novelraw Chapter 80 : New Benefits (5)
Chapter 80 : New Benefits (5)
Chapter 80: New Benefits (5)
Up until now, I hadn’t been active because I was trying to get a feel for the atmosphere of the 3rd Class.
But now that I had more or less grasped everything, I thought it was about time to start moving.
“Who should I start with?”
Exactly one suitable opponent came to mind.
I immediately used the Mob to submit a duel request.
It was approved in less than three minutes.
The duel arena I arrived at.
Professor Cullem was sitting on a small chair, guarding the door of the arena.
“You were the one who applied first this time?”
She asked in her usual prickly tone.
The opponent I had applied for was Keled.
There was no special meaning behind it.
There was just one thing I wanted to check.
“I guess you could say I want to make it clear who the top student really is?”
But I gave Cullem an answer filled with ambition.
It was to make myself look like an ordinary student hungry for grades.
“Well, fine. Go in through Portal No. 6.”
She replied as if uninterested and opened the door to the duel arena.
When I went inside, one measuring device in front of Portal No. 6 was already gone.
That meant Keled had already arrived and gone in.
I also put on the measuring device and pushed my body into the red Portal No. 6.
“Wow, this isn’t just favoritism, it’s discrimination.”
That was my first thought the moment I saw the Fire Element-Favored Duel Arena.
The appearance of the arena was that of a lava zone.
Nearby, lava flowed like rivers, and the ground was cracked wide open as if struck by drought.
Lava flowed through those gaps as well.
Here and there, lava splashed up, and the heat it spewed out brushed directly across my skin as it passed.
I even felt a stinging sensation from the sparks.
And lava was a higher-tier resource, far above even fire, to the point that it could swallow flames themselves.
If one could just use this lava in their magic, the advantage was so extreme that even if a 3rd Circle Mage fought against other elementalists at around the 6th Circle, they would still have a chance of winning.
I had expected that, even if it was favoritism, it would be limited to just a few vents like in Balak’s class, but that was a complete miscalculation.
However, coincidentally, among the Fire Element students, there still wasn’t a single student who had mastered Tap-Taking.
Which meant there was also no student who could make use of this excellent environment.
‘Except me.’
I checked Keled’s expression.
He looked a bit intimidated by the lava, but when he saw me, he asked in a triumphant voice,
“There isn’t anyone among the Fire Element who can use Tap-Taking anyway, right? Even with such a great stage, if you can’t use it, you’re no better than trash. That goes for you too.”
Keled knew the term precisely.
“Is that so?”
But I hadn’t called him here to check whether he knew the term or not.
The moment I answered, I shaped a splashing stream of lava into a whip and hurled it at Keled.
He immediately used his own element, Earth, to raise a wall around his body and block my magic.
But.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
It was far too different from his appearance during our first duel.
The wall Keled had manifested shattered the instant it was hit by my magic, turning into sand.
Thinking back to how easily he had blocked Torrent Ball during our first duel, I couldn’t help but doubt whether the person in front of me was really the same one.
That was how decisive the surrounding environment was for elementalists when it came to victory or defeat.
But this duel wasn’t one I had requested in order to win, but rather one I had initiated because I wanted to check Keled’s level of Tap-Taking.
Unfortunately, he didn’t meet the level I had hoped for.
This place was a lava ‘zone’.
It was decorated on the outside with lava, but that meant there was also earth inside.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a duel arena favored solely for the Fire Element, but an environment that also favored the Earth Element ‘to some extent’.
If Tap-Taking were at a perfect level, one would be able to strip away only the outer lava and freely manipulate the red-hot earth beneath.
The Earth Element, excluding Flewd, was evaluated as the strongest among the six elements.
The reason was precisely because there were many cases where it could make use of the surrounding environment.
Whether it was mountains or seas, within other forms of nature that were merely wrapped on the outside, earth was always an essential component.
To begin with, the place we lived in was a space on top of land.
No matter how deep the sea was, at the very bottom, there was always solid ground.
If one could freely knead and control that ground, there would be nothing to fear, no matter who the opponent was—elementalist or summoner alike.
‘The one who did that best was my Disciple, Ramus Tresha.’
If it hadn’t been for Tyrant, Earth Elementalist Ramus Tresha would have had enough potential to succeed me.
Anyway, I had checked what I wanted to check.
But it wasn’t beyond my expectations.
If I divided Keled’s Tap-Taking level into three stages—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—then Keled was firmly at the complete beginner stage.
‘Is it because this is the 3rd Class? He did surprise me, but should I accept that as the limit of the 3rd Class?’
I had wanted to see with my own eyes just how far the top student of the 3rd Class could go, even if they could use Tap-Taking.
“I’m tired. Let’s end this.”
There was no reason to drag the duel out meaninglessly, so I manifested the decisive spell to finish it.
It was a spell that raised the lava sea flowing right beside us like a waterfall and brought it crashing down over Keled’s body.
“Huuk…….”
Keled, seeing the lava wave soaring toward the sky, was frightened ahead of time.
“You crazy……! You’re trying to kill me!”
A voice that might have been anger, or might have been genuine fear.
But one thing was certain—my magic was the kind that evaporated even the thought of counterattacking or defending.
‘I’m not trying to kill you.’
There was no way I would kill an innocent student.
I was just trying to scare him a little.
