Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Chapter 10. What a Nasty Hobby

From Class A to Class J.

The Academy freshmen were divided into ten classes.

And Kawin was assigned as the thirtieth student of Class J.

Meaning dead last among three hundred.

Because he had taken the longest to pass the entrance examination.

“Hmm.”

Yet there wasn’t the slightest shadow on Kawin’s face.

Last place?

He couldn’t care less.

He hadn’t come to the Academy to play ranking games in the first place.

Fight without rest.

And find the grimoire.

Those were the two things that mattered most to Kawin.

So the disgraceful nickname ‘dead battery’ didn’t bother him at all.

“Look over there.”

“That’s Kawin, right?”

“He’s all pale and pretty-looking. Annoying.”

“Wipe your drool before you talk. And why are your cheeks red?”

“That hair really makes him stand out even from a distance.”

“That dead-battery bastard. I heard he got into it with some druids on the first day.”

“Last in the entrance exam, first in room assignment...”

“What the hell is he?”

After passing Valeria’s test, the way people looked at him had subtly changed.

But Kawin paid no attention to the freshmen whispering around him.

He was simply admiring the beautiful works before him.

‘Seeing is wonderful.’

The Academy was overflowing with paintings and sculptures of every kind.

Some made with magic.

Some painstakingly crafted by artisans.

All of them delighted Kawin.

Months had passed since he gained his sight, yet beautiful art was still exciting every time he saw it.

“You seem to like this painting too.”

A freshman approached Kawin.

Hair a deeper gold than Kawin’s.

And an enormous cat mask.

The most conspicuous person in the entire Academy.

“Frasel.”

“Oh my. You know my name?”

At her deliberately surprised reaction, Kawin gave a cold smile.

“You walk around wearing a mask that huge. It’d be stranger not to recognize you. Besides, I heard you’re royalty.”

“That’s right. But I hope you won’t think of me as too special. Aren’t we all sons and daughters of His Majesty the great Emperor?”

Kawin closed his eyes for a moment.

Then focused on his ears and nose.

‘Irregular breathing. The scent of sweat gradually increasing.’

Frasel was lying.

Did she actually think of herself as special despite what she said?

Whatever the case, one thing was certain.

She couldn’t be trusted.

A lie from the very first greeting.

‘Playing games right from the start.’

Completely unaware of Kawin’s thoughts, she turned back toward the painting.

“I like this one too, so I come look at it sometimes. It depicts the fiercest and largest battle in the war against the ‘Iron Empire.’”

An enormous painting covered the entire wall.

Dozens of Swordmasters and mages filled the scene.

“Doesn’t just looking at it make your heart swell? Every time I see it, I feel my blood heating up.”

Her excited voice came from behind the cat mask.

The youngest princess spoke passionately about the empire’s history.

Anyone else might have flushed with excitement and agreed, but unfortunately, Kawin was an exception.

Because once again, he sensed no sincerity.

‘She lies every time she opens her mouth.’

Kawin nodded with a flat expression.

“I don’t particularly like this painting. I was just looking because there are a lot of mages in it.”

“Really? Are you looking for someone?”

“Hmm.”

Archmage Dharma.

He had studied the painting for a long time in case he could find some trace of him.

But nowhere in the painting was there a mage using ‘Lightning.’

The other paintings on the walls were the same.

‘I can tell from the power in his grimoire alone. Dharma must have been one of the empire’s greatest forces.’

Had he simply been omitted?

Or deliberately ‘erased’?

Kawin had his suspicions, but no way to verify them yet.

“Huh? That’s Frasel.”

“And that guy is... Kawin?”

“What are those two doing together?”

“Seeing first place and last place side by side is kind of funny.”

At the chatter, Frasel quickly turned and approached the students.

Kawin, meanwhile, continued walking without even turning his head.

“Why did I come to Tesca? For the empire and His Majesty the Emperor, of course.”

Frasel’s voice came from behind him.

As expected, there was no sincerity in it.

* * *

Gulp.

Gulp.

The sound of people swallowing could be heard everywhere.

As expected of Tesca Academy.

The very day after the entrance ceremony, a stage had already been prepared for freshmen to beat the hell out of one another.

[First Regular Challenge]

Across the green fields stretching before them stood endless arenas the size of athletic fields.

Large magical numbers floated above each one.

“This place is...”

Walther trailed off nervously.

Their battlefield, where they would fight countless times until graduation.

Challenge points were separate from ordinary coursework, but without enough of them, they couldn’t guarantee graduation, let alone first place.

A nasty system where students had to climb by stepping over their opponents to prove their value.

That was Tesca’s educational philosophy.

“Welcome to the arenas.”

There were no ordinary event staff or teaching assistants.

Only one person stood before all three hundred students.

Even at a glance, he was dressed in a way that screamed ‘fairness.’

His hair was parted in a perfectly balanced five-to-five split without a strand out of place.

Smooth black hair fell with knife-like precision to both shoulders.

Unlike the students’ uniforms, his clothes were entirely white from top to bottom.

“I’m Oracle, and I’ll be supervising your regular Challenges from now on. If you have any questions, ask whatever you like.”

Hum.

The moment his brief introduction ended, a broad round red light appeared on Oracle’s forehead.

No matter who looked at it, it was clearly another ‘eye.’

“Challenges will take place simultaneously across the fifteen arenas you see. Exactly ten rounds will complete all three hundred students’ Challenges. It won’t take as long as you think. The amount of mana freshmen possess will run dry within five minutes at most.”

The freshmen fell silent and exchanged glances.

They didn’t dare ask openly, but they all had the same question.

“I know what you’re wondering. I only have one new eye, while there are fifteen arenas. How can I watch everything?”

