16
Just as where there is light, there is shadow, naturally, darkness exists in Salenium.
I am not referring to the darkness under the silk veil, such as the implication of the Shadow of Salenium.
What I mean is, students.
So, we can call them students who came here with blooming dreams and hopes on the path of admission, only to feel bitterness as they collide with the wall of talent and reality and return to their hometowns.
Salenium Academy is a cradle and greenhouse of education created to nurture talents dedicated to the empire under the name of the reigning emperor.
Moreover, lectures are not limited to swordsmanship and magic; they encompass various fields such as etiquette, rituals, agriculture, commerce, fisheries, mining, and more.
As much as the academy presents infinite possibilities to the students, the students find what they can do within it and polish it to the end, venturing out into society.
Commander, target, grand mage, assassin, hero, and more.
If one has the ability, they can become anything.
Erhan, the “protagonist,” whose final occupation is determined by their route and heroine, is a prime example of that.
It sounds really plausible as a first-class academy just by hearing it, and indeed, it is a first-class academy.
Salenium only provides dormitories to the “enrolled students,” and students themselves are responsible for their livelihood, including clothing and food. Naturally, even solving these basic needs costs a tremendous amount of money.
Well, is that all there is to it?
Naturally, since students hailed as geniuses from all over the empire have gathered, even if they are geniuses, there are inevitably students who lag behind relatively.
However, even those lagging students must have been praised as the best talents in their hometowns without missing the top spot.
Thinking they were the world’s only genius, they realized others were greater geniuses.
They were nothing more than frogs in a well…
Moreover, dormitories and student cafeterias are expensive, and considering the monthly tuition fees that must be paid, one must save money.
In order to save money, one naturally reduces meals.
Reducing meals leads to a decline in condition, which in turn affects grades.
Therefore, in order to break free from this hellish cycle, they try to find work, but it is difficult to come by.
At this rate, they feel like they might really starve to death, so they grab a weapon and head out to the field, only to get seriously injured, miss classes, incur medical expenses… Such students were not uncommon.
Fantasy and reality are always different.
Salenium is too harsh for those who are not top achievers.
Such negative thoughts naturally gnawed at the students’ minds, eventually producing dropouts.
“…But.”
That’s an event that starts after the midterms.
When you think about it, it’s not even the beginning of the semester, it’s the “pre-beginning.”
It’s been just over a week since school started.
They haven’t even taken the midterms yet, but they’re already dropping out?
In this world, just being admitted to Salenium is a tremendous honor.
The nobles all graduated from here, and even the prestigious nobles are all Salenium alumni.
So, the story goes that the geniuses haven’t been properly ranked yet.
With the freshmen buff, everyone continues their studies with the mindset that “no matter what, I can win against the person next to me.”
They haven’t truly experienced the despair and frustration of failure yet, and already there is someone running away without looking back.
“Ah, Senior Adrian.”
“Miliz.”
To be honest, I only remember the name.
The only distinctive feature is the beige hair split in two.
I wonder if he was just an extra character, as he wasn’t even in the setting book.
Come to think of it.
After the incident in Act 1, Scene 1, I never saw the character ‘Milije’ again.
“Are you going for a walk? You seem burdened with luggage.”
“Ah…”
He awkwardly chuckled as he set down the things he was carrying.
Well, time for a joke.
I spoke as I watched him quietly.
“…Planning to leave Salenium?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask why?”
Upon my inquiry, Milije smiled gently yet with a tinge of bitterness.
“I… feel like I don’t deserve to stay here.”
The wind tousled his hair.
Seeing Milije’s face, smiling under the sun atop the hill, it didn’t need words to guess roughly.
Even if there was guilt from the incident with the demons, leaving Salenium was as difficult as entering.
When she said she didn’t have the ‘qualification’ to stay here, it meant…
“…I can no longer use magic.”
“Ah, I see… you knew…”
Milije bowed deeply.
In other words, was she afflicted by some sort of mental trauma?
Well, considering it, it wasn’t unreasonable.
From Noble mtl dot com
In reality, imagine doing an assignment in the dorm without a care, only for a monster to suddenly appear and turn the surroundings into chaos.
After experiencing such a horrific event, it wouldn’t be right to continue using magic as if nothing happened.
For a magic student to be unable to use magic is akin to a knight being unable to wield a sword.
“So… you decided to drop out?”
“Yes, because there’s no point in being a mage who can’t use magic…”
Milije spoke with a bitter tone.
“Oh, right. Apart from this issue, there’s something I want to tell the seniors. While I was running to Rubrium Hall, I met someone… a 4th-year student, wearing glasses and looking neat… He asked me about the situation in Merin Hall as a mediator for summoning magic, then suddenly disappeared.”
Listening to her words, a chill ran down my spine.
He blocked Milije on the way to Rubrium Hall and inquired about Merin Hall’s situation?
