novelraw Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Hapert and I froze on the spot, glaring at each other.
The four other students around us also seemed to have their lips frozen from the cold atmosphere, swallowing their saliva only after carefully checking the mood.
“Getting through school life without causing trouble? Am I hearing this right? Because that just sounded like a threat.”
“Yeah, you heard it right.”
The chilling mood continued.
I already knew the world had changed, but I thought it only applied to the high-circle mages leading the current Magical Society.
In my previous life’s Magic Academy, all lower-class students like those in Class 0 would share unknown knowledge and naturally become close.
But now…….
Even the students who made up the school had begun to degrade, and it seemed a form of school violence led by family-backed mages had taken root.
“Aren’t you guys close with Banshi? I was close with Banshi too, so I thought we were all friends.”
Still, I asked, hoping to resolve things as peacefully as possible.
Scolding or crushing them with magic when they didn’t even know what they’d done wrong would simply create another troublemaker like Russel—that was how I saw it.
“Why are you bringing up Banshi all of a sudden?”
“About a month ago, when Banshi challenged me to a duel and bet all her points on it, you guys sided with her. Isn’t that because you were close?”
“This is why commoners are like livestock. They never think you might simply take the side that benefits you more.”
“Ah, really?”
It seemed I had seen the students too naïvely.
I never imagined such intentions were behind their actions.
With this, it became certain—no matter what I said, these students wouldn’t listen.
I didn’t want to waste my time on something so childish.
As I turned first to leave and return to the dormitory, the four students who had surrounded my back blocked me even more firmly with their bodies.
“Not moving?”
“Answer first before you go. You’re sitting on the dark element stone tomorrow.”
Instead, from behind me, Hapert asked again.
I glared at him and invoked Fire Shroud, the highest-level magic of the 1st Circle of the fire element.
“This is my answer.”
It was a response filled with multiple meanings, but how would Hapert take it?
“Does the Double Caster think he’s some kind of Archmage? You think you’re the only one who can use Fire Shroud?”
Hapert matched me by invoking Fire Shroud as well.
It was an act meant to display his status as a mage of a noble family.
“That’s unfortunate.”
I had held on to a faint hope, but he turned out to be nothing more than another delinquent just like Russel.
I compressed my Fire Shroud into a small sphere and floated it over my palm.
Then, with my other hand clenched tightly, I burst the condensed sphere.
As the compressed flame orb exploded, the blaze spread out like a belt and struck the students in the hallway.
“Ghhak!”
Like light, wind-blown leaves, the students couldn’t withstand it; their bodies were all pushed back and slammed against the wall.
Hapert, a mage of his family, was no exception.
On purpose, I adjusted the mana content to an extremely small amount right before it touched their bodies, ensuring they took no major damage.
It was extremely delicate control—something one could normally only use from Class 6 onward. But who was I?
For the Archmage of my past life, something like this was nothing at all.
I approached Hapert, who had hit the wall and slid to the floor, crouched down, and met his eyes.
“The Ed Branch School respects the students’ choices. Didn’t Teacher Ever tell us that’s the school rule? So who are you to force your choice on me?”
“…….”
Hapert only ground his teeth, his eyes full of resentment.
“It’s the same guideline as the Ed Family, the representative family of the fire element. And yet you, a mere mage of the Nohill Family—what right do you have? Family or no family, you and I are both just students.”
“……A mere?”
At that word, Hapert reacted excessively.
“Yeah, a mere.”
And now I straightened my knees and turned my back to him.
“Stop doing childish things. How come every family-backed mage I meet is equally childish? Did you all agree on it beforehand?”
Leaving only those words behind, I walked away.
“Childish……?”
Meanwhile, Hapert, struck deeply by Artel’s remark, couldn’t get up for quite some time and repeated that word over and over.
“To belittle my Family Head and my entire family… when he’s just a lowborn……?”
Hapert trembled uncontrollably.
For him, it was a day when his self-esteem was utterly shattered.
And at the same time, it was the moment when Artel gained yet another enemy.
---
“My goodness, the way they think is really adorable. Whether they have a family or not, in the end, they all think like the same little kids—was that it?”
Walking back to the dormitory alone, Artel muttered.
Looking back on what had just happened, he could only let out a hollow laugh now.
It seemed Hapert had judged that maintaining a high rank at the beginning of the semester was a disadvantage.
It was already certain that during the past month, because of the high-rank penalty, he had to spend ten times the normal points, so he must have been convinced that his grades were dropping purely because of me.
And since there was no guarantee he’d continue achieving good results in the dueling class, he must have gotten impatient and ended up pulling something that childish.
That didn’t make me feel disappointed or angry.
They were originally young students, after all, and when they faced certain situations, their interpretation of things could be very shallow.
It was simply bitter.
‘Would intentionally not scoring well be the correct answer? If it were me, I’d use the penalty in reverse.’
They still didn’t know how to think deeply.
Before heading into the dormitory, I stopped by the auditorium to check the point rankings once.
Tomorrow, the dueling class—which allowed us to earn points—would take place.
