The Genius Magician Hides His Swordsmanship - Chapter 8

Chapter 8. Drew Gibson

A lonely time when only the moonlight illuminates the world. An unfamiliar knocking sound created a cacophony.

‘Who could that be?’

Oberon, too, stared.

‘Could McDuff have come for revenge?’
[Ah, no way. No matter how eccentric he is, would he really cause a commotion in the dormitory?]
‘Yeah, you’re right.’

Before going to the dormitory, Aloy had said, any student that causes trouble in the dormitory, would be expelled from the academy without exception. Even if it were a Delemar.

[Who is it then?]
‘Let’s just open and see.’

If the person behind the door had heard what was going on with the aura, the situation would be quite troublesome. I approached the door cautiously. Took a deep breath, turned the doorknob, and yanked.

“Ian!”

A brown haired boy stuck his chubby cheek in.

“Drew?”

He smiles, and the tense air in the room instantly dissipates. He padded casually into the room.

“You’re still up, huh?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“You were so cool earlier!”
“…What?”

Then, he shook his hands in the air. It looked like he was performing a tug of war.

“McDuff’s expression was worth seeing earlier!”

I shrugged my shoulders. I just didn’t like McDuff, he made a more ridiculous appearance.

“It was amazing. There is a difference in talent among the Delemars.”

Drew raised his chubby thumb.

“Thank you for being nice to me.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah!”
“Anyway, is that what you’re here to talk about?”

I meant I wanted him to cut to the chase, no one would show up to someone else’s room late at night just to compliment them.

“That, and I want to get to know you a little better!”
“Huh…?”

Their gazes met in the air, and there was a moment of awkwardness. Drew’s mouth twitched again.

“Well, I don’t come from a particularly well known family, and I don’t have any friends here.”

I couldn’t help but find that statement ironic.

‘The Gibsons aren’t exactly popular…?’

In my memory, the Gibsons were one of the most powerful families in the world. Of course, after the tyranny of the Pentagram, it’s no surprise that the tables have turned.
Well, it doesn’t hurt anyway. The more friends, the better.

“Yes, yes. Let’s get along well from now on.”
“Oh! really?”

Drew said, with a grin spreading across his face.

‘What’s so great about me?’
[I suppose it’s because you’re a Delemar, and if you go out into the world, you’ll find a line of kids trying to get in touch with you.]

The Delemar’s power was great even 1,000 years ago, I just don’t feel comfortable with the Gibson bloodline doing this.
After a long pause, he spoke again.

“So uhh, do you mind if I ask you for a favor?”
“Huh? What is it?”
“I was wondering if you could tell me the secret.”
“What secret?”
“How you move your mana like that.”

Drew smiles shyly. The freckles on his chubby cheeks twitched.

‘It’s a secret…’

A funny idea came to mind at that moment.

‘Oberon.’
[What?]
‘Should I raise him?’
[Eh? Raise him, what do you mean? You’re still a kid too, dude.]
‘No, that’s not what I mean. I’m trying to raise him to be a swordsman.’

Oberon was startled, and spun around in the air.

[Hey, if you get caught doing that, you’ll be in big trouble! Didn’t I tell you how swordsmen are treated these days? Moreover, training a swordsman in a magical family is a death wish!]
‘Eh. Who’s going to notice? My training isn’t even what a swordsman normally does.’
[You mean muscle training?]
‘Yeah, he’s from a swordsmen family, after all. And from what I’ve seen of him in our classes, he doesn’t seem to have much talent for mana control, but you never know, he might make a good swordsman.’

Finally, Oberon shook his head.

[Well the Gibson family’s name hasn’t been resounding.]
‘Besides, I owe the Gibsons a favor. I can only assume I’m paying them back now.’

I said, leaving Oberon to ponder the question, having already decided on an answer.

“Drew?”
“Huh? Yeah!”

As a new friend. I decided I had a gift for Drew.

“If you’re curious about my secret, close the door behind you.”

“…Ugh, argh. How long are we going to keep doing this?”

The sweat on Drew’s forehead ran down his chin. His wet hair was swaying up and down.

“100 left!”
“Eh! One hundred?!”

Drew repeatedly squatted.

“Yes, that’s how you sense your lower body.”

I plan to make sure that he can feel his muscles in detail.
[But isn’t it too hard for him on the first day? You’ve been doing this since you started walking, but he’s never done this before. I can even bet this is child abuse.]
‘It’s definitely an effective training method. If I teach him how to sense aura, I’m sure I’d be able to grow even quicker.’
[Ugh, you ignorant bastard.]

Oberon only looked at Drew, who was sweating hard, with pity.

“Huff…huff…”

Drew, half-exhausted, slumped to the floor. He had finished another 100.

“Uh, are you sure this will give me more control over my mana?”
“No, it won’t.”

His eyes widened at my answer. His mouth dropped open in shock.

“Because this isn’t the end of it.”
“Huh? Well, then?”

There was still more of the routine to come for Drew. He had barely completed one move.

“I’ll show you, let’s finish.”

Drew’s ragged breathing continued for a long time afterward.

‘He’s better than I thought.’

He truly is a Gibson. He didn’t give up until the end, although his eyes seemed to tear up when I told him he had to do another set of push-ups after the sit-ups…
Anyway, after Drew finished his routine, he then headed back to his room.

