I Got a Fake Job at the Academy-Chapter 783

Chapter 783 - Side Story 56: Special Class (2)

Carlo seemed unable to understand how he had been defeated. However, the situation where he was lying on the ground with Rudger pointing his staff at him was all too clear.

Carlo gritted his teeth and swatted away Rudger's staff with his hand.

Blazing flames were coalesced in his hand.

Using the recoil from swatting away Rudger's staff, Carlo got up and lunged at Rudger, bursting flames from his legs as propulsion.

However, Rudger was already no longer there.

'To use mana shaped into elements while enveloping his body. Truly a primitive way of fighting.'

It was a fighting style that even street thugs might use. This clearly showed that Carlo had grown up in an environment where he had no choice but to fight this way.

To utilize the refined method called magic with street fighting techniques. It was like water and oil that could never mix, but Carlo had harmoniously fused the two with amazing talent.

Whoosh!

Carlo's leg swung aiming for Rudger's chin. Following that trajectory, bright red flames spread, leaving residual heat in the air.

'The heat is fixed in place.'

In the heat remaining where the fire had passed, mana sparkled, causing a series of small explosions.

The power itself was barely enough to cause burns, but the explosions visible to the eye were quite flashy.

The intention was obvious. It was to obscure the field of vision. And naturally, this method was similar to the fighting of thugs who throw sand in their opponent's eyes in back alleys.

Within the flashy explosions obscuring Rudger's vision, Carlo slipped into a blind spot and threw a punch.

"Not bad for a freshman."

Rudger blocked Carlo's punch with his staff without even looking at it. Through the scattering flashy flames, Carlo's eyes could be seen widening.

His eyes seemed to ask how he had known, so Rudger, as the instructor in charge, decided to kindly explain.

"Skilled mages don't rely only on their vision. They also perceive the wavelength of mana their opponent possesses. If you can detect that, you can respond to this kind of ambush to some degree."

Of course, raising one's senses to that level required tremendous effort and real combat experience, but there was no way for Carlo to know that much.

Carlo tried to throw another punch, but Rudger was faster. His staff traced an efficient trajectory, striking Carlo's forearm, waist, and shin.

"Ugh!"

Even if it wasn't enough to break bones, it must have been considerable pain, but Carlo swallowed his scream and retreated.

The fighting spirit dwelling in his blazing eyes still hadn't been extinguished.

"Will you continue? If not, it would be good to accept your defeat obediently." 

"Shut up!"

Carlo's eyes became even sharper. Already having quite an intense impression, now he looked somewhat beast-like.

As his muscles seemed to writhe, his movements became even faster than before. A gleam appeared in Rudger's eyes.

"Ho."

As he turned his head, Carlo's nails scratched past that spot. Crimson flames even left an afterimage like a meteor's tail following the trajectory of his nails.

It was compressed more sharply than when he threw punches.

Rudger raised compressed mana spheres around him and fired them at Carlo. The power was meant to subdue the opponent, but if hit, it would be very painful.

However, Carlo spewed flames from his legs and displayed all sorts of strange three-dimensional movements in the air, dodging all of Rudger's attacks.

'Like movements of a beast.'

Rather than judging and moving rationally, it was closer to dodging almost instinctively. For a human, that sense was exceptionally sharp.

"Yes. Let's see you bring out more of what you're hiding."

When Rudger lightly stomped his foot, a stone wall suddenly rose from the training hall floor and struck Carlo.

Carlo blocked it by crossing both arms, but his body floated high into the air. Rudger extended his staff toward the floating Carlo.

Blue mana bullets shot at Carlo, tracing complex trajectories like mechanical circuits. Carlo gritted his teeth and enveloped his body with rock. He had used an earth attribute defensive magic.

However, if he had only responded with just that much, he wouldn't have deserved to be called a genius.

Whoosh!

Soon, hot flames surged through the gaps in the rocky armor on his body. Like solar prominences racing across the sun's surface, the rock armor glowed red-hot and Carlo himself became living magma.

