Chapter 7: Entrance Ceremony 5
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 7: Entrance Ceremony 5
The reason I was able to weave through the sea of students and snatch the magic beast earlier was simple.
[Shadow Step]
Along with the Mythic-grade Pocket Dimension, it was an item I had brought over from my previous character. In Croaka, it was considered the pinnacle of rogue-class skills. However, since my main character had been a spearman, I’d never actually had a reason to use it.
Unlike the Pocket Dimension, which was accessible the moment I fell into the world of Croaka, I couldn't use Shadow Step right away. The reason was that the "item" I brought was specifically a Shadow Step Skill Book.
They actually gave it to me as a physical book.
In the game, you could learn a skill with a single click, but reality didn't work that way. Ultimately, I had no choice but to open the book and try to learn it myself. When I did, I couldn't believe my eyes.
[Feint left, then move right. However, you must also exist on the left.]
In a book nearly hundreds of pages thick, that single sentence was all that was written. At first, I thought it was complete nonsense.
But since that was the only lead the book offered, I had no choice but to try and replicate it with my body. I moved from left to right as fast as I could, but it was physically impossible for me to exist on the left at the same time.
In the end, I succeeded in the most ridiculous way.
In a fit of pure frustration, I tried feinting left, moving right, and simultaneously casting an illusion on the left—and it worked. Even after succeeding, the absurdity of it hit me.
Once I succeeded that first time, I was able to use Shadow Step instinctively without having to manually cast an illusion every time.
"I didn't think I'd ever have to use illusions for Shadow Step again."
Boom! Bam!
The Golems were currently raining punches down on my clones, but they couldn't land a single hit.
"Is it really possible to move like that?"
"No one in the Isar Tribe moves that way."
"There was no one like that in the East, either."
"Besides, with ten of them moving like that, it’s no wonder the Golems can't hit them."
To put what I was doing into words was simple: nine clones, including myself, were all performing Shadow Step.
It was simple to describe, but I felt like I was going to die for two reasons.
First, it consumed an astronomical amount of mana. Maintaining nine clones at once made me feel like my mana pool was being drained through a sieve.
Second, my head hurt like hell.
I feel like I'm going to lose my mind!
I had to calculate every single step of every clone as they moved. To ensure the Golems didn't realize which one was a fake, everyone had to move naturally. Managing nine clones while moving my own body made it feel like my skull was about to split open.
Nevertheless, my mouth continued to taunt the inanimate Golems. I hadn't known it at first, but I could even project sound through the illusions.
"""Mr. Golem, which one is the real one?"""
Boom! Crash!
My clones and I circled the Golems like a whirlwind. If a clone was hit, the illusion would shatter, so I made sure even the fakes dodged the Golems' attacks with precision.
"I am the real one."
"No, I am the real one."
"What are you all talking about? Obviously, I'm the real one!"
"I'm not the real one."
"I am... what am I?"
If they were women, they might have been thrilled to have ten handsome men talking to them, but unfortunately, these Golems didn't have a romantic bone in their bodies.
Thud!
"Seeing as you have no reaction to my handsome face, you must not be a lady."
Whenever a Golem showed an opening, I immediately rushed in and poked it with my cane.
"I'm the real one."
I didn't forget to blend back into the crowd of clones immediately after the strike. Even though I was the one doing it, it felt incredibly petty.
"The one who just poked you was me."
"What! Are you trying to steal my credit? I can still feel the sensation on my cane!"
"You two handsome gentlemen over there, the one who attacked the Golem was me."
While my mouth chattered incessantly, my mind continued to run frantic calculations: the distance between me and the Golems, and the distance between the Golems and Lucas and Clara.
If I got too close, I’d be crushed; if I stayed too far away, the Golems might ignore me and go after the other two.
Thus, I maintained that delicate distance while circling the Golems. The two giants kept swinging their fists, but neither I nor my clones were slow enough to be caught.
"Did you think I'd be hit by an attack like that?"
"You there, handsome, you're as good at dodging as you are at lying."
"Haha, thank you. You're just as handsome as I am."
"I—"
To manage my mana properly, I reduced the number of clones by half. As the numbers thinned, the Golems found it easier to track us, and I had to focus even harder on dodging.
Smash!
Perhaps my concentration wavered for a split second, because one of the clones was just pulverized by a Golem's fist. If that had been me instead of an illusion, it would have been over. Now, only three clones remained. Three was cutting it close, but it was enough.
