By a Hair's Breadth
KWAANG— By a hair's breadth. Sensing the crisis, Maness barely kicked off the ground and retreated just as a massive boulder grazed past his face and slammed into the earth. Stone shards from the impact threateningly scraped the students' skin.
In the brief moment the golem paused to repair the arm it had plunged into the ground, the three victims exchanged awkward glances.
"Um... Professor? This feels a bit too much like a prank, don't you think?"
Maness was the one who voiced the complaint. It was only natural after brushing so close to death.
"You think any professor would prank during class?"
"No one could look at this and call it reasonable!"
"You won't die, so quit worrying over nothing. The school's crawling with holy magic experts ready for accidents. Besides, I've got your back."
Not reassuring at all.
He had zero intention of backing down, but Maness clenched his teeth and stared straight ahead. This wasn't someone he could reason with anyway, and getting smashed by a boulder while distracted elsewhere was a hard pass.
"...What now?"
Kyle murmured as the golem straightened up again. What now? Maness shot him a look that said he was asking the obvious while eyeing the boulder soaring into the sky once more.
"We bolt."
Decision made, Maness turned tail and sprinted back toward the clearing's entrance. A thunderous roar shook the forest behind him, but he had no time to look.
Putting their one solution into action came first.
"Where to?"
"Whoa, you scared me."
Without even discussing it, Conien was already right on Maness's heels. A chill ran down Maness's spine at that instinctive sense, but he quickly remembered who he was dealing with.
"The cabin. You think she'd cause a ruckus with other students around?"
Conien nodded at the clipped words, instantly getting it. It made sense she'd pull just the three of them aside for this nonsense, but if it were the whole first-year class, that'd be a different story.
"What if it's the same there?"
Kyle had caught up now, having shaken off the golem.
"Then that professor's not just crazy—she's a full-blown lunatic."
Maness's thoughts froze mid-stride. A possibility he hadn't considered: she might actually be that insane. He kept running toward the cabin, hoping that creeping anxiety wouldn't come true.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—it did.
Screeech— The three skidded to a halt, scraping up dirt. In the blink of an eye, the professor—teetering on the edge between madwoman and lunatic—had blocked their path.
"Class is in session."
Snowrobe's professor faced the students with arms crossed, no weapons in sight. A single word from her was enough to crush their momentum.
Damn.
Maness turned to Almond, who loomed like a mountain. But things weren't any better behind them. The surprisingly agile golem was bearing down, crushing the ground—forcing them into a single lane.
Can we do this?
A pointless inner monologue. Now wasn't the time for overthinking. He had to pour every sense into survival instinct and carve a path.
"Hm?"
Almond voiced her bursting curiosity. The kid who'd been frantic moments ago had steeled himself and extended a hand—toward her, the professor.
"You wanna go?"
"...Not the time to quibble over professor versus student."
Pure mana gathered at Maness's fingertips. It felt far smoother than before. Like when he'd first formed a mana bullet. Was this instinctive sense in crisis acting as lubricant?
Pushing aside the faint question, Maness focused on the enemy ahead.
"Smash her!"
The mana bullet fired with his sharp shout. Thanks to practice, it was far more stable than last time. At the same time, two beasts charged, using him as a marker.
BOOM—
The bullet streaked like lightning and hit Almond dead-on. But through the dust cloud of the explosion, she showed no change. Just a ripple of light from the ring on her right index finger.
"Cute kids."
Chewing on her impression of her students' counterattack, Almond raised her left arm. It snagged Conien mid-leap as he aimed to smash her into the dirt.
"Kgh!"
The tide turned in an instant. Conien had been a split second from striking—then froze, slammed into the ground.
In that fleeting clash, Almond fluidly handled attacks from two. Right after, she sensed killing intent slicing the air. Kyle crouched low like a predator, priming his strike. His sharpened gaze made the wooden sword feel like a real blade—an illusion that sapped the will to fight.
No first-year with just a decade of sword training should have that aura.
She'd already handled two moves. Utterly defenseless. Arrogant professor about to get bitten by the young beast charging in—the three students were certain, if only for a moment.
Thwack—
Time seemed to stop at the dull impact. The hawk-like eyes charging the prey turned to startled rabbit eyes in no time.
