A Moment to Talk

『Geez… he really didn't hold back.』[Nova]

Nova had made his way over to the teachers and healed himself.

『It's almost the end of summer, huh?』[Nova]

『Then, before long you'll show up at Genesis academy, and we'll be there right beside you.』[Oswald]

『Wait.. You'll be there too? Isn't that a bit TOO overprotective?』[Nova]

Sarena felt something wrong in his sentence.

『...Hold on. How old you think we are?』[Sarena]

『I don't know? 20 something?』[Nova]

『Most of us are 18. Hanzo is the only one that's 19.』[Oswald]

『..What?』[Nova]

『We're 3rd year students of Genesis.』[Sarena]

『...But you were talking as if you graduated, with your class earlier..』[Nova]

『Nah, that was last year.』[Sarena]

『In fact if you ask Derenne, she'll say that the "Untouchable Queen" is still a vir-』[Oswald]

『SHUT UP.』[Sarena]

『I… would never say that.』[Derenne]

『Oh. She's back to normal.』[Hanzo]

『Wait, so.. Why are you doing all this work for the kingdom then?』[Nova]

『We're in the middle of our internships. In your first year, you do as much as you can to train and learn practical spells and techniques.』[Oswald]

『Second year, which was a pain- by the way, is filled with practical training and exercises.』[Hanzo]

『Third year is interning around for the royal family. It's like how community service was a requirement to graduating middle school.』[Sarena]

『The final year is the culmination of your 4 years. You have to create something that has never been done before. Sarena's Inferno Purgatory variant is most likely to be hers. 』[Derenne]

『Yeah. I still don't know what I'm going to do for mine.』[Hanzo]

『Hanzo.. You have less than a year..』[Derenne]

『What about seed abilities?』[Nova]

『Seed abilities don't count. They judge your technique with spells and attacks that do not relate to your seed. The worth of the student is their ability, not their abilities.』[Hanzo]

『Well, even then- there's more than one way to graduate. You can also be a high ranker, which can be done by battling other students and racking up points.』[Oswald]

『That's probably how Hanzo will graduate, to be honest.』[Sarena]

『..If it's Hanzo, then… probably..』[Derenne]

『...Hey, that kind of hurts.』[Hanzo]

『Oh, yeah. The kids at Genesis don't have much better to do, so be careful around there.』[Sarena]

『What do you mean, master?』[Nova]

『..They gossip! And lots of it. If you become too popular you'll start getting nicknames. If you become too unpopular, you also get nicknames.』[Sarena]

『...How many nicknames do you have?』[Nova]

『...6.』[Sarena]

『27. With about half of them having the word queen in it.』[Oswald]

『...Please stop.』[Sarena]

『So… anyway.. Did you get your kid to call you master?』[Hanzo]

『Yeah. Why not?』[Oswald]

『My kid calls me Han..』[Hanzo]

『He calls me Dere! I actually kinda like it.』[Derenne]

『Sounds like Rai.』[Nova]

He glanced over at Rai, who was still on the floor talking to Zhulong.

『..Did you want to trade?』[Hanzo]

『No. Never. Nova's the best.』[Oswald]

『How about you, Sarena?』[Hanzo]

『Nope! Never. He's like my little brother.』[Sarena]

Now that their attention was on Nova, she wanted to boast a bit.

Sarena hugged Nova's arm.

His face went red instantly.

「I always thought of her as an older woman- so it didn't matter, but she's kind of close to my age! I didn't realize before when I caught her, but I don't really have any experience with girls...」[Nova]

『Nova. Novaaaa.』[Sarena]

『Huh?! Yes?!』[Nova]

『Are you alright, is your teacher making you flustered?』[Sarena]

『...es.』[Nova]

『Huh?』[Sarena]

『Yes.』[Nova]

『Hahaha! He's still a cherry boy.』[Hanzo]

『He's only 16, Hanzo! Lay it off.』[Oswald]

『..He's kind of cute.』[Derenne]

「..Nova's so cute.」[Sarena]

『Speaking of which, you thought I was pretty old earlier..』[Sarena]

Nova felt an impending doom approach him.

『How old does "big sis" look to you?』[Sarena]

「You feel as if this decision will affect your fate. Answer wisely」[Reischneid]

Nova felt her grasp on his arm tighten, and his blushing face heat up.

