novelraw Chapter 54 : The Tumultuous Semester (1)
Chapter 54 : The Tumultuous Semester (1)
Chapter 54: The Tumultuous Semester (1)
Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!
Only the hurried sound of footsteps echoed faintly through the empty street.
‘That student was Artel? The one both Lord Etar and the Draco Family have been keeping their eyes on…’
The Tavern Owner kept recalling Artel’s face, the one he had glimpsed through the window.
Artel couldn’t have seen his transparent body, but the distance between their faces had been less than a hand’s breadth.
At that moment, he had held his breath in panic, thinking that even the faintest exhale from his nose might alert Artel to his presence.
But staying still would only get him caught sooner or later.
He had racked his brain desperately, searching for a way out—then used a small wind-element spell.
Thanks to that, he managed to escape by masking his movements with the sound of rustling bushes.
Tak… tak….
Eventually, he slowed his running pace.
“But why…”
Once he had stopped completely, he murmured to himself while glancing back toward the direction of the Mihael Family’s estate.
“Why did I feel… a kind of relief when I saw that student? Whether it was instinct or my mind playing tricks on me… it felt like something was being purified…?”
It wasn’t exactly the same feeling as finally meeting someone he had searched for all his life, but it was close enough.
And it was toward a mere 1st Class student.
“What nonsense. I must’ve just felt that way because of the situation.”
He caught his breath and then returned to the tavern to report to Etar.
He told him that the only people he had seen in the restaurant were Ruin and the student Artel, that he hadn’t been able to discern what they were doing, and he apologized as he finished his report.
–So you saw the student Artel in person, then?
“Yes, that’s correct.”
–How was he? I’d like to see him myself, but as you know, I can’t move, so I’ll have to rely on your impression.
He answered that Artel had given off quite a familiar feeling.
–Is that so? Good work. That should be enough.
Etar didn’t ask further and ended the communication.
At the very top of the main academy building, where even looking upon it sent chills down one’s spine, darkness reigned.
In the sky, a single full moon hung lonely and still, while on the ground, sharp iron gates stretched upward as though ready to pierce that very moon.
Even the iron gate itself was black.
No—aside from the yellow full moon, this entire summit seemed to allow only the color black to exist.
The moon in that sky—should one call it lonely, or dignified?
And within those spiked gates was sealed Sylarid, the one who had once plunged both the Magical Society and the Swordsmanship Society into terror and bloodshed.
Sylarid, the mage who had once dominated an era.
His power was so unmatched that he still lived to this day.
Some even said that, in terms of sheer magical power, he had surpassed both the Archmage Alarize Petra and his disciple Archis Eimer.
Archmage Tyrant stood before the iron gate, observing the seal stone—an emerald and black mass intertwined in chaotic swirls.
Three hundred years ago, when Tyrant had killed Archis Eimer at this very spot, the ratio of black in the stone had been only thirty percent.
But now, even after three centuries, it had barely reached seventy.
The seal stone had still not completely absorbed Sylarid’s power.
“Full Moon, word from the Mihael Family. The open visit has just concluded.”
At that moment, a Gatekeeper cloaked in a hooded robe appeared behind him to deliver the report.
“Connect it.”
“Yes, Full Moon.”
As the Gatekeeper handed over the Mob, Tyrant shifted his gaze away from the seal stone.
“This is the Archmage speaking.”
–It is an honor, Full Moon.
“Good. How was the student Artel?”
–……
Ruin couldn’t answer.
His silence alone confirmed Tyrant’s worst concern—it had already come to pass.
“You can’t remember either, can you?”
–I… have no excuse.
“That’s enough. That’s all I needed to know.”
Then Tyrant added Nohill Jick to the Mob connection.
Now, three people were linked through the Mob: Tyrant, Mihael Ruin, and Nohill Jick.
“I, as Archmage, issue a command to both your families.”
–Yes, sir!
–It is an honor, Full Moon!
