The other students, standing further away, likely believed the Teacher had simply made a mistake. But Hyacine, being closest, could clearly see the slight tremor in his voice and the twitch at the corner of his eye as he spoke. He looked utterly heartbroken.
Hyacine instinctively shrank back. Regardless of the circumstances, she had indeed made a mistake by accidentally breaking someone else's possession. She reached out and gently poked the Teacher's arm with her small hand. "I'm sorry, Teacher. I accidentally broke your Crystal Ball."
The Teacher forced a strained smile. "It's alright. It's not your fault. It was my mistake—I accidentally grabbed the wrong one."
If the students ever found out that his prized creation had failed at such a crucial moment, inexplicably self-destructing, his teaching career would likely be over.
Hyacine had no intention of exposing him. Instead, she said, "Even if you grabbed the wrong one, Teacher, this wasn't a Magic Power detection Crystal Ball. It was something else entirely, but I still broke it."
With that, Hyacine pulled a white feather from her person and handed it to the bespectacled teacher. "Please accept this as compensation for breaking the Crystal Ball."
Looking at the adorable pink-haired girl before him, the teacher felt his heart might burst. She's an angel!
Hyacine had no connection to the incident; the Crystal Ball had exploded inexplicably on its own (or so the teacher believed). Yet here she was, apologizing and offering compensation. He waved his hand dismissively. "No, no, it wasn't your fault."
But Hyacine insisted, "Please accept it, Teacher. It's just a feather."
To her, it truly was just an ordinary feather—one that had fallen from Little Ica's wing the previous day, nothing particularly valuable. However, to an ordinary Wizard, this was an extremely precious magical material, worth more than he could imagine.
Seeing Hyacine's insistence, the teacher finally accepted the seemingly unremarkable feather. He didn't bother to examine it closely, casually stuffing it into his pocket before saying, "Alright, hurry and join the others to use your Magic and deplete your Magic Power. I want to see your Magic Power reserves."
Since everyone was a freshman, most students didn't know any advanced magic. They all resorted to the most basic spell: the Zero-Level (aka cantrips) Evocation School's Fire Bolt, often dubbed the Wizard's "basic attack." The courtyard soon became a perfectly synchronized scene: fifty students stood in a row, casting the spell repeatedly, each launching fist-sized fireballs.
Hyacine stood among them, deliberately observing the expressions of those around her. After about twenty Fire Bolts, some students began showing signs of fatigue. By thirty, they were panting heavily.
Following suit, Hyacine deliberately cast a few extra Fire Bolts after the first wave of students withdrew, having exhausted their magic power. After a total of thirty-eight casts, she stepped back, saying, "Ugh~ I'm done too~"
The Glasses Man, who had been closely monitoring Hyacine, offered a word of encouragement: "Don't worry, thirty-eight Fire Bolts is excellent for your level."
The very next moment, a boy beside her who had cast forty spells gasped for breath and also withdrew from the casting line, announcing, "I'm out of magic power too."
The Teacher, adjusting his glasses, turned to the male student and said, "Only forty? Is that all you've got? Look at everyone else still pushing on. Young people should strive harder! Go back and use a few more!"
The student stared in confusion.
He glanced blankly at Hyacine, who stood beside the Teacher, then lowered his gaze to himself. He had arrived right after Hyacine, and he'd heard everything the Teacher had said to her. Moreover, his grades were even better than hers. How had the criticism suddenly shifted to him? Was this fair?
Reluctantly, the student rejoined the line, gritted his teeth, and cast another spell. Afterward, he looked completely drained, his eyes and cheeks sunken, and he limped away from the spellcasting group, utterly spent.
The test concluded swiftly. The lowest score was twenty-nine Fire Bolts, while the highest was fifty-two. Hyacine's thirty-eight Fire Bolts placed her at roughly the middle of the class, a result she found quite satisfactory.
Remarkably, Pela achieved an impressive fifty Fire Bolts, securing second place in the class. It's worth noting that the top scorer was a thirty-something Self-Taught Wizard, not a child.
Hyacine couldn't resist running over to Pela. "Pela, Pela! You're amazing! I never knew you were such a genius!"
Pela scratched her head sheepishly. "No, not really. I just happen to have a bit more innate Magic Power than others. It's nothing special!"
"Nonsense!" Hyacine insisted. "You're already incredible!"
In that moment, Pela truly felt as if she had met a little angel. Hyacine was so adorable, with a soft, melodious voice and such sweet words. The emotional value was off the charts! Who wouldn't adore such a darling little angel?
After the practical class ended, most students were completely drained of Magic Power and had no energy left. The Teacher, eager to investigate the Crystal Ball's malfunction, promptly declared the afternoon classes canceled, instructing everyone to go home and rest. He then hurried away.
Back in his private chamber within the Transmutation Tower—as a graduate of the tower's wizardry program, the Teacher naturally had a reserved space there—he recalled that the White-Bearded Wizard, who had fainted from Anaxa's outburst, had once been his own mentor.
"How could it suddenly break?" the Teacher muttered to himself, pulling out a pile of Magic Items. After a thorough inspection, he couldn't help but wear a bewildered expression.
The results of the inspection showed that the Crystal Ball had been destroyed from within by a violently Rageful Magic Power. But how could that be possible?
The Crystal Ball had been perfectly fine just moments before. How could such strange Magic Power suddenly manifest inside it? Then the Teacher realized: it must have been because Hyacine had touched the Crystal Ball.
"So this Magic Power... it's from Hyacine?" The Teacher's expression turned to one of shock. He reached out and gently touched a spot on the shattered Crystal Ball where a faint residue of Magic Power lingered, and a sharp stinging sensation shot through his fingertip, like being pricked by a needle.
He quickly withdrew his hand, only to find a tiny cut had appeared on his fingertip.
"So sharp... and this is just the raw Magic Power..." The Teacher had never encountered such a phenomenon before. After a moment of stunned silence, he swiftly rose and left the laboratory, intending to consult his Teacher about the situation.