When it rains, it pours.

That perfectly described the state of Cursecraft Academy right now.

After the Cursed Spirit faction’s massacre at Astra, the academy’s strength had taken a massive hit. The number of active Sorcerers had plummeted, and the manpower shortage allowed large numbers of Cursed Spirits to run rampant throughout Blackreach.

Incidents were happening nonstop.

An atmosphere of fear spread across the entire city, and that fear only gave birth to even more Cursed Spirits, trapping Blackreach in a vicious cycle.

There was no time to grieve.

The Sorcerers of Cursecraft Academy immediately threw themselves into dangerous missions, rushing all over Blackreach to exorcise the Cursed Spirits terrorizing the city.

To ensure safety, the academy issued a strict rule.

Sorcerers were forbidden from operating alone.

Every mission required at least two people per team.

The academy was clearly guarding against attacks from the Cursed Spirit faction.

Taking advantage of the chaos, several lone wolf players hidden in the shadows began stirring up trouble everywhere they could, pushing Blackreach even deeper into disorder.

Astra was overwhelmed.

Mission numbers skyrocketed.

Cursed Spirits infested the city.

Meanwhile, Caelum was having the time of his life.

He spent his days hunting Cursed Spirits nonstop.

He had been worried about not having enough techniques to work with.

Now he had plenty of opportunities to farm.

Unfortunately, most of the Cursed Spirits he encountered were low level trash mobs.

The fragment quality was terrible.

Even after pounding the crit button until his hands felt numb, he only managed to fuse a handful of decent techniques.

Growth Art, which accelerated plant growth.

Piercing Force Art, which let attacks bypass physical barriers.

Severing Art, which sliced through objects.

Hundred Faces Art, which altered appearance, voice, and body shape.

And True Hollow Sphere, which simply launched raw Cursed Energy directly as an attack.

Useful enough, but nothing game changing.

Honestly, none of the techniques were weak.

But they also weren’t strong enough to fundamentally increase his combat power.

They were mostly just additional utility tools.

Nothing remotely comparable to Reverse Technique or True Hit Art.

Naturally, Caelum found it a little disappointing.

Ring ring ring!

The school bell echoed through the halls.

For a moment, Caelum felt nostalgic for his student days.

Then he thought about it a bit more and realized there was absolutely nothing worth missing.

Life now was definitely better.

Outside a local high school.

Caelum and the Alpha Division instructor stood at the front gate.

Without even stepping inside, Caelum could already sense the Cursed Spirit lurking within the campus.

His eyes lit up.

"This one actually feels pretty strong."

The instructor nodded.

"Roughly a Grade Two Cursed Spirit. With your current strength, handling it shouldn’t be a problem."

"If things get dangerous, don’t force it. I’ll step in."

Astra was severely understaffed now.

Even instructors had been forced back into field missions.

The original three person Alpha Division squad had already been split into separate teams.

Even while carrying out missions, the instructor still tried to guide Caelum whenever possible.

From his perspective, although Caelum already possessed Grade Two level physical combat skills and had the Exorcism Blade, he still lacked real combat experience against Grade Two Cursed Spirits.

Strength alone did not determine victory.

Experience and mindset mattered just as much.

"Got it."

Caelum responded casually.

The two entered the school together.

The hallways and classrooms were loud and chaotic.

Calling it a school almost felt inaccurate.

It looked more like a delinquent hideout.

Graffiti covered the walls.

Students lounged around with dyed hair, piercings, and aggressive expressions.

The moment they spotted two outsiders walking through campus, hostile stares immediately followed.

The atmosphere turned tense.

"Hey, you two!"

A group of students emerged from a nearby classroom and blocked the hallway.

Their attitude was openly hostile.

"This isn’t a damn park. If you’re just here to wander around, get lost."

Caelum rolled up his sleeves.

Two seconds later—

Boom!

A body smashed through the hallway windows and crashed outside.

The rest of the hallway was littered with students.

Some hung halfway out broken windows.

Some collapsed against walls.

Others had passed out from fear.

Caelum and the instructor calmly walked through the hallway while nearby students instinctively stood up straight, too terrified to move.

Deep inside the school building, they arrived outside an old storage room.

Even standing outside the door, Caelum could feel the strange aura leaking from within.

A female student had quietly followed them from a distance.

She stayed near the end of the hallway, not daring to get closer.

When she saw Caelum reaching for the storage room door, she hurriedly warned him.

"You really shouldn’t open that door. Everyone who went in there ended up dying in accidents afterward."

Caelum immediately understood.

"An urban legend?"

The girl nodded.

Urban legends and horror hotspots naturally attracted huge concentrations of negative emotions.

As a result, the Cursed Spirits born there were often far stronger than normal.

No wonder a Grade Two spirit had appeared here.

Clang!

Ignoring the girl’s horrified stare, Caelum yanked the old storage room door open.

He and the instructor stepped inside, then shut the door behind them.

A moment later—

"ROOOAAARRR!"

A horrifying scream mixed with animalistic roaring echoed from inside the storage room.

The girl turned pale and fled immediately.

Inside the storage room, the lighting was dim.

A grotesque Cursed Spirit clung to the ceiling.

Its limbs twisted at impossible angles.

Its eyes glowed blood red.

Violent hatred and rage radiated from its body.

The instructor spoke calmly.

"End it quickly."

"Understood."

Caelum immediately drew the Exorcism Blade.

A flash of steel cut through the darkness as he lunged upward and struck the Cursed Spirit before it could react.

Boom!

The Cursed Spirit crashed down from the ceiling.

Its heavy body slammed against the floor with a loud impact.

Purple blood sprayed from the wound and splattered across the room.

Broad daylight.

Class still in session.

The school was packed with students.

Under those conditions, setting up a barrier to suppress the noise was impossible.

So they simply exorcised the spirit directly.

In the past, they would normally wait until after school hours before dealing with cases like this.

Now there was no time for caution.

Far too many missions were waiting.

"RAAAAGH!"

The injured Cursed Spirit shrieked in pain.

Driven mad by blood and agony, it launched itself at Caelum in a frenzy. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Unfortunately for it, Caelum moved even faster.

A blade flashed.

It looked less like Caelum attacked and more like the Cursed Spirit threw itself directly into the sword.

The creature was split cleanly in half and exorcised instantly.

Caelum flicked the blood from the blade, leaving a crimson streak across the floor.

The instructor nodded approvingly.

"Excellent."

The fight had been flawless.

White fragments drifted out from the Cursed Spirit’s corpse and gathered before Caelum into a glowing sphere.

The giant red button appeared.

The crit gauge followed.

[Crazy Crit Fusion Triggered]

[Please Begin Crit]

After leaving the storage room, Caelum found an excuse to step away and immediately started smashing the giant red button.

[Crit Crit Crit Crit Crit]

[CRAZY CRIT!!!]

The crit gauge filled instantly.