But even so, it was true that Keled was overreacting quite a bit.
‘If that’s the case, then there’s only one answer. There’s no student who can manifest magic at this level.’
Thanks to Keled, I was also able to roughly gauge the overall level of the entire 3rd Class.
And the lava wave was just about to engulf his body.
“H-Hey! I lost! Take it back! I can’t stop thiiis!”
He cried out in a voice of genuine desperation.
The moment I heard his words, I withdrew the magic.
Thud!
As the massive spell vanished, his legs seemed to give out, and he collapsed to the ground on the spot.
“……Sorry.”
And then, an offhand remark was thrown out.
It felt as if all the important steps had been skipped, and only the conclusion had been presented first.
“What?”
“I underestimated you……. I didn’t know you’d be this much of a monster…….”
“A monster?”
“How can someone who’s only on their second day in the 3rd Class use Tap-Taking at this level……. It makes no sense……. Is it possible because you’re a Double Caster……?”
As if utterly stunned, he began muttering to himself, shaking his head back and forth.
Watching that 모습, a lot of thoughts crossed my mind as well.
It was true that Keled had openly looked down on the three of us from the start.
However, that was purely the innocent heart of someone who wanted to show off the result of becoming top student through his own efforts as a mage from a commoner background.
It meant he hadn’t intended to belittle us or treat us as enemies.
Sensing instinctively that I was on a far higher level than himself, Keled was accepting it with almost hollow compliance.
Perhaps he had merely been a student who strictly believed in the law of the jungle.
“If you’re sorry, then hand over the measuring device.”
Still, results were results.
Since he had surrendered, I intended to collect the result that was due to me.
Keled willingly handed over the measuring device, as if he were my subordinate.
Crack!
And just like that, the duel came to an end.
[Ranking Board]
Artel - 102
Kiena, Hei - 101
“You’re faster than last time.”
That was what Cullem said as I exited the duel arena and checked the ranking board hanging beside it.
“Yes. The favored duel arena is nice. Very fiery.”
“…….”
However, at my answer, her expression grew slightly guarded.
It was probably a reaction born from doubt—whether a guy who had just come up from the 1st Class could really have benefited that much from the favored duel arena.
“What’s with him?”
There was one more change.
Now, whenever Keled looked at me, his eyes sparkled as if he had met a great master.
Honestly, even I wasn’t used to that look.
“……I don’t know,”
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Cullem immediately activated the Mob and began observing.
It looked like the process Teacher Balak had mentioned—checking the recorded footage.
Right after that.
Her expression stiffened completely.
She then finished watching the footage and used the Mob to contact someone somewhere.
-Yeah, sis.
Balak’s voice.
He had once introduced Ever to me as his younger sibling, and Professor Cullem as his older sister.
It seemed that when the two contacted each other privately, they spoke with the tone of family.
But Cullem still didn’t relax her hardened expression.
“You’re with students. Use the proper title.”
-Ah. Yes. Professor.
“There’s something I want to ask. Student Artel—how was he at your class’s progress?”
Why ask that right in front of me?
When she asked about progress, it was clearly about the Fire Element class.
That class that involved using the surrounding environment.
It was only the second day of the 3rd Class.
I hadn’t shown any use of the surrounding environment yet.
-Artel? If by progress you mean Tap-Taking level?
“Right.”
-He’s the same as any other student. Though this might just be my lousy intuition, I think he’ll master it soon. His approach was really innovative.
“So that means. As of today’s class, he hadn’t mastered it yet, right?”
-Yes. But why do you ask all of a sudden?
“Nothing. Get some rest.”
Cullem cut the connection on her own and glared straight at me.
Well, just from her eyes, I could tell.
Questions like ‘How did you learn it in just those few hours?’ and ‘How can someone who just came up from the 1st Class be capable of that level?’ were all plainly written across her face.
Thinking about it, there was no particular reason to hide it, which was why it stood out this way.
I was currently disguised as a Double Caster.
So ever since the 1st Class, no matter what kind of magic I manifested, people reacted with interest rather than suspicion, thinking, ‘Do Double Casters really have that kind of talent?’
And very conveniently, I was in the body of a young student right now.
No matter what question Cullem asked…….
“I don’t know, it just worked when I tried?”
“Uh…… is that really such an amazing level? That’s interesting.”
If I played dumb like this, that was the end of it.
Feigning ignorance as a child was like the perfect crime that left no evidence behind.
There might be circumstantial suspicion, but with suspicion alone, no one could interrogate or reach a conclusion.
Cullem’s burdensome gaze continued.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Nothing. I just realized you’re a pretty interesting kid.”
Yet she didn’t ask anything further.
“If both of you are done dueling, you’re heading back, right? You’re not doing another one?”
She then took her gaze off me and asked Keled.
“No! No!”
Keled shook his head violently with a horrified expression, waving both hands as a strong sign of denial.
After Keled left first like that, I was just about to return to the dormitory.
That was when Cullem spoke up, grabbing my attention as if she had been waiting.
“Artel, do you know this?”
“What?”
“That your Tap-Taking is at a level even I want to learn. Now I get why Keled’s eyes changed like that.”
“Huh?”
She wasn’t picking a fight.
But it wasn’t pure praise either.
It was a single line, like a poem laden with implicit meaning.
“If I’d known how to do that at your age, I might’ve even aimed for the position of Archmage.”