Flash!

Before he finished speaking, a thin beam shot from the red eye on his forehead.

Its destination was a green-haired student in the middle of the crowd.

The students recoiled in surprise, but the beam was harmless.

It simply,

“Eek.”

pointed toward the green-haired student’s right pocket.

A square window appeared above his head.

Like a camera image, it clearly displayed the inside of the green-haired student’s pocket.

Inside the pocket, the student was holding up his middle finger.

A secret provocation aimed at the professor had been exposed for everyone to see.

“Your name was Pakio, right? Points deducted.”

“S-sorry!”

Pakio bowed so deeply his head nearly struck the ground.

The other students stared in astonishment.

He had detected the contents of one person’s pocket among this enormous crowd?

But the truly astonishing part came next.

Flash!

Flash!

Several beams erupted simultaneously from the red eye on his forehead.

Their destination was the arenas stretching far into the distance.

“Whoa!”

Exclamations erupted everywhere.

The images were so clear that even tiny dents in the ground were visible.

Fifteen such screens floated above Oracle’s head.

Kawin admired it before he could stop himself.

“Walther. I like that professor.”

“Really? I mean, even you can see that magic is incredible, right?”

“Magic that opens up your field of vision. Genius.”

“...I feel like you’re impressed for a slightly different reason.”

As Kawin and Walther talked, the screens Oracle had created gathered into one.

Then the arena footage changed into the Challenge rules.

[Victory Conditions]

[1. When mana is depleted]

[2. When the uniform accumulates damage beyond the permitted threshold]

[3. When the opponent loses consciousness]

[4. When the opponent declares surrender]

“Simple, right?”

Oracle pointed above his head.

“You’ll create your own matchups. Starting with the lowest-ranked student, each person chooses an opponent in order. Fighting someone of similar rank earns the base points, while defeating someone ranked above you grants bonus points. Consider your magic type carefully and challenge cautiously—or boldly, when necessary.”

That was the end of the explanation.

Oracle crossed his legs and sat on a sofa near the waiting benches.

Now it was time to choose.

Naturally, everyone’s gaze shifted in one direction.

Ranked 300th among three hundred freshmen.

The first person allowed to choose an opponent was none other than Kawin.

Walther, beside him, offered cautious advice.

“Kawin. That last part is probably a trap. Tesca Academy’s entrance exam is famous for being precise. For now, you should choose someone from the lower ranks and steadily build points...”

“Thanks for the advice, but.”

Kawin stepped to the front of the students.

Then turned around to face the remaining 299.

Who would it be?

Who would he choose?

Hundreds of eyes asked the same question.

But not a single person guessed the answer.

“Frasel Illuma.”

“Eeeh?”

At Kawin’s choice, the students’ mouths fell open.

The 300th-ranked student had chosen Tesca’s top-ranked freshman.

* * *

“Ten seconds until the Challenge.”

Once again, swallowing could be heard everywhere.

All fifteen arenas had already been filled.

Most of the students participating were ranked below two hundred.

Nobody wanted to begin their historic first Challenge with a loss.

Almost everyone chose someone near their own ranking.

Except for one arena.

The one where Kawin stood.

“Unexpected.”

A lilting voice emerged from behind the cat mask.

“I didn’t think you were an ordinary last-place student, but I didn’t expect you to challenge me right away.”

“There’s no particularly grand reason.”

Kawin unfastened one button on each sleeve and folded them back.

Then, for once, smiled gently like a spring breeze.

“When something is hidden, it makes me want to see it even more.”

“...What a nasty hobby.”

That concluded their greetings.

First place and last place each drew up the mana within their bodies.

[Begin!]

Oracle’s mana-infused voice echoed throughout the area.

At the same instant, vivid spells erupted across all fifteen arenas.

“Fire Arrow!”

“Wind Blade!”

Some students chanted in booming voices.

Others kept their mouths firmly closed while constructing magic circles.

And Kawin and Frasel,

“...”

did nothing at all.

‘As expected. Royalty really is royalty.’

Illumina, an empire built on magic.

The qualifications of its ruling imperial family were not merely names.

Whooom!

How should that be described?

It was not water,

nor fire.

Nor was it an electrical branch like Kawin’s.

It poured forth naturally without any preparatory movement,

‘Pure energy.’

The enormous power surrounding Frasel’s body was far beyond what a freshman should possess.

Like a snowball rolling downhill, it grew larger and larger with every passing moment.

People called it,

Royal Arka: the Royal Family’s Sunlight.

At first glance, it looked harmless.

But as the Royal Arka continued growing, cracks began to form across the arena floor.

“If I were you, I’d leave the arena. If you stay there, you’ll be crushed.”

Frasel wasn’t bluffing.

Her mana had already risen higher than Kawin’s head.

Was this what it felt like to face a tidal wave while time moved slowly?

Yet Kawin still showed no reaction.

He neither chanted like the other students nor constructed a magic circle.

Zzzzt...!

He merely created faint sparks in his palms.

Soon, small wedges formed in both of Kawin’s hands.

Magic of the ‘Stormlord,’ summoned in the smallest form that could fit within his palms.

‘Divine Bolt.’

He could now freely control the size of Divine Bolt.

He hadn’t spent the journey to the Academy simply lazing around.

Kawin had continued doing what he had always been best at since his previous life.

One word.

‘Preparation.’

Crack!

Kawin charged straight toward the Royal Arka Frasel had created.

At a glance, he looked like a moth diving into a furnace,

but the power contained in Kawin’s hands burned far hotter than flame.

He swung both hands forcefully toward the pure-white energy,

Riiip!

“!!!”

And the Royal Arka, symbol of the imperial family, split apart like tofu.