Chapter 39
“You all must have already heard.”
Hehehe.
“The first-year team has been officially declared the winners of this year’s Academic Tournament.”
Hahahaha.
“This isn’t entirely something to laugh about. Regarding the Undead we encountered inside…”
“Oh, I heard about that. The Vice Principal’s secretary? They informed us right after entering the Academy, along with the results. They specifically told us not to mention it to anyone. The Imperial Government has decided to conduct a classified investigation.”
“…Sigh. Very well. There’s likely to be an interview with the investigative team sent by the Empire soon. For now, just recount everything that happened yesterday in as much detail as possible.”
Professor Amilion’s expression wasn’t very pleasant, but I could barely suppress my laughter.
As part of the first-year delegation, Elaine Sinclair, Cynthia Surplus, Emily Franz, and I were in a private meeting with Professor Amilion this morning. While the others looked visibly exhausted, I was not. In fact, the morning’s news had me in such a good mood that I felt energized.
First place in the Academic Tournament.
It happened much easier than I expected.
Elaine’s brother had mentioned yesterday that it wouldn’t be so simple, but…
It turned out to be both quick and easy.
The quest completion message hadn’t appeared yet, but it likely would once the results were officially announced. All the worrying and noise yesterday seemed laughable in hindsight.
And there was even better news.
“When Greenie appeared at the end, the live feed was already cut off.”
I’d thought everything was being recorded, so I held back as much as I could during the fight. If I’d known this, there was no need to struggle so much against the Death Knight on its skeletal horse.
At least now I didn’t have to worry about anyone finding out that I had taken Greenie with me.
“Well, it’s not like the Academy created it anyway.”
“First place…” Elaine muttered in disbelief, absently fiddling with the hilt of her sword.
“Yes, well done, everyone. Truly…”
Professor Amilion scanned the four of us in turn, nodding to herself. I caught her gaze and nodded back.
It had been a tough ordeal, especially compared to usual.
“Can I ask a question?”
“By all means.”
“So, when will the results be officially announced?”
“…They’ll post the results in the notices by today, and the awards ceremony will take place soon after.”
“Aha.”
At this moment, my focus wasn’t on the Undead or yesterday’s hardships.
I wanted to complete the quest and start learning magic as soon as possible.
“Well then, let’s start from when you first encountered the Ghouls. At that point…”
Professor Amilion’s face grew serious as she looked at us, beginning her questions.
〚Main Quest (2) ‘Make a Mark’ Completed!
Quest Clear Rewards have been granted.〛
Hehehehe.
The quest completion message appeared after we spent the entire morning being questioned by Professor Amilion.
It popped up as we were about to leave for lunch together after the interview-like session had concluded.
Never had a system message been so welcome.
As soon as I saw it, I excused myself from lunch and left immediately. Learning magic was far more important than eating.
This was something to be done in solitude, in peace. Who knew if, like last time, the message would refuse to disappear until I made my choice?
〚You may now unlock a skill as a reward. Select your skill.〛
Ooooh.
The message asking me to choose a skill was enough to send a thrill down my spine.
〚Caution! Once you choose a skill tree, you will not be able to access other types of skills.〛
The system was unusually considerate this time.
I quickly opened the skill menu to view my options. There were four skills available, all highlighted with a glowing indicator that they were ready to be unlocked.
As soon as I read their descriptions, I understood what the system meant by “no access to other types of skills.”
“So, it’s like choosing between offensive and defensive paths, right?”
The terms “class” and “skills” practically screamed game mechanics. Just as a mage in a game can’t access all magic, I couldn’t either.
“Hmm…”
I pondered harder than ever before. Since coming to Arkaria, I hadn’t given this level of serious thought to anything.
The four magic types I could unlock were as straightforward as their names:
Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth.
Words that represented the four elemental forces known to many.
I wasn’t entirely sure what each entailed, but it was likely that unlocking one would open up related spells in the same tree.
Apparently, the class and skill mechanics here followed the common gaming clichés.
“Not an easy decision…”
Making a decision wasn’t easy.
