Chapter 348
Chapter Title: The Uprising
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“Arc Ray!”
Countless orbs of light adorned the air.
Kigigigiging-!
Verus's spell instantly swept away the surging horde of orcs.
Seeing this, Verus looked down at his own hands with astonished eyes.
‘This much power?’
Verus's family was a line of summoners, generation after generation.
Thanks to that, he showed clear promise in summoning, but he was lacking when it came to magic.
He had felt himself change over the past few weeks through the introductory grimoire of star magic, but.
‘I never imagined it would be this much.’
Verus wasn't the only one with a surprised expression.
The speed at which they were subjugating monsters was in no way inferior to the upper class's.
Watching this, Angr's eyes widened.
“Are they really going to win?”
Seeing the surprised Angr, Eclair, who was beside him, wore a serious expression.
“It won't be easy. Yoinia is there, after all.”
As a fellow upper-class student, Eclair knew Yoinia's abilities well.
In terms of mana capacity, Yoinia had more than not only Eclair but also Elric, the second-ranked student of the first year.
At Eclair's words, all the lower-class students, including Angr, shrank back.
Seeing this, Leo spoke.
“We'll win.”
Leo smiled warmly at the lower-class students.
Since entering Seirun, they had been continuously treated as the bottom of the barrel.
After coming to Seirun, their expectations turned to disappointment, and disappointment to despair.
That was why the lower-class students generally lacked confidence and tended to be timid.
The lower-class students looked at Leo.
“That kid, Yoinia, is certainly a formidable talent, but as a half-baked mage like that, it won't be easy for her to display her abilities properly.”
“H-Half-baked?”
Seeing Leo call a top-ranking student of Upper Class 1 half-baked, Eclair looked bewildered.
“Yoinia's strength is her powerful mana, so the teachers focused on teaching her high-level magic that other upper-class students can't easily use. Among Upper Class 1, she's a fast learner, along with Leah. She's already learning spells that second-year seniors learn in their second semester... and you call her half-baked?”
“Selection and concentration, that's good. But do you think any of your seniors are good at high-level magic but can't properly use low-level magic?”
“...”
“If the path you're trying to walk is that of a star mage... well, that kind of teaching method might be right. But taking exceptional kids and intensively training them is a teaching method that can be done anywhere, not just at Seirun.”
Leo looked at the Upper Class 1 students.
“Admiration and respect for the Progenitor of the Nebula and the Comet Sorcerer... those are certainly the best elements for growth.”
The lower-class students looked at Leo.
“But that's not the right answer. You're trying to become heroes, not a second Progenitor of the Nebula or Comet Sorcerer, right?”
Leo smiled warmly at the lower-class students.
“Believe in yourselves.”
Leo pointed a finger at a statue situated in a corner of the training grounds.
It was a statue of the Comet Sorcerer, one of many found throughout Seirun.
“Those were the words of none other than the founder of this school, weren't they?”
The lower-class students' eyes widened.
And their faces flushed with excitement.
“Yeah! We've worked hard all this time!”
“Let's all do our best!”
Everyone clenched their fists.
Seeing this, Angr approached with a wry smile.
“I guess you should be the class president after all, Reil.”
“You're suited for it too, so you keep doing it. I've already done it before.”
“What?”
Leo grinned at the flustered Angr.
“H-Hey! The monsters are breaking through! Defend! Defend!”
Just then, a panicked shout rang out.
Trolls that appeared from the summoning circles charged madly toward each formation.
The upper-class students, who had been focused on attacking, momentarily allowed the monsters to get close.
In an instant, injuries occurred among the upper-class students, and their offensive line crumbled.
Given the sudden appearance of a large number of trolls, the lower class also allowed them to get close.
However, the knight-class students in charge of the front line for the lower class stepped forward.
The mages in the rear cast enhancement magic.
Everyone was stunned to see the lower class's front line defending against the trolls' massive assault.
“Wait, isn't enhancement magic usually a secret art of high-ranking families?”
“Why are those lower-class kids using something like that?”
