Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.01 - Chapter 22

Schtappe Fundamentals 

There were still a number of days left before it was time for my schtappe usage lesson, so I spent the time making picture book manuscripts and studying for my upcoming second year. Once I mastered using my schtappe, there would be no more barriers between me and the library, so I was practically counting down the days until class began. 

One girl sighed. “It is only at times like this that I find your talents vexatious, Lady Rozemyne.” 

The girls were all studying blisteringly hard to pass their written lessons, eager to accompany me to the library for Schwartz and Weiss’s measuring session. Brunhilde was being especially industrious, as she also wanted to schedule the tea party with the music professors as soon as possible. 

“Lady Rozemyne, you do not need to rush passing your lessons,” another girl added. 

“At this rate, we may not be able to attend when Schwartz and Weiss are measured,” noted a third. 

The girls were working with the same fervent, desperate expressions the first-years had worn when aiming to pass all their written classes in one go. It seemed their passion was at least somewhat contagious, as the boys who still had written lessons left were putting their all into studying as well. I gazed around the common room with a smile, then shook my head at all the pleading eyes; I had already waited long enough. 

“I will pass my schtappe lesson as soon as possible and then go straight to the library,” I declared. “Far from slowing down, I would rather the class begin right away, so that I may be done with it immediately!” 

Hartmut chuckled. “Learning how to use your schtappe is not so easy, Lady Rozemyne; laynobles have to spend almost the entire semester learning to use theirs. Even archduke candidates struggle to pass on their first day. I’m afraid you will simply need to give up on this one.” 

His doubts only made me want to pass even more. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that I pass,” I replied. “No effort will be spared in my struggle to reach the library.” 

“Indeed, Hartmut,” Brunhilde added coolly as she continued focusing on her studies. “There is nothing that can stop Lady Rozemyne’s surge toward the library. If she intends to pass right away, then we as her retainers must assume it will happen. I am already struggling to plan the upcoming tea party, considering her desperation to do nothing but hole up in the library.” 

It seemed that Brunhilde had made much progress herself—she only had one more class to finish before she had passed them all. 

“I see. So are you saying Lady Rozemyne will hold nothing back for the sake of the library? That she will throw her absolute all into this endeavor?” 

“Exactly.” 

“In that case, I look forward to witnessing you give rise to a new legend, Lady Rozemyne.” 

Urk... Do I really have to choose between gaining access to the library and avoiding a new legend...? This is rough... I really don’t want to stand out any more than I do already—after all, obscurity is essential to a quiet, peaceful life. Then again, I won’t truly be at peace until the library is mine to explore. What should I do? This truly is a philosophical dilemma for the ages... 

Or is it...? Could I ever pick anything other than the library? 

No. No, I could not.

“Lady Rozemyne, if you wish not to stand out, we suggest you hold off on immediately passing at least one of your classes,” my retainers noted as I exited the dormitory to go to my schtappe class. 

Wilfried and I gathered in the usual hall along with the archnobles and such. Hirschur and Rauffen entered soon after; they were evidently our professors for the day. 

“Schtappes can only be used by nobles,” Rauffen began, clenching one hand into a determined fist. “If you don’t have a schtappe, you’re not a noble.” 

To be recognized as a noble, one needed to possess enough mana to recover their Divine Will. The mana measuring done at baptisms was for this purpose. 

A schtappe was apparently one of the things that the first-ever king had been given by the gods. He had up to that point possessed more mana than he could ever use, and the schtappe he was granted allowed him to freely use it all... or so the bible said, anyway. I wasn’t sure whether everything in the bible was completely true, but after all my experiences in this world, I imagined something similar had actually happened. There was surely some base for the legend to have been formed upon. 

“We shall begin by forming the schtappe,” Hirschur said. “Everyone, please create a schtappe in a form that you find easy to use. Once you have done so, please come to me. We will ask you to create and dispel the schtappe three times in quick succession, to confirm that you are comfortable with the technique.” 

“Right. I’m gonna make an amazing schtappe,” Wilfried said. 

Everyone probably had the same idea; they started forming their schtappes, focusing on the shape and size. The archduke candidates were used to controlling their mana, so they were putting their absolute all into producing magnificent creations worthy of their status. The archnobles, on the other hand, were less used to controlling their mana. Most were struggling to create a schtappe at all. 

“Mine’s going to look so cool. What’re you gonna make, Rozemyne?” Wilfried asked, his dark-green eyes sparkling with excitement as he glanced my way. Little did he know, I had already spent an entire day playing around with my schtappe before eventually coming to the conclusion that simple is best. 

“I intend to make a simple schtappe like the one most adults use,” I replied. 

