“Professor Ludwig! Professor Ludwig! I heard something big happened?”
“······.”
Elemental Magic Lecture Room.
Ludwig, with his hands behind his back, turned at the sound of Alkanjin’s voice.
Standing there with sparkling eyes was Chairwoman Alexia.
“What were you doing all this time? It was chaos out there.”
“I was sleeping! Hehe.”
“······.”
Seeing Alexia answer with such a bright expression made him let out a sigh.
After all, who among the faculty would dare to wake up Alexia? Probably only Professor Sergey.
It’s been over three years since she became chairwoman at the Imperial University, but as a Majin, she was still a figure of fear for the professors.
Ludwig had long realized she wasn’t someone to be afraid of, but still.
“So, what was the accident?”
“It wasn’t an accident; it was terrorism.”
“Excuse me? Terrorism?!”
“Didn’t you hear from the attendant?”
“No! I just ran over after hearing some chatter at the start!”
“······.”
Turning his head slightly, he saw a young man with glasses running hard from the end of the corridor.
Was that Alexia’s attendant?
A human assisting a quick-tempered Majin…
This was going to be a lot of work.
“We had a cart filled with mana stones for teaching materials. The students said an Explosive Artifact came out of that cart.”
“That must have been a big deal! Did you catch the culprit?”
“Not yet. Everyone related to the mana stone cart has been charged, but there’s been no progress in the investigation.”
“By the way! That cart of mana stones must have had significant explosive power! How come the damage is just so small?”
Alexia pointed to the platform.
The charred and torn area was barely a 10-meter radius sphere.
Everything else was fine.
“I stopped it.”
“You, Professor Ludwig?”
“Yes.”
“Hee······. Really? Are you sure?”
“······.”
“Are you sure or not? Why do you stop talking? Huh? Huh?”
“······.”
Alexia started to laugh playfully.
Realizing the meaning of that laughter, Ludwig couldn’t help but keep his mouth shut and squeeze his eyes shut.
For her, distinguishing human lies should be child’s play.
“······Chairwoman, think whatever you want.”
“Seems like it’s not true! Hehe, then who stopped the explosion?”
“I won’t tell you.”
“Could it be Schlus Hainkel? The top student?”
“······.”
“So it seems!”
“······.”
Ludwig once again squeezed his eyes shut.
To figure out the truth just by looking at his expression; it was never more irritating to know that Alexia was a Majin.
“Ha! So the pure Ludwig Professor was lying! There was a reason after all!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You were trying to protect that commoner kid, right? If you keep getting achievements like this from the first day of class, the noble families will be on the lookout for Schlus!”
“You’re wrong. My magician rank promotion exam is currently in progress. I did it for that.”
“You’re really bad at lying!”
“······.”
Ludwig’s clenched fist trembled with anger.
Being in front of this woman made him feel stripped bare.
So he didn’t want to meet her…
“So where is that hero now? I want to meet him!”
“He should be in class.”
“Excuse me? Class? Isn’t today a cancellation?”
“Did you forget already? That kid is doing a Double Major.”
“Ah······!”
Alexia’s eyes lit up.
Now that she mentioned it, Schlus was majoring in both Elemental Magic and Battle Magic.
That meant he must be in his Battle Magic class right now…
Would he have the energy to attend another lesson after stopping such a massive explosion?
Even she, a Majin, might have struggled to prevent it.
“Heeek······ Heeek······. Chairwoman······. Slow down a bit······.”
“Yusek! Follow me!”
“Huh? Where are we going again?”
“We’re going to observe the Battle Magic Lecture Room!”
“Are we walking all the way there again?!”
“Shall I carry you and fly?”
“No! I’ll run hard!”
Yusek, who had once experienced a hellish express ride in Alexia’s hands, quickly shook his head.
He’d rather run for 10 more minutes.
Watching Alexia dash off and Yusek hurriedly chase after, Ludwig let out a sigh as if the ground was collapsing beneath him.
“What a crazy world.”
For someone like Alexia, known for being indifferent to human affairs, to show such passion was a sign something was terribly wrong.
*
“This Training Golem’s combat power will automatically adjust to your levels.”
This is bad.
Really bad.
Holding his neck in disbelief, Schlus thought.
What school gets students to fight such monsters on the first day?
“Everyone’s seen this, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You’ll be familiar with it.”
‘What······?’
The students nodded as if it were nothing.
Schlus looked around in shock, but no trace of panic could be seen in anyone’s eyes.
They must have already been dead inside.
‘Calm down. There’s still a way. If I watch what the others do and find the golem’s weaknesses·····’
“And now to begin·····! All right! Top student, Schlus Hainkel, step up!”
“······.”
His mind racing, Schlus bit his lip and stepped forward.
His plan went up in smoke.
All he could imagine was a humiliating defeat at the hands of that golem.
Even if it was just a training golem, its level matched the Empire’s university students.
So he, a commoner or less, stood no chance against it.
“Professor Sergey.”
“Oh, right.”
“What do I have to do to disable the golem?”
“No, it’s probably impossible to disable it·····. Well, if you could, that would be something.”
“Then can I use weapons?”
“Weapons? Of course not.”
“Even that iron pipe?”
“Oh, this?”
Sergey lifted the iron pipe resting on his shoulder and examined it.
