CHAPTER 67
Wizard Ball Team?
“Why isn’t there an entrance exam score here? Ah, you must be a Saintess candidate. Hmm…”
Professor Buremhied looked at the last two remaining students, Idnia and Marie, then checked his pocket watch.
“There’s an awkward amount of time left. Do you want to go now? Or wait until the next class?”
His pocket watch chimed — it was the signal that class would end in 15 minutes.
Yet he still asked if they wanted to proceed or not…
‘So Buremhied is wary of the Saintess candidate — or more precisely, of the Papal Court. That’s unexpected…’
Idnia realized he must know that the Papal Court and the Emperor are trying to uncover the Academy’s secrets and is therefore being cautious. The fact that he asked whether they’d participate, despite there being enough time, revealed his wariness.
“I’ll step up to the plate.”
“Hm? Are you serious, Student Idnia?”
“Yes, I’m quite interested in Wizard Ball.”
“…”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, no. I just… I’m not fooled easily by words like that. Hmph… No, never mind.”
Buremhied wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand.
‘Ugh… This dragon… I let my guard down just because she said she was interested in Wizard Ball. I mustn’t. Saintess candidates are dangerous. Best not to get involved with agents of the Papal Court…’
Trying to compose himself, Buremhied formed a water sphere.
“Then as a light test, I’ll toss one lightly.”
But this time, it wasn’t a regular polyhedron — the water sphere had dimples like a golf ball, suggesting it was anything but a light toss.
‘Let’s see how good she really is at Wizard Ball.’
Buremhied hurled the ball with more strength than he had for any other student — even stronger and more unpredictable than what he threw at top student Isolde.
But…
Idnia used her wand to apply telekinesis, subtly altering the ball’s direction, then instantly cast a shield spell onto her wand to turn it into a makeshift bat and struck the incoming water ball.
-Smack!
The water ball flew in a straight line, grazing past Buremhied’s head and soaring into the sky.
“Huh?”
“That wasn’t just telekinesis, right?”
“She did use telekinesis at first, but then she hit it with a swing!”
“But that’s…”
That wasn’t proper for a telekinesis class.
However, for Wizard Ball, it was the perfect technique.
The hitter’s job in Wizard Ball was to use both magic and physical ability to strike the ball — and Idnia had done exactly that.
“Uh…”
Buremhied blankly stared after the flying ball, then snapped out of it.
The ball she struck landed in the middle of a distant lake.
“This is a telekinesis class, not a Wizard Ball match!”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“That ball could have been caught easily by fielders. And I didn’t even throw with full strength…”
“Right.”
“…What was your name again, student?”
“Idnia.”
Although she had already said her name, Buremhied had been too distracted to notice.
“Idnia Katche Betelgeuse… Right, you’re the daughter of the Duke of Betelgeuse. Hmph. Hmm. HmMMM!”
He was clearly excited that she had made such a clean hit.
“Well then, class is over. Time to return to the Academy.”
“Wait, you came all the way to Ansbach just to do this?”
“This? You know we’re not allowed to throw things like this inside the Academy.”
“Time’s up, so back we go! Oh, and everyone — I’ll give you a homework assignment.”
Buremhied lifted some water with telekinesis and formed three spheres.
“You’ll practice juggling these with telekinesis. You must toss them at least 20 times without dropping them.”
“…What?”
Everyone panicked.
Most students reach their concentration limit forming just one sphere using the Mage’s Hand spell.
“Forming spheres is easier than polyhedrons. Don’t try to gather water from outside — just give the water cohesive force. It will become a sphere on its own. Even blockheads should be able to learn this. Oh? I think I hear stones grinding.”
A few students, including Isolde, followed Buremhied’s advice and managed to form three water spheres with telekinesis.
But juggling them was a whole different challenge.
And then…
‘Wait, this guy carved polyhedrons out of water? That means he didn’t just use cohesion — he used raw telekinesis power to shape and throw them?!’
Everyone was shocked by the massive gap between Buremhied and themselves.
Objectively, it made sense. He was an ancient dragon. It was laughable for first-year students to think they could match him.
Still, all of them had entered the prestigious Dynaise Academy full of pride in their talent. But now… even keeping up with the teaching assistants seemed impossible.