“Aw, what? That’s so boring though. Why not put a little more effort into it? Your highbeast is already weird enough, so nobody’s going to be surprised if your schtappe is weird too.” 

Lessy wasn’t weird—his focus on practicality simply meant he was a little different from other highbeasts. It wasn’t as though I had deliberately made him unique, either; standing out for the sake of standing out wasn’t important to me. 

“Highbeasts I can understand, but I don’t see the need to obsess over schtappes too much,” I explained. You can just keep messing around with yours until you realize I’m right, I silently added as I walked over to Hirschur. 

“Oh my. Lady Rozemyne,” the professor said. “How can I help?” 

“I can make my schtappe. Can I do the test now?” 

“...You practiced on your own, didn’t you?” she asked, looking at me like I was some kind of problem child before encouraging me to demonstrate. 

I worked my mana and made a schtappe of the same shape and size three times in quick succession. Hirschur blinked in surprise, then sighed. 

“You have excellent control of your schtappe; there should be no issue with you moving forward to the next step. You will now need to use your schtappe to fill a magic tool with mana. Rauffen, are the feystones ready?” 

“Yep. All ready,” Rauffen replied, patting a bag on his hip. Hirschur watched as he started walking over to the side of the hall, away from the other students. 

“Lady Rozemyne, you will follow Rauffen and learn to make an ordonnanz. Attempt to have it fly over to me,” she said. I nodded in response, spurring her to lean forward with a grin. “Ordonnanzes are used in this introductory class because they can be created from the smallest drop of mana,” she added in a hushed voice. “Do try to restrain yourself.” 

“Okay.” 

I had previously learned for my magecraft test that the feystones used for making ordonnanzes were no normal feystones—they were specially crafted for a specific and limited purpose. Everyone called them feystones because they looked very similar, but in reality, they were a kind of magic tool. 

Green feystones were likewise crafted for a particular purpose, and they were oft used in daily life. Attendants in particular found them useful, since they allowed for a source of water to be linked with a pitcher. The feystone embedded in the bottom of the pitcher could be activated with a tap of one’s schtappe, causing water to endlessly flow from inside. These feystones were primarily used to fill tubs with water for baths. 

When I caught up with Rauffen, he gave me an all-too-familiar yellow feystone. I looked it over while he explained what to do. 

“You’ll struggle to communicate with people if you don’t learn how to make ordonnanzes right. This is something everyone in every course will use, so if you don’t master it, you won’t even be able to take on apprentice work. Got that?” 

“Yes.” 

“I can’t hear you!” 

“YES!” I replied more forcefully, earning me a grin and an approving nod. I was getting a little worried about how much longer I could keep up with Rauffen’s passionate teaching style; having enough mana for the task wouldn’t matter if I ended up dying from exhaustion before it even began. 

“First, lightly tap the feystone with your schtappe while pouring mana into it,” he explained, demonstrating the process. I placed the feystone on the palm of my left hand, then whipped out my schtappe with my right. Keeping Hirschur’s warning in mind, I made sure to pour in as little mana as possible. 

Ooh... Wow. 

As it turned out, schtappes did indeed allow one to use their mana more efficiently. While using my mana had previously felt like water pouring from a bucket, it was now like a water faucet I could adjust at will. I tapped the yellow feystone lightly, then watched in wide-eyed amazement as it turned into a familiar white bird. It spread its wings, then dug into my arm and folded them back down. It was practically weightless. 

Wowee. Now I’m really like a wizard. 

I could summon a tool for better controlling my mana at will, then tap a yellow stone to turn it into a white bird. At some point, I had turned into a fully-fledged denizen of fantasy. 

“Oh, not bad!” Rauffen exclaimed. “Now, once the ordonnanz opens its mouth, put your voice into it.” 

The ordonnanz promptly opened its mouth, so I spoke my message. “This is Rozemyne. Professor Hirschur, I’ve finished making the ordonnanz,” I said. When I fell silent, the bird closed its mouth. 

I was about to move my schtappe to send the ordonnanz off to Hirschur, but Rauffen stopped me. He then swung his own schtappe like a conductor’s baton. 

“If you have anything else to say, tap the ordonnanz’s beak with your schtappe again and it’ll open,” he noted. 

The more you know... 

I nodded, intrigued, and tried tapping the ordonnanz on its beak. Just as Rauffen had said, it opened its mouth again. 

“How do you make the ordonnanz close it?” 

“All you have to do is speak. See?” he said, gesturing toward the ordonnanz that had now closed its mouth again. 

“Wait, what? H-How do I erase the message?!” I yelped. I didn’t want my first ordonnanz to carry such a dumb exchange. 

