The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

“So what is Lightning Grass used for? Can I just chew and eat it?”

Asel asked while levitating Aleph beside him with telekinesis magic. Aleph immediately answered his question.

[The most effective way to use Lightning Grass is to brew it and consume it in the form of a potion or pill. There’s no big problem with directly eating the leaves and stems separately, but then you won’t be able to absorb all the lightning energy (雷氣) contained in the Lightning Grass. It’s easier to think of it as drinking water with a hole in your chin.]

“That means don’t just eat it.”

[That would be better.]

Asel confirmed Aleph’s answer and let out a long breath.

The method of refining and brewing magical herbs is already widely known, but that doesn’t mean the process is easy at all. Magical herbs are ingredients that even decent alchemists don’t touch for fear of ruining them.

It’s said that Marietta, the great alchemist, handled magical herbs freely, but among the remaining alchemists, there was no talent who could do like Marietta.

It was impossible to easily entrust Lightning Grass to such people. Since the energy contained inside would evaporate with just one slip-up, it had to be entrusted to at least a reliable talent. Or do it yourself.

‘But I don’t know anything about alchemy.’

Unfortunately, Asel was a complete novice in alchemy. He had never even held common herbs in his hand, let alone potions.

The only discipline he had invested time in studying was magic, and other disciplines were merely in the realm of hobbies for him. And alchemy didn’t even enter that realm of hobbies.

It became troublesome. It was difficult to brew Lightning Grass himself or entrust a magical herb not listed in dictionaries to other alchemists. Just in case, Asel asked Aleph about how to handle Lightning Grass. Aleph naturally told him the recipe for making a potion with Lightning Grass.

[1 Lightning Grass. 1 Thunder Fragment. 1 horn of a monster that causes lightning or scale of a lightning dragon. One drop of high-level priest’s blood to neutralize these. And finally, sugar is needed. These are just the ingredients. The manufacturing method is even more complicated, but with your current abilities, you won’t be able to even imitate it. Do you still want to view it?]

“No, that’s enough. Even the ingredients are bizarrely unbelievable.”

Asel clicked his tongue and tucked the Lightning Grass he was holding into his bosom.

A Thunder Fragment refers to a small bead that falls when hundreds of lightning bolts are bundled together. It’s a phenomenon classified as a kind of natural disaster, and the place where the bead falls instantly changes into a lightning zone, turning everything in the area to ashes.

It’s a beautiful sight from afar, but a terrible disaster that takes lives the moment you approach, enchanted by its appearance. But even this is a story from decades ago. It’s been nearly a hundred years since a Thunder Fragment hasn’t fallen.

That means it’s a struggle just to find it.

The same goes for monsters and lightning dragons. In the past, it might have been different, but currently, all monsters containing lightning are extinct. Dragons, including lightning dragons, have long since disappeared.

The only things that could be obtained immediately were priest’s blood and sugar. For the rest, even if time was invested, it wasn’t certain whether they could be found or not.

Perhaps the process of manufacturing it into a potion itself should be skipped.

Asel let out a deep sigh and suppressed the pulsating magical power of the Lightning Grass in his bosom.

For now, it seemed best to leave the Lightning Grass as it was. It was better than carelessly approaching and losing it. If it really doesn’t work out, he could just tear it and eat it.

Thinking that, Asel turned his steps. Aleph, floating in the air, moved along with him.

“Aleph, recommend some useful things among the magical tools here.”

[Things that help with growth and things that help in combat. Which side should I recommend?]

“One of each.”

[Understood. Please wait a moment.]

Aleph briefly stopped recording, then soon began writing letters again.

[Thunder of Praise. It’s an elixir that, when drunk, makes your body contain lightning energy for a certain time. It’s a completely different energy from magical power, and even ordinary people can have superhuman strength and cognitive abilities for a moment when ingested. Cromwell greatly helped her circle ascension by making the lightning energy contained through this elixir her own.]

“Hmm.”

[For combat, I recommend the Ice Peony. It’s an artifact in the form of a ring that, when magical power is injected, freezes the wearer’s surroundings for a certain time. It’s good for exploiting the opponent’s openings or stabbing with a dagger-]

“…What’s this?”

The sentence suddenly cut off. Asel frowned and glared at Aleph, but Aleph showed no reaction, as if time had stopped. It just floated in the air, relying on Asel’s telekinesis magic.

Not long after, Asel realized that the cause was in his magical power.

More precisely, the magical power Aleph had absorbed. When the magical power fully charged inside the book ran out, Aleph also stopped operating.

In the end, Aleph also needed magical power as a driving force to continue activities. Though it acts like a living being, in this aspect it’s similar to a magical tool. Is it because of Cromwell’s modifications, or was it such a being from birth?

He wanted to find out desperately, but now wasn’t the time. Asel placed his hand on Aleph’s book cover and poured magical power into it.

At that moment.

Kwarrrrr!

Aleph began explosively sucking in Asel’s magical power. An absorption that would have immediately caused magical power exhaustion for an ordinary magician. Even Asel felt momentary weakness from the amount of magical power draining out. He immediately gritted his teeth and removed his hand from the cover.

Then the magical power absorption stopped as if it was a lie. The dark blue current connecting Asel’s fingertips and the book pages crackled and burned, then slowly faded. Asel briefly looked down at the lightning that had bloomed between his fingers, then looked at Aleph and opened his mouth.

“…What are you doing?”

[I am a magical book that operates on magical power. Without containing the magical power of the one I’ve made my owner, I’m just paper that can’t do anything.]

Perhaps thanks to absorbing magical power? The stopped writing began again. However, it seemed more urgent than before.

