I Became a Genius Black Mage at the Holy Academy

However, just because class time had arrived didn’t mean the class would begin smoothly.

─ The class will start soon, right? 

─ Of course. She’s already here – even arrived early.

At first, the students were filled with anticipation. How cool was it to have a master craftsman who made her own tools teaching them? But then…

Clang, clang─

Professor Ulli, standing at the workbench, seemed to be completely absorbed in her crafting, unaware that the class had already started.

The students waited patiently, and admired her crafting. Her craftsmanship was truly impressive!

Whirrrrr─

Three minutes passed.

Rumble, rumble─

Five minutes passed.

Clatter ─!

By the time 10 minutes had gone by, the students began to realize that something was a little off.

─ What’s going on? 

─ Is this an afternoon class? 

─ No, it’s not.

The students began to murmur amongst themselves. Something was definitely strange!

Roan glanced over at Demona sitting next to him.

“What?”

“Are you going to ask if class is starting?”

“Hmm? No. Isn’t it better if we don’t have class?”

Demona replied with a bright smile on his face.

‘I underestimated this one.’

Soon, another student, unable to bear the wait, raised their hand. He wasn’t a genius by any means, but with glasses and a proper demeanor, he was the classic studious type. It was Bendy, the meerkat beastman.

“Professor!”

Whirrrrr─

But there was no response.

Roan turned to Demona again.

“Did you bring your coin pouch?”

“Yes.”

“Let me borrow it.”

“Hmm ─”

“I’m not going to steal it.”

Even though there wasn’t much to steal in Akerandir, however, a coin pouch…

Demona looked at him with a suspicious glance for a second there but soon pulled out his pouch from his robe.

Roan waited for the right moment.

“Excuse me, professor!”

Jingle ─!

At the same moment when Bendy called Professor Ulli again, Roan shook the coin pouch, and the coins clinked against one another.

Flap ─?

At last, Ulri finally reacted.

“Huh? What is it?”

Of course, Bendy, unaware of Roan’s trick, brightly responded.

“Professor, the class has started!”

“Hmm?”

The squirrel wearing small safety goggles tilted her head in confusion.

“Most importantly, I just heard the sound of 152 gold coins and 219 silver coins clinking together.”

“…?”

Bendy had a look of disbelief on his face as if he couldn’t trust what he had just heard.

‘Gold coins, silver coins? What?’

“Well… I don’t know about that, but the class…”

“Tch, what is this?”

Ulli’s face twisted into an expression of disappointment, and he clicked his tongue while waving his hand dismissively.

Whirr ─!

A chest at the front of the classroom rattled and opened, spilling an enormous amount of books and materials all over the students’ desks.

Thud, thud, thud─

Though the distribution was chaotic, the quantity was perfectly even.

The students stared wide-eyed at Ulli.

However, Ulli, as if her business was done, began moving the oversized crafting tools around her again.

“Pr-Professor?”

“Ah, don’t talk to me! Do you even realize how much I lose every time I stop?”

Ulli snapped at Bendy irritably.

Poor Bendy, taken aback, closed his mouth. As someone from a commoner background, he wasn’t used to this kind of situation.

… Not that the nobles were used to it either.

At that moment, Demona spoke up to Ulli.

“We paid tuition to attend this school too, you know?”

─ As expected of Wickron! 

─ Wickron always says what needs to be said!

The students all admired Demona as they looked at him.

Ulli scratched behind her ear with his front paw and responded.

“That’s why I gave you the materials and textbooks, right?”

“…”

But this time, even Demona was left speechless, his mouth agape, unsure of what to say next.

It was such an absurd situation that he didn’t even know where to start criticizing.

However, the students weren’t ready to back down so easily.

Sion, in a calm tone, pointed out, “Isn’t the professors’ salary included in our tuition?”

She, too, seemed angry, having been thoroughly educated about the value of money by her family.

‘… Of course, it’s only natural to be angry.’

From the very start, the fact that the teachers at this school just threw materials and textbooks at the students and told them to figure it out on their own was totally uncalled for. It was a miracle that a riot hadn’t broken out yet on the school grounds.

Ulli glanced at Sion and let out a deep sigh.

“Fine. I’ll explain.”

She then began controlling the chalk with a magic spell, rapidly writing on the blackboard. The students, as if mesmerized, followed the complex formulas and diagrams with their eyes.

Bendy asked, “Is that some kind of blueprint?”

“Hmm? It’s not a blueprint.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s a rational formula comparing the productivity when I teach you guys versus the productivity when I focus on my own work, while only taking along those capable of figuring things out themselves.”

“…”

The students were dumbfounded.