Rauffen laughed, then explained that I simply needed to suck the mana from the ordonnanz with my schtappe and return it to its feystone form. I did just that, then re-recorded my message. 

“Once you’ve said your piece, picture the ordonnanz flying to Hirschur, then swing your schtappe while pushing out your mana. And put some real oomph into it!” Rauffen declared. Given how much mana I had though, I felt that wantonly giving it my all wasn’t a good idea—especially considering that I was only sending the ordonnanz to Hirschur a short distance away. 

I swung my schtappe, ever so gently sending out some mana, then watched as the ordonnanz flew over to Hirschur. It repeated its message three times, just as I was used to, before returning with a message for me. 

“Well done,” the ordonnanz said in Hirschur’s voice. “You may now move on to the next step.” It repeated this thrice before returning to the form of a yellow feystone, which I then handed to Rauffen. 

“What are we doing next?” I asked. 

“Shooting mana out of your schtappe,” Rauffen explained. “This’ll allow you to use simple mana attacks, but for now, you’ll be focusing on shooting up a rott—a red light used to call for aid. Once you’ve learned this, you’ll be able to request help whenever something happens. Knights will come rushing to your position in an instant.” 

With that, Rauffen took out his own schtappe and started to demonstrate. “Build up the mana in the tip of your schtappe like this, then push it right outta your body,” he said. A fist-sized ball of light started to form at the tip of his schtappe, crackling and sparking like electricity. 

“Rott!” he suddenly yelled. Just as he swung his schtappe high into the air, a beam of red light shot up and collided with the ceiling before fading away. Despite the impact, it didn’t appear to leave any marks behind. “Mana can’t damage buildings made with creation magic, and a rott will never pierce through one. You can go all out and use as much force as you want.” 

“Going all out is fine with me, but before I do—is this the last part of the lesson?” I asked. I didn’t want to expend all of my mana and then have nothing left for the rest of the class. 

Rauffen did a double take, then blinked at me in surprise. “There’s still another part. What, are you planning to finish the whole class in one day?” 

“Yes. Is there a problem with that?” 

“Er... I was just thinking that you might wanna save some of your mana.” 

“I’ll hold back when casting rott, then. Is that acceptable?” 

“Y-Yeah. I, er... Yeah. Go all out, but don’t put your all into it.” 

I don’t think that makes much sense... Can you really call it “going all out” if you’re not putting your all into it? 

The main thing I was learning in class today was the importance of ignoring Rauffen and instead preserving my mana. I started to build up some mana in the tip of my schtappe, and soon enough, a fist-sized ball was sitting at the end. It was steadily growing in size as more mana gathered there. 

“Right! Perfect! That’s what I’m talking about! Now make it even bigger! Keep on pouring mana into your schtappe!” Rauffen yelled. I made sure to put my newfound knowledge to use and ignore him. 

This schtappe really is something else, huh? 

People hadn’t been exaggerating when they said it was by far the most efficient tool for controlling one’s mana. Using my mana precisely hadn’t been easy due to how unstable it was, but now I could manipulate it as easily as I had been able to before sleeping in the jureve. 

“Now, let it out!” Rauffen roared. “Scream ‘rott’ and blast your mana up into the sky as hard as you can!” 

I think you mean “into the ceiling”... 

I raised my right hand into the air, then pointed the schtappe up with a calmly stated “Rott.” It seemed that I had managed my mana rather well, as a beam of red light shot directly up to the ceiling. I sighed in relief, glad to have finished the task without issue. 

“Alright. You pass. That said... Are you sure you’re not running out of mana by now?” Rauffen asked, his concern clear on his face as he glanced around the room. 

I followed his gaze and noticed that the archnobles were already exhausted just from having used their mana to make schtappes. They weren’t the only ones either; the archduke candidates who had been focused on making the coolest schtappes had wasted a ton of mana and were now sitting on the floor in exhaustion. Wilfried must have put an especially great deal of effort into his—he looked absolutely drained, having not moved even an inch since I spoke to him last. 

It seemed the only students who were now working on the ordonnanz step were those who hadn’t tried to make excessively unique schtappes. Even they seemed pretty tired though; some had to stop before they could finish, while others dropped down to the floor moments after transforming the feystone. 

Okay... My mana capacity really is abnormal, huh? 

I closed my eyes to check how much mana I had left and found that there was still plenty in me. 

“So? Think you can handle the next step?” Rauffen asked. 

Two choices flashed through my mind: I could pretend to be exhausted to avoid standing out, or I could embrace looking abnormal to all those around me for the sake of the library. I was ashamed to have even debated my next move. 

