end coffee, but surprisingly, it tasted like it was aimed at a kid’s palate. "The classes are about to end, so let’s get straight to the point."
Bahil opened a bookshelf-shaped Subspace in the air. He took out a thin book from it, placed it on the table, and slid it toward Simon. Simon took the book and opened it. It was a book containing the components of a curse magic circle. "Professor. This is..." "Simon Polentia. It’s a set of curses I developed for you," Bahil said in a rather cheerful voice. "You won’t find it in any book. They are curses that are one of a kind in the world." Simon felt more bewildered than joyful and looked at Bahil. "Why would you give me something like this..."
"Isn’t it an educator’s desire to teach if there’s an outstanding student? Let’s just call it the bond between a master and a disciple." Simon was startled and put the book down. "P-Professor Bahil! This is too much for me. I can’t possibly... to you, Professor...!"
"Ah ah— there’s no need to say more." Bahil raised his hand and smiled. "There are no other intentions. For Special Admission No. 1, any professor would want to leave a little of their mark. You are a student, and learning is your duty, so you just need to accept it." Simon looked at the contents of the book with a somewhat moved expression. He knew that Bahil was not one for empty formalities.
If he said it was one of a kind, it really would be one of a kind. There were a total of four curses in the book. But strangely, the explanations were overly brief. There was almost no explanation of the formulas, and it didn’t clearly explain what the effects of these curses were. "You’ll feel that the explanations are brief," Bahil said as if he already knew. "There are several reasons for this, but the biggest reason is to not damage the creativity that student Simon possesses."
Education inevitably defines something for the learner. The learner also prioritizes the acquisition of knowledge, so a problem can arise where they only accept the teachings as they are. But those brilliant flashes of wit that Simon used when activating ‘Exhaust’. To preserve all of those, Bahil had left room for Simon to think and contemplate a little more. "The second reason is that I want student Simon to learn the framework for studying curses."
"Ah..."
Is there such a thing as a favor without a price? To learn these four curses that Bahil had taught him, a considerable amount of study would be required. "If student Simon masters all four curses in this book within this second integrated semester, I will give you a gift."
"A gift?"
"Yes."
Bahil sequentially floated four curse magic circles in the air in the four cardinal directions. And in the center, he drew only the base of an empty magic circle. ‘What is he trying to do?’
Next, Bahil extended his fingertips and pulled specific runes and formulas from the other four magic circles and placed them in the central base. Like a plate at a buffet, he picked out only the necessary formulas to form the central magic circle, and added a few new formulas to it. "This is a magic circle that can only be learned when you have mastered all four magic circles."
In fact, the four curses in the book were nothing more than a means to make Simon acquire this one curse. A sound like an engine started, and the central magic circle began to spin, emitting a brilliant light. Simon, who was watching it quietly, let out an unconscious sound of admiration. ‘Beautiful...’
Was a magic circle an ecosystem? He couldn’t understand all the formulas and flows, but Simon thought it was the most elaborate magic circle he had ever seen. That’s why it was beautiful. "The name of this curse is Compellonia," Bahil said. "It’s a curse that can artificially open the target’s ‘compéllo’."
"Compello?"
"It refers to entering the realm of absolute truth that great necromancers sometimes experience. You’ve experienced it a few times, haven’t you?" The corners of Bahil’s mouth went up. "In every battle, or at important moments, haven’t you experienced creating some great miracles without even knowing it?"
Simon’s body trembled. Of course he had. Countless times. When he turned the Island Ratman skeleton into a Gray Rat in the first class, when he used ‘Corpse Explosion’ without learning it while wearing Prince’s crown, when he cut down the Saintess, when he sanctified the zombies and used ‘Corpse Explosion’. Just those kinds of miracles. ‘I can open it at will?’
"Professor!"
After Simon left the research lab, the head TA, Chehekle, who had been waiting anxiously nearby, came into the lab. "Was everything alright? You didn’t make any strange mistakes with the student again, did you?" "Of course. It went well." Bahil smiled with a sense of relief and gestured as if to go outside. As they walked out of the research lab, Chehekle let out a low sigh. "I really wonder if we have to go this far."
"I understand your disappointment that the attention that was solely focused on you has been divided among others, Chehekle."
"Please accept the resignation I submitted last time."
"My, you can’t even take a joke." Seeing Bahil even laugh out loud, which was unlike him, Chehekle shook her head. "I have a question, Professor."
"Go ahead."
"It’s a magic circle you worked so hard to develop for student Simon, but aren’t you teaching it too carelessly? With your personality, I thought you would sit your precious student Simon down and carefully spoon-feed him everything from one to ten." Bahil let out a slight laugh. "I tried to lure Simon into Cursology for the entire first semester, but I failed, didn’t I? I’ve learned a lot from those failures."
"Oh."
"That wasn’t the way to tame Simon." The wording ‘tame’ was not very pleasant, so Chehekle narrowed her brow. "What are you trying to say?"
"This is something I should show you rather than explain with a hundred words."
Bahil and Chehekle cast a perception-distorting curse on themselves and entered the Kizen library. After the afternoon classes ended, many students were sitting at their desks studying. The two had no trouble finding Simon.
