The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

Whoosh.

The flame that bloomed on his hand burns the surrounding air. Hot heat spreads in all directions, and the books flying around Asel hurriedly move to other places. Only the fire magic book caught in his hand remained intact.

Ena frowned at the sight.

‘He got his core yesterday. He’s using magic without even going through stabilization.’

It was unbelievable even to think about. Is that even possible?

Basically, magicians need to go through core stabilization. Although Asel’s core had just been formed, its stability was no different from that of a skilled magician. No, it even showed aspects that were more excellent. The conductivity, absorption rate, purity, and flow of magical power far surpassed those of ordinary magicians.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to go through stabilization. Even if it looks fine on the outside, there are unfinished parts in the deep areas that only the mage himself knows about. If you use magic in that state, not only the core but also the mage will explode like a bomb. In a physical sense.

And yet…

“Master?”

Ena let out a hollow laugh as she watched her disciple increasing the size of the flame.

Fire magic rooted in the Ignis Magic Tower. The magic Asel was using was, in a way, a different branch of magic that had been modified into a form of unusual magic from that fire magic. He was naturally producing flames that are tricky to use and can burn even the user if not careful, using themselves as fuel.

A magician who had just constructed his core, without stabilization work.

‘…I’m even getting tired of being surprised now.’

Ena thought this as she exhaled deeply.

The fact that Asel’s talent was outstanding was something she had known for a long time. Even if another talent suddenly popped up here, she wouldn’t feel the same excitement as before. It was surprising, but that’s all. She just felt joy as a master at the fact that her disciple was excellent.

“Asel. Do you feel any resistance to manifesting magic?”

Clearing her thoughts, Ena asked that first.

For a magician, nature change was extremely important.

The number of magic branches a magician can use is determined by which attribute they have high affinity for. High-ranking magicians can use magic from other branches regardless of affinity, but even that is limited to basic magic and they feel resistance every time they manifest it.

Unusual magic operates on a slightly different concept, but the magic Asel activated is based on fire magic anyway. If one doesn’t have an aptitude for the fire attribute, it’s basically impossible to use it. Asel might be able to manifest magic that doesn’t fit his aptitude due to his excellent magical power control. Ena asked with this in mind.

But Asel shook his head as if he felt no resistance at all.

“It feels fine.”
“I see, that’s good.”

Ena said, nodding her head.

“It seems your aptitude is towards fire magic after all. We don’t even need to do an aptitude test anymore.”
“Ah… Is that so.”

Asel extinguished the flame in his hand, openly showing his disappointment.

The heat radiating from the remnants of the extinguished spark all faded away just by clenching his fist. He brushed off the remaining embers on his fingertips and looked at Ena with a bitter smile.

“I was hoping it would be lightning.”
“I was hoping for that too. If it were lightning magic, I could teach you directly. But if it’s fire… I guess it would be better for you to learn magic from someone else. I’ll teach you the basic magic system though.”
“Is there no possibility that I have an aptitude for lightning as well?”

To Asel’s question, Ena pondered for a moment before opening her mouth.

“It’s not impossible. If you’re a dual attribute holder, it’s possible.”
“How can we know that?”
“Either by doing an aptitude test, or by trying to use magic like you just did. One of the two.”
“Hmm……”

As soon as he heard Ena’s words, Asel started glaring at the books that had begun gathering around him again. He was looking to see if there were any books related to lightning magic. Ena chuckled at this sight.

“All books related to lightning magic are in my library. Since I’m the only lightning mage on the continent, I’m keeping them all.”
“Ah……”
“Are you impatient?”

Ena asked in a gentle voice. Asel nodded with an embarrassed expression.

“A little bit.”
“Don’t worry. I’m planning to do the aptitude test today as scheduled. Who knows, you might have talent in other branches of magic as you said. We have to check.”

Asel’s expression relaxed as if relieved by Ena’s words.

As they walked while talking, a huge hall appeared not long after.

Dense magical power that can’t be hidden seeps out from the walls, ceiling, and floor finished with clean wood material. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling is operated by magic, and fragments of magic formulas could be felt due to the magic used by magicians sitting here and there.

It felt like entering a den of magicians. The reality probably wasn’t much different.

