The hole in the wall from last night hadn't disappeared by morning. Sato Sho held a tray in the dining hall "Hidamari-tei," his thoughts drifting vaguely to that fact. A circular hole in magic-resistant stone. The memory of being yelled at by the academic instructor. The alarm that had blared throughout the entire dormitory. The awareness that he'd messed up on his very first day lingered in his chest even after a night had passed, a dull ache that wouldn't fade. The dining hall was bustling from early morning. Soft light from magical lamps fell from the stone archway ceiling, and students wove between tables. The aroma of freshly baked bread and mana-infused soup drifted through the air. He could see Thomas Russo, the shop owner, vigorously stirring a pot in the kitchen. There were plenty of empty seats. Sho began walking with his tray. Then something happened. As Sho approached a table, the student sitting there scooted their chair sideways, little by little. Like opposite poles of a magnet repelling each other. When Sho changed direction, that student pulled their chair back too. He moved sideways again, and again they shifted. Before he knew it, a two-meter square void had opened up around him. No one spoke to him. But whispers drifted from somewhere. "That's the guy who put a hole in the wall." "A hole in magic-resistant stone in one night... are they serious?" "It's kinda scary." Ah, so that's how it is. Sho stopped in the center of the empty space and slowly tilted his head. "...Am I really that smelly?" Whether the nearby student heard his quiet mutter or not, they shifted back another half-step. Sho gave a wry smile and sat down at a corner table where no one was sitting. He scooped up some soup and brought it to his mouth. It was warm and slightly sweet. The taste wasn't bad. But sitting alone at a four-person table was quieter and more spacious than he'd expected. (Well, I guess it can't be helped.) Sho looked out the window. The pale Lunava still lingered at the edge of the sky, while the golden Solva was slowly rising from the east. In this world, complete night didn't exist. One of the two suns was always somewhere in the sky, continuously illuminating the land. He'd been surprised by that last night too, but no matter how many times he saw it, it still felt a little strange. Today there was a magic lesson. The academic instructor had told him so. While chewing on bread, Sho recalled the sensation from last night. When he'd read the textbook, the knowledge of the spell formula had flowed directly into his brain. Flames had appeared. Too many flames. But that sensation had been real. The feeling of flames moving with just will and emotion. If he tried again, properly this time— he started to think, then shook his head. For now, the goal was to not get yelled at during today's lesson. That was the immediate objective. 　* Classroom 12 was at the far end of the third floor of Central Hall. Stone walls, tall narrow windows, five magical lamps along the ceiling. The blackboard and podium were at the front. Students were already seated, and the moment Sho opened the door, the air in the classroom tensed all at once. Gazes converged on him. Three seconds later, starting from the front row, chairs began shifting backward in a wave-like motion. Same as the dining hall, Sho thought. The instructor was a thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses. His name was Grain Dorva. He wore a white coat with a thin staff at his waist, and his expression didn't change when he saw Sho. "Please be seated." His voice was monotone. Sho sat in the corner seat at the very back. The student in front of him moved their chair forward until the backrest was nearly touching the floor. Thanks, that made more space. The lesson began. Grain Dorva wrote "Igna Fol" on the blackboard. "Today we cover the basics of elementary flame magic. The Paradigma formula's incantation uses dual activation—both verbal and gesture-based. Simultaneously with the incantation 'Igna Fol,' you perform a circular motion with your right hand. By combining these two, you convert the mana within your body and can launch a palm-sized fireball." The explanation continued. The Paradigma formula was the name of the magical system used at Academia Lumina. It was created about 480 years ago by a scholar named Hervin Paradigma. It combined incantation with hand gestures—the mainstream of modern magic. It typically took three to four years of proper practice to master. With adequate training, about fifteen percent of the population could handle elementary magic. I see, Sho thought. What I was trying to do last night wasn't that method. "Now for practice. First, the incantation." All the students chanted "Igna Fol" in unison. They drew small circles with their right hands. Orange fireballs the size of a palm shot out from their hands, hit the magical barrier at the front of the classroom, and dissipated. Pretty, Sho thought. "The transfer student too." Everyone looked at him. The teacher was looking too. Sho took a deep breath. Just try it. Incantation, hand gesture in a circle, that's all. "Igna Fol." He drew a circle with his right hand. The next instant, a pillar of flame shot upward toward the ceiling. With a loud BOOM, the stone material of the ceiling turned pitch black with scorch marks. The temperature in the classroom spiked. Students flew backward with their chairs as if blown away. Grain Dorva quickly drew the staff from his waist and erected a barrier. Silence. "...One more time." His voice sounded strained. Sho, sweat beading on his forehead, tried again. "Igna Fol." He drew a circle with his right hand. This time he tried to relax more, keeping his wrist loose— BANG!! A textbook that had been sitting on an empty nearby desk caught fire. It turned to ash in three seconds. The student who apparently owned it screamed "Uwaaaaa!" "Calm down." The teacher's