Chapter 348

348

“Ah, Clay!”

Countless beads of light decorated the empty air.

Ki-gi-gi-ging-!

Berus’s magic quickly swept away the stampeding group of orcs.

Berus looked down at his hands in surprise.

‘Is this the level of power?’

Berus’s family had been a lineage of summoners for generations.

Thanks to this, he excelled in the art of summoning; however, his magical prowess left much to be desired.

Even after using the Magic of the Stars beginner’s manual and feeling a change in himself over several weeks, he never expected this.

‘No way this is the extent.’

Berus wasn’t the only one with a startled look on his face.

The speed with which they were defeating the monsters wasn’t at all inferior to the advanced class.

Angr’s eyes went wide as he watched.

“Are we really going to win?”

Seeing Angr’s astonishment, Eclere, who was nearby, put on a serious expression.

“It’s not going to be easy with Yoinia around.”

As fellow advanced class members, Eclere knew well Yoinia’s capabilities.

In terms of magical power, Eclere, as well as Elric, the second-highest ranked student of the first year, possessed less than Yoinia.

Upon hearing Eclere’s words, everyone in the lower class flinched.

Seeing this, Leo spoke up.

“We’re going to win.”

Leo smiled wryly at the lower-class students.

Since entering Seirun, they had continuously been treated like the bottom feeders.

After entering Seirun, expectations turned into disappointments, and those disappointments turned into despair.

As a result, lower-class students generally lacked self-confidence and had a tendency to shrink back.

The lower-class students looked at Leo.

“That Yoinia kid may be incredibly talented, but as an amateur magician, it’ll be hard for her to fully exert her abilities.”

“Bu, amateur?”

Seeing Leo calling one of the top students of the advanced first class an amateur, Eclere gave him a bemused look.

“Yoinia’s strength is her powerful magical energy, so the teachers have been focusing on teaching her high-level magic that others in the advanced class can’t use easily. She’s one of the top students in advanced class 1, alongside Lea, already learning magic that second-year seniors typically learn in the second semester… and you’re calling her an amateur?”

“Selection and focus, good. But do you think there’s someone among your seniors who’s good at high-level magic but can’t use low-level magic properly?”

“…”

“If your goal is to become a Star Wizard… well, the education system seems correct for that path. But nurturing exceptional talents intensively is something that places other than Seirun can easily do too.”

Leo glanced at the students in advanced class 1.

“The admiration and respect for the founder of the Star Cloud and the Comet Wizard… indeed, these are the best factors for growth.”

The lower-class students turned their eyes toward Leo.

“But that’s not the right answer. You’re aiming to be heroes, not second versions of the Star Cloud founder or the Comet Wizard, right?”

Leo smiled wryly at the lower-class students.

“Believe in yourselves.”

Leo pointed with his finger to a statue standing somewhere in the training ground.

There stood the statue of the Comet Wizard, found all over Seirun.

“Isn’t that a saying by the founder of this very school?”

The lower-class students opened their eyes wide.

They then had expressions of excitement.

“That’s right! We’ve worked hard this whole time!”

“Let’s all do our best!”

Everyone clenched their fists tightly.

Seeing this, Angr approached and chuckled bitterly.

“Looks like you should be the class leader after all, Leo.”

“No, you’re suited to be the class leader. I’ve already done it.”

“Huh?”

Seeing the perplexed Angr, Leo smiled wryly.

“Hey, monsters are attacking! Defend! Defend!”

At that moment, a startled cry echoed.

Ogres that had appeared from the summoning circles went berserk toward each position.

The advanced class students, distracted by the attack, allowed the monsters to approach.

In the blink of an eye, there were casualties among the advanced class students, and their offensive lines were disrupted.

Since it was a sudden large-scale troll appearance, the lower class also allowed them to approach.

However, the knights among the students at the front line of the lower class stepped forward.

The wizards at the rear cast enhancement magic.

Everyone was astonished at the sight of the front-line defense of the lower class withstanding the large-scale ogre assault.

“Wait, isn’t enhancement magic normally a secret magic of high-ranking families?”