[1st Class Point Rankings]
1. Hei (101,100)
2. Banshi (97,300)
(omitted)
10. Artel (60,200)
(omitted)
25. Kiena (8,600)
Kiena had said she received 10,000 points yesterday for taking 1st place in the summoning class teacher’s discretionary evaluation.
The reason my points had been consumed so rapidly compared to Hei and Banshi was because I continued taking responsibility for Kiena’s meals.
Being in 10th place for the moment meant nothing.
It was only now that the first month of the first semester was about to end; we still had plenty of time.
The board could be overturned at any moment during the remaining time.
But the top ranks were still all fire element students.
Their reward points from winning eighteen consecutive matches were that large.
Following them were still the dark element and the earth element students, who had taken 2nd place in the previous duel.
The point difference between the dark element and earth element wasn’t large, but the fire element was overwhelmingly dominant.
Banshi said that even during the five years she spent as a 1st Class fire element student, she had never once achieved eighteen straight victories, so this was an unusual phenomenon.
‘It’s not exactly the situation I wanted, though.’
I intended to thoroughly throw the students into confusion until the end of the semester, then rise to the top at the last moment and advance to Class 2 together with Banshi, Kiena, and Hei.
Why I intentionally wanted to narrow the point gap and create anxiety among the students—
It was because I realized something today after meeting Hapert.
Most of the 1st Class students would surely think that maintaining high ranks early in the semester was a disadvantage, just like Hapert did.
Because of the penalty that made the point consumption of the top five students ten times larger.
I planned to instill the confusion and fear brought by the penalty deep into the students of 1st Class until the very end, clouding their judgment and allowing only us to slip through safely.
“To do that…….”
I dragged my finger across the names of the dark element students on the point ranking board.
“I need you guys. Let’s suffer a bit.”
There were four dark element students in the Ed Branch School’s 1st Class.
They were going to be used as tools to elevate me and my friends to Class 2.
With that, I returned to the dormitory and closed my eyes, eager for tomorrow to come.
---
The time for the Monthly Duel Class had finally arrived.
As always, every student of 1st Class began gathering one by one at the dueling arena.
While heading toward our respective element stones, Hapert—who had a brief incident with me yesterday—paused in front of me and pointed his finger at me.
His finger, which had indicated my two eyes, soon shifted toward the dark element stone.
It meant he wanted me to sit there.
‘He still hasn’t come to his senses.’
I thought I had disciplined him so thoroughly that he’d never dare crawl back up again, but I must have gone too easy on him.
I simply waved him off, signaling for him to disappear from my sight.
Hapert frowned and climbed up to his element stone.
I decided not to bother paying attention to one more delinquent.
After all, we would only see each other until this year—beyond that, we’d no longer cross paths in 1st Class.
And if luck followed, I might never have to see him again in this Ed Branch School at all.
But the biggest reason was that I simply wasn’t afraid, even if he belonged to a noble family.
“Artel! Let’s go!”
Hei arrived soon after and grabbed my shoulder.
As always, despite being a mage, Hei was so strong that my body jolted forward as if I might fall on my face.
“Ah! You startled me.”
“Hei! Why are you so excited today? Control your strength! Artel almost fell!”
“You’ve gotten a lot more confident lately, Hei?”
Kiena and Banshi were with Hei.
It had been a little over a month since we began our 1st Class life.
Hei’s black hair had begun to take on a faint red shade—not as much as Banshi’s, but noticeable.
His synchronization with the element was progressing properly.
It seemed the influence of the Ed Family’s spellbook we acquired in the secret room of the library was the biggest factor.
‘I should start dyeing my hair too soon.’
I had held back because if I grew too fast alone, Hei and Banshi might lose confidence.
But now that Hei—the weakest in magic among the four of us—had begun fully synchronizing, it was time for my hair color to change as well.
I removed Hei’s hand from my shoulder and said,
“Hei, I’m not going to the fire element stone today.”
“……What? Why?”
“I’m a Double Caster, remember? Today I’m heading to the dark element stone.”
“W-wait……! Then you might end up fighting me! You told me last time you’d never sit with the dark element!”
Well, that was before the rules changed.
Now, with the situation being what it was, I also needed to move accordingly.
“Ah, I see.”
That was Banshi, who seemed to catch the intention behind my words as she passed by me.
After taking a few steps, she looked back at me and added one more line.
“The match between the dark element and the fire element is what I’m looking forward to the most.”
She said that with a faint smile.
Honestly, I didn’t know what she meant by that.
Banshi then climbed up to her element stone.
“Artel! Why are you suddenly going to the dark element todaaay……?”
Kiena asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“Mm, just something I thought of. I’ll see you later!”
Not wanting the conversation to drag on, I left the two behind and headed to the dark element stone first.
When I arrived at the stone, Walfis and the others openly stared at me with bewildered eyes.
I crossed my arms, sat in the very front of the stone area, crossed my legs, and looked straight at Walfis.
“Why’d you come to the dark element stone? You went to the fire element last time.”
“That’s my choice. It’s not against the rules, so what’s the issue?”
Walfis clicked his tongue and turned his gaze away, seemingly unable to argue back.
‘Now then—let’s play in the chaos, students of 1st Class.’
Thinking of what would unfold later, I couldn’t help but smile.