“That was fun.”
The dark night settled in.
In the professor meeting room of the academy, where most of the students had left, three professors sat facing each other.
Among them, Professor Lasty, who was fiddling with a candy made of blood, wore a satisfied expression.
“As my sister said, they accepted it quickly. They really wanted to win, huh?”
“They turned out to be better than expected.”
“Yeah. It’s definitely beyond what I thought. If there were no restrictions, they would have become a grand mage long ago.”
Candy Star’s transformation into a ‘Magical Girl’ progressed successfully.
She accepted the power of a magical girl through fusion and was able to wield magic freely.
Having noticed Candy Star’s talent, if Lasty had decided not to intervene, I would have gotten involved myself.
Because the potential of the profession called Candy Star was remarkably high.
However, if there’s one downside…
“Honestly, their power has weakened a lot.”
Lasty popped the candy into her mouth and crunched it.
The candy made of blood shattered and slid down Lasty’s throat.
“It took more effort than I expected to lift the system’s restrictions. Even when lifted, I couldn’t escape its influence.”
“Well, it’s only natural. It was a task to summon you all from the Space of Despair.”
Lasty and Pharaoh.
The two entities could now only be compared to advanced or intermediate Celestial beings, and summoning them was impossible.
Given how weakened I had become, it was a level I could never handle.
Even though I gathered the Blue-Red Stone and various means to summon some prestige, summoning the main body would require at least me to be at my peak.
And being at my peak… honestly, that would be quite difficult.
‘Right now, I’m barely at 5%.’
“But there’s something quite interesting in the report.”
“Can you not speak to me so casually?”
“To lift the restrictions was treated as an ‘additional job change’… and it’s a fourth job change at that.”
“Sister?”
This was a surprisingly unexpected result.
Even when Yena, Choco, or Devil used techniques that burdened the soul, or when Leo fully awakened as a Nymph, no signs of change were noted.
It had always been dismissed as something external to the system, and especially in Leo’s most recent case, there was no visible system-related awakening response.
It was just a matter of becoming closer to a Nymph.
But Candy Star had become a ‘job changer.’
“Did they say that directly?”
“Yeah. They proudly mentioned it. Just now they said they’ve become a ‘fourth job changer.'”
“I just became a ‘4th class advanced’.”
The 4th class advancement system hasn’t been introduced yet.
It’s commonly said that this will only come after the Great Cataclysm.
Of course, I did receive a quest, but it boasted an absurd difficulty of defeating 20 intermediate-level World Bosses or taking down an ‘Extreme’ level World Boss.
It’s a bit suspicious that Candy Star, who’s not even level 100, suddenly advanced jobs while ignoring these procedures.
I carefully looked over the report again.
“Everything is temporary. There is a time limit and the system warns of this.”
“Maybe it’s related to system stabilization.”
“Could be, but it’s also my fault. I have far too little power to match my knowledge.”
“That might be true. Regardless, it seems she has returned now.”
Candy Star’s kind of awakening probably allowed her to return to normal under the system’s protection.
This makes me wonder if other users could also class change through Lasty, but Candy Star is a bit of an exception.
Due to her job characteristics, she wields powerful blunt weapons like splitting paths, but her use of magic has been sealed.
In other words, Candy Star didn’t gain a power she didn’t have; she simply couldn’t use the power she originally possessed.
Thus, when the seal of magic within her dedicated weapon was lifted, the system displayed information about her future class change.
From this, I can conclude…
“I can’t do it.”
Lasty can’t lift my seal.
If she could, there wouldn’t be any reason for my soul to be bound for thousands of years.
“She must have returned now. What a pity. If she had maintained that state, she would have learned better.”
“With time, she’ll naturally relearn it. Just completing the class change is the first step.”
“A class change… The power of the system really is something.”
It turns an utterly ordinary human into something that can share a realm with Celestials and Demons.
Even if that level is merely that of a child and not a fully-grown celestial, it’s still a remarkable feat.
I’ve often seen the case where growth causes the body and soul to shatter into pieces.
Even among users who had undergone long experiments by demons, there were some whose level was hard for Lasty to understand.
