Chapter 7: First Lesson (1)
“Is that him? The one who nailed the crown prince to the ceiling?”
“The hole in the ceiling still hasn’t been filled up!”
“Shh, you might be heard.”
Sion was amazed because the muttering voices of the students were very loud.
‘They have no intention of hiding it.’
Finally, the first day of classes at the academy.
Expert students were gathered in a disorderly manner.
Of course, there was no one around Sion.
Still, Sion was pleased that everyone had told their stories.
“Alright, everyone quiet down.”
A man with a thick beard appeared. He stood in front of everyone with a very annoying expression on his face.
“I am Professor Restan, teaching ‘Magic Class’ for first-year students. Any complaints?”
‘What? Is he looking for a fight?’
The same thought crossed the students’ minds. Restan was unparalleled in his unpleasantness.
“What’s wrong, no one? Looks like this batch is just a bunch of mediocre ones.”
“?”
Then, someone raised their hand.
“Oh, what is it? Did you raise your hand to fight?”
“No.”
It was Aria who raised her hand. She had a slightly awkward expression on her face.
“I don’t know how to use magic, what should I do?”
“Who said you have to learn magic during magic class?”
“??”
Sion nodded. It wasn’t unreasonable for Aria to be confused. After all, that Restan guy isn’t exactly normal.
“Ugh, do I have to explain such simple things? I’ll explain it once, so listen carefully. I am Professor Restan, teaching ‘Defense Practice Against Demon Magic.’”
“Oh, earlier you just said it was a magic class, didn’t you?”
“Dorothy heard it too!”
When some students questioned him, Restan shook his head vigorously.
“Well, it was too long, so I shortened it.”
‘Shortened? That was too short!’
Restan was a shock and a terror to the students.
They intuited that getting a passing grade from such a weird professor would be harder than cutting off a demon lord’s head.
“Let’s begin the practice. Everyone…”
Restan chuckled.
“Run away with all you might.”
**
Bang, bang—
“Aaaah!”
A huge mass of magic power fell to the ground and exploded like a bomb.
The protagonist of this chaos was Restan. He suddenly fired magic shots indiscriminately.
“Can’t you see your legs! How can you deal with demon magic like this!”
Restan might be crazy, but this class was quite effective.
The purpose of the Hero Academy was one thing: to win in battles against the demon army in the future.
And the demons’ main weapon, without a doubt, was ‘magic.’ Whether the students wielded swords or had other special abilities, it was crucial to prepare countermeasures against magic.
“Anyone touched even slightly is out!”
Restan shouted loudly, rolling his eyes.
‘So that rumor about this year’s freshmen being exceptional might be true.’
Normally, by this time, there would have been almost total annihilation. But still, about half remained.
‘Especially that guy.’
Even amidst the chaos, there was someone who didn’t move an inch. Restan immediately threw a magic projectile at Sion.
Boom!
Sion lightly tilted his head to dodge the magic projectile. Then, as he stared directly at Restan, he felt extremely annoyed, as if Restan was saying, ‘slow’.
‘Alright, let’s see how far you can endure.’
Restan focused his magic on Sion. But—
“…!”
Sion was literally dodging all the magic projectiles with minimal movements.
It was almost physically impossible movement.
“Huh? Professor, your magic isn’t hitting at all?”
“Now that I think about it, he did shoot quite often, but there are many failures. Is he not very good at aiming his magic?”
“Ah~ I see! Magicians with powerful magic but poor control ‘miss’ their targets, right?”
Snap!
There was a crease between Restan’s eyebrows.
Of course, he wasn’t feeling well due to drinking too much last night, but he wasn’t about to be ignored by these lightweight students.
‘If they want it that way, I’ll show them the real deal.’
After all, the purpose of this class was to ‘eliminate everyone’ and make them realize the overwhelming difference in power.
“Fifth Magic – Field of Mana.”
The fifth magic, a truly great magic that only a few first-class wizards in the empire could use.
“Fifth magic?”
“So, you’re a first-class wizard?”
“This is it…”
It was natural for trust in Professor Restan to skyrocket.
With a confident expression, he looked at Sion and snapped his fingers.
“Gravity.”
Gravity was a magic that could overload gravity.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the ground around Sion sank.
‘What should I do.’
Sion was perplexed.
Well, with a level of 99, there’s no way he could be affected.
His innate magic resistance was on a different level.
In other words, the magic had already been thwarted.
