Chapter 373
Chapter 373
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 373
Chapter Title: Senior Class Briefing (1)
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A special tradition began, where the students of Class Two welcomed the new students of Class Three.
As Shirone stepped past the steel door, the jeers vanished as if by magic, and the students parted to the left and right, clearing a path.
Shirone walked along the path to the sound of applause. It was a welcoming applause, but he couldn't bring himself to smile.
‘So these are the students of Class Two.’
When ten students graduated from the senior class, the remaining twenty were ranked according to their graduation exam scores. Therefore, the ten students welcoming him were likely those who had been eliminated relatively early in last year's exam.
Amy was among them, clapping.
She was eliminated third last year, which put her in Class Two. And in the senior class hierarchy, that meant she was ranked 18th.
Shirone kept his gaze fixed forward, studying their faces from the corners of his vision.
Men, women.
For now, that was all he could feel.
Of course, having observed last year's graduation exam, he remembered the majors of a few students. But right now, it felt like he was facing complete strangers.
‘If I can't break through them, I won't be able to reach the top ranks.’
Class Two formed the core of the senior class, the dividing line between the upper and lower ranks.
The average age of this year's senior class was 20.6.
Shirone was 1.6 years younger than the average, but considering the old-timers like Fermi's group, most were around his age, and some were even younger than him.
After passing through the path formed by the Class Two students, the Class Three students circled back around to the steel door. They then stood in a line, each facing a student from Class Two.
"Welcome to the senior class."
A man with a face full of confidence stepped forward.
Shirone recognized him by his voice alone. He was the student who had hurled the most vicious taunts before they passed through the steel door.
He was a handsome man with a polished air, his blond hair slicked back completely.
His attire, however, was not very mage-like; he wore a blue tracksuit that fit his body perfectly.
He was about 175 centimeters tall, and despite his slender build, a well-proportioned physique ensured he didn't look weak in the slightest.
He had sharp eyes, a high nose bridge like a wolf's, and when he smiled, his tongue was revealed to be an odd shade of red, as if stained with blood.
"I am Screamer, rank one of Class Two."
The moment they heard Screamer's words, the same thought crossed the minds of the Class Three students.
‘So he’s 11th.’
‘11th overall.’
His major was Light, but his specialization was different from Shirone's Photon Magic or Dante's Information Magic.
No, to be precise, he was a magic fist user.
A hybrid class like a Gunner, he primarily employed tactics of disorienting opponents with various light-based spells and delivering the final blow with the physical abilities of Schema.
Another person in the senior class who could use Schema was Amy.
But unlike her, who had only learned it briefly as a child, Screamer's Schema was at a considerable level.
His ability to enter an opponent's blind spot through the dazzling movements of teleportation and finish them off with his fists had captured the students' attention during last year's graduation exam.
It was said he planned to enter the Colosseum to learn martial arts again after graduating from the magic academy, and the prevailing opinion was that he was a prodigy who could have graduated much earlier if not for these complicated circumstances.
After Screamer finished, Pony stepped forward.
Her calm, natural blond hair flowed down the left and right sides of her pretty, half-moon-like forehead, and her characteristically expressionless face seemed intent on preserving her beautiful features like a portrait in a landscape.
With her white face, crescent-moon eyebrows, a sharp nose, and a pointed chin, she could have been mistaken for a doll standing from a distance.
"I'm Pony. Rank 12. My major is Hydrokinetics. My specialization is Rapids."
If Screamer had been long-winded, Pony's introduction was concise.
Nevertheless, the Class Three students couldn't take their eyes off her. It was partly due to her pretty face, but more so because they knew the most important detail was missing from her introduction.
‘Ah, so that’s Pony.’
The only royal at Alpheas Magic Academy.
Although she was from a maternal line and thus distant from the core of power, that was only by the standards of other royals. To the nobles, she was a girl who could not be treated lightly.
Of course, competition in the senior class was fair. The reason Pony hadn't mentioned her lineage in her introduction was because she knew there was no need to provoke unnecessary resentment and make enemies.
Pony's eyes overflowed with royal pride. It was like seeing Zion, the prince of Kazura. Of course, it fell far short of Uorin's absolute gaze.
After Pony's turn, the self-introductions continued down the line.
Shirone listened with interest to each one. Then, he felt the gaze of the woman standing in front of him and turned his head.
While everyone else was focused on the student currently speaking, she alone had been watching Shirone from the very beginning with playful eyes.
‘Her name was… Maya, was it?’
She had brown skin and a plump figure. Her face was round, but her features weren't unappealing, making her look rather cute.
She was memorable to Shirone for a unique reason.
The first to be eliminated in last year's graduation exam. Moreover, he had heard she had also placed last in the exam the year before.
Her major was Sound Magic, specializing in buffs and debuffs using sound, but even at the time, he hadn't been particularly impressed.
In a word, she lacked talent.
Her sound magic failed to penetrate a mage's mind, and she was getting by on the basic magic she had learned in the advanced class.
Her fundamentals were solid, but she didn't have the skill to compete with geniuses—an ambiguous position. One could say she was on the borderline between the advanced and senior classes.
When Shirone looked at her, Maya smiled brightly and raised a hand.
"Hi?"
Shirone glanced around cautiously. It wasn't polite to chat while other students were introducing themselves.
But she paid it no mind, leaning in and speaking in a small voice.
"I know you. Arian Shirone."
It was an awkward situation, whether to answer or not. After a moment of conflict, Shirone finally whispered a reply.
