Chapter 144: Awakening
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: Awakening
Rumble!
It happened the moment Loki, locked in combat with Katsudo, summoned the golem he had borrowed from Idra.
Even Joden, standing a considerable distance away, could see it clearly—the golem, towering over ten meters tall, manifested in an instant.
‘I suppose he got that from Professor Idra. He remains an unpredictable man.’
Joden had been in the monitoring room when Idra released the golems during the entrance ceremony, so he knew exactly what that construct was.
“I doubt that alone can take down a Necromancer, but our benefactor must have a plan.”
Crash!
The grotesque skeleton Joden had previously frozen shattered the ice and let out a bone-chilling roar.
When Joden had used a wave of ice to freeze and splinter the horde of skeletons, they had pulled themselves back together like magnets, merging into this singular, towering monstrosity.
The bizarrely resurrected skeleton unhinged its jaw and exhaled an ominous, murky aura.
The dark energy was more than enough to swallow Joden whole, but he evaded the strike with ease, conjuring a tall pillar of ice from the ground to lift himself out of reach.
As if determined not to let its prey escape, the skeleton lunged toward the pillar.
Joden timed his jump perfectly just as the creature reached him.
The skeleton waited atop the pillar for Joden to fall back down, but it was the monster that plummeted first.
Joden had simply willed the ice pillar out of existence.
Normally, it is impossible for a mage to create and dispel magic as instantaneously as Joden just had, even if the spell was their own. However, the ice Joden wielded was no ordinary magic; it was his Innate Magic.
Even falling from such a height, a skeleton wouldn't take significant damage from the impact alone. But what awaited the creature wasn't soft earth—it was a forest of ice spikes, sharp as needles, protruding from the ground.
The skeleton fell squarely onto the frozen thorns.
With a sickening crunch, it shattered into dozens of pieces.
By nature, a mage stays behind the front line, calmly chanting and firing spells while protected by others. That is the standard doctrine of magical warfare. Because of this, they are usually vulnerable without a vanguard and weak against unexpected variables.
But the Adelians were different.
To be precise, they had changed the moment the current Head of the Adelian Family took his position.
— Firing magic from behind a vanguard? What, are you going to just die the moment the vanguard isn't there?
Since he was young, Joden had learned the art of close-quarters combat through brutal one-on-one sparring with the Family Head. And before his third year, he had mastered the art of controlling variables while sparring with Loki.
Furthermore, with his mother finally recovering from her illness, a massive weight had been lifted from his heart.
Standing atop another ice pillar he had created, Joden looked down at the remains of the skeleton and furrowed his brows.
“To think it’s trying to regenerate even after that... I see why the Holy Kingdom and the Empire consider Necromancers so dangerous.”
The shattered fragments of the skeleton were twitching, slowly crawling toward each other to reform.
“But in the end, it’s just a stray summon currently out of its master's reach. Its intelligence is clearly lacking.”
To prevent the skeleton from merging again, Joden froze every single fragment individually.
The skeleton eventually succeeded in breaking the ice, though its movements were noticeably more sluggish than before.
Seeing this, Joden simply froze it again.
The cycle repeated several times.
No matter how much mana a mage possessed, maintaining such a cycle would normally be impossible. However, Joden wasn't constantly expending mana to create new ice every time the old shards broke. He was simply gathering the shattered remnants of his previous spell and fusing them back together.
Considering the speed at which the skeleton broke the ice versus Joden’s natural mana regeneration rate, he could keep this up all day.
After some time, the roar of an explosion echoed from the distance, and the skeleton’s movements ceased entirely.
“Hmm. It seems it’s over.”
Joden closed the book he had been reading and began walking toward the source of the sound.
* * *
After Katsudo was flattened by his own protective shield—turned into a literal K-a-t-s-u-d-o—Loki held his cane ready, just in case.
“Did I get him?”
Since only Loki and a few remaining golems were in the vicinity, no one answered. But just to be sure...
“Did I get him? Did I get him? Did I get him? Did I get him? Did I get him? Did I get him? Did I get him? Did I get him?”
Seeing as there was no reaction even after he chanted the "Eight-Fold Resurrection Incantation of Madness," the man was definitely dead.
“Phew, I’m getting too old for this. Way too old.”
Loki patted his lower back and sat down on a nearby rock. For the record, it wasn't his back that was injured, but his leg.
