“Ms. Colette, is something the matter?”

  “It’s nothing major, really. You see, Hulim, you have a wand, don’t you? I was thinking—starting next semester, you can bring it to class with you.”

  “Is that allowed?”

  Hulim looked a little surprised.

  “Absolutely!”

  Colette nodded enthusiastically.

  “Most of the students have already gotten the hang of basic magic now. Their confidence isn’t as fragile as it used to be—if anything, some of them might be getting a bit complacent. Having a role model like you, Hulim, will give everyone a clear goal to work toward. It’ll motivate them to study harder.”

  “I understand, Ms. Colette. I’ll bring my wand next semester.”

  No sooner had she said goodbye to Colette than a figure waved excitedly at her from the school gate.

  “Hulim——!”

  Hulim walked over to her.

  “Fran? What’s up?”

  Fran beamed at her, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Hulim, I was thinking—even though you can’t come to my house because of your training, I can go to yours instead! It’s not like I have to train or anything! What do you think?”

  “......”

  You really should spend more time practicing your own magic.

  Looking at Fran—who was, for all intents and purposes, her friend—Hulim held back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

  Beside Fran, the Bandon family butler wore a look of obvious anxiety, glancing at his young mistress several times as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

  ......It seemed the Bandons had already found out about Fran’s slipping grades.

  “Sure. If you’d like to come over......”

  “Really?! It’s a deal! I’ll definitely be there tomorrow!”

  Fran cheered happily, then climbed into the carriage with the butler, waving at Hulim repeatedly as the vehicle pulled away.

  “See you tomorrow, Hulim~!”

  Hulim raised her hand and waved back.

  “Yeah. See you tomorrow......”

  If you manage to get out of the house, that is.

  ......

  ......

  Hulim’s term break began—a short but eventful stretch of time. With school out, she was able to spend far more hours each day practicing swordsmanship.

  But Rezelian didn’t force his youngest daughter to stick to a rigid training schedule. So after practicing swords all morning, Hulim would head to the Monster Forest for her training sessions with Semiris.

  With the extra time on their hands, Semiris changed up her teaching method. Instead of simply tossing monsters directly in front of Hulim and letting her fight, she would now place a target monster somewhere random in the forest, fly Hulim to the general area, and make her track down the creature before engaging it in battle.

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  It was far more troublesome this way, but it was also far closer to real-world scenarios. Hulim threw herself into the new training with great enthusiasm.

  All the wilderness survival skills, potion-making knowledge, and magical plant identification she had learned earlier finally came in handy.

  The only catch was that hunting a specific monster in the forest was no easy task—encountering all sorts of unexpected obstacles was the norm.

  Sometimes, Hulim couldn’t find her target at all. Other times, unrelated monsters wandered into the fray and interfered. There were even instances where the target monster was a local inhabitant, unlucky enough to be chosen by Semiris—these creatures, familiar with every inch of the forest, always pushed Hulim to her limits, and she even had to retreat on a few occasions.

  But failure bred the most valuable growth.

  Gaining experience fighting under unfavorable conditions meant she would be able to stay calm and collected the next time she faced a similar situation.

  And just like that, the short term break flew by in a blur of intense training.

  As for Fran—she never did make it to Hulim’s house. In fact, she hadn’t been allowed to leave her own home once the entire vacation.

  ......

  “Waaah——! I’m so glad to see you, Hulim! Father is the worst! He wouldn’t let me go anywhere! I never want to talk to him again!”

  Early on the first day of the new semester, Fran appeared in front of Hulim with a face full of grievances.

  “I’m so sorry, Hulim. I didn’t mean to stand you up.”

  It was clear she’d had a miserable vacation.

  “It’s okay, really.”

  Hulim patted her on the back as Fran clung to her arm, her eyes glistening with tears.

  “Mr. Bandon made that decision because of your magic, right? So if you get better at magic, he won’t have any reason to ground you anymore, will he?”

  “Really? If I become a strong mage, Father won’t lock me up anymore?”

  “I’m sure—well, probably.”

  “Yes! Then I’ll definitely become an amazing mage and make Father eat his words!”

  The look of dejection vanished from Fran’s face in an instant, replaced by a fierce, determined glint in her eyes.

  “Oh, by the way—what’s that thing you’re carrying on your back, Hulim? Is that...... a wand?”

  Fran finally noticed the object slung over Hulim’s shoulders—a wooden staff with a rounded top.

  “Yep, that’s right! It’s my wand! Isn’t it cool? It might look like a plain old stick, but it’s actually really powerful. No matter what kind of magic I cast, it always helps me channel it perfectly......”

  When it came to magic or wands, Hulim’s normally quiet demeanor vanished, and she found herself talking a mile a minute.

  Fran tilted her head to the side, her eyes widening in surprise. “Huh? Wait a second—wands are only for mages of Second Rank and above......”

  “Oh right! Hulim is a Second-Rank Mage! So it makes total sense that you have a wand!”

  Fran suddenly remembered the day Hulim had saved her—there was no doubt in her mind that Hulim had used Second-Rank Magic back then.

  The memory sent a thrill of excitement coursing through her.

  “That’s so awesome! Can I touch it?”

  “Of course you can!”

  Hulim handed the wand to Fran without hesitation.

  Fran took the wooden wand in her hands, running her fingers along its length from top to bottom, examining it with great care.

  “So this is Hulim’s wand...... You hold it right here every day, huh...... Hehe~!”

  “Uh...... Fran? Are you okay?”

  “It’s so cool!”

  Fran suddenly shouted, holding the wand high above her head.

  “It looks like a regular stick at first glance, but the more you look at it, the more it feels like a real wand! It’s like—ah! So this is what a wand is supposed to be like!”

  “Hey, Hulim—what’s it made of?”

  Was that just my imagination......?

  “Well...... It’s made from the trunk of a mist marsh treant. It’s an extremely rare material, and it amplifies magic of any attribute equally. For a multi-element mage like me, it’s basically tailor-made!”

  “A mist marsh treant——?!”

  Fran’s eyes lit up like stars.

  “That’s such a cool name! It makes the wand sound even more amazing!”

  “Yes! I’ve made up my mind! I’m going to ask Father to buy me a wand made from a mist marsh treant too!”

  Hmm......

  That’s not a bad idea, I guess. Though didn’t you just say you never wanted to talk to your father again?

  ......

  Even though a new semester had begun, the short break meant that almost nothing had changed among the students in the class.

  Which was exactly why Hulim showing up with a wand caused such a stir.

  Anyone who had paid even the slightest bit of attention in their theory classes knew exactly what a wand symbolized.

  “Hulim—she’s already a Second-Rank Mage?! ”

  “That’s incredible! I don’t think more than a handful of students from this school have ever become Second-Rank Mages by graduation, right?”

  Hulim’s wand hit the class like a bolt from the blue, sending shockwaves through the student body.