Pububububuck!

Having combined magic of two attributes, Carlo swatted away all of Rudger's mana bullets with his fists. Combined with his innate physical abilities and reflexes, he was truly like a war mage.

Carlo, who had landed on the ground, raised his head and stared at Rudger.

Though he looked quite threatening enveloped in magma, regrettably to Rudger it only evoked interest and no other emotion.

Having even fought the Fire Elemental Lord, to him Carlo's magic was nothing more than a child playing with matches.

"Since you're coming at me seriously, I'll go a bit stronger too."

Rather, having seen Carlo's ability, he intended to match it and raise the level of attack a bit more.

Purple lightning formed around Rudger. It pulsed as if writhing in the air, then was instantly shot at Carlo like a spear.

If he reacted after seeing it with his eyes, it would be too late, yet Carlo was amazingly already dodging it by kicking off the ground.

However, Carlo's body soon stopped abruptly in that spot. Before he knew it, his shadow had risen and wrapped around his body with countless tentacles.

At the same time, a large metal cube was created above Carlo's head.

And the cube, measuring about 2 meters in length, width, and height, immediately fell. Even if he tried to escape, his feet were bound by the shadow, making evasion impossible.

The special class students watching began to seriously consider whether they should intervene. This was because fear was creeping up that he might get seriously injured at this rate.

Kwang!

The cube shattered into pieces with an explosion. What destroyed it was Carlo, or more precisely, the translucent human form floating behind his back.

"As expected. You had a hidden trump card."

The human form floating behind Carlo's back stared at Rudger. It raised what was presumably the spear that had shattered the cube just moments ago and hurled it at Rudger.

Rudger raised his shadow to swallow the spear, then returned it as is. However, the being was no pushover. With ghostly reaction speed, it caught the returning spear midway.

'No. It's actually a ghost, so that's correct.'

And that was not an ordinary ghost.

"A hero from history."

Yes. That wasn't the soul of an ordinary human, but the soul of one who had accomplished great deeds and elevated their soul's rank by one level.

And there was exactly one type of magic that borrowed the power of such heroes.

One of the unique system magics: Origin.

That magic, which could connect to The Great Flow and inherit their power, was also what Iron Mask Rotheron had used.

'It probably has nothing to do with Rotheron. In the first place, unique system magic isn't something that can be learned just by being taught.'

It was possible to pass it down if one discovered someone with innate talent, but usually it didn't become an ideal relationship like Madeline and Aidan.

Rather, unique system mages often mastered it on their own without being able to find a teacher.

Carlo's case was like that too. Especially Origin magic was also magic that could be learned naturally as long as one could connect to The Great Flow, without needing anyone to teach it.

'Usually, connecting to The Great Flow itself almost never happens.'

Even among mages, only an extremely small portion, only those born with brains of a peculiar nature, were capable of it.

The mana the brain receives and the kind of spiritual sense expansion that can be felt through it, so to speak.

"You were hiding quite excellent magic."

At Rudger's words, Carlo showed a dismayed expression. His secret trump card, which he had kept secret even from Theon's chancellor, had been exposed all too easily.

What Carlo couldn't understand even more was that Rudger seemed to have known from the beginning that he was hiding this kind of magic.

It couldn't be helped. No matter how outstanding Carlo's talent was, he was still inevitably immature.

No matter how much he tried to hide it, he couldn't escape Rudger's eyes, which had reached the standard of the 8th circle.

Rather, it was impressive that he had hidden it while evading the headmaster's eyes.

"Since you've already brought it out, why don't you use it freely?"

"...Can you handle it?"

Carlo asked in a voice somewhat softer than before.

"If I couldn't handle it, I wouldn't have started in the first place." 

"..."

Carlo didn't answer. Instead, he quietly awakened his mana. A new form appeared behind his back. This time it was a hunter covered in a hood.

That one too must be a body that was called a legendary archer and hero.

