Entering the Game with a Cheat Physique

Doing it on Chapter 22 (2)

Doing it on Chapter 22 (2)

The view of the lecture hall from the podium was strangely unfamiliar.

I, who had always looked *at* the instructor, was now standing beside them, facing the cadets.

And their gazes, burning with hot curiosity, were sparkling, making me feel incredibly awkward.

“Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we?”

Margaret, having placed me beside her, turns her waist.

Then, using magic to move chalk across the blackboard behind her, she begins to write a sentence.

“Medeia, the progenitor of mages, who established the framework of theoretical magic, said: ‘All humans circulate magic power both inside and outside their bodies.'”

A fact recorded in the ＜Song of Swords and Magic＞ setting book.

In this world, magic exists. This power, present in all things, including the atmosphere, also resides within human bodies.

As time passed, humans, obsessed with magic, eventually discovered one key fact.

And that’s the phenomenon Margaret mentioned: ‘All humans circulate magic power both inside and outside their bodies.’

“One day, humanity had an incredible idea. If magic power inherently circulates, couldn’t it be utilized?”

“Instructor. That is…”

“That’s right. This is the beginning of magic.”

If magic power circulates within and outside the body anyway, that flow can be used.

For example, let’s assume that we extract the magic power within the body and release it externally.

It can transform into fire, ice, wind—any property.

A natural phenomenon created with magic will possess physical force and exert influence on reality.

Humankind has named this [Elemental Magic] and devised numerous other schools of magic.

“……”

The atmosphere in the lecture hall turns still.

Margaret’s lecture, unlike usual, was very high-tension and passionate, but its content was still terribly stale.

The cadets’ eyes, initially sparkling with interest at the idea of an assistant instructor or a battle mage,

had already lost their focus and were dimming again.

Of course, Margaret wouldn’t be unaware of that.

“Hmm. Okay then. Let’s have a little change of pace.”

She briefly stops the magic moving the chalk.

And then, she brings up a topic that immediately grabs the attention of the magic department cadets.

“Absorbing external mana, and releasing internal mana. If this is the basis of a mage, then how exactly do knights handle mana? Anyone care to answer?”

No sooner had Margaret finished speaking than students everywhere raised their hands.

A rivalry between departments that had been going on since freshman year.

Even for such a trivial question, they were itching to answer.

“Hmm. Samson, please answer.”

“Thank you.”

Was it Samson or Samsong who greeted me earlier? He stands up from his seat.

His lips, curled up at the corners, clearly showed his contempt for the knight department.

“The muscle-brained knights of the knight department are the same in that they release mana externally. But those guys only release mana into their swords. They don’t know how to use mana in myriad ways like we mages do.”

“That’s right.”

Margaret nodded, not paying any mind to the slang.

It’s a common thing at Olympia Academy.

To disparage the other departments. Even during lectures.

She praised Samson and then, with her concentration pulled back up, continued with the lecture.

“In the end, the phrase ‘releasing mana’ means one thing. Interfering with the physical world outside the body using mana. Whether it’s a mage or a knight, the principle is the same.”

“…….”

The flow of the lecture is slowly heading towards its climax.

Everyone feels it instinctively.

That the goal of this lecture is, in the end, to explore ‘Battle Mages’.

“However, the magic I saw Herak use during the inter-grade exchange was based on a different principle. While handling mana, it didn’t follow the existing principles, and it was magic, yet not magic. Now, Herak, would you please roll up your sleeve?”

“My arm?”

“Yes.”

I don’t know the reason why. But well, if I’m told to, I should. I’m an assistant, after all.

I roll up my sleeve.

The scrawny arm from when I was first possessed was now firm and sturdy.

“You can’t tell just by looking. Herak’s trait(特質) can only be understood by experiencing it directly. Now, we’ll touch his arm.”

“…….”

“Of course, it wouldn’t be as impactful for you all if I did it myself… Any students willing to come forward?

……Did I join a bioavailability study or something?

Why are you making people touch my arm like that?

Whether she knew my reluctant mood or not.

Margaret, as if testing if she even deserved to touch my arm,

Scanned the students, eyes gleaming behind her round glasses.

Hesitant, hesitant.

At first, surprised by the sudden question, the students didn’t raise their hands.

But soon, one by one, they lifted their hands to express their will.

There were some male students among them, but most were women.

All of them were staring at my forearm…

Probably because of the physique that’s so rare in the Magic Department.

Their blazing eyes were quite overwhelming.

And the most noticeable one, of course, is Penelope.

Where did her usually demure and peaceful pink eyes go?

The way she was intensely sparkling her eyes while looking at my forearm—my muscles, to be exact—was a bit much.

‘Why are you staring so passionately.’

Weren’t we just friends?

“Hmm. Surprisingly, a lot of hands were raised. I wish I could allow everyone, but in these situations, the top student is the most reliable, right?”

“……!”

“Miss Penelope. Please come forward.”

Penelope’s face instantly brightened at Margaret’s permission.

As if worried someone might snatch the chance away, she hopped up from her seat and went to the platform.

“……Hehehe.”