Tap, tap, tap─

Meanwhile, the chalk continued to move non-stop, and before long, the results were displayed. Roan was thinking the same thing as everyone else was.

‘When Professor Ulri doesn’t teach us, his productivity is exactly 14 times higher.’

Of course, this was based on the average capability of first-year students, not accounting for players. It also served as evidence of just how exceptional Ulli’s skills were.

In the end, to learn how to craft sacred relics from Ulli, players had to first prove they were worth overcoming that 14-fold difference — a brutal lesson!

Meanwhile, before the students could fully interpret the chart, Ulli added something huge to the blackboard.

─ From now on, 10 Dalants per question. Imperial currency accepted ─

─ …

Faced with the steep cost, the freshmen, tight on money, chose to stay quiet and bury their heads in books instead.

But one person was different.

“Oh, Roan, give me the pouch back. I have something I want to try.”

“Sure.”

Demona took the pouch back from Roan and casually walked up to Ulli.

Then he said, “Professor, here.”

He pulled out a gold coin from the pouch and handed it to Ulli.

“!!!”

Ulli immediately stopped all the crafting tools she had been manipulating in midair, lifted her safety goggles, and took the gold coin into her hands.

Quickly, as if someone might snatch it away, she shoved the coin into a pouch the size of his mouth.

The gold coin disappeared as swiftly as a frog snapping up a fly!

Her special magical cheek pouch could hold an almost infinite amount of money.

“What’s your name?” 

“Demona Wickron.”

“As expected… The Wickron family’s sponsorship is always much appreciated.”

The students were shocked by how naturally the conversation flowed. Could a single gold coin really change someone so drastically?

“And what’s your name, Professor?”

“Ulli Bohennard.”

“How old are you?”

“127.”

“Your weight?”

“20 kg.”

─ “!!!”

The students were even more astonished. Sure, it was strange enough that Demona was asking these trivial questions after giving him a gold coin, but the fact that Ulli was answering them so readily — what was going on?

After asking a few more pointless questions, Demona returned with a satisfied expression.

“Is that all? For one gold coin, that’s a bit lacking… How about being the class leader for this course?”

“Oh, do you give Dalants for that?”

“Imperial currency isn’t accepted, but Dalants are.”

“Then I’ll do it!”

“Oh, do you want to be a teaching assistant too?”

“Eek─ no, I don’t want to do that….”

Even openly buying positions right in front of everyone!

Demona giggled and sat back down in his seat.

“I’m glad I brought some gold coins. Right?”

Slide ─

However, instead of answering, Roan handed him a piece of paper filled with writing.

“What’s this?”

“Take the materials, give her another gold coin, and ask the questions written here.”

Demona tilted his head in confusion for a moment but soon took the paper and obediently went forward again.

“Here you go, professor.”

When Demona handed over another gold coin, Ulli eagerly accepted it.

“Why?”

“So… what is this stick used for?”

“That’s a tool to measure the amount of divine output when crafting sacred relics….”

The students, now too drained to react, simply stared blankly at the two of them.

“What did you write down, Roan?”

Rafia asked, but Roan simply shrugged his shoulders and replied nonchalantly.

“What’s it to you? You weren’t even ready for class.”

‘I was planning to use my own Dalants if needed, but this worked out perfectly!’

Meanwhile, Rafia gaped in utter disbelief.

‘Is he really in the same grade as us?’

***

“What’s today’s lesson about?”

“It’s about creating divine power sources. The more skilled you become, the more efficient they’ll be, and you’ll be able to embed them in smaller, more varied materials. But for beginners, it’s best to start with something large like the Hilidium rods we’ve prepared.”

Ulli delved into an explanation in response to Demona’s question.

Realizing where things were headed, the students diligently inspected the materials in front of them and took notes.

“Even if you manage to create a divine power source here, it probably won’t be able to keep a paper airplane flying for more than 10 minutes.”

Twitch!

When Ulli, looking at the students as if they were pathetic, said this, the students involuntarily shuddered in their seats.

‘It’s not like this is our fault!’

But there was no way around it.

In Professor Ulli’s class, you couldn’t even argue without Dalants or imperial currency.

“Whoever thought of borrowing money from a friend, that was a good strategy. Here’s a tip for you: refer to page 14 of the textbook and try making it.”

Ulli, with utter shamelessness, called something she should have taught as a professor a “tip”!

The students hurriedly opened their textbooks.

“I still have more questions ─”

“Now, even accepting more gold coins would be a loss for me, class leader.”

With a disappointed look, Demona returned to his seat.

“Well done.”

“Thanks, Demona.”

“Hehehe. As a member of the Wickron family that leads the Empire, it’s only natural I do this.”

