Chapter 52 Exploded!
"Alright, that's it for today's class." Professor Frost clapped his hands, dispersing the green light and focused faces in the classroom. "Go back and keep practicing the stability of your levitation spells and the precision of your healing spells. First class next week, we'll check your progress."
The classroom was filled with the sounds of packing up and sighs of relief.
I quietly put away the experimental leaves.
This afternoon was Modern Magic class.
We'd be operating magic drones again.
I thought back to the explosive power of the "Hornet" in my dream—this really was a class that required serious study. If one day I had to fight someone to the death in real life, magic drones would definitely play a crucial role.
But that guy Leon...
The little conflict from last drone class had been suppressed, but given his vindictive personality and the way he looked at me then... this afternoon's practical class probably wouldn't be peaceful.
Fine by me.
I flexed my fingers, feeling the faint warmth from the healing spell that hadn't completely faded from my fingertips yet.
Levitation spells let me see heights.
Healing spells let me touch the warmth of life.
And the upcoming drone class... maybe it was time to show certain people what a real gap in "control" looked like.
My life philosophy didn't include always hiding and enduring.
Some things, you just have to fight for yourself.
Walking out of the Basic Magic classroom, the afternoon wind blew cool against my face, but it couldn't extinguish that fire in my chest—a mix of excitement, anticipation, and a hint of tension.
The thrill of flying, the wonder of healing life, and... those increasingly undeniable feelings for someone.
Of course, there was also this afternoon—that "Modern Magic" practical class that was bound to be rough.
Leon.
I silently repeated that name, my lips curving into a smile without much warmth.
Bring it on.
Sure enough, in the afternoon Modern Magic class, Leon started his little tricks again.
After Professor Marshall told us to practice on our own.
He operated his drone, hovering around the edge of my field of vision.
That thing was even more stable than his own smile, hovering, fine-tuning, even doing a slow barrel roll, like a peacock displaying during mating season. His lips wore that smile I found disgusting—that mix of superiority, pity, and undisguised mockery.
His gaze swept over occasionally, then drifted away casually as he chatted quietly with a few lackeys nearby. Though I couldn't hear them, I knew the topic was probably me—"Look at Charles, lucky enough to get into Green Vine College, can't even do a basic hover without shaking." "A dud is a dud after all, born with bad magic circuits, right?" "How could Isabelle be with someone like..."
"Screech!"
A sharp scraping sound like nails on a chalkboard.
His drone, like a drunk, traced a dangerous arc through the air, in a precisely "accidentally out of control" collision toward the side of my drone.
Without changing expression, I controlled my "Hornet" and dodged to the side.
The two drones passed each other.
Leon was clearly surprised. He wasn't prepared for me to dodge his drone, so right after that, his drone instantly convulsed like it had a seizure, shaking violently, alarm lights flashing urgently, tumbling toward the ground!
Only when the drone was about a foot from hitting the ground did he barely stabilize it.
I smiled slightly.
Enough!
Magic surged through my body, no longer careful and tentative like in class, testing to "connect," to "control."
My intention was no longer a thread, but a raging undercurrent. I forced myself to calm down, driving my perception like a drill bit viciously into the core of his still-alarming drone.
Not connecting—violently taking over!
Magic like a runaway wild horse, yet like a precise scalpel, under my crazy will's guidance, brutally bypassing all control protocols and restriction modules, rushing into the core!
Not "make it hover."
But "make it explode!"
The academy had locked the drones' combat modules. If I used the magic crystal from the combat module to create an explosion, it would definitely cause casualties, but what I was doing was using my own magic to rush in and make it explode—at most, it would just blow up the drone.
I captured the stable magic signal I sensed from Leon's drone, and the faint, annoying, high-and-mighty, self-assured wave emanating from him himself, gathered it all into a vicious command, following my own rampaging magic circuit, wrapped in all my rage—
Blow up for me!
Buzz!
Ten times louder than the earlier scraping sound! Blinding white light suddenly burst from the core of Leon's drone!
Not an out-of-control crash.
An internal explosion!
The silver-gray metal sphere twisted and deformed like a can crushed by an invisible hand, instantly warping, fragile parts and fragments sparking with electric arcs exploded outward, tumbling and scattering through the air!
"Bang—crash!"
Leon's drone, which he'd always flaunted like a showpiece, stable as an honor guard—right before my eyes, under his suddenly frozen, incredulous, twisted expression—
Exploded!
Fragments clattered around his feet, emitting the smell of burnt electronic components and cheap metal.
Awesome!
A current of wild joy shot up my spine to the top of my head!
I fucking... did it! I didn't win through clever control—I directly used a more explosive, more unreasonable method, with more stable magic output and more brutal direct interference, completely crushing his damn pride! Right in front of him!
Watching that perfect mask on his face shatter instantly, revealing the shock, anger, and embarrassment underneath, turning his face pale... Fuck! So satisfying! Better than the first time I successfully sold a Magic Potion, better than hearing Professor Saunders' praise, better than any other time!
I couldn't hear the surrounding gasps and commotion at all. My face probably unconsciously showed a smile I couldn't suppress. It was the satisfaction of revenge, the exhilaration of release, the pride of me not taking it anymore!
After the explosion, the classroom fell silent.
Everyone's eyes focused on Leon—curious, sympathetic, but mostly with a kind of schadenfreude. Isabelle looked at Leon angrily. Though she didn't know what happened, it was definitely Leon's problem.
Professor Marshall walked over from the podium with a frown. "What happened?"
"Professor Marshall, it was an accident," I spoke first, my tone innocent with a hint of apology. "The testing areas for Leon and my drones might have had some signal overlap and interference. My machine temporarily accelerated, and his side seemed to be controlled... not so stably, and they collided."
Stable?! Overlap interference?!
Rage like oil-soaked lava exploded to the top of Leon's head, making his ears ring.
Fuck your accident! Fuck your interference!