I Became an Academy Game Character

Entrance Ceremony (3)

All paths were opened.

With Mir’s help, the opponent before me now had no means to stop me.

Woooong.

So I gathered power in my sword-holding hand and raised magical energy.

I wondered if handling magical power would be difficult in reality, but honestly, it wasn’t difficult at all.

That’s because the way of using magical power wasn’t any different from the game.

‘Well then, shall we begin.’

I’m not sure how much I can recreate with this body right now, but my goal is just to create the skill.

Once I create the skill, my traits will help.

Woooong.

Creak. Crunch.

‘This really makes my flesh tremble.’

The vivid physical recoil that I couldn’t feel in the game.

My flesh trembles and both arms’ muscles scream.

I recall the skill I remember and try to recreate it.

I already remember how the magical power flows when using the skill.

While taking in the sight of the faint purple sword energy rising around the blade, I launched myself above his head.

Whoosh.

I could see Sand Snake’s eyes burning with hostility as I flew through the sky.

Now, it’s time to see the end of this fight.

‘Farewell.’

A skill of a certain yokai who was the king of all mysterious beings.

Whoosh.

The sword, filled with purple energy, leaves a long afterimage following the movement of my right arm.

To anyone watching, it might look like I’m just slashing at empty air.

But that’s just a simple illusion.

Don’t believe everything you see.

「Formless Slash」

Slash.

An attack that shouldn’t have connected, connected.

A long cut appears on Sand Snake’s neck and blood spurts out.

But it’s too shallow to take his neck.

‘I still have one more shot.’

However, I still have a second attack left.

And this second attack will be very different from the first.

[Skill, has been imperfectly acquired!]

[Due to trait effect, skill level of becomes maximum!]

The use of a true skill, different from the initial light imitation.

「Formless Slash」

Slice.

The sound of something being cut quietly echoes.

A sound of perfect cutting, different from the first attack.

Under everyone’s gaze, Sand Snake just stood still, making no movement.

No, he couldn’t make any.

Because now, his life had ended by my hand.

His eyes burning with hostility lost their light, and his massive body fell powerlessly.

Boom!

As the massive body fell, dust rose up, and while everyone blankly watched the scene, an unwanted lull settled in.

‘Is it… over…?’

‘R-really?’

‘That sword just now…’

Then, as some people came to their senses, they began to show eyes filled with awe, one by one, at the sight of Sand Snake being defeated in a single strike.

Some eyes shone with their own emotions – fear of my power, interest, anger, jealousy.

‘Yes, quite a satisfactory result.’

The body’s movement wasn’t bad either.

I thought I would be in worse condition when using the skill, but fortunately, there weren’t any particular problems.

Just a bit of stiffness, but no pain when moving my arms.

Whoosh.

‘It ended faster than I expected.’

When the battle ended, Garein appeared again with the wind, from wherever he had been.

Looking at the fallen Sand Snake, he addressed the students who had exerted themselves in battle, then Kena, Reglia, Mir, and finally me.

However, his gaze seemed to linger on me a bit longer than the others.

“Now that the entrance ceremony is over, everyone should go to their assigned dormitories and rest well. Your class assignments are in your individual rooms, so check them and be at school by 9 AM tomorrow morning. That’s all.”

The students were bewildered by Garein’s disappearance as he vanished without any lingering attachment after saying what he needed to say.

Could it really end like this?

As if confirming that thought, Garein completely disappeared from this place along with the Sand Snake’s corpse.

“Um… since it’s over, it’s okay to leave, right?”

“The professor told us to go back.”

“It feels somewhat anticlimactic.”

While students were looking at each other hesitantly, there was one student who left first.

“I’m leaving.”

“I should go back and rest.”

It was Kena who had unintentionally trolled during the event.

As Reglia followed after him, other students began to leave in droves, using the two as their cue.

“I should head back too.”

In the original game, I would have explored the surroundings to familiarize myself with various locations, but this time there was no need for that.

Since the geography of this place was already mapped out in my head, there was no need to waste time.

“I should go back to the dormitory and make some plans.”

Basically, it’s been so long since I’ve done the story that my memory is hazy, so I need to organize things.

Also, considering how to move according to the protagonist Mir’s actions will take quite some time.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

Just as I was about to return to the dormitory, someone called out to me.

