Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 82 Soul Magic
On the weekend before the actual test, Ritas came to the tree house mansion again and recorded Noah's star pattern.

Maybe Noah really accepted her fate, or maybe she knew that Ritas was just doing what she had to do, or maybe it was simply because Merci was not here today. In short, Noah, apart from the visible unhappiness on her face, was relatively cooperative and did not create a strange atmosphere at the scene.

So what exactly happened that day?
Ritas was somewhat glad that he was not the person he was a few years ago, who believed that all the unknowns in the world must have accurate answers, so he would keep struggling with things he could not understand.

"Student Noah, you actually didn't choose to act together with Student Mercy today."

After recording the star pattern, Ritas felt that it was both wrong and impolite for him to come and draw and then turn around and leave, so he chose to chat with Noah.

"Mercy is going shopping with her classmates, it's not appropriate for me to follow them."

Noah observed Ritas for a moment, and after determining that he was not being sarcastic, he responded.

"classmate."

If nothing unexpected happens, the person who went to Spring City with Merci should be Iris.

Ever since the test that day, Iris, who used to be uninterested in magic practice class, has successfully turned into a state of depression all day long.

Although Ritas had talked to Iris several times afterwards and brought up his words to the goddess of bathing, "the development of modern magic is rich and diverse", it was obviously of limited effect.

Perhaps, to the sensitive Iris, Ritas' words were not encouragement, but rather a complete denial of her possibility of becoming a "regular" wizard, judging that she could only choose some "unconventional" methods related to magic.

For now, Ritas has no good solution for this.

If Iris hadn't asked for a comprehensive qualification test, Ritas might have been able to find some excuses to get away with it. But now, the cold data was so straightforward in front of her, and Adeline, the tutor's assistant, "kindly" interpreted and explained the data.
In this situation, if Ritas continues to prevaricate, it would basically be a deception.

As for the follow-up, Ritas really thinks there is no need to be too anxious.

When the new semester and school year arrived, Iris's vision gradually broadened, and she realized that the road called "magic" was really very broad, and she would naturally find a direction suitable for her to work hard.

Moreover, compared to staying in the dormitory all the time, it is a good thing that she is willing to go shopping with Merci.

In the past, whenever Mercie encountered trouble, whether it was college life or integrating into the class, Iris was always willing to stay by her side. So now, when Iris encountered distress, Mercie was naturally willing to actively help her vent.

"Professor, you have recorded the 'Star Pattern' so many times. What have you learned?"

While Ritas was thinking for a short while, Noah, who probably didn't want to be asked, "Mercy went shopping with her friends, don't you have any friends?", took the lead in the conversation.

“It can’t be considered many times. However, I did gain something.”

Ritas took out Merci's star pattern, the star pattern of Noah that was recorded last time, and the star pattern of Noah that was re-recorded this time, and let them float in the air and stand up and stacked together.

Looking at the outlines of the three star patterns that overlapped perfectly above the paper after the stronger light passed through it, Noah suddenly wondered if Ritas was a magic tool or something. Otherwise, how could he draw these star patterns in exactly the same size without using any auxiliary tools?

"In this way, we compare similar magic circle patterns that are of the same system but have completely different effects. We extract the similarities and differences and analyze them separately. This is a common way to decipher the 'magic circle language'."

After Ritas finished his demonstration, he put away the papers.

"I taught student Merci the basics of magic circles. If student Noah is interested, he can study with her. It will not be bad for your future."

Ritas suggested smoothly.

Noah, who used to think that magic circles were tacky, old-fashioned and troublesome, was now quite interested.

Learning about magic circles could help her better understand things like her own star patterns, so whatever was helpful was fine.

The key point is that if she starts learning magic circles, she will have more common topics with Merci.

In the past, although Noah had also taught Merci her homework, Merci was very serious about learning, so Noah could only teach her very little. Moreover, Noah herself was not a teacher and did not know how to teach others. Therefore, she did not cross the line and took the initiative to teach Merci something.

