Chapter 130
Aslan Seminar (3)
Just before stepping onto the stage, while Aiselle was being scrutinized by a mage from the Dromian family, Baek Yu-seol was also receiving a lot of attention from above.
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“Is that him?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
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“His face has been plastered all over the magazines lately.”
“What’s the big deal about catching a few Dark Mages…”
Although Baek Yu-seol had just become a first-year student, there were many young elite mages in their twenties with official Magic Warrior certifications here.
They had substantial field experience and likely had killed Dark Mages multiple times.
To them, Baek Yu-seol, who had garnered so much attention for hunting a few Dark Mages, was quite unappealing.
“Leave him be. Have any of you hunted Dark Mages at seventeen? None of you have even faced a 6-risk Dark Mage, so stop acting high and mighty.”
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Amidst the majority of attendees who didn’t like Baek Yu-seol, there were still those who defended him.
Not everyone is jealous of a genius younger and more talented than themselves.
“Hello? You must be Baek Yu-seol.”
“Yes. Hello.”
A young man in his early twenties, who had silenced the surrounding crowd, approached and offered a handshake, which Baek Yu-seol reluctantly accepted.
“I am Cheongparam Aidun. We might not meet often, but I wanted to introduce myself.”
“I’m Baek Yu-seol.”
“Don’t feel burdened. They’re just jealous.”
“It’s not really bothering me.”
Despite being the world’s top academy, there were countless prestigious schools in Aether World outside of Stella Academy.
There were five prestigious schools just in Arcaneum, including Stella Academy.
With geniuses from various schools and families, all with the highest pride in their magic skills, everyone thought they could easily outshine a commoner first-year from Stella Academy.
“Well, you really don’t seem burdened at all… You’re quite unique. No matter how smart and talented a mage is, anyone would feel some pressure with this much attention. But you don’t seem affected at all.”
Indeed, Baek Yu-seol’s expression was as calm as a serene lake. The reason was thanks to Red Spring March, though Cheongparam had no way of knowing that.
“Anyway… I wish you luck. You’ll be a public target. I’m sure many mages will use their ‘critique opportunities’ on you.”
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
After Cheongparam left, Baek Yu-seol sighed deeply.
‘Critique opportunities, huh…’
With about 200 mages discussing each other’s theses at the Aslan Seminar, endless critiques could be expected if not properly managed.
Each mage attending the Aslan Seminar was given five critique opportunities.
Using these opportunities, mages could critique others’ theses, and those who couldn’t respond…
Well, there was no penalty.
But it would leave a blemish on their career as a mage.
With only five opportunities, mages didn’t waste them and used them at the most crucial moments.
‘When they can strike at the opponent’s weak point.’
‘When they find a perfect flaw in the opponent’s thesis.’
‘When they can completely break down the opponent.’
And.
‘When they absolutely want to ruin the opponent.’
Because of these critique opportunities, Flame also had a hard time in the original game. She had garnered all the attention for possessing various elemental magics that no other mage could manage, and many mages, including Stella’s extra villain Selien, used their critique opportunities on her.
There, the player had to refer to the ‘glasses’ to select the right choices each time, and if they chose wrong, they had to go back to the ‘save point’ and start over, making it an infamously frustrating content.
In reality, there were no save points. One had to do it right from the start.
‘Can Flame do it…’
I’m a bit worried. The playable Flame had the glasses, but the real Flame didn’t.
No, maybe I should be more worried about Aiselle than Flame.
As the child of the betraying Morf family, she was already strongly marked by more mages than Flame or myself.
Moreover, Aiselle hadn’t fully absorbed her thesis yet.
According to the original game’s plot, Aiselle couldn’t complete her thesis, and during the Aslan Seminar, she would get overwhelmed and mentally break down.
Although I helped her complete the thesis in advance…
It’s uncertain if she can withstand the attacks of so many geniuses.
I wouldn’t be able to help her even if I wanted to. From now on, she must handle it herself.
“Next, we will have the presentation by Aiselle Morf from Stella Academy.”
The noisy audience suddenly fell silent.
Finally, the name was called.
‘The betraying Morf.’
What a malevolent arrangement. To put the eldest daughter of the Morf family as the first presenter.
The intention to use her as a sacrificial lamb was blatantly obvious.
The Hall of the Progenitor, where the Aslan Seminar took place, was U-shaped, with the stage in the center. The audience sat in tiered seats looking down at the central presenter. Standing there, Aiselle seemed nervous but tried hard to hide it.
“…I am Aiselle Morf.”
“Yes, Miss Aiselle. I read your thesis. It showed a unique understanding of ice magic. Quite intriguing.”
Despite the hostile gazes from others, General Chairman Mage Arumun spoke in a gentle voice.
“Th-Thank you!”
Though Arumun was ill, he was a 9-class mage, one of the top ten mages in the world. Starting with praise from such a figure was a good sign.
Some mages seemed displeased with the praise for Morf family magic, but no one dared to speak against the Grand Mage.
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“Then, may we expect your presentation?”
“Of course!”
Aiselle answered firmly and began her presentation.
Th i s w as cop i e d f r o m kin g mt l . o rg
Her research on magic was quite unique.
“All ice contains ‘crystals.’ They can be prismatic, columnar, or branch-like… sometimes they even take the shape of stars or flowers.”
