Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Chapter 18. Why Did You Do That?!

‘We need to change locations first.’

A princess entering the dining hall was already unusual enough.

Then came her deeply misleading remarks.

Before the Challenge had even begun, students started gathering around.

Even curious upperclassmen were slowly approaching.

‘I refuse to become a zoo monkey.’

After organizing his thoughts, Kawin approached Frasel.

“Can you use movement magic?”

“Hm? No... I don’t really know any magic besides Royal Arka...”

“Then let’s do this.”

Like a prince from a fairy tale, Kawin scooped Frasel into his arms.

“Aah!”

Frasel cried out in surprise.

The reactions around them only grew more dramatic.

Kawin’s gaze cut through countless stares and reached Walther.

“Follow me, Walther.”

With those words, Kawin activated ‘Lightning Speed.’

He leaped through the wide-open dining hall window.

Frasel’s slender weight barely hindered him at all.

Kawin and Frasel disappeared behind the Academy’s main building.

And Walther...

“Rise!”

summoned his skeleton soldier right there in the dining hall.

Clatter!

Hard bones assembled around the floating core.

Thus was completed Walther’s companion.

“Ferguson! You saw that, right? That’s how we’re going!”

The skeleton soldier named Ferguson swiftly picked Walther up princess-style.

Then, just like Kawin, jumped out the window.

“Aah!”

“Damn it, we lost them!”

“This is so ridiculous I don’t even feel like chasing them...”

Compared to Kawin’s Lightning Speed, it was painfully slow.

But a skeleton soldier leaping from a third-floor dining hall and sprinting away was still movement difficult for any ordinary human to imitate.

“Those freshmen sure are loud.”

Two men had already finished eating and were sitting off to one side.

The pale-skinned man with clear eyes asked the blond beside him,

“Even after we graduate, I don’t think the Academy will get boring.”

“...I don’t like it.”

Unlike the man who looked amused, the bronze-skinned blond bit his lip.

“Looks like some guidance is necessary. As a senior.”

* * *

“Kawin. How did you think of this?”

An impressed voice came from behind the cat mask.

“There’s nobody at the arena. Did you know it would be empty?”

“Well... even a dog isn’t bothered while it’s eating.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“How should I put it... basically, mealtime takes priority over everything. I figured nobody would be doing Challenges or training while they were eating.”

And he had been exactly right.

There wasn’t another soul among the dozens of arenas behind the main building.

“Hey. Kawin.”

“Go ahead.”

“There’s something I want to ask before Walther gets here.”

At her suddenly serious voice, Kawin turned toward the cat mask.

“What are you curious about?”

“D-do you know much about Lightning magic?”

For a moment.

Kawin’s face stiffened slightly.

“What do you mean, how much do I know?”

“I mean... mysterious powers hidden in Lightning magic, things like that...”

Kawin’s expression sharpened further.

Mysterious powers hidden in Lightning magic?

Could she know something about the ‘Stormlord’?

‘So this is the imperial family...!’

Kawin focused and heightened every sense.

Then examined the truth behind Frasel’s words.

The mask made her breathing difficult to check, but one thing was certain.

‘There’s no malice.’

How should he describe it?

Pure curiosity?

That was all he could sense.

Of course, that didn’t mean he intended to tell her about the grimoire.

Frasel Illuma.

She was royalty.

If some force was powerful enough to suppress Archmage Dharma and the entire Lightning branch, the imperial family would certainly be on the list of suspects.

“I don’t know about any mysterious powers. I’m just using the magic passed down through my family.”

“Really? I see.”

The cat mask tilted downward for a moment.

Then suddenly snapped back up.

“Well! It doesn’t matter! There might be powers in this world even the person using them doesn’t understand.”

Powers even the user didn’t understand.

Kawin swallowed.

Everything she said seemed connected to the Stormlord.

‘Frasel Illuma. I can’t let my guard down too much around her.’

While Kawin made that resolution, a dull sound came from afar.

“Kawin! Frasel! I’m here!”

For some reason, the skeleton soldier named ‘Ferguson’ was running toward them while carrying Walther.

A necromancer waving happily while being carried like a princess.

Kawin and Frasel stared blankly at the bizarre scene.

Then, as though by agreement, turned toward each other.

“Shall we start?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

A young man and woman stood facing each other.

From a distance, it might have looked romantic, but brutal words came from their mouths.

“Kawin Anper. I request a Challenge with Frasel Illuma.”

“Frasel Illuma. I request a Challenge with Kawin Anper.”

The golden stripe embedded in the high collar around their necks.

They touched it with two fingers while declaring the Challenge.

“Walther Franken. I will witness the Challenge between Kawin Anper and Frasel Illuma.”

Walther made the same gesture.

Two participants.

And one witness.

All conditions were satisfied.

Whoosh!

A sharp wind surrounded the three of them and spun several times.

Then a dry mechanical voice echoed throughout the Academy.

[Kawin Anper. Frasel Illuma. Challenge approved.]

Once the conditions were complete, Tesca Academy’s emblem appeared above their heads.

There was nothing particularly surprising about it.

Students had begun issuing Challenges immediately after the entrance ceremony.

“You shouldn’t use that ability. It feels wrong.”

“Ah, I know.”

A flustered voice came from beyond the cat mask.

Royal Arka, symbol of the imperial family’s power.

Frasel possessed another ability besides that.

The black magical whips she had unconsciously activated when cornered.

Kawin didn’t know what they were, but they felt completely unlike imperial power.

‘Does he even know about Mother’s power? He really is incredible.’

Frasel inwardly admired him as she awakened the Circle inside her.

Whoooom!