"Ah, yes. I see."
"I saw you at the research presentation last year. That ghost commotion. I was so surprised, you know? How on earth did you come up with that idea? It was truly brilliant. I've been a total fan ever since."
For Maya, that day was still vivid.
How she had laid down in bed after hearing the midnight bell, only for a ghost to pop out of the ceiling. How utterly terrified she had been.
She had fled with the other students, and before she knew it, she was in the central park. And at that moment, the three members of the Paranormal Research Society appeared on the roof of a building.
The presentation, which played on psychological loopholes, was so delightful that she had laughed until she got stomach cramps.
"I really enjoyed the play, too. You looked good as a girl. What did you put in your chest?"
Screamer frowned and looked back at them.
"Hey, Maya. We're in the middle of introductions."
"Ah, sorry. I was just so happy to see him."
"Tch, so clueless…"
Maya looked embarrassed and stuck her tongue out at Shirone.
He couldn't quite figure her out yet. However, the gazes from the other Class Two students were not kind.
Since she was always last, some of them didn't even acknowledge her as a senior class student.
A prime example was Screamer.
Having missed out on Class One by a single rank, he was annoyed by the mere fact that he had to be in the same class as Maya.
Once the introductions were over, through thick and thin, a pleased Screamer spoke with a bright expression.
"Alright, now that we're roughly acquainted, shall we begin the steel door's tradition, 'The Courage of Truth'?"
Pony grimaced and muttered.
"Tradition, my foot… So tacky."
"Hm? The Courage of Truth?"
As Shirone raised an eyebrow and waited for an explanation, Screamer began with his characteristic grandiloquence.
"Someone from Class Two will ask a question to the person standing opposite them. For example, 'Who is the most handsome person?' Something like that. Then, you just have to point to one of us."
‘Hmm, so that’s how it is.’
There was no better way to intimidate the new students.
The example he gave was about the most handsome person, but surely no one would ask such a heartwarming question.
‘So that’s why Amy told me to pick her no matter what.’
Screamer turned to a boy with a youthful face and said.
"Aider, you go first. Since you're the youngest."
"Tch, is it about age here, too?"
Aider was seventeen. He was also the reason Amy hadn't earned the title of youngest in the senior class last year.
With large, cat-like eyes and dimples on both cheeks when he smiled, he looked much younger than his age. The fact that he was short for a boy also contributed to that impression.
‘Why is he emphasizing his age?’
Shirone tilted his head.
In the senior class, where everyone was a competitor, what meaning did being the youngest hold?
Nevertheless, Aider only grumbled slightly before obediently following Screamer's instruction.
‘It must be because the title of ‘youngest’ is more useful.’
Accepting that he was young might lead to some minor annoyances, but there must be a clear advantage that outweighed them.
‘I suppose. Even I let my guard down when I look at Aider.’
The person Aider would question was Arin. The Class Two students watched with great interest.
It was none other than Arin of the Super Vision. Whatever question he asked, the result was bound to be interesting.
Aider mulled it over for a moment, then smiled like a mischievous boy.
"Who is the ugliest person?"
"Hm?"
It was an unexpected question for Arin.
She couldn't properly perceive the forms of objects. This information had also spread through rumors since she started at the academy, so the senior class students would already know.
The students of Class Two grew tense.
For her to call someone ugly could be a reflection of their inner distortion.
"The ugliest person?"
"Yes. Just pick the person who makes you think, 'How can a human being look like that?'"
"Hmm."
Arin stared intently at the grinning Aider.
Then, tapping her lips, she slowly scanned everyone in Class Two.
A few students avoided her gaze.
‘Why did he ask such a question? Is he testing me?’
Arin raised her index finger. Then she pointed to someone on her right.
"I'll pick you, then."
It was a student so fat that just looking at him made one feel hot.
He was holding a bag of potato chips despite it being a senior class event, so he seemed addicted to food.
His eyes were narrow, buried in his cheek fat, and his messy hair looked like he hadn't bothered with it at all.
It would have been better if he wore baggy clothes, but he was in small clothes that revealed the contours of his body, making him awkward to look at.
‘It’s Luman.’
Luman, ranked 13th in the senior class.
His major was Trap Magic, specializing in crowd control.
As his specialization didn't allow him to stand out on his own, he was always at a disadvantage due to his eccentric personality, despite his excellent skills.
Screamer clapped with a sharp, rhythmic beat and said.
"Wow, a woman's eye is truly sharp. Even with Super Vision, she's a ghost at picking out looks. Ah, but who knows. If the appearance is the mold, perhaps the heart within is shaped just the same."
A few of the students burst out laughing.
Among them was Boyle from Class Three. However, his laughter didn't feel genuine.
The psychological warfare had already begun, and it seemed he had decided on an aggressive strategy from the start.
Despite being the butt of the joke, Luman just kept munching on his potato chips. Then he pointed at Boyle and asked.
"But why are you laughing? Shouldn't you not be laughing?"
Boyle contorted his face in an exaggerated frown.
"What? What does it matter to you whether I laugh or not?"
"It doesn't. But you're fat too, aren't you? If you laugh, doesn't that make it self-deprecation?"
Boyle, who had been staring at Luman in disbelief, retorted just as his mother had always taught him.
"I'm plump, and you're fat. There's a clear difference. I look classy, and you're just a pig."
Luman paused chewing the chip in his mouth for a moment before his jaw started moving rapidly again. That was his only reaction.