Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chapter 8. Don’t Cover Someone’s Eyes

Walther Franken.

One of the few necromancers admitted to the Academy.

On his first day, he strode enthusiastically down the Academy corridor with his heart full of excitement.

Crash!

And promptly fell flat on his face.

One of the nearby students had blatantly stuck out a foot to trip him.

When Walther got up with his face twisted in irritation, companions appeared on either side of the culprit.

The collision had been planned.

‘Just my damn luck.’

Walther cursed inwardly.

Some branches of magic were destined to become enemies from birth.

Necromancers who controlled the bodies of the dead.

Druids who embraced the forces of nature and valued the cycle of life.

From the origins of their abilities to their beliefs, the two groups were fundamentally incapable of accepting each other.

There was only one occasion when they reluctantly joined forces.

War against Astallon, the ‘Iron Empire.’

Historically, necromancers and druids had caused conflicts both large and small.

And right here.

Tesca Academy did not particularly bother preventing fights between students.

‘I knew trouble would happen eventually, but on the first day?’

Before Walther knew it, three students had surrounded him.

The one with especially hollow cheeks spoke first.

His name was Gaiac.

He was the one who had tripped Walther moments earlier.

“I was wondering why this sacred Academy smelled like rotting maggots. So it was you, Walther?”

“Gaiac...!”

This was their first conversation, but Walther already knew his name.

They were the sort destined to clash sooner or later.

Necromancers and druids had already sized each other up during the entrance examination.

“This won’t do. It really won’t. I can’t spend my entire time here smelling rotting corpses until graduation, can I? So I think you should leave the Academy.”

“Hmph. Spending too much time becoming one with animals must have made your brain regress too. Fighting outside a Challenge is punishable. Don’t you even know that?”

Pop!

A thick vein bulged across Gaiac’s forehead.

A dark blue aura gathered around his hand, and he struck Walther’s pouch.

Clang!

Something long and white went flying from inside.

“Y-you!”

“Of course I know. I also know that rule only takes effect after we put on our uniforms.”

“...!”

Only then did Walther understand their plan.

There was a brief gap before the Academy rules officially took effect.

They planned to use that time to turn Walther into a useless mage.

There was no need to break his Circle or even injure him.

They merely needed to steal the bones he carried.

A necromancer without ‘materials’ was no different from an ordinary person.

“Damn it, rise...!”

“Not so fast!”

Before Walther could finish his incantation, the druid beside him covered his mouth.

Another blocked his eyes so he couldn’t form a magic circle properly.

“Let go of me!”

Unfortunately for them,

that was something they absolutely should never have done.

“Don’t cover someone else’s eyes.”

CRACK!

The bone hurled from the far end of the corridor struck Gaiac squarely in the forehead.

He lost consciousness with his eyes still wide open.

“G-Gaiac!”

The druids couldn’t understand what had just happened.

Not even Walther, the one they had been bullying!

‘Gaiac’s body shouldn’t be that weak.’

The ‘material’ Walther had brought was indeed quite hard.

But the source of Gaiac’s power was the ‘Grizzly.’

He could wrap his entire body in the power of a mythical bear.

It was essentially like wearing solid armor from head to toe, so how had someone knocked him unconscious merely by throwing a bone?

“You’re that bastard, right? Kawin or Kau or whatever your name is.”

One of the druids narrowed his eyes at Kawin and raised his voice.

“Yeah! It is him! That bastard who dragged out the test and entered dead last out of three hundred!”

“Do you even know what you just did?”

By this point, every nearby student had turned to watch.

Kawin picked up the bone from the floor and put it into the pouch.

Then answered calmly.

“Act like civilized people. Don’t hunt in packs like animals.”

“Why, you little bastard!”

Being treated like animals.

There was nothing druids hated more.

Having read [Swordmaster of the Heavenly Slaughter Star], Kawin knew that very well.

With so many people watching, he deliberately sharpened the provocation to end things quickly.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The druids released their power and charged him from both sides.

‘What do I do?’

Walther’s anxious gaze darted left and right.

He had to choose.

Should he fight beside the person who had helped him?

Or pretend it wasn’t his problem and run away?

‘Once I put on the uniform, none of this can happen anymore. So...’

If he could just change clothes and make it to the auditorium, he would never have to suffer this kind of harassment again.

He only had to close his eyes this once.

“...Fuck that.”

Walther made his choice.

And ripped off his mask.

Part of the skin on Walther’s right cheek was missing, leaving his teeth and gums fully exposed.

With his true face revealed, Walther shouted forcefully,

“Rise...!”

BAM!

But Walther never finished the command.

Because one of the druids suddenly flew past him like a spinning windmill.

“...up?”

Walther’s vacant eyes turned toward Kawin.

The remaining druid was just as bewildered.

Kawin had been standing still, so he had intended to smash him to a pulp immediately.

Yet both his hands had cut through empty air, while one of his companions was now unconscious and embedded in the wall.

‘How did this dead-last bastard do that?’

The druid quickly searched his memory.

Was this guy perhaps a Martial Mage?

No.

He wasn’t.

The three druids had mocked Kawin as a ‘dead battery’ during the entrance exam.

A pathetic freshman from the Lightning branch.

Since he had even placed dead last, they had thought no nickname suited him better.

‘That’s definitely what he was...’

Thud!

A numbing surge of electricity tore through his abdomen.

“Ghack!”

This couldn’t be happening.

An elemental mage whose movements and physical reinforcement were both stronger than a druid’s.

That was cheating!

BOOM!

Kawin answered by driving his fist upward.

[Passive: Lightning Speed]

He spread the mana from his Orbis to the very ends of every nerve.