『18! 18! You just seemed more mature!』[Nova]

Sarena smiled.

『Good.』[Sarena]

Nova felt his life flash before his eyes.

--------

『What's the difference between the nobility and the civilians?』[Nova]

『In terms of education, nobility learns about the responsibilities of a house during middle school. They also receive training in mana, mostly theoretical. A child's control of mana is much worse than an adolescent, so everyone's seeds and mana are awakened at the age of 15-16.』[Sarena]

『So, I'm not too far behind when it comes to them?』[Nova]

『You lack much of the theoretical information that is required in people your age.』[Oswald]

『How about the practical application?』[Nova]

『You can stand toe to toe with most, if not all.』[Sarena]

『Why? I've only been training for about 3 weeks.』[Nova]

『We told you, you're a monster. Also, have you even slept this past week?』[Sarena]

『No, he sleeps for about 6 hours, then wakes up to train his mana control, eat, train more, eat, and then trains with me.』[Reischneid]

『...It's no wonder. You're seriously busting your butt off.』[Hanzo]

『I don't like falling behind, so I have to catch up to everyone.』[Nova]

『Then, it's only right that we help you catch up in the 2 weeks of summer you have left.』[Oswald]

『..Although, in terms of mana, I'm pretty sure he can lead his class..』[Derenne]

Nova had almost forgotten she was there.

『...Why do you switch from quiet to loud?』[Nova]

『...When violence occurs nearby, my "other self" comes out. I'm sorry if she's mean.』[Derenne]

『Ah.. It's okay!』[Nova]

『But, yeah. She's right. You can definitely lead your class with that mana training technique that Sarena taught you. Usually, only 3rd to 4th years can use that.』[Oswald]

『What technique?』[Hanzo]

『The mana fusion one.』[Oswald]

『...He has one?』[Hanzo]

『Yeah.』[Sarena]

『..His foundations are really strong.』[Hanzo]

『To be fair, he isn't falling behind too badly in his magic theory.』[Sarena]

『You've been teaching him magic theory too?!』[Hanzo]

『Yeah, sure. Watch.』[Sarena]

Sarena looked around for a good place, then pointed.

『Nova. Can you please use that Inferno Purgatory?』[Sarena]

��What do you have up your sleeve?』[Hanzo]

『Alright. Birthed from the stars, Burnt to ashes, burn my enemies into nothingness. From ashes to ashes, to stardust and nothing, incinerate the enemy into eternal night.』[Nova]

He drew the empty circle, then added a plus sign.

「This.. Is a little new.」[Sarena]

『Inferno Purgatory!』[Nova]

Blue flames erupted forth, then after a few seconds, disappeared.

『His blue flames?! What did it do? There was no damage!』[Hanzo]

『He.. Created a null zone...』[Derenne]

『I taught him about "rules", and he figured out how to use his seed's ability in conjunction with the spell.』[Sarena]

『Oh, that version is a new one. It removes an area's mana. If I'm close enough, I can even absorb some of the mana.』[Nova]

『... If the final test allowed seed abilities, he would have already passed.』[Hanzo]

『..Oh. What are all of your seed abilities, anyway?』[Nova]

『My seed ability is nothing special. It's the manipulation of matter and particles.』[Oswald]

Nova stared in silence.

『Which means he can make things move with his mind and do some physical stuff.』[Sarena]

『Oh okay. Thanks, master!』[Nova]

Oswald seemed kind of let down.

『... Hah.』[Oswald]

『My seed is complex. It really can't be used on inanimate things, but if there were some living targets... I could demonstrate.』[Sarena]

Hanzo shuddered.

『Please don't.. I had nightmares for weeks.』[Hanzo]

『Hanzo doesn't really matter, so let's move on to Derenne.』[Sarena]

『Hey! My seed is cool too! My seed allows me to move faster than normal.』[Hanzo]

『...?』[Nova]

『..It's cool. I swear.』[Hanzo]

『Anyway, Derenne?』[Sarena]

『..I borrow power from a beast. It often manifests itself as physical traits, but it offers powers that are really strong. Sometimes, I can just straight out summon the beast.』[Derenne]

As they spoke, a change happened to Rai.