I Got a Fake Job at the Academy-Chapter 784

Chapter 784 - Side Story 57: Special Class (3)

The intense light bursting from Eric's eyes created a flash that seemed like sparks were flying.

It shot forward in a straight line, accurately aimed at Rudger.

"Huh."

Though it was incredibly sudden, Rudger was able to evade by moving his body through shadows.

However, it was true that he was quite surprised.

'I'd heard about magic eyes, but this is the first time I've seen something like that shoot out from the eyes.'

In human history, records of mages who possessed magic eyes remained in detail.

Many mages classified magic eyes meticulously, and as a result, magic eyes came to be divided into three major categories.

The first was the Illusion type.

The Illusion type referred to magic eyes that directly interfered with the opponent's mind, disrupting their cognition and judgment.

A representative example was the magic eye of charm possessed by Chancellor Elisa Willow.

Though Elisa herself suppressed her magic eye, if she used it seriously, it was possible to overwhelm the minds of those with weak reason.

And besides the magic eye of charm, there was the magic eye of dreams that made people dream, or the magic eye of seven emotions that stirred up all kinds of emotions in the opponent.

The second was the Effect type.

The Effect type, similar to the Illusion type, was a magic eye that directly affected the opponent.

However, if there was a difference from the Illusion type, it was that while the Illusion type interfered with the opponent's mind, the Effect type interfered with the opponent's body.

A representative example was the magic eye of petrification.

It petrified the opponent just by looking at them, making them unable to move.

Additionally, there was also the magic eye of stasis, which stopped the movement of objects.

While the magic eye of petrification only worked on living things, this one had the versatility of being applicable to inanimate objects as well.

There were also others like the magic eye of puppetry that forcibly controlled the opponent's movements—this type was quite formidable as befitting magic eyes.

'And the third and final one is the Manifestation type.'

In the case of the Manifestation type, it was a much rarer case than the previously mentioned magic eyes.

The magic eyes mentioned earlier had the characteristic of interfering with the opponent's body and mind.

That alone was already an absurd performance, but still, since they were magic eyes, there were aspects that could be accepted.

However, in the case of the Manifestation type, the eyes interfered with the world itself.

In other words, it manifested the phenomenon one desired in the world seen through the eyes.

The magic eye of combustion that burned what the eyes saw.

The magic eye of heavy pressure that applied tremendous pressure to the surrounding space within sight.

Even the magic eye of freezing that froze everything it saw.

However, shooting out light purely from one's own eyes like that was something Rudger was experiencing for the first time.

Still, judging from its form, he could deduce it was the Manifestation type.

A Manifestation type case, which was even rarer among rare magic eyes.

It wasn't for nothing that Elisa had been worried.

"Eeeeeh?!"

The special class students watching from the audience seats seemed quite shocked as well.

Where would there be someone who wouldn't be surprised to see their classmate shooting lasers from their eyes?

Rudger looked back.

The light that failed to hit him struck the inner wall of the training hall, and the power was so fierce that part of the magically protected inner wall was melting and dripping down.

If a person had been hit, they might have disappeared without a trace.

To just shoot that out without hesitation. He must have that much confidence in his skills, but it was unavoidably eerie.

Rudger observed Eric's expression.

Eric wore a face that was half bewilderment and half liberation at having used his magic eye, which he had been suppressing for the first time.

He looked at Rudger. There was a strange heat in his eyes.

Of course, it was metaphorical, but if he wanted to, he could emit real heat like just moments ago.

"May I continue?"

"You may continue until you're exhausted."

As soon as permission was given, a red energy gathered in Eric's pupils.

What Rudger felt while watching it was that, though they were magic eyes, the pupils were truly beautiful.

They were pupils resembling opal, a gemstone containing various colors.

However, the story changed when intense light burst forth from the red energy gathered at the center of those pupils.

Once again, the same light was emitted.

Rudger dodged the light by dashing to the side.