“That guy Leo, and that girl Yena too. If they had all been in a ‘completed’ state in the past, they would have had no rivals on a small continent.”
“No one would dare touch it.”
“That’s true. Anyway, Pharaoh, you worked hard too. I bet teaching was a real hassle.”
“It was a bit of a struggle.”
The Pharaoh nodded, shaking his golden mask.
Lasty also went through quite a bit of trouble, but the Pharaoh had it especially rough.
The students were grouped together based on their aptitudes and talents.
I had 8, Lasty had 5, so the remaining 15 were all under the Pharaoh’s care.
“Did they learn well?”
“They all had the brains to learn. But, you know, they were just human-level, so it was about the same across the board.”
“Were there any outstanding students?”
“There were one or two. I noted them down, take a look.”
The Pharaoh pointed to a paper on the table.
Inside were photos of two individuals and a few remarks.
One was a Druid; the Dinosaur is Alive.
A user specializing in summon creatures, and a ranker I met during the mock siege war.
Of course, there were significant differences between the Pharaoh handling sand soldiers and the Druid dealing with living creatures, but in the end, they were both summons.
Since the basic framework of summon creatures was the same, it would definitely be helpful.
Next up was Myul.
A guardian of the Herculson tribe with powerful physical abilities, and a user who hung out with Yul.
Notably, he’s quite advanced in NPC skills, or so I hear.
“Seems like he communicates pretty well. If trained, he could be quite useful.”
“What about Yul? The girl who hangs out with him.”
“Not much. Compared to that guy, she’s nothing special.”
So that’s how it is.
Anyway, the class wrapped up successfully, so it looks like we can just keep going like this…
“Are we heading out soon?”
“Where to?”
“Don’t play dumb. I said once things stabilized, we’d head out to conquer the desert.”
“When did I say that?”
“……”
“Just kidding. We do have to go someday.”
We wouldn’t have anything to do for a while anyway.
The academy classes would proceed whenever there was time, and the ancient island was doing just fine without me visiting.
Dungeons are generally the same unless you find something special like hidden dungeons, but the problem is there aren’t many places worth going.
“I’ve cleared just about every dungeon on the continent long ago. If I want to go anywhere, it has to be outside the continent.”
That was something Yena said back in the early days.
In reality, most of the dungeons have already been cleared by other rankers, so going would hardly hold much meaning.
The dungeon has already been cleared by other rankers, so there wouldn’t be much point in going.
“Let’s go. Just once.”
“Really?!”
“Yes.”
The Pharaoh seemed to be in high spirits, conjuring up a sandstorm.
Lasty grimaced and used the Power of Blood to merge with the ground, but he still had a good expression, no matter what.
And so, this guy uncle’s clumsy desert expedition began.
■
The desert conquest didn’t happen right away.
The academy had just started, and the Elbrite principality was still a growing kingdom.
There were internal issues to address, and parts of the broadcast needed attention as well.
Therefore, the desert expedition began a week after the first day’s lecture.
“Are you ready?”
“Sure.”
The Pharaoh, looking far lighter than before, nodded his head.
Watching the Pharaoh and me was Besk, the exhausted-looking administrator of the Elbrite principality, who handed us a paper filled with information.
“I’ve done some research. There’s a desert called ‘Tebai’ near the principality. It’s about a third the size of Elbrite.”
“Pretty big, huh?”
“That’s right.”
The Elbrite principality boasts a size much larger than that of an average kingdom.
It’s only natural, considering it was once the territory of the Empire’s eight swords.
In any case, that means the desert accounts for a whopping 30% of that size.
“Tebai borders the principality, the Empire, small kingdoms, and the territories of minority ethnic groups. So, it wouldn’t be strange for it to belong to anyone, but due to the harsh environment, no one has claimed this land.”
“Are you saying it’s empty land?”
“On the surface, it’s the Empire’s territory… but even the Empire has neglected it, so occupying this place wouldn’t be a problem at all. And.”
“And?”
Besk is staring at me intently.
He has that look that makes me feel like he knows what I’m thinking.
“Even if it were occupied, it wouldn’t seem to be a problem…”
“I’m not that reckless of a person, you know?”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Indeed.
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