I didn’t know much about magic itself, but I had faced enough opponents using it to gain a solid understanding of its potential.
That only made my choice harder.
Fire, water, air, and earth—each of these magical elements had clear advantages depending on the situation.
“Man, wouldn’t it be nice if I could learn them all?”
If I had my way, I’d be an archmage breathing fire from one hand and water from the other.
But that was, of course, impossible.
The blasted status window wouldn’t allow it.
Still, I had to appreciate that it at least warned me about not being able to learn other types of magic after making my choice.
“I need to decide right now.”
Just like when I chose the Mage class, the semi-transparent system message stubbornly hovered in my vision. I was sure it wouldn’t go away until I made a decision.
After much deliberation, I finally decided.
My choice was…
“Congratulations!”
“You were amazing yesterday!”
Two girls from my class, who never usually spoke to me, approached and started talking.
Agnes Kessler and Marie Scylla, was it?
“Oh, thank you!”
I was in such a great mood that I responded warmly. Honestly, even if Kane Hover greeted me now, I’d be willing to acknowledge him.
After all, I was a Mage now.
“Hehe.”
But, of course, Kane wasn’t going to greet me.
I saw him sitting stiffly at his desk behind the two girls, his face a mask of discontent. He was clearly upset, which was both satisfying and annoying.
“I kind of want to test my new magic… Maybe he’ll pick a fight.”
I stared at Kane, hoping he might provoke me as he had before. Unfortunately, he didn’t react.
I was itching for him to throw another fireball my way so I could counter it—not by hiding in a subspace, but with my magic.
Yes, the magic I chose was Wind.
While fireballs and ice spells are the most iconic forms of magic, I chose functionality over style this time.
Realistically, flashy fire or water spells didn’t suit me. They were too eye-catching.
Magic that stood out? Sure, it might look cool, but it wasn’t practical for someone like me.
Instead, magic that used invisible air was much better suited to me.
Besides, there were already too many fire and water mages around. Kane was a fire mage, and Emily Franz specialized in ice magic.
A combination of practicality and rarity?
That made Wind magic an easy choice.
“You’re really amazing. I had no idea you were that strong…”
Agnes said this while subtly glancing at Kane sitting behind her.
Noticing this, I glanced at him too. Kane was still ignoring me, not sparing even a single glance in my direction. It was a little disappointing.
“Well, I got lucky.”
“That wasn’t luck! No way. You took down a monster even the third-years couldn’t handle!”
“Oh, that’s because Senior Garrett weakened it significantly beforehand. That’s the only reason I managed to defeat it.”
“Does this sound natural enough?”
I repeated the prearranged response we had agreed on during this morning’s meeting with Professor Amilion.
There were several other “agreed-upon narratives” we had decided on to maintain consistency until the investigation was complete.
Lying and acting weren’t exactly my specialties, but I went along with it. After all, I’d gotten better at deception since coming to the Academy.
“Is that so? That’s not how it looked in the video…”
“No, really. Senior Garrett drained most of its strength, so it just looked like I defeated it easily.”
“…I see.”
Thankfully, Agnes and Marie seemed to believe me.
It’s true what they say: difficult things get easier with practice. Just like how Cynthia bought into my performance last time, this was another success.
“Anyway, congratulations! I can’t believe our grade won first place!!”
Marie was overjoyed, acting like she was the one who’d competed in the tournament.
These two, who had barely acknowledged my existence before, were now acting like my best friends.
“Heh, whatever. It’s a good thing.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s all thanks to everyone’s support. Hmm.”
I decided to just go along with it. While I couldn’t say for sure whether they actually supported us, their expressions seemed genuine enough.
Maybe they’d just been avoiding me because of Kane.
“So, are you attending today’s classes?”
“Huh? Classes?”
“Yeah. Professor Amilion said yesterday’s participants could take the day off, but here you are in the classroom.”
“Oh.”
Caught up in my excitement about learning magic, I had completely forgotten.
Come to think of it, after our meeting this morning, we were told we could go home and rest for the day.
—
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