Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 20, By the Fairy Lake

After a brief conversation, Ritas and Merci, who had made an appointment in advance, came to the exit of the fourth floor of the tree house.

The area where the tree house is located is adjacent to a dense forest. The forest on the east side is called the Shadow Mist Forest. When the tree house was still called the "World Tree", it created many mysterious rumors.

Including the Shadow Mist Forest, it is impossible to directly reach those mountain forests from the area where the tree house is located, because almost all places are blocked by mountain walls, cliffs, rivers and other things between the tree house area.

However, at the exit of the fourth floor of the tree house, there is a bridge connecting the Shadow Mist Forest and the tree house. This bridge is made based on a thick branch of the "World Tree".

Under Ritas's watch, the two safely crossed the sky bridge and arrived at the Shadow Mist Forest.

To be on the safe side, Merci could not practice controlling the star pattern in the tree house. Otherwise, burning down the dean's house would be a small matter, but if the towering tree that was of great significance to the academy caught fire, Ritas would have no way of explaining himself.

Moreover, the Shadow Mist Forest is far away from the academy area and is rarely visited by people, which also makes it convenient for Merci to use the power in her body without any worry.

To some extent, Merci's power was exposed, which was more difficult to explain than the "tryst" between the two. Before, the fire in Ritas' dormitory was witnessed by many people. However, most people only saw the fire spreading outside, and did not see the strange blue flames inside clearly. Moreover, the cause of the fire announced by the academy afterwards also concluded that the incident itself was an "experimental accident".

After walking along the path in the forest for a while, the scenery in front of the two people became wider.

It was an open area adjacent to a small lake, with several exquisite wooden houses lined up by the lake.

"Eh? This seems to be the 'Fairy Lake'? I couldn't recognize it for a while because of the different angles. But, is the Fairy Lake this big?"

The bathing goddess's soliloquy could be heard.

It was the first time that Ritas knew that the place that Livis used as a back garden actually had a nice-sounding name like "Fairy Lakeside".

After taking a quick look at the terrain around the Fairy Lake and making sure that even if Merci's power ran wild again, the fire would not spread to the entire forest, Ritas took out some bottles and jars from his bag.

After laying a layer of white cloth on the ground, Ritas placed various reagents flat on it.

"Next, you need to use these potions to try to wash off the inhibitors covering the 'star pattern' in the wooden house, student Merci."

Although Merci nodded, her eyes seemed to be wandering slightly as she looked at the pile of colorful and diverse potions.

"Don't worry, it's not as complicated as you think. Look at the bottle caps and then the color of the glove labels, they can all match up."

As Ritas spoke, he sorted the bottles and gloves into corresponding colors.

"Next, you need to apply the agent on the black bottle cap first, evenly cover the inhibitor area, and then rinse with clean water. Then follow the same steps for brown, gray, and finally white. From dark to light, it should be easy to understand. At the same time, you must wear gloves before applying the agent, and the color of the gloves corresponds to the agent you apply, so it is easy to distinguish."

Ritas continued to speak patiently, and then took out two more things from the package.
"Finally, after applying the white potion, the effect of the inhibitor will basically disappear. At that time, if you feel that the power in your body is out of control, press this piece of cloth against the star pattern. And in the process of washing the inhibitor before, it doesn't matter if you make a mistake. Try not to let the potion drip directly onto your skin. Then just open this box."

After saying that, Ritas handed Merci a sealed piece of light green cloth with a moldy feel and a wooden box.

"Black, brown, gray and white. Black, brown, gray and white"

"Cadet Mercy, what are you whispering about?"

"Black, brown, grey and white! Ah, I remember Professor!"

Mercy nodded vigorously and said.

"."

As Ritas watched Merci walking towards the cabin with the organized props, he always felt that she was doomed to fail.

“Xiao Li, you know what? Although Merci’s figure is already very good now, it is nothing compared to what it will be like four years later. She is actually the type that grows late!”

