The Shadow of the Transcender
Dayla sat with her legs crossed. "So, what is it you're curious about?"
My answer was already decided. "The prestigious Battle Mage families. I want to know about their origins."
"The origins of the prestigious families? Hmm... Well, it's not a secret, so I don't mind telling you. Originally, Battle Mages were the only path among mages that faced utter contempt. Their close-combat capabilities were mediocre, and their ranged firepower was equally ambiguous. The mainstream consensus was that rather than becoming a half-baked Battle Mage, it was far better to master a single, proper path."
I already knew this much. It was a path of extreme difficulty where most ended up as jack-of-all-trades, masters of none. But what I was curious about was what came after.
"But everything changed with his appearance."
"His?" I tilted my head, and she nodded. "The Martial God, Checkmate."
This was the first time I was hearing this. But wait, Checkmate...? "Isn't that a chess term?"
"Yes, that's right. He always went by a pseudonym."
"Lord Checkmate?! You mean the Saint of the North, right?" Sheryl leaped up from her seat, clearly recognizing the name.
After a brief moment of surprise at the sudden reaction, Dayla nodded. "Yes. The Saint of the North, also known as the Martial God—the only Transcender of humanity."
A powerhouse on par with Archdemons, Archangels, Demon Kings, and unmeasurable-grade magical beasts. A Transcender who had surpassed the limits of his species. The realm of power capable of parrying Idrian's sword before my transmigration had just slipped from Dayla's lips.
"He was the one who taught us. He granted an opportunity to the five families who were researching the path of the Great Sage Swallow, a member of the first Hero's party."
"But is it really alright to share such important history so freely?" This was a fact unknown even to the eldest daughter of a Marquis family ruling the southern empire. I couldn't help but feel suspicious seeing Dayla speak of it so casually.
She shrugged as if it were nothing. "Most high-ranking figures already know. The head of the Leber Marquis family is undoubtedly aware of it too. Besides, it's bound to be revealed soon anyway. Now that the deciphering of his training method is complete, there's no longer any need to hide it."
"Ah..."
"Then do you know of Checkmate's current whereabouts?" At my question, she shook her head. "No. Since he always used a pseudonym, he despised drawing attention to himself."
We exchanged a few more words after that. Having finished what she wanted to say, she checked the time and stood up. Ten minutes had already passed. Dayla left without another word, bringing our first meeting with our second party member to an end.
Inside a luxurious room, several students sat around a circular table, waiting for someone.
If the Disciplinary Committee had seen them, they would have foamed at the mouth and charged. These were the worst troublemakers of the academy, the Occupation Club. And among them, these were the executives who caused incidents on an entirely different scale.
"I wonder when the Boss is coming? Calling an executive meeting and all." A woman wearing a fox mask spoke with an amused expression.
A man in a bull mask stared at her with exasperation. "The Boss told us to keep a low profile after the Freshman Welcoming Party. How long has it even been, and you've already absorbed another club?"
"Hey...! I've had my eyes on that one since way back! Seriously, you're as naggy as a model student."
The bull-masked man massaged his temples. "Sigh... Is that why you ended up clashing with the Disciplinary Committee President? If I hadn't gone to bail you out, you would've been caught."
"So what? I didn't get caught, so who cares?"
At the fox-masked woman's shameless response, the bull-masked man let out a deep sigh. If it weren't for the Boss, he would have smashed her head in with his iron mace. Since I'm the only sane one here, I have to endure, thought the bull-masked executive, one of the top leaders of the Occupation Club.
"What's this? Are you two bickering again?" Another person appeared in the room, which had previously only held the two of them. It was a figure wearing a snake mask with a split tongue. Draped in long, flowing robes that made it impossible to tell their gender, the snake-masked executive spoke in a slithering voice.
"Honestly. Every time the Bull and the Fox meet, they fight. Tsk, tsk. Is it because you're both muscle-brained idiots with nothing upstairs?"
"Hey. What did you just say? Muscle-brained? You scrawny little bastard!" The Fox brandished a long whip, while the Bull hoisted an iron mace the size of a human torso.
As if waiting for this exact moment, the Snake began chanting a spell. *Crack.* A fissure ran through the circular table, and just as they were about to clash—
The mana of all three was instantly crushed.
"Didn't I warn you not to act like clowns during executive meetings?"
It was a crushing pressure of mana that completely overwhelmed the executives, who were high-tier Experts and 6th-Circle mages. The Bull immediately dropped to one knee, while the Snake and the Fox clicked their tongues and returned to their seats. Before them stood a boy whose face was blurred out, looking like a shifting mosaic.
"You called, Boss?"
"Yeah." Acknowledging the Bull's greeting, the boy naturally took the seat of honor. The moment he sat down, the luxurious room transformed into a sandy beach.
