novelraw Chapter 78 : A New Benefit (3)
Chapter 78 : A New Benefit (3)
Chapter 78: A New Benefit (3)
There was no one but Mihael Russel.
With a loud noise and Keled’s appearance as he went on bragging about himself, a large number of students instantly gathered around him.
“Keled! What did you mean by that?”
A student with white hair asked.
“I challenged a mage from a family to a duel. I just finished and was on my way back.”
Even though they were not both Earth Element students, the two were close.
No, it was not just the two of them.
The student named Keled seemed to have formed good, broad friendships with all of the Class 3 students.
‘I thought he wasn’t the friendly type.’
Or maybe it was because he had been in Class 3 for a long time and had grown close to the other students.
I quietly eavesdropped on their conversation.
“A mage from a family?”
“Yeah, you know, the one who moved up to Class 3 this time together with those guys from Class 1. He’s an elementalist from your side.”
It was Mihael Russel.
‘That’s unexpected. Mihael Russel lost?’
He had reached the level where he could manifest the Light Sealing Sword, which could be called the representative magic of the Light Element.
Of course, it was a pathetic level that was still very far from being complete.
Still, doing that much at the 1st Circle was no small feat.
Yet Mihael Russel, even if Keled was the top student of Class 3, it was strange that he had lost to him.
‘Is it because of the Element-Favored Duel Arena?’
Keled had clearly said that he was the one who initiated the duel.
From Class 3 onward, the duel arena was assigned according to the applicant’s element, making the applicant’s position far more advantageous.
“He tried to face me with something like a worthless white dagger, so there was no chance!”
Drunk on the joy of victory, Keled now spat out arrogant words without the slightest hesitation.
Whether the opponent had a family or not, he did not seem to care at all.
‘It really does seem to be because of the Element-Favored Duel Arena.’
That seemed to be the correct answer.
That said, I had no desire to claim that Mihael Russel was superior.
If I compared the two purely and coldly, the one I would raise my hand for was Keled.
What he had shown in his duel with me had given me a fresh shock, so he deserved that evaluation.
But Mihael Russel had shown nothing worthy of being called a mage from a family.
At best, it was an unstable Light Sealing Sword.
Even if I looked purely at mana, he was inferior to Keled, and with the Element-Favored Duel Arena on top of that, perhaps his defeat had been a natural course of events.
Keled, who had been so boisterous, must have gotten hungry, because he closed his mouth and quietly began to eat.
And until lunchtime ended, Mihael Russel did not show his face in the cafeteria.
‘Is he holed up in the dormitory crying or something.’
After suffering nothing but consecutive defeats at the hands of the commoners he had looked down on so much, his mentality must have been shattered to pieces.
Hei and I attended the Class 3 Fire Element lesson.
There was still a bit of time left before class, but since there was nothing in particular to do, we decided to come early.
However, the appearance of the classroom was peculiar.
Up to the Dark Element, just like in Class 1, the desks were arranged in tiers, and below them was a platform where the teacher conducted the lesson.
But for the Fire Element, there was no blackboard, no desks, and it was simply like a vast wasteland—truly a classroom with nothing in it.
“You’re the students who received the special selection from Class 1 this time, right? Welcome.”
The teacher was already waiting for us in the classroom.
Bright red eyes and hair.
A simple-looking face.
Just by his appearance, I immediately realized that he was a mage from the Ed Family.
“Yes.”
When I answered, he kindly walked up to me and held out his hand.
“I’m Ed Balak, the teacher in charge of the Class 3 Fire Element.”
As expected.
“I’m Artel.”
“Right, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“From Teacher Ever?”
“From Ever, and from Professor Cullem as well. Especially you two—you had a duel as soon as you arrived, didn’t you? They showed me the video of it.”
His words were kind.
I could not find any malice like Melatan’s in his expression or tone.
But a video of our duel?
When I asked right away, he answered kindly once more.
“The professor is the administrator of Class 3. That means she can watch the duels you conduct inside the portal. There are recording mobs installed in there in the first place.”
“Ah…….”
“It was impressive. To suppress Keled, the top student of Class 3, with such simple magic. It was quite interesting.”
Now he looked at Hei.
“Your name is Hei, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“You were impressive too. You won using the same method as Artel.”
“Th-thank you.”
My first impression was not bad, but just as I had felt before, these teachers were people who might change completely again in just a few minutes.
Even in the case of Muhead from Class 1, he had been kind at first, but hadn’t he constantly made barbed remarks at me while bringing up the Double Caster?
I needed to know his true nature now.
I thought about what would be easiest to pick at, and when something suitable came to mind, I asked.
“Why is there a recording mob in the duel arena?”
It really felt like surveillance.
“You’re my students, aren’t you? I need to know how you wield and utilize magic. That way, I can guide you properly.”
As if it were a prepared answer, Balak replied immediately without showing any sign of fluster.
“Then you must have shown that video to the Earth Element teacher as well?”
“Hmm, probably not.”
“Why not?”
“The professor said she was only showing it to me. You saw the name, so you should know. She’s from the same family as me. She’s my older sister.”
The conversation was gradually becoming strange.
In particular, Balak added unnecessary facts that I did not even want to know.
I could not tell whether that was just his personality, or whether he was desperately trying to say, ‘I’m someone who can be this kind to you!’