voice had lost any semblance of composure. "M-maybe one more time..." Sho attempted it. Third time. "Igna Fol." He drew a circle. Consciously, slowly, small— BOOM!!! The blackboard was gone. More precisely, the entire blackboard had turned to charcoal. The letters "Igna Fol" that Grain Dorva had written, along with all the other explanatory notes from before the lesson—everything. Completely obliterated. The classroom fell silent. Grain Dorva removed his glasses and closed his eyes. He stayed like that for about ten seconds. Sho shrank back and looked around. All the students in the class had huddled in a corner of the room, more than three meters away from him. The air was thick with "do not touch—dangerous." Then. From the back of the classroom, a chair moved. One student stood up. Sho looked in that direction. Silver hair. Long and straight. It caught the light of Solva streaming through the window, gleaming white. Clear aquamarine eyes were looking directly at Sho's hand. Her facial features were refined, and the academy emblem on her white uniform's chest glowed. A faint mark on her left cheek. She was shorter than Sho. About the same age, or maybe a bit younger. This girl wasn't afraid. She pulled out a thick observation journal and began writing with her pen, then slowly approached Sho's seat. "...Um, who are you?" "Please be quiet." Her tone was short but polite. Sho fell silent. The girl stopped thirty centimeters in front of Sho and examined his right hand, checking whether his fingertips were singed. Then she wrote something in her notebook. Then she looked at the charred blackboard. Then she wrote in her notebook again. "Try it one more time." "Huh?" "Produce the flame. The same way as before. I'll observe from beside you." The class of students huddled five meters away from Sho's seat all made faces that said "Eh?" Grain Dorva also looked at the girl with confusion. "Fortis, that's dangerous." "It's fine." She said it decisively. Sho immediately understood that this girl had nerves of steel. "...So your name is Fortis?" "Emilia Fortis. I'll introduce myself properly later. Right now I'm conducting an examination." Tracing her finger along a page in her notebook, Emilia continued. "Your magical circuit—it's completely different from the Paradigma formula pathway. Every time you chant, mana flows through an unusual route. The way you control it, the mechanism of release—could this possibly be ancient-style?" "What's ancient-style?" "...You said you read the textbook." "Yeah, the one they gave me in my room yesterday. When I read the pages, knowledge flows into my brain." Emilia's pen stopped. She looked at Sho for a moment as if thinking about something, then resumed writing. The volume of writing increased. Significantly. "Just by reading the textbook, you're producing this level of output...?" "That's what's happening." "..." Emilia said nothing. But Sho could tell she was quite shocked. Her aquamarine eyes were moving at an unusual speed, as if processing information rapidly. Grain Dorva spoke in a voice that sounded like he'd given up. "...Sato Sho, you may observe for today. However, refrain from any more uncontrolled releases." "I'm sorry, teacher." The lesson continued, but in the space where Sho and Emilia were, a different time seemed to flow. Emilia pulled a chair next to Sho's and sat down, continuing to write fine characters in her notebook. Occasionally she glanced sideways at his right hand, furrowing her brow as if confirming something. That's when Sho realized something. For the first time in this classroom, he felt truly "seen"—not in the sense of being kept at a distance, but in a completely different way. He didn't feel scared. If anything, he thought this was an interesting person. 　* "Come to the Grand Library after school." The moment the lesson ended, Emilia stood in front of Sho and said that. Her tone didn't allow for refusal, though she did say "please." "Is that an order?" "A request. Though I'd be troubled if you refused." "That's basically an order." Emilia pressed her lips together slightly, then said this: "I want you to let me measure your magical power. Your mana shows characteristics clearly different from the Paradigma formula—ancient-style traits. I want to verify that. I have permission to use Biblio Arkes' ancient texts, so I can cross-reference there." "Biblio Arkes?" "The academy's grand library. It's five stories tall, and there's a forbidden archive of ancient texts in the basement." Sho thought for a moment. Or rather, he pretended to think, but honestly, he had no reason to refuse. He wanted to know what was happening with his own magical power. Both last night's uncontrolled release and this morning's blackboard incident—if he didn't do something about it, things could get really bad eventually. "Alright. I'll go." Emilia gave a small nod. Not an obviously relieved expression, but rather one that said "this was obviously how it would turn out." For some reason, Sho found that a bit amusing. 　* Biblio Arkes was a heavy stone building five stories tall standing next to Central Hall to the east. The interior was spectacular. Bookshelves that reached the ceiling lined up in multiple rows, with ladders placed at each shelf. He'd heard the collection contained over 280,000 volumes, and the building's scale certainly justified that. The scent of old parchment mixed with the unique aroma of mana-infused ink filled the air. Magical lamps sat on reading desks where students pored over open books in the soft evening light. Emilia walked deeper inside with practiced steps. It was obvious she was a regular here. The librarian woman gave a small nod just seeing her face. She seemed to have memorized the shelf numbers, navigating without hesitation to retrieve the book she wanted. The two sat facing each other at a reading desk in the corner. What Emilia pulled from her bag was a thin tu