novelraw Chapter 22 : A New Friend (2)
Chapter 22 : A New Friend (2)
Chapter 22: A New Friend (2)
“Class 0 simply passed as long as they identified whether you were an Elementalist or a Summoner, but starting from Class 1, they judged you by your overall grades. Among those, duels received the highest score.”
“So that means the grades from all classes taken over a full year formed the base, and the duel scores from the weekly common class played the decisive role?”
“Yes, and for the Student Ability Evaluation exam as well, every student gathered at the dueling grounds and faced each other one-on-one in a magic match. Of course, winning then earned the highest score.”
“Ah, Class 1 is already making my head hurt.”
Doing well in only one subject didn’t cut it.
Because they calculated the comprehensive grades over the entire year, you had to do well across the board.
“From now on, you must manage your Points carefully. The passing score is the remaining Points you hold on the last day of the second semester, and only those ranked from 1st to 5th can move on to the next Circle.”
“Ha, seriously. Whose brain came up with this half-baked scheme?”
In other words, it was a chain of variables.
A student with poor grades—if they were truly thick-skinned—could avoid using the library or cafeteria and simply hoard Points, and then move up to the next class regardless of ability.
If a student was truly desperate for promotion, they would seize the opportunity even that way.
“I learned in the Underworld that all branch schools followed the same method. But did the Magic Academy of the past also have such a system? I never attended the Magic Academy back then, so I don’t know.”
Banshi now showed interest in the old Academy.
“Yes. If we’re talking about the past—about 250 years ago—I wasn’t the Headmaster back then. It was that guy, Draco Tyrant, so I don’t know when this system first appeared.”
“Then when you, Sir Archis, were serving as Headmaster?”
“Of course it didn’t exist. I didn’t even think of the ‘P’ in Points.”
“As expected. I also thought it was strange. So it was a system created during the era when you briefly hid from sight, Archis.”
Banshi deliberately used the word ‘hid’ instead of ‘died.’
My appearance was different now, but since I was clearly active again, she seemed considerate enough not to use such a negative expression.
“So, you don’t even know who created this Mob in the first place?”
I shifted the topic and began a story from long ago.
“No, I do not.”
“My master.”
“Alarize Petra?”
Banshi widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand in surprise.
“Yeah.”
I simply nodded, answering as if it was nothing special.
“At any rate, if all branch schools operate the same way, then it must have been Tyrant’s idea.”
“You interpret it that way?”
“Yeah, and eliminating the Emmet Family was probably also part of Tyrant’s plan. He feared the Flewd Elementalist.”
“…….”
At the mention of her family, Banshi’s expression darkened.
“I shouldn’t have brought it up. Sorry.”
“No. I see…… Then my ultimate goal must also be Draco Tyrant, the current Archmage.”
It seemed she had believed Etar acted alone until now.
“But what will you do now? Only the top five students with the most remaining Points get selected, and I took them all from you, didn’t I? If you fail to pass this year, isn’t it expulsion for you?”
“Ah?”
Now she wore a troubled expression.
“And on top of that, all your classes just happen to overlap with mine. Only one student who shows achievement in each class receives Points, meaning you must outperform me to earn any.”
“Aaah……?”
Now she looked utterly hopeless.
“And I’m not the type to deliberately lose. And I’m not planning to return the Points I already took. I’ve lived more than 250 years—one should take responsibility for their own actions, right?”
“That can’t be…… I must have my revenge……!”
It sounded like a desperate plea asking me to return them.
“You should’ve thought a bit more carefully, shouldn’t you? Anyway, the semester still has a long way to go, so think hard about how you’ll beat me.”
“How can I possibly defeat you, Archmage……?”
“Alright, I’m leaving.”
I said that on purpose to provoke her desire to improve, then walked off.
In Class 1, a 6th Circle Mage might be considered elite, but the higher one climbed, the more mediocre that level became.
Reaching the level of a 6th Circle Mage after training alone for 200 years could be considered slow growth.
And merely being able to cast 6th Circle magic was far from enough—not just to face Tyrant, but even to stand against Etar.
Tyrant, who would be at the peak, and Etar, the Headmaster of this school.
To stand on equal footing with them, you needed at least the 7th Circle.
‘Well then, will she become a mage who overcomes the limits of the Emmet Family or not……?’
I pinned my hopes on Banshi.
Being the sole surviving member of a fallen family alone gave her both the potential and motive to surpass her limits.
So she must push her stagnant growth even further.
Emmet Delsere.
Kiena stepped into Classroom 6.
Classroom 6 was exclusively for Summoners.
All around was a forested area, with no desks or chairs. Everything was formed by magic.
The students all sat on the grass.
‘Pretty.’
It felt less like a classroom and more like she had arrived at a scenic retreat.
Even the scent of phytoncides filled the entire class.
The total number of students attending the Summoner class was four.
Kiena bowed lightly to every student who met her eyes.
Even though it was the first class, she had no nervousness—only excitement.
Then a female teacher with black eyes and black hair appeared.
“I’m Kanyu, and I’ll be teaching the Class 1 Summoner course. You are truly blessed talents.”