Asel’s eyes sparkled as he turned his head in all directions. Although he had seen many magics since entering Wiheim, it was his first time seeing various branches of magic this close. Interest naturally welled up, and his magic power core tingled.

Ena left Asel like that and strode towards the end of the hall. Asel slowly followed behind her.

There were more magicians occupying seats in the Witch Association hall than expected. From young magicians summoning spirits to play with, to magicians lighting cigarettes with flames from their hands, magicians imbuing all sorts of magic formulas into crystal balls they’re holding, magicians gathered together discussing magic, and so on. Mages with various unique characteristics each cast a glance at them and then look away.

Asel happened to make eye contact with a young girl and bowed his head slightly towards her. Since Ena also looks like a girl on the outside, he thought this girl might also be a mature magician and acted accordingly.

“Hmph!”

But far from accepting his greeting, she blushed fiercely, made a nasal sound, and turned her head away sharply. Asel narrowed his eyes at this ridiculous sight.

‘She wouldn’t have lasted long in the slums.’

An instant judgment. Asel lost interest in the girl and hurried to Ena’s side with small steps.

“Where do we receive the membership certificate?”
“Over there, that one.”

Ena pointed at someone with her hand.

It was a woman with a smoking pipe in her mouth. Her appearance looked naive as if she had just become an adult, but her atmosphere was not. An ease that only a magician who has accumulated undisguisable experience and high rank could show flowed from her body.

Even at a glance, she was clearly powerful. Asel nodded, feeling his magic power core pulsating as soon as he saw her.

“Ena.”

She called Ena’s name with a smile. Ena waved her hand and approached her.

“It’s been a while, Irina.”
“Indeed. How long has it been?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Actually, I’m not sure either.”

Whew.

Irina said this while exhaling smoke from her pipe, then cast her gaze towards Asel. Asel bowed his waist while looking at her crimson pupils.

“Hello.”
“Yes, hello. I’m not sure how many years it’s been since a man entered here.”

There were male magicians in the Witch Association too. But they had long since gone outside, unable to endure the atmosphere full of women here. Thanks to this, it had been a very long time since a man, let alone a young boy, had set foot in this place.

Perhaps because of this, Irina was quite interested in Asel. The fact that he was the protagonist of the content Bell had been noisily spreading around added to her interest. Asel was fully captured in her gaze.

“I’d like to receive a membership certificate.”

But when Ena stood in front of Asel as if protecting him, what was reflected in Irina’s eyes changed to Ena’s expressionless face. Irina looked at her blue eyes for a moment, then chuckled and nodded.

“Is it that child?”
“Yes. Because he’s my disciple.”
“I heard from Bell. She was going around shouting as if her vocal cords had been replaced with an orc’s. Thanks to that, there’s probably no one in the Witch Association who doesn’t know you’ve taken a disciple now.”

Irina said this while waving her hand in the air, then asked Asel:

“Little one, what’s your name?”
“My name is Asel.”
“Your gender is male… How old are you?”
“I’ve been alive for 12 years.”
“You’re young. But it’s too late an age to start learning magic. Well… I’m sure our Ena has her reasons for taking you in.”

Irina shapes magical power into a rectangular form. She refines the lines with the end of her pipe and records Asel’s personal information inside it.

“Have you awakened to magical power?”
“Yes.”
“Show me.”

Asel immediately manifested magical power on his palm. Irina reached out her hand as if to tear off a part of that magical power lump and said:

“It will hurt a little. Bear with it.”
“Pardon?”

It was before he could even recognize it. Irina suddenly reached out and tried to tear off a part of Asel’s magical power.

No, more precisely, she tried to tear it off. Despite Irina’s gesture, Asel’s magical power remained unmoved.

“?”

A question appeared on her face. She looked at Ena, who was standing quietly beside Asel, with an expression that seemed to say ‘what is this?’. Ena smiled slightly and whispered in Asel’s ear.

“Give Irina just a little bit of your magical power.”
“Ah, yes.”

Asel nodded and detached a tiny amount of the manifested magical power and handed it to Irina.

It was an extreme manipulation ability. The separation and distribution of magical power impossible for a magician who had just entered the world of magic. Irina’s face momentarily went blank, but she quickly cleared her throat and composed her expression.