[I’ll be honest. I have a daily allowed activity amount. It starts from the moment I first absorb the owner’s magical power and decreases as time passes or as I write letters. And when it completely disappears, I stop activities like just now.]

“…”

[To increase this set activity amount, I must either build a bond with the owner, or forcibly inject a massive amount of magical power like you just did. But the latter method is a loophole, so the amount of magical power I absorb increases several dozen times.]

“…Why didn’t you explain this from the beginning?”

[I’m sorry. I thought you wouldn’t take me in if I told you. Though I was trapped for hundreds of years, I remember every day of those lonely days without fail. So I wanted to avoid being put back in the box without being chosen by the owner I finally found.]

“…Haa.”

Asel let out a deep sigh and opened Aleph.

“According to what you said, the fact that you’re active now means you’ve exceeded the set time. How much is left?”

[10]

“10 minutes?”

[9… 8… 7…]

“Are you crazy?”

[Please don’t throw me away try to understand me who was just staring at plants in moldy box please I’ll be helpful I haven’t even told you about needed items in the vault]

Plop.

Aleph’s words cut off there. Asel briefly looked at the book that had gone limp as if it lost vitality, then sighed and fixed Aleph to his waist. Perhaps because it wasn’t directly touching his skin, Aleph obediently hung there.

‘A succession of strange events.’

Thinking that, Asel began moving his steps to find the magical tools Aleph had told him about. After a while, he was able to find the Ice Peony trapped in a frosted glass case. Asel took it without hesitation.

Such tools were quite helpful in researching magic and creating formulas. For him, who was repeatedly researching to handle ice magic at a proficient level, the Ice Peony was an attractive option.

Though he had already gained so much knowledge on the theoretical side that he was sick of it, he had never used ice formulas in actual combat. If he could check the output of general ice magic with the power of a magical tool, it would be good for stabilizing the formulas he had already made.

The performance of the magical tool itself was also decent. There was no loss in taking it.

Now there’s one thing left. Asel immediately lit lightning and set out to find the Thunder of Praise.

Not long after, he was able to find a glass bottle neatly stored in a metal box. A liquid in the shape of swirling lightning writhed inside the glass bottle, and Asel took it with a satisfied smile.

After that, he searched for anything else useful, but there was nothing worth taking in place of the items he had already taken.

Still, there were a few things that were tempting.

If I had known this would happen, I should have pushed for five from the beginning. The regret is immense.

But well, this much is definitely good. The elixir is excellent, and the Ice Peony would cost a fortune to obtain outside. Not to mention Aleph.

Honestly, just Aleph alone was enough profit.

“Did you get everything?”

When he returned to the gathered group, Frida asked with an exhausted face. Asel answered with a bright smile.

“Yes. I definitely got three items.”
“I see… I won’t check specifically. I trust you.”

Frida said that and led the group out of the vault.

As people disappeared from inside, the vault door automatically closed and reactivated the lock. With the sound of magic activating, geometric patterns appeared and disappeared. Asel briefly watched that scene, then returned to the Academy’s main building with the group.

Time had already passed evening. Despite the temporary break, students were actively moving around on the streets, and the setting sun adorned itself in crimson.

Occasionally, students who seemed to be dating could be seen passing by holding hands and laughing. Thanks to the perception-inhibiting magic Frida used, they didn’t notice Asel’s group.

“The schedule is over… but I still have to do what needs to be done.”

Back in the headmaster’s office. Frida said that while seating the four people from Weiheim, then bowed her waist in half and spoke in a serious voice.

“Once again, I sincerely apologize to everyone here. I will make sure this never, ever happens again in the future. Don’t worry, I will personally take care of all the vested interests and vermin remaining in the Academy. As soon as the Sword Ghost (劍鬼) is reinstated, I will slowly change the Academy. I need to normalize it a bit.”
“Keep your word. This is the last time. The moment Asel gets caught up in the Academy’s mistakes or power struggles again, that will be the Academy’s last day. I’ll take Asel back.”

Is that okay?

Ena asked, glancing at Asel. Asel nodded with a bitter smile.

Though it’s true that the purpose of coming to the Academy was to gain experience and interact with various people, Asel had no intention of sacrificing his life for it. If that was the case, he would have become a labyrinth explorer or mercenary long ago.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Frida nodded. With that, all schedules were over. The group chatted for a while, then moved their steps towards their respective destinations.

Nori-um returned to Weiheim with Irina, and Asel decided to just stay in the dormitory since the temporary break would end soon anyway.

This left only Ena hanging. Though she could go anywhere on the continent by turning her body into lightning, she showed no signs of returning and instead hummed a tune while strolling around the Academy grounds with Asel. She seemed quite joyful.

Yet she couldn’t look directly into Asel’s eyes. It was better than a few days ago, but still not like before. Despite that, she thoroughly pushed away any woman who approached Asel.

“…What’s this? What pushed me?”

Thanks to the perception-inhibiting magic, the person pushed by Ena didn’t even notice her and disappeared on their way, bewildered. Asel let out a groan watching that scene.

Time with Ena is sufficiently enjoyable. But now it was time to return to their respective rooms. They couldn’t keep rolling around outside like this forever.

So Asel set out to introduce Ena to the best-equipped accommodation on the Academy grounds. It was his consideration for her to at least sleep in a good place since she showed no signs of returning today.

“I’ll just sleep in your room.”

And a bombshell answer came back.

“Pardon?”

At a time when the moon was in full bloom. A time when the number of students wandering the streets was gradually decreasing, and conversely, people were starting to fill up the restaurants.

At Ena’s sudden declaration, Asel could only ask back like that.