<341 - Villains Not Found in the Original>
Professor Diogenes received an unusual commendation from Professor Plato, who taught the upper class during the first semester.
“How are the first-year students of Class 981? Heh. They’ve got some guts. Generally, they follow instructions well. I was hoping they’d push ahead with the second-year curriculum a bit more, but that didn’t happen, and it’s a real pity.”
Every year, the first-years seem to be slacking off. Back in my day, it wasn’t like this; young people these days are incredibly lazy, and while Plato used to complain with every breath, his positive evaluation stands out!
Since Professor Plato was not known for his praise, Professor Diogenes couldn’t help but raise his expectations.
“The students of Class 980 united and cooperated reasonably well, but… I see why Professor Plato values them highly in comparison to 980.”
The level was high. The overall standard of upper class students visibly exceeded that of other years.
For aspiring knight students, in different classes, they wouldn’t have been this desperate for the Mana Flow Technique training.
They still had some leeway with the stats they could raise through training, and the potential for growth while attending lectures was significant; generally, they weren’t desperate, so there were limits to their growth.
This Class 981 was different.
Whether they trained exceptionally hard during the first semester or felt a sense of urgency and fiercely trained over vacation, everyone seemed to have desperation levels on par with second years.
“No longer just the frustration of stagnant abilities that won’t budge with physical training, or the lectures that provide shallow insights. If we want to aim for growth amid this stagnation, there are only two methods.”
Breaking through the stagnant level by doing high-intensity practical combat to accumulate titles, achievements, and rewards.
Or compressing the body through the Mana Refinement Technique and increasing both the total amount of mana and its efficiency using the Mana Flow Technique.
“The latter essentially boils down to the same concept. The Mana Refinement Technique is ultimately a training method for handling mana. If the mana doesn’t increase, there are limits to the compression and enhancement rates of the body.”
Some students flinched at the mention of enhancement, but Professor Diogenes never thought there would be first-years already reaching for the taboo enhancement that the Empire condemned; he merely felt proud that they were hard training enough to reach that point.
“Thus, this class, [Upper Class Mana Enhancement], becomes crucial. The increase of mana is the only means to expedite your growth, which has reached a standstill.”
The students’ eyes sparkled with ambition. Their expressions showed that they realized the necessity of this class for their growth.
“Now, let’s move on to how to increase your mana.”
With that, the professor plopped down onto the dirt floor.
“The fastest way to gain mana is through imitation. Races with abundant mana naturally increase their capacity for nature mana by living unique lifestyles.”
Unlike the hesitant Class 980 students who slowly sat down, the Class 981 students boldly sat without caring if they got a little dirty, thinking that as long as they could increase their mana, a bit of dirt didn’t matter!
“For example, canids roll in the dirt and play in the earth to absorb the nature mana embedded within. This is a natural mana enhancement phenomenon that occurs as they breathe in mana soaked in the dirt and absorb it through their skin.”
Sensing something off, the students began to stir anxiously.
“Roll in the dirt…?”
“Is that really right?”
As the bewildered students looked bewildered, Professor Diogenes chuckled and confronted them with harsh reality.
“From now until the class ends, spend time on the dirt. I’ve given you a hint, so find out how to absorb mana on your own. This is the introductory task to the [Essentialism Mana Science] that I, Diogenes, created, and the first step of [Upper Class Mana Enhancement].”
The students wore pained expressions as they shuffled about on the dirt. They were told to get dirty to gain mana, but… how exactly were they supposed to do that?
Some students awkwardly dug through the dirt piles and sprinkled it over their knees instinctively.
This level of dirt play wasn’t going to cut it!
The border faction students boldly rolled around in the dirt.
“Hey, now that I’m dirty, I might as well roll all over!”
“Eew, Son Ohchun, the dirt’s flying everywhere!”
“Haha, it’s not dirt. This is mana!”
Nearby, the unamused Sister Nise from the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church pulled out a mace with a stoic face.
“If you love dirt so much, I’ll make sure you get plenty of it with this holy mace.”
Thud thud! As she slammed the ground, piles of dirt erupted and the mana training devolved into a dirt flinging battle among the border students!
The imperial students couldn’t possibly join such chaos, silently reaching a compromise to avoid bothering each other.
“In short, isn’t the process of uprooting the earth important? Then if we dig deep and execute the Mana Flow Technique down below, the mana gathered will surely increase~?”
“Oh! Truly, Masugaki Princess’s brilliance shines brighter than our Three Great Meritorious Families! What a remarkable thought!”
Taking the golden opportunity, Honor Fried Chicken also buttered up to the Masugaki Princess, who giggled and urged him on.
“What are you waiting for~?”
“Huh?”
“Act, not just talk! Hurry and dig!”
“…”
“I’ll cheer you on?”
The dirt-play kids from the border and the live burial faction from the Empire.
Unexpectedly, Professor Diogenes looked favorably upon them.
‘Does everyone know what they’re doing, or are they acting without thinking? Well, at least they seem to be hitting the target.’
The mana enhancement training method for canids focuses on uprooting the earth and absorbing the energy from the ground, both of which were important.
The border students, including Son Ohchun, jumped at the first method, while the imperial students, led by Masugaki Princess, quickly grasped the latter and dived into training.
