They began taking blood samples from everyone, placing them into a large device, and reading their values.
"1600 mana, -250 scale."
"Prince, your mana is truly high. Your scale is on the chaos side instead of order. As expected from Prince Max."
"650 mana, 230 scale."
"Your mana isn't bad, but being on the order scale is a complete anomaly, Noxtion Quartz."
"Actually, professor, we just saw several people with a higher order scale."
"The scale being relatively high isn't the problem. In your case, the scale coming out positive is the anomaly. Noxtion, come to my office after class. Next."
"700 mana, -200 scalet."
"High values, as expected from a vampire noble. Now that we've measured everyone's values, let's have a short introductory lesson and finish class."
"What is mana? Can anyone explain it to me?"
"Professor, mana is the main energy source for magic. We can convert this energy into different forms and use it, and that's how we use spells in the ways we want."
"A good textbook answer, but not entirely correct. Magic is the energy that leaks from our soul, an energy our soul itself radiates. The emission wave of this energy is what makes a person's mana unique to them."
One of the students raised his finger eagerly. "Yes, go ahead, Liam."
"You said everyone's mana is unique to them, but doesn't everyone use the same spells?"
"Correct, we all learn and use the same spells. But we can't know which god will demand mana from us when using magic, or what results our mana's wave frequency will produce in certain specific spells. In that case, what exactly do you think the chaos and order scale is?"
"The chaos scale is a measurement of how regularly repeatable or unrepeatable our mana is."
"Another half-correct answer. This country's education system needs an overhaul. It's a miracle you even got into the academy. The chaos and order scale are the absolute values of the mana frequencies we assume to be the mana of the virtue and sin gods in ancient relics. Whether your wavelength is orderly or chaotic determines your proximity to these values." As he explained, he struggled to keep his eyes open and didn't even look at the board while drawing the waves.
"Professor, wait a second, but how is the mana wave of the existence gods scaled?"
"That is a topic for another class. That's all for today. Everyone, sort out your classes with the student affairs office before you leave. Noxtion, you come with me to my office."
He walked with slow, heavy steps, looking like he might fall at any moment, giving off the impression of a ghost more than a person. After walking a bit and going upstairs, he opened the door to a room and gestured inside. "Go on, take a seat in the chair."
Although I was a little nervous, I passed the books on the floor and the cups on top of the books and sat in the chair. The professor put coffee in the bottom part of a device that looked like a metal teapot and placed it on a small marble plate.
"Would you like some coffee? I just bought some beans from Ranli."
"Sure, I like coffee."
As the strong but relaxing smell of coffee filled the room, a few book titles caught my eye.
Particle PhysicsHollow TheoryEverlightArthurian Theology
"Here you go." He handed me coffee in a blue mug and sat down on a chair that had a stack of papers on it, after placing the papers on the floor.
He took a big sip of his coffee, and his eyes, which were about to close, opened. He focused on me with full concentration.
How can your scale be positive and approach the order scale?"
"Why shouldn't it? I don't see a problem."
Playing dumb here is probably the best. Easiest to explain.
After sizing me up for a few seconds and weighing his words, the professor's mouth opened.
"Most of what we know about the 'Cursed' comes from the Arthurian myth, but the one thing we know for sure is that the curse always pulls you in both directions, and because of that your mana diminished itself. But you... you're leaning toward the order scale. Who are you, really?"
"Professor, even if you say that, I don't really know my father or my mother. I lost my mother at a very young age, was sold as a slave, and by a stroke of luck, the Lancelot family bought me."
"You're not some new Slyphian or Ranlian agent, are you?"
"No, I'm just a simple slave whose luck turned out well."
A knocking sound came from the door. The professor didn't waste a moment. "Come in."
"Professor Elandor, I wanted to consult you about the 'Demon Core' thesis."
"You're really set on doing this project, aren't you?"
"Oh, were you busy with a student? I apologize, I'll come back later."
"Alice, wait. Let me at least take a look."
Elandor flipped through the pages quickly, at a speed where I wasn't even sure if he was reading them.
"It looks like the Clark formula will cause problems again when reaching the critical point. Should we try the Alice diagram instead?"
"Elandor, you know as well as I do that the Alice diagram is a gamble. It's too inconsistent."
"True, but you also know the diagram sometimes pulls us out of a dead end." As he said this, his dull eyes looked joyful, as if he'd seen a cat.
"Depending on the Alpha wave, we'd have a 50% chance at best if we use the Alice diagram."
"Anyway, we'll look at it more carefully tomorrow. What's the model's name going to be, by the way? Citra, or something else?"
"Using my own last name directly feels a bit narcissistic, but I don't know."
"Go on, just use your name. What's the harm? ' Quartz Model 1'."