novelraw Chapter 95 : A New Test (3)
Chapter 95 : A New Test (3)
Chapter 95: A New Test (3)
The reason Hei asked whether even one would be possible within five years was precisely because of the school rules.
If you failed to advance to the next class for more than five years, you were expelled, so wasn’t it enough to just do it within five years? It was an extremely simple question.
“Of course, it’d be better to pass this year if possible. It’s not like the exam is difficult, like it was in 1st Class or 3rd Class.”
Purely in terms of difficulty, it was the easiest exam.
It wasn’t a battle of wits where you had to duel someone to accumulate points, or secure the blue-flame zone within a set time.
And more importantly, I didn’t have the luxury to wait five years.
I was already standing at the threshold of the gate that led to meeting Etar.
Any delay in advancing here was absolutely unacceptable.
The reason I couldn’t abandon Hei was because of what he had shown in 3rd Class—his handling of the Darkness Element.
“How do you even create magic? We’ve always just copied magic straight from teachers or books.”
“That’s why this is 5th Class. From 5th Class onward, it’s advanced.”
Only now did I understand why, back in 3rd Class, Balak had said that it was a class that was difficult if you focused on the difficulty, but fun if you focused on the enjoyment.
From the 5th Circle onward, you needed the ability to build your own domain.
I also had a lot to think about regarding what kind of magic I would demonstrate during the exam.
All the magic I had learned was what my master had passed down to me, and even that consisted entirely of Flewd magic.
Even if it was single-element magic, they were ultimate spells like Orbification.
A magic that matched the level of the 5th Circle, used only the Fire Element, and was uniquely mine.
I felt rather lost myself.
“Let’s study with this book the teacher gave us. If we do that, we’ll probably be able to find magic that’s uniquely ours.”
That was directed at Hei.
It meant that since he knew nothing, he should use books as references and build his own domain.
Besides this book, there were also the Ed Family’s grimoires, so there was an overwhelming amount of reference material.
“Artel, why are you being so impatient? We’ve got five whole years.”
But Hei didn’t back down.
It was probably because he lacked confidence.
Even so, this was something I had no intention of conceding.
I had shortened every possible amount of time to get here—what leisure or reason could I possibly have to go back now?
“Think about it. We can do it within this year.”
On the surface it sounded like encouragement, but in reality, it was a notice. After leaving those words behind, I gathered my books first and stepped out into the classroom hallway.
A vast corridor.
Compared to the 3rd Class corridors, there was clearly little warmth here.
The 5th Class corridor held only one kind of atmosphere.
Loneliness.
It seemed that for a long period of time, students’ footsteps had rarely passed through.
I began walking through the entirety of the 5th Class area to check how many students there actually were.
‘If it’s just me and Hei for the Fire Element, the other subjects probably aren’t much different.’
The total number of 5th Class students—there were seven subjects, but it felt like there wouldn’t even be ten students in total.
“Yes, I followed the Headmaster’s instructions.”
Nylon stopped by the professors’ office and contacted Etar above through a mob.
Until this morning, it had been the place where a professor named Deven had stayed, but now it was an ownerless office.
This was Ed Etar’s school to begin with, so Nylon was free to use an empty professors’ office however he pleased.
—Is that so? Friday morning of the last week of December, 10 a.m., right?
“Yes, that’s correct.”
—On that day, you’ll be back at the main residence. I’ll personally see and evaluate those students.
“Is that really all right? There’s also a Draco Family mage in 5th Class.”
Nylon asked worriedly.
The professor had been removed, but the teacher in charge of the Darkness Element remained.
There were currently no students at all in the Darkness Element subject.
Even so, the assigned teacher still had to remain on duty, so there was someone holding that position.
“And with Deven suddenly disappearing, that news will definitely reach the Draco Family. If that happens, the Ed Branch School could become a target of the Royal Guard.”
—Hmm, the main residence really might be pushing it. Still, I’ve thought of a way. In that case, I’ll be at the school that day, and you’ll have to help me.
“Of course.”
—And it’s April now. You just have to endure for eight more months.
Eight months wasn’t a short time to endure.
But Etar was someone who had prepared a counterattack alone for a hundred years.
Having acted alone for a century, eight months probably felt trivial to him.
“Understood.”
—All right. Then continue monitoring Draco Jeb, the teacher in charge of the Darkness Element, over there. A full-scale confrontation has essentially already begun.
“Yes.”
—……You’re confident, right?
Draco Jeb, the teacher in charge of 5th Class.
As befitted an advanced class like 5th Class, the Draco Family had assigned a mage of considerable ability.
The question carried the implication of whether Nylon could suppress him if they ever ended up facing each other one-on-one.
“If it comes to that, we’ll just go down together.”
—……Thank you.
With that, Nylon ended the call.
After walking around the entire school, I finally understood why the dormitories suddenly became so much larger starting from 5th Class.
Just as I had expected, the total number of 5th Class students was only ten.
Including us, ten.
I even confirmed that there wasn’t a single student in the Darkness Element subject.
Two Light Element.
Two Fire Element.
One Summoning.
Two Water Element
Two Earth Element.
One Wind Element.
That was the entirety of 5th Class.
It was a truly meager number.
‘At this rate, there probably aren’t any students left in 6th Class right now.’
If the gateway to 6th Class—5th Class—was already like this, it was obvious without even looking.
“Artel!”
Just then, Kiena spotted me and approached.
“Oh, Kiena. Where did you go?”
Kiena was also holding an armful of summoning books.