But just standing still wasn’t an option either. That would be awkward and there wouldn’t be any sense of accomplishment or joy.
‘What skill should I use.’
Sion wanted something plausible.
Didn’t he lie awake in bed thinking about it yesterday?
The reason he became a loner stemmed from a ‘misunderstanding’.
So, all he had to do was make everyone aware of it.
That he was truly level 99.
“Death Sentence.”
Whoosh!
Something black burst from under Sion’s feet.
The ‘thing,’ resembling a puddle of shadows, spread gradually like a living organism.
“Huh, huaaak.”
Along with it, a red line emanated from Sion’s body, approaching all nearby life forms. It seemed to stroke someone’s cheek or poised to attack immediately.
In a way, it resembled a ribbon. Only, this ribbon was unbearably terrifying and fiery.
But no one screamed or could flee.
It was due to the overwhelming fear that paralyzed them, unable to even lift a finger.
It felt as if time had stopped, and everyone just remained there.
This was a magic spell that caused immediate death to targets below level 45.
It ranks among Sion’s ‘coolness factor’ top five.
“Target designated, Gravity.”
Pop!
With a burst, Gravity was dead. Along with it, ‘Death Sentence’ was lifted.
Sion felt a little proud. This was definitely cool. Everyone must have been impressed.
Just as he looked around to gauge their reactions—
Boom!
Aria, rushing like an arrow, swung her sword towards Sion.
**
Imperial Palace.
The study room of the Emperor.
“Yo, your Majesty. Your brother’s son, Ludric, has been… in this state.”
Ludric was kneeling with one knee and bowing deeply.
“That scoundrel sneak attacked me. Me, the prince…!”
Emperor Astin is the youngest emperor in history.
He’s only ten years older than Prince Ludric.
That’s because when Astin, who was the 7th prince, ascended to the throne after the previous emperor’s death, he killed all the princes above him and took the throne.
The only prince spared from death was ‘8th Prince Ludric,’ whose succession to the throne was below his.
That’s why he’s called by the people as such.
‘The Tyrant.’
With a face like ‘what do you want from me,’ he looked down at Ludric.
“So?”
“Pl-please, a-a severe punishment.”
“Punishment? What kind of punishment are you talking about?”
“Expulsion from the academy…!”
“Ha.”
As Astin let out a deep sigh, Ludric’s face turned pale with fear.
“Is that all you’ve come to me for?”
“Th-that’s…”
Gulp, Ludric swallowed dryly and said.
“Th-that scoundrel mocked the late emperor! He even lied about his level, claiming to be 99. It’s a disrespect to the late emperor who established this academy. P-please punish him!”
“Certainly, it’s not a matter to be taken lightly.”
“Th-then!”
Ludric’s face flushed with anger as he raised his head. But seeing Astin’s cold expression, he lowered his eyes again.
“But what if it’s true?”
“…!”
“Isn’t it possible that he really is level 99?”
“Th-that’s ridiculous…”
“Why do you think it’s ridiculous?”
Astin rose from his throne and approached Ludric.
Ludric couldn’t dare to speak up.
“Just now, Lord Rockefeller came by. That arrogant guy. He came to see me and heard about you. He heard about the incident where the prince got punched by his son and laughed for half a day. He told me to hurry up and get married. And in front of me, he laughed loudly for five minutes.”
“…!”
The other party was the tyrant Astin.
Ludric couldn’t imagine him staying silent after hearing such words.
“What… happened?”
“What happened? I sent him away. As an apology for this incident, I even allowed him access to my treasury.”
Astin chuckled as he grabbed Ludric’s chin.
“Why, did you think I was going to kill him?”
“….”
“Certainly, this time he crossed the line. Maybe it’s because it involves his son, he seemed to lose his composure.”
“But he has his uses. He’s useful enough that I spared him, knowing that he’s becoming a bit more influential. There’s no janitor who can clean up this empire as thoroughly as he can.”
Astin smiled softly.
“Ludric. Do you know why I spared you?”
“…No, I don’t know.”
“Because no matter how much you bastard struggles, you can’t threaten my position.”
Ludric trembled.
Astin’s eyes narrowed. A completely disinterested look.
“Get out.”
Ludric left the Alhyeon Room quietly.
As Astin sat back on his throne, he thought.
“Level 99.”
If it’s true, it would be interesting, and if it’s false, it would be amusing in its own way.
‘I’ll have to meet him soon.’
Astin, the worst emperor in history, wore quite an interesting expression as he thought of Sion.
