-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elton City, deep in the eastern forest.
"Is that it?"
Davian asked Voltir, the branch manager, who was walking ahead.
Voltir, whose body was battered and only his jaw reattached, barely managed to answer.
"...Yes."
Tring.
=====
[Hidden Quest: Annihilate the Black Wolf Bandit Hideout]
—Reward: 3,000 Mana Points
=====
There was a reason why Davian went all the way into these deep mountains in the middle of the night.
It was to secure more mana points before entering the academy.
Even if his magic power was sufficient, the points to allocate to inner and outer strength were severely lacking.
Currently, he only had 50 points obtained from beating up six bandits.
Davian prepared an earth element magic among the four elemental magics.
Unlike when he quickly knocked down the six bandits earlier, it took quite a long time to prepare.
About ten minutes passed, and a drop of sweat dripped from the right temple of Davian, who was concentrating and manipulating his magic power.
Mons unconsciously raised his sleeve to wipe the young master's sweat.
Kuddddddd.
The entire forest began to shake as if an earthquake had occurred.
Torches were lit here and there, and the bandit hideout became noisy.
It was then.
Crackle, crackle. Kwadudduk.
The ground under the bandit hideout began to crack open, creating dark crevices.
In an instant, the buildings and tents of the hideout, which had become a chaotic mess, fell into the cracked and opened ground.
The dark fissures of the earth tore apart and swallowed the bandit hideout.
The earth, which had been swallowing the hideout for a while, filled the gaps and returned to its original state as if nothing had happened.
Of course, returning to its original state was only from the earth's perspective.
The bandit hideout was in ruins.
The survivors seemed to be less than a tenth.
Davian shouted inwardly.
'Point breakdown.'
=====
[Mana Points: 3,050]
—Magic Power: 298,832
—Inner Strength: 0
—Outer Strength: 0
=====
Davian paused his gaze on the number 3,050 to the right of Mana Points, and the number trembled slightly.
A sign that it was ready to move.
He moved his gaze to Inner Strength.
The trembling number moved with his gaze to Inner Strength, but Inner Strength remained at 0.
Tring.
Another small notification window unfolded below the point breakdown.
It was the same content that he had already seen in the previous rounds.
=====
A major in 'Swordsmanship,' 'Archery,' or 'Comprehensive Martial Arts' is required to allocate mana points to inner and outer strength.
=====
No matter how strong magic attacks are, a mage with slow movement and weak defense can be in danger of losing their life even in a short gap.
Maintaining magic power while regressing, majoring in swordsmanship to allocate mana points to inner and outer strength.
That was the reason why Davian was planning a double major.
However, with inner and outer strength at 0, he would be humiliated from the very first class of swordsmanship.
He seemed to have gathered just enough mana points to avoid being completely humiliated.
Davian blinked once, and the trembling number 3,050 returned to its original position.
Mons asked.
"What should we do with this guy?"
Mons was pointing to Voltir, the branch manager, who was staring blankly at the ruined hideout.
"Kill him."
"Excuse me?"
"Kill him. With your own hands. It's not a difficult task, is it?"
"Ah, yes."
Sreung.
A movement that ordinary people could not see.
Mons's sword quickly came out of its sheath and went back in.
Thud.
The youngest branch manager of the Black Wolf bandits.
Voltir's head rolled weakly on the ground.
"Good job. Now you're an accomplice too. Keep it a secret."
Mons looked at his young master again with surprised eyes.
"Excuse me? An accomplice? No, young master. Where did you learn such a thing?"
Such things were basic qualities that one would naturally acquire after spending ten years in the dog-eat-dog academy.
"Do I have to learn it to know it?"
"Hahahaha. It was a bit strange at first, but when I think about it, the third son of the Naone family should have this much guts! I can't even imagine how much the young master will grow after graduating from the academy. The young master will play a big role in the prosperity of the Naone family in the future. I will definitely assist the young master then too!"
"Graduation... Yeah. I have to graduate."
However, Davian was not very interested in the prosperity of the Naone family right now.
'Let's think about it after graduating.'
The next morning, Elton City was turned upside down.
The news that a place presumed to be the bandit hideout had been devastated by a magic attack.
The rumors spread quickly and reached Professor Sirims of the Elton Academy.
He was curious as to who on earth had committed such a thing in Elton City.
It wasn't an academy student.
If there was someone who could commit such a thing, they would be among the top students in the entire school, but they were all inside the academy yesterday.
And Professor Sirims would know if they had left any traces.
'It can't be an incoming student either. Then is it an outsider?'
Thinking this and that, Professor Sirims was on his way to the bookstore early in the morning to find the book he had commissioned to be copied.
Opening the large bookstore door and entering, the bell attached to the door made a cheerful sound.
Ting-a-ling.
At the sound of the bell, several people unconsciously looked towards the door, recognized Professor Sirims, and buzzed.
Sirims Andrian.
The head of the Department of Magic at Elton Academy.
His status was comparable to that of the Royal Head Mage.
In fact, the current Royal Head Mage was also a junior of Professor Sirims.
But a boy in the bookstore quickly avoided eye contact with Sirims.
Sirims did not miss that moment. No, he couldn't have missed it.
Judging by his age and appearance, he was clearly an incoming student, but the energy he felt from the boy was unusual.
Professor Sirims stared intently at the boy and muttered in a low voice.
"He's an unusual fellow. I can't confirm the size of the magic power residing in his heart. He's definitely been practicing magic for a long time, but..."
The professor slowly moved towards the boy.
But he saw the boy with his head down suddenly rolling his eyes to the right repeatedly.
He rolled his eyes so hard that almost only the whites of his eyes were visible.