The first-years wore expressions of astonishment.
The upperclassmen also looked surprised, but they soon stroked their chins with interest.
“Interesting. Did they modify the new star magic?”
“I didn't expect much since they're the lower class... but they seem more like the upper class.”
“As mages, the individual skills of the upper-class students are certainly superior, but... can you really call them hero candidates?”
“If they could use Aura or summoning in this exam... I wonder if those upper-class kids could really beat the lower class?”
The upperclassmen sent cold gazes toward the upper class.
Seeing this, the teachers of the Pureblood Society wore stiff expressions.
Currently, in elven society, including Seirun, there are many who support the Pureblood Society.
Hearing the news that the Progenitor of the Nebula, Luna, had descended again, Seirun had become a sort of holy land.
The pride of the elves and the Great Hero who saved the world.
For a long time, the elves had respected and admired the Progenitor of the Nebula, Luna.
With such a figure as Luna miraculously reappearing, it was inevitable that the influence of the Pureblood Society, which championed elven pride, would grow.
But even so, the Pureblood Society couldn't control everything.
There were many who had held doubts about the Pureblood Society itself for a long time.
No matter how conservative elven society was, extreme tendencies would always have their opponents.
Seirun was no exception.
Among the upperclassmen, many viewed the Pureblood Society with disapproval.
Therefore, this first-year midterm exam was also an opportunity to showcase the Pureblood Society's methods to the upperclassmen.
And yet...
‘To show such a disgraceful display of being pushed back by those lower-class nobodies!’
Rhagen's face contorted.
‘That bastard! He must have used some kind of trick!’
Rhagen's bloodshot eyes turned to Leo, who was wearing a Seirun uniform.
For a moment, Leo and Rhagen's eyes met.
Leo looked at Rhagen and curled the corner of his lip into a smirk.
‘Don't you dare think it'll end like this, Leo Flove!’
Rhagen gritted his teeth.
Beeeep-!
In the meantime, the sound signaling the end of the exam rang out.
“We won!”
“Hooray!”
The lower-class students let out cheers.
Verus's team, which had secured the victory, wore expressions of disbelief.
“Everyone! You did so well! You were wonderful!”
Laura, with tears welling in her eyes, hugged each of her students one by one.
As their homeroom teacher, Laura knew well.
How unfairly her students had been treated for the sole reason of their lack of achievement in star magic.
How much the children had suffered emotionally.
That was why she couldn't help but be moved watching the lower class defeat Upper Class 1.
“We really won! Reil! It's all thanks to you!”
Verus's team swarmed around Leo.
Seeing this, Leo chuckled.
“Don't pass the credit for your own hard work to me.”
“But...”
“You weren't without talent in the first place.”
“What?”
“If you had no talent, you wouldn't have been able to get into Seirun.”
Leo patted Verus's shoulder.
“You just weren't a good fit for star magic. All I did was create an opportunity. If you're going to thank someone, thank your teacher, Laura, and the associate professor of Lumerne's magic department, Anna, who will be here in a few days.”
Leo said, looking at the wide-eyed lower-class students.
“The reason you won today is because you never gave up and continued to work hard until now.”
The entire lower class looked emotional.
“Reil.”
“What.”
“Can I call you big brother?”
“I want to call you big brother, too.”
“Big brother!”
“Big brother!”
The lower-class students praised Leo.
“Stop with the nonsense and focus on the rest of the exams.”
Leo burst out laughing.
“You have to prove it. Prove that Seirun, which turned its back on you, was wrong.”
***
The exams that followed were a series of shocking results.
The deliberate pairing of upper-class teams with lower-class teams, intended to make the former shine, had backfired with fatal results.
The lower class's rebellion.
Watching the lower class claim victory against the upper class in every match, the faces of the upper-class homeroom teachers turned pale.
Conversely, the middle class, which had received the same education as the upper class, failed to surpass them even once.
This meant only one thing.
It meant that the educational policies for the middle and upper classes were flawed.
‘Impossible! It can't be! How could those dropouts beat the upper class!’