'Now then. What will you do? While emitting the light, your vision should be restricted, shouldn't it?'

Eyes are organs that see the world by receiving visible light.

Emitting such an intense light source from such pupils meant that, at least for that moment, they lost their ability as visual organs.

However, surprisingly, Eric precisely turned his head following the trajectory of Rudger's movement.

To consider it mere coincidence, it was an action filled with certainty, and Rudger could tell that his vision was not restricted at all.

'I suppose magic eyes are magic eyes after all.'

It seemed there were no particular restrictions from emitting the light.

Moreover, the light emitted this time was different from before. Its beam became thinner, but the heat and power were compressed.

It wasn't even just emitted once and done—it continued persistently, trying to cut through whatever it touched.

The protective magic inside the training hall activated. The red light drew across the bluish barrier of mana in one sweeping stroke.

However, Eric couldn't quite catch up to Rudger.

Against Rudger who leaped through space, it was difficult to even capture him in one's field of vision normally.

Rudger's figure running through the training hall was swallowed by shadows and disappeared as if flickering out in midair.

Eric immediately stopped shooting the light and tried to find Rudger but quickly turned around as if sensing something.

Immediately after, a giant hand made of shadows that had been approaching him stopped abruptly.

A different light from before was circulating in Eric's pupils.

"So you don't have just one ability."

Even though Aether Nocturnus' hand tried to grab Eric's body, it couldn't move at all as if suppressed by something.

He couldn't deny it was Eric's doing.

There was no sign of any magic being cast, so this too must be the power of the magic eye.

And what that meant was...

Eric's magic eye wasn't just one.

"You also quickly noticed the ambush from behind. Do you perhaps have detection abilities too? Seeing how it stopped like this, you even possess the Effect type."

"...That's impressive."

Eric was genuinely amazed.

Usually when he revealed his magic eye, people would be surprised or afraid, but Rudger was not at all.

Rather, he dealt with the magic eye as if showing off, accurately and meticulously analyzing the abilities his magic eye possessed.

His voice was so calm that it was Eric who felt eerie instead.

"Eric Willow. I trust that's not all."

"...I'll try to meet your expectations."

Though he said that, his expression was the opposite—full of excitement.

It couldn't be helped. Because of the danger of his magic eye, he usually had to cover his eyes with his bangs and wear artifact glasses.

Because he knew how irregular his abilities were, and how great a danger they could cause.

That's why he put shackles on himself and didn't try to interact with anyone else, not because he wanted to. 

It was unavoidable because of the power his magic eye possessed.

But now, Eric was able to show his true self for the first time with all the shackles removed.

Eric's eyes turned toward Rudger.

Rudger felt his body flinch and stop.

"Stasis? Or is it paralysis?"

No, it wasn't that.

Rudger felt petrification occurring on his body.

"The magic eye of petrification. So you even have the ultimate Effect type."

Among Effect type magic eyes, the magic eye of petrification boasted the highest grade.

This was an ability that existed only in legends and myths, and even considering myths on Earth, only Medusa or Cockatrice possessed it.

For anyone affected, it would be a situation where they'd inevitably panic just from their body turning to stone.

However, Rudger pushed out and released the petrified parts by raising his mana.

The magic eye of petrification assumed that the opponent was weaker than oneself.

Against someone with stronger mana than oneself, the magic eye of petrification couldn't exert its full power.

Perhaps because Eric knew this, he changed his approach.

Rudger's movement within Eric's sight flinched and stopped.

Of course, it was only for an instant. As soon as Rudger exerted force, the restraint was released.

But in that instant moment, Eric materialized a formula and activated magic.

The implementation of magic was quite fast, and the reason was that Eric used source code.

"It seems it's now widely known enough that most mages can use it."

It was a part that made him newly realize how much time had passed.

Looking at the approaching magic, Rudger lightly raised his staff.

Magic materialized at a speed faster than Eric implementing and shooting his magic.

