43 – Preparing for Battle
“Playing around? You should match the level of playfulness. Who do you think you are to play tricks on me?”
As the man boasted, MacDermott spoke up.
“Indeed, your vulgar tone doesn’t seem to match mine.”
“Damn bastard, Kyle.”
The man charged at me. However, I easily dodged his attack by twisting my body to the side.
But his reaction was not slow either. As soon as he realized his attack missed, he turned his body and threw a punch. It was a slow and predictable trajectory. Even though I wanted to take his attack with my focus on strength rather than speed, I couldn’t.
After lightly warding off his hand aiming for my face, I kicked him in the throat.
“Ugh!”
The people around us looked at us with expressions as if they didn’t understand what was happening. But there were some who were gossiping even at this moment.
“Hey… what’s going on? Is Kyle winning?”
“There’s no way. How can Kyle, who isn’t even a magician like Mephiro, win?”
“Then what is going on?”
“He’s just avoiding it because he doesn’t use magic. All those inspectors are good at is physical combat.”
Mephiro. After memorizing the man’s name in my head, I looked at him again.
His swollen chest, reddened cheeks, and even his hands and legs jutting forward as if expressing his will to strike.
I didn’t know where to start pointing out the problems. It was sigh-worthy. Even if it didn’t reach the level of different species, even the knights of Kaorelden or the Phebron Empire would have far superior skills than this guy.
“He’s fallen into magic omnipotence.”
Seeing the mana roughened in his hands, I realized that his mana manipulation itself was not bad. The mana that was rough and turbulent in his hands suddenly returned to a purified state and took on a form again.
“He knows how to shape-shift, which means he has trained to some extent. But he hasn’t trained in martial arts at all.”
His mana transformed into an ice dagger, and soon the surroundings began to freeze.
“Even if something goes wrong, I won’t take responsibility? After all, it’s your mess, Kael.”
“Speak properly. You were the one who started this argument. Mephyros.”
“Don’t call my name out of context, you inferior peasant!”
Just as Mephyros was about to charge at me.
Swoosh
With the sound of a door opening, a tutor enters and speaks.
“Sorry for being late. Let’s start the lesson right away.”
Come to think of it, I remember hearing a strange sound during the battle. I glanced at the tutor for a moment. It was a gaze that meant, even though it was time for class, to punish Mephyros, who was using magic to torment his classmates.
But at that moment, I heard a voice from behind.
“Tutor Arnios. Let’s not waste time and continue with the lesson, shall we?”
As soon as I heard his words, Tutor Arnios immediately shifted his gaze to the blackboard as if he hadn’t seen anything.
“We will continue from where we left off last time. Those without textbooks, come talk to me separately.”
While Tutor Arnios was speaking, Mephyros had no intention of stopping.
“You bastard, whether there’s a tutor or not, you’re screwed if you mess with me…”
As Mephyros started using magic, I also prepared to strike back. But my sword never left its sheath.
“Mephyros. Calm down and sit.”
The man sitting at the back. As soon as Texus, who had just shown an attitude of commanding the tutor, spoke, Mephyros shouted.
“Didn’t you see this bastard put spoiled milk in my mouth? If we just let this slide, it’s a disgrace to my honor…”
“Are you cursing at me right now?”
“Texus, it’s not… I mean… it’s him, I…”
“Sit down and shut up. That punk can do whatever he wants after class. You know today is the day I’ve been waiting for, right? Let’s get along, okay?”
“…Fine.”
Mephiro. I remember the name of the guy who was messing with me. I also etched the name of the guy, Tekas, into my mind.
“He’s probably the ringleader.”
His bad attitude, speech, and bizarre behavior of putting his feet on the desk in plain sight revealed his character. The instructor continued the class, oblivious to it all.
“This doesn’t seem like a normal place.”
The instructor was teaching diligently, and the students were listening. At first glance, everything seemed fine, but the problem was the instructor’s attitude.