After a while, Merci entered the cabin with a bucket of water and began to clean up the inhibitors. The goddess of bathing, who was watching the fish blowing bubbles boredly by the lake with Ritas, said unexpectedly.

"Although I don't know what exactly you, the Bathing Goddess, are trying to instigate. But if I am expelled from the academy or even arrested because of the scandal, will it be of any benefit to you?"

“Ah~ I’m just bored. And it’s you who’s the weird one. Being alone with Merce doesn’t trigger the unexpected and immature scenes. Take those potions for example, why do you have to make them so clear? You should have helped Merce get rid of the handprint you put on her after she failed once. No, you should have helped her get rid of the handprint you put on her from the beginning.”

"."

Ritas was silent for a moment, then spoke again.
"Although I don't know what you are like, goddess of bathing."

"Alright, alright, stop reading."

The Bathing Goddess muttered in boredom, "Sooner or later you will split into two," and then she fell silent.

However, for the Bathing Goddess, who seems to be only interested in things for a short time, she can't even stay quiet for more than three minutes.

then,

"Come to think of it, how come we didn't see a single Horned Rabbit along the way? Shouldn't this Shadow Mist Forest be a 'forbidden forest' with monsters running around everywhere?"

The Bathing Goddess brought up another topic and started chatting with Ritas.

"'Forbidden Forest'? The origin of the Shadowmist Forest can be traced back to..."

"Stop! I'm not your student, so please stop explaining to me the background information and origins of everything."

The Bathing Goddess quickly interrupted Professor Ritas's "opening move".

".I don't know what's going on with the Shadow Mist Forest in the world of 'Star Mark'. But as far as I know, there are very few traces of monsters in the mountains and forests surrounding the academy, or in other words, within a radius of dozens of miles centered on the dean."

After his spell was interrupted, Ritas, who looked a little unhappy, spoke briefly.

"Does she give off the aura of a ferocious beast?"

The Bathing Goddess was speechless for a moment, then spoke again,
"How can we develop our characters without rabbits? In the early stages, there is no place to kill monsters and level up except in the forest. We can't get rabbit skins, rabbit horns and other materials, and we don't have money to spend. Most importantly, isn't killing rabbits a prerequisite for the appearance of the Fairy Queen? Without the Fairy Queen, it's hard to get materials for the Star Mark promotion."

"Even if you complain to me about this, it's nothing more, Fairy Queen?"

Ritas's expression changed slightly.

"What exactly are the so-called promotion materials?"

"Ah? Why are you asking this? It's better to ask who can remember. Let me think about it, it seems that the rare items are 'Morning Rain Dew', 'World Tree Resin', 'Fairy Scale Powder' and so on?"

While the Bathing Goddess and Ritas were talking, a scream and the sound of bottles breaking suddenly came from the wooden house.

"sorry--"

Then, Mercy's mournful voice of apology was heard again.

But soon, these voices were replaced by Merci's surprised voice. "So, what did you put in the box for her?"

Hearing the noise in the cabin gradually subside, the Bathing Goddess asked curiously.

"Nothing, just an extra set of cleaning chemicals. I've found that when student Mercy does the same thing a second time, her success rate is much higher."

".Are you stuck in this bug?"

After another incomprehensible sentence that Ritas couldn't understand, Merci in the cabin finally completed the process of removing the inhibitor.

Next to the Fairy Lake.

"Um - Professor Ritas -? You're standing a little far away -"

After walking out of the cabin, Merci put her hands to her mouth and shouted to Ritas, who was about fifty steps away from her and almost on the other side of the lake.

"Don't think too much, it's just a safe distance."

"What—? I can't quite hear—"

"."

After confirming again and again that Merci would not suddenly spit out a ball of fire, Ritas breathed a sigh of relief and slowly shortened the safe distance.

"Well, how do you feel now, Cadet Mercy?"

“It feels great!”

Mercy said with bright eyes.

