Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 96

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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 96
The Apostle of Foreign God called me a recruit.
Only members of the Security Corps would call me that, so naturally I thought of Charlotte from Unit 42, who had gone missing in the Rift.
There was a strong possibility that Charlotte from Unit 42 was the Apostle of Foreign God.
“Charlotte, what does she look like?”
I grabbed Milo by the collar and asked.
“Charlotte? Well, Charlotte is—. Huh? What does she look like again?”
Milo mumbled stupidly.
What in the world—.
Ding-dong! A cheerful chime cut through my thoughts.
Sudden Quest, “Volcan’s Nightmare” cleared! An amazing achievement unlocked! Rewards are being granted!
Volcan’s Favorability is being granted!
? is being granted!
‘Volcan’s Favorability?’
As I squinted at the strange reward, an even odder one came to mind.
‘What is the ??’
The quest window had always been precise. But a ‘?’ being granted—that was unprecedented.
What in the world—.
“Big brother!!!”
Then Volcan charged at me with a thunderous cry, like a brown bear launching itself.
I dodged frantically.
Boom! Volcan’s head buried itself where I’d been standing. How could any person’s head embed itself in the ground like that?
Volcan himself lifted his head unfazed and asked.
“Big brother, are you alright?!”
His voice overflowed with concern, nearly drowning in its own earnestness. It was genuinely burdensome.
“I’m fine.”
“Thank goodness! I’m Volcan! From now on, I shall serve you as my big brother!”
“You weren’t before?”
“I wasn’t! But now I am, big brother! I, Volcan, swear that I shall follow you until the very flame of my soul is extinguished! I declare it!”
Thump-thump! Volcan beat his chest. His muscles were so taut that it sounded like he was drumming.
‘So this is what it means when Favorability rises.’
I let out a dry laugh watching Volcan vow his loyalty while cracking his skull against the earth.
Just then, Milo butted in abruptly.
“I—I was the first to swear loyalty, you fool!! Big brother!! I swore first! Woof, woof!!”
Milo suddenly clung to my pant leg and hung on.
He seemed to sense a crisis at Volcan’s declaration.
Well, Milo was naturally dim, so that could be expected.
But—.
“I—I shall also swear an oath! I, Darkin, shall serve you, big brother!!”
Why was even Darkin doing this?
It seemed as though Volcan’s intensity had swept everyone up in the moment.
Or perhaps the spirits of the orphans were stirring.
Then Evangeline suddenly thrust her head forward.
“Who is Charlotte?”
Evangeline cried out sharply.
‘Ah, Charlotte.’
Only then did I remember Charlotte again. I’d forgotten her for a moment because of Volcan, but right now, Charlotte was the priority.
I turned back to Milo and asked.
“Charlotte, what does she look like?”
“I can’t seem to remember that… I do remember she was pretty, though…”
“What, you can’t remember? Volcan.”
I turned to Volcan instead. Volcan scratched his chin with an awkward expression.
“I can’t quite recall either. Was she tall? Why is this happening?”
Volcan and Milo cocked their heads simultaneously.
All memory of Charlotte seemed to have been erased.
‘I thought only memories of the Rift disappeared?’
I let out a dry laugh watching Volcan and Milo.
“No! Who is Charlotte anyway!”
Evangeline butted in again.
“You needn’t concern yourself.”
“Needn’t concern myself? But I saved you!”
Evangeline lifted her chin proudly.
Much as I hated to admit it, Evangeline had indeed saved me.
‘She’s already creating quests.’
In the original game, Evangeline only gained the ability to write quests well past the midpoint.
Usually, she awakened to this ability while trying to rescue the protagonist after he’d fallen into a Rift.
That Evangeline had awakened quest creation to save me—.
“Evangeline.”
“Hehehehe, you’re very grateful, aren’t you?”
“Don’t like me.”
“……?”
“Ever.”
I gave the warning seriously.
“Who—who said anything about liking you?! Really! What is your social sense?!”
Evangeline cried out sharply and ran away.
Andy hurried after Evangeline.
Only then could I catch my breath.
I slowly pieced together the situation.
‘The Apostle of Foreign God is very likely Charlotte, the missing member of Unit 42.’
That would also explain why Unit 42 was a villain’s den.
The other members probably had Foreign God Fragments embedded in them as well.
‘I mustn’t rush this.’
There was a high chance of encountering the Apostle again if I wasn’t careful.
I only escaped now thanks to Evangeline.
‘First, I need to increase my level.’
At minimum, enough to hold my own against the Apostle of Foreign God.
Of course, such a choice would normally be risky.
Before consuming enough Foreign God Fragments to match the Apostle’s power, I risked being consumed by them instead.
But not now.
‘Evangeline can neutralize the side effects of Foreign God Fragments.’
In other words, I could increase my power safely.
‘Rifts keep appearing anyway. There’s no need to rush.’
I took a deep breath and forced myself to settle down.
But as I calmed myself, a new question surfaced.
‘What is this ‘?’?’
The quest notification replayed: ‘? is being granted.’
Normally, quests were absolute, and their rewards were always clearly defined.
There was only one circumstance where a quest reward appeared as a ‘?’.
‘When my level is insufficient.’
That is, something beyond my current permission had been given as a reward.
The phrasing was vague, but it was definitely good news.
It meant I’d received a reward so significant that my current level couldn’t encompass it.
The problem was figuring out what that reward was and how to confirm it.
‘I should check my attributes first.’
Foreign God Fragments fundamentally raised stats in various attributes.
So checking my stats would be fastest.
