The Fable of A Legend

'Cissy Fairman.' 

Noticing the name written on the board, Baran looked up at the professor.

She was a beautiful, captivating woman with naturally blonde hair and soft hazel-green eyes.

Baran engraved both her name and face into his memory. He already knew whom to turn to when he had questions about holy energy.

"First of all, good morning. I am Cissy Fairman, responsible for teaching the Holy Energy Theory class to first-years," she said, her voice as enchanting as a fairy's.

But her voice's charm did not stem from its mere tone—it was imbued with holy energy.

Those with resistance to holy energy barely flinched, but those with weak resistance were instantly captivated, their full attention drawn to her.

As for Baran, thanks to his body, he had exceptionally strong resistance to all kinds of energy.

It was a trait he loved as much as he hated. The downside was that he couldn't benefit from the greatest blessing of holy energy—healing. Any injury he suffered would have to heal naturally.

On the bright side, he had a keen sense for detecting whether someone was using energy—and if he focused, even what kind.

"Since this is our first class, I won't push you too hard. Let's start with the basics. Anyone want to volunteer?"

A few seconds later, hands shot up throughout the classroom.

Seeing how most of the class was more interested in impressing the professor, Baran simply took out his notebook and began sketching several magic diagrams.

For Rank 4, they were relatively simple—at least for Baran. Probably 90% of the class would have their brains fried just trying to understand them.

Meanwhile, Angellica was already bored listening to things she already knew. In hopes of finding something more interesting, her eyes drifted over to Baran.

To her surprise, he was quietly drawing in a notebook. She hadn't expected him to use paper—most students preferred tablets these days. But she didn't care much about that; some of her own household staff used paper, after all.

She leaned closer and peeked at his notebook.

On the page were intricate, fascinating magic diagrams.

Her gaze wandered to the corner of the page, where words were scrawled:

'Rank 4, Level 1 Spell Diagrams.'

Angellica froze in shock, even releasing a bit of her energy by accident.

"…Something wrong, Angellica?" Baran asked politely, sensing the sudden energy fluctuation.

"Uh… w-well… Baran, can you really… cast Rank 4 spells?" she stammered, clearly excited. In her life, she'd only seen her mother and private tutor manage such a feat—and certainly not someone her own age.

"Why don't you try it yourself?" Baran said, sliding the diagram toward her.

"Ehh… but… this looks really complicated. And it'll be my first attempt at a Rank 4 spell…" she protested weakly, but Baran raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? Just channel your energy into the diagram," he said, pointing at the paper.

Listening to him, Angellica did as she was told, and what she saw next left her speechless.

As the diagram absorbed her energy, light began radiating from it.

But what shocked her even more was the spell's formation process.

At first, the holy energy rose slowly toward the ceiling, hovering equidistant between floor and ceiling.

Everyone's attention turned to the phenomenon.

The energy then condensed into a crystalline core of liquid-like holy water. Then, six symmetrical streams of water shot outward, spiraling gracefully around the core like an intricate piece of art.

Angellica's wide eyes reflected the beauty of her own spell. The soothing, divine glow of the holy water made it even more mesmerizing.

For a moment, the class was silent. Everyone—from the students to Professor Cissy herself—stared in awe. Even Baran, usually indifferent, couldn't help but fix his gaze on the spell.

******************************

"W-who… who did this?"

Recovering from her own shock, Professor Cissy demanded to know. She hadn't expected a Rank 4 spellcaster in her first-year class—not even close.

Even among fourth-years, only a handful managed to reach Rank 4.

"Do you mean who drew the diagram or who cast it?" came a calm, cold voice—from the brown-haired, dark-eyed boy at the back.

"…Both," Cissy replied.

"Then we both did," Baran answered nonchalantly.

"Hey! Don't drag me into this again," Angellica huffed.

"Was I the one channeling holy energy?" he countered.

"…But I didn't know it would actually work!"

"Well, neither did I. Guess we both learned something."

"What?! Wait—don't just gloss over it like that! Explain—"

"Enough! Both of you, your names," Cissy cut them off sternly.

Baran glanced at Angellica and shrugged.

"Baran Ahmethan Kaya. And this is Angellica Baldwin."

Cissy already knew Angellica, of course. But hearing the boy's name confirmed what she suspected—this was the same boy from the opening ceremony.

The boy they called Sonnenaufgang.

"Normally, I'd throw you out of class for causing such a scene. But… after seeing what you two just did, I have a better idea," Cissy said with a faint, playful smile.

"How about this—you two teach the rest of the class for today? That way, we can all see not just Sonnenaufgang's strength, but also his knowledge. What do you say, Baran?"

Baran blinked at her in surprise.

"…Both of us?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yes, both of you," she confirmed.

******************************

Baran stared at her in disbelief.

'Seriously? Why do I have to waste my time on these idiots…' he grumbled inwardly, though he knew better than to say it aloud.

He turned to Angellica with a resigned sigh.

"Well, assistant, looks like we've got no choice," he said confidently as he stood up.

"Why am I the assistant?!" Angellica complained.

"Reason? Isn't it obvious? Professors create, assistants test. Just like we did a moment ago," he replied casually.

Angellica could only let out a small sigh as she reluctantly followed him to the board.