“Use magic freely in the Underworld. Instigate conflict with the swordsmen. Drive it to the point that you come to despise each other. Killing a swordsman is acceptable. You should be capable of at least that—if you dare call yourselves family heads.”
–…What?
–……
“I trust no mage of mine will lose to mere swordsmen.”
But the command that left his lips was far too devastating.
Since ancient times, from the age of the First Great Swordsman and Great Archmage, it had been an unbroken pact that in the Underworld neither side would interfere with or provoke the other.
Now Tyrant had unilaterally shattered that ancient order.
–Full Moon, that’s…
The one who attempted to object was Ruin.
“I know what you’re worried about. But there’s no need. Plenty of mages will follow suit. Let them rampage as they please.”
Leaving only those words, Tyrant cut the Mob connection.
“Gatekeeper.”
“Yes, Full Moon.”
“We’ll need to act accordingly. Prepare. Summon the Royal Guard.”
“Understood.”
–What kind of madness is this? Did he say it on purpose, so I’d hear?
At that instant, a new voice echoed from within the seal stone.
Tyrant ignored it lightly.
After the open visit to the Mihael Family, we returned safely to the academy.
The rest of the day was given as free time, and the students enjoyed their leisure as they pleased.
[Artel]
–Current Points: 100
I activated my Mob and checked my points.
During the first semester, it had said ‘Remaining Points’, but now it read ‘Current Points’.
Tomorrow, the revised school rules would take effect.
Which meant I’d have to endure a relentless schedule of duels with hardly a moment to breathe.
But there was a new concern weighing on my mind—
8. The graduation eligibility for 1st Class would be determined based on the points accumulated up until December 31st, 17:59:59. Only the top six students would be allowed to graduate, while the top three would receive special admission and skip 2nd Class, advancing directly to 3rd Class.
Conversely, the bottom ten students would be expelled regardless of their remaining points.
That was the final clause of the amended school regulations.
Out of thirty-one students, only three could advance directly to 3rd Class.
The problem, however, was that due to the new regulation changed during the first semester of 1st Class, there were now three students being ostracized.
They were me, Hei, and Kiena.
And according to the newly amended regulation, the Joint Admission Students were considered a team—if even one of the three was expelled, then all would be expelled.
This school wasn’t the kind that would kindly make an exception, allowing the other two to advance to 3rd Class just because one of us ranked in the top three.
On the contrary, since none of us had reached the upper ranks, the likelihood of the school promoting other students to 3rd Class instead—and relegating us to 2nd Class—had risen dramatically.
The new school rule practically said this:
‘Arthel, Kiena, Hei. If all the students unite and torment these three persistently, everything will be fine.’
The dueling system had been changed to a voluntary one, and now we were the ones who had to endure the brunt of it.
But the real issue was Banshi’s existence.
She was the one who knew who I truly was, who shared the same circumstances, and who gave me real strength.
That was what Banshi meant to me.
However, due to the changed regulations, I could no longer move together with her.
It seemed best to discuss it separately.
Since I already knew we were being watched, I didn’t contact Mob unnecessarily.
After all, she was close enough that I could just walk over and find her myself.
And so, I arrived in front of Banshi’s dormitory.
When I quietly knocked on her door, there was no response—only silence greeted me.
She usually stayed in her dorm, so it was strange that she seemed to be out today.
“I guess I’ll have to contact Mob. I really didn’t want to, if I could help it.”
Just as I was about to summon Mob, Banshi appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Follow me.”
Her behavior was a bit strange.
Before I could even ask, she grabbed my wrist and led me somewhere.
“Why the library?”
“Take a look inside.”
“…Why are there so many students here all of a sudden?”
More than twenty students were gathered closely together, clutching books.
No—judging by what I saw, it looked like every student except me, Hei, Kiena, and Banshi was there.
That’s how crowded the place was.
“Hey, how long are you going to keep reading? Let it go already.”
“…But still—”
“Give it to me.”
“I’ve been waiting forever to get a turn, I just started reading…”
“Watch your tone. You lowborn.”
I even saw a student snatching a book away from another.
