Chapter 19

Chapter 19

How can this be...? Frozen with a look of shock painting his face, Sirone turned his head as Amy and her friend walked by. Please just keep walking. Don’t notice me. He prayed silently, well aware that any interaction with her would be anything but pleasant.

Fortunately, the two girls passed by without giving him a second glance. However, Sirone was naive about how perceptive women could be.

“Hey, Amy! Did you see that guy back there? He’s new, right? He looks a bit too old to be a freshman. Maybe he’s a transfer student. He was totally my type!”

While listening to her chatty friend, Amy couldn’t immediately respond. Much like Sirone, she, too, was overcome by an inexplicable feeling.

“Why... does he look familiar? Have I met him before?” she mumbled.

“Wait, do you have a thing for him? I’ve never seen you take an interest in anyone before.”

Brushing the thought aside, she said, “Forget it. I just feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

“Come on, admit it! You’re totally into him, aren’t you?”

“I’m seriously not.”

As her friend persisted, Amy sped up, and soon, both of them were running.

“Spill it! I won’t let you off the hook until you tell me,” the friend shouted, chasing after her.

“No! It’s really not what you think!”

The male students around watched with envious eyes as Amy tried to escape her persistent friend. She wasn’t just the most sought-after girl. She was also a top-notch student and had turned down romantic advances from everyone who dared to ask her out.

The secret that she once led a gang in the back alleys was known only to Sirone.

***

Sirone and Alpheas arrived at the third testing ground. The expansive hall boasted a floor as smooth as a mirror. Various characters were etched into it, their meanings mysterious. The only writings decipherable were at a table to the north of the hall where five professors sat lined up.

As Sirone entered, six new students, all noticeably younger than him, were in the middle of their tests.

“They haven’t finished yet. We’re in luck. Observe how they do it,” Alpheas advised.

The younger students shot curious glances at Sirone, noting his unusual age for a newcomer, but he remained unfazed.

Alpheas explained the characters on the floor. “When you access the Spirit Zone, these characters will appear differently. Based on your sensations within the Spirit Zone, we’ll gauge the scope, potency, adaptability, and essence of your Spirit. All you will have to do is truthfully answer the professors’ questions.”

Grasping the overview, Sirone observed from a distance behind the kids.

“All right, Kami. Can you use magic?” one professor inquired.

“I can levitate objects,” the child responded.

The examiners weren’t overly critical of the child’s claims. They knew students who overstated their abilities in a learning institution did so at their own risk.

“I see. Now, please access your Spirit Zone.”

“Okay.”

As the child named Kami accessed his Spirit Zone, a young professor sitting on the far right posed a question. His blond hair was neatly slicked back, giving him a refined and attractive demeanor.

“What’s the furthest number you can see?”

“Six.”

The professor voiced his surprise and jotted down the number on a sheet. “Six, you say?”

This suggested that Kami’s Spirit Zone spanned six meters in diameter. Such a size for a beginner meant he could be in Class Nine.

Next to the previous professor, an older, bald professor with wrinkles and squinted eyes that gave him an avian appearance spoke up. “What’s the dominant color you sense?” he asked.

“Um... I feel like I’m surrounded by red.”

“Red? Likely a pulser. It now makes sense why your Spirit Zone is expansive for your age.”

The other professors nodded in agreement. The third and fourth professors posed questions specific to their fields. Asking about the location of a towering structure gauged the dominant brain hemisphere, while questions about the number of bouncing balls evaluated the density of one’s Spirit Zone.

“What’s the current temperature? Is it hot or cold?”

The final questioner was a young woman. She had arched eyebrows, and her intense gaze exuded a chilly demeanor, yet her beauty was undeniable.

“Um... it’s a bit hot. I’m sweating.”

Feeling warmth meant one’s Spirit Zone was adaptable. It indicated flexibility but hinted at lesser durability, so it wasn’t strictly positive or negative.

“Well done, Kami.”

The remaining students also went through the tests one by one. This year’s batch seemed particularly gifted, and the professors were visibly pleased. When a student reported seeing the number twelve, even Alpheas was taken aback. With all the students having finished their exams, it was finally Sirone’s turn.

Alpheas gently nudged Sirone forward, guiding him to the professors. “Don’t be nervous. Show them what you can do,” Alpheas encouraged.

“Yes, I’ll do my best,” Sirone replied.

He wasn’t burdened by pressure. Aware that he was starting from scratch, he was keen to learn the basics. As Sirone, a tall boy, walked up to the professors, they regarded him with curiosity. The headmaster had prearranged a special evaluation. His resume highlighted a unique affiliation with the House Ojent. Under special notes, it stated that his potential for growth was significant.

Occasionally, there were individuals who, with age, unexpectedly unveiled their latent abilities. However, the Alpheas School of Magic was renowned as the breeding ground for magical prodigies. Even those celebrated as geniuses elsewhere often found themselves overshadowed inside the school. Perhaps due to this, the professors seemed to keep their expectations moderate.

To the right, a blond, fair-skinned young man eyed him with a hint of indifference. Thad, known as “Thad of the Flame,” spoke with a tender voice only when he was in the presence of a woman.

“Sirone Arian,” he said. “Seventeen years old... Can you use magic?”

“No, I haven’t learned magic yet.”

“I see. Even without formal training, you should still be capable of some basic spells.”