But after receiving compliments from both Roan and Raia, he soon smiled with satisfaction.

Roan flipped to page 14 of the textbook. There before him were instructions on how to use Hilidium and tips for improving efficiency.

In Earth terms, it was like making a battery!

As Roan examined the content, he thought deeply, ‘The process of crafting sacred relics is fundamentally the same as creating magical tools.’

For him, crafting sacred relics suited him better than the other subjects. The only difference was whether the power used was divine or magical, but the method was at least similar.

Of course, when diving into the details, there were critical differences. However, after discussing things with the False Divinity last night, Roan felt that even if he were the one crafting it, there likely wouldn’t be any major issues.

If anything, he could combine the strengths of dark magic and divine power.

Still, there were some lingering concerns.

‘… Could Ulli possibly notice?’

Ulli was undeniably one of the continent’s greatest artisans. If Ulli sensed something strange and said, ‘Professor Kaina, one of your freshmen seems to be making something suspicious,’ then what?

‘But that’s highly unlikely.’

Roan shook his head. Whether the students succeeded or failed at crafting the divine power source, Ulri wouldn’t care. So, it was just needless to worry about it.

At that moment.

Vrrr─

The False Divinity began to vibrate.

‘Why not try using the Abyss while you’re at it?’

Roan spoke without realizing it. “How can I trust you?”

Twitch─

But unexpectedly, the reaction came from Hector.

“Ro-Roan, I swear I wasn’t trying to talk behind your back to Professor Vulcan….”

‘This guy….’

Roan shot Hector a sharp glare before refocusing his attention on the matter at hand.

‘Why the Abyss? What if something weird comes out of it?’

His thoughts were filled with mistrust. The Abyss was, at its core, still dark magic, albeit purer and more stable.

Vrrr!

The power vibrated indignantly.

Roan considered how many times it had saved his life!

Yet, there was a reason the power was pushing this idea.

Vrrr─

‘This kind of task is perfect for practice. Plus, with refined power, it’ll be even more discreet.’

‘… Really?’

Roan, intrigued by the power’s suggestion, grabbed the Hilidium and began drawing up the Abyss.

After practicing all night, he had managed to internalize the process enough to shape the magic within without needing to externalize it.

‘Actually, with the Hilidium between my hands, it feels even more comfortable.’

Perhaps the False Divinity was right after all.

He discovered an unexpected advantage: the Abyss, which required power to be drawn from both sides, worked well with Hilidium’s properties.

The white-black magic swirling in Roan’s hands gradually compressed and began turning a shade of gray.

Slowly, it flowed into the Hilidium rod, moving toward the center, colliding, and steadily filling it with the Abyss.

Sssssssss──

Unlike the other students who were still struggling, Roan’s Hilidium rod had already started charging!

‘This should hold a decent amount of power, right?’

However, despite having poured an enormous amount of magic into the rod, it showed no signs of being fully charged. What began as a casual task turned into a stubborn challenge!

Determined not to give up, Roan began drawing upon all the strength in his body, as if testing who would win this battle.

Huuuuung─

The consumption and recovery of magic were happening so rapidly that a faint wind began to stir around him.

‘If this was just regular dark magic, I wouldn’t have been able to manage this.’

Now totally focused on the task, Roan continued channeling magic.

Vrrr─!

It seemed like he could stop now… but he was so immersed that he didn’t even notice the hesitant suggestion from the False Divinity.

‘Didn’t it say it was going to do it moderately?’

Reluctantly, the False Divinity kept converting dark magic, engaging in this exhausting process.

Phew…

Finally, with a deep sigh, Roan placed the rod back on the workbench.

‘Using a quarter of my magic just to create one divine power source!’

It might not seem like much, but considering he hadn’t cast any major dark magic spells and simply infused magic into the rod, the amount of energy spent was rather shocking.

Roan’s talent was so overwhelming that his magic reserves exceeded that of even some elders in the dark magic school, making this all the more unexpected.

It turned out reality, unlike the in-game system where everything progressed smoothly, was far from easy.

Meanwhile, Rafia, who had been focused on her own project beside him, glanced over at Roan and thought, ‘Even Roan can’t create a divine power source in one go, huh —’

But something felt off at the same time.

No, it felt very off.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Rafia?”

Rafia, half in disbelief and half in shock, stared blankly at Roan’s workbench. Even though Roan asked what was wrong, she couldn’t formulate a proper answer.

Eventually, Roan followed her gaze.

‘What is this?’

The Hilidium rod that Roan had placed on the workbench was…

… Floating.

It was hovering in the air, not touching the ground.

“So, my knowledge on this might be a little lacking, but… are divine power sources supposed to float?”

“… Of course not.”

—–

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