TTND 30

Chapter 30

An Inescapable Fight

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“These are your seniors. They will give you detailed guidance,” Margram said as the teaching assistants began to approach each student and offer individual coaching.

However, Idnia was more curious about something else than magic.

“Hello, senior. How did this happen…?”

“Do you know the story of the person who made a wish to the Lamp Demon and got it wrong?”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s basically what happened. Succumbed to desire, and when they came to their senses, they found themselves as research students at the academy. I warn you all, don’t ever become a research student.”

“Well, do you think we’ll listen to warnings? Our seniors warned us, too.”

“……”

Despite this, the magical prowess of these seniors was truly impressive. They could easily identify where students were lost, what they were doing wrong, and where the bugs were in their magic practice.

“Our professors were born as monsters who could already fly when they were born, so they know the mistakes of humans just learning to walk,” one of the assistants remarked.

“Their magic may seem limitless, making it tempting to pursue, but that’s when you’ll become like a moth diving into the fire.”

“Beware the thirst for power and knowledge.”

The teaching assistants continuously warned the students while helping them.

As a result, even the students who had struggled to summon spirits began succeeding one by one.

“Wow. What took a month to achieve in other places, we’ve done in just this one hour.”

“Unbelievable.”

The students felt their magic improving rapidly under the assistants’ guidance. And now they understood why Duinace Academy prided itself on not needing to spend money, time, or energy on advance learning in other places.

‘And the teaching assistants look so pitiful.’

‘We’re not idiots. Why would we want to be research students after seeing this?’

‘We could learn magic just fine, graduate from Duinace Academy with a title, and become officials, join magic-related companies, or become adventurers, travel the world, and be treated like heroes by women.’

‘But there are so many powerful magicians here. The great magicians of the empire are all gathered here.’

The students, despite their fear of the research system, were increasingly drawn to the power and knowledge these seniors possessed.

“Alright, teaching assistants, leave!”

Another smoke bomb went off, and as the smoke cleared, the assistants used magic to disappear.

There were already countless teleportation gates installed in the academy, and they could be activated with specific incantations. To hide the activation signs, they used the smoke.

As the smoke cleared, the assistants vanished without a trace, just as they had first appeared.

Almost all the students had now successfully summoned low-level fire spirits, though each one appeared differently.

Prince Rudolf’s fire spirit took the shape of a fiery orb, symbolizing his royal power.

The fire spirit of the southern Notos dormitory’s headmaster, Lorenzo, took the form of a tiny flame scales.

Karl, the headmaster of the northern Boreas dormitory, had a fire spirit shaped like a flaming axe.

But not all students had succeeded in summoning the fire spirits.

Only Mari was still struggling.

The assistants had stuck with her for the entire time, trying to help, but they eventually gave up and moved on, and most students, who saw Mari’s incompetence, felt frustrated.

They had been known as prodigies in their own villages.

For them, sharp intellect was their duty, and seeing Mari waste time after being given such valuable instruction was almost unbearable.

“Ugh. Guess she really is the bottom of the class.”

“Is this really the saint candidate?”

Mocking remarks rained down on Mari.

Feeling the pressure of all the eyes on her, Mari grew more flustered and continued to fail at the incantation.

• Boom!

“Ha ha ha!”

“It’s really funny. This girl actually got into Duinace Academy?”

Unable to watch any longer, Idnia approached her.

“I’ll help you.”

“No, no, it’s okay, Idnia-sama. I don’t want to bother you…”

“Don’t say that, Mari. I consider you a friend. We’re in the same dorm, and we’re even roommates, aren’t we?”

Idnia felt sympathy for Mari.

Even if that wasn’t the case, she knew Mari was essential to her.

‘I may be a saint candidate too, but it’s clear I’m not the real saint. If I don’t help raise Mari, the world could be in danger, so I must help her as much as I can. Also, if possible, I should transfer her to the Betelgius Duchy.’

Ignoring the students, Margram instructed the students who had successfully summoned spirits.

“Alright, everyone. From now on, we’re going to have the spirits battle each other.”

“You’ll find out how well you’re connected to the spirit world and how great your control over your magical senses is through this.”

“If anyone is able to overpower all the spirits, I’ll give them an extra point, no jokes this time.”

At that, every student silently muttered to themselves, ‘Does that mean you admit what happened earlier was a joke?!’

“Let’s get started!”

Under Margram’s command, students placed their summoned spirits on the tables, and the battle began.

Rudolf’s orb-shaped fire spirit easily defeated the other spirits, emitting a powerful flame.

Karl’s axe-shaped fire spirit became a flying flaming axe and chopped through the other spirits.

But the most impressive one was undoubtedly Isolde Polchen’s fire butterfly spirit.

She cut through the other spirits with her wings and shot beams of fire, even piercing through Rudolf’s fire orb.

“…I lost. Impressive, Isolde?”

“Not at all, brother. Thanks for yielding.”

Isolde quietly celebrated inside, but showed respect to Rudolf.