Now, if she starts to take the initiative to learn about magic circles, besides becoming half a student of Professor Ritas, many of her entangled problems can be solved.
"It is because of the comparison method that the content of the magic circle is easier to decipher than imagined. Therefore, modern magic circle studies often add a lot of encryption steps to hide and mislead during the formation of the magic circle. But from the 'star patterns', I don't see any traces of that at all. This shows that if the engravers of these 'star patterns' don't mind others deciphering, replicating, or copying the star patterns, then the origin of these 'star patterns' is very ancient, at least before the rise of modern magic circle studies."

Ritas explained some of the findings from his research over the past few days.

The origin of the star mark is very ancient, which seems to be nonsense to the goddess of bathing who knows the background of the "star mark emblem". However, being able to confirm this matter is of great significance to Ritas.

Because, although the star pattern is ancient, the girls with the star pattern on their bodies do not look old at all.

Therefore, the conflict between the young girl and the ancient star pattern will lead to more problems.

For example, someone has never made progress, and has stubbornly imprinted the star pattern that could be easily deciphered by researchers like Ritas on the girls. Or is it the same ancient people who, in ancient times, were able to imprint across time and space to some extent.

Further research on these contradictions may lead to the discovery of some crucial answers that can explain everything.

"Ancient emblems, ancient system. Could these 'star mark emblems' be related to 'soul magic'?"

Noah asked after thinking for a moment.

"What is soul magic?"

"!"

In fact, the Bathing Goddess, who had been present all along, suddenly asked.

Noah was frightened by the sudden voice and jumped sideways, almost hiding behind Ritas.

".Feel sorry."

Before Noah could explode in anger, the most humble goddess in history apologized first.

"'Soul Magic' is a system of magic that has been destroyed and abandoned."

Ritas, who is good at popular science, began to tell the story.

The magic system of magic particles in the current magic world actually rose rapidly after the birth of the great invention of the era, the "Truth Peeping Mirror". Magic itself is a kind of law used to interpret all things in the world. The focus of magic is not on "magic" but on "law".

Therefore, if we trace back to the ancient times, the magic system can be said to be a chaotic mess. Soul magic was once the most reliable type of magic system.

After all, most mages who practiced the soul magic system could at least cast magic. Unlike some particularly outrageous systems, where they jumped around with solemn sacrificial utensils, sacrificed livestock or even humans, but basically no strange phenomena would occur.

After the existence of magic particles was confirmed, the magic community was once divided into the soul magic system and the magic particle system.

The difference between the two is also simple and clear.

The magic particle system relies on external forces to a certain extent, that is, the magic particles themselves to perform magic. The soul magic system relies entirely on itself.

The magic particle system mages criticized the soul magic system, saying that it was just storing magic particles in the body and integrating them with the body, and that the essence was still relying on magic particles. The soul magic system mages said, "No, no, no, we rely on the noble soul."

Since the soul magic system has been destroyed for too long, current researchers are not sure how the soul magic system works. And Ritas is no exception.

"Hey~ Compared to these magic particles, the soul magic system is more in line with my understanding of magic. Speaking of which, how did this soul magic system, which seems more reliable, collapse?"

The Bathing Goddess, who used to dislike Ritas's explanations for every question, seems to have become more curious recently.

"According to the records, it is soul magic that distorts the souls of practitioners, causing those soul system mages to become insane in the end. Therefore, it is basically a natural destruction. But..."

Ritas doesn't want to guarantee whether this statement written by the winner is credible.

"That's just like what Noah said. The soul magic system that relies solely on one's own power, or in fact, the storage and fusion of magic particles in the body, is very similar to the status of the star mark holders. Well, not only the star mark holders, the method of using shadows to influence or even control others, and the 'Trickery Society' where basically all members are not normal, how come it feels like a soul magic system?"

When the goddess of bathing mentioned the secret ritual of trickery, Noah's face became noticeably darker.

"That's why I say that magic is a law created to explain everything in the world."