He put down a tower of Cursology textbooks he had stacked witha thump, and in the center, he placed the textbook he had received from Bahil and was studying. ‘He’s so happy he could die,’ Chehekle thought, glancing at Bahil’s expression. "To summarize, that’s what it is. I thought that no matter how much interest I show, it could be a burden to others." "Wow, to only realize that now. You’re really amazing." "That’s the way to tame student Simon. Not by spoon-feeding, but by providing strong motivation and letting him study on his own. Look. How focused is he on studying curses?" Bahil said with satisfaction.
Chehekle shrugged. "It’s a relief that you learned from your failure. But isn’t that a level of curse that a first-year can’t learn by self-study?" "He’ll come to me then. I told him to come anytime after Cursology class if there’s something he can’t figure out or wants to ask." "A supplementary class method. This is just like... oh, wait a minute!" Chehekle’s brow furrowed. "This is Professor Aaron’s method from Summoning, isn’t it?"
A fleeting look of guilt crossed Bahil’s face before disappearing. "I don’t know why Senior Aaron is coming up now, Chehekle."
"It is! You benchmarked Professor Aaron’s style! No wonder you were understanding a person’s heart, which is so unlike you."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Chehekle sighed at his brazen pretense. "Simon!"
Just then, a voice called out to Simon. The two turned their heads. It was the boy who was always with Simon. Dick Hayward of Class A.
"Wow, you traitor! Studying alone again?" Simon smiled wryly. "I’m just doing it for a bit."
"It’s the weekend tomorrow! Meirin said the four of us should go hang out at Professor Hongfeng’s villa." "Oh, really? I have to go there then." Simon stood up from his seat with a scrape and packed his textbook. Bahil, watching Dick, was trembling with rage. Chehekle grabbed him in a hug and shouted, "You crazy bastard! What’s that spell! No curses on students!!"
"It’s not a problem if they don’t get caught."
"Ah! This psycho professor...!"
The weekend passed like a flash of light. During the weekend, Simon studied the new Hemomancy techniques and Bahil’s set of four curses, and in his spare time, he went to Pier’s ruins and trained in Legion management. And Kizen announced that they would start the 2nd БМАТ exam this week. The students, who had expected it to start next week at the earliest, were in an uproar and hastily began preparing for the exam. By now, the rumors had spread far and wide.
Kizen had made a rather blatant move of ‘sweeping up weapons from all over the kingdom,’ and on top of that, rumors were added that they were gathering treasure hunters and trap experts from all over the country. The professors were also focusing on teaching defensive and exploration black magic in class. So, most students were preparing for this exam thinking the theme was ‘dungeon exploration.’ Students opened treasure hunter study groups and studied trap disarming. Some quick-witted students even hired treasure hunters directly and took private lessons via communication crystals. Everyone at Kizen was busy trying to survive somehow.
"It’s a shame it’s not the information warfare I wanted," Dick said on the way to the cafeteria. From his perspective, the information had been released too easily. "From Kizen’s perspective, it’s right to design the exam so that students can know enough and prepare," Simon reasoned. "What are you talking about?" Meirin, who was walking next to Simon, offered a contrary opinion. "Since when has Kizen been so considerate of students?"
Kamibarez also nodded in agreement. "Wouldn’t it be more Kizen-like to have a completely reversed theme from what everyone expected?"
"Now, now," Dick interjected. "At the opening ceremony, Professor Aaron said the theme could be somewhat extreme, right? In other words, even the outstanding students that Kizen has its eye on could be eliminated. In the last first exam, that Rikon guy, the ace of Class B who got 90 points in Necrology, was eliminated."
"So the variables are too big," Simon mused.
Dick quickly nodded. "Right! More than anything, the purpose of the school’s exams is more for motivating the students than for evaluating their skills itself. It’ll probably be dungeon exploration and trap avoidance, just like the information that’s out now!"
"So," Simon said, pointing to Dick’s attire, "what’s with that outfit?"
Dick wore a gaudy gold necklace, fashion Subspace rings on all ten fingers, and a flashy top developed by the latest designer over his school uniform. Dick let out a sinister laugh. "Mwahahaha! I’ve been rolling in it lately, so I thought I’d treat myself!"
"Rolling in it?"
"As soon as I got the info, I bought up every Treasure Hunter book I could find and sold them for one Gold a piece."
Meirin and Kamibarez jumped in shock. "Hey! What’s with the insane price gouging?!" Meirin exclaimed. "Dick! One Gold is too much!" Kamibarez added. "It’s not price gouging, it’s good business sense. Sense," Dick retorted. "Who’s gonna stop them if they’re willing to buy? After I sold them for one gold, I saw some guys reselling them for three."
"Making money is great and all, but," Simon said, looking at Dick with some concern, "you know it’s all for nothing if you’re the one who ends up failing the test, right?"
"Huh?" As if he hadn’t thought that far, Dick clapped his hands together. Meirin clicked her tongue, her expression dripping with pity. "Simon!"
Simon turned his head. A Summoning Studies TA with a somewhat familiar face was running toward him. "Professor Aaron is looking for you right now!"

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