“Why can the lower-class students use something like that?”

The first-year students looked in shock.

The upper-year students were also surprised, but soon stroked their chins with interest.

“This is intriguing. Did they reform some new Magic of the Stars?”

“We didn’t expect much from the lower class… but aren’t they actually like the advanced class?”

“As individual wizards, the upper-class students are undoubtedly superior… but can they be called hero candidates like this?”

“If we can use aura or summoning magic in this test… will those upper-class students really beat the lower-class ones?”

The eyes of the upper-year students turned cold toward the upper class.

The instructors of the Pureblood Society hardened their expressions upon seeing that.

Currently, among the elf society, including Seirun, there are many who support the Pureblood Society.

When the news spread that the ancestor, Luna of the Star Cloud, had returned, Seirun became a kind of sacred place.

Luna, the pride of the elves and the hero who saved the world.

For a long time, the elves have admired and looked up to Luna.

Thus, when Luna reappeared miraculously, it was inevitable that the influence of the Pureblood Society, which shouted for the pride of the elves, would grow.

However, the Pureblood Society couldn’t control everything just because of that.

There have long been doubts about the Pureblood Society itself.

Even in the conservative elf society, there are always those who oppose extreme tendencies.

The same was true for Seirun.

Many upper-year students viewed the Pureblood Society with unfriendly eyes.

Therefore, this mid-term exam for the first year was also a chance to show the upper-year students the ways of the Pureblood Society.

But…

‘Being beaten by some low-class students? How disgraceful!’

LeHagen’s face distorted.

‘That guy! He must have used some sort of trick!’

LeHagen’s bloodshot eyes turned toward Leo, who wore Seirun’s uniform.

In that moment, Leo and LeHagen locked eyes.

Leo gave a smirk as he looked at LeHagen.

‘Don’t think this is over, Leo Flove!’

LeHagen gritted his teeth.

Piiiiii!

Meanwhile, the sound indicating the end of the exam echoed.

“We won!”

“Yay!”

The lower-class students cheered.

Believing in the victory, the group led by Berus looked at each other in disbelief.

“Everyone, you’ve done wonderfully! You’re amazing!”

Laura hugged each of her students with teary eyes.

As their teacher, Laura knows well.

How unjustly her students have been treated simply because they lacked achievement in the Magic of the Stars.

How deeply their spirits have suffered.

Hence, she couldn’t help but be deeply moved by the lower-class defeating the advanced class.

“Seriously, we won! Leo, this is all thanks to you!”

The group from Berus’ team crowded around Leo.

Seeing this, Leo smirked.

“Don’t transfer all the credit to me. You did a fantastic job.”

“Still…”

“You weren’t the ones lacking talent in the first place.”

“Huh?”

“If you lacked talent, you wouldn’t even be admitted to Seirun.”

Leo patted Berus’ shoulder.

“You just didn’t quite fit with the Magic of the Stars. All I did was provide you with an opportunity. If you want to be thankful, show gratitude to teacher Laura who has been teaching you and to teacher Anna, Associate Professor of the Department of Magic in Lumeran, who will come in a few days.”

Leo looked at the eyes of the lower-class students widened in surprise and said,

“The reason you won today is because you didn’t give up and worked hard until now.”

The entire lower-class showed tearful expressions.

“Leo.”

“Yeah.”

“Can we call you our senior?”

“I want to call you ‘Big Brother.'”

“Senior!”

“Big Brother!”

The lower-class praised Leo.

“Stop wasting time and focus on the remaining exams.”

Leo burst out laughing.

“We have to prove that Seirun was wrong to ignore you.”

*

The following exams continued in shocking succession.

The attempt to pit the lower-class teams against intentionally to make the advanced-class shine backfired catastrophically.

The lower-class rebellion.

As they watched the lower class sweep the advanced class in victory after victory, the faces of the advanced-class teachers went pale.

On the other hand, the middle-class that had received the same education as the advanced class were unable to surpass even a single member of the upper class.

This meant only one thing.

The educational policy for the middle and advanced classes was wrong.

‘This is absurd! Impossible! How can these dropouts beat the advanced class!’