‘He’s better than I thought.’

It’s not every day you see an 11 year old do push-ups.

[Well, the Gibson’s blood is different.]

For good reason, Gibson was from a family that produced some of the finest swordsmen of their time. It was a waste of bloodline to have him learning magic.

‘Well, now that he’s gone, let’s move on to the next training session.’

I picked up the long stick in the corner of the room and drew a line across it. One last routine I can’t show Drew. I had 1,000 sideways slashes left.
Fwoo!
The stick sliced through the air, and I turned to Oberon.

‘Ah, but I hope I didn’t lose a friend today?’
[Well?]

* * * 

Time flew by at the academy. Three seasons had passed, and the wind turned chilly, stiffening my face.

“Ian!”

Ah, yes. Luckily, I didn’t have the misfortune of losing my first friend. Instead, Drew had always followed me around like a stick of gum.
Magic lessons by day, secret training by night. He hadn’t given up until now.

“Today is free training time.”

In Aloy’s absence, it was a day to practice our respective accomplishments. Drew’s jaw dropped as soon as we reached the auditorium.

“Wow, you guys are amazing.”

It was a gathering of gifted students from various magical families. Three seasons was a long time for a child growing up.
Whoosh!
Mana was everywhere.

‘There’s no one who can’t feel mana anymore.’

Among them, Ariel and McDuff stood out. It was a remarkable achievement, even among the gifted. Both of them were already producing convincing elementals.
Chu!
A stream of water blossomed from Ariel’s fingertips. It wasn’t as spectacular as a water ball yet, but she had an excellent mana sensitivity to water.

“Cool…”

Drew’s jaw dropped at the sight.

“Don’t be jealous, you’re doing well enough.”
“Really? But I can still barely feel my mana yet…”

There was a reason why he was envious. It was because he showed the lowest mana sensitivity even in this season.

“If you do as you are doing now, you will see the light someday.”

However, I was positive.

‘This guy is definitely a genius.’

His achievements shone not in mana, but in his aura training.

[He’s talking like he’s bad. He doesn’t even know how talented he is.]
‘I know.’

The name Gibson still lived up to its name a thousand years later. This boy was accumulating aura fast enough to surprise me and Oberon.
Compared to wizardly talent, he was probably as good as McDuff or Ariel, maybe even better.

‘Well, I can’t tell if it’s aura or mana just yet.’

I patted Drew’s sagging shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’re doing great now, too.”

I swallowed back the comment that if I followed my own advice, I’d be able to chew them up.

‘The real problem is me.’

Ariel and McDuff’s growth was making me nervous.

‘Magic manifestation…?’

It’s one thing to have 3 stars worth of mana in your body, but it’s another thing to manifest it into a specific substance.

‘How the hell do you use magic?’

Simply drawing in mana and manifesting it into magic were two very different things, and it was an unfamiliar sensation.

[Perhaps it’s because you’re only used to the energy inside your body, and that’s the realm of outward expression after all.]
‘I see.’
[If that doesn’t work, let’s just focus on swordsmanship. Once you reach 9 stars, those guys will be nothing, and you said you’d even reach 10 stars in this lifetime.]
‘Magic is just as important as swordsmanship. You’d have to be at least an 8 star mage to even begin to comprehend the magic that the Pentagram unleashed.’

If I’m going to find out what the Pentagram is up to, I can’t neglect to learn magic, either.

‘What if it turns out to be tricky?’
[Whew, you’re smart! Don’t ask me how to learn magic!]
‘Sure, let me go get a magic constellation somewhere real quick.’

However, learning is more fulfilling when you break through these barriers once in a while. I knew in my gut that this was my time.

‘I don’t have a clue.’

I said, and a ray of hope descended on me.

The next day.

“Hey, Ian. Follow me out here for a minute.”

After class, Aloy quietly called me over.

‘Why is he singling me out?’
[I wonder if he’s trying to get back at you for what happened on the test that day.]
‘You’re being ridiculous.’

I’ve gotten to know him over the past few months, and he’s not one to hold grudges. He’s a bit of a joker, but he does what he’s supposed to do. Oberon knows that, and that’s why he’s playing.

“What’s up?”
“There’s someone looking for you.”

The words made me puzzled.

‘Is he trying to give me a secret teacher?’
[Maybe, you’re good with mana, but not magic.]
‘Good, then I’ll learn the basics and then get to the mage tower.’

That was the current goal. Once I was out of the family house, I would be able to train more freely as a swordsman. Oh, I also needed to find out what the Pentagram had done.

‘First, I need to get out of the Delemar house.’
[Yes, let’s get out of that dreary little place. Let’s go out and pick up a sword, or at least a butcher knife!]

Aloy arrived at a clearing behind the academy, where two people were waiting for him.

“Ah, Uncle! He’s coming too?”

One was McDuff, who was screaming loudly. The other one was…

[Isn’t that the third son of the patriarch?]

It was Rio Delemar who was in charge of the judgment ceremony.

“Hey, Long time no see?”

Then I realized.

‘This, no way! Is he going to pass on Delemar’s secret skill?’
[Ohoh?]

The time to nurture the successors of famous families has arrived.