Then layered mana over the exact surface of his striking fist.

The result,

CRUNCH!

The Academy ceiling was unusually high.

And the druid’s head became embedded in it.

With only his body dangling below the neck, the druid lost consciousness.

‘Impossible...!’

Walther grabbed his trembling legs and approached Kawin.

“Ka, Ka, Kak...!”

“Kawin.”

“Right! Kawin! I’m Walther Franken! Thanks for helping me!”

Walther grabbed Kawin’s hand and bowed deeply.

Then, apparently realizing something, he hurriedly put his mask back on.

“Did that surprise you? We necromancers...”

“I know. Parts of your body disappear as the price for commanding spirits.”

“O-oh. So you knew.”

Walther awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

His dark gray eyes moved toward the unconscious druids.

“But what do we do now? We caused a huge incident on the first day.”

“There’s no incident. Just like they said, the Academy rules only take effect once you put on the uniform. We won’t be punished.”

“Is... that so?”

“If they have a problem, tell them to come find me again. They can issue the Challenge this Academy is so obsessed with.”

With that, Kawin walked past Walther.

Walther watched him leave, then lowered his gaze.

“Ah...!”

The skeletal bone Kawin had thrown earlier was somehow already back in his hand.

* * *

“This thing... is the uniform?”

Kawin muttered while looking at himself in the mirror.

Tesca Academy used the term ‘uniform’ rather than ‘school uniform.’

Apparently that was more than a naming choice, because Tesca’s uniforms bore plenty of signs that they were designed for ‘real combat.’

First, almost everything from head to toe was black.

The shirt was white, but once the jacket or coat went over it, hardly any white remained visible.

The matte fabric of the coat was thick and durable.

Mana had been woven through multiple layers of fiber to protect against external impacts.

A golden stripe ran vertically along the high collar that fastened all the way to the neck, almost like a decorative accent.

One stripe marked him as a freshman.

“I understand the expensive admission fee a little better now. Just a little.”

Despite appearances, the uniform was neither heavy nor hot.

The magic built into it even included a number of minor conveniences.

‘Combat gear that can turn you into a cadet soldier in one second.’

That was Kawin’s assessment of the uniform.

The female students were much the same.

Their clothing made it impossible to tell whether they were heading to class or out to slaughter monsters.

The only real difference was that they wore shoulder capes instead of jackets.

“Whoa. That looks incredible.”

Walther, who had somehow come over beside him, gave Kawin a thumbs-up.

“Maybe it’s because the uniform is black, but it looks amazing with your platinum hair. It even matches perfectly with the gold insignia on your collar.”

Perhaps he was grateful for what had happened earlier.

Walther seemed to have no intention of leaving Kawin’s side.

“Are you sure you’re fine staying with me? Wouldn’t you rather stick with other necromancers? Like the druids do.”

“Haha. You only say that because you don’t know us. Animals like moving in packs, but necromancers hate grouping together. They’re always suspicious because they can’t tell what the others are thinking. Even though they’re necromancers themselves.”

Was it some kind of self-loathing?

Kawin had no problem with it.

He had not come all the way to the Academy intending to spend his time without a single friend.

A friend.

Neither Cha Hoon nor Kawin had ever had one throughout their lives.

“Kawin, if there’s anything you’re curious about regarding the Academy, ask me. I crammed all kinds of information into my head before enrolling.”

“You studied in advance?”

“Not exactly studied. Research is what we necromancers specialize in.”

Walther’s eyes curved into crescents above his black mask.

The black uniform suited Walther just as well.

His mask and hair were both black, making the entire look blend together.

Though it did make him look somewhat gloomy.

“Of course, I don’t intend to repay what I owe you with something as trivial as information. If you ever get into trouble, I’ll help you too.”

Kawin focused his senses for a moment.

Walther’s heartbeat was quick, but not fluctuating unnaturally.

His rough breathing and the scent of his sweat remained steady.

Walther Franken genuinely regarded Kawin as a friend.

‘Even without that...’

Looking at Walther’s clear gray eyes made it difficult to think he was lying.

When Kawin nodded, Walther took the lead.

Then he suddenly turned his head as though remembering something.

“Ah. Can I ask one favor?”

“Go ahead.”

“If you ever find anything really hard, let me know. I’ll buy it for a good price. Necromancers absolutely love hard things.”

“Sure.”

* * *

“We will now begin assigning rooms.”

The grand auditorium held three hundred students.

Professor Valeria’s eyes made a full rotation as she stood on the platform.

Then a massive circular formula appeared above her head.

“Whoa...!”

A magic circle perfectly fitted to the impossibly high ceiling.

Dense Rune characters filled both sides of the circle’s boundary.

“The Academy dormitories include both shared rooms and private rooms. Some happen to be closest to the cafeteria, while others are excessively far from the classrooms. If you are particularly unlucky, four of you may even have to share a bathroom.”

Several students grimaced at those words.

“You will choose your room assignments in the order that you decipher this magic circle. The first student to decipher it will receive the best VIP room in the dormitory. You may think of it as a penthouse or a suite. It is a room with practically everything you could want.”

“Ooooooh!”

The students’ eyes sparkled at Valeria’s words.

Their minds were already racing as they tried to decipher the magic circle as enormous as a mountain.

“...Hmm.”

All except one.

Kawin.

“Then we shall begin. The time limit is twelve hours. Anyone who fails to decipher it within that time will receive a random assignment. Once you have deciphered the magic circle, come to the platform and give me your answer.”

“Sure.”

“?”

Every gaze, including Valeria’s, turned toward one place.

Step. Step.

The test had only just begun.

Yet someone was already walking toward the platform.

It was Kawin.