“Was there anything unusual?”
“Well… he was wearing a dark robe, but the material was different from the robes our magic department usually wears. The strangest thing was the grimoire he was holding.”
…A grimoire.
In the original concept art of ‘Mellud Elian’ I saw, he was depicted holding a grimoire while exuding a dark aura in a black robe.
A corrupted grimoire.
It’s an item dropped by Mellud upon successfully completing the boss battle.
Of course, the exact use is unknown.
Lumie said she would examine it and take it away.
And Mellud Elian was reported to the disciplinary committee, expelled. He never appeared in the story again.
Furthermore, the grimoire was also an Easter egg item that would never reappear in the game.
“…You felt a strange sensation?”
“Yes, a terribly sinister feeling… I felt that… Oh, strange, isn’t it? Ahahahaha, it’s odd to even say such things.”
“…No, it’s not odd at all. If anything, we should be thankful on this end.”
“Is it… that much…?”
It was truly an unexpected harvest.
With a jet-black cover, the grimoire resembled more of a rag than a book.
Originally, in the Selenium Saga, playable characters couldn’t use the ‘Darkness’ element.
Because darkness is fundamentally the origin of demons and devils.
And among those devils capable of using magic, they wield the cursed grimoire as their primary weapon.
So, the likelihood that Melwood Elian possessed a grimoire associated with devils was high.
Melwood Elian himself probably wasn’t directly related to the devils.
At this point, the devils were all pushed deep underground. At least until Act 3, they wouldn’t show their faces.
Or… did the grimoire itself directly seek out its owner?
Either way, it wasn’t a pleasant situation.
It’s fortunate that the ‘devils’ haven’t made a move yet, as the ‘devils’ themselves are significantly inferior to true ‘devils’. Occasionally, they emerge from dungeons or similar places as sudden events.
…But.
Wait.
“You… felt that?”
“Yes, yes… Is that strange?”
As far as I remember, the Darkness Grimoire harbors a spirit of darkness within it.
Feeding on the grimoire, the darkness spirit parasitically corrupts its owner with darkness.
If there’s no suitable host, the grimoire may seek out a ‘fitting’ host itself.
It might suddenly drop right in front of you by sheer coincidence.
…You felt the wickedness of such a spirit firsthand?
I glanced at Milije for a moment.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
“Yes? Oh, yes…”
‘Character information.’
My vision sharpened.
As I focused, a hazy blue window appeared.
[Due to excessively low affinity with the character, only character information and stats can be viewed.]
〈Milije Halo〉
Illegitimate daughter of Viscount Relten Halo from the eastern empire.
Unable to use magic due to the trauma of the ‘demonic turmoil incident.’
Possesses exceptional spirit sensitivity.
▶Stats
【Strength: 9】
【Magic Power: 15】
【Endurance: 12】
【Intelligence: 15】
【Willpower: 5】
【Spirit Sensitivity: 18】
My eyes stopped at one category.
Spirit Sensitivity.
If this is high, it indicates good compatibility with spirits, and one could potentially become a “Spirit Master” in the future.
No, simply having this ability score attached guarantees a profit if one is raised as a Spirit Master.
Spirit Master.
Unlike the typical Pure Mage who uses magic with a staff, they command spirits and replace their mana with the spirit’s power.
A prestige class that can only be developed based on the character’s “talent” related to it.
Even if faced with an overwhelmingly tedious quest, just placing one Spirit Master among them would effortlessly sweep through all the spirits.
It truly changes the quality of the game.
Besides overwhelming specialization in quantity battles, there is also the feature of not being limited to the contractor’s “elemental affinity” based on the elements each spirit embodies.
“Thinking of the Spirit Sensitivity of Half-Elf Dark Mage Relevrian at 13…”
…18.
A figure that is no different from the limits of a human.
Even the Mana stat is at 15, and Intelligence also ranks at 15.
If the Spirit Sensitivity is separately marked as very high in the character information, it undoubtedly signifies an extraordinary talent.
If cultivated well, one might even be able to command all the Spirit Kings at once in the future.
“Are you crazy, Salenium? Leaving such a talent to drop out?”
Due to trauma preventing the use of magic and the issue of having a “Willpower” of ‘5’… but even covering those, this individual was still insanely talented.
Even if Salenium is a place where only geniuses are gathered, this seems like a winning lottery ticket.
“After solving the trauma and completing the nurturing, I’ll just casually crush Tier 1 Spirit Masters.”
Moreover, this person not only doesn’t appear in the main story but quietly disappears on their own.
That means even if brought to my side, they won’t cause major disruptions.
Absolutely, this must not be missed here.
How should I persuade them?
I pondered for a moment, but no special method came to mind.
“Millyzhe, Millyzhe Halo.”
So, I decided to just be direct.
“Withdraw your dropout. I need you by my side.”
“Me? Me? Meee─?”