Since the soul magic system had long been destroyed, its scope was particularly general, as if it could cover everything. Moreover, the rumors about the soul magic system became more and more magical and exaggerated.

In fact, even if soul magic was really as powerful as the legendary level, it would not be destroyed so thoroughly.

If one of the four sages was not very persistent in making public all the knowledge and history related to magic, the contents about the soul magic system would not be recorded in the textbooks at all. Naturally, the mages in the academy, who were only trainees and apprentices, would not be able to casually bring it up as a topic of conversation.

"Uh, try to communicate your star pattern, Noah. And, uh, distinguish the difference between the power brought by the star pattern and the magic particles. Even if it is the same, the general process of casting magic. No, but! Separate them well, imagine magic as a shield used specifically for defense, and imagine the star pattern as a weapon for attack. Yes! Weapons!"

"." "."

After recording the star pattern, Ritas, who had talked with Noah for a while, thought, "Since we're here now," and suddenly decided to see if he could help Noah successfully control his own power.

After Noah started trying, the goddess of baths volunteered and began to "guide" Noah haltingly.

"These seem to be the methods that the professor uses to help Merci control the power of the star pattern?"

Like Ritas, Noah, who was very familiar with this statement, looked at the white disc suspiciously.

Noah, who had originally suspected that the white disc was just a magical communication device, naturally began to rapidly decline in his trust in the Goddess of Baths.

"Ritas"

The bathing goddess wanted to show off in front of her beautiful female believers, but was caught on the spot and uttered a pitiful cry for help.

On the one hand, he couldn't bear to see such an embarrassing scene, and on the other hand, he thought that the goddess of bathing had been doing well recently. So, Ritas sighed slightly without being noticed, and helped the goddess of bathing to smooth things over.

"The method I taught Merci was the teachings from the Goddess of Baths that I relayed to her. However, Noah has systematically studied magic for two years, and her knowledge of magic is not a blank slate. Isn't it too difficult to ask her to put it all aside and separate her unformed magical knowledge like a beginner? Goddess of Baths."

Apart from his somewhat unmotivated expression, Ritas adopted a tone as if he was giving advice to the goddess of bathing.

Alas. This goddess who only knows how to take a bath, didn't even think about why he didn't teach Noah the same method before. He always gave corresponding suggestions based on the other party's actual situation. Therefore, the advice given to Merci cannot be used on Noah.

"Indeed, I was a little inconsiderate."

The Bathing Goddess, whose voice no longer trembled, made a solemn sound as if she had humbly accepted the suggestion.

"However, if you can clearly distinguish the difference between magic particles and the power in your body, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to condense that power into something tangible."

"Yes! That's what I meant."

"But there is no need to stick to weapons. You can even go beyond the scope of common objects. Close your eyes, relax your nerves, clear your mind, and turn that power into something that emerges subconsciously or instinctively. That power belongs to you and only to you. It will be under your control and you can shape it as you like. Therefore, you can treat it more freely and at ease."

"That's right! It coincides with my thoughts!"

Although the Bathing Goddess was a little noisy nearby, after taking a deep breath, Noah was able to get into the state amidst the rhythmic words of Ritas.

It should be said that the voice of the Bathing Goddess is not completely ineffective.

After all, one was an inexplicably persuasive guiding voice, and the other was an inexplicably noisy noise. Even if the two voices sounded at the same time, Noah could clearly distinguish the difference between them from all aspects.

This wonderful feeling of being able to separate even when mixed is exactly in sync with her current state.
Suddenly, the star pattern behind Noah emitted a clear light. Then, accompanied by a rustling sound, her hair began to grow longer rapidly.

“.” “.” “.”

When the growth stopped, the three people fell silent as they looked at the emerald green hair that covered the ground like a carpet. They naturally understood that Noah had failed again.

"Professor, can you help me cut it?"

Noah, who had become somewhat accustomed to the situation, tilted his head slightly, which had suddenly become heavy, and asked calmly.

And Ritas just said "hmm" in the same calm tone.

(End of this chapter)