There was a foul smell of spoiled milk coming from the back of the classroom, and even though two students had just been on the verge of fighting and hurling insults, there was no attempt to intervene or address the current situation. What was even more problematic was that the instructor didn’t even bother to point out the guy who was sleeping with dirty shoes on the desk.
“Why didn’t Kael ask for help? There was no place to ask for help in the first place.”
Kael was discriminated against and persecuted at the Academy for being a lone investigator. He couldn’t even properly interact with others.
Even the instructor seemed to be aware of Tekas. If Kael had caught the attention of such a person, his life at the Academy would have been miserable. As I summarized the situation in my mind, I heard the voice of Instructor Arnios.
“I’m sure everyone knows that today we have a group assignment, right? I want six people to form pairs and create summoning creatures. The created summoning creatures will then compete against each other, and the top two will receive prizes designated by the Academy, so everyone should do their best.”
The instructor looked at me and said something as if he had just remembered.
“Oh, Kael, since you seem to be unable to handle magic, the person who brings you into their group will receive additional bonus points.”
I was treated like a scapegoat, but it wasn’t so bad. If it hadn’t been for this, I could have been excluded from the group altogether.
The group assignment provided me with quite valuable information. I was able to quickly identify who was friendly with whom by observing the people forming groups.
Mephiro, who had picked a fight with me for no reason before, and Tekas, who treated him like a subordinate, were also assigned to the same group. I memorized the faces of the guys who ended up in the same group as the Academy’s insiders.
And then, I killed Tekas.
“Surprising. I didn’t think he would even participate in a class like this.”
Tekas, who had been putting his legs on the desk with a bored expression throughout the theory class, now stood up and actively formed a group, ready to move as we started the practical session.
The guy gathered his subordinates who looked like delinquents at first glance and used magic as if performing a summoning ritual. Through the mixture of fire and wind attributes, a summon appeared.
“Can you all see it? This is the summoning spell of an A-rank mage.”
Some of the subordinates, including Mephiro, applauded and praised him.
“As expected, there’s something different about an A-rank mage. A summon with two mixed attributes right from the start. Honestly, there’s probably no one in the E-class who can handle magic at this level, right?”
Mephiro started complaining while trembling. Tekas, satisfied with that, released the summon with a content expression.
“So, this is considered A-rank?”
There was nothing particularly impressive about it. Mixing attributes is something that can be done even without an exceptional amount of mana or excellent mana utilization.
It’s just a matter of not knowing the method; as long as you find the right path, you’re good. By adjusting each attribute’s path to prevent them from intersecting and pouring in a moderate amount of mana, it’s relatively easy to mix three attributes.
Of course, from the beginning, mixing multiple attributes in a summon is not efficient, so it wasn’t really necessary.
“A display of magic.”
That was the only thought that came to Tekas’ mind when he saw the summon the guy showed.
While I was observing the guy’s magic, a girl came up to me and asked.
“Um… Kael… If you can’t find a group, do you want to join us?”
Levia. A girl who goes by the nickname “Sunflower” on the online community and is the crush of Flying Man. When she made the suggestion, I heard whispers among the students behind us.
“Ah… There goes Levia again. Because of her, we’re stuck with this group. Isn’t she setting herself up by liking him without knowing anything about him?”
“Ugh… It’s so annoying. I joined this group because of Levia, but why her of all people…”
I was curious about her motives. She wrote posts about how uncomfortable it was on the online community, so why me, or more precisely, why help Kael?
Because I was curious about the reason, I simply asked her honestly.
“Levia, weren’t you uncomfortable with me?”
“…That’s true, but… we made a promise, didn’t we? If you have the courage… I’ll help you too.”
Courage. I don’t know what she’s talking about, but the girl’s eyes glanced at me briefly.
“Did you promise to help me get out of being an outcast?”
Whatever promise we made, it doesn’t matter.
“I see.”
“But… I hope you don’t misunderstand. Helping you doesn’t mean I accept your previous confession. I’ve said it many times, but I still have no intention of dating, and honestly, I don’t see you in a romantic way. You’re just… a friend to me. But I won’t just ignore the cruel acts happening in our class. If there’s anything you need, I’ll help… If you need me to testify to the instructor, I can do that.”