“Yeah, my assigned teacher asked to see me for a moment. When I went to the classroom, they gave me these books. But it looks like I’m the only one in the Summoning subject.”
“For the Fire Element, it was just me and Hei too.”
“……Really? Is it because it’s an advanced class?”
Kiena didn’t seem too concerned about this situation.
“Probably. Oh, right. Kiena, how are they running the Summoning subject classes?”
I asked what I was curious about first.
For the Fire Element, there were no formal classes—everything was free study.
I wanted to find out whether the Summoning subject was run the same way.
If Summoning was the same, that would mean all of 5th Class operated like that.
“They said class starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. It’s the same as 3rd Class, right?”
“……I see.”
The Summoning subject was different.
Which meant that only the Fire Element was being handled in a special way.
“Did they explain the student ability evaluation too? That as well?”
“Yeah, it was really simple?”
Kiena answered confidently, showing her ease as she said it was simple.
“What is it?”
“They said we just have to handle four relic beasts. In 6th Class, it’s five. Of course, all of them have to be adults.”
The teacher in charge back in 3rd Class had said that handling five relic beasts was difficult.
That meant not all five were in their adult forms.
‘That’s probably why he was serving as an instructor—to reach the 7th Circle.’
For some reason, the task given to Kiena felt relatively easier than ours.
“What about you, Artel? What’s the Fire Element student ability evaluation like?”
“We have to create our own magic. If it overlaps with or is similar to anything in the textbook, it’s an immediate fail.”
“Really? That sounds fun too!”
That was an utterly innocent response.
It wasn’t a crime—she just didn’t know how difficult creating magic really was.
“Compared to 3rd Class, it’s easier, so we can pass this year and go to 6th Class, right?”
Unlike Hei, Kiena was overflowing with motivation.
“I’m thinking the same. Hei does seem to lack confidence, though…….”
“If you help him from the side, Artel, he’ll regain his confidence in no time! It was like that in Class 0, and in 1st Class too!”
That was true.
“But Kiena, where are you heading right now?”
“Yeah! Since the remaining time is free time, I’m going to the training grounds.”
“The training grounds……?”
“I’m going to practice summoning one relic beast. I found a relic beast I really like! Look at this!”
At the mention of relic beasts, Kiena grew excited and opened the book she had received from her instructor.
“……A lycanthrope?”
“Yeah! Isn’t it cool? It’s tall too, so I think it’d be really fun to ride around on it!”
“…….”
Of all things, the relic beast that had stolen her heart was a lycanthrope.
They shortened it and called it a lycan.
Originally, lycanthrope referred to a werewolf, but relic lycanthropes were a bit different.
They walked upright on two legs like humans.
That was why they were called lycanthropes, since they resembled humans.
Their height ranged from as small as 3 meters to as large as 10 meters.
It all depended on the summoner’s ability.
And it was a relic beast I didn’t like very much…… no, one I was extremely wary of.
That was because 450 years ago, during the Battle of the Full Moon, I had struggled badly due to Sylarid summoning dozens of 15-meter-tall lycans.
‘He even summoned black wolves back in 3rd Class.’
It wasn’t a coincidence.
Kiena must have been showing deep interest in lycans due to the influence of some unknown latent power within her.
“Artel, do you want to go together? If you’re going to make magic anyway, it’d be good to start practicing now.”
“I’ll pass. I’ll just think things through in the dorm. How about you take Hei with you, Kiena?”
“Hmm, that sounds good!”
Kiena contacted Hei like that and urged him to hurry to the training grounds.
“…….”
I simply watched Kiena’s retreating figure.
Had I suddenly started seeing things through tinted glasses?
Strangely enough, from her back, it almost felt like I could glimpse Sylarid’s figure.
When evening came, the three of us gathered in the 5th Class dining hall.
“Huh…….”
“This is…… like a noble family’s dining hall, isn’t it?”
As expected of the advanced 5th Class.
There were even more kinds of food, including dishes that hadn’t existed in 3rd Class.
There was also a wide variety of desserts, and everything one could need—coffee, tea, even alcohol—was prepared throughout the dining hall.
As dinner time approached, the existing 5th Class students began to appear one by one.
“……Wow, she’s pretty.”
Hei couldn’t close his mouth as he stared at one of the students.
When I looked as well, she truly had beauty that stole everyone’s gaze.
Gray hair, a bob cut, and even her eyes were gradually being dyed gray.
She was fairly tall, and whether she had tailored her uniform separately or not, she wore it in a way that clearly revealed her figure.
And she looked quite mature.
This was definitely 5th Class.
Starting from Class 0, if you filled the full five years, it took 25 years to reach this place.
As a result, all the students looked like adults, and there were no childlike students like us.
“She really is pretty…….”
Even Kiena, seeing her through the eyes of another woman, acknowledged her beauty.
After that, male students with sturdy builds entered, and now it was Kiena who couldn’t take her eyes off them.
“Wow…….”
It was practically written on her face that she wanted to go up and talk to them.
Thus, ten students gathered in the dining hall.
And yet, the atmosphere was bleak.
The students ate while keeping their distance from one another, and even students of the same element didn’t exchange a single word.
It looked as if they were treating each other like ghosts.
“Why is everyone…… like that?”
As if wanting to break this suffocating silence, Hei asked us.
I knew why those students maintained such an atmosphere.
It was a common phenomenon among mages who had entered the advanced stage.
They lived clinging to books, so reading had become more familiar than talking.
‘You two will end up like that soon as well.’