"What the hell is that—are you challenging me to a duel?"
Hysteria's voice dripped with sarcasm. The initial shock wore off quickly, and she gave a scoffing laugh, raising a hand to cover her smirk.
She'd genuinely thought Linen had lost his cool after being mocked and was about to retaliate with some rare Arcane artifact. The unexpected sight had actually startled her.
But upon closer inspection, she realized the cards floating before him were translucent—more like illusions than physical objects. They didn't resemble real Arcane artifacts at all. They looked like... magic...
Wait—no way!
Her ruby eyes widened in disbelief, and the red ahoge atop her head practically snapped upright, threatening to break free from its clip.
Fully composed of mana, flickering between illusion and substance, entirely controlled by the caster's will—wasn't this the very essence of [Weave Meditation]?!
Hysteria couldn't be mistaken. [Weave Meditation], after all, was the product of Arcane Mages who had broken through the connection between their internal mana and the world's Weave, reconstructing that energy through meditative constructs. That was why each mage's expression of it was so wildly unique.
Gust's "cosmic starfield" was one of the most common representations.
And now Linen... was surrounded by floating cards.
There was no question—this too was [Weave Meditation].
But I'm still in the conceptual phase... And yet Linen had already constructed a fully formed, personalized Weave?
For the first time in her life, Hysteria—who had always stood at the pinnacle among her peers—felt a strange, hollow ache somewhere deep inside her otherwise flat chest.
But she didn't crumble. Quite the opposite. Her cheeks flushed, her breathing quickened.
She was fired up.
Staring at the boy in front of her, she gritted her teeth.
As expected of the first real obstacle I've encountered since coming to this empire...
This time, Hysteria admitted defeat. Linen had won.
But she was confident—she'd catch up soon. Surpass him.
And when she did... she'd stomp on his face with everything she had.
Linen Norton—consider yourself noticed!
But then, a sliver of doubt cut through her resolve.
No matter how gifted an Arcane Mage, mastery always followed a process: comprehension, study, then control. [Weave Meditation] was an advanced technique. Even for a prodigy, it wasn't something you could replicate just by glancing at it.
How the hell had Linen managed to construct his own version after watching for a few minutes?
"Did Linen already complete his construction? That's amazing!"
Elena had noticed their commotion and caught sight of the cards too. She raised her hands to her mouth in wonder, voice soft with awe.
"What's so amazing about it? Elena, don't look!"
Hysteria immediately held up a hand to block her view, then turned to Linen, expression serious.
"You... You're just using some illusion-generating artifact, aren't you? What's the point of cheating like this?"
"Taking shortcuts won't get you anywhere. The Arcane won't recognize a cheat."
Her tone was unusually solemn, and her brilliant eyes made it clear—she meant it. She didn't want this boy, this opponent who had caught her attention, to go astray.
But Linen only smiled lightly.
"I appreciate your concern, Your Highness. But you can rest easy—I'd never stoop to cheating over something like this."
"Hmph. Still putting on a show? Are you actually trying to tell me you mastered [Weave Meditation] just by watching it once?"
Faced with skepticism, Linen responded with action.
He drew a card.
With a casual flick, a glowing card slid neatly into the space between his index and middle finger. He flipped it around so Hysteria could see.
Across the green-blue surface, several lines of runic symbols shimmered faintly. At the top were two unmistakable characters:
[Wind Blade]
With a flick of thought, a sharp crescent of teal wind formed and shot forth from his hand—instantly.
It was the simplest of One-Ring Arcane spells: [Wind Blade].
No illusions. No sleight of hand. This was the real deal.
He'd truly completed a functional Weave construct.
Hysteria was stunned—truly, viscerally stunned.
At that moment, a shadow appeared beside them.
It was Gust.
His brow furrowed as he raised a hand, releasing a faster[Wind Blade] of his own. The two spells collided midair—crack—canceling each other out with pinpoint precision.
Linen's eyebrows lifted slightly.
As expected of a high-tier Arcane Mage.
Gust clearly hadn't used a Weave to prepare that spell—it was an instantaneous cast. He had judged the exact speed needed to counter Linen's spell by instinct.
"Linen Norton. This isn't a combat class. Because of your reckless behavior, I'm deducting one credit."
"I apologize, Professor Gust. I'll be more careful."
Linen offered a polite bow. Obviously, one credit meant little if it meant keeping Hysteria's anger simmering at just the right level.
After a stiff nod, Gust's expression finally relaxed slightly. He managed to squeeze out a rare smile and said softly:
"Well done."
With that, he turned and returned to the podium, eyes closing again as he slipped into meditation.
Linen turned, preparing to milk the moment—maybe provoke Hysteria a little more and fan the flames.
But then he realized... the entire classroom had gone still.
Every student had stopped what they were doing, all eyes locked on him. Their expressions ranged from disbelief to something bordering on reverence.
"Did you hear that? Professor Gust actually praised a freshman?"
"No way we misheard. First day of class, and he already said 'well done'? That's insane!"
"Ahhh! Prince Linen is so cool! Squee~!"
Linen frowned slightly.
It was just a compliment. Why does this feel more dramatic than Hysteria finding out I finished a Weave?
Sensing his confusion, Elena leaned over and whispered, "I guess Linen-kun doesn't know the academy's reputation too well. In Professor Gust's ten-plus years of teaching, only three students have ever been acknowledged with a 'well done.'"
"And all three went on to become powerful high-ring Arcane Mages—pride of Eden Academy."
"Linen-kun, you're... really amazing!"
Linen blinked. Ah—right.
In the original story, it was Gust's recognition of Elena and Hysteria that brought them into the spotlight, launching their character arcs.
But now, because he'd been too eye-catching... that recognition had shifted to him.
Still, he didn't feel much about it.
Empty fame. It wouldn't turn into real power.
...Although, maybe it wasn't entirely useless.
To the heroines, this was more than a compliment. It was a "fateful opportunity"—something he'd just snatched from them.
Elena was easygoing. She probably wouldn't mind.
But Hysteria?
There was no way she'd let that slide.
He'd basically dunked on her.
With her pride? She should be boiling with rage by now!
Linen glanced sideways. Hysteria was still pretending to meditate, but her eyes kept flicking toward him—and her expression looked increasingly twitchy.
A slow, smug smile crept across his face.
Then, with the tone of someone talking to themselves just loudly enough to be overheard:
"Sigh... this is awkward. My talent's showing too obviously—kind of embarrassing, honestly."
"First time building a Weave... it's a bit rough. The layering's not very clean."
"Maybe I should've added animated effects and some glittering stardust?"
"Wonder if this'll drag down the class average... that'd be awful."
As he murmured, Linen lazily fanned the glowing cards between his fingers.
Hysteria's face turned pink. Her fingers twitched. Hands visibly trembled.
Why did I suddenly feel like punching him?
He was being polite. Humble, even. Just talking to himself.
But still—ugh!
What's there to show off?
He's finished his Weave, fine. But now he's just wasting mana, floating it around like a peacock! It's not like he has a duty to teach—
Wait. Teach?
Hysteria's eyes snapped up.
A number of students were now watching Linen's Weave, carefully tracking the flow of his mana.
Compared to Gust's overwhelming mastery, Linen's Weave—while advanced—was still accessible. Easier to learn from.
She looked closer—and noticed Linen had subtly turned his body toward her and Elena.
As if he were deliberately showing them his construct.
A bold thought flashed through her mind.
Could he be doing this... on purpose? To help me?
Hysteria felt her heart skip a beat—this time, not from anger.