“Teacher Collette, is there something you need?”
“It's nothing major. Well, Shulim, don't you have a wand? I was thinking that next term, you could bring your wand to class.”
“Is that allowed?”
Shulim was slightly surprised.
“Yes!”
Collette nodded.
“It's fine now. Most of the students have already grasped the basics of magic, so their self-confidence won't be easily shaken. In fact, some of them might even start getting complacent. If they have you as a role model, the others should be able to have a clear goal, and they will probably work harder at their studies.”
“I understand, Teacher Collette. I will bring my wand next term.”
Just after saying goodbye to Collette, Shulim spotted a figure excitedly waving her right hand at the school gates.
“Shulim—!”
Shulim walked over.
“Fran? Is something the matter?”
Fran said happily, “Shulim, I was thinking just now. Even though you can't come play at my house because you have to train, I can go to your house! I don't necessarily have to train! What do you think?”
“...”
It would probably be better if you also spent more time practicing your own magic.
Looking at Fran in front of her, who could be considered a friend, Shulim decided not to say those words out loud.
On the other hand, the Bandun family's butler stood to the side with an anxious look, staring at Fran and hesitating to speak several times.
...It seemed the Bandun family was already aware of Fran's declining grades.
“Sure, if you can make it over...”
“Really! Then it's a promise! I'll definitely come over tomorrow!”
Fran was extremely delighted. She followed the butler into the carriage and kept waving at Shulim even after getting inside.
“Shulim, see you tomorrow~!”
Shulim also raised her right hand and waved.
“Yeah, tomorrow...”
Let's see if you can even leave your house tomorrow.
...
Shulim entered a school break that was neither too long nor too short. Because of the holidays, the amount of time she spent practicing swordsmanship every day increased significantly.
However, Rezerian did not strictly demand a specific amount of time his youngest daughter had to practice swordsmanship each day. Therefore, after practicing for the entire morning, Shulim would go to the Monster Forest to receive training from Semilis.
Since there was plenty of time during the break, Semilis's training no longer consisted of simply placing a monster directly in front of Shulim and having them fight.
Instead, she would randomly place a monster in a certain area and fly there with Shulim, requiring her to find the monster first before figuring out a way to defeat it.
Although doing this was much more troublesome, it was a more accurate representation of actual situations she would face in reality, so Shulim approached it with a very positive attitude.
The various wilderness survival skills she had learned before, along with her ability to identify potions and special plants, all came in handy during these exercises.
The only problem was that searching for and hunting a specific monster in a real forest was by no means an easy task. Rather, encountering various unexpected accidents was the norm.
At times, Shulim could not find the monster smoothly, or she would be interrupted by other monsters intruding. Some monsters were simply local inhabitants that had been unfortunately selected by Semilis; these beasts, being highly familiar with their environment, dragged Shulim into bitter struggles every single time, and she had even been forced to retreat on occasion.
However, the growth brought by experiences of failure was the most substantial.
Having gained experience in facing enemies under unfavorable circumstances, she would be able to respond calmly if she encountered such situations in the future.
Just like that, under high-intensity training, the school break that was neither too long nor too short came to an end.
In addition, Fran indeed never visited her home; in fact, she had not been able to step foot outside her house at all during the entire break.
...
“Waaah—! I finally get to see you, Shulim! Father is too much, he actually didn't let me leave the house! I never want to talk to him again!”
Early in the morning on the first day of the new term, Fran appeared in front of Shulim with a thoroughly aggrieved expression.
“I'm so sorry, Shulim. I didn't mean to stand you up.”
It seemed she really had a miserable time during the break.
“It's fine, it's fine.”
Watching Fran hug her arm with teary eyes, Shulim comforted her,
“Mr. Bandun probably made that decision because of your magic, right? In that case, as long as your magic becomes powerful, he won't have any reason to stop you anymore.”
“Really? As long as my magic gets powerful, Father won't ground me?”
“Of course—most likely...”
“Alright! Then I will definitely become a powerful mage and show Father what I'm capable of!”
The previously aggrieved Fran instantly burned with fighting spirit once more.
“Ah, by the way, Shulim, is that on your back a... wand?”
Fran finally noticed that there was an extra object on Shulim's back.
It was a wooden stick with a rounded top.
“Mm, that's right! It's my wand! How is it? Cool, right? Don't let its stick-like appearance fool you, it's very powerful. No matter what magic I use, it always reliably assists me...”
Whenever the topic of magic or wands came up, Shulim would unconsciously become quite talkative.
Fran tilted her head. “Huh? But... wands are usually for Second-Tier and above...”
“Ah, that's right! Shulim is a Second-Tier mage, so it's perfectly normal for her to have a wand!”
Fran recalled the scene when Shulim had rescued her in the past. At that time, Shulim had undoubtedly cast Second-Tier magic.
Remembering that moment, Fran's heart welled up with excitement.
“Amazing! Can I touch your wand?”
“Of course!”
Shulim handed the wand to Fran without any hesitation.
Fran took the Treant Wand in her hands, carefully stroking it from top to bottom.
“So this is Shulim's wand... Does Shulim touch this part every day... Hehe~!”
“Uh... Well... Fran?”
“It really is cool!”
Fran suddenly declared loudly, raising the Treant Wand high above her head.
“Although it looks like a mere wooden stick at first glance, the more you look at it, the more it feels like a wand! It gives off that feeling of—ah, yes, this is exactly what a wand should be like!”
“Hey, Shulim, what material is this made of?”
Was that just my imagination...
“Well... it's crafted from the trunk of a mist marsh treant. That's a highly rare material, and it amplifies magic of any element equally. For a multi-elemental mage like me, it's practically custom-made!”
“A mist marsh treant?!”
Fran's eyes lit up.
“That name sounds so cool! It feels even more like a wand now!”
“Alright! I've decided. I'm going to buy a wand made from a mist marsh treant too. I'll go beg my father as soon as I get home!”
Well...
It wasn't really a problem to buy a wand in advance, but didn't you say just a moment ago that you were never going to talk to your father again?
...
Although they had entered a new term, because the break hadn't been long, there were virtually no changes among their classmates.
For that very reason, Shulim's appearance with a wand made her stand out immensely.
As long as one didn't sleep through all the magic theory classes, they would basically understand the significance behind carrying a wand.
“S-Shulim... is she already a Second-Tier mage?!”
“That's incredible. If I recall correctly, very few people in this school can become Second-Tier mages even by the time they graduate, right?”
Shulim's wand acted like a sudden bolt of thunder out of a clear sky, causing quite a stir among the students.
Rate on N.U.