"Took you long enough," Vice murmurs.
"Cosmo," Ansil utters as he takes a seat between Vice and Fate's empty chair. "It's a pleasure—"
"Drop the pleasantries." He sighs, slouching on the chair disinterested. "These are the kids you sent to their deaths?"
"Frankly, they are the ones we gave another chance to." Magnolia retorts with pride in her tone, which sends a gulp of disgust down Cosmo's throat.
Cosmo laughs bitterly, "Do you guys see yourself as gods or just outright cruel?" He leans forward, placing his arms onto the cold table. "Last time I read, gods are no more."
Ansil holds his stare while Magnolia flares with anger but keeps quiet. "We see ourselves as the ones keeping this world intact."
"Inact? The ones doing that are the mages and knights outside of this academy." His eyes wash over all of them. "You are council members who think they're helping the world by selecting individuals with money and a bloodline." He chuckles to himself. "At least you're giving me all of the capable fighters."
Ansil still doesn't express the anger coiling under her skin; Magnolia, on the other hand, can't restrain hers. Exploding off her chair, her orange eyes spark to life as a larger magic circle forms under them, and sunset-colored petals float up into the air.
"You dare call those low-borns better than us high-borns!"
"You, not us." He corrects. "Don't carry me or those 'low-borns' down to your level." His only useful eye narrows on her. "And we both know, no amount of magic you produce would ever make me be swayed by the likes of you."
"I—"
"ENOUGH!" Ansil snaps. "Magnolia, sit down and compose yourself." Magnolia reluctantly sits, her magic circle shattering into nothingness. "As for you, Cosmo." She concentrates on him. "Have some respect for your superiors."
"Superiors? We all know that you guys are no match for me; only Fate and the headmasters—are the only ones I respect. Not you."
Ansil's jaw tenses.
"Ugh." Axe's distressed tone fills the heated chamber. "Your children's banter is giving me wrinkles." He rubs his forehead. "Can we focus on what we're here for? It seems like the two groups are coming down to the last stage of one."
They all silently agree.
.
.
.
<<<...5 undistributed points transported to durability...>>>
[Durability: 5>>10]
<<<...2 undistributed points transported to agility...>>>
[Agility: 15>>17]
<<<...2 undistributed points transported to strength...>>
[strength: 10>>12]
'Two should be enough for strength and agility; they are the things I'm not lacking as of now. Initially, I wasn't going to add any to strength, but then again, in this place, anything can happen.'
He glances at his mana.
'Since the mana cost is only 50, I can get about twenty short, compact shots or five charged ones, depending on how much power I pour into each. Still, I should be prepared in case I have to fight without my gun.'
<<<...loading...>>>
<<<...applied...>>>
__________
[Persona]
Name: Lux Maxwell
Age: 17
Wizard tier: Tier 0
Mana: 50/50
Intellect points: 71
Strength: 12
Agility: 17
Durability: 10
Status: Earl's son, heir to the Maxwell household.
Lux Maxwell's magic circle: 1st circle (stagnant)
Type of caster: Creation (common class- Imbuement)
Zenji's Magic Circle: 2nd circle
Type of caster: Creation (Origin class-construction)
__________
Instantly, he feels his body become lighter, even his skin prickling before simmering down into nothing.
'I do feel better; even the aches are leaving.' He thinks while scrunching his fingers. 'Having this early would have made things way easier. Perhaps my withering bones would have stayed strong.'
[Mossed spider: 7/15]
'Huh? They killed two while we are still searching? Who the hell are these people?'
"Neal?" Ichor calls out to Neal, walking a bit further ahead, a magic circle floating above his hand, and an arrow formed out of pollen particles pointing ahead.
"I think we're close." He responds.
'From the team's leader to our tracker. It's weird how roles can switch.' Lux thinks, his pistol forming in his hands, readying for the fight.
"How can you be so sure?" Ichor inquires, suspension evident.
"I'm using the pollen in the air, from the flowers, herbs, and surrounding plants, to detect other life forms nearby. This arrow guides us toward them." He explains.
Ichor raises a brow, watching the glowing arrow suspended just above Lux's palm.
"So, it's reacting to the living energy around us?" He asks, half-curious, half-wary.
