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A once-in-a-generation genius.

This was a phrase Shati had heard to the point of boredom since she started learning magic as a child.

It was a phrase that students entering Lua Academy would have heard at least once, but not just from others’ perspectives – Shati herself was convinced that she was a genius.

Was it because she was so revered by others? No. Was it because she used magic more skillfully than her peers? No.

Shati became convinced of her own genius the moment she surpassed her father, whom she had admired so much since childhood.

Her father, who held the title of Archmage at the mere age of 40, a title said to be difficult to obtain even after 50. And Shati surpassed such a father at just 10 years old.

Shati still couldn’t forget her father’s reaction that day. The look in his eyes as he gazed at her as if she were a brilliant light. The words that she alone was the only successor to inherit the family legacy.

That moment when she was recognized as the successor, surpassing her older sister and brother. At the same time, the moment her father acknowledged that Shati herself had surpassed him.

Shati believed without a doubt that she was a genius.

Therefore, she also believed without doubt that she could easily destroy the scarecrow created by the professor named Meiel that was now before her eyes.

“『What appears splitting the clouds in the sky is a giant hammer that destroys the earth. A divine punishment wrapped in flames like the sun.』”

Shati chanted the strongest attack elemental magic among the spells she could currently use, with her eyes closed.

Chanting is a medium that solidifies the image. As it was indispensable for increasing the success rate of magic more surely, Shati calmly uttered each word clearly without skipping even a bit of pronunciation.

The reason she was chanting a top-tier magic when using just a mid-to-high level spell from the magic she knew would be enough to destroy that scarecrow was simple.

To show her caliber to the professor. It was a kind of expression to show that she wasn’t someone who should be taking the same level of classes as the children here.

‘To begin with, I wonder if there’s anything to learn from the professor…’

To be honest, Shati thought there wasn’t much for her to learn even from Meiel. After all, she was someone who had surpassed her father, an Archmage.

Of course, she knew this was an arrogant and haughty thought, so she didn’t voice it out loud, but that was her honest sentiment.

However, since she came to Lua Academy, she should diligently learn as much as there is to learn.

So Shati decided to focus on the current task, recited the rest of the chant, and then raised her wand towards the sky and shouted.

“『Meteor』!!”

As soon as she called out the spell name, the blue sky turned bright red, and a huge magic circle was engraved in the air.

What emerged from the magic circle, which must have been 10 meters in diameter, was a massive meteor enveloped in flames.

A sudden feeling of exhaustion came over her as a lot of mana drained from her entire body, but Shati smiled smugly as she felt a sense of accomplishment that her magic had succeeded and heard the surrounding students exclaiming with fear and admiration.

“Th-that’s Meteor…!”
“It’s my first time seeing it in real life…”
“But isn’t it a bit dangerous if that falls here…?”

Yes! This is who I am! Let your eyes be filled with even more envy!

Although she wanted to shout this from the rooftops, Shati had something else to do first, so she raised her heavy hand despite the exhaustion.

She didn’t know who said it, but it was certainly true as just mentioned. If the Meteor she cast fell here, it would be dangerous, so she had to cast a shield on everyone with her remaining mana to prevent damage.

“『Shiel…!』”
“Mmm… this is a bit dangerous…? 『Artifact Shield』.”

Therefore, when she was about to deploy a shield large enough to cover everyone, Meiel, looking at the Meteor before Shati could, muttered something so quietly that only she could hear, and then swung her staff widely.

Kagangang─────!!!

A shield spread out in a circle, enveloping the students as if a hard magical beast’s shell was unfolding.
The students marveled once again at the translucent shield that spread out in less than a second, but Shati’s eyes widened at the spell name Meiel had just uttered.

“Did you say Artifact Shield…?”

If she hadn’t misheard, Meiel had certainly said that.

『Artifact Shield』.

According to magic books, it was a defensive magic that could block any attack in the world, anything that could harm life.

Even among Archmages specializing in defense, only a handful could use it, and even those who could use it took at least 10 seconds to deploy it on themselves.