“Yeah. I can handle it.” 

Rauffen looked at me in momentary surprise, then he gave a firm nod. “Alright! Being able to push your limits is an important life skill. Let’s do this!” he declared, his eyes blazing with passion. “This is the last part. You need to change your schtappe into a usable mana-filled tool.” 

I was immediately reminded of the knights turning their schtappes into weapons during combat, but first-years apparently only needed to turn theirs into knives, pens, or mixing sticks. I nodded with interest as I continued to listen, then I noticed that Hirschur was coming our way. It seemed that all the students who had come to her had since given up. 

Hirschur looked around at all the exhausted students before making an announcement. “It is exceptionally important that you practice morphing your schtappes. You will learn the fundamentals of magic tool brewing next year, and if you are unable to create a knife, pen, and mixing stick by then, your ability to brew will be significantly diminished.” 

Crafting magic tools was her specialty as a professor, and upon hearing her message, all the students tightened their expressions. It seemed that the process of making magic tools included cutting the ingredients with a knife, drawing a magic circle with a pen, then mixing everything together with mana in a cauldron using a mixing stick. I had already made a jureve under Ferdinand’s direction, however, so I knew it was possible to brew without a schtappe by using magic tools. 

“How do you morph a schtappe?” I asked. 

“First, begin by trying to make a knife,” Hirschur instructed. “Take your schtappe, and clearly visualize what you want to morph it into.” 

I did as she instructed and took out my schtappe, then visualized the knife Ferdinand had used while brewing. Hirschur said “messer” aloud, so I promptly followed suit. I watched as the schtappe morphed into a knife in my hand; then I looked at Hirschur, who was holding a very similar-looking knife as well. 

“Very well done. Now say ‘rucken’ to revert its shape.” 

I did as instructed, and just as expected, the knife turned back into a regular schtappe. Those around me let out awed noises. 

“Now repeat that process, but this time focus on making a pen and then a stirring stick,” Hirschur said. I ultimately had to say “stylo” to turn my schtappe into a pen, then “beimen” to turn it into a mixing stick. 

“I never expected you to pass all the tasks on your first day... Ferdinand was the last person to have actually achieved such a feat. I suppose I should have expected nothing less from his prized disciple,” Hirschur said with an exasperated sigh. 

The other students exchanged looks of complete astonishment; then they began to whisper among themselves. 

“Lord Ferdinand from Ehrenfest... Does she mean that Lord Ferdinand...?” one asked. 

“Yeah. He was a famous treasure-stealing ditter player, you know. I hear his tactics were insane. Apparently our duchy only ever lost during the years he was here. The adults say we’re lucky we won’t have to deal with him,” another replied. 

“Nah, he was good at more than just ditter. I’m pretty sure he was the genius who invented magic tool after magic tool. I know this because my uncle bought loads from him,” a third chimed in, encouraging the others to bring up yet more rumors. 

“Hold on, wasn’t Lord Ferdinand the battle maniac who slaughtered countless feybeasts for their materials? I heard that he demolished the high-quality stuff in the Royal Academy and then took everything left with him.” 

“You guys must be nuts. My aunt said he was a harspiel player, and an amazing one at that.” 

“Well, which one’s right?!” 

All of them, probably... I heard he was an archduke candidate, an apprentice knight, and an apprentice scholar, with excellent marks in every course. 

I couldn’t help but blink in surprise as students from other duchies all shared stories about Ferdinand’s impressive feats at the Academy. It seemed his superhuman reputation wasn’t unfounded after all. 

“Makes sense that Ehrenfest’s grades are shooting up if they have his disciple here as an archduke candidate,” one student noted. “I heard that Lord Ferdinand did multiple courses while he was here, and he got the highest grades in every single one of them.” 

Everyone was now sharing all the legends they knew about Ferdinand, but there were so many covering such a wide range of achievements that I had to imagine some were being misattributed. Either way, it wasn’t long before people stopped paying any attention to me at all. 

Whew. It looks like Ferdinand was so freakishly abnormal that I’m standing out less in comparison. 

As the topic shifted from Ferdinand to other legendary students of the past, Hirschur bent over and whispered to me. “You pass, Lady Rozemyne. However, please practice morphing your schtappe simply by chanting the word, rather than having to pause and close your eyes to visualize the form.” 

“Understood,” I replied, wearing the dignified smile of a noblewoman. Inside, however, I was much less composed. 

YES! YESSS! I DID IT! I passed all my classes! I can go to the library! I can start going to the library tomorrow! Bwahahaha! I can lock myself away in the library and read until it kills me! Praise be to the gods!