Chapter 50
“Damn it!”
Fwoosh—
The only flame burning in the darkness extinguished, plunging the surroundings into pitch blackness.
Thud—
Amidst the suffocating darkness, the sound of someone collapsing could be heard, followed by a gradual brightening of the surroundings.
Sitting alone in the darkness, pulling at his hair in frustration, was Kane Hover.
‘Why…’
Kane had been consumed by anger every single day.
And the reason was none other than the lowly commoner, Ryu Yeong.
Initially, Kane had only intended to teach the arrogant commoner a lesson.
The way Ryu had behaved during the entrance ceremony would have been enough to anger any noble.
The fact that Kane was the only male in their Class S fueled his sense of superiority.
He had wanted to crush Ryu and also gain favor with the girls in their class—especially with Elaine Sinclair.
But Kane’s plans fell apart from the very beginning.
Who would have thought that a commoner’s single punch would knock him out cold?
From that moment, everything spiraled out of control.
Not only did Kane fail to put Ryu in his place, but he also became estranged from the other students, including Elaine.
Even so, Kane continued to bide his time, training incessantly, hoping to redeem himself.
He thought that as long as his Hover’s Firebird didn’t disappear pathetically like last time, he could achieve a different outcome against Ryu.
However, watching Ryu during the Inter-Year Competition shattered Kane’s delusions.
He had assumed that Ryu’s success in the entrance exams and his ability to dodge attacks were due to sheer luck.
But Ryu clearly had real skill.
Despite being defeated in one blow by Ryu, Kane had still ranked within the top seven during the entrance exams—a testament to his talent.
Kane wasn’t so blind as to ignore the obvious disparity in their skills.
Witnessing Ryu effortlessly cut down monsters in the dungeon, Kane instinctively realized that he couldn’t defeat him as he was now.
Adding insult to injury, the first-year team led by Ryu clinched first place in the competition, a feat that shifted public opinion entirely.
Initially, everyone viewed Ryu negatively, but now, he was celebrated.
A first-year commoner who had defeated third-years with remarkable skill.
Public sentiment surrounding Ryu grew increasingly favorable.
Kane, faced with this reality, considered giving up.
He hated Ryu and wanted nothing more than to humiliate him, but he couldn’t see a practical way to do so.
He resigned himself to training harder and seeking revenge someday—a relatively reasonable decision for someone in Kane’s position.
‘One isn’t enough.’
But everything changed when Kane encountered a potion.
One day, a mysterious man had slipped him a potion, claiming it would help him.
Normally, Kane wouldn’t rely on potions or elixirs.
As a traditionalist, he believed that only one’s natural abilities truly mattered.
But his hatred for Ryu was enough to shake that conviction.
If just a little help could allow him to humiliate Ryu, was it really so wrong?
Others openly used potions and elixirs to enhance their training, so why not him?
After wrestling with his pride, Kane finally drank the potion.
Its effects exceeded all expectations.
As soon as he drank it, the mana around him became vividly clear, and he felt an overwhelming confidence that he could control even the largest surges of mana.
In a word, it was omnipotence.
He felt as though he could do anything.
For the first time, he could summon three Firebirds simultaneously, each with a fully realized form—something he had never managed before.
Kane became convinced that with this potion, he could defeat Ryu.
Even someone like Ryu couldn’t handle three Firebirds at once, he calculated.
Emboldened by this newfound power, Kane confidently challenged Ryu again.
But the result was even worse than last time.
Ryu didn’t dodge his Firebirds or cut them down with his sword.
Instead, he completely overwhelmed them with his own Wind Magic.
“Damn it…”
Thinking back on it made Kane seethe with rage.
Ryu had scattered the flames of his Firebirds with his Wind Magic, as if deliberately showing off, leaving Kane writhing on the ground in pain and humiliation in front of Elaine Sinclair and Emily Franz.
Grit—
Kane’s teeth clenched so hard that an audible grinding sound echoed.
‘If one isn’t enough, then I’ll use two.’
Kane fidgeted with the potion vial in his pocket.
He still had three left from the batch he had purchased.
The seller had warned him that taking more than one at a time might cause side effects, but Kane didn’t care anymore.
All he wanted was to see Ryu suffer, to see him panic.
As long as he could witness that, nothing else mattered.
‘Tomorrow.’
Kane organized his thoughts and stood up.
Dark circles hung under his eyes from days of sleepless nights, but he didn’t feel tired.