Cube fragments gathered in midair and became swords, then shot in all directions and intercepted all of Eric's magic. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Not stopping there, steel swords fell vertically toward Eric.

Eric immediately stopped the steel swords with his magic eye. At the same time, he deployed defensive magic to prepare for Rudger's attack.

"Your response method is also excellent. Ordinary mages wouldn't stand a chance."

Unlike Carlo who fought instinctively, Eric was thoroughly calculating.

Moreover, the ability of the magic eye was tricky to deal with.

The reason magic eyes were evaluated as dangerous was because their abilities manifested without needing to draw formulas like magic.

Moreover, since they could land effective hits just by reaching one's field of vision, there was no ability more troublesome for mages.

That was precisely why magic eyes were evaluated as dangerous.

Whatever the case, just being within the field of vision meant being within the sphere of influence, so from the perspective of facing them, dealing with it was nearly impossible.

Moreover, there wasn't just one such magic eye ability, but multiple mixed together.

'It's truly close to a mutation.'

And this isn't just anything, but manifested through atavism.

Rudger increasingly understood why Chancellor Elisa cherished Eric.

If Eric's abilities spread to the outside, he would almost certainly become a target for mages.

A magic eye possessing multiple abilities simultaneously had tremendous research value.

From the perspective of mages obsessed with magic, it wouldn't be strange to pluck out his eyes while he was still alive.

'Because it's too powerful, it's not suitable for a student who's still young to possess. Chancellor Elisa forcibly bringing Eric to Theon was partly to refine those abilities, but also to protect him from external dangers.'

From the chancellor's perspective, Eric couldn't be considered an outsider—they were cousins. She couldn't help but be more concerned.

How many minutes had passed like that?

Eventually, Eric displayed everything he had, but he had no choice but to collapse spread-eagled on the training hall floor.

"Good work."

"Thank you."

However, Eric's expression was brighter than ever before, because he had resolved all that pent-up frustration from being suppressed until now.

Eric lowered his bangs again, then fumbled to put on his artifact glasses.

Having instantly returned to his model student appearance, Eric walked back to the audience seats with plodding steps.

However, no one could look down on Eric. At least the people gathered here now knew that he was the possessor of tremendous magic eyes.

"Then, now there's one person left."

At those words, the one who flinched was Mina, who looked much younger than the other students.

Mina had a face full of fear, showing signs that she wanted to run away immediately.

When Rudger snapped his fingers, Mina, who had been sitting in the audience seats, was transferred to the training hall.

That space magic again.

Mina dropped her shoulders in resignation with a completely deflated face.

"Are you worried about getting hurt?"

When Rudger asked that, Mina shook her head.

She spoke in a small voice that seemed to crawl out.

"Because the teacher might get hurt."

"Huh."

Even after watching the battles up until now, she was worried about this side?

It could be called truly arrogant words.

But Mina was sincere. That's why Rudger couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.

She really thought so.

Even after watching her special class classmates fight, even while knowing Rudger's skills in subduing them all without injury.

She was convinced that if he fought her, he would get hurt.

"As I said beforehand, if you truly don't want to attend my class, you'll have to prove it here and now. The condition is simple. Just touch even a single hair on my head."

"...Really?"

"Yes. Even if I happen to get hurt, I won't hold you responsible. And I'm far stronger than you think. So abandon any thoughts of holding back."

Mina bit her lip as if realizing something, then nodded.

She stared at Rudger with a more resolute gaze.

"Here I come."

She seemed to speak with some vigor, but her voice was still small and weak.

However, the mana bursting from her body was different.

"...!"

Hermoa, who was watching from the audience seats, felt goosebumps all over her body.

At the same time, she felt a pressure that made it difficult to breathe.

Because Hermoa could feel mana with her sense of touch, she could tell how absurd the amount of mana Mina possessed was.

And also how serious the magic she was trying to cast now was.

Hermoa's gaze turned toward the sky and could see a giant cubic metal mass falling toward the center of the training hall.