Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 113
‘Why is the Crown Prince here?’
The sudden appearance of the Crown Prince made me frown involuntarily.
The reason the Crown Prince showed up here was obvious. His gleaming eyes were fixed on me.
‘It’s because of me.’
The Crown Prince is obsessed with the thrill of competition.
Knowing that, I’d cut through both his Aura and his sword simultaneously.
For a Knight, having one’s Aura and blade severed was practically neutering.
I was demonstrating the gap between us.
My goal was to keep him from bothering me until he built up enough skill—
‘But he showed up anyway.’
Still, the Crown Prince wouldn’t challenge me directly right now.
He’d simply be trying to gauge my level.
The Crown Prince clinging to me wasn’t a major problem.
The real problem was that Evangeline was here.
The Crown Prince was priority number one among people he couldn’t be allowed to entangle with.
But I couldn’t chase him away either.
As I’ve said before, Elysium Academy’s motto is “Learning is open to all.”
‘The Crown Prince won’t take his eyes off me until he catches me.’
Once the Crown Prince fixated on an opponent, he had to win to be satisfied.
His gaze wouldn’t shift until he defeated me.
Which meant if I simply didn’t let him catch me, he and Evangeline would never entangle.
It sounded simple, but it wasn’t. The Crown Prince is the continent’s greatest genius.
‘I can’t afford to be caught by the continent’s greatest genius, then.’
It’s fine.
I’m something of a genius myself.
The real problem was elsewhere.
‘Vivien’s the problem.’
Vivien, called the shame of the Imperial Family, feared the Imperial Family itself.
The moment the Crown Prince entered, Vivien had crawled entirely under a desk.
How was I supposed to handle this—
“Vivien! You idiot! You’re supposed to sit on the chair!”
“S-shut up.”
“Vivien’s hiding under the desk—!”
At Evangeline’s teasing, Vivien scrambled out in panic.
Evangeline, despite her complete lack of social grace, was doing an impressive job as class representative.
Just then, the twin witches entered the Classroom. Bella glanced at me and made a gesture with her mouth.
It roughly said, ‘You better find that Mana Stone Mine or you’re done for.’
‘I’m looking forward to seeing her reaction when the vein turns up.’
Beneath the Mana Stone Mine I purchased lies the continent’s largest Mana Stone vein.
According to the game’s description, it contains more ore than all the Mana Stones discovered across the continent combined.
I was quite eager to see what kind of reaction Bella would have when that vein was discovered.
“Class starts now. Everyone shut your mouths.”
Bella growled in a low voice.
It was certainly an impressive way to begin a lecture.
“Who knows how to use Mana? Hands up.”
Only the Crown Prince and Andy raised their hands. Evangeline raised hers halfway.
“How’d you even get into Elysium Academy if you can’t use Mana?”
“Bella.”
“No, I’m right. Magic is basic literacy now. How are students who can’t even manage the basics supposed to—”
Lila pulled Bella back and stepped forward.
“Let me proceed with basic instruction tailored to your level. What is Mana?”
Lila posed a fundamental question.
Immediately, everyone competed to raise their hands.
What was strange was that the Crown Prince, who raised his hand in every class, didn’t raise his now.
The Crown Prince was looking at me.
No—only at me.
‘This is ridiculous.’
But still, at least his attention wasn’t on Evangeline. That was something.
“You first.”
“Mana is… Mana!”
“What? Are you joking?”
“U-um, um, um—”
Evangeline deflated like a balloon and slumped into her seat.
Lila opened her mouth quietly.
“Mana is the essence of nature itself. Magic works by converting that Mana and calculating it to bring about miracles. The first thing you’ll learn is the formula for calculating Mana quantity.”
“This is basic Mana quantity.”
Bella raised her hand. Blue Mana rippled across her palm.
Bella demonstrated, and Lila explained the calculations.
The pair’s combination was remarkably ideal.
The lecture quality was extremely high.
The problem was that the students’ level was extremely low.
“So… that’s Mana?”
“Uh, so that’s Mana, huh.”
“Yaaaawn.”
Evangeline yawned so widely she actually drooled and nodded off.
“These damn kids—”
“Bella.”
Lila stopped her and asked, “Which part didn’t you understand?”
Evangeline raised her hand and answered.
“Mana!”
“…That’s, that’s literally the opening of the lecture?”
“These incompetent brats—”
Looking like Bella might actually hurl Fireballs at the students, I stepped forward.
“Explain it simpler.”
“How could I make it any simpler than that?”
Bella asked, swallowing a curse. Lila had a similar expression.
I clicked my tongue and loosened my hand.
I’d have to demonstrate.
It looked like a demo was necessary.
* * *
‘Grave.’
The Crown Prince watched Grave standing at the lectern, grinding his teeth.
The Crown Prince could count his defeats in his entire life on one hand.
Most of those defeats had become fertilizer for him.
The Crown Prince quickly identified the cause of each loss and turned it into momentum instead.
But there were two people he hadn’t overcome.
One was the Emperor.
The Imperial Family underwent sparring with the Emperor at a certain age.
The ostensible reason was the Emperor’s instruction, but the true purpose was establishing the hierarchy of master and subject.
In that sparring, the Crown Prince felt helplessness for the first time in his life.
If the Crown Prince was a rising sun, the Emperor was the noon sun that illuminated the entire Empire in brightness.
The gap was overwhelming, yet the Crown Prince was convinced of one thing.
This gap could be bridged given time.
But Grave was different.
Grave’s ominous, unclean black Aura had severed the Crown Prince’s Aura and blade simultaneously.
That his Aura was severed wasn’t a serious matter.
