Episode 4
In the magical studies lecture after the exams, today’s topic was the mechanics of fire magic.
I sat at the front row with Ariniki, idly listening to the lecture as I skimmed through in-game texts.
“So, by vigorously vibrating the magical elements in the atmosphere, heat is generated. The magical elements charged with heat become fire. Now, Viper Hayden, what is the term for this phenomenon?”
The elderly professor of fire magic stroked his long beard and inquired.
This was something I knew from my exam preparations. It was a straightforward question.
“Um… it’s called ignition.”
“Excellent!”
The professor exclaimed in surprise.
The whole class burst into murmurs. Were they really so surprised by such an easy question?
“This will be on the next exam, so be sure to prepare, Viper. You’ve been studying diligently, haven’t you?”
Oh, this was part of the upcoming midterm exam. I had crammed everything together, so it was all jumbled in my mind.
“Now, Viper, do you know this? When the magical elements are pumped and fired to become Fire, what happens if you then orgasm?”
“Huh…?”
They were using Katakana words, and I couldn’t quite grasp what they were saying. Besides, what’s with the orgasm at the end?
“I’m sorry… I don’t understand.”
As I said this, the entire classroom started buzzing.
“Hey… Viper said he doesn’t know.”
“No way… What’s going on?”
Voices from around me weren’t mocking me; instead, they seemed surprised that I didn’t know.
“Oh, it’s okay. It’s a question only a professor could answer instantly. The correct term is ‘extinguishing fire.'”
From a string of Katakana words to such a simple term?
The professor continued with a gentle smile.
“It’s different from the usual Viper, so I couldn’t help myself. By the way, you got a perfect score on the last exam as well.”
“Perfect score!?”
Someone exclaimed in astonishment.
“Oh… I shouldn’t have mentioned that yet. It’s our little secret.”
The professor playfully winked. We all silently pledged not to reveal this secret, fearing we’d be burned at the stake if we did.
“That’s it for today. We’ll meet again not next week but at the briefing for the afternoon class competition. Goodbye for now.”
With the sound of the bell, the professor concluded the lecture and returned to his office.
“I’m impressed, Viper, truly,” Ariniki remarked while sitting next to me.
“What’s so impressive?” I asked.
“Well, in the past, when you were asked questions you didn’t know the answer to, you wouldn’t just say ‘I don’t know.’ You’d come up with all sorts of excuses and argue with the professor. Today, I thought you might go on like that again…”
I could see where she was coming from. My pride used to be quite a thing, and I would often argue with professors rather than admit I didn’t know.
“Well, I’m sincere now.”
“I can’t help but believe in you.”
Ariniki grinned.
“By the way, about the class competition…”
“Yes?”
“That time you scattered poison magic among your allies.”
“Let’s not talk about that…”
“Hehe. I’m just joking. It really has a confusing name, doesn’t it? It used to be one team per class back when we didn’t have class divisions based on strength. It’s called ‘class competition,’ but it’s a shuffle of teams made up of students from S class to F class.”
In the original story, Viper ended up on the same team as Goose. There, he intentionally sabotaged his own team to help Goose, often poisoning his teammates. This resulted in Viper’s first betrayal. Viper claimed he was threatened by other S-class students and was forgiven by Goose.
So, now, I should expect to be harassed by someone from S class.
There were two things I needed to do. First, not betray Goose. Second, I needed to perform well to regain my reputation after all the boasting.
In essence, I needed to defeat Goose head-on. That was my goal for the class competition.
While team assignments were random, I could manipulate them with some rigged lottery tickets to avoid being on Goose’s team.
The next challenge was how to defeat Goose. Despite being a scoundrel, he was still the protagonist with a high stat sheet.
Even if I were to defeat him using long-range attacks and poison magic, it wouldn’t earn me any respect. It would result in a hit-and-run, time-wasting strategy with a poor reputation. I needed to win by playing fair, following the rules, and fighting honorably.
I was still limited to basic magic, excluding poison. I contemplated how I could receive training in other forms of magic as I prepared for the afternoon briefing.