But she deployed such magic on everyone here in less than a second? It was nonsense.

However, the golden translucent shield, clearly differentiated from ordinary shields, was forcing Shati to believe, despite it being unbelievable.

As Shati was lost in thought, unable to believe yet forced to believe this reality, the voices of the surrounding students that reached her ears awakened her mind.

“Amazing! The entire field is covered with a shield!”
“As expected of the professor!”
“This is almost like a barrier.”

‘…The entire field is covered?’

At the words of someone unknown, Shati looked down at the ground. And then at the sky where her deployed Meteor was falling.

She let out a wry laugh at the sight she saw.

“It wasn’t just us who were worried from the beginning…”

The Artifact Shield wasn’t just covering them. It had gone further, completely enveloping the large playground in a cuboid shape.

Without any gaps, up to the height where her Meteor was falling.

The moment she understood this, Shati admitted it. That she had been a frog in a well. And that the distance to Meiel before her eyes had widened to an uncatchable extent.

Kwaaaaaaang───────!!!!!

Along with this, Shati’s Meteor struck the scarecrow, emitting a thunderous sound and black smoke, and when the smoke dispersed, the scarecrow was standing there unscathed without a single mark.

Oh ho, this is interesting~

“On a scale of 100 points, it’s about 47 points… A higher score than I imagined… But for the next students? Since I’m the one who has to compensate if the playground gets destroyed… I’ll continue with the shield on from now on…”

The magic that Shati had boldly attacked with, calling it Meteor. Feeling the damage that came to the scarecrow, if it were on a 100-point scale, it was an attack worth exactly about 47 points.

Actually, what I had expected was in the 10 to 20 point range, but I guess this is Shati who will have skills close to mine in the future. It was a score far exceeding my expectations.

I patted Shati’s head to indicate she did well, while looking around at the surrounding students and adding:

Of course, I said any magic was fine, but magic like Meteor is dangerous. Really, if the playground gets destroyed by students’ magic during my class, I’m the one who has to compensate.

Well, to be precise, the magic Shati just used should be called ‘Falling Star’ rather than ‘Meteor’, but I won’t say it out loud since it might hurt her feelings.

A real Meteor isn’t just one lonely meteorite falling like that, but a shower of meteorites twice the size of what we just saw, so this is still at a cute level.

‘In about 5 years, she’ll be on the same level as me… no, since I’m teaching her, she’ll probably become even stronger than me.’

But since I’m going to teach her, it’s not a problem that she’s weak now. In the future, she’ll become a powerful person who can defeat demon race members like autumn leaves in the wind.

However, Shati, who was being patted by me, seemed to have lowered her self-esteem considerably, unlike my impression.

The confident smile she had been wearing until just now was nowhere to be seen, and she asked me with a listless face.

“How… can I become that strong?”
“How…? Ah… right. I should teach you this before measuring your skills…”

How can you become as strong as me. As I mulled over Shati’s question, I suddenly recalled Shati’s appearance from just before and clapped my hands.
I remembered Shati reciting the chant she had never memorized, the children marveling at her, and her confident expression after using such magic.

I thought measuring and averaging to adjust the level of the class was the priority, but it seemed my thinking was fundamentally wrong.

Even if we measure, it would be meaningless to measure with ‘magic that’s not even magic’.

Kuguugung──

As soon as I finished thinking, I tapped my staff to turn the scarecrow back into soil and also removed the Artifact Shield I had placed on the playground.

The children tilted their heads at my sudden wrapping up of the class, but instead of answering, I flew up to the podium where I had landed earlier.

“Blackboard and chalk.”

And after creating a blackboard and chalk next to the podium with a wave of my staff, I grabbed the chalk and spoke to the students who were focusing their attention on me.

“From now on, I’ll explain the basics of magic to you who don’t even know the ‘ㅁ’ of magic… I’ll only do this once, so listen carefully, okay?”

It was time to teach them how to walk before they could run.