“I’ll check next class, so practice until then! Dismissed!”
With Buremhied’s final words, a teleportation gate opened.
Back at the Academy
After teleporting back, all the students collapsed.
“Ugh…”
“What… what was that?”
“Is it mana sickness or teleport fatigue? No, it’s more like…”
Receiving the polyhedrons Buremhied threw had drained their mental energy due to extreme concentration.
They still had plenty of mana left — but their focus was completely gone.
It was like standing in front of a target in a knife-throwing act — physically fine but mentally exhausted from tension.
“I can’t believe this. I use telekinesis all the time. Mage’s Hand, you know!”
Mage’s Hand was a basic yet useful spell that almost every mage knew.
But to use it even once to catch one of Buremhied’s water balls was this exhausting?
“That professor, that little elf-looking guy, he adjusted the strength of the throws to match how much telekinesis we were using. He’s a complete pervert.”
Sendia Aspinal explained the situation based on her experience to stop the other students from feeling too crushed.
“In other words, he’s insanely skilled. Adjusting the power based on our reactions in that short moment… and he was also taking notes with one hand the whole time. Wait, notes? I mean illusion spells — he was teaching and throwing balls at the same time.”
“Exactly. He’s a total freak… I mean, dragon.”
Right then, a floating staff appeared behind Sendia.
Everyone turned to see Buremhied standing behind her.
“A ‘perverted dragon,’ you say? Were you talking about me?”
“Ah…”
Sendia froze.
But—
“Haha, it’s fine. You’re not wrong.”
Buremhied smiled calmly.
“Don’t worry, first-years. I don’t punish people just for speaking the truth. The only thing I can’t tolerate is…”
“Is?”
“Challenging my authority. That’s 2 demerit points.”
“What?!”
Sendia received 2 demerits.
“But you said you don’t punish for telling the truth!”
“If I punished you, you’d be suffering worse than death. This is just a school penalty, not my punishment.”
“What kind of logic…”
“Would you prefer my punishment? Are you suicidal or something?”
“No. I’m good.”
“Too bad. Ahem. Anyway — Student Idnia, have you eaten?”
“Uh… no.”
“Perfect. I cooked up some rainbow trout. Would you like to have dinner with me? At my private quarters.”
“…What?”
Buremhied invited Idnia to his office for dinner.
Something that had never happened before.
Elsewhere…
“What’s going on?”
Rudolph, watching from afar, was startled by the sudden buzz from the other students.
Isolde explained for him.
“Professor Buremhied just invited Lady Idnia to dinner!”
“Dinner?”
That alone could sound like he was interested in her romantically…
But Buremhied was a dragon in the form of a young elf boy. It wasn’t about attraction.
‘Wait… why am I assuming it’s about romance? Am I… jealous?’
Rudolph shook his head.
“It’s shocking for a professor to invite a student to dinner. It can’t be a teaching assistant offer.”
“She’s only a first-year.”
Isolde noticed that Rudolph clearly cared about Idnia.
And he wasn’t the only one uneasy about this.
Meanwhile…
Lorenzo was eager to get close to the professors, for both political reasons and his own ambitions.
Yet while he’d made no progress, Idnia was personally invited by a professor.
“It must be because of the Wizard Ball. She’s the only one who hit Buremhied’s pitch.”
Fiona explained.
“True.”
“She also met with our supervisor during her outing. He urged her to be more aware of her duties as a Saintess candidate… so let’s trust her for now. Meanwhile, we’ll continue trying to win over Madam Bulem and Chief Gibbles.”
Lorenzo and his faction were working to recruit Academy staff to investigate the school easily — using the Medici family’s wealth and influence.
But seeing Buremhied take a liking to Idnia, Lorenzo couldn’t help feeling both admiration and frustration.
‘Idnia Katche Betelgeuse… You truly shine. I’m glad I came to the Academy. I thought I was a big deal in my little world — but this has opened my eyes.’
He felt that just meeting Idnia made the tuition and trouble of entering this school worth it.
Elsewhere again…
In the Boreas dormitory, where Karl and his followers gathered, they too were keeping a close eye on Buremhied’s unusual actions — especially his invitation to Idnia.
