Chapter 70 - - 70: Finding a Spell II

Chapter 70: Chapter - 70: Finding a Spell II

*Hypnotizing spirits?*

That sounds exaggerated and it probably might be because of that female spirit of his who claims herself to be his wife.

The students had witnessed Albert’s power, but most of them had probably never seen enough of his abilities to understand what he could actually do, so naturally stories would grow as they were passed from one student to another.

One person would say that Albert had extraordinary mental strength. Another would repeat that he was a master of mental magic. A third would add something about spirits.

And eventually, those stories would become something far more impressive than the original event.

Kai had seen that sort of rumor spreading many times since arriving at the academy, so he was not inclined to accept the more ridiculous parts without evidence.

However, there was one detail that caught his attention.

Mental magic. That part was actually believable.

*Spirit Tamer.*

Kai leaned back slightly as he thought about Albert’s attribute.

Anything involving spirits, souls, or consciousness required an extremely strong mental foundation, because controlling or communicating with a spiritual entity was not something that could be accomplished through raw mana alone.

A spirit was not simply another form of magical creature.

Its existence was closely connected to consciousness and the soul, which meant that anyone capable of becoming an exceptional Spirit Tamer would naturally need an unusually strong mind.

And Albert was not merely a Spirit Tamer.

He was a Grand Mage who had demonstrated an enormous level of control over his spirits during the attack.

Kai remembered the moment Albert’s Heinous Hyena had appeared and immediately intercepted the beast-like attacker, and later he remembered Clara, the strange female spirit who had appeared without even being summoned and had frozen the enemy with overwhelming ice magic.

Whatever else the rumors had exaggerated, Albert’s mental capabilities were probably worth investigating.

"Did you hear anything else about his mental magic?" Kai asked.

Ian shook his head. "Not really, although people say he is extremely knowledgeable about spirits and soul related magic."

That was enough for Kai.

He glanced toward the books lying on his desk.

The information in them had already convinced him that learning advanced memory magic solely through written material would be difficult, and now an unexpected possibility had appeared right in front of him.

If Albert really was knowledgeable about mental magic, then asking him about a memory enhancing spell would probably be much more productive than spending several more nights trying to reconstruct incomplete techniques from old books.

Of course, Kai still needed to be careful.

There were too many unknowns surrounding Albert.

He had already suspected Albert before the terrorist attack because of several inconsistencies he had noticed, and although Albert had saved his life and the lives of the others during the incident, Kai had not completely discarded his habit of questioning things that did not fit what he remembered from the game.

Still, asking about magic was harmless enough.

*I can decide what to think about him after hearing his answer.*

Kai closed the book and placed his hand over its cover.

"I will ask him."

Ian looked at him.

"Today?"

Kai glanced toward the clock.

"We should probably get ready first."

Ian followed his gaze and suddenly realized how little time remained before they had to leave for their morning lessons.

"Right."

He immediately stood up.

"I completely forgot about classes."

Kai gave him a faint smile as Ian hurried back toward his side of the room, and after a few moments the sound of drawers opening and clothes being moved around filled the dormitory.

Kai looked once more at the books on his desk before carefully closing them.

....

The exorcism class was the final lesson of the day, and by the time Albert dismissed the students, the sun was already high in the sky above the academy buildings.

Most of the students immediately began making their way toward the dormitories or dining hall, while a few remained behind to discuss the day’s lesson, but I waited until the classroom had mostly emptied before approaching Teacher Albert, who was still standing near the front of the room while organizing the materials he had used during the lesson.

I had been thinking about this since this morning, ever since Ian mentioned that Teacher Albert was supposedly proficient in mental magic, and although I had initially considered asking him after class, standing in front of him now made the matter feel considerably less simple than it had seemed while sitting in my room with a book in front of me.

"Teacher."

Albert looked toward me.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you something regarding mental magic."

Even as I said it, I could not help wondering whether I had made the right decision by approaching him directly, because this had nothing to do with our regular exorcism lessons, and there was no particular reason for a teacher to spend his personal time teaching a student a spell simply because the student happened to be interested in it.

*He might simply refuse.*

Even if he knew the spell I was looking for, there was no guarantee that he would be willing to teach it, especially considering that mental magic was supposed to be a relatively specialized field, and I was essentially asking him for knowledge outside the normal curriculum.

Still, I had already come this far, so there was no reason to hesitate.

"I am looking for guidance regarding a memory enhancement spell," I explained. "I have been studying some mental magic recently, but most of the information available in the books is incomplete, and I wanted to know whether there is someone who could properly guide me."

Albert remained quiet for a moment before giving a simple answer.

"I can."

I blinked.

"Really?"

"You should come to my study office on the second floor later," he replied calmly. "I will need to know exactly what kind of magic you are looking for before I can tell you whether I can help."

That was considerably easier than I had expected.

"Thank you, Teacher."

He gave a faint nod before returning his attention to the papers in his hands.

I left the classroom soon afterward, although I could not help thinking about his answer as I walked through the corridor.

*Why did he agree so readily?*

It makes me even more suspicious of him. But still my instinct is not alarming me of anything this time.

....

About half an hour later, I found myself standing in front of Albert’s study office on the second floor.

I raised my hand and knocked twice.

"Teacher, this is Kai. May I come in?"

"Come in."

I opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was fairly quiet, with several bookshelves occupying the walls and a large desk positioned near the center of the room, behind which Albert was seated with several papers spread before him. Judging from their arrangement and the notes written across them, they were probably preparations for tomorrow’s class.

"Good afternoon, Teacher."

He looked up from the papers and gave me a faint nod.

"Good afternoon."

He then gestured toward one of the chairs positioned in front of his desk.

"Sit."

I took the offered seat and waited until Albert placed the papers aside before turning his attention fully toward me.

"Tell me what you want to learn."

I briefly gathered my thoughts before explaining what I had been searching for, making sure to leave out anything related to the reason I personally needed such a spell.

"I am looking for a spell that can strengthen memory retention, preferably something capable of allowing the caster to preserve information with much greater accuracy and for a considerably longer period than normal. I have already searched through several books concerning mental magic, but most of the spells I found were either incomplete in their descriptions or required practical guidance from someone who had already mastered them."

Albert listened without interrupting, his expression remaining neutral throughout my explanation.

"I do not necessarily need something that can make me remember every single thing forever," I added, "but I would like a spell that can significantly improve my ability to retain information, especially complicated information that I might otherwise forget after several years."

Once I finished speaking, the room became quiet.

Albert lowered his eyes slightly, seemingly considering what I had said, and after several seconds passed without an answer, I became increasingly certain that he knew exactly what kind of magic I was talking about.

The question was whether he would actually teach it to me.

I had not asked that directly because I did not want to put him in an awkward position, but his silence was enough to tell me that the answer would probably depend on something other than whether such a spell existed.

Before either of us could continue, however, a woman’s cheerful voice suddenly came from beside Albert’s chair.

"I think you should teach him that."

I turned toward the voice.

A faint gathering of mana appeared beside Albert, and within moments the familiar translucent figure of Clara materialized beside his chair, her spirit like body gradually becoming clearer as she casually sat herself down on the edge of Albert’s desk.

I had already seen her several times, but her sudden appearance still managed to catch me off guard.

She looked at me with a bright smile "He is a good kid."