"Pah! Boss! I told you to stop changing the room to a beach!" As the Fox spat out sand that had gotten into her mouth and complained, the boy smirked with a face that practically said, 'What are you gonna do about it?' The Fox clenched her fists, but there was nothing she could do. She only vented her frustration by smashing her sand chair.
"Wow. I called an executive meeting as the Boss, and only three of you showed up? Where are the other Zodiacs?"
"..." At the boy's question, the Bull-masked man shook his head. Dumbfounded by the ridiculous situation, the boy clapped half-heartedly.
"Wow. I guess since this club is packed with nothing but rebels, my orders are just dog food to them."
"If you don't like it, you should've left the Occupation Club, hehe." The Snake-masked executive openly sneered, but the boy didn't mind. Despite the attitude, the Snake was actually the one who followed his orders best after the Bull.
"Where's the Dragon?"
"You know what happened. He tried to mess with Irelia, got his wrist sliced, and ended up like that. We managed to break him out, but he's currently recuperating. He won't be able to move for at least two weeks."
"He was pretty obedient, too. What a waste. Do we have a replacement?"
The Snake glared at the boy as if he were asking for the impossible. "How could we? You know better than anyone how rare a high-tier Expert and 6th-Circle mage is, Boss."
Only the top fifty 3rd-years, and the top two of the 2nd-year class could reach that level—a realm of power capable of burning down an entire fiefdom single-handedly. A replacement for such a powerhouse simply did not exist, even for the Occupation Club, the strongest organization in the academy.
"Forget it. I was just asking."
"Anyway, you wouldn't have called an executive meeting for no reason. What's going on?" At the Fox's question, the boy pulled out a crystal ball, wearing a grin that showed he had been dying to share this. The three executives looked at the sudden crystal ball with curiosity.
"What's that?"
"Since the Dragon's seat is vacant right now, this is the person who will temporarily fill it."
"Fill the Dragon's seat? Even if he was taken down in an instant by the Disciplinary Committee President, he's not someone who can be replaced by just anyone."
Even if he had been defeated, he was still someone who held one of the twelve seats of the Zodiac. Besides, his defeat was only because the Disciplinary Committee President was an absurd monster—a 7th-stage martial artist. On top of that, he hadn't received any warning, so he was essentially ambushed by Irelia.
The boy cut through their lingering skepticism with a single sentence.
"Just watch first, then talk. I'll make sure you eat those words."
Seeing the three executives agree to watch, the boy grumbled as he activated the video. "Honestly, my subordinates have zero loyalty to their Boss."
Whirrr.
With a strange hum, the video began to play.
In the projection, a massive beam of light was tearing through a forest. It was a scene straight out of a superhero movie. However, the moment the executives recognized the figures in the video, their expressions stiffened.
"He's clashing with Irelia?"
"Is that the Student Council Vice President? He's the only one who can match her in close combat, right?"
"Stop talking nonsense and just watch." At the boy's command, the executives shut their mouths.
The beam of light piercing through the forest soon stopped, and the forest began to disintegrate under the sheer force of their battle. With every clash, the original landscape of the monster forest vanished. Shockwaves snapped nearby trees whole. The earth split open, and just as they began to wonder if this was a battle between humans or demigods, the mace and the sword came to a halt. Then, the Club President appeared between them.
What followed was the battle between the Club President and the Disciplinary Committee President, which the executives were already familiar with.
"Is this real?" The Snake, who always maintained his composure beneath his mask, showed genuine emotion for the first time in a long while.
"Yeah, it's real. Absolutely no editing. I saw it with my own two eyes." At the boy's confirmation, the Snake stroked his chin.
"If this is real... a cataclysmic shift is about to occur in the academy."
Another superhuman-level powerhouse had emerged. And one who could rival Irelia of the Lionheart family, no less. The three major factions of the academy—the Student Council, the Disciplinary Committee, and the Occupation Club—all had superhuman-level powerhouses as their leaders. In other words, if this black-masked man decided to gather a following, he could easily turn the three major factions into four.
Because those below the superhuman realm can never defeat one.
They might be able to buy time, but winning was absolutely impossible. If a superhuman-level powerhouse decided to hide, anyone below that realm wouldn't even be able to detect them. Trying to corner and subjugate them with sheer numbers made no sense. They wouldn't even recognize them if they walked right past them.
Unless they have a specific tool, that is.
Perhaps it would be possible if they possessed a magic tool capable of dealing with a superhuman. Of course, recruiting a superhuman-level powerhouse would be far cheaper than procuring such a rare magic tool.
"But can we actually bring this person in?"
"Who knows? Haha..."
"Are you playing games with us right now?!" Even as the Snake snapped, the boy maintained an unbothered, groundless composure. He muttered in a voice so quiet that no one else could hear.
"Well, if he doesn't want his identity exposed, he won't be able to refuse, will he?"