Opening Day (4)
The elemental magic lecture hall echoed with an overly cheerful voice.
"Professor Ludwig! Professor Ludwig! I heard there was a huge incident?"
"······."
Ludwig, who had been standing with his hands clasped behind his back, turned around. There stood Alexia, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"What have you been doing all this time? Everything was chaos."
"I was sleeping! Hehe."
"······."
Seeing Alexia's bright, innocent expression, Ludwig couldn't help but sigh. Well, who among the faculty would dare wake a sleeping Alexia? Probably only Professor Sergei.
It had been over three years since she took the position of director at the Imperial Academy, but as a Ma-in, she was still an object of fear for the professors. Ludwig, however, had long realized she wasn't someone to be afraid of.
"So what kind of accident was it?"
"It wasn't an accident. It was terrorism."
"What? Terrorism?!"
"Didn't you hear from your assistant?"
"No! He was chattering away, but I only caught the beginning before I came running!"
"······."
When Ludwig glanced down the hallway, he saw a young man wearing glasses struggling to run toward them. Must be Alexia's assistant. A human serving such an impatient Ma-in... The job must be incredibly difficult.
"We had prepared a cart full of mana stones to use as teaching materials. The students said an explosive artifact came from inside that cart."
"That must have been serious! Did you catch the culprit?"
"Not yet. Everyone connected to the mana stone cart has been detained, but the investigation hasn't made much progress."
"By the way! A whole cart of mana stones should have had tremendous explosive power! How is the damage only this much?"
Alexia pointed at the lectern. The blackened, torn-apart space was at most a spherical area with a ten-meter radius. Everything else remained perfectly intact.
"I blocked it."
"You did, Professor Ludwig?"
"Yes."
"Heee... Really? Are you sure?"
"······."
"I asked if you're sure? Why did you stop talking? Huh? Huh?"
"······."
Alexia began to laugh with a mischievous expression. Realizing what that laugh meant, Ludwig had no choice but to shut his mouth and squeeze his eyes shut. As a Ma-in, she could easily distinguish a human's lies.
"······Think whatever you want, Director."
"So it's not you! Hehe. Then who stopped the explosion?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Was it Schluss Heinkel? The top entrance student?"
"······."
"It was, wasn't it!"
"······."
Ludwig squeezed his eyes shut again. She could tell the truth just from his expression without him saying a word. Never had he resented the fact that Alexia was a Ma-in more than at this moment.
"Hmph! I wondered why the ever-so-upright Professor Ludwig would lie! So there was a reason!"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You were trying to protect that commoner boy, Schluss, right? If he made such a big achievement on the very first day of the semester, the powerful noble families would be wary of him!"
"You're wrong. Isn't my mage rank promotion exam currently underway? It was for that."
"You're such a bad liar, really!"
"······."
Ludwig's clenched fist trembled slightly. Standing in front of this woman always made him feel completely exposed. That's why he hadn't wanted to run into her...
"So where is that hero now? I want to meet him right away!"
"He should be in class."
"What? Class? Isn't today a holiday?"
"Have you already forgotten? That boy is double-majoring."
"Ah...!"
Alexia's eyes flashed. Come to think of it, Schluss was majoring in both elemental magic and combat magic. That meant he was probably attending a combat magic class right now...
After blocking such a massive explosion, did he really have the energy left to attend another class? Even as a Ma-in, she would have to pour her full concentration to barely stop that explosion. Could a mere human manage it?
"Huff... Huff... Director... Please slow down a little..."
"Yusek! Follow me!"
"What? Where are we going now?"
"We're going to observe the combat magic lecture hall!"
"Do we have to walk all the way there again?!"
"Should I carry you?"
"No! I'll run with all my might!"
Yusek, the assistant who had once experienced the express train to hell while dangling from Alexia's hand, quickly shook his head. Running desperately for another ten minutes would be far better than that.
Watching Alexia dash off like the wind with Yusek frantically chasing after her, Ludwig let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from the bottom of his soul.
"The world is truly coming to an end."
The fact that Alexia, famous for her indifference to human affairs, was showing this much enthusiasm was surely a sign that the world was doomed.
"This training golem's power level is automatically adjusted to match your abilities."
I'm fucked. I'm really, truly fucked.
Schluss thought this while craning his neck so hard it hurt. What kind of school throws you against a monster like that on the very first day?
"You've all seen one before, right?"
"Yes."
"Good. It should be familiar."
What...?
The students nodded as if it were obvious. Schluss looked around in disbelief, but none of the panic showed on his face. Of course, that was because he was already dead inside.
Stay calm. There has to be a way. If I watch what the others do and figure out the golem's weaknesses as much as possible...
"Then let's begin with... Yes! Top entrance student, Schluss Heinkel, step forward!"
"······."
Schluss bit his lip as he stepped forward, his mind still racing. His plan had completely fallen apart. No matter how he thought about it, the only future he could imagine was getting miserably beaten by that golem.
Even though it was a training golem, its level was calibrated to match Imperial Academy students. For someone with ordinary—or worse—physical abilities like him, there seemed to be no way to compete.
"Professor Sergei."
"Yeah, what is it?"
"I just need to neutralize the golem by any means necessary, right?"
"Neutralizing it might be too much... Well, if you can manage it."
"Then is it okay to use a weapon?"
"A weapon? Of course not."
"What about that steel pipe?"
"Oh, this?"