"A lot of handsome people have disappeared in the meantime."
As soon as I finished speaking, the three remaining clones lunged at the Golems. Meanwhile, I sprinted toward the position I needed to finalize the plan.
The two Golems destroyed all my remaining clones, but it didn't matter. I had already arrived at the mark. Having "killed" all the clones, the two Golems turned their glowing gazes toward me.
"Haha. I guess I've been caught. I'm the real one."
The two Golems charged, but I was faster at pulling something from the air than they were at reaching me.
Wrapped around my fingers were transparent threads, so thin they were invisible even from inches away. I had been laying these threads across the ground while running circles around the Golems. As I yanked the threads connected to my fingers, they snapped taut, binding the Golems' massive bodies.
The thread came from a spider magic beast called a Kezad, and I had processed it using my trait, Creator’s Hand.
The Golems tried to tear through the bindings, but the threads didn't snap.
"You won't be able to break those so easily."
I had been keeping the processed thread in my Pocket Dimension. While stored there, the thread had become even more transparent and durable.
This was the first ability of the Mythic-grade Pocket Dimension: the enhancement of items stored within it.
As much as I wanted to finish off the bound Golems myself, I lacked the raw offensive power, and the threads wouldn't hold forever.
"Unfortunately, I'm not the protagonist of this stage."
Saying so, I looked toward Lucas and Clara.
There stood Clara, her incantation complete, and Lucas, poised and ready.
Chilling mana was concentrated in Clara's staff, while a holy golden aura gathered on Lucas's spear.
"That was magnificent, Loki."
"I don't know about that chant earlier, but I'll give you credit this time. We wouldn't have caught the Golems without you."
With those words, Clara hurled the concentrated mana from her staff toward the Golems, and Lucas launched his spear.
Bound and immobile, the Golems couldn't dodge.
KABOOM!!!!
With a thunderous roar, the Golems vanished, leaving not even a core behind.
* * *
In the monitoring room where the Academy professors were gathered, the atmosphere was electric.
The professors were in a state of extreme excitement.
"They actually caught them."
"Is this year's class legendary, or are those three just exceptional?"
"Did you see the magic Student Clara used? Is that the magic the Tower Master taught her?"
"And Student Lucas's throw. That golden aura... is that the power only the Imperial Family can wield?"
Before they even realized it, they were already referring to Lucas and Clara as "students."
"Student Loki... he must be a user of Innate Magic, right?"
At the words of one professor, the noisy room fell into a sudden, heavy silence.
Everyone knew how mysterious 'Innate Magic' was. Although it was called magic, unlike regular spells, it was absolutely impossible to teach or learn.
Innate Magic was not something one acquired; it was something one was born with. Very little was known about its origins. Some Innate Magic was completely useless, while other forms were powerful enough to shift the tides of war.
Therefore, Innate Magic was a coveted subject of research, and the professors weren't about to miss an opportunity to study it. Professor Idra, who had claimed Loki long ago, did not like the hungry looks on her colleagues' faces.
"Don't you all dare eye my student. Loki is mine!"
"Now, now, 'your' student? Professor Idra, isn't he everyone's student for now?"
"You only call me 'Professor' at times like this, honestly!"
The club representatives also considered pursuing Loki after hearing he was an Innate Magic user, but they quickly gave up, knowing they couldn't compete with the Student Council President or the President of the Disciplinary Committee.
In fact, Joden Adelian and Johanna Freya were already glaring at each other with open hostility.
"Ho ho, well then, I have some business to attend to, so I'll be going first."
The Principal left the monitoring room and walked back to his office.
He took a communication device out of his drawer and placed a call.
Ring— Ring—
Because of the status of the recipient, it took some time for the call to be picked up.
"Glory to the Empire. Your Majesty, it is I."
[Is it not the Principal?]
Through the device, a man with the same blonde hair and golden eyes as Lucas appeared. However, the aura of a ruler radiating through the screen was incomparable to Lucas's.
"Your Majesty, please speak comfortably."
[How could I do that, when I was scolded so much by you during my Academy days?]
"Those were nostalgic times."
[So, for what reason have you contacted me?]
"Since Your Majesty is a busy man, I shall get straight to the point. The child named Loki—is he perhaps Your Majesty's disciple?"