Loki began to apply pressure to his bleeding leg while looking at the golems whose cores had been destroyed.
‘By the way, what if Professor Idra tells me to pay for these?’
They looked incredibly expensive.
Well, I caught Katsudo this time, so the Emperor will give me a reward, right?
While Loki was contemplating how to squeeze more money out of the situation, he heard footsteps and looked up.
“Oh! Mr. Joden, it’s been a while. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I believe I should be the one asking that. Is your leg alright?”
Just as Joden said, he didn't have a single scratch on him, while blood was trickling down Loki’s leg.
“Mr. Joden, a little scratch on the leg isn't the problem right now! We’re in big trouble! Big trouble!”
“Are you injured somewhere else?”
“His Majesty the Emperor said he’d give me money if I caught the Necromancer! But the corpse ended up like that! How am I supposed to prove it?”
Ah, right. He was always this kind of person.
Joden let out a small sigh and sat down next to Loki. Regardless of whether Joden sat or not, Loki stared at the ground in deep thought.
Should I take a piece of flesh as evidence?
* * *
After talking with Loki about what had happened at the Adelian estate, Joden asked, “Lady Sepia is currently fighting. Is it alright if you don't go to her?”
“You’re asking that later than I expected.”
“I helped you on the condition that I wouldn't interfere, after all.”
When Loki had requested Joden’s help, he had set a specific condition: Joden must not interfere with Sepia’s fight. No one knew why the person asking for help was the one setting the terms.
“I’d love to help her, believe me. But what can I do? This is Ms. Sepia’s problem. If someone had gotten revenge for me instead, I think I’d feel more hollow than grateful.”
Joden didn't know the details of Loki’s "revenge." He could only guess based on the time they had lived together at the Adelian estate.
“Benefactor, what do you think are the chances of Lady Sepia winning?”
“About fifty-fifty?”
Even before Sepia fought Betzdo, Loki had told her that her chances of winning were about half. Joden pondered Loki’s words.
Half...
“That’s higher than I thought.”
It was true that Sepia possessed unparalleled talent for spirits. However, her opponent was a Necromancer who had survived the Great War hundreds of years ago. The fact that Sepia, who was still just a student, had a fifty percent chance of defeating such a monster was astonishing.
But that was only half the story.
“That means she has a fifty percent chance of dying. Are you really okay with that?”
Joden was momentarily stunned by Loki’s response.
“It’s fine. I was lying.”
Of course, it wasn't a complete lie. In a way, it was close to the truth. At that time, even if Sepia knew all of Katsudo’s patterns, her chances of winning were barely half.
But as mentioned before, in Croaka, there is a phenomenon called Awakening that only Special Class students experience.
And among the Special Class students, the first to awaken is Sepia.
Loki, staring into the distance, suddenly spoke.
“Mr. Joden, who do you think is the strongest among the current Special Class students?”
Hearing Loki’s question, Joden looked around. The blood on the ground hadn't even dried yet, and bits of flesh were scattered about. This was a man who, half a year ago, barely knew how to fight. And now, a man who had just taken down two Necromancers—beings considered legends—was asking this seriously?
“Isn't it obviously you, Benefactor?”
Loki waved his hand dismissively.
“Ayy~ Not the person who wins in a fight. I mean the strongest person.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Well, I’m not confident I can explain it in detail, but you know, there’s just a certain... vibe.”
Joden could more or less understand what Loki meant.
“I don't know their skills perfectly, but wouldn't it be His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Not Ms. Clara?”
“........”
“Sigh, when will this family ever actually talk to each other?” Loki muttered, and Joden pretended not to hear.
“Then who do you think is the strongest, Benefactor?”
“Well, it’s hard to point to just one person, but if they fought right now, Mr. Lucas would probably be the strongest. If they fought with preparation, Ms. Clara would probably be the strongest.”
The quick-witted Joden caught the hidden meaning in Loki’s words.
“Since you’re using the past tense, it sounds like you’re saying it’s different now.”
“Yes. That’s right. Starting today, it’s different. From now on, the strongest in the Special Class is Ms. Sepia.”
“Benefactor.”
“Yes? You’re not sulking because I didn't say your sister is the strongest, are you?”
“For someone who says he isn't worried, your leg is shaking quite a bit.”