I grabbed the Guard Staff, intending to check my Aura.
As I tried to summon my Aura gently, a strange sensation seized me.
It felt as though my blood was being drained rapidly.
It was a sensation I knew well.
When using Black Magic, life force was consumed.
The problem was that the drain was far more intense than when I used Black Magic.
‘Why is my life force disappearing when I’m just summoning my Aura?’
Then the Aura rose along the Guard Staff. But its color was different from usual.
Most Auras were blue.
Occasionally, demonic knights wielded black Auras, but that was a special case.
My Aura had been blue originally.
But this Aura was black.
It resembled a demonic knight’s Aura, yet the feeling it emitted was entirely different.
A demonic knight’s Aura was like rotted, decomposing black.
But this Aura was a deep, dark black—as though it swallowed all colors into itself.
Just looking at it gave an ominous sensation of being drawn in.
Despite being something I’d summoned myself, I felt a primal fear.
Something about it didn’t feel unfamiliar; I’d seen it before in the game.
‘The Headmaster’s Black Aura.’
In the game, when the Headmaster was completely consumed by a Foreign God Fragment, his Aura turned this shade of black.
The Headmaster’s Aura was heavier and more solid than any other.
Even the Sword Master couldn’t block the Headmaster’s blade.
Moreover, though the Headmaster was a knight, he was immune to Curses, so Black Magic couldn’t affect him properly either.
I’d wondered why he had immunity to Curses—.
‘It was because of the Black Aura.’
The Black Aura was why the Headmaster was counted as the greatest calamity among villains, second only to the Foreign God itself.
But the Black Aura had clear limits.
‘It cannot overcome the Sword Saint Aura.’
While other Auras were overwhelmed by Black Aura, the Black Aura itself was crushed beneath the Sword Saint Aura.
Like a shadow melting before the sun.
But that was unique to the Sword Saint.
‘As long as the opponent isn’t a Sword Saint, Black Aura cannot lose.’
In this game, only the Crown Prince could become a Sword Saint.
Meaning that as long as my opponent wasn’t the Crown Prince, the Black Aura would have absolute superiority.
Even then, it wasn’t guaranteed that the Crown Prince would actually become a Sword Saint.
The Black Aura was such a good reward that I nearly forgot Charlotte was the Apostle of Foreign God.
“Wh—what is this?! The Aura is black like Volcan’s!”
Milo’s sharp voice cut through my reverie.
When I turned to look, I saw Volcan and Milo standing slack-jawed.
Both were staring at my Black Aura in stunned silence.
Their gaze held both fear and awe.
The Black Aura was clearly no ordinary thing.
“Perfect timing. Milo, summon your Aura.”
“Yes? All right.”
Milo raised his Aura around his fist, though he seemed puzzled.
Milo had never formally studied Swordsmanship and had grown through pure sweat and effort alone.
Because of that, his Aura’s solidity was unmatched.
Clashing with Milo’s Aura would let me verify whether this was truly the Black Aura.
Milo’s fist held a vivid, unwavering Aura—clearly the result of solo practice behind the barracks.
I brought the Guard Staff to Milo’s fist.
Fundamentally, Aura is the power of conviction.
When Auras clashed, they would contend even across levels.
But Milo’s Aura was shredded like paper the moment it touched my Black Aura.
“The Aura… was cut? What in the—.”
Volcan and Milo gaped at the unprecedented phenomenon in shock.
‘This is the Black Aura.’
I nodded with satisfaction.
Now, as long as my opponent wasn’t a Sword Saint, I would never lose in an Aura clash.
But there was a problem.
“What—what is that ominous black Aura?”
As he said, the Black Aura looked unmistakably sinister.
Even my brothers Volcan and Milo looked uncomfortable, so others’ reactions were predictable.
Indeed, in the game, whenever the Headmaster used the Black Aura, he was immediately branded an Empire Criminal.
Of course, that wasn’t a major problem.
I could simply avoid using it where there were witnesses.
And if there were witnesses, I could ensure there weren’t.
But my inability to control it bothered me.
An uncontrolled power was worse than having no power at all.
‘What if I cut off its life force supply?’
The Black Aura consumed life force.
If I severed that supply, the Black Aura certainly couldn’t be used.
Of course, that wasn’t easy.
Only advanced Black Mages could manipulate life force.
But fortunately, I was an advanced Black Mage.
I exhaled and slowly moved my life force.
I directed it away from my Aura as much as possible.
The Black Aura’s intensity faded.
‘It’s affected by life force.’
The problem was the Black Aura didn’t disappear completely.
‘The Black Aura forcibly draws life force.’
No matter how far I pushed my life force, the Black Aura pulled it back forcefully.
The force was too strong to resist.
Unless I erected a barrier—.
‘What if I create a barrier with Holy Power?’
Holy Power directly governs life force. If I wrapped my life force in Holy Power, the Black Aura might be unable to approach.
‘Let me try.’
But I was already manipulating life force through Black Magic.
Using Holy Power here—which opposed Black Magic—was extremely dangerous. The slightest misstep would trigger an internal explosion.
‘I just need to not misstep.’
I moved my life force using Black Magic.
Simultaneously, I slowly raised Holy Power around it.
The Holy Power sensed the Black Magic within and squirmed.
I forcibly restrained it and pressed down.
It was quite difficult.
Cold sweat trickled down my temple to the bridge of my nose.
I maintained my concentration.
Soon, as I summoned my Aura, blue light arose.
Success.
“Huh, it was definitely black a moment ago? How did you do that?! Volcan, try once too—.”
I ignored Milo’s stupidity.

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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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