I Became a Terminally Ill Magic Genius at the Academy

As expected, Yohan couldn’t help but be taken aback. 

Anyone would be if someone suddenly asked to fight while they were eating.

“Um… Is there perhaps some incident I don’t remember? Is that it?” 

Yohan asked Leila with an awkward laugh.

After all, wasn’t Yohan Hart notorious for his wild behavior? 

He might have met Leila before he transmigrated into this body. 

In that case, he could understand why Leila would suddenly ask to fight.

But—

“Incident? There’s nothing like that.”

Leila tilted her head as if wondering what he was talking about.

Judging by her expression, it seemed she had never met Yohan before. 

That made it even more baffling.

‘Then why is she suddenly asking me to fight?’

Moreover, she looked at Yohan and abruptly said he was strong before challenging him to a fight.

What was that about?

“First of all, I have no intention of fighting you. Why are you asking me to?”

“… I was the only one who lost.”

“Huh?” 

Yohan furrowed his brow at Leila’s words.

She lost alone?

Not understanding what she meant, Yohan finally grasped it after hearing her next words.

“You and you—you both won, but I lost alone. It’s because I’m weak.” 

Leila glanced at Kyle and then at Yohan.

They had all participated in the dormitory competition, but only Leila had been defeated.

“I don’t think you lost because you’re weak.”

But that didn’t mean Leila was weak at all. 

It was just a bad matchup. 

Leila had planned to hide and attack the opponent’s blind spots. Her strategy would have worked against any other student, but not against Cedric.

“No, I lost, and you won.”

Yohan sensed a bit of awkwardness in her way of speaking. 

How should he put it? 

‘It’s like someone from the countryside trying hard not to use their dialect.’

In any case, Leila continued speaking. 

“It’s proof that I’m weak and you’re strong.”

Yohan sighed inwardly as he looked at Leila calling him strong. 

‘I wish I were strong too.’ 

He could barely use 3-star magic because of the curse; how was he strong?

Grumbling inwardly, Yohan faced Leila head-on. 

At least he understood the situation now.

‘So basically, it’s like in martial arts novels where someone asks for a spar to learn a thing or two.’

He got that much, but unfortunately, Yohan was in no position to teach anyone.

“I’m not in a position to teach anyone, so I’ll have to decline your request for a duel.”

He was merely using what he knew as the original author, but when it came to actually sensing and controlling mana, he was practically relying on Yohan’s innate talent.

Given that even he was in such a state, it didn’t make sense for him to teach someone else.

Before teaching anyone, Yohan himself needed to grow first.

“I should basically relearn everything from the basics, from the very beginning.”

He muttered to himself.

Although he was speaking to himself, Leila’s eyes sparkled as she reacted to Yohan’s words.

“From the basics… Got it.”

She quickly turned around and walked away with determined strides.

He watched her disappearing figure, who had suddenly come and gone just as abruptly.

“No matter what, isn’t it a bit harsh to say she doesn’t even have the basics?”

“Huh?”

Yohan blinked at Kyle’s words.

No. That’s not what he meant.

——

Meanwhile, Leila was walking away, feeling intrigued.

‘How did he know?’

Leila was from the North.

Not the northern part of the empire where Yohan Hart was from, but beyond that.

She hadn’t yet fully grasped the magic system used in the Central Continent.

Since the magic style from where she originally lived wasn’t vastly different, she had been adapting fairly well and using magic.

‘It’s true that I’m lacking in the basics.’

To hide her origins, Leila wasn’t using her original magic pen.

It was too conspicuous to use in the Central Continent.

The grip was different, and the weight was different.

First, she needed to become completely accustomed to the magic pen she was currently using.

After that, she planned to thoroughly learn the magic of the Central Continent, one step at a time.

“Come to think of it, I lost to a 1-star magic.”

She had been defeated because she couldn’t properly respond to fire magic.

If she had thoroughly mastered the fundamentals, she might have responded appropriately, and the outcome of the duel could have been different.

Leila’s eyes settled calmly.

Before coming here, her father had spoken in a light tone.

“Just think of it as going on a trip.”

He told her to really consider it as just taking a journey.

Her father had said so, but Leila knew well that the situation wasn’t so good.

The days were getting colder, and the walls that protected their home were crumbling.

Meanwhile, the demonic beasts were growing stronger, so her father had made a big decision to send her here.

“I agree with the others who say that we now need change too, Leila.”

“… I thought you didn’t want to change, Father.”

He had always been a stern father.

He had been unshaken even by others who said they should discard the old and accept the new.

But why did he say such things when sending her away?

Leila’s father smiled and continued speaking.

“I’m just trying not to change hastily.”

“You mean others are being too hasty?”