Penelope, her back to the students so they couldn’t see,

Leaned her face slightly towards me, her bashful smile looking quite happy.

Is it that big of a deal?

“Miss Penelope. Touch Hercules’s forearm. Especially if you concentrate on stroking the skin, you might feel something.”

“S-skin…? Yes, of course!”

Instructor Margaret seemed to have spoken with a very academic tone.

But how Penelope misinterpreted it, her cheeks flushed bright red as she hesitated for a moment.

Then, she smiled shyly and directed her slender fingers towards my forearm.

“……Gulp.”

Penel’s Adam’s apple bobs.

Just how tense is she?

She touches my forearm carefully with a slender finger and then,

“……Hss!”

She jumps back, startled, but then, as if gaining momentum, sweeps her fingers across it again.

Ssshh, ssshh─

Penel’s fingers softly graze my forearm.

Is it because she’s a girl?

A warm yet cool, contradictory sensation travels through me.

A beautiful girl like Penel is caressing my forearm.

Honestly, just looking at it this way, it’s not like I’m losing out here…

“Haa, haaa…….”

……No, get a grip. Penel, seriously.

Why are you so worked up just from skin contact?

Whoa, close your mouth. Your mouth. You’re drooling. Hey.

Penel strokes my forearm for a while, lost in her own world.

Margaret, as if Penel had lost all purpose and even forgotten why they came here, addresses her.

“Do you feel it now, Miss Penel?”

“……Hyaah!”

She flinches.

Penel jumps as if struck by lightning and then quickly backs away.

“Ah, yes. Yes? What? I didn’t do anything?”

“……I don’t know what you mean, but I’m asking if you felt Herak’s characteristics. Isn’t that why you were touching him so diligently?”

“……Ah, aha! Yes! Of course. Hahaha, hahahaha……”

Margaret gives her an inquisitive look, like a pure scholar.

Perhaps feeling guilty, Penel sighs, putting a hand to her chest with an awkward smile.

She then calmly spoke of what she’d realized.

“Yes. That’s right. Just as the instructor said, there was a peculiar foreignness to Herak’s skin.”

“What impression did you get? Tell me honestly, just as you felt it.”

“Umm. As I felt it…… Hmm.”

“’As you feel it,’ that phrase holds no hidden meaning, Ms. Penel. Get a grip.”

“……Well, it felt like there was some kind of mana layer. But it wasn’t like the magic shields that mages usually use either.”

“Ho-ho. Ho-ho.”

“I’ve heard that knights shroud their bodies with mana to some extent. But I think this is a little different.”

“Precisely, Ms. Penel. You may go back.”

“Ah ha ha, yes.”

Penel looked like she’d just aged ten years, quickly returning to her seat.

Even after sitting down, she was still panting, and the other students were giving her suspicious glances.

“I, too, have done some analysis based on Instructor Angelina’s mentions and the scenes I saw during the inter-grade exchange tournament.”

Margaret’s explanation continued in the lecture hall.

Her gaze was intensely fixed on my forearm.

As if it were a subject sparking academic curiosity.

“Mr. Herak’s body is surrounded by a ‘mana layer.’ It is similar to that of knights, yet also different. Mr. Herak’s mana… it moves according to his will.”

“Um. Instructor. But I can’t feel mana?”

I interrupted in the middle, questioning Margaret’s words.

I have mana insensitivity, so how could mana follow my will?

“It’s a different issue from mana sensitivity. Mana sensitivity originally refers to how well one can feel their ‘body’s mana circulation.’ Mr. Herak’s mana layer follows a different principle than mana sensitivity.”

“…….”

‘Wow, there’s more here that I’m hearing for the first time than I thought?’

I didn’t fully understand Margaret’s words at once, but I got the gist.

Mana insensitivity and physical cheat.

There’s still something hidden beneath these two things.

‘Looks like I need to investigate this a bit more.’

When I have some time, I’ll have to find out the secrets behind my body.

“Oh dear. I got so absorbed, it’s already lecture’s over time?”

At Margaret’s words, I glance at the clock.

Time has already crept to the end of the lecture.

It’s time to start heading back.

Thinking that, I was about to step down from the podium when Margaret stopped me.

“Just a moment. Mr. Herak. Could you just say this before you go?”

“Huh?”

“The magical layer covering Herak’s body. It’s a unique power of yours you shouldn’t reveal to others, but please, just this much, tell me.”

She pushed her round glasses up her nose.

From behind the light-reflecting lenses, she asked,

“How on earth did you coat your skin with magic? It’s not something that should be possible, not logically. A unique way of using magic that’s impossible even if you tried… could you at least give me a hint at the secret?”

“……”

Explain the principle behind coating skin with magic, huh.

And Margaret’s passionate attitude.

If it were just a little bit, it’s not like I couldn’t tell her…

‘…I only just heard about it today.’

I learned of the existence of a magical layer from Margaret’s explanation just now.

Of course, there’s no way I can explain it.

But still, I can’t just say here,

‘I don’t know either. Let’s start with the magic nullification and the physical cheat skills.’

…So, my answer was very simple.

“It just… worked when I tried?”

It’s more like, I’m wondering why *you* guys can’t do it.