Ever since his complete defeat at Ryu’s hands, Kane had been far from his usual self.
He had never been this angry in his life.
At this point, the cause or reason for his anger no longer mattered.
All that remained was his blinding hatred for Ryu.
‘Tomorrow…’
With thoughts of stomping on Ryu’s face no matter the cost, Kane headed to his room, his eyes filled with a maniacal fury.
***
‘She looks completely fine.’
“So, are you all planning to visit my place today?”
“I’d love to! I’ve always wanted to see what Elaine’s house is like.”
“I don’t mind either…”
Despite meeting a mysterious man and receiving “candy” the night before, Cynthia Surplus seemed completely unchanged.
No—if anything, she appeared even brighter and more cheerful than usual.
Honestly, I wanted to directly ask her who she had met the previous night, but it wasn’t so simple.
If I brought it up first, Cynthia would naturally ask where I had been.
That made it difficult to ask her directly.
Besides, there was no need to ask Cynthia outright. By tonight, the Mana Detector would reveal who was connected to dark magic.
“Ryu, what do you think?”
“Hm?”
“About visiting my house. Cynthia said she’s fine with it today.”
“Ah, I can’t today. I’ve got something to do.”
“I see…”
Elaine openly displayed her disappointment, but it couldn’t be helped.
Tonight, I needed to retrieve the Mana Detectors I had planted yesterday.
‘Ah, I’m so curious.’
I couldn’t stop wondering.
Cynthia wasn’t showing any obvious signs, leaving me with no opening to dig deeper.
I even kept a close eye on her to see if she’d pull out a candy or something, but there was no indication of that either.
“Let’s go next week instead. I’ll probably be free by then.”
“Really?!”
Once I retrieved the detectors tonight and handed them over to Yuria Prisis, I figured the weekend would likely wrap up any pressing matters.
Next week would probably be free. Hopefully.
“By the way, does anyone know what’s on the schedule today?”
“Well, they said it was just a simple event, but no details were given.”
Elaine’s tone was much brighter when she replied to Cynthia’s question.
I didn’t have any more information than they did.
Judging from everyone’s reactions, it seemed like no one had any clue what we were supposed to do today.
Everyone simply sat in the lecture hall as usual, waiting for the morning class to start.
‘Why does he look so grim?’
In the back row, Kane Hover sat alone, scowling harder than usual.
As I noticed his unusually severe expression, the classroom door slid open.
“Speak of the devil,” I muttered to myself as Professor Amilion walked into the room.
“You’re all here,” she said with a glance around the room, a small smile on her lips.
Though the rest of us remained in the dark, Professor Amilion seemed unusually cheerful.
“As I mentioned earlier, today isn’t a regular class. We’ll be holding a simple event to encourage bonding among your peers.”
Her tone was lively as she began explaining the plan.
“The activity is simple. You’ll form pairs, and the location is the Training Forest.”
“The Training Forest?”
“Yes. I’ve hidden these throughout the forest.”
At her gesture, a glowing stone appeared in midair.
As soon as I saw the shimmering stone, I immediately understood what she had planned.
A scavenger hunt in the woods for glowing stones.
‘Wow.’
Was this really the best idea an academy professor could come up with?
“Heh heh. Teams must stick together at all times. The stones are designed so they can only be lifted if both team members pick them up together.”
“…
Everyone, myself included, had the same reaction: What is this nonsense?
“Now, I’ll announce the teams.”
Either unaware of our reactions or deliberately ignoring them, Professor Amilion continued enthusiastically.
“First team: Kane Hover and Ryu Yeong.”
‘Ah, great.’
I should’ve seen this coming.
The moment she mentioned we’d be in pairs, I had a bad feeling.
And, of course, my suspicions were correct.
‘Guess the professor is more naive than I thought.’
Did she really think that pairing us up would magically fix our relationship?
“Next team: Emily Franz and Marie Scylla…”
The team announcements continued, and naturally, there was no way our original squad of four from the competition would be grouped together.
I had initially been excited at the thought of class ending early, but now I felt a headache coming on.
‘Why does he look like he’s enjoying this?’
I glanced back at Kane, who wore a sly grin.
What was he plotting this time?
“Alright, let’s move out!” Professor Amilion exclaimed with enthusiasm.
Despite her spirited declaration, no one showed any intention of getting up.
‘Sigh.’
I barely managed to suppress a sigh of my own.
—
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