‘Blessed? Talents?’
“Summoners possess power incomparable to Elementalists. In other words, you’re the type of mages with the highest chance of advancing to the Main Academy. I feel lucky to teach such students.”
At that moment, delight washed over Kiena’s face.
‘A Summoner is the strongest type of mage? Then I won’t be a burden to Artel?’
Because Artel was the first Double Caster born in 500 years, she had honestly been worried.
Her friend had such incredible talent—so she feared that she herself might drag him down.
So she couldn’t simply be happy, nor could she feel at ease.
But after hearing Teacher Kanyu’s words just now, her worries washed away like dust in the rain.
Kiena committed herself to the class with even greater enthusiasm.
‘I should brag to Artel too! That Summoners are this kind of mage!’
What delighted her most was that she wouldn’t be a burden.
There was still quite some time before History of Mages 2, the daily common class.
I lay on my dormitory bed, lost in thought.
‘The Points system isn’t unique to the Ed Branch, but a system shared by all branches.’
It was fairly important and valuable information.
And it was when I happened to look at the Mob.
[Artel]
-Remaining Points: 26,200
‘Points…….’
At that moment, I began focusing on that part.
‘Wait, this feature wasn’t something my master originally created. But the fact that it appeared now, 300 years later, means someone tampered with the Mob, doesn’t it?’
I didn’t want to believe it.
The Mob was made by my master, and it held my master’s magic exactly as it was.
If someone had tampered with this Mob, the most likely candidate was Tyrant, meaning Tyrant was the one who added this function to it.
But was that really possible?
My master’s magic embedded in the Mob was a sort of barrier that prevented anyone but its creator from accessing it.
If Tyrant wanted to add a new function to this Mob, he would need to modify it, and that meant his magic had to be stronger than my master’s.
There was no way. When Tyrant killed me, he used the petty trick of drugging me because he feared a direct confrontation—so did he supposedly confront my master’s magic directly and win?
Even if my master died, the magic already embedded in an object remained permanently and intact.
My master was a far stronger mage than I was; I didn’t even dare think of challenging him.
“That can’t be it.”
I didn’t want to believe it.
But I also couldn’t completely dismiss the idea, because of something Banshi had told me—
That they could use drugs to artificially produce a temporary Double Caster.
What had been absolutely impossible in the era when I lived as Archis Eimer had become possible 300 years later, now that I lived as Artel.
In an age where countless absolutes had already been twisted, I had to admit that there was also a possibility that Tyrant had pierced through my master’s magic and modified the Mob.
No—in the end, I simply accepted it that way.
Rather than stubbornly thinking it was impossible, it was easier to accept that even the slightest possibility could be true.
“I see. So that’s why Etar and Former began to suspect me.”
Then all the odd situations I couldn’t understand started making sense.
Former, who had served as Vice Headmaster for 50 years, had never shown himself in Class 0 even once, yet suddenly appeared.
Didn’t he come because he found me suspicious?
They must have believed they had found some kind of clue without my knowledge, and that clue had to be this Mob.
Could it be because I used the Mob to search for my master’s books?
That was the only explanation.
If so, then Etar and Former were likely monitoring everything related to my master’s traces as well.
“I think I should confirm this directly.”
In this situation, there was only one person who could give me an accurate answer.
Banshi.
I considered using the Mob to contact her, but I decided against it.
The Mob was no longer just a tool for the student’s convenience.
It was far more likely that the Headmaster and Vice Headmaster were using it to monitor what students were doing.
If I contacted Banshi in that state, she would reply in formal speech, and Etar and Former would find it suspicious—and I would be dragging Banshi into their surveillance net as well.
Her entire family had been annihilated by Etar; I didn’t want her to become a surveillance target.
I left my dormitory and went searching for Banshi’s dorm.
‘Should’ve checked her location beforehand.’
In the end, I had no choice but to knock on every single door to see who was inside.
Since I already knew where Hei and Kiena were, I only needed to exclude those two.
I began with the dorm closest to mine.
Knock, knock.
There was no response.
It seemed to belong to a student currently in class.
When I knocked on the next dorm’s door—
“Who is it?”
A voice I didn’t know.
Without answering, I immediately moved on to the next dorm.
Knock, knock.
Clack!
This time, the door swung open without a reply.
“What? Why are you knocking on my dorm door?”
“Oh, this was yours?”
Of course—Russel’s dorm.
“My mistake. Go back in.”
“…….”
Russel didn’t go back in. Instead, he stared at me for an uncomfortably long time.
He looked like he had something to say, but his lips stayed shut.
“If you have something to say, then say it.”
“……No.”
Then he abruptly turned around and slammed the door shut.
Ever since winter break ended, he had been like that. What in the world had happened?
Well, it wasn’t something I wanted to care about.
The House Mihael was a family I didn’t feel fondly about either.
After various complications, I finally found Banshi’s dorm.
It was quite far from mine—opposite ends of the hallway.
“What brings you……?”
She was about to speak formally again, so I held a finger to my lips, signaling her to stay quiet.
“Follow me.”