Chapter 67
A cold silence fell.
The Lumene students looked at Leo in confusion, while the Seiren students glared at him with stiff faces.
“Interpretation… is wrong? What do you mean by that, Leo Plov?”
Herdeum asked with a smile, but there was a chill in his eyes.
Leo scratched his cheek and replied,
“That magic won’t activate.”
“Of course not. This is an incomplete spell, so it’s a magic that won’t activate anyway.”
“Huh?”
Leo was taken aback.
And he realized the looks from Herdeum and the Seiren students were anything but friendly.
‘What does a kid who specializes in Aura and Summoning know about magic?’
Lunia also looked at Leo as if she couldn’t believe him.
“Ha! You act all arrogant just because you use something like Star Magic! That spell is the Founder’s legacy, which nobody has ever managed to interpret! Countless elven mages worked to restore it to its current form, and you’re calling it wrong?”
The elf boy, who’d been beaten by Leo the previous day, snapped.
‘Ah… so this was a lost spell?’
Leo realized his mistake and made an awkward face.
Meanwhile, Lunia was startled by the boy’s words.
‘Wait? Magic? Leo clearly used Aura and Spirit Power, though?’
“Leo, do you have some expertise in Star Magic? Fascinating. I’m curious to see how Star Magic appears through a human’s eyes.”
Herdeum’s voice was cold as he handed Leo a piece of chalk.
“If our elven interpretation is wrong, could you show us yours?”
‘Tch. Guess I have no choice.’
Leo hadn’t considered that this foundational Star Magic spell hadn’t been deciphered yet.
‘Well, I guess that’s possible. This spell was created after Star Magic was established, when Luna organized the system.’
What elves now used was still Star Magic, but at its core, it was different from what Luna had used.
After all, the true essence of Star Magic was passed down not to elves, but to Kyle.
‘I died before I could pass that essence on to another elf.’
It wouldn’t be wrong to say the authentic essence of Star Magic was lost with Kyle.
The Star Magic currently used by elves was nothing more than a copy reconstructed by Velkia, Luna’s disciple, using the spells she remembered and the magic books Luna left behind.
‘Still, it’s impressive they managed to recreate this much with an incomplete version.’
Given that, it wasn’t odd not to know about a spell considered fundamental in Luna’s or Kyle’s day.
It was only a basic spell by their standards.
But for elves, it was a completely lost spell.
Leo blamed himself for the blunder and stood up, approaching the chalkboard.
The Lumene students who saw this were horrified.
‘Ah! Leo, why would you do that!’
‘If you get embarrassed as the year representative, it’s over!’
‘Ugh! Professor Harrid’s eyes are shooting lasers!’
Professor Harrid, watching from the back, also fixed Leo with a deadly stare.
That was how serious Leo’s breach of manners was.
Class 5 clutched their heads in agony, while the Seiren students stared at Leo with faces saying, “Let’s see how well you do!”
Herdeum folded his arms and took a step back, watching Leo begin to explain the spell.
The sound of chalk quietly echoed.
Tap—!
Leo filled in the missing parts of the damaged spell.
In the process, it was only natural that he used Star Magic formulas unknown to modern elves.
‘What kind of interpretation is that?’
‘It looks like Star Magic, but I’ve never seen this interpretation before.’
‘That’s completely weird!’
The Seiren students looked baffled at Leo’s explanation.
Even Lunia, the most skilled mage, wore a bewildered expression.
‘Does that kind of spell exist?’
None of the Seiren students had any idea how important what Leo was writing on the board actually was.
In fact, the magic formula only became more and more complex, leaving them dizzy.
Only one person, Herdeum, watched the board with shivers running down his spine.
Tap—!
At last, Leo set down the chalk and stepped back.
“I’m done.”
Professor Harrid folded his arms and stared hard at Leo.
Not knowing much about Star Magic, he couldn’t evaluate what Leo had written.
He glanced over at Herdeum.
And was startled to see Herdeum’s body trembling.
The Founder’s magic, which countless elven mages had failed to interpret over thousands of years.
That was why it was deemed incomplete.
And as someone who had spent his entire life researching this magic, Herdeum perfectly understood Leo’s formula.
So he knew.
‘The spell’s been completely solved!’
—
“Leo Plov, how in the world did you do that?”
Herdeum dragged Leo and Professor Harrid into a small room next to the grand banquet hall and questioned him at once.