Sergei lifted the steel pipe he had been carrying over his shoulder. It was something he had taken when the plumbing collapsed recently and had been using as a back scratcher.
"This is fine. I thought you were going to drag out something like a siege cannon. Hahaha!"
"Then could I borrow it?"
"This...? Sure. I can lend it to you."
Sergei tilted his head and tossed the steel pipe. It spun through the air with a whoosh before landing perfectly in Schluss's left hand.
What was he planning, asking to borrow a steel pipe as a weapon? Was he going to fire it like a railgun with lightning magic or something? Sergei crossed his arms and stepped back with an intrigued expression.
My mana is...
Remaining Mana: 52
It's hopeless.
The amount of mana was ridiculously low for using magic. If he tried to use gravity magic, he wouldn't even be able to move a few sheets of paper before running dry. That left only one option.
He had no choice but to use the swordsmanship (though calling it that was embarrassing) he had honed over time.
But will that even work?
Let's say he somehow managed to use swordsmanship to defeat the lowest-level golem. Given the nature of combat magic classes, the power level determined on the first day would affect everything afterward. Of course, there were cases where skill improved over time, so it wouldn't be absolute, but it would certainly have a fatal impact at least until the midterms.
And Schluss was in a position where he absolutely had to take the top spot in overall rankings for both midterms and finals throughout the entire first semester.
That meant he had to get good results in this test, even if it meant pushing himself a bit too far.
Fuck. I really hate pain...
Having made up his mind, Schluss took a deep breath and stepped forward. The students looked puzzled at his strange stance, but two people immediately understood his intention.
Huh? Is that longsword technique?
Longsword... Must be from a northern school.
Sergei and Trie. Having wielded swords themselves, they recognized it instantly. Right foot stepped far back, steel pipe gripped with both hands and raised above the head. From the stable center of gravity to the grip on the pipe, it was clearly not a beginner's stance.
The two were slightly surprised that someone at the Imperial Academy, which taught magic, knew how to use a sword. But that was all. There was no overwhelming pressure from him—the kind that powerful beings inevitably gave off, the kind that couldn't be hidden if one wasn't paying attention.
"Then we'll begin. The moment you lift your foot, the golem will start attacking."
Bang!
The moment Sergei clapped his hands together, a loud sound echoed throughout the lecture hall. It was the signal to start. But Schluss remained completely still for over three seconds, maintaining his initial stance.
The students, who had been watching with growing tension, began to murmur and grow noisy.
"What's this? Is he scared?"
"No way. Who would be scared of a training golem? Even if he's a commoner."
Schluss, who could hear every single one of those quietly spoken words through his sensitive senses, thought:
Fuck. I'm scared shitless.
It was more than twice his height. On top of that, its bulked-up body like some kind of kangaroo was downright terrifying. Just a graze from that stone fist seemed like it would shatter his bones. What the hell was "training" about this thing?
Please. There has to be something useful in this bastard Schluss's memories.
Swallowing hard, he activated the ability.
Memory of the True Body.
Then translucent images began to project everywhere like holograms. A snowy mountain. Schluss in the exact same stance, raising his sword. And before him, the figure of a massive wolf-like monster.
It was somewhat shorter than the golem, but it was still terrifying to see for the first time. But soon, Schluss's memories, emotions, and resolve flowed in, and the excitement began to subside.
His memories weren't of much help. The way to deal with a wolf monster couldn't possibly resemble the way to deal with a golem. All it gave him was the courage to move his frozen body when facing an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
Good. This is enough.
But that was sufficient. Courage. Confidence. Just obtaining those was enough.
A relaxed smile slowly spread across Schluss's lips.
He's smiling? Does he really have that much confidence?
Sergei tilted his head and checked the golem's information. Level 1. The golem's level, which ranged from 1 to 10, was currently set to 1. It meant the golem had judged Schluss's combat ability to be the lowest possible, level 1 or below. That's why Schluss's smile was even more incomprehensible.
"Huu..."
Schluss took a deep breath as he prepared for the final step of battle. It was the activation of his internal circuit—the last resort he had hoped not to use.
Of course, without raising his mana adaptation stat with Selection and Concentration, using the internal circuit was practically impossible. The mana energy his crude internal circuit produced would be nothing but deadly poison to his body without high mana adaptation.
But just because his mana adaptation was only 1 didn't mean mana energy couldn't be converted into mana at all. He should be able to convert at least a tiny portion. However, if he recklessly circulated his internal circuit, he would just end up vomiting blood and fainting like last time.
There was only one way to solve this. He just had to circulate the internal circuit only enough not to faint. Last time, pouring in 10 mana had caused that disaster, so he only needed to put in 1, which was 10 percent.
It can't kill me, right?
Even while recognizing that this was insane, Schluss immediately put it into action. There was no other answer.
Under Schluss's delicate control, a single drop of mana fell. The moment that drop landed and seeped into his internal circuit...
Wiiiiiiiiiing...!
The rampage began.
What the? The level suddenly...?
Sergei flinched in surprise. The golem's level was rising in real time. The numbers that had been changing madly in less than a second had already reached 10. A training golem only judged someone at level 10 when facing a current high-ranking knight, a Stella-rank mage... or someone even beyond that.
Boom!
"What?!"
At that moment, Schluss's figure vanished. It was a speed that Sergei and Trie could easily follow with their eyes, but to the other students, it looked like he had simply disappeared.