Geras, the head teacher of the first advanced class, wore an ashen expression.

Geras was constantly glancing sidelong at acting principal LeHagen.

Seeing LeHagen with a cold gaze, Geras gulped and moved to stand before Lea.

“Lea student! The honor of the first advanced class rests on you, Lea student!”

As Geras grabbed his shoulder and shouted frantically, Lea replied with a blank face.

“Teacher, let go of me.”

At her words, Geras flinched and backed off.

“Since this is an exam, I will do my best, but it’s not for the honor of the first advanced class.”

Lea smiled faintly.

“Frankly, I don’t much care for your educational methods either, teacher.”

“Le, Lea student…”

Lea proceeded to the training ground.

Elric performed brilliantly against the middle-class students, earning praise from the upperclassmen for his exceptional magic skills.

Everyone watched the lower-class rebellion with interest.

However, no matter what others said, the focus of all Seirun students was… none other than Lea.

Click-click.

Standing on the training ground, Lea waved her hand at the distant lower-class team, Angr’s team.

Seeing this, Eclere from Angr’s team waved back happily with a bright smile.

Taking a deep breath, Eclere then said,

“I said it before, but… Lea is in a different league from us. So it’s best to do what I say.”

“But even if that’s true… isn’t this too dangerous?”

When one of the team members asked worriedly, Eclere gave a bitter smile.

“When the exam starts, you’ll understand why I said that.”

Piiiiiiii!

At the sound of the exam beginning, the summoning circle activated, and goblins flooded out.

Along with them, a massive surge of magic power enveloped the area.

Flash! Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!

A radiant sword rained down from the sky.

An overwhelmingly powerful magic compared to anything seen so far.

In an instant, the goblins were swept away by the light of the sword.

The scene happened so quickly that everyone marveled in awe.

“Hmm.”

Lunia, with her chin cupped, wore an expression of intrigue.

“Indeed, Tingel stands out.”

It was as Lunia had said.

In a different league from the other first-year students.

“Ah, this is why I don’t like geniuses. Achieving something like this even in the first year is just frustrating.”

Marven, the first-ranking student of the fifth year, burst into laughter.

Marven’s gaze was trained on Lunia and Evertoun.

“Still, the other side has also crafted a good strategy. Knowingly conserving their magical power for the early stages.”

Marven stroked his chin and his eyes gleamed.

Just then, a few dozen magic circles appeared around Eclere.

“Multiple incantations? Impressive.”

Marven whistled.

“Year representative.”

Evertoun crossed his arms.

“The amount of magical power is not the sole measure of a wizard’s ability. Among the current first years, if we consider only magical skills, then this Eclere kid has the full potential to be the year’s representative.”

Evertoun gave a frosty smile.

“Why is someone like her on the junior class team? Is it because the junior class isn’t junior-like?”

Evertoun’s voice made LeHagen’s hand veins bulge.

“That kid…”

“Evertoun Seijin considers everything beneath his eyes as trivial, doesn’t he?”

“That’s his charm. Consistent rudeness.”

Evertoun’s intimidating glance turned toward Lunia and Marven.

As Lunia played dumb and Marven chuckled, this happened.

But the score was overwhelmingly in favor of Lea’s team.

As everyone prepared to conclude that this was expected, something happened.

The fallen goblin corpse got up.

Ki-ke-ke-ki-ke. Ke-ki-ki-ke-ki.

Making strange noises and trembling, the goblin’s neck swiveled with a loud click.

An illusion spell was cast throughout the exam area to prevent the monsters from sensing the outside world.

However, the goblin’s face accurately turned toward Leo who was outside the testing area.

Flash.

A fleeting crimson light appeared in the goblin’s eyes.

Simultaneously, a crimson smoke began flowing from its body.

Leo’s eyes twitched upon seeing this.

“…Undead?”

“Ki-ke-ke-ke-ke!”

With the goblin’s shout, the fallen corpses began to rise.

A massive dark magical energy surged through the air.

Leo’s face grew tense.

A dark magical energy he recognized.

‘Hel Kaiser.’