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The second semester began in Ingralowe, and as it was still the second day, some students still felt like they were on break. The students of Class A were gathered, and their homeroom teacher Damuel entered the classroom. Everyone sat straight and waited silently.

“The second semester of Magic Theory Studies focuses on the materialization of mana. I believe this was also taught during the first semester, but producing ethereal mana and giving it form is far harder than using a regular spell.”

Hearing that, various students looked nervous.

Damuel was right, without a spell as intermediary, it was complicated to produce mana and manipulate it, as it was essentially pure energy. Doing so was considered harder than using a middle level spell.

If one just wanted to attack, it was more effective to channel mana into a fire or lightning spell, without the need of molding mana alone.

But defense was a different story. Being able to cancel an enemy spell with one of an opposite element and strength required swift reflexes and a high chanting speed, and it was still easy to cause friendly fire. A barrier of materialized mana was far safer and effective.

There were next to no magicians who had a balance of offensive and defensive abilities though. At any power level, there were usually twice as many magicians that could use offensive spells compared to those who could defend from them. And only a fraction of those knew how to properly teach those skills.

“Even amongst us teachers there’s only a few who can do that effortlessly. So today I’ll be introducing to you a new temporary specialist instructor. Please enter.”

Everyone looked at the door, wondering just who it would be. When they saw who it was, some were satisfied, others shocked, and others confused.

“Nice to meet you, those who haven’t seen me before. And hello to those who know me. I’m the magic automaton Natalia, invited here to be your temporary specialist instructor. I hope we can get along.”

The magic automaton stepped on the teacher’s podium, wearing a formal suit which was different from her usual getup, and politely bowed to the class.

A few days before the semester began, Olivia’s homeroom teacher Damuel called me. I was prepared to hear that Olivia hadn’t been doing too well, but instead I was asked to become an instructor.

Apparently the magic blade I use all the time is considered a branch of mana control. Mana control is founded on rather simple theories, but it’s difficult to enact, and it’s even harder to teach properly.

So they looked at me to teach it, as I was using it effortlessly.

I’ve only ever used it to form a blade, so at first I was about to refuse, but they offered to let me attend other lectures and use the schoolyard training grounds without restriction, so I accepted.

My knowledge of magic is encompassed by the bits Ophelia taught me, and what I read in Olivia’s textbook, so I’m pretty much just self taught, even the magic devices I make with alchemy are limited to simple stuff. When it comes to shooting, I haven’t visited the forest again after that incident to avoid any trouble, so I’m lacking practice too. So I appreciate the opportunity to learn magic in depth, and also have a place to train.

After I accepted, Damuel gave me pointers on how to conduct a lesson. An important part was how one addressed the students.

Social ranks are ignored within the Magic Academy, so teachers usually refer to students by their first names. Even if they’re of noble lineage, I can’t refer to them with any form of honorific.

I was also told to not favor Olivia during class. That was obvious. But that’s all the backstory as to how I ended up on this podium.

Olivia looks at me in shock, her mouth flapping like a beached fish trying to breathe. I didn’t tell her about this, so this was a surprise to her.

I don’t know how much I can actually teach these students, but I took the job, so I’ll try my best.

“I have a question, teacher. Is a magic automaton going to teach us then?”

I stand on the podium for just a short time to greet them, and there’s already dissatisfied students raising their voices.

“I know magic automatons can move by their free will, but they’re still monsters, right? Can we really trust her?”
“Exactly, even if a monster can produce mana, I doubt she can really manipulate it skillfully.”

Well, I sort of expected that reaction. Even if people did not mind various races in Seperion, that was only amongst those related to humans. Monsters are still monsters, so anyone would react that way.

“I hope you can all apologize to her in order, but you should know that she was built by an alumni of this Academy, essentially our senior. Her creator was Olivia’s mother, and her name is still remembered in this Academy, Ophelia Gardeland. You can trust Natalia, even if she’s a monster.”

Surprisingly enough, there’s one student that steps in to defend me, Mathias, the same boy who caused that scene at the start of the first semester. Or maybe it’s not that surprising, even back then he had acted from a logical, objective, and righteous standpoint.

“Huh, that Ophelia?”
“You mean that superior student who always was at the top of the students, and could win fights along against multiple opponents from other Academies?”
“That Ophelia who was fighting monsters in the forest and created a large clearing by burning off all the trees?”
“Is it the same Ophelia that a marquis’ heir tried to marry, but answered by slapping him on the face and ignoring him?”

After Mathias’ speech, the students start raising their voices one after another.

Just what kind of life did Ophelia have here?

“And I’m sure some of you might be aware of this, but Natalia is Olivia’s Servant. There’s no reason to fear her as a monster.”

The girls who live in the second dorm and interact with us often nod after that.

“If you’re so convinced then alright…”
“Okay…”

The ones who complained first don’t look fully convinced, but they step down for now. However, having Mathias do everything for me wouldn’t leave the best first impression either. Maybe it’s best for me to show them properly.

“I understand you might be apprehensive of me, but you’ve just heard about my origins, and as you can see, I can properly recreate the basics of mana materialization, so please rest assured.”

I lightly raise my hand and produce a magic blade, which makes the arguing students stop and stare in wonder. I guess materializing mana really is a high level skill after all. I just had a good aptitude for it and mastered it in a few days of training, so I never felt like it was too hard.

“Now that everything’s been cleared up, let’s begin the lesson proper. Open your textbooks.”

I opened my textbook as well, looking for the section scheduled for today.

In a bit of a side note, unlike the textbooks in modern Japan, where the teachers have different ones with extra annotations and highlights, both teachers and students use the same textbooks here.

But let’s return to the main topic.

The basics of magic and mana were the same as what Ophelia taught me. Magic was activated by spending mana, and manipulating mana alone without changing its form is complicated. No one really knows exactly why that is.