Carlo, enveloped in magma armor on his body, charged at Rudger while receiving rear support from the heroes.

The fight itself ended anticlimactically. Carlo, who had given his all, collapsed spread-eagled on the training hall floor without even touching a speck of Rudger.

"I...lost."

Carlo, who had been gasping for breath, staggered to his feet from his position.

He quietly closed his eyes, then bowed 90 degrees toward Rudger.

"I have lost. Teacher."

It was a sincere apology containing all of his rudeness up to now at once.

"I've seen your ability well. But there are many rough parts because it's too unrefined. You may think you don't need teaching, but if you do it that way, someday your magic will go astray. So don't think of teaching as someone's interference, but think of it as part of the refinement process." 

"...I understand."

Carlo withdrew, and Rudger looked at the remaining special class students.

"Next."

Because of seeing the previous fight, Hermoa's shoulders, who had intended to come forward right after Carlo, shrank.

As everyone was only watching each other with that same thought, Rudger called out directly.

"Hermoa Entiro." 

"Yees."

Hermoa squeezed her eyes shut. She stood in the training hall with her shoulders drooping.

"You already know from watching Carlo fight. Use everything you've learned." 

"I'm..." 

"You don't need to worry. I'll also adjust my strength appropriately to match you."

In Carlo's case, he had gone a bit hard because he needed to correct his habits, but there was no need to go that far with Hermoa, who was active in his class.

At Rudger's words, Hermoa felt relieved.

'Since he says he'll go easy, he won't do it like when he faced Carlo, so that's fortunate!'

And 3 minutes later, Hermoa screamed.

"You said you'd go easy! You said you'd go easy!"

Hermoa ran across the training hall, where all sorts of various magics were pouring down like rain, with tears welling up. If there was anything praiseworthy, it would be that she never let go of her staff to the end.

"I'm using magic matched to your ability. Hermoa Entiro. Use that sense power you possess well." 

"I, I don't know how!"

In the end, Hermoa was shot down by Rudger's mana bullet and collapsed. At least fortunately, unlike Carlo, she didn't end up in complete shambles, and it ended at an appropriate level.

Of course, from Hermoa's perspective as the one who was hit, it wasn't appropriate at all. The scene of unleashing all kinds of magic in rapid succession on a second-by-second basis couldn't be known unless you faced it directly.

"Next."

Rudger called out the next student.

Thus he finished testing Elmara the elf and Robert.

In Elmara's case, because her leisurely and lazy personality made her not want to do it properly, Rudger was annoyed and went a bit harsh on her.

And in Robert's case, it was serious in a different sense.

'To think he couldn't even use magic properly.'

More precisely, was it because this format of sparring gave him enormous pressure? Robert couldn't use magic properly, nor could he even make eye contact with Rudger.

Clearly he had excellent talent, but because he couldn't utilize it at all, Rudger felt considerable regret.

Still, should he be thankful that he didn't run away?

Rudger's gaze soon turned to Eric Willow.

Perhaps already feeling that gaze, Eric had come up to the training hall even though he hadn't been called separately.

"Eric Willow. Use everything you have to pressure me. You can abandon the worry that I'll be in danger." 

"...Yes. I understand."

Students in the special class at a similar level to him had already been thoroughly beaten by Rudger. Having seen that, Eric abandoned thoughts like worrying about his opponent or controlling his strength.

'He's quick to accept. I thought he'd be emotionally unstable from refusing class, but is his mind unexpectedly strong?'

Eric removed the glasses on his face with slightly hesitant hands. And he swept his bushy bangs upward with his hand.

"Oh."

As Eric's appearance was revealed, Hermoa let out an exclamation without realizing it. She hadn't known because he usually covered it, but Eric was more handsome than expected.

Unlike the thought that he would be timid, his eyes were sharp like a well-honed blade.

"I'm going."

As soon as Eric said that an enormous beam shot out from his two eyes toward Rudger.