Chapter 95.1 - The Second Year at the Academy - Suppliers and Servants (1)
On the first day of my second year at the academy, after all the classes had ended, I visited Helena.
I had two purposes in mind: to report the completion of Katie's remedial request and to inquire about the Dene Tree Seed Caritas.
I had realized the convenience of restorative magic when I actually received it.
Although all the potions I had were based on healing, if I could heal with magic, there would be no need for them.
I should have examined my aptitude earlier, but Dene Tree Caritas was a rare item, and I couldn't use it.
The academy always assigned an instructor, and the Adventurer's Guild had a staff member present during examinations.
They claimed not to watch during the exam, but my life hadn't been peaceful enough to take their word for it.
Besides, Dene Tree Caritas apparently conveyed results through light, so I didn't know how it would react to my abnormal aptitude.
Due to these circumstances, I hesitated.
However, there was a special provision at the academy.
If you had permission from the assigned instructor, you could take the exam alone.
In my case, Helena, who taught magic, was the one to ask.
It used to be impossible, but now, I hoped I had gained her trust.
When I visited, Helena was, as usual, holed up in her room.
I reported the completion of Katie's remedial request and brought up Dene Tree Caritas.
"…"
The response I got was silence, a remarkably sour mood.
Helena probably found it bothersome to go to the storage room.
Helplessly, I muttered, looking downcast.
"It seems like I've reached my limit with Earth magic, and my progress with other types of magic is slow. If I keep studying magic at this rate, I might not make any progress until I graduate. Maybe I should quit studying magic and focus on other subjects."
When I voiced these concerns, Helena audibly sighed.
"Stop with your pointless whining."
"Oh, I see…"
"Why do you want to use the Dene Tree Caritas?"
"I want to learn holy magic, but no matter what I do, it seems impossible for me. My faith is weak."
"Faith is irrelevant. Magic is all about aptitude."
"Is that so?"
All the holy magicians I'd met so far had worshiped some god.
It was common knowledge that even monsters believed in evil gods.
When I mentioned this, Helena smiled.
"Common knowledge is just a collection of opinions. Without unraveling the world's mechanisms, it's all speculation, including my own."
In other words, I didn't really understand anything.
When I thought about it, it seemed obvious.
Unless the gods descended and explicitly stated otherwise, no matter how much I pondered, it was all conjecture.
However, common knowledge usually had some basis.
Maybe there was someone among the gods with power equivalent to a magic tome, and that misinformation had spread, leading to the belief that you could use sacred magic by worshiping.
"More importantly, what about Dobar?"
"Ah, you mean the other matter. It's been troublesome, but I plan to go to the lecture hall soon."
"The headmaster has been urging me. Request it as soon as possible."
"I understand."
It seemed that Dobar's situation was related to the headmaster, or perhaps the academy.
"Follow me."
Saying that, Helena stood up, looking somewhat inconvenienced.
It appeared that she would allow me to use Dene Tree Caritas.
I bowed and followed her.
The storage room was located at the very back of the restricted area.
It had never been shown to me during my enrollment, and I hadn't visited because there was no reason to.
They had told me, "Don't go near it because it's a matter of life and death, not a threat," as a warning.
Guided by Helena, I entered the storage room.
The interior was illuminated by the built-in magic lights.
Surprisingly, it was tidy, with several display cases in the center and shelves lining the walls.
Of course, there were no windows.
Helena had me wait at the entrance and began doing something on the shelves.
Then, she picked up a slightly oversized wooden box, placed it on the table, and motioned for me to join her.
"Is this the Dene Tree Caritas? It looks like a distorted pebble."
What she took out of the box was a stone about the size of a tennis ball, with no resemblance to a crystal.
I mentioned my thoughts, but Helena disregarded them and activated [Light]. S
he skillfully adjusted the brightness and said, "In this order.", then started to leave.
Wait, I don't understand.
I managed to stop her and asked for an explanation.
When you flowed magic into the Dene Tree Caritas, it emitted light in the order of fire, water, wind, earth, ice, lightning, transformation, sacred, necromancy, and no attribute.
You could judge it by the color it emitted, but some colors were similar, so it was best to judge by the order.
The brightness also indicated the strength of the aptitude.
"So, the brightest light means the highest level?"
"That's right, but it's not the highest. There's still a divine level."
What is that? That's the first time I've heard of it.
"Divine-level users don't exist among humans or monsters. Only gods possess it. However, Dene Tree Caritas can apparently differentiate even at the divine level. It's research from a long time ago."
"So, the brightness of the divine level is…"
"I don't know. Even if I did, it would be pointless. Are you ready?"
"Yes. I'll go ahead and examine it."
Helena left me alone and closed the door.
Her presence disappeared as soon as she shut the door.
Despite being separated by just one door, I couldn't sense her presence.
It seemed like some protective measure.
Looking around the storage room again, it was filled with magical tools.
The boxes for storing items, the shelves, everything was magical.
Furthermore, there was a dangerous aura emanating from all over.
I wanted to explore more, but if something happened, I might lose the opportunity to use Dene Tree Caritas.
I decided to focus on the examination.
"Do I just flow magic power into it, or is regular magic fine?"
I placed my hand on the stone and activated the basic life magic, [Breeze].
However, no wind stirred; only magical power was consumed. And it didn't stop being consumed.
It was similar to [Earth Wall], but the feeling was like magical power being drawn out from the inside.
As I continued to place my hand, the consumption finally came to a halt at a level beyond intermediate magic.
That was probably why it was dangerous for children.
It was perilous; for an average child, their magical power would be depleted quickly.
"Oops… it started glowing."
I quickly refocused my attention.
Just as Helena had described, it started with a red light.
It seemed to correspond to the highest level of the fire attribute.
Next was water, followed by the changing lights, all showing consistent brightness, indicating the highest level.
That also applied to the sacred attribute.
After the light for the necromancy attribute ended, Dene Tree Caritas returned to its original appearance.
It was clear.
I had the highest aptitude for all attributes.
So why couldn't I learn holy magic? I had no idea.
I stuck my head out of the storage room and informed Helena.
"I'm done."
While gazing at the Dene Tree Caritas, which I put back in its box, I asked.
"Is it possible to have the aptitude but still not be able to learn it?"
"No, that's not possible. It's either due to insufficient training or a misconception about having the aptitude."
She answered immediately.
It wasn't a misconception.
The brightness was the same for all attributes.
I still had no clue.
If faith wasn't a requirement, and the training method was correct, then… was it a result of the cheat?
Maybe a mistake made by the chubby man during the setup, or something that was systemically impossible, such as having the highest level in all attributes.
Both seemed possible, but I had no way to investigate it.
I expressed my gratitude and left the storage room.
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