The Emperor’s Aura had cut through not just his own Aura, but the Crown Prince’s blade and arm as well.
What was different was the feeling.
The Emperor’s Aura had severed the Crown Prince’s because it existed at a realm so impossibly distant.
Which was why it felt like something he could eventually reach.
But Grave’s Aura—
‘It’s a different species.’
It was a strange way to describe it, but Grave’s Aura was fundamentally of a different kind.
It felt like encountering a natural predator.
He denied and rejected the thought, but he couldn’t help but accept it.
The Crown Prince had felt—at that time, toward that Grave—
Fear.
‘It was just a misunderstanding due to lack of information.’
That was why the Crown Prince had entered Leon’s lecture.
The Crown Prince stared at Grave standing at the lectern.
Grave was clearly just a Security Corps member, yet when he stepped forward, the twin witches complied without hesitation.
The students focused on Grave.
All of it was natural.
As if Grave owned this place.
“Magic is simple. First, this is Mana.”
Grave twisted his hand. Simultaneously, blue light bloomed and filled the entire space.
Packed densely, without the slightest gap.
“The beginning is gathering Mana.”
Grave moved his hand. The blue light surrounding him flowed in response to his gesture.
“Next, you convert Mana into a formula.”
The gathered blue light began to waver. Soon it shifted into a variety of colors.
“You then calculate the converted Mana through formulas and release it.”
The varied lights soon began converging into a single point. Shortly after, they unified into a single color.
Red light. A Fireball.
‘He visualized Mana.’
Visualizing Mana.
Hearing it casually sounded easy, but it absolutely wasn’t.
It meant you had to move each individual particle of Mana yourself.
It was monstrous Mana control.
Even the twin witches were staring with their mouths agape in shock.
‘…Is he a monster at Magic too?’
The Crown Prince’s eyes deepened.
Originally, the Crown Prince studied other affinities as a matter of education, not for cultivation.
His Aura alone was sufficient.
Cultivating other affinities would have been a waste of time.
He was certain of this, but—
Seeing Grave handle Mana so freely, something began to boil inside him.
The Crown Prince had planned to repay his loss to Grave eventually.
Having suffered that humiliation, a mere victory wouldn’t be enough. He needed to win overwhelmingly, demonstrating such a desperate gap that Grave would despair.
‘I must surpass him in everything.’
Originally he’d planned to retaliate simply by severing the Crown Prince’s Aura and blade, mirroring Grave’s action.
But if Grave also wielded Magic, things were different.
The Crown Prince’s eyes blazed with a chill.
‘Not just Aura, but Magic as well. I’ll surpass him in everything.’
That would be a sufficient revenge.
After all, he was a genius at Magic too.
With that certainty, he continued to watch Grave.
Then a student raised their hand. A student with pink hair wearing spectacles absurdly large.
“I don’t understand?!”
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes.
Grave had just visualized the Mana conversion and shown it. There was nothing to not understand.
What was stranger was that all the other students nodded along.
And Grave seemed to have expected this, moving his hand again.
“I’ll show it slower.”
Following Grave’s gesture, blue light rose again.
This time, the light moved extremely slowly. Slow enough to make one yawn.
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes and focused intently.
‘I’ll surpass him overwhelmingly.’
Blue light bloomed in the Crown Prince’s hand.
* * *
‘He’s surprisingly enthusiastic.’
I muttered internally while watching the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was watching me with gleaming eyes.
That’s when I witnessed something surprising.
Mana was rippling in his hand.
‘The Crown Prince is using Magic?’
The Crown Prince’s Aura stat was S+, and every other stat was S.
His stats were absurdly broken, but he only ever used Aura. He considered all other affinities undignified.
His Aura being S+ was indeed extraordinary, but wasting S-rank stats in other affinities was foolish.
That was the most regrettable thing about the Crown Prince. The fact that he’d suddenly started using Magic—
‘It’s because of me.’
It was obvious he was thinking something like: I’ll surpass you in every way.
‘This is favorable.’
I nodded with satisfaction.
After seeing my demonstration, Bella and Lila began adjusting their lecture to the students’ level.
Moving Mana slowly was quite difficult, but Bella did it effortlessly.
So it’s no wonder she became an Archmage.
Of course, the only one showing real enthusiasm was Andy.
‘Come to think of it, there are two Archmages here.’
Bella and Andy.
Bella had invested early in the Twin Magic Tower, and Andy even had a contract signed.
Getting two Archmages at such low entry points—something difficult even with fortunes of gold—was excellent.
I felt quite secure.
The class proceeded quite normally.
The Crown Prince’s stare was somewhat burdensome, but I could endure this much.
Then, while the lesson was in full swing—
“AAAAAGH!!”
Evangeline let out a shrill scream and bolted upright.
Below her Glasses, her cheeks were deathly pale.
Though Evangeline had screamed and jumped up mid-lecture, the other students didn’t even look at her, as if accustomed to this.
“Evangeline, class is still happening.”
Andy calmly grabbed Evangeline.
But Evangeline shook off his hand and bolted out the back door.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Oh, she’s always like that.”
Rosa answered Bella’s question as if it were nothing unusual.
I gestured to the twin witches to continue, then followed Evangeline.
Evangeline stood at the window in the corridor like she’d been bewitched, staring blankly outside.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s something over there.”
Where Evangeline pointed, there was a round building.
The Test Grounds.
“Something—”
Just then, blood began dripping from Evangeline’s nose.
‘…Blood?’
So Evangeline wasn’t just being runny-nosed—she was actually bleeding—
Evangeline, whose eyes met mine, cried out urgently.
“I wasn’t picking my nose!!”
Evangeline’s face looked quite aggrieved.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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