The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 452 (1) - The Academys Weapon Replicator

Chapter 452 (1) – The Academys Weapon Replicator

Basileo stared at the flames blazing before his eyes.

“This is… Hellfire….”

“Of course, the way I made it is a bit different. The end result might look similar, but for most mages, resolving the clash of formulas is almost entirely intuitive. There’s a strong belief that the process doesn’t matter as long as the result is good, so they don’t know the exact reason.”

To be precise, this is the tendency of battle mages. Mages focused on research have a slightly different approach. At least they try to trace the cause of a particular outcome.

However, the stationary formula is very basic, and it has already been determined that most of its interpretations are complete.

Minor errors are scattered elsewhere anyway. Even if they were aware of the questions, it would have been fairly low on their priority list.

“Hellfire is the highest level of fire magic, right? Does that mean Basileo has mastered the highest level of magic?”

“That’s right. He succeeded in implementing it.”

Elodie nodded.

“It looks terrifying.”

“Don’t be afraid of your own magic. Magic usually doesn’t harm the caster.”

“It’s strange. The combination of formulas I already knew gave birth to the highest level of magic.”

“I don’t think there’s much difference in the number of formulas you and I know.”

Basileo was surprised by Elodie’s words.

“Really?”

“Formulas for a mage are like mathematical symbols. You need to know a lot of them, but knowing them alone doesn’t do anything.”

“Well, that’s true.” Basileo nodded in understanding.

Knowing the symbols and how to calculate them is just the starting point.

When you encounter a problem, knowing which symbols to use, how to combine the formulas, and whether the calculations are fast and accurate are the challenges. For a mage, the subsequent problems are more numerous and difficult.

“You won’t be able to use this Hellfire in actual combat right away. At this rate, it’s just a very hot flame. To use it against an enemy, you need to add impact or projectile magic. And you have to figure out how to manage the Mana depletion, which almost drains you after a single use.”

“R-Right.”

Basileo nodded, and soon the flames died down.

“It consumes a tremendous amount of Mana. I wonder if there’s any other magic that uses this much.”

At Basileo’s words, Frondier and Elodie made subtle expressions.

There are quite a few that use more Mana. They both knew that.

“Anyway, I won the bet, Elodie.”

“Yes, congratulations.”

Elodie puffed out her chest at Frondier’s words.

Basileo tilted his head at the sight of the two.

“I’ve been feeling it since earlier, but you two seem quite close.”

“Oops.”

“In the faculty room, you two seemed to clash with each other with a very stiff and businesslike attitude.”

“Uh.”

Only then did the two realize their mistake and looked at each other.

Frondier scratched his head.

“Well, you would have found out eventually. Does it matter?”

“….What do you mean?”

Basileo asked with a suspicious look.

In the faculty room, the two were blunt with each other and seemed to have incompatible values. But in reality, they were close enough to speak comfortably to each other.

In other words, these two are actually…!

“Are you two lovers?”

“No!”

Elodie denied it immediately.

“Then are you a scammer couple?”

“Why are you making it worse! We’re not a couple, and we’re not scammers!”

Next to her, Frondier seemed to be in deep thought about something before speaking.

“I guess the scammer part is true.”

“Don’t make things difficult!”

Basileo’s face became more and more bizarre.

Frondier decided to stop joking, seeing that Basileo was about to get the wrong idea.

“It’ll be faster to just show you.”

“You’re really taking him?”

“Of course. That was the plan from the beginning.”

Frondier nodded. It made no sense to Basileo, though.

Frondier said,

“Then Basileo, let’s go to the next location.”

“Next location? Now that you mention it, you did say ‘for now.’ Coming here.”

“You catch on quickly.”

“Where’s the next location?”

Frondier pointed his thumb at himself.

“Our house.”

Basileo’s jaw dropped. He blinked a few times, then looked at Elodie for some reason.

Elodie looked back as if asking why he was looking at her. Basileo spoke with a troubled expression.

“I don’t mean to interrupt you two…”

“It’s not like that!!”

* * *

While the three of them were having that conversation, someone was watching them.

“….Basileo, that guy.”

It was Aias.

Of course, he wasn’t near them. He was watching the scene from afar as he returned.

Aias was casting some kind of magic.

It was a flame, but not an ordinary one. As a warrior, he didn’t know exactly what kind of magic it was, but he couldn’t easily gauge the extent of its power.

To use powerful magic, one must know powerful magic itself.

In other words, Basileo had learned something.

“Those two…”

However, what Aias was more concerned about than the power of the magic were the two people next to Basileo.

Frondier and Elodie.

They were famous for not getting along, but their skills were top-notch, even right after they were appointed. And they were both gathered around, watching Basileo.

He couldn’t hear their conversation from afar, but it was clear that Basileo had performed magic in front of them.

“Have those two taken notice of Basileo…?”

He didn’t know exactly what the situation was, but he could get a general idea even from a distance.

Basileo was receiving some kind of expectation from the two of them. Whether it was as a mage or something else, he didn’t know, but the fact that he had performed magic meant that it was as a mage.

Both Frondier and Elodie were mages. At least, that was the perception within Atlas.

So it was only natural that they would be interested in Basileo, the top mage in Atlas.

However.

─Why haven’t you made a decision yet?

Aias had been tormented by that one question recently.

The decision to become a hero.

You still haven’t made that decision.

He had pondered the meaning of those words. The question had lingered in his mind throughout the final exams.

In fact, thanks to his preoccupation with it, he had become strangely quiet, to the point that those around him began to notice the change in him.

He was changing faster than he himself realized.

‘The fact that Professor Frondier called Basileo aside means that Basileo has made his decision, right?’

He had felt a great sense of inferiority to Pielott and Glaucus.

And now, even Basileo.

Even the one he had considered his equal, his rival, was ahead of him.

If,

If Frondier hadn’t asked him that question before, Aias might have exploded right there.

Unable to bear the feeling of being pushed off the stage, he might have thrown something.

But now,

“Decision…”

Aias bit his lip.

He felt the weight.

The weight of becoming a hero.

When he realized that it wouldn’t happen on its own.

When he realized that he had to choose.

When he realized that once he chose, both failure and success would be his responsibility.

“….You did it, didn’t you, Basileo?”

His gaze shifted.

At first, when he had heard Frondier’s words, he thought it was a simple matter.

That all he had to do was decide.

If he had been putting it off, all he had to do was stop and move forward.

But reality wasn’t like that.

If it was true that he had been putting it off, then there was a reason why he had been putting it off.

“Something this heavy…”

If he took one step forward, the determination he needed to walk from then on would be different.

The thought crossed his mind that he could still back down since he hadn’t made a choice yet. At the same time, that thought itself felt disgraceful.

An enormous determination, which didn’t allow him to simply take a step forward, weighed down on him.

If it had happened naturally, it wouldn’t be like this.

No one naturally becomes a hero.

It’s the epitome of unnaturalness.

“Basileo.”

Aias shook his head. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, his gaze was clear, but all the more poignant.

“See you later.”

Aias turned and walked away. He headed in the direction he was originally going.

He hadn’t made up his mind yet, but,

He knew what the weight and determination of a hero were.

What he felt towards Basileo, who had already achieved it, was not inferiority.

There was no room for inferiority.

“Amazing, Basileo. To be able to choose that.”

He was still frustrated, and the urgency hadn’t completely disappeared, but,

Aias was able to walk away with a somewhat relieved expression.