Chapter 237
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 237
Chapter Title: Lingering Magic Traces
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In the midst of the commotion, the last test participant, Ashuria Abelgard, slipped away, followed by most of the cadets filing out one after another.
Rubas Hontail, the youngest son of the Hontail family, walked silently to the training grounds where the instructors had all gathered moments before.
"Rubas, our family is a prestigious magic lineage. You know that, right? Even so, the reason we couldn't claim the title of Demon Star is because of Luteon Abelgard. As frustrating as it is, we have to acknowledge what deserves it. He's that exceptional of a mage."
"We can't drag that recluse out of hiding, so at the very least, make contact with his hidden disciple who inherited his knowledge, Ashuria Abelgard."
"It'd be even better if you win her favor. Build a good relationship with her and explore ways to bring her into the family."
The words of the family elders echoed in his mind, but honestly, he wasn't thrilled about it.
He was well aware that even the elders of their family—one of the continent's Thirteen Great Houses—were fussing over being overshadowed by the halo of the great mage Luteon Abelgard, who had gone into seclusion.
Truth be told, he'd been a bit surprised when he first laid eyes on her.
Ashuria Abelgard was, after all, quite pretty.
At an age when his blood ran hot, the sight of such a rare beauty had indeed tempted him.
But he hadn't even been able to approach her.
First off, she turned out to be more standoffish than expected, and second...
'Just getting close makes my whole body’s mana scream...'
He'd heard about it long ago: great mages with immense mana reserves, if they didn't control it and let it leak out, could affect lesser mages with relatively smaller reserves.
It was a rare sight, since hardly anyone failed to control it that badly.
Of course, if she was doing it on purpose to keep people away, there was nothing to say.
"Damn it... what the hell is this."
He swept his gaze over the lingering traces of mana left on the training grounds.
For a brief moment, an incredibly bizarre spell had been on the verge of activation.
Could he have stopped it? No, impossible.
He might be the heir to a magic family, but he'd effectively lost to the descendant of a great mage.
But...
Something appeared that his knowledge couldn't explain.
A spell of this perfection had been torn apart like something ripped it to shreds.
Who the hell did this?
Not even the elders in his family seemed capable of something like this.
Ashuria Abelgard herself? No, these were traces of it being yanked from the outside.
The academy instructors? They were renowned, sure, but he couldn't confidently say they surpassed his family's elders.
With that, Rubas blankly swept over the mana traces again, infusing them with his own mana.
His family possessed various proprietary spells unknown to the wider world.
They were what had elevated the Hontail family to its status as the foremost magic house.
What he was doing now was one such spell: manifesting the traces of magic.
A typical investigative spell from the divination school.
Muttering the incantation briefly, his eyes glowed blue.
And then.
He collapsed with a thud.
Before his eyes stretched the massive traces of the spell Ashuria Abelgard had tried to unleash.
And embedded irregularly throughout it, like wedges sealing it shut, were slender, elongated magic formations.
That much was conceivable.
It was a pretty astonishing spell, after all.
But.
Scrambling backward on his knees, he looked up, his eyes widening gradually.
"What... the hell is this."
If Ashuria's magic formation was roughly a meter in scale, and the instructors' interventions took up about 30 centimeters each...
Then what were these enormous mana traces here, spanning over 10 meters?
It went beyond mere size; he even felt like something more was hidden in the structure of the formation itself.
He flattened himself to the ground, examining the formation from various angles.
And his jaw dropped.
"Insane... it's a three-dimensional magic formation. Made by one person in that short time? How the hell?!"
Only two people came to mind who could have caused this phenomenon.
The boy who had snatched Ashuria's arm faster than anyone when she tried to cast her spell.
And the robed woman who had yanked an instructor back.
Just those two.
After that day, Rubas Hontail gathered his scattered thoughts and pieced together rumors bit by bit.
The temporary dormitory he was staying in felt a bit cramped and stuffy.
Most cadets were in these temp dorms for now, but once placements were finalized after the entrance exam, top rankers would move to the premium dorms first.
He could endure the inconvenience until then.
His focus wasn't on dorm quality anyway.
"Basara? What are you doing here."
Arriving at his destination via rumors, Rubas furrowed his brow at his classmate hiding in the bushes, peering at something with a complicated expression.
This guy, who was always bold no matter where he went, spying on someone?
Had he suddenly awakened to romance?
No way. As far as Rubas knew, the burly Basara Crevad wasn't the type.
Startled by Rubas's call, Basara gestured for silence upon seeing him.
"What's going on? Why are you here."
"Something to check."
"Yeah? Me too, actually."
Rubas looked where Basara had been staring.
A group there was up to some bizarre antics.
"Those people..."
"You know them?"
"...Just seen them once before. But... what the hell is that guy doing."
The cadets' behavior was odd enough, but he'd heard this was a class in session.
Yet Leon, who should be teaching, was lounging on a sunbed with sunglasses, humming a tune.