There was a hint of mockery in Thad’s voice, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. The Spirit Zone acted as a conduit, translating the knowledge in one’s mind into reality. Hence, nobles who had been educated from a young age often naturally mastered magic. However, for Sirone, who hadn’t had the chance to acquire specialized knowledge, it was a daunting task. Being aware of this disadvantage, he prioritized building a foundation of knowledge. Yet, his practical knowledge of magic remained quite limited.

“All right, stand in that circle and try to enter the Spirit Zone. Oh, you do know how to access the Spirit Zone, right?”

If he couldn’t even do that, despite being admitted through a special process, it would certainly call the headmaster’s judgment into question.

Fortunately, Sirone nodded and made his way to the circle. “I... will give it a try.”

Closing his eyes and focusing his thoughts, he sensed his consciousness fading and his synesthesia intensifying. Inside the Spirit Zone, Sirone was overwhelmed by masses of information. The external world seemed distant, making him feel as if he had been plunged into an entirely different realm.

So, this is what the headmaster meant. As he sensed the world around him, the characters etched onto the floor seemed to come to life, taking on a three-dimensional form.

Thad asked, “What is the furthest number you can see?”

Among the myriad numbers swirling around him, Sirone tried to pinpoint the most distant one. Given that this relied on synesthesia rather than sight alone, visual clarity wasn’t the issue. However, Sirone hesitated.

“Please tell me the furthest number you can see, ” Thad urged.

But he received no response, so the professors assumed Sirone was feeling embarrassed. It was natural for him to feel overshadowed after witnessing the prowess of the younger students.

Alpheas interjected gently, “Sirone, just answer honestly. We’re not trying to gauge your rank but to find a teaching method that will be best for you.”

With a hint of uncertainty in his voice, Sirone responded, “Um... I can see the numbers, but they’re too long for me to read them all.”

Thad sought clarification. “You mean you can’t read them, or you can’t see them?”

“No, I can see them, but they keep getting longer.”

Thad’s patience began to wane. The magical characters designed to measure the size of the Spirit Zone only produced whole numbers. It seemed like Sirone was evading the question, perhaps feeling embarrassed about his lack of skill.

“At the very least, tell us the initial numbers.”

“Uh... It starts with 3.14.”

“Excuse me?”

The professors’ eyes widened at Sirone’s response. The number he had identified was Pi. Given that Pi was an irrational number, it extended indefinitely.

The woman at the far left adjusted her glasses and interjected, “Sirone, 3.14 is not among the numbers that are provided in this test. Are you absolutely sure that’s what you see?”

Known as “Sienna of the Frost,” she possessed a cold demeanor. True to the nature of her magic, she shared a contentious relationship with Thad.

Sirone’s expression showed his predicament. “Well... The numbers I am seeing really do start with 3.14.”

He must be speaking the truth...

It was Sienna who had lied. While pi wasn’t listed among the magic symbols on the floor, there was a particular circumstance in which this number might manifest. It was when the area of one’s Spirit Zone surpassed the measurable range. This meant that Sirone’s Spirit Zone had a diameter of at least thirty meters.

The precision for assessing new students in the third testing ground had been intentionally set low to prevent potential psychological distress from exposing still-maturing children to intense environments or extreme temperatures, whether scorching or freezing. Because of this precaution, the scope for measuring the diameter of students’ Spirit Zones was capped at thirty meters.

Yet, even among late enrollees, very few exceeded this boundary. A diameter exceeding thirty meters would place one in at least Class Five. Based solely on the size of such a Spirit Zone, they could easily rival unofficial level-ten mages.

An elderly man seated beside Thad posed a question, “What color do you perceive most vividly?”

“Blue,” Sirone replied. “Everything seems to be tinged in shades of blue.”

The old man pursed his lips, and a ripple of astonishment spread among the professors.

Those who saw a blue spectrum were swarmers. The durability of these individuals’ Spirit Zones excelled over its size. However, having a Spirit Zone diameter exceeding thirty meters didn’t necessarily indicate slower development.

Alpheas, too, was in for successive surprises. He now grasped why Klump had shown such confidence about the child. However, being a current professor and having interacted with countless students, he became rather critical. If Sirone’s talent had been moderate, Alpheas would have been quick to commend. But Sirone wasn’t just talented. He was exceptional. Above all, Sirone was still untouched by the world of magic. His skills, while remarkable, were raw and unrefined.

This is precarious. Pushing the boy too hard could be detrimental to his innate talent.

While Alpheas was preoccupied with complex thoughts, Sirone continued to answer their questions. Through his answers, the professors were able to understand that his brain seemed to utilize both hemispheres in harmony, a rare trait. However, the question that truly underscored Sirone’s unique capabilities was next.

“How many floating balls can you sense around you?”

Since he could perceive them through synesthesia, there was no need to count them one by one. He could sense the total number of balls all at once, similar to how one instantly feels a touch.

After a moment of silence, Sirone responded, “There are 867.”

“867...”

The professor who posed the question was slack-jawed, and even Sienna, who had observed with apparent disinterest until now, adjusted her posture, sitting up straighter for the first time. Her interest was unmistakably piqued. The density of the Spirit Zone was a measure of how evenly one’s mental power was distributed. Sensing 867 balls indicated that Sirone’s mental power occupied the Spirit Zone with a density of 86.7 percent.

“And he’s only seventeen?” one of the professors murmured.

Such even distribution suggested not just mental strength but also stability, a clear indication of his potential mastery over spellcasting.