He had taken it after a recent plumbing disaster, using it effectively to scratch his back.
“You can use something like this. I was worried you’d ask for a siege weapon. Hahaha!”
“Then can I borrow this?”
“This thing·····? Oh. I can lend it to you.”
With a puzzled look, Sergey tossed the iron pipe.
Spinning through the air, it landed perfectly in Schlus’s left hand.
What kind of scheme is he up to, asking to borrow a weapon?
Is he trying to shoot a railgun with Lightning Magic or something?
Sergey crossed his arms, stepping back with an intrigued expression.
‘Mana amount·····.’
[Remaining Mana: 52]
‘This is bad.’
That was far too little mana to cast magic.
If he tried using Gravity Magic, he wouldn’t even be able to move a few sheets of paper before running out of mana.
So now he had no other options.
He could only rely on the swordsmanship skills (if he could even call them that) he had practiced.
‘But would that work?’
Let’s say he somehow managed to take down the lowest-level golem using his swordsmanship.
Due to the nature of the Battle Magic class, the level assigned on the first day would affect everything that happened afterward.
Of course, there were cases where skills improved over time, so the impact wasn’t absolute, but it would likely prove deadly until the midterms.
And Schlus had to rank first in both midterms and finals throughout the semester.
Screwing up even a little meant he had to get a good score on this test.
‘Damn it. I don’t want to get hurt·····.’
With a determined breath, Schlus moved forward.
The strange pose he adopted confused the other students, but two among them understood his intent.
‘What? Longsword Swordsmanship?’
‘Longsword····· a northern style, huh?’
Sergey and Trie, having held a sword before, recognized it right away.
He placed his right foot far back, gripping the iron pipe with both hands, raising it above his head.
His stable weight distribution and grip suggested he was no beginner.
The fact that someone who knew how to use a sword was in a magic learning environment surprised both, but that was all.
They felt none of the overwhelming presence that one would expect from a strong person, even if they weren’t focusing on it.
“Then let’s begin. The moment you move your feet, the golem will attack.”
*Pahng!*
The sound of clapping resonated throughout the lecture room, signaling the start.
However, Schlus remained still, maintaining his initial posture for over three seconds.
As the other students began to murmur with rising confusion…
“What’s going on? Is he scared?”
“Come on, surely he’s not afraid of a training golem. Even a commoner wouldn’t be that scared.”
Hearing the whispers that floated around him, Schlus mentally screamed,
‘Damn it. I’m freaking terrified.’
It was more than twice his height.
On top of that, its bulky form resembled a monstrous kangaroo, instilling horror in his heart.
Just a light brush from those rock-solid fists would break his bones. What kind of “training” is this?
‘Please, Schlus, I hope there’s something useful in your memories.’
Swallowing hard, he activated his abilities.
‘Memory of True Self.’
What followed was a translucent projection, akin to a hologram, blooming around him.
Snow-covered mountains.
A figure identical to Schlus raised a sword in the same stance.
And before him stood a colossal wolf monster.
It was slightly smaller than the golem, but still just as terrifying for a first-time observer.
However, Schlus’s memories, emotions, and determination flowed back into him, gradually easing his excitement.
His memories didn’t provide much help.
The way to fight a wolf monster couldn’t possibly resemble the way to handle a golem.
All he gained was courage to move his frozen body while facing an overwhelming opponent.
‘Alright. This will do.’
But that was enough.
Courage. Confidence. Just obtaining that was sufficient.
A relaxed smile slowly spread across Schlus’s lips.
‘You’re smiling? Are you that confident?’
Sergey tilted his head, reviewing the golem’s information.
Level 1.
The golem’s level, which ranged from 1 to 10, had been adjusted to 1.
It meant the golem assessed Schlus’ combat power at the lowest level 1 or something even lower.
That made Schlus’s smile even more perplexing.
“Hu······.”
Schlus took a deep breath, preparing the last step for combat.
What he considered his final resort was activating the Internal Circuit.
Of course, without “Selection and Concentration” boosting his mana sensitivity stats, the Internal Circuit would be nearly useless.
The meager mana expended by his crude internal circuit would be more toxic to his body than helpful without a high mana sensitivity.
But just because his mana sensitivity was only 1, it didn’t mean that no mana would be converted at all.
He could at least convert a tiny amount.
However, activating the internal circuit recklessly would only cause him to bleed and faint like last time.
There was only one solution to this.
He just needed to operate the internal circuit barely enough to avoid fainting.
Last time, he poured in 10 units of mana, which caused the disaster, so now he needed to let in just 1 unit.
‘It won’t kill me. Right?’
Acknowledging he was committing madness, Schlus proceeded with his plan.
This was the only option he had.
Under Schlus’s meticulous control, a single drop of mana fell.
The moment that droplet hit the internal circuit, it was as if…
*Whiiiiiirring······!*
The overload began.
‘What? The level is suddenly······?’
Sergey jolted in shock.
The golem’s level was skyrocketing in real-time.
The numbers, changing rapidly in less than a second, eventually reached 10.
If a training golem assessed its level at 10, it typically indicated a current high-ranking knight or a Stella-level magician…
Or a being of an even higher caliber.
*Kuung!*
“What?!”
In that instant, Schlus’s figure vanished.
While Sergey and Trie could closely follow the movement with their eyes, it was not the case for the other students.