Although the pain caused by the universal solvent (tentative name) that Ritas "applied" to suppress the star pattern has been reduced a lot over time, the stinging pain and itching day and night will cause great discomfort to Merci's daily life.

"However, the star pattern seems to have disappeared along with the mark."

Merci said as she gently opened the collar of her shirt which had two buttons missing and showed it to Ritas.

"."

This guy really is.
For a moment, Ritas didn't know whether he should continue to stare at the white area where there was no foreign object, or whether he should deliberately withdraw his gaze.

"Then anyway, let's try to release the magic first."

Steady your breathing, Ritas advised.

While Ritas was sorting out the used reagent bottles and other things, Merci was holding the practice wand and trying to use the only defensive magic she had learned.

Merci's mood was actually very low these two days.

After all, she felt a strong sense of struggle when using magic. Even though Ritas had explained that this phenomenon was caused by the blocking potion, Merci just thought that he was a "gentle" professor who was comforting herself who had always been unable to do anything well.

And now, even though she only used the most basic and simplest defensive magic, beside the sparkling lake, the girl waved her wand to her heart's content, with a bright smile on her face, still infecting everyone around her.

Then, then.
Merci's defensive magic caught fire.

"Eh eh eh eh eh -"

"Calm down, calm down! Student Mercy, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and try to disperse the gathered magic particles, just like you did in class."

Ritas cast several layers of defensive magic on himself in an instant and gave instructions calmly.

Soon, the azure fire wall-like protective barrier surrounding Merci slowly dissipated.

"professor."

"It's okay, Cadet Mercy, it's just normal."

Seeing Merci, who immediately showed pity after she heaved a sigh of relief, Ritas comforted her.

However, comforting as it was, Ritas did not lie.

Merci's magic, imbued with the power of the star pattern, was indeed within his expectations. Or, in other words, this phenomenon confirmed some of his speculations to a certain extent.

"Student Merci, I have been thinking about the nature of the 'Star Mark' and the power of the 'Star Mark'. Of course, it is impossible to draw accurate conclusions through mere imagination and speculation. However, these powers are similar to the nature of magic, which should be a tangible thing."

Just like in class, Ritas's slow rhythm calmed Merci's heart.
"Although we haven't covered it in class yet, I can guarantee that the Star Mark Emblem has many similarities with the magic circle. This is also the core reason why the universal solvent I created can stop your power from going out of control in time."

"If we use the similarities between the two as a connection, we can come to a conclusion. Is the power of the Star Mark itself very similar to magic?"

"The essence of magic is to communicate with magic particles to form magical phenomena. The power of star patterns is also to communicate with things similar to magic particles to form the result of power release. The biggest difference is that magic particles are outside the body of the caster, and even if they gather together, they will only surround the caster. But things similar to magic particles that construct the power of star patterns are always in your body."

"Since they are similar powers, and even have similar operating methods, it is not surprising that the two powers are mixed with each other due to some opportunities."

Ritas explained.

"I understand, Professor! So, what should I do next?"

"."

You'd better really understand.

Looking at Merci's big round eyes, Ritas, who seemed to only read "blind faith" from those blue pupils, twitched his eyebrows.

Forget it, even if I don’t understand the ecology of Gugu, I never prevent others from eating Gugu eggs, right?

After thinking for a moment, Ritas suggested:
"You can try to separate the 'Power of Star Marks'. As for the specific method, put down the magic wand first."

While giving instructions, Ritas felt that it was the right choice for him to teach the students defensive magic in the beginning.

Since Merci only knows defensive magic now, she should have more or less formed the impression that magic equals defense.

Then, as the power of the star pattern separated from magic,

"Next, imagine that you actually have a magic wand in your hand. Then gather your strength in the same way as when casting magic. But this time, what you gather are not magic particles, but the power that fills your body, the azure flames."

"After that, if possible, try to condense those flames into a weapon."

(End of this chapter)