It couldn’t be said that one was superior and the other inferior; uprooting the earth released significant amounts of mana, while practicing mana absorption from deep ground increased efficiency—these were merely different training methods.
In fact, they could all be praised for instinctively finding the methods that suited them best.
‘Maybe it’s this side that’s lost.’
Amid the chaos, Kasia and other students from Group C were researching in their own ways.
Students who didn’t want to get swept up in faction trends clustered near them and quietly began their training.
Oknodie and Sing.
The two were also among that crowd.
Like they were just at a sandy beach, one was buried in dirt with curious eyes blinking, while the other lay flat in the dirt, flailing limbs while staring up at the sky.
Among the Miscellaneous students of Group C, Kasia stared at the dirt for three seconds and then glanced at Oknodie for three seconds.
After deliberating for some time, she eventually popped some dirt into her mouth and looked quite the sight.
“Eew, eew.”
…What exactly did she want to accomplish here?
Even Diogenes, who encouraged training methods that followed one’s essence, thought that the Group C students might need guidance in their training methods.
While making a list of students unable to keep up, he focused on Oknodie and Sing, who were sitting apart.
‘Hmm?’
With a meditative pose characteristic of eastern practitioners, Sing placed his hands on his knees and closed his eyes.
Rather than forcefully uprooting the earth or digging down, he had a strong instinct for greedily absorbing the energy that spread around him.
‘The eastern mana cultivation technique is indeed peculiar.’
Unlike the students who draw mana through actions or condense qi from specific places, Sing indiscriminately attracted the mana surrounding him.
Building a colossal inner soil within himself, he allowed the mana of the dirt to gather naturally.
Diogenes genuinely admired the existence of the soil mana that transcended even canids.
But suddenly, when Oknodie placed his hand on Sing, that admiration turned into shock.
‘No, he’s not!’
Diogenes gasped and spread a mana barrier around the two.
Connecting the body of a person in meditation with another’s body during cultivation while intervening in their training was an incredibly dangerous act; mutual mana merging could harm the energetic pathways and even destroy vital organs in severe cases.
Such a perilous act could only be attempted by practitioners from the same school or those under the same mentor, reaching the same series during their training.
The two were engaging in a risk-laden act that shouldn’t happen!
This could lead to a fatal accident if not handled carefully.
‘The East and West. The cultivation of internal energy and the Mana Flow Technique. These students shouldn’t have anything in common, yet they’re trying to intertwine their energies!’
As Diogenes observed with a tense demeanor, an extraordinary sight caught his eye.
The mana flow from Sing was becoming more furious and ferocious, pulsating through his entire body.
However, paradoxically, the flow of qi seemed more stable than when it was slower.
Just like the difference in safety between 50 km/h on an unpaved road and 120 km/h on a paved road—while the turmoil was milder overall!
Of course, with an accident, the effect would be worse at 120 km/h, but Sing’s control wasn’t bad enough to allow such accidents to happen.
More importantly, Oknodie’s lead was exceptional, and Sing’s trust in accepting it was magnificent.
‘Who on earth are these students?’
Although Professor Diogenes didn’t usually check student records out of a principle of judging based on visible merit, this time he couldn’t contain his curiosity.
━━━
Sing (Student Record)
○Campus Reputation
– A dangerous Eastern Swordsman. Without hesitation, he wields his sword towards anyone who crosses his boundaries.
– A candidate for the Foundation Scholarship. The only student who has not returned for a week from the director’s mansion, even with the second semester starting. The likelihood of being taken in by the Foundation is extremely high.
– A dangerous minor predator. Reports of him hovering near female students over five years younger than himself exceed 100.
━━━
“…”
Looking at the students with great potential morphed into the gaze one might have towards a vicious child predator.
“What a model Essentialist he is!”
To him, who emphasized training methods based on one’s essence, dating young students wasn’t a taboo.
But even so, there’s a level—11 years old is pushing it.
Oknodie might be more dangerous than Sing.
Approaching a child that other students call the Dark Princess to unleash his desires—what a repugnant and unsettling fellow!
It seemed Oknodie would only have disgust towards Sing, pulling out a piece of coal-like food from his bag.
That wouldn’t raise one’s resistance to explosions.
This was probably a signal to eat that and go away.
Crunch crunch!
And yet, this guy actually ate it.
Incredibly, his energy stability remarkably increased.
Diogenes found himself astounded at this spectacle.
‘Thinking burnt food was trash was but my preconception!’
Even in the filthy play of the canids digging in the dirt, hints for mana enhancement could be found, and perhaps hidden secrets lie in the intake of burnt food as well.
‘Could it even be related to touching the young?’
Even Sing’s outrageous sexual preferences towards younger children might contain hints to mana enhancement that he himself didn’t even know about.
“No way.”
Diogenes firmly believed it was just a coincidence.
There’s no way that could be true.
Unless there really is some hidden benefit to burnt food, how could this happen?
‘First, I need to feed some burnt food and verify its effect.’
Of course, I’ll have the teaching assistants eat it first.
Oh wait, if that makes my evaluations drop, won’t I be the one at a loss?
I’ll have to casually drop hints so that the teaching assistants in other professors’ labs end up trying the burnt food instead.
I heard there’s a mad professor who feeds stones to students.
Wasn’t his name Professor Weird?