This was training?
He'd heard it was the practical combat course. No clue how this related to real combat.
"So. Why'd you come?"
"Just... something to check for myself."
Seemed they shared the same goal.
Then, a cadet wearing some strange gear, mid-stretch, let out a short scream and flopped down.
"Gahhh... feels like my whole body's tearing apart."
Spotting the screamer, Leon bolted upright.
Yawning widely, he sauntered over and planted himself on the fallen cadet.
"I-Instructor! Please! Just a sec!"
"Don't make me laugh."
"Gaaaaah?!"
The cadet thrashed with the ensuing scream, but Leon cackled, twisting his body every which way.
This wasn't training level; it was torture at the end of some farce.
And it didn't stop there.
"Gyaaak! My eyes! Ahh... my eyes are gonna pop out!"
A girl muttering over a white card etched with a magic formation, flipping it repeatedly, clutched her eyes and rolled on the ground, stamping her feet.
"Guhk... uweeeek!!"
Screams erupted everywhere. Leon's eyes gleamed like a beast spotting prey; he abandoned the twisted cadet and approached the rest.
The other cadets panicked and tried fleeing from Leon but didn't get far.
Watching this, Rubas and Basara quietly retreated into cover and exchanged glances.
Without a word, they slipped away from the scene.
"Guess I was wrong."
"About what."
"That day at the arena. Thought I saw movement too fast for my eyes."
"Huh. I figured that guy dispelled the great mage's disciple's spell."
They stared at each other quietly, then shook their heads firmly.
And left.
"Must've been my imagination. No way that guy's pulling off those speeds... Even our family's Black Knights couldn't."
"The rumors were way too exaggerated from the start..."
Headache. Better forget it.
That was their shared thought.
Of course, they didn't see Leon glance at their retreating backs while twisting the sprawled cadets' arms, then chuckle and yank harder.
Sharp ones.
But since they turned tail quick for whatever reason, no annoying trouble seemed likely.
"Good work, everyone. Handle the rest on your own now. Time for proper class."
The failing cadets reacted to my words.
"C-Couldn't we take a short break first?"
They asked hesitantly, but I was firm.
"Rest on your level?"
"Ugh..."
Sunk, speechless.
Whatever. I was just laying out the reality—and the path they needed to take.
"I saw the new cadets' levels earlier. Higher than expected. At this pace, real results will be tough."
Their faces darkened at my words.
"How's it feel getting looked down on by other students or juniors in the cafeteria?"
"..."
"Be honest. Pisses you off, right?"
My voice carried a laugh, but they just suppressed their anger.
I paced slowly, speaking to them.
"And you're putting up with it? If it were me, I'd be fuming so bad I couldn't sleep."
Whoosh...
A hammer emerged from subspace into my hand.
My new spirit hammer. Ether began gathering massively at Utopia's head.
"I won't hear that the guys I taught for a month showed no progress."
With that, I swung the hammer through the air.
"Open."
[Utopia]
The hammer responded to my activation phrase, scattering beams of light, and without hesitation, I slammed it down into the void.
Kwajik!!!
A sound like shattering glass rang out, and blinding white mist exploded like a smoke bomb, engulfing the entire area.
"Real combat training starts now. The practical experience other cadets get over a year—I'll cram it into your remaining time, hard."
Enveloped in the white mist, the cadets blankly looked around.
It had definitely been the academy's open field moments ago.
Where the hell was this?
A crimson sky. Barren wasteland.
And a space embodying empty death, devoid of anything.
Snapping to in the disorienting realm, they scanned their surroundings with tense faces.
"Wh-What... is this place."
"What happened..."
Then.
Leon’s voice echoed in their ears, clear yet resonant.
"I'll explain the rules now, so listen up."
His voice continued crystal clear.
"You won't die here. If you take a fatal hit, your body instantly isolates from the space, unable to interact with anything."
With those words, stone dust erupted from the ground as a grotesque creature lunged at a nearby girl.
"Kyaaak!!"
Kwajik!!
The instant its claw smashed her skull, her body turned translucent. She convulsed like she'd been electrocuted.
"Ughhhhhh. Wh-What... is this..."
"Death needs a penalty to make you value your life. And one more thing."
Kwajik!!
Another grotesque entity burst from the air, biting off a cadet's arm.
The boy's arm turned translucent.
"If a body part gets damaged without treatment, it stays like that. Effectively gone."
The failing cadets' faces drained of color.
"Finally, defeating monsters here spawns slightly stronger ones. Your job: everyone survives until I say you've met the benchmark."
His words carried an eerie chill, like a grim smile.
"What are you waiting for? Get to it. You'll repeat this until the day before exams."
With that, everything—including the translucent cadet—returned to normal. Their weapons dropped before them with a clunk, as if waiting.
The ground warped in spots, goblins pouring out in droves.
"Oh, and the environment shifts randomly, so stay sharp."
The fake Labyrinthos unfolded before the failing cadets.