novelraw Chapter 69 : Class 3 (4)
Chapter 69 : Class 3 (4)
Chapter 69: Class 3 (4)
“Yeah, did you take care of it?”
“Yes, Full Moon.”
The Captain of the Royal Guards, Daemon, and his Vice-Captain, Ignito, had eliminated the three Flewd Elementalists that appeared in the Underworld.
They had returned to the main school’s summit to report.
Their armor bore no signs of breakage, but the burns, dents, and scuffs spoke clearly of the battle they’d endured.
“They weren’t easy opponents, were they? Seeing your armor in that state says enough.”
“My apologies.”
“Those three—were they members of the Emmet Family?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, and yet, the two of you struggled that much……”
The Emmet Family’s bloodline was inherently limited to the 6th Class.
Anyone who wasn’t the head of the family could only be of a lower Circle.
Even generously speaking, the most they could reach was the 5th Class.
So the fact that the Captain, an 8th Circle Mage, and his Vice-Captain of the same Circle had struggled against merely three of them was something Tyrant found deeply troubling.
“It was only a matter of elemental compatibility. Please don’t worry.”
When Tyrant’s expression hardened, Daemon quickly spoke in a flustered, almost defensive tone.
“Well, I suppose that’s possible.”
But Tyrant was cold and analytical.
He’d already calculated that, had they been even slightly careless, the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard could have been the ones defeated instead.
That possibility alone was enough to unsettle him.
Moreover, Tyrant had long known that there were survivors of the Emmet Family.
He simply didn’t know how many remained or where they had scattered.
For the past 250 years, he’d tracked the Emmet Family relentlessly, yet found no trace of them.
The only clue he’d ever uncovered was a connection between Ed Etar and the Emmet Family.
But now, the very survivors who had so perfectly hidden themselves for centuries had suddenly revealed their presence—apparently prepared to die.
And their power… was far beyond what Tyrant had known of the Emmet Family.
They had grown strong enough to slay three of the Royal Guard Generals.
Tyrant suspected that it was Ed Etar who had aided in their growth.
But it was only suspicion—without a shred of proof.
This situation, where the vague unease buried in his heart for centuries had finally taken shape, was unbearable for Tyrant.
‘Why appear after 250 years? And right when the Royal Guard was sent to the Ed Branch School……?’
It was too perfect to dismiss as coincidence.
And so, Tyrant reached one undeniable conclusion.
‘Ed Etar and the Emmet Family have joined hands.’
The Ed Family and the Emmet Family—working together.
Which meant that the entire Emmet Family could now be part of the unknown secret organization under Etar’s command.
‘If I want to be sure, a little test wouldn’t hurt.’
“You’ve done well. Return the potions I gave you, and you may go.”
‘……So, this is how it ends.’
To Ignito, Tyrant’s order felt like a death sentence.
But he couldn’t possibly say that he had lost the potion.
He was the Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard, after all.
It would make no sense for someone of his rank to have failed to keep track of such an important item.
‘If I say I lost it here, I’ll be found out immediately.’
He had already shown Daemon that he had the potion before departing for the Underworld, so any lie would be instantly exposed.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve fought harder against the Emmet members. At least then it might’ve broken…….’
But it was too late for regrets.
So Ignito made a decision.
If he was bound to be found out anyway, he might as well hand over the swapped potion now, pretend to return it, and buy a bit more time.
One way or another, he would be discovered—so he chose the only option left.
Ignito quietly placed the potion down.
“Full Moon, then what of the order to meet that student, Artel?”
Daemon asked.
“We’ll postpone it for now. There’s something more important.”
“Understood.”
The two men set the potions neatly on the ground and departed.
“Gatekeeper.”
“Yes, Full Moon.”
“When the Ed Branch School begins its term, send a telegram. Tell them the Royal Guard will be visiting Class 3.”
“But… didn’t you say the order was postponed?”
“There’s something I want to test.”
“Understood.”
