Meeting with the Dean
Elan Academy was a place where news spread like wildfire. Rata Tosk, a second-year C-Class student and member of the newspaper club, was dashing around everywhere, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Extra! Extra! Word is, the heir to the Keruspal Grand Duchy and the special transfer student are duking it out in the arena right now. Everyone, come watch!"
Rata was using her Act of Running and its Abl, Windstep, to spread the news across the academy.
"Is that for real, Rata?"
"Yep, totally! The special transfer student threw down the gauntlet with a glove toss, no less."
"Whoa... that transfer kid's got some guts. How do you even challenge Yujin like that?"
"From what I heard, Yujin insulted him pretty bad first."
"Yeah, makes sense. Coming from that spoiled punk Yujin, it must've been brutal enough to piss anyone off."
Like a chain of squirrel tails, the rumors spread, and before long, the arena was packed with a crowd eager to see Ijun and Yujin face off.
Yujin let out a sneer before turning to Ijun. "Hey, trash. Surrender and grovel now, and I'll forgive you."
"You're the one who should be groveling. Surrender now, and I'll only break one arm as a special favor."
Provocation met with provocation. And it hit Yujin right where it hurt.
"You arrogant trash of a lowly commoner...!"
Yujin drew his sword.
Yujin's Act is Swinging, and the Abl derived from it is Delayed Slash.
Yujin's Act was Swinging—swinging a sword. The ability it manifested was Delayed Slash, which wasn't just about slashing with a time delay. It allowed him to leave slashes lingering at desired moments and release them all at once.
Fitting for a protagonist—strong ability. But Delayed Slash has one major weakness.
Ijun knew Yujin's ability weakness well. After all, he'd set it himself.
To be precise, it applied to all Act users in this world.
With Delayed Slash, you can leave slashes behind even if the swinging action is restricted. But to release the stored slashes, you absolutely need the swinging motion as the trigger.
Yujin could will slashes into existence at any time he wanted. But releasing them required performing his Act: Swinging.
So just get rid of the sword. It'll be temporary, and it'll come back, but still.
The subject of Swinging was the sword. Ijun planned to use a lie to alter reality and make Yujin's sword vanish.
Of course, since it was situational alteration rather than common sense alteration, it'd only be temporary—but he had a follow-up ready.
"You're acting all high and mighty when you don't even have a sword in your hand?"
"What?"
Alteration triggered.
Situational alteration restriction: Temporary alteration applied.
Alteration content: Yujin Keruspal does not actually have a sword.
Alteration in progress.
Alteration complete. Yujin Keruspal's sword will vanish for 5 minutes.
Yujin panicked at the sight of his sword missing from his hand, where it should have been.
"What the hell did you do, you bastard?!"
"Do? I just told the truth. Why get mad?"
Ijun smirked at Yujin, who could only seethe with rage.
Five minutes is plenty.
A swordless Yujin was like red bean paste-less buns or takoyaki without octopus. Ijun prepared his next lie.
"I have a sword in my hand, and in fact, I can use Delayed Slash."
Alteration triggered, and a sword appeared in Ijun's hand. He stored up slashes at the timing he wanted, then swung at Yujin.
Infinite Slashes—originally Yujin's signature move, but now usable by Ijun through alteration. As it activated from his hand, Yujin's face froze in real time.
"H-How can you use my Abl...!"
"This is the real difference in our levels, you spoiled punk!"
The slashes cut right through Yujin. Thanks to the academy arena's system, it didn't kill him, but he took heavy damage.
For the prideful Yujin, the shock of someone else using his ability—and beating him with it—was too much. He passed out on the spot.
Ugh...
Ijun winced at the sudden headache.
Using someone else's Act or Abl with alteration strains the body? Thanks to Yujin, I learned something new.
* * *
Thanks to Rata, the rumors spread fast. The special transfer student had beaten the Keruspal heir—not just beaten, but utterly dominated. The academy buzzed.
"Is that true? I heard all his measurements came out G. G's below F, right? How'd he win?"
"I saw it myself. Looked like he mimicked Yujin's Abl."
"Mimicked? Is that even possible?"
Mimicry. In this world, Acts and Agls were unique personal powers. Acts might overlap, but Agls were utterly individual.
Mimicking basic swordplay or entry-level magic was one thing, but copying an Abl was near impossible.
Yet Ijun had done it, so people assumed his Abl was Mimicry.
Misunderstandings bred more misunderstandings. Rumors flew that Ijun's Act was Imitation and his Abl was Perfect Copy.
And the source of those rumors? Rata, once again.
* * *
Principal's Office
Gulp!
I'm in the principal's office right now. Probably because of that damn squirrel reporter's rumors.
"This is our first time facing each other like this, right, Ijun?"
Liv Roth Astaroth, principal of Elan Academy. An ancient archdemon who's lived thousands of years, the strongest mage alive, and the only demon truly friendly to humans.
The vibe is intense...
I hadn't noticed from screens, but up close, her presence was overwhelming. Her looks were stunning enough to call her a beauty, but she was a demon, not human.
Demons didn't use human Acts—they used Vil, short for Villainy, and its derived Agls. Liv's Vil was Sleep Inducement, with the Abl Nightmare, fitting her Astaroth name perfectly.
"Um, Principal? Why'd you call me here?"
Probably to check out the interesting student, but it was polite to ask.
"I heard you beat Yujin Keruspal yesterday."
"Got lucky."
"Luck... that's an interesting way to put it."
Her soft chuckle sent chills down my spine. I knew she was human-friendly, but that demonic laugh had some low-frequency curse vibe—my hairs stood on end.
"Anyway, Ijun. I have a question. Can you answer it?"
"If it's something I can answer."
"It's not a tough one. How did you become a special transfer student? I've never seen those papers, never approved them—but they had my seal and were approved."
Huh?
Something was off. My common sense alteration should have made her remember approving them.
But she was aware she hadn't?
Wait... because she's a dream demon?
Succubi and incubi were immune to mind control. If common sense alteration counted as brainwashing, her resistance wasn't surprising...
Damn! Never saw this variable coming...
I hadn't expected Liv to be the roadblock.
I didn't mind getting caught before, but now I had business at this school. I had to get past this archdemon wall.
"Principal, about that..."
I opened my mouth to make an excuse, but Liv approached, pressing her index finger to my lips.
"Shh, no need for excuses. I didn't call you here to grill you."
"Then why?"
Not to question me? Then what?
"I've been looking for you."
"Looking for me?"
Why so vague? Just spit it out!
"Pure essence. I've never seen essence this refined."
Slipping—
Liv suddenly started slipping off her clothes. Her underwear came into brazen view.
"P-Principal. Wh-what are you...?"
To my question, Liv licked her upper lip and replied in a sultry voice. "A dream demon's instinct, I suppose♥"
It was the second crisis to shatter my chastity.