“They are impatient. They are anxious. I know well that it’s an unavoidable situation, but pursuing immediate change won’t improve anything.”

“Then what should we do?”

She agreed that change was needed, but saying that pursuing it wouldn’t improve anything. What did he mean?

Puzzled, Leila immediately asked back.

Her father spoke lightly as if it wasn’t a difficult matter.

“If we don’t forget our essence and learn what we need to learn, what’s the problem?”

“You mean I should go and learn well?”

“I’m telling you to go and enjoy yourself.”

“Yes. The walls are crumbling and the demonic beasts are getting stronger. I will go and enjoy myself.”

Leila spoke playfully, and her father just laughed.

“See you again.”

“Why are you trying to send me off so quickly? We won’t see each other for months.”

“Months? Stay longer. A year, two years… Stay as long as you need, and come back when you feel you’ve had enough.”

“… Okay.”

He meant for her to stay and learn as much as she needed, even if it took years.

At the time, Leila just nodded and said she understood.

But—

‘We don’t have that much time.’

As mentioned, her hometown was crumbling.

It wouldn’t disappear overnight, but the recent situation was serious.

She had to learn everything she could as quickly as possible and return stronger.

Yohan’s words about needing to relearn everything from the basics…

‘It’s similar to what Father said.’

‘I must not be impatient or act hastily.’

‘Pursuing immediate change won’t improve anything; I just need to not forget the essence and learn what I need to learn.’

Asking Yohan to fight out of the blue like before was her hometown’s way, and it revealed her impatience.

Now, she needed to learn calmly from the basics, in the Central Continent’s way.

For the sake of her hometown.

———

Most of the classes of freshmen were mandatory.

At Arcana Academy, first-year students learned as much as possible, and from the second year onward, they chose what they wanted to learn.

By that time, the number of subjects had roughly been halved, but even so, the difficulty of the classes increased, and the amount of assignments doubled, so for the students, there wasn’t much of a difference in reality.

‘Anyway, what’s important now are the freshmen.’

The freshmen couldn’t all take the same class at once.

But that didn’t mean the professors could repeat the same class two or three times a day.

Naturally, the schedule was efficiently arranged, resulting in many classes where freshmen overlapped with each other.

“Hmm.”

“Hi, Leila.”

In other words, it wasn’t so strange that Yohan and Kyle were taking the same class, and that Leila was attending it with them.

Leila didn’t seem to think much of it, but for Yohan, who had just refused her sparring request, it was a slightly awkward situation.

‘Will it be awkward all day?’

Usually, when the first class overlapped like this, they ended up attending most of the day’s classes together.

Since he couldn’t avoid it, Yohan decided to act nonchalant.

“Seeing you again?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh, well, yeah.”

Yohan nodded awkwardly.

It seemed that this strange awkwardness wouldn’t disappear immediately.

Creak.

At that moment, the classroom door opened, and the professor who would conduct the class appeared.

A bald head, and conversely, a bushy beard.

He had a good physique, but his expression was not cheerful.

“Hello, everyone. I am Professor Leodvan Othello, who will be teaching you ‘Art’ from now on.”

He introduced himself in a dying voice.

This class was ‘Art.’

The basics of painting magic, and the class that Yohan could be most confident in.

“I don’t know how you all think about art, which is simply the act of drawing pictures, but I believe that art is the beginning of magic.”

Yohan naturally agreed with his opinion.

Painting magic.

That was, at Arcana Academy, they used magic cast by drawing pictures.

“Magic, after all, is the power to realize imagination into reality. Now, everyone, would you please close your eyes and imagine fire?”

After saying that, Professor Leodvan immediately pointed to a student.

“What kind of fire did you imagine?”

“Uh. I imagined a campfire. The scene where logs crackle and make sounds, and the flames flicker, creating shadows.”

“Good. Then, the student sitting next to you? What kind of fire did you imagine?”

Another student sitting right next to the one who just answered spoke up.

“I thought of a fire quietly burning in a brazier.”

“Even when thinking of the same fire like this, each person imagines a completely different form of fire. Moreover, even the same person may imagine different forms of fire depending on the occasion.”

It’s human nature to think of a campfire today and a cigarette flame tomorrow.

Yohan nodded lightly and focused on Professor Leodvan’s words.

“That’s why the act of drawing is necessary. It allows you to define your own fire and be able to recall it anytime, anywhere.”

After saying that, Professor Leodvan moved his magic pen.

As he cast a spell, dozens of sheets of drawing paper flew in from somewhere and landed in front of each student.

“From now on, you will draw pictures according to the given themes.”

Since Yohan had been drawing all his life, he smiled as he looked at the blank paper.

And then, the theme was announced.

“Today’s theme is ‘The moment you first encountered magic.'”