Pure white mana that tolerated not a speck of impurity.

Royal Arka spread from her body in every direction.

“Groooan...”

“Ah! Sorry, Ferguson!”

Walther, who had been watching blankly, hurriedly canceled the summon.

Apparently undead creatures instinctively feared sacred power.

‘Definitely. Even seeing it again, that’s ridiculous power.’

Kawin stared at the Royal Arka and activated his Orbis.

Crackle!

A magic circle formed before Kawin’s chest, then an arrow-sized Divine Bolt appeared.

Naturally, the magic circle was fake.

It wasn’t that he distrusted Frasel and Walther, but caution was still necessary.

‘The situation is the same as last time.’

In terms of sheer mana quantity, Frasel had far more.

And hers regenerated endlessly.

That was why he had called her a ‘golden goblin.’

So he needed enough destructive power to pierce through it in one blow.

Just like when a tiny Divine Bolt had torn Royal Arka apart in their previous Challenge.

“Be careful.”

With words containing a touch of concern instead of an activation phrase, ‘Divine Bolt’ shot forward.

Crack!

Kawin’s eyes widened slightly.

Unlike the previous Challenge, where it had split apart helplessly, the white sphere held firm.

‘I’m not just going to take it this time...!’

A determined shout came from behind the cat mask.

Winning wasn’t Frasel’s purpose in this Challenge.

But she was still an Academy student.

Her previous defeat had taught her a major lesson.

‘Instead of expanding the area blindly, density matters.’

The compressed Royal Arka actually slowed Divine Bolt’s advance.

Compared to their first match, where it had split like boiled radish, this was tremendous progress.

However,

Crack-crack!

it still couldn’t withstand the density of mana contained within ‘Divine Bolt.’

Cracks gradually spread across Royal Arka’s surface, and Divine Bolt’s pointed tip began forcing its way inward.

“Hng...!”

She had already released all her mana.

Frasel bit her lip and concentrated every remaining bit of strength into one point.

And succeeded in slightly ‘altering’ Divine Bolt’s direction.

Toward the exact point she wanted.

Her cat mask.

BOOM!

Frasel’s body flew like a kite with its string cut.

The Royal Arka surrounding her vanished without a trace.

A completely one-sided victory.

[Frasel Illuma. Mana depleted.]

[Challenge Winner: Kawin Anper]

[Victory Points Awarded: 100P]

[Bonus Points Awarded: 100P]

As though waiting for it, news of Kawin’s victory echoed throughout the Academy.

Perhaps because it wasn’t an official Challenge, there were no ranking-based bonus points.

But Kawin wasn’t interested in points.

“Are you okay?”

He rushed over to check Frasel.

It wasn’t as though there were no safety measures.

The magic woven into their uniforms constantly protected their bodies, and somehow the cat mask seemed to serve as a shield too.

But watching a ‘friend’ get sent flying by his own magic was hardly pleasant.

‘What was she thinking? Why did she redirect Divine Bolt toward her face...?’

Frasel herself had changed the attack trajectory toward her mask.

Come to think of it, she had said something similar in the dining hall.

“Ugh.”

Frasel barely managed to sit up.

Then spoke in an accusing voice.

“Why did you do that?!”

“Sorry. Maybe I’m still bad at controlling my strength. I didn’t think you’d fly that far...”

“No! Why did you hold back?!”

“...Huh?”

“I need stronger stimulation than this.”

Kawin turned toward Walther.

Walther’s brow was deeply furrowed, gums exposed as though he had just eaten fried melon from the underworld.

Kawin suspected his own expression looked much the same.

“Remember this, Kawin. A hit like that doesn’t even tickle. Next time, try harder when you attack my mask.”

Frasel clicked her tongue behind the mask.

Kawin checked her breathing and scent of sweat.

Then stopped breathing for a moment.

‘Completely... sincere...!’

Watching Frasel stagger away, Kawin swallowed dryly.

* * *

Tap tap tap!

Urgent footsteps echoed through the halls of Tesca Academy.

They belonged to Kawin.

He was hurrying toward the classroom for his first lesson.

‘When was the last time I was this stunned?’

The situation had admittedly been absurd.

To put it crudely, an imperial princess had asked him to punch her face harder.

She had even gotten angry because he hit too softly.

While preparing in a daze, he had forgotten one of his major textbooks.

‘I want to use Lightning Speed, but...’

He couldn’t accelerate with magic in a hallway like this.

If he collided with someone moving normally, it would feel like being struck by a truck.

Unless someone had absolutely no consideration for others.

The kind of person who would use magic in a place like this and risk hurting someone,

Swoosh!

did exist.

Something approached Kawin at an absurd speed.

“...!”

Kawin reflexively activated Lightning Speed and spun half a turn.

Someone’s upper body smashed through the empty space where he had been standing.

“Yo.”

The man who had nearly collided with him.

A bronze-skinned blond raised a hand toward Kawin.

“Sorry. Almost ran into you.”

Four golden lines were clearly engraved on his high collar.

The mark of a student soon to graduate.

‘Almost? Not even close.’

Kawin narrowed his eyes at the graduate.

That hadn’t been an accidental near-collision.

The blond man’s path had clearly been aimed straight at him.

A deliberate shoulder-check.

Calling it a shoulder-check was putting it mildly. If they had collided, one or two bones might have shattered.

“You’re Kawin, right?”

Tesca Academy was notoriously difficult to graduate from.

The blond’s class had started with three hundred students.

Only ten remained.

Meaning he was one of the absolute best students in the Academy.

And that honored graduate asked Kawin,

“Looks like you need some education. You’re going to participate in my graduation Challenge.”