'What is he doing right now?'
Ting-a-ling.
The sound of the bell rang as the bookstore door opened.
And immediately following that.
Tring.
This time, only Davian heard the notification sound.
=====
[Event: Attract Professor Sirims' Attention]
—Reward: Increased chance of being assigned to the Magic Department's Genius Class
—Failure: No penalty
—Accept: Y / N
=====
'Ugh, what kind of event is this again?'
A new event had appeared.
Davian rolled his eyes to the right, where 'N' was located, repeatedly.
It was because he should not accept this event.
Being assigned to the genius class would make it difficult to pursue a double major.
But for some reason, no matter how much he rolled his eyes to the right, 'N' for acceptance did not light up.
What is this? Is it broken?
Thud, thud.
He could hear Professor Sirims approaching him.
Crazy notification window.
Why is it doing this?
I'm not accepting it! Reject! Reject!
Davian rolled his eyes to the far right with his last wish. Almost only the whites of his eyes were visible.
It was then.
Tring.
=====
[Event 'Attract Professor Sirims' Attention' successful]
=====
Damn crazy notification window. Success, what success! I haven't even accepted it yet!
"Are you an incoming student?"
It was Professor Sirims' voice.
Davian had no choice but to answer in resignation.
"Yes."
"You're an unusual fellow. You also have a high affinity for mana. How old were you when you started practicing magic?"
Mons' eyes sparkled at Professor Sirims' words.
'Our young master has been secretly practicing magic! Well, that's why he did something like that last night. And as soon as he came to Elton City, Professor Sirims spoke to him first! Good heavens. Master, the third young master must be a genius among geniuses!'
But Davian's reaction was lukewarm.
"I've done a little bit, but it's nothing to brag about."
"Modest."
If an incoming student came to Elton City to major in magic, it was natural for them to struggle to catch the eye of Sirims, the head of the magic department.
But this guy doesn't seem to be trying to look good at all.
But he wasn't intimidated either.
He was a strange incoming student the more he looked at him.
"You're an interesting kid. What's your name?"
"Davian Naone."
"An interesting incoming student. Then I'll see you on the entrance ceremony day."
Sirims lightly tapped Davian on the shoulder and walked towards the bookstore's inner room.
After taking a couple of steps, Professor Sirims couldn't help but doubt his ears. Davian's murmur was heard softly from behind.
"Shit. I'm screwed."
"But young master, why did you buy swordsmanship books?"
"Because I'm going to major in it."
"What about magic? It seems like you've already caught the eye of the head of the magic department. And you're already really good at using magic."
"I have to major in magic too."
"Hey, young master. I think you don't know yet, but Elton Academy's classes are famous for being really tough. You won't have enough time to study magic and practice magic power."
In fact, Mons had experience attending Elton Academy for a short time.
If he had continued, he would have been old enough to graduate after completing the 7-year course.
And eight years ago, he was the top freshman in swordsmanship.
"I have my reasons."
Mons tilted his head for a moment, then smiled brightly.
His red gums were all visible, he was so happy.
"Of course. The young master must have his reasons. Just learn both magic and swordsmanship. I never knew our third young master was such a strong, wonderful, and passionate person."
"Be quiet. Let's go buy magic materials now."
Davian and Mons entered a store selling magic materials that could be seen nearby.
As soon as they entered the store, a noticeable female student and her attendant were standing on one side.
Snow-white skin and blonde hair that reached her waist.
Large, double-lidded eyes, emerald eyes.
A straight nose and thin but lively lips.
Slender arms and legs.
Davian knew very well who she was.
Latia Meridiem.
The eldest daughter of the kingdom's top magic family, the Meridiem dukes.
A genius among geniuses.
She was born with a mana affinity that only appears once every few hundred years, and she also had a brilliant mind, never missing the top spot in the magic department until she finished her sophomore year.
The problem is that not long after becoming a junior, she gets caught in the mental magic of a lich and turns into a villain of the highest difficulty.
At the time, Latia was not the only one who was caught in mental domination magic.
It was a powerful technique that most of the juniors with high mana affinity and immature minds were caught.
So, when you think about it, Latia wasn't at fault.
She was 19 years old as a junior. How mature could she be mentally?
Rather, the problem was her excessively high mana affinity.
But that was not important to Davian at all.
What was important was that Latia was too strong an enemy.
In the second round, he barely crossed Latia's wall with dozens of students, but the sacrifice at that time was too great to break the subsequent quests.
In the third round, he was able to neutralize Latia alone, but that didn't mean she was an easy opponent.
'Should I just kill her now?'
The magic power that had sprung from Davian's heart passed through his right arm and was released onto the back of his hand.
At the same time, a small wind blew on the back of his hand.
Wind element magic.
Preparing something shoddy could lead to a counterattack.
Of course, Davian, who was in his fourth round, could easily deal with Latia before she even entered the academy.
But this was the middle of downtown.
If the fight lasted even a little longer, the guards would come rushing in.
'I'll finish it in one shot.'
Davian's gaze turned to the nape of Latia's neck, who was choosing magical tools.
'Wait.'
Even if Latia could be removed without a trace, the problem was the witnesses who saw him entering this place.
Latia, the eldest daughter of the Meridiem dukes and rumored to be a genius of all time.
If she lost her life in this store, it could become a major incident that could not be compared to the bandit gang's annihilation.
Perhaps even the royal investigation team would be dispatched.
If Davian was pointed out as the culprit, he might not even be able to enter the academy, let alone graduate.
'Now is not the time.'
The wind that had been sharpening its blade more and more sharply on Davian's hand instantly scattered into the air.
"...I'll see you later when I have the chance."
Comments
Post a Comment