The conclusion Tyrant had reached was simple.
If the Royal Guard went to the Ed Branch School, the Emmet Family’s survivors would reveal themselves again.
And that would serve as proof.
If such a situation arose, it would also confirm that Etar was trying to protect Artel.
The Gatekeeper engraved the order firmly into his mind, picked up the potions from the floor, and handed them to Tyrant.
“Hmm?”
But one of the potions wasn’t the same.
He could tell instantly without drinking it—he had made it himself.
Only Draco Ignito’s potion was different.
‘So there was a rat in my family, huh.’
Thinking back, Ignito was an adopted son.
Though Tyrant himself was the head of the family, he was bound to his post at the summit and couldn’t oversee every matter of the household.
According to later reports, two infant boys had been abandoned at the Draco Family’s main residence. They’d been taken in and raised, and when they showed exceptional talent, they were trained as mages.
Those two were none other than the current Vice-Captain, Ignito, and the Vice Headmaster of the Ed Branch School, Former.
‘So they were deliberately abandoned to us?’
It all fit perfectly.
Both abandoned infants had shown remarkable magical aptitude and had become high-ranking Circle Mages at a young age.
As the saying went, “A promising tree shows from its sprout.” From the start, those two had been extraordinary.
They hadn’t simply developed talent over time—they were born with the bloodline of a mage family, not that of commoners.
“Is something wrong, my lord? Is there a problem?”
The Gatekeeper asked worriedly, seeing Tyrant’s hardened expression and deep contemplation.
“Nothing.”
But Tyrant showed no sign of it outwardly.
Today, he had secured proof that his adopted son, Ignito, had close ties with Ed Etar.
Rather than recklessly summoning him and torturing him for a confession, it would be far more effective to quietly uncover his background—and then use it against him.
‘Things are getting interesting.’
For Tyrant, it was a day filled with satisfaction—he had obtained several valuable pieces of information.
It was as if he had completely forgotten the fact that three of his generals had died.
No, their deaths simply weren’t enough to stir his emotions.
Generals, to him, were nothing more than expendable tools.
“Oh, right. The main school’s graduation ceremony was held, wasn’t it? How many ‘materials’ came out this time?”
Tyrant referred to the graduates of the main school as “materials.”
When a graduate met the qualification threshold, he would summon them to the summit, have them drink a potion, and extract their soul.
Then, he would absorb that soul himself to enhance his own mana.
If a graduate exceeded the standard too greatly, he would sometimes hesitate—whether to make them part of the Royal Guard or to absorb them outright.
“Well, this year… not a single one. All of them were below standard……”
The Gatekeeper replied apologetically.
“That bad?”
“……Yes.”
“Still, there should at least be one among those failures who’s better than the rest, right? Select one—just one—and send them here. I must absorb at least one every year.”
“Understood. I’ll relay the order immediately.”
Once the Gatekeeper had briefly left, Tyrant murmured to himself with interest.
“The beginning of the new semester will be quite entertaining.”
After leaving the Secret Room in the library, I contacted Mob and summoned Kiena and Hei to the training grounds.
“What’s going on all of a sudden?”
Both of them looked at me, puzzled.
I showed them the most recent notice for Class 3 from Mob and explained.
“The Class 3 student evaluation has been changed to the same method we used in Class 1.”
“Well, isn’t that a good thing? At least it’s not something complicated.”
Hei took it lightly.
“Hmm…… another round of continuous sparring, huh.”
Kiena, on the other hand, had predicted exactly what was coming.
“The problem is, this is Class 3. We don’t know how many students there are or how strong they are.”
At my words, both nodded in agreement, saying, “That’s true.”
“So, during the break, we’ll spar among ourselves to raise our skill level a bit more.”
That was the only plan I could come up with after much thought.
First, there was Kiena, the Summoner.
In Class 1, students couldn’t even handle a single one of her summoned relics, so she’d won relatively easily—but things would be different from Class 3 onward.