Neal nods, "Exactly. Every living thing disrupts the flow in its own way. The pollen carries that disturbance. I just... listen to it."
"Interesting." Lux and Ichor mumble in sync.
'In this world, magic covers for the technically advanced things we have in ours. It helps them as much as our way helps us. It's not that different or hard to understand once you have a central understanding.'
Lux notices.
'Thankfully, I've been alive for a while, so it makes it way easier to understand and adapt to their understanding and adapt to their costumes.'
A few minutes pass, and the arrow spins left, and they follow. Pushing past a thick wall of bushes, they freeze.
Their eyes land on a grotesque scene: three spiders hunched low, feasting around a pile of blood-soaked flesh. The torn and mangled body parts scattered across the clearing are unmistakably human—remnants of students ripped apart with no mercy.
The sound of tearing flesh echoes in the silence. One of them lifts its head, jaw dripping red, its multiple glowing eyes locking onto them.
Click!
Click!
Click!
HISS...!!
Their hisses ripple through the air like a death knell, bone-chilling. The remaining beasts lift their blood-soaked faces, their eyes gleaming with primal hunger or just the intent to kill.
Without hesitation, their twisted spider bodies snap fully toward the group, limbs cracking grotesquely as they begin their charge. Their legs stab into the dirt, carving up the ground in their frenzied dash.
"They're coming!!" Ichor yells, panic rising.
The group splits to the sides in instinctive reaction, except Neal.
He stands frozen, rooted to the spot, eyes wide with horror as the creatures close in on him, faster than any nightmare he could've imagined.
"Neal, move!" Meraki screams, drawing a dagger.
But he doesn't.
Ichor's body moves before his mind can think, though he still isn't fast enough. His mana is low enough to only use once. Firming his leg muscles, he lunges forward, barreling to him like a bullet.
His magic circle materializes as he wraps his arms around Neal, and a metallic domain forms around them just as the spiders bite down.
"That was close," Lux whispers to himself, his pistol already pointed towards him; the barrel hums, the side lighting up with blue energy. "Not enough yet."
<<<...9% CHARGED...>>>
<<<...10% CHARGED...>>>
He fires it, cleaving through one of their heads as they go to bite down on the domain.
[Mana: 40/50]
'One more and I'll convert to compact shots.'
The spider freezes for a moment, time itself seeming to pause, and then its head jerks toward them with a bone-cracking snap. In an instant, it abandons the domain and charges straight at them.
"It's on us now. Let's separate." He orders, and Meraki agrees with a nod.
They wait, watching in held breaths as it ebbs closer to them, and in the precise moment, they split, going to different locations.
"Now it's me and you." He pivots around, shifting the weight of the gun in his hands.
The spider shrieks, claws scraping the dirt as it barrels forward. He doesn't flinch.
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
Instead, he adjusts his grip slightly, taking a steadying breath as the charge builds in his weapon, a faint whine humming as blue energy builds along the hollow sides.
The spider descends, fast and brutal, its snapping mandibles splitting apart to reveal rows of jagged teeth, eager to sink into him.
<<<...10% CHARGED...>>>
His eyes gleam as he points his gun upwards.
BANG!!
The beam erupts with a thunderous crack, a pillar of light firing straight through its gaping mouth. It tears through the roof of its skull, flaring skyward. For a heartbeat, the beast is suspended mid-lunge, then its body seizes violently.
The light scorches the air and burns out.
And then—crash—the spider's corpse falls on him, but he remains in the middle of the hole he created, his frame soaked in green blood, smoke curling from the rims of the hole in its head.
He exhales sharply, lowering the gun. "Hell...if I had known it would have felt this good killing a monster."
'I would have retired faster.'
.
.
.
"Outstanding!" Hideaki jumps to his feet. "That kid is truly exceptional...!"
"I would admit, for a low-born, he is brave." Axe twirls a piece of his hair. "It's not every day you'll see someone waiting until their near death to attack."
"My ambers are better," Magnolia grumbles.
Cosmo's eyes widen. "Perfect form… no wasted movement. That focus—like the world around him, doesn't even exist. And those eyes."
He rises from his seat, leaning over the table, his gaze locked onto the glowing orb.
"That's not just talent. That's the look of an expert... no—of a genius."
Ansil only looks at him before diverting back to the orb.