Harrid, too, stared at Leo in shock.
With both of them staring, Leo wondered how to respond.
‘It’s best to just say I interpreted it as is.’
He couldn’t very well claim to be Kyle.
Nor that he’d learned directly from Luna—nobody would believe it, nor could he say it.
“I’ve always been interested in Star Magic and have studied it deeply for a long time. I’ve also researched that particular spell for a while.”
“You couldn’t interpret that spell just by being interested in Star Magic, could you?”
Herdeum adjusted his glasses, pressing sharply.
Harrid answered instead.
“Leo Plov is not just a student with some knowledge of Star Magic.”
“Then what?”
“He is an actual user of Star Magic.”
At Harrid’s words, Herdeum looked shocked.
“Star Magic? A human? No, well, it’s not impossible for humans or other races to use it… but at such a young age?”
Star Magic was a system of magic created by Luna.
Over time, it had been adapted specifically for elves, so compared to other systems, it was especially hard for other races to use.
Even if they could use it, you needed a high level of magic mastery, so it was basically impossible for someone so young to use, and even if they did, it would be weak.
‘But this boy, at only fifteen, is using Star Magic with a human body?’
“But even if he uses Star Magic, interpreting that spell… Could you explain how you did it?”
At Herdeum’s question, Leo began to write out the spell’s interpretation on paper.
As he watched Leo’s explanation, Herdeum’s eyes filled with growing shock.
‘If the Founder himself interpreted it, wouldn’t it look like this?’
Leo’s interpretation was so natural and perfect, it was hard to believe otherwise.
When Leo finished, Herdeum took the paper, trembling.
“Leo Plov… this spell… just what kind of spell is it? Have you ever used it?”
‘I haven’t used it myself, but…’
Leo scratched his cheek and replied,
“It’s a spell that makes a flower bloom.”
“A flower?”
Harrid and Herdeum both looked puzzled.
“Yes.”
“A-astonishing. Who would have thought this spell, which gave birth to so many different branches of magic, was originally just for making a flower bloom…”
Dumbfounded by the Founder’s eccentricity, Herdeum muttered, and Leo cast the spell.
A warm light blossomed from Leo’s palm, and before long, a single flower appeared in his hand.
“It’s not simply a spell to make flowers bloom. During the Age of Catastrophe, flowers had nearly gone extinct.”
Herdeum stared at the single flower in Leo’s hand.
“To make a flower bloom, you need fire and wind, water and earth. And light.”
Leo gave a wry smile as he looked at the flower in his hand.
“To the Founder of the Nebula, maybe a flower was something truly special.”
– ‘Look, Kyle! I finally completed the flower-blooming spell!’
– ‘What kind of spell is that?’
– ‘Why not? Flowers are pretty, aren’t they? I want to see a world full of flowers again someday. Want to learn it?’
– ‘No thanks.’
As Leo looked at the flower, he remembered the past.
He’d been half-forced to learn it by Luna, but never had a chance to use it.
‘Now I use it in this life.’
The spell Luna loved most.
Because it was a fundamental spell, it contained all the essence of the magic she’d built.
‘I wonder what the elves would think if they knew the real reason Luna created Star Magic was to perfect this spell?’
Leo recalled Luna’s bright smile as he thought back.
“Indeed! Maybe this spell embodies Lady Luna’s deep love of nature.”
‘No. She just really liked flowers.’
Leo shook his head as Herdeum made up his own interpretation.
“In any case, Leo. I need to talk with Professor Harrid for a moment. Would you study by yourself like the other students?”
“Yes.”
‘Glad that worked out.’
Leo breathed a sigh of relief as he left.
“Our student was rude. I apologize.”
“Not at all, Professor Harrid! In fact, we’re grateful! To think the Founder’s spell, which we thought incomplete, was actually perfected like this! This is a tremendous discovery!”
Seeing Herdeum’s pure delight, Professor Harrid smiled wryly.
“So I must ask, just in case…”
“…?”
“Does Leo Plov, by any chance, have any elves among his ancestors?”
“At Lumene, we don’t really care much about lineage, so I’m not sure.”
“I see.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I know it’s presumptuous to ask since Leo is the year representative at Lumene…”
“…?”
“Would you consider transferring Leo Plov to our school?”
“…”
Faced with this unprecedented transfer proposal, Professor Harrid could only look at Herdeum in disbelief.