“As most of you have probably heard already.”
‘Hehehe.’
“The winner of this year’s competition has been decided: the first-year class.”
“Hahahahaha!”
“This isn’t something to laugh about frivolously. And regarding the undead incident inside the arena…”
“Oh, I’ve heard about it. Wasn’t it the Vice Principal’s secretary who came to inform us personally as soon as we arrived at the Academy? We were told not to repeat it to anyone. The Imperial Government has classified it as a top-secret investigation.”
“…Sigh. Yes, I expect a team from the Imperial Government will want to meet with us soon for an interview. For now, I just need you all to recount everything that happened yesterday as thoroughly as possible.”
Professor Amillion’s face didn’t look too cheerful, but I couldn’t suppress the bubbling laughter rising in my throat.
Here I was, meeting separately with Professor Amillion after participating as the representative for the first-year team alongside Elaine, Cynthia, and Emily this morning.
Everyone else looked really exhausted, but not me. If anything, I was in a great mood. The morning news had made my day even better, and my energy levels were through the roof.
First-year champions. Who would’ve thought?
It ended up being easier than I expected. Elaine’s brother said it wouldn’t be so simple, but here we were—easy win.
The official quest clearance message hadn’t popped up yet, but once the announcement was made, I was sure it would.
The thing was, it had turned out to be so effortless that my earlier worrying seemed ridiculous now.
And what’s more, there was another good thing.
‘Apparently, the live broadcast got cut the moment Green made her appearance.’
Good thing too! I’d been putting all my effort into controlling my strength, fully believing I was being recorded, but it turned out I didn’t even need to.
Had I known, I wouldn’t have wasted so much energy fighting that skeletal knight last night.
Anyways, thanks to that, there was no risk of anyone discovering that I’d snuck in Green—not that she was Academy property in the first place.
“First place…”
Elaine mumbled to herself, touching her sword’s grip, a look of disbelief on her face.
“Yeah, good job everyone. Truly…”
Professor Amillion nodded in approval, her gaze sweeping over the four of us.
Meeting her eyes, I nodded back with a small smile. Sure, we worked hard compared to our usual, but it was worth it.
“Can I ask one question?”
“Sure.”
“So, when exactly will the official results be announced?”
“That should happen sometime today according to the bulletin board, and I hear there will be a separate awards ceremony soon.”
“Ahhh.”
My focus wasn’t on the win anyway. I was more concerned about the undead incident and getting back on track with my quest progression—learning magic.
“Well then, let’s start with your encounter with the ghouls. What exactly happened then…”
Professor Amillion regained her serious expression before turning her full attention back to us, starting the debrief.
—
Later…
Main Quest (2) ‘Stand Out’ Completed!
Quest Completion Rewards Unlocked!
‘Hehehehe.’
The quest-clearance message finally flashed across my mind at the end of our long discussion with Professor Amillion. Just as we were about to head out for some lunch.
No sight was more delightful than the system message that popped up right in front of me as everyone was moving along.
Skipping lunch, I slipped quietly away from the group. Time to learn magic outweighed the importance of food by miles.
This was a moment to handle alone—calmly.
Who knows, maybe the message wouldn’t disappear until I chose a skill.
Attention: You may choose to unlock one skill tree. Choosing one will prevent you from learning others.
Alright, that’s the rub.
The choice of skills. Now there’s a heart-pounding experience.
Note: Choosing one type of skill locks you out from others.
A friendly warning!
The magic selection screen lit up with four options, all marked as ready for unlocking.
Fire, Water, Wind, Earth.
Classic elemental powers—so intuitive!
Not surprising, but I could imagine that selecting one would open the door to its related skill family.
It fit the typical RPG template—just like picking a class in a game doesn’t mean you gain access to all spells.
‘Hmm…’
Decision time. Not an easy one.
For all I knew, I had rarely pondered something so deeply since I came to Arcania.
My four available elements—Fire, Water, Wind, Earth—all carried significant advantages depending on the situation; that made it harder to decide.
Why couldn’t I just pick all of them? I wanted to conjure flames with one hand and water with the other, but that wouldn’t happen.
This status screen of mine wasn’t built for multitasking.
Still, I should thank the system for warning me. One choice, one path—that had to be it.
‘Decide already.’
Just like the last time when I picked my Wizard class, the translucent system message refused to disappear until I made my pick.
The decision was made…
My choice?
—
“Congratulations!”
“You rocked out there yesterday!”
Two other girls from my class who usually didn’t talk to me came over unexpectedly to give their praise.
Anes and Marie, right?
“Oh, thank you!”
With my current good mood, I couldn’t have been happier to respond positively. Even if it were that annoying Cain coming over to congratulate me, I’d have taken it kindly.
I am a Wizard now after all.
‘Hehe.’
Speaking of Cain… The rigid-faced guy sat stiffly behind the two girls, clearly in a rotten mood. Watching him stew silently brought a mix of satisfaction and amusement.
‘Wouldn’t mind testing my magic on someone. Would he bother picking a fight like before?’
I stared directly at him, half-expecting him to throw another fireball at me like last time.
This time, though, I wouldn’t dodge with space-warping tricks; I’d show off my “magic!”
I picked Wind.
Sure, when you think magic, you think fireballs and icy blasts before anything else. But this time, I prioritized performance over flair.
Realistically, shooting flames or water jets wasn’t the best fit for me. It was flashy and loud.
Loud? Cool, but not for me.
Invisible air-based magic fit my vibe much better.
Also, there were already too many flamethrower and ice-users around.
My classmate Cain shot fire magic, for instance, and Emily had mastery over frost spells.
Practical AND rare? That’s a no-brainer.
“You’re seriously amazing. I had no idea you were so powerful…”
Anes said this while subtly glancing at Cain. I glanced too, but like usual, he stayed eerily silent, treating me like air.
A tad disappointing, but whatever.
“Nah, just luck.”
“Luck? That’s a joke! You defeated monsters that our 3rd-year seniors couldn’t touch.”
“Oh, that? It was only possible because 3rd-year Garet had weakened the monster beforehand.”
‘That sounds reasonable enough.’
This was the answer we agreed upon during this morning’s meeting with Professor Amillion. There were a few more points of agreement on other matters as well, all while the investigation was ongoing.
Lying and acting aren’t really my strong suit, but if there’s one skill I’ve developed since coming to the Academy, it’s been those two.
“Really? But it didn’t look that way in the video.”
“No, Garet’s weakening efforts made it seem easier than it was.”
“…Got it.”
Fortunately, Marie and Anes believed me. Practice makes perfect—after fooling Sylvia last time, success struck again.
“Anyway, congratulations! First place for our year, awesome!!”
Marie was celebrating like she herself had participated and won.
It’s strange seeing my classmates, who rarely acknowledged my existence before, acting like this now.
‘Hehe, whatever works.’
“Yeah, thanks to the support of all of you, we got these results. Thanks.”
In a good mood, I played along. Whether or not they’d actually supported me wasn’t clear, but their expressions looked genuine enough.
Maybe they were just held back before because of Cain.
“Wait, are you going to attend class today?”
“Huh? Class?”
“Yeah, didn’t Professor Amillion say that students who participated in the tournament yesterday could take the day off? But you came here to the lecture room anyway.”
“Oh, right…”
Absorbed in my thoughts about my newly gained magic, I’d completely forgotten. Looking back, Professor Amillion had indeed said so this morning during our meeting.