It wasn't panic over his perfect strike being blocked. She was a Snowrobe professor, after all—brushing off this level of rebellion was par for the course.
But the method was all wrong. She'd caught the wooden sword's edge—bare-handed.
"This is... a bit much."
Kyle barely finished his short impression before his body launched into the air.
"Gahk!"
He hit the ground hard, clutching his gut from the tiny mana bullet's shock.
Watching it all unfold, Maness felt a hollow emptiness. What kind of 5th rank mage is she?
A mage who'd delayed promotion out of sheer laziness. Her enchanted accessories and their use defied prediction.
"Kinda hurts my feelings you picked me over the golem."
Unlike the wrecked students, Almond—sweatless—scratched her head with a grumble.
Before awe could set in, Maness realized ominous footsteps were closing fast. Just a few strides. The boulders scattered in the clearing approached with malice.
"Can you do like last time?"
Conien—recovered faster than Kyle, who'd taken a direct mana bullet hit—asked from the front.
Maness instantly knew he meant a mana bullet with skeleton-crushing power.
"Sure, why not."
He wasn't thrilled about dumping uncontrollable mana, but after agreeing, Maness sighed deeply. At this point, the boulder was preferable to that lunatic professor.
Steeling himself, Maness slipped off his ring. It absorbed the wearer's mana—used so far to suppress his overflow. Now, he needed that vast power.
Like before against Almond, Conien charged the golem. The organic bait drew its focus.
Behind the decoy, Maness poured his body's mana toward his outstretched hand. A bursting sensation surged through his arm.
Ignoring the instability, he shoved in more mana like against the skeleton. The manifested orb swelled at terrifying speed in response.
"Conien!"
As it neared unmanageable levels, Maness yelled at his classmate, who was agilely dodging and drawing aggro.
Conien glanced back, every hair standing on end. That hits? Not surviving with just a limb lost.
Confirming the torso-sized mana bullet, he swiftly widened the gap. No mineral could keep form after a direct hit.
This ends it.
Maness focused past the rippling mana on the golem's body. Unlike the practice mini-golem at the cabin, this stone golem was systematically built.
Meaning it had a core at its foundation. Like a human heart—in the chest.
Aiming there, Maness closed his eyes and steadied his breath.
The golem, drawn to the massive mana clump, stepped toward him. Footfalls like heartbeats.
Breath finished, Maness's eyes snapped open.
The colossal mana vortex tore through the air. Crushing and shredding everything in its path.
No longer just a "bullet," the spell surged at the golem's chest.
GRIIIND—
It collided, grinding the boulder to rubble amid echoes. A roar like a dragon honing claws shook their eardrums.
The raw power's shockwave forced the students to shield their faces with arms. Overwhelming for freshmen just starting magic.
Huddled, they waited for the murderous din to fade.
As echoes thinned and arms lowered, the golem's shape thickened through the thick smoke.
Revealed once more...
"Ha..."
Nothing special. Not pristine like before. The chest Maness targeted was visibly dented, proving the impact.
But just dented. It hadn't reached the core.
"Shouldn't a normal one shatter to pieces?"
Kyle grumbled, standing straight.
Maness—leaning on Conien's shoulder from aftereffects—agreed.
"Even for a rookie's spell, this is ridiculous."
"Rookie? That spell's beyond rookie level."
"But the result's right there."
Power that couldn't pierce ordinary rock. The upright golem proved it.
Should've been stronger than last time. It had stunned it, at least—Maness eyed his ringless finger.
Same conditions as the skeleton fight. Even untrained eye-candy magic should've hit the core. Weird.
"It's stopped working, though. Good enough?"
Conien offered cautiously.
All eyes turned to Almond, perched on a log. She met them stone-faced.
"Golems don't stop without a shattered core. Lesson over."
Crack-Crack—
As her words ended, it shed ground shards and reactivated.
"Just give up and take a hit or two?"
"...Hard pass."
Maness shot down Kyle's idea, but the approaching giant left him resigned. No ideas on beating a stone colossus.
...Colossus?
Insight flashed with the thought. Maness's eyes took in the golem's full silhouette.