“Ahem. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”

Irina received the magical power Asel handed over and pushed it into her pipe. As she inhaled and exhaled smoke in that state, Asel’s magical power slid into the rectangle, contained in the smoke. The remaining smoke adjusted the shape of the rectangle and filled its interior with an ashen color.

“It’s done.”

As the ashen color filled up, the rectangle floating in the air trembled for a moment, then fell to the floor with a thud. Irina picked it up and threw it to Asel. It was a card about the size of a palm. Asel skillfully caught the card and examined its contents.

There was nothing particularly special about what was written. Below the large text saying ‘Witch Association Membership Certificate’ at the top, there were small letters describing name, age, gender, and magical circuit. That was all. Asel put the membership certificate in his bosom, then bowed his head towards Irina.

“Thank you.”
“You’re a very polite friend. I like it.”

Irina said this, then stood up and threw her pipe into the air. At the same time, the pipe turned into smoke and disappeared. She roughly ruffled Asel’s black hair and said:

“The membership certificate issuance is done, now we need to put your name in the Witch Association register. Ena, is it okay to do it right away?”
“Yes. We need to finish quickly and go for the aptitude test.”
“Ah, right, that needs to be done too.”

After a brief conversation.

Irina led Asel to a corner of the hall.

In the corner, there was a snow-white piece of paper and a cubic cube with a hole big enough for a finger to enter.

“Just put your finger in there and think of your name, that’s all. Any questions?”
“No.”
“Good.”

Irina nodded and pointed to the cube with her chin. Asel put his finger into the cube without hesitation.

With a cracking sound, a tingling pain was felt at the fingertip. His face wrinkled at the unexpected pain, but he didn’t pull his finger out. It was just surprising, the pain wasn’t actually much. It wasn’t enough to make a fuss about.

Along with the throbbing pain, blood flowed and dyed the transparent tube of the cube red. The blood moved as if flowing through pipes, then suddenly stopped and began to surge through a small hole placed on the top of the cube.

Not much blood came out of the cube at all. It drew a circle in the air and then was all sucked into the paper placed next to the cube as if being absorbed.

In an instant, the paper was dyed with blood. But it wasn’t just randomly splattered. Asel noticed that the blood written on the paper had drawn his name and let out an exclamation.

“Is this blood magic?”
“That’s right. There’s a vampire among the elders. He made this.”

As soon as the blood dried, the paper with the name written on it flew off somewhere. Asel pulled his finger out of the cube following Irina’s words that he could remove it now. Strangely, there was no wound.

A method of extracting blood without making a wound. Asel thought this must also be a kind of blood magic.

“Alright. Ena, it’s all done.”

Irina said this and turned her head towards Ena. Ena, who had been surrounded by other magicians including Bell, turned into a snow-white lightning bolt and instantly reached in front of Asel. She gently stroked Asel’s head and nodded.

“Did it hurt?”
“It was bearable.”
“That’s good.”

Ena smiled softly. Irina, who watched this scene, twisted her expression as if slightly disgusted.

“You… are you really Ena? Usually you only give short answers with an expressionless face, but you’re even smiling in front of your disciple.”
“Don’t slander me.”
“This is crazy.”

Irina shook her head with a bitter smile. Then she looked at the gathered magicians and continued speaking.

“Everyone’s probably very interested in you. You suddenly took in a disciple when you used to ignore the elders telling you to nurture a successor.”
“It’s not my fault there was no one who caught my eye.”
“Yeah, I guess so. So there will be a lot of interest in your disciple too. They’ll be curious about what kind of person caught your eye. They might even try to steal Asel from you.”
“Tell them they can if they want to die.”

Ena said in a voice that had turned cold. Irina responded as if dumbfounded.

“…You know it’s impossible to kill fellow Witch Association members, right? Unless they’re in league with demons.”
“I don’t care.”
“Let’s not do that. I’m saying this because you might really do it.”

Ena clicked her tongue and placed her hands on both of Asel’s shoulders.

“Anyway. We’re done here now, so we’ll be going.”
“Just do the aptitude test here too. Leticia is here right now.”
“Alright then.”
“Your conversation is so boring. Act cute or something. How long are you going to live as a virgin?”
“I’ll handle it myself.”

Ena said this and turned around, leading Asel.

Irina shook her head and shouted:

“Leticia is on the opposite side!”
“……”

Ena turned around again.