The one trying to take it was Lamic Vir, from the Water Element course.
I wondered what kind of book would make someone use their family’s authority so crudely—so I checked.
“They’re all… summoning tomes? What’s gotten into them? Why are Elemental Mages suddenly obsessed with summoning books?”
“Why do you think? They must desperately want to defeat someone from the Summoning course.”
She meant Kiena.
Right now, every 1st Class student was targeting Kiena.
Kiena—the only summoner in 1st Class capable of summoning an Artifact.
Regardless of that, the students had decided she would be their target.
Hei had burned out, showing signs of lethargy—making him seem like an easy target.
As for me, being a Double Caster and having shown overwhelming results in duels, they’d likely given up on challenging me long ago.
So the one they chose instead was Kiena.
Summoners were already considered weaker than Elemental Mages.
And the reason for that was simple.
Summoners fought through their Artifacts.
Unlike Elemental Mages, Summoners relied on an intermediary—the Artifact—which naturally made them slower and less adept in real combat.
Moreover, no matter how powerful an Artifact was, it became ineffective at higher Circles.
Artifacts were slower than advanced spells, and unlike Elemental Magic, they couldn’t manifest attacks instantly before the opponent’s eyes.
That was the limitation of an Artifact.
For an Artifact to attack, it had to move physically—movements that were easy to see, making direct assaults nearly impossible.
There was no way to conceal or disguise those movements.
That was also why swordsmen struggled against mages.
Even Sylarid, a Double Caster who wielded both Summoning and Darkness, earned his infamous reputation only because of that rare combination.
When an Artifact was combined with an element, Elemental Magic wouldn’t work on it.
I didn’t know why—that was an unknown, unexplored mystery.
Even in Sylarid’s case, he only wielded the element of Darkness, yet his Artifact couldn’t be affected by Flewd.
Still, a mere Summoner without dual attributes was undeniably weaker than an Elemental Mage.
But a Double Caster who could also wield elements—such a summoner would be an opponent even someone like me, with Flewd, couldn’t easily handle.
A truly paradoxical and mysterious type of mage.
But one thing was certain—fighting a summoner was exceedingly simple once you knew how.
Kiena was one of those simple types.
Once you knew the countermeasures, losing was actually harder.
“Pathetic.”
“What is?”
“No matter how much they study those tomes, they’ll never defeat Kiena. Don’t you agree, Banshi?”
I deliberately spoke loudly.
Immediately, every student in the library turned to glare at me.
Their gazes were so sharp it felt like knives were scraping against my skin.
“Read all you want—it won’t help. You’ll never win. Let’s go, Banshi. We need to talk.”
“Ah, yes.”
That had been my declaration of war toward the other students.
This was 1st Class.
And what was 1st Class?
It was the place for students who had just discovered their elements.
Then what kind of books would be in a 1st Class library?
Naturally, only books that taught how to use newly discovered elements.
There would be nothing advanced—no detailed combat doctrines like, “Using this spell causes side effects,” or “A summoner’s body is their weak point.”
Those kinds of books didn’t exist anywhere in 1st Class.
The students didn’t even realize that. They thought simply reading summoning tomes would reveal the answer.
‘Still, it was a good thing I didn’t expose Kiena’s weakness during that duel.’
It hadn’t been intentional—but it worked out perfectly.
After that, I brought Banshi back to my dormitory.
“You understand, right? Why those students will never be able to defeat Kiena.”
“Yes. If this were 3rd Class, I might think, ‘Maybe, just maybe,’ but this is 1st Class.”
Once we were alone, she reverted to speaking formally again.
And she clearly knew that the other students’ approach was wrong.
“So, what is it you wanted to discuss?”
“Ah, it’s about the new school regulation.”
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of ranking in the top three.”
Before I could even speak, Banshi had already anticipated my concern.
“…What?”
“Why are you so surprised, Lord Archis? Take Kiena and Hei and go on ahead to 3rd Class. I’ll follow shortly after.”
“……”
She didn’t avert her gaze. Instead, she smiled gently at me.