“It’s not necessary.”
“Why…?”
“Because I can overcome it on my own.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Did you learn martial arts or swordsmanship after taking a leave of absence? Even though your movements earlier were impressive, it’s still difficult to physically retaliate against the Teccas Family to that extent. It would be better to talk to the instructor together…”
“Go away.”
I was getting annoyed. The girl’s words were about helping me, but that help was not practical at all.
The attitude of Arnius, the instructor who seemed to be watching the harassment without intervening.
To such an instructor, if I bring a witness saying that I was subjected to cruelty and ask for help, will he accept it straightforwardly and solve the problem? No. Absolutely not. He would either pretend to mediate disgustingly, telling us to reconcile, or pretend not to know.
I know well about people like Mephyro and Teccas. Those guys, no matter how others interfere, don’t change. To stop their actions, you have to press them down forcibly with a greater evil or someone who is powerless.
Kael probably didn’t have that power, but now I do. Because I’ve possessed his body.
I spoke to Leviah while looking at her.
“I lost my memory due to an accident. I don’t know what it means that I liked you, and I don’t remember any promises we made from the beginning. So there’s no need to care or make an effort. I can handle my own affairs.”
“…”
Leviah looked at me for a moment, then nodded and replied.
“I understand…”
After Leviah left, I sat alone and killed time. And after a while, the instructor approached me and asked a question.
“Kael, are you not a member of any group?”
I replied briefly to the instructor.
“Do you really think I would be able to join a group if there were bonus points? That’s not the case.”
He openly scoffed at me, as if he didn’t really know that I was being tormented and rejected. Then the instructor cleared his throat and said,
“If… it’s because you’re more comfortable alone, Kael, I’ll allow you to form a group on your own. But since you can’t use magic, you won’t be able to create a summon, right? I’ll exclude you from the mock battle, so take enough rest.”
The instructor pushed me aside and tried to escape the situation by pretending not to know again. Unfortunately, I have no intention of just taking it. If they ignore me, continue to reject and pretend not to know, if I can prevent them from doing such things, then that’s it.
Even if I don’t want to admit it, once my influence grows, they will have no choice but to acknowledge me.
It would be easy if I used magic. If I create a summon here that is more powerful than anyone else’s and defeat all the other summons in the mock battle, I will instantly become famous in the academy. But that method is not right.
What Kael wanted was to be recognized by everyone with his swordsmanship.
I asked the instructor a question.
“Since I can’t create a summon, shouldn’t I designate myself as a summon?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you say that each of us will conduct the mock battle with our own created summons? I’m saying I will become a summon myself.”
“…There’s no reason why you can’t do that… But do you have any thoughts of killing the other kids’ summons with your sword?”
“That’s not important. Since I can’t use magic, can’t I participate directly instead of using a summon? I don’t think anyone would raise an issue of fairness. Is there a problem with this?”
I asked repeatedly, and the instructor answered.
“Do as you wish.”
The instructor left, and the mock summon battle was being prepared.
“The group that finishes creating the summons, have one representative come forward and register the summons as avatars.”
Each student registers their summoned beings as avatars. The registered summoned beings automatically move to a space for battles.
On the screen, the appearances of the summoned beings submitted by the students in groups appeared huge. It seemed like they were going to broadcast the duels between the summoned beings in real-time.
At that moment, the others started murmuring as they saw a certain person.
“Hey, what’s up with that guy?”
“No way, did he fail to create a summoned being? Where is that crazy person who’s going crazy?”
“Wow… is he that desperate for rewards? Even if he carries a sword and fights against a summoned being?”
“Is there any chance of winning? From the beginning, no matter how hard you try with inferior swordsmanship, it won’t work against magic.”
In the preparation room for summoned being battles, the men looked at the room and saw Kael standing alone.
As if a knight going onto the battlefield, he swung his sword lightly.
A man who entered the summoned being waiting room. Macdolas muttered as he looked at the summoned beings around him.
“They’re all pathetic.”