Since Rudolf’s spirit couldn’t even stand up to hers, the other students’ spirits were no match for her.

“…Now, what about Idnia Kache Betelgius?”

“Ah… I think it’s better not to use my spirit. I’ll forfeit.”

Idnia shook her head.

“A forfeit? Your spirit wouldn’t be defeated just because it’s weak, would it? What kind of spirit is it?”

“That’s…”

Reluctantly, Idnia summoned her spirit.

Compared to the other students’ spirits, hers was tiny.

‘Oh no, it’s like Magnum’s Desert Eagle? No, this looks more like a special collaboration spirit from a different game… Am I really advertising myself as an outsider?’

However, no one recognized Idnia’s spirit.

“Heh.”

“What’s that tiny spirit?”

“Ha ha.”

Students who didn’t understand the power of firearms laughed at Idnia’s unimpressive spirit.

“The appearance of a spirit reflects the person’s mind, right? Idnia, what’s going on here?”

Margram’s gaze took on a peculiar glint.

“Ah, I’ll just say I lost. This duel seems… dangerous.”

Just as Idnia was about to give up, something unexpected happened.

“Burume ung-hara! Low-level fire spirit, appear!”

Suddenly, brilliant light enveloped everyone.

Startled, they turned around and saw that Mari had finally succeeded in summoning a spirit.

But…

Mari’s fire spirit was surprisingly in the form of two small wings made of sacred letters.

The letters formed a sphere as they flew, and flames arose beside them.

“Ah… No?! A flame angel?”

Even Margram was taken aback.

“What’s this? Is it that amazing?”

Students, confused, looked on.

“That’s both a spirit and an angel. It’s a being with both attributes. Quite impressive. Truly, the saint candidate…”

Margram admired it, but Sandy Aspinal scoffed.

Mari had often shown her inferiority during school life.

What she summoned didn’t seem all that impressive to her.

‘A clumsy country girl, and she’s supposed to be a saint? She summoned some weird-looking spirit…’

Sandy’s own spirit, a small fire whirlpool, immediately attacked Mari’s spirit without any signal to begin the duel.

“Let’s start the duel, Mari. Show us how great your flame angel really is.”

“Ah, wait.”

“It’s already started! Ho ho.”

Sandy’s spirit fiercely attacked Mari’s, but…

• Flash!

With a dazzling flash, Sandy’s spirit shattered into pieces.

“Eh?”

Sandy was shocked. In fact, all the students were frozen in fear.

‘That’s not the power of a low-level spirit!’

“Well, I’m here, so it’s easy to summon fire spirits in this classroom.”

“Your spirits are much stronger than usual, so don’t expect this level of power all the time.”

“Even so, Mari’s spirit is showing unexpected strength.”

“So, who else will challenge her?”

As Margram asked, Isolde Polchen stood up.

“I’ll challenge her.”

“Huh? But Isolde, your spirit has already fought a lot…”

Mari hesitated, but Isolde raised her staff.

‘Spirit Heal!’

‘Action Speed!’

Rather than summoning a new spirit, Isolde invigorated her existing one.

Her fire butterfly spirit fired beams and flew in a straight line, cutting through the air.

A dazzling attack unfolded, but Mari’s flame angel fluttered gracefully, minimizing the damage as it approached Isolde’s butterfly spirit.

And then…

• Sacred Fire Letters!

Mari’s flame angel cast sacred fire letters, shattering Isolde’s butterfly spirit.

“Ugh?!”

Isolde gasped in disbelief as her spirit was torn apart.

“This is unbelievable. I’ve been learning magic much longer than these guys… Is this the power of the saint?!”

Everyone who had mocked Mari was stunned.

They never expected this power to emerge at the last moment.

‘She really is the saint. A mysterious power beyond our understanding.’

‘She even defeated Isolde, who’s clearly a more experienced magician than us…’

Meanwhile, Idnia was also thrilled for Mari.

‘I was worried because Mari was constantly mocked and looked down upon, but she really has the strength of a true protagonist. Thank goodness.’

However…

“I did say, didn’t I? You need to overpower all the spirits to get the point? There’s still one spirit left.”

Margram continued, refusing to give a point just yet.

And the last remaining spirit was Idnia’s.

“Uh, well. I can forfeit. I’ll release my spirit.”

Idnia didn’t have any intention of competing with Mari.

She didn’t feel the need to prove herself, given her noble background.

But this was against Mari’s wishes.

“Can I challenge you to a duel, Idnia?”

Mari was the one challenging Idnia, the very person she had tried to protect.

“Ah, no…”

Idnia understood the meaning behind Mari’s excited expression and the slight moisture in her eyes.

Just moments ago, Mari had endured mockery and hardship, and now she was using her spirit’s overwhelming strength to prove herself.

Her cry for validation had now turned toward Idnia, and Idnia couldn’t refuse out of sheer sympathy.

“I understand. Then… I’ll accept.”

 

Idnia gave up on avoiding the challenge and accepted the duel.