Differences in Talent

In the Floating City, I was just trash, but in the Lower Realm, I’m a king, a revered instructor. I reveled in the academy’s lavish treatment, basking in my own perceived superiority.

How do I feel? Amazing. I’m essentially a commoner, but solely because I descended from the Floating City, I am being treated like royalty. It’s as thrilling as gambling with money you borrowed from someone else.

What if I’m exposed? Well, few people in the Floating City know me in the first place, and there’s no one who’s likely to come here and correct their misunderstanding. Even if I *am* found out, I can just dust myself off and leave.

Enjoying this responsibility-free pleasure, I immersed myself in research aimed at climbing the dragon gate.

My research, specifically, is on methods for untalented humans to catch up to the talented. Conveniently, I’ve acquired good test subjects. I decided to make the most of this environment.

“Hey, you brats. Get over here for a moment.”

These were the failing students from the Celsius Territory’s outlying academy.

There is a hierarchy even within academies. Talented children attend superior academies, and those who excel are taken as disciples by prestigious mage families.

The children who remain in this academy are like cheap lottery tickets that haven’t been scratched yet, and even when they are, there’s little hope of a prize. Those who are destined to be commoners.

They were children who couldn’t properly sense or control magic, but to someone in a similar position as me, they were useful. As I gestured, the children approached and sat down, their faces filled with anticipation.

“Each of you, hold this lens up to your eye and look at my finger. What do you see?”

I handed them lenses cut from high-crystal and asked. The children looked at my finger and replied.

“I see a hexagon.”

“It looks like a snowflake.”

Though I hadn’t yet made a decision, the magic to form its skeleton, that much I could see. Magic, on the cusp of coalescing – through a lens, perhaps one could perceive it.

“And now, what do you see?”

“Nothing at all.”

“Hmm. So, detection of magic through a lens truly depends on the lens’s properties. It cannot perceive all magic.”

The lens doesn’t simply perceive *all* magic. It only illuminates specific magic signatures. This won’t do.

Just as I was about to record the result and retrieve the lens, a child hovered nearby, glancing furtively at it. I asked him, almost without thinking,

“What do *you* see?”

“Uh… something is, like, smiling.”

“Smiling, you say? What is?”

“The flames, they sort of… bloom like laughter….”

“Oh. Correct.”

He sees *that*. High-crystal resonates with formations, so it’s well suited to sense magic that crystallizes, but less so for magic that flares like fire.

Which meant…

“There are those like you. Who can sense it, but don’t realize it’s magic. If you repeatedly observe the magic in this way, you’ll be able to properly perceive it.”

“Huh?”

“Congratulations. You’ve mastered the art of magic detection.”

So, even in a junkyard, the rough ore that can sense magic remains. The boy looked between the lens and me, before quite literally jumping for joy.

“Whoa! I did it, I did it…! Finally!”

The boy, elated at discovering his talent, rejoiced, but I just scowled, unimpressed.

Magic detection is, after all, merely the first step on the path of magic. From detection, one learns control, and *then*, knowledge, before finally becoming a mage. And many, even with that easy route laid out before them, fail and fall by the wayside. It’s too early to be so pleased.

And what about those who cannot even take that first step? *Shut your mouth.*

My mood soured, I held out my hand.

“What are you doing? Give me the lens. It’s mine.”

“Uh… can’t I… keep it?”

“Are you crazy? You need to learn to see *without* it, you little brat.”

Failures, with no sense of their station. All you need to do is quietly become my lab rats, after all. Though, one of them did manage to detect magic thanks to me. With this, the others will be even more compliant.

“I have a few things to organize. Go read the grimoires over there. Magic-sense-boy, trace the parts that shine brightly in the crystal sections of the grimoire. You’ll have an… *interesting* experience.”

“Yes, sir!”

The bothersome children, oblivious to being exploited, clustered together, swarming like flies. Lenses, a good approach, but… A simple lens won’t cut it. To achieve something akin to magic detection, I’ll need more… *instruments*.

Much to do. Having test subjects is all well and good, but managing them is work. To control these unruly children, I alone am not enough. And that’s not my job anyway.

“Auntie. Come over here a moment, about some work.”

The auntie, with her kindly face, beamed when she saw me.

“Oh, Teacher! What is it? Is there anything you need?”

“It’s nothing much. I need someone to look after the, ah… the little ones. And run a few errands for me, too.”

“Oh, of course! I just happened to have someone lined up!”

“When are they coming?”

“They said today, as it happens. I’ll send them to the school as soon as they arrive!”

“Understood.”

I turned away, as if there was nothing more to say. Behind me, I could hear the auntie’s voice, laced with laughter.

“If you need anything else, you just say the word!”

*Jackpot, jackpot! I never thought a mage, of all mages, would be the one to tutor a child! The kids are responding well, and there’s progress! This reflects well on me!*

That auntie was more of a power player than I’d realized. In the Magic Federation, school district representation is status, and the school is a facility where one’s own future and their child’s are at stake. To be entrusted with managing such a facility meant she held sway over everyone in this area.

The auntie, having become the district representative thanks to the achievement of raising her eldest as a mage, was practically ready to give me her heart and soul. Unaware that I was using the kids as test subjects.

“Who knows, perhaps ignorance is bliss.”

After only a few days on the floating city, everyone here seemed foolish and insignificant. Perhaps this lower realm simply isn’t where I belong. A person should live where they fit.