Ice magic typically aimed to rapidly cool the target to freezing point. But Aiselle delved into the phenomena occurring post-freezing, not during the rapid cooling process.
‘Ice crystals.’
No mage was unaware of them. However, no one had studied or tried to implement them through magic.
“I discovered that by manipulating the patterns of ice crystals, ice magic could open up new possibilities in various forms.”
A magic circle formed at the tip of Aiselle’s wand. It wasn’t the usual round magic circle.
A hexagonal magic circle.
Baek Yu-seol knew. In the future, every ice mage would adopt that hexagonal magic circle developed by Aiselle today.
It was the most ideal and perfect form for ice magic.
However, today’s mages didn’t know that.
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To their eyes, Aiselle’s magic circle was just… pretty and unique, but at the peak of inefficiency.
The notion that magic circles had to be ‘circular’ had been ingrained in their minds for over a thousand years.
To challenge that notion, just as Aiselle was about to start her thesis presentation, someone used their ‘critique opportunity’ first.
Selien from Stella Academy.
She pressed a button from her high seat in the tiered audience, and a microphone rose in front of her. Selien grabbed it and asked.
“It’s quite interesting that magic can be manifested through a hexagonal shape instead of a circle. But didn’t the Progenitor Mages avoid drawing ‘pretty magic circles’ because they couldn’t do it?”
“That’s…”
Caught off guard by the initial harsh attack, Aiselle’s expression hardened despite her mental preparation.
“According to the records in ‘The Slumber of Magic by Ligrem,’ different shapes of magic circles, including hexagons, were successfully manifested. But Ligrem eventually chose other magic circles. Why do you think that was?”
“…Because the mana circulation was inefficient.”
“Exactly. Mana circulates most efficiently and quickly along a curved path. Angled magic circles? Pretty. I’d love to hang them as artwork in my house. But that’s the only value I see.”
Ha ha ha!
Laughter broke out at Selien’s joke belittling Aiselle’s thesis.
In fact, Selien’s comments weren’t wrong. She had already analyzed and deconstructed Aiselle’s magic and prepared her critique.
Most mages had immense computational abilities circulating mana through their minds, but Selien had a special trait called ‘Information Processing Ability,’ similar to a computer, making it possible for her.
“That’s…”
It was content she had anticipated. With a bit of thought, she could have easily countered it.
But as she tried to recall the related theory, her mind hit a block.
Her brain froze, as if paralyzed.
When Aiselle couldn’t respond, the next person, thinking Selien’s attack had succeeded, immediately used their ‘critique opportunity.’
Five minutes after the first critique opportunity, anyone could use theirs, regardless of whether the presenter responded.
“Aiselle Morf. Your magic has a significant flaw.”
Kaika from the Dromian family, once a rival of Morf and now stuck at an eternal second place after Morf’s annihilation, spoke up.
“Ice magic requires a construct to designate the freezing point. Every substance has a different freezing point. But your magic lacks a freezing point connection. Are you just going to pour mana to cool things down?”
“The freezing point is…”
Aiselle tried to explain, and Kaika pretended to wait. But when she faltered for a few seconds, he quickly pressed on.
T h is w a s copi e d f ro m k i ng m t l .o r g
It was good to simply critique the opponent’s magic, but having a ‘comparison’ would further emphasize it.
“Let’s take the Dromian family’s magic circle as an example.”
He deliberately mentioned his family’s proud ice magic.
It was perfectly acceptable to showcase magic circles during thesis discussions, so no one criticized Kaika for waving his staff to create a blue ice magic circle.
“Do you see this magic circle? To efficiently designate freezing points, the Dromian family inserted as many as eighteen freezing points into one magic design.”
“Ooh…!”
“Amazing…”
In freezing magic, the number of freezing points in a complex magic circle was a major indicator of who was superior.
But the Morf family’s magic circle, appearing after ten years, had no freezing points at all.
‘How about that.’
Kaika shrugged, smiling in victory, as Aiselle’s expression hardened further.
With this momentum, more mages began to use their critique opportunities on her.
“You cited the theory of ‘Ordon’s Temperature Anomaly’ in adopting this hexagonal magic circle, but how is it related to this magic?”
“I have a question about the mana calculation at the freezing moment. How does the mana consumption remain this low without proper verification…”
“Even if you removed the freezing points and made a hexagonal magic circle, how does it improve efficiency…”
Despite the barrage of questions, Aiselle seemed frozen and couldn’t respond.
…Baek Yu-seol soon realized the reason.
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It wasn’t just that she couldn’t recall the theories. The relentless criticism and ridicule had turned her mind blank even though she had just begun her presentation.
She had lived a life of constant rebuke. But this stage was about exposing the core of her magic and being laughed at, which deeply shook her mental strength.
‘Everyone hates me.’
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Whatever magic I use, whatever logic I present, they don’t care.
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They just enjoy crushing me, degrading me to garbage, and laughing.
Aiselle painfully realized this in the face of blatant criticism.
Then, Baek Yu-seol thought.
With the Aslan Seminar already in progress, it was impossible to teach or advise Aiselle now.
She had to resolve it herself.
‘How?’
Aiselle’s magic and logic were perfect. There was no need to teach or help her further.
Then…
He had to awaken that part of her.
“Aiselle. I found a flaw in your thesis.”
Hence, Baek Yu-seol used his ‘critique opportunity’ on her.
End of Chapter