I did not understand his intention at all.
“For reference, Ever from Class 1 is my younger brother.”
One more fact I did not want to know was added.
“Then during vacation, when you go back to your family, do you meet Teacher Ever?”
For some reason, Hei seemed genuinely interested, and asked with sparkling eyes.
“Of course. But why?”
“I wanted to tell Teacher Ever thank you. For teaching me kindly in Class 1. Could you pass it along for me?”
Ever was indeed kind, even from my point of view.
Although there was a tendency for him to slightly favor me and Banshi during duel time, when his own performance evaluation was on the line, it was not strictly wrong.
It was simple favoritism, not discrimination.
And the reason Hei had grown smoothly in Class 1 was also because, even if there were things gained by the Ed Family mage and me, Ever—whose classes we attended every day—treated everyone without discrimination.
“Why didn’t you say it in Class 1 and asked me to pass it along instead? I’m getting jealous.”
“Uh…… is that something to be jealous about?”
“Of course it is. As a teacher, hearing thanks for teaching a student well is incredibly rewarding. But if you ask me to pass along something like that before my class has even started, isn’t it natural that I’d feel jealous?”
His voice was not angry.
It was just light, the 정도 of expressing jealousy.
“I’m sorry…….”
Even as Hei apologized, his eyes showed that he was wondering whether this was really something to be sorry about.
“Well, anyway. Why didn’t you say it back in Class 1, and why only now? Let’s hear the reason.”
“Back in Class 1, with five days left until graduation, there was suddenly a special break from classes. And when the five days passed and I returned to the school, the graduation ceremony started right away, so there wasn’t any time to say it.”
“Ah, really?”
This time, I answered in his place.
I was anxious that if Hei answered, he might stammer and fail to convey the situation properly.
“Got it. I’ll pass it along.”
“Thank you!”
Hei replied energetically.
“But, Teacher.”
“What is it?”
“Why are there no desks or a platform in this classroom? The Dark Element class had them.”
“That? My class is a bit special. This works out well. You two, can you help me for a bit?”
“How?”
“You know what ‘help’ means. Follow me.”
With that, he led us out of the classroom.
The place he headed to was another room located close to the classroom.
No, to be precise, it seemed to be a former classroom that was no longer in use.
Just like the classroom we had been in, there were no desks, no blackboard, no platform—none of the equipment needed for lessons—and instead it was filled only with piles of firewood.
“You just need to carry as much of this as possible back to the classroom. It’s close by, so you’ve memorized the way, right?”
“Yes.”
Balak hugged an armful of firewood to his chest and headed to the classroom first.
Since we had agreed to help, Hei and I also began gathering firewood into our arms.
“Ugh…….”
But the firewood felt extremely heavy.
It was probably because this was the body of the boy Artel, not my original body.
To think my arms, shoulders, and even knees would tremble just from lifting this pile of firewood…….
“Hey, give me some. Your magic is the best among us, so why is your body still so weak?”
Perhaps unable to watch any longer, Hei took some of the firewood I was carrying and added it to his own arms.
I was struggling to endure the weight of not even ten logs, yet Hei stacked them high enough to nearly cover his face.
Only then did Hei’s muscles swell enough to be clearly visible to the eye, to the point that he could be compared to a sturdy swordsman in terms of physique alone.
Because of the bulging muscles, his entire arm looked as if small mountain peaks were stuck all over it.
That someone could have a body like that at such a young age was nothing short of astonishing.
He was clearly far more suited to physical labor than to magic.
With an appropriate amount of firewood in our arms, we returned to the classroom.
“Where should we put them?”
“Yeah, place them like that, at regular intervals.”
Balak was already separating the firewood into groups of two or three in the center of the classroom and tearing up paper to place on top.
When everything was done, Balak began counting the number of small bonfires with his fingers.
“Hmm, twelve. Perfect.”
Once the preparations were complete, the students began entering the classroom.
“Hello, Teacher!”
“Did you have a good vacation?”
Not only did the students greet him warmly…….
“I missed you, Teacher!”
There was even a student who ran over and hugged him.
Balak seemed to be a teacher who was quite popular with students.
‘Come to think of it, Teacher Ever wasn’t bad in Class 1 either.’
Compared to other subjects, Ever had been a teacher who was close with his students.
If Class 3 was the same, it could be considered a characteristic of the Fire Element subject.
‘Even Teacher Rezi from Class 0 was a Fire Elementalist and was quite kind. Maybe the Fire Element is just like this by nature…….’
It was simply regrettable that Etar, the representative mage of the Fire Element, had changed.
Now, the class began.
As soon as the lesson started, Balak lit the twelve prepared piles of firewood with matches.
He did not light them with magic, but deliberately used matches.
And the reason there were twelve was because there were twelve Fire Element students in Class 3.
After lighting all the fires, Balak looked at the two of us and spoke.
“The other students have done this before, so they know what kind of class this is. But you two are new today, so you don’t, right? I’ll explain.”
“Is it practice right away without a theory lesson?”
“I don’t do theory lessons. I think they’re meaningless.”
When I asked, he answered with his characteristic cheerfulness.
A class without theory…….
It was quite a good approach.
And then, he began his explanation in earnest.