Frondier and Elodie, newly appointed to the Academy, had finished their first day introductions. The long-awaited first class had begun.
Elodie, as many students expected, showed off her excellent magic skills in the practice room.
For her, who aimed for a combination of the four elements, the technical problems of magic were mostly easy. She was adept at demonstrating and likening practical situations from a mage's perspective.
However, because her own talent was so outstanding, there were many times when she didn't understand why the students had difficulty with certain parts, and she was still inexperienced in dealing with such situations.
Still, she repeated and practiced countless times, striving to understand the difficulties the students were experiencing. As a result, the progress was a little slow, but Elodie's teaching method improved.
As class drew to a close, Elodie thought, 'As Frondier said, the combat is a bit old-fashioned.'
Elodie felt it even more keenly because she was in charge of the practical skills. The roles mages had here were very fixed.
In Atlas, mages are the last line of defense, positioned even further back than archers. As such, mages take it for granted that someone will protect them.
Of course, it wasn't fundamentally wrong, but even assuming a battle situation where you never know what might happen, the mages here were too relaxed. As if there would always be an impenetrable wall in front of them.
'I'd understand if they were first years.'
The students Elodie was teaching now were third years. Elodie, who had been a third year until just recently, felt the stark difference in skill between the two continents.
Elodie was a mage who could fight on her own. She was so proficient in the magic barrier that protected her body that it could be completed within a second, and most attacks couldn't penetrate it. Even if they did, she was used to casting spells at high speed.
Of course, Elodie didn't expect the other students to be at her level. But even Lunia, who was called a pure mage in Constel, naturally prepared for situations where there was no vanguard.
However, there was no such preparation here. The mages were slow, cautious, and immobile.
'Should I be the one to fix this?'
Elodie pondered for a moment. It was probably similar to the dilemma Frondier was having.
Frondier didn't want to stand out, but Elodie was concerned about the hassle and friction with the existing teachers.
At that moment, a male student approached her.
"Could you show me what you did earlier one more time?"
Elodie said as she looked at the male student.
Elodie had familiarized herself with the students' names beforehand. She could recall most of their names by looking at their faces.
In this class, she had demonstrated and taught one magic spell according to the curriculum. The name of the spell was 'Gather Wind'. It was a lower level wind magic similar to the 'Storm' that Elodie often used.
Elodie demonstrated and explained Gather Wind.
"This spell is faster to construct the formula from an archery aiming stance, but if you can't do that, you can complete the magic first and then draw the bowstring. Until you can complete it without looking at the formula..."
Basileo, who had been quietly watching Elodie's magic, spoke up.
"The formula is different from the book."
"How did you do that?"
Basileo looked at Elodie with sparkling eyes.
Elodie was flustered.
'Ugh, I didn't even realize.'
For a mage, a formula was a law that had to be fixed and unshakable when completing a spell.
To make an analogy, when calculating a large number of digits, the digits that appear at the very beginning or the digits that are difficult to memorize become more and more blurred as you go along. Therefore, it is difficult to solve it only by mental calculation, so it is better to write it down in advance.
In magic, this memo is the formula.
Just as there is no need to take notes if you can do mental arithmetic, no matter how difficult the numbers are, mages omit some formulas.
--This was common sense in the Terst Empire.
'Here, they think it's natural to squeeze out every single formula in front of their eyes.'
From Elodie's point of view, it seemed that Agoris placed much more emphasis on accuracy than speed in magic. The perception that success was all that mattered, no matter how long it took. That's why the development of formula simplification and efficient construction was slow.
"Well, you see, this is simplifying the formula."
Elodie tried to explain. It wasn't like the concept didn't exist at all.
But as she expected, a question came up that she couldn't answer.
"How do you simplify it?"
Ugh. Elodie groaned inwardly.
In fact, the method of simplification already existed in theory. But Elodie didn't do it according to theory. Because she could do it anyway.
"Ah, well. Class is over, so why don't we talk about it next time? No, ask the teachers who teach magic theory. They'll explain it to you much more kindly than I can."
Basileo, who looked disappointed at Elodie's words, said with a somewhat sullen look in his eyes,
"...Teacher Frondier?"
"Huh? Ah, well, you can ask that teacher too, right?"
"Teacher, did you know Teacher Frondier before?"
Basileo asked with suspicious eyes.
Elodie replied with an unwavering smile.
"Huh? No? This is the first time I've seen him."
Elodie's acting was perfect. But the suspicious gaze did not disappear.
Looking at Basileo, Elodie thought,
Elodie and Frondier pretending to be strangers was their business, and it would be a good thing for the students no matter what.
After all, even if they knew each other from the beginning, what difference would it make to the students? It was just that they knew each other and came to Atlas as teachers.
But judging by Basileo's eyes, expression, and tone of voice,
"...I understand. Thank you for the lesson."
Basileo bowed politely and walked away.
As Basileo disappeared, Elodie let out a small sigh.
"...There are men who are that easy to read."