Right. So, the Decision Lens is fully tested. What to do next? I was lost in thought as I returned to the school when I noticed a woman with a bundle of luggage loitering in front. Fully grown, she wasn’t exactly child-like. Reading her thoughts, I realized she was the housekeeper the auntie had sent for.

“Hey. Are you the housekeeper?”

Startled by my voice, the woman clutched her bundle tighter and replied.

“Yes, yes I am! I was told to report here today!”

Finally, a legal slave, bound by a financial contract. The little ones were obedient enough, but I couldn’t exactly have them cleaning and managing things. I pointed towards the school.

“Is that so? Since we both know why you’re here, there’s not much more to say. Cleaning, managing supplies, making beds, preparing tea time, and other miscellaneous tasks are your responsibilities.”

“Yes! Just leave it to me!”

“Important. Don’t touch my belongings without permission. Don’t do anything I haven’t asked you to do. Keep the room temperature at a constant 25 degrees, and ensure there’s always a supply of ice-melted clear water.”

“Uh, wait a moment. Belongings, tasks, 25 degrees, ice-melted water…”

After rattling off a few instructions, I saw the woman becoming flustered, counting on her fingers as she repeated them to herself. She seemed rather scatterbrained, I wonder if she can do her job well.

“Do you know any magic?”

“Do I need to use magic? I… I don’t know any magic…”

“Hmph. If you did, you wouldn’t be doing this job, I suppose. Can you operate magical tools, then?”

“Yes! I’ve used those often! My previous job was serving a mage!”

“A mage’s handmaiden? Hmm. Then you might actually be of use.”

The woman pumped her fist, radiating enthusiasm.

“Just leave it to me! You absolutely won’t be disappointed. If I get kicked out of here, I’ve got nowhere else to go, so I’ll work myself to the bone!”

“That’s not exactly confidence-inspiring.”

But well, she does seem tenacious. If she’s waited on a mage before, she’s probably among the top talents in these backwater districts.

The matron had some decency, at least. Didn’t send just any dolt; picked someone who seemed quick and capable. Appeasing me is the highest priority, is it?

…Which is why you picked her. Ah, matron, you’ve been fooled handsomely.

The housemaid, with an innocent look, glanced around the academy, showering it with exclamations of wonder, before proceeding to unpack her bundle in a corner of the room.

*

“Mana detection, at its core, is about perceiving mana with your senses. Up until now, you’ve been trying to detect it as some unseen, unfelt mystical force… Pointlessly.”

The housemaid’s arrival spurred my research onward even more. Seven out of the twenty-five children studying at this academy had succeeded in mana detection. A triumph achieved merely three days after I began teaching.

“Did Celsius awaken his unique heat and cold mana path for no reason? How did Pascal command the winds, and why did Fahrenheit seize the burning flames? Heat and cold, the wind brushing the skin, the very first—before the theory of mana detection was even established—were the sensations humans encountered most frequently.”

Are they particularly gifted? No. My instruction is excellent. Overflowing with knowledge, and with the ability to clearly discern any gaps in their understanding through mind-reading, I draw out the full potential of the academy’s children.

“Mana is everywhere. Ultimately, it’s about perceiving mana with your senses. Heat, cold, sound, light, wind. If you can perceive it, you can weave it into magic.”

I struck a xylophone made of High Crystal. The mana-imbued crystal resonated, scattering mana in the form of vibrations. Mana permeated the spaces between the sounds.

“Sound is the same. Little one.”

And the child shuddered violently, pulling his hands away from his ears.

Right now, all manner of noises were ringing through his body. Sounds he had never heard before in his life. Sounds that should have entered his ears were resonating throughout his entire being. It was as if someone had placed him on top of a drum and was striking it forcefully.

The colossal noise that shook heaven and earth was audible only to that child.

“S-Sir… then, what I’m hearing now is…”

“Congratulations. You’ve received a magical blessing. Reading and combining mana through vibrations is a type of magic first researched by the Pythagorean school. It’s not widely used because it requires not only talent but also an artistic sense, but in other words, it’s incredibly rare. You could easily be accepted as a disciple if you went to the Decibel Territory.”

That makes one more. Eight in total. Even if mana detection is supposed to be the easiest, that’s still an astounding number to come from this provincial academy. All thanks to my benevolence, no doubt.

The child shook his head vigorously, exclaiming.

“No! I… I want to continue taking lessons here!”

“That’s your choice. Do as you wish. But today is the last day I’ll dedicate time solely to you.”

Humans all cloak themselves in pretense. No one wants to be seen as falling behind. If they lacked even the expectation of success, they’d be discarded. And so, the academy’s students desperately hide what they don’t know and try to appear exemplary.

But I am a mind reader. I see through all such attempts and discern their aptitudes and talents, awakening their mana with methods tailored to each individual.

Sound magic was the most difficult, but I’ve succeeded even with that. I can confidently say I’ve addressed the potential of every student here.

“Alright. By now, you all have a general understanding of what talents you possess and what you must do.”

However, in truth. The problem lies not with those ‘chosen’.

It usually spills from the ‘discarded’ ones, you see.

“That’s enough for today. Disperse, return home.”

Seventeen souls, feeling nothing, except for the eight chosen.

They fled the academy, heads bowed, gazes fixed on the earth, expressions hollow, like escapees.