They would know exactly what a Summoner’s weakness was, while the Summoner herself remained unaware of it.
Rather than explaining it in words, it would be faster to make her realize it through direct combat with me.
And then there was Hei.
Hei had managed to hold his own after obtaining the Ed Family’s grimoire, but he still could only use 1st Class-level spells.
To make matters worse, he had skipped the 2nd Class entirely and jumped straight to the 3rd, meaning his proficiency with 2nd Class magic was zero.
The next two months would be spent improving that.
Thanks to the Ed Family’s grimoire, we had enough study material—but Hei’s lack of experience was severe, and I intended to make up for that myself.
“But the two of you will team up and face me two-on-one. After all, I’m a Double Caster.”
“Two-on-one, really?”
Hei seemed indifferent, but Kiena looked surprised.
“Yeah. You saw what I was like in Class 1, didn’t you? Two-on-one shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Artel! Don’t you think you’re underestimating me a bit too much? I’ll have you know, I’m pretty strong!”
After finishing Class 1, Kiena had definitely gained confidence.
No matter how much she tried to look imposing with her small frame, though, to me, she only looked adorable.
“I’m stronger than you anyway, Kiena, so it’s fine. Now then, shall we begin?”
There was no point in dragging it out.
For us… no—for Kiena and Hei—every day was precious.
Time never waited for anyone, so I had to seize it by force if necessary, to make sure they gained as much experience as possible.
‘If only the Class 1 graduation ceremony had happened a bit earlier, I could’ve at least seen the faces of the Class 3 students.’
It was only natural to feel that regret.
I had no idea what level the Class 3 students were at; I was predicting everything based solely on the standards of the magic academy from my past life.
Even as an Archmage, that kind of estimation carried a wide margin of error.
“Still, Hei, don’t overdo it. You burned out often, remember? If you hit burnout during the break, that’ll be serious trouble.”
“Got it, I’ll pace myself.”
After making sure Hei understood, the two stood side by side.
As usual, Kiena summoned her relic, Pegasus.
‘One won’t be enough. The higher the class, the greater the weakness becomes.’
Even compared to Elementalists, Summoners were already at a disadvantage in terms of quality.
There was only one way to make up for that.
Quantity.
That was exactly why, during the Battle of the Full Moon, all the swordsmen had died.
We had fought ten-to-one against a single mage—Sylarid—but because of the monsters he summoned, it turned into a hopeless battle of hundreds against ten.
On top of that, Sylarid’s relics were immune to my elemental magic, so we had no choice but to fight with pure physical force. It was hell.
The swordsmen cut down Sylarid’s summoned relics to clear a path toward his true body, and just as we finally closed the distance—
My master sacrificed his life to seal him.
From the outside, it might have looked like a simple fight, but it had lasted three days—a scene of horror and devastation.
I was the one who had fought Sylarid directly.
So while I might not be able to summon relics myself, I knew exactly how to utilize them.
I was the only mage of this era who had personally fought the greatest Summoner—Sylarid.
That was me.
I immediately fired a simple spell, Fireball, straight at Kiena’s body.
“Kyaah!”
Before Kiena could even react, the Fireball struck her and sent her tumbling backward.
“Artel… don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?”
Hei seemed to think I’d gone too far, but I ignored him and spoke directly to Kiena.
“Kiena, get up and check where your relic is.”
“……Huh? It’s gone!”
Hei’s eyes widened in shock as well.
“That’s the Summoner’s weakness. No matter how powerful the relic, if the summoner’s body is targeted, even a simple spell can easily neutralize it—just like how your relic vanished with my Fireball.”
“……”
“In Class 1, everyone only tried to fight the relics head-on, so it was natural that you never learned your own weakness. But from Class 3 onward, it’ll be different. You’ll need to cover that weakness.”
Kiena didn’t ask how I knew about a Summoner’s weakness.
She was too shocked to even think of asking.
“Now then, shall we start again?”