Geras, the homeroom teacher of Upper Class 1, had a deathly pale expression.
He kept glancing sideways, gauging Acting Headmaster Rhagen's reaction.
Seeing Rhagen's icy expression, Geras swallowed nervously and stood before Leah.
“Student Leah! The honor of Upper Class 1 rests on you!”
Leah looked at Geras, who was urgently shouting while gripping her shoulders, and said with a blank face.
“Teacher, would you mind letting go?”
At her words, Geras flinched and stepped back.
“Since it's an exam, I'll do my best, but it's not particularly for the honor of Upper Class 1.”
Leah smiled sweetly.
“And I'm not particularly fond of your teaching methods, either.”
“L-Leah...”
Leah headed to the training grounds.
Elric had shown an overwhelming performance against the middle-class students.
With his exceptional magic skills, he was earning praise from the seniors, who remarked that the year representative was truly different.
Everyone was watching the lower class's rebellion with intrigued eyes.
But no matter what anyone said, the focus of every Seirun student's attention was... none other than Leah.
Click-clack-
Standing on the training grounds, Leah waved at the distant lower-class team, Angr's team.
Eclair, a member of Angr's team, saw Leah and waved back with a bright smile.
Then, taking a deep breath, Eclair spoke.
“Like I said before... Leah is on a different level from us. So it's best you do as I say.”
“Even so... isn't that too dangerous?”
When a team member asked in a worried voice, Eclair gave a bitter smile.
“Once the exam starts, you'll understand why I said that.”
Beeeep-!
As the exam began, summoning circles activated, and goblins poured out.
Along with them, a vast amount of mana swirled.
Flash! Craaaaaack-!
Swords of light rained down from the sky.
Magic so powerful it couldn't be compared to anything seen so far.
The goblins were instantly swept away by the swords of light.
Everyone marveled at the event that unfolded in the blink of an eye.
“Hmph.”
Lunia, resting her chin on her hand, wore an amused expression.
“As expected of a Tingel.”
It was just as Lunia said.
She was on a different level from the other first-years.
“Ah, this is why I hate geniuses. To pull something like that off right in her first year.”
The top student of the fifth year, Marven, let out a hearty laugh.
Marven's gaze was directed at Lunia and Evertune.
“Still, the other side came up with a good strategy. Knowing they can't win anyway, they're conserving mana at the start.”
Marven stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming.
Just then, dozens of magic circles materialized around Eclair.
“Multiple incantations? Impressive.”
Marven whistled.
“She's the year representative.”
Evertune crossed his arms.
“Mana capacity isn't the only measure of a mage's skill. If we're looking at pure magical skill among the current first-years, that girl Eclair has more than enough aptitude to be the year representative.”
Evertune gave a cold smile.
“I don't know why a kid like that is on the same team as the lower class. Is it because the lower class isn't acting like the lower class?”
At Evertune's words, veins bulged on Rhagen's hand.
‘That bastard...!’
“Senior Evertune seems to look down on everything that doesn't meet his standards.”
“That's his charm. Consistently an asshole.”
Evertune's murderous gaze turned to Lunia and Marven.
It was then that Lunia feigned ignorance and Marven snickered.
However, the score was overwhelmingly in favor of Leah's team.
Just as everyone was thinking, "Of course,"
Thwack-!
The corpse of a fallen goblin pushed itself up.
Gigigik- Kigigigik-
Making a strange noise and twitching, the goblin's neck twisted with a crack.
Inside the exam area, illusion magic was cast so the monsters couldn't perceive the outside.
But the goblin's face turned to look directly at Leo, who was outside the exam area.
Glint-
For an instant, a dark red light flashed in its eyes.
At the same time, a dark red smoke began to seep from the goblin's body.
Seeing this, Leo's eyes twitched.
‘……Undead?’
“Kikekekekek!”
With the goblin's cry, the other fallen corpses began to rise.
A massive wave of dark magic swirled.
Leo's face hardened.
It was dark magic he recognized.
‘Hell Kaiser.’