Wondering who it was, I turned my head toward the voice, and there stood a cute-looking female student with gradient hair that started white and ended in light sky blue at the tips, and blue eyes.

“Aria?”

She is the only Spirit Artisan among the new students who can handle spirits.

She’s had the ability to see spirits since childhood and has high affinity with them, ranking among the top in ability, but why is she approaching me?

“I was wondering if you got hurt during the fight. If you did, I can help.”

“Ah, my arms are a bit sore.”

“Then I’ll heal you!”

Aria approached eagerly to heal me as soon as I said that.

“Please do.”

-Hehehe~

At Aria’s request, Undine, the spirit hiding in her hair, appeared laughing.

Flying towards my arms, Undine left water droplets on them before returning.

Along with a cool sensation, the soreness disappeared.

Different from recovery using holy power, the spirits’ healing ability made me think that spirit arts were indeed useful in many ways.

“Thank you. I feel much better now.”

“No, I should be thanking you. I couldn’t do anything, but you caught the Sand Snake by yourself.”

“Not by myself. Others helped too.”

Well, I could have caught it without their help, but still.

However, if I had caught it alone, I would have gotten some injuries.

And who knows what variables those injuries might have led to.

“Um, I’m Aria. As you can see, I’m a Spirit Artisan who handles spirits.”

“I’m Zeon. A Spirit Artisan.”

“Spirit Artisan?”

Aria tilted her head as if hearing the term ‘Spirit Artisan’ for the first time.

Don’t look at me like that. I’ve never seen this job either.

Glancing at the skills, it seems to be a job that generally involves seeing souls and borrowing their power, but this needed to be investigated more thoroughly.

-Puhihi! Puung.

“Oh, really?”

Though I couldn’t understand what the spirit said, Aria looked at me with quite a surprised face.

“Undine says you have a very familiar scent.”

“Scent?”

“Yes, she says it’s the first time she’s smelled something like this except from me.”

So that’s why she’d been glancing at me.

Undine, while clinging tightly to Aria’s shoulder, kept her gaze fixed on me.

When I waved lightly at her small animal-like appearance, she happily waved both hands back.

“How cute.”

Even in games, spirits were popular for their cute appearances.

“By the way Zeon, where are you planning to go now?”

“I’m heading to the dormitory first.”

“Me too! Would you like to go together?”

“Well, sure.”

Since the male and female dormitories were separate anyway, we’d be taking the same path until the split.

“Undine, time to go back in.”

-Puhung. Hmph!

“Really now, you need to stay quiet so we don’t get caught, okay?”

-Hehe!

Not wanting to return to the spirit realm, Undine climbed onto Aria’s shoulder, hiding in her hair as we left the chaotic auditorium.

***

“…That was impressive.”

“Indeed. Hard to believe they’re first-years.”

“Now we know why Sand Snake’s restrictions were lighter than in previous years’ entrance ceremonies.”

“While Freya and Einstro’s children were impressive too, as expected, these two stand out the most.”

“It’s natural for new gems to catch more attention than the ones we already know.”

While students were leaving the auditorium, in a certain location, professors were huddled together watching footage of the students fighting Sand Snake.

They were evaluating each student’s coping abilities, combat skills, and judgment through the footage, and among them, they noticed two particularly outstanding students.

The footage showed Mir creating multiple weapons of light in the air and Zeon swinging his sword while floating in the air to behead Sand Snake.

“To shape mana so precisely like that, the number and skill, and considering the unique light attribute – I’m already excited about teaching.”

“Besides projectiles, direct weapon handling would work well too. Like an all-master using weapons suitable for various situations.”

In Mir’s case, they thought they needed more information as her ability was something they’d never seen before.

Some professors were anticipating how much more she could grow given her extraordinary power, while others were already concerned about how to properly guide such a student.

While most people were focused on Mir, one man was silently watching the paused footage.

“Mr. Garein? What’s wrong?”

“…Just something that’s bothering me.”

“Ah, about student Zeon. Indeed, that sword he showed at the end could be called the highlight of this entrance ceremony.”

Nod.

Everyone nodded in agreement with the professor’s words.

Zeon’s final sword.

Clearly, his sword sliced through the air but didn’t reach Sand Snake.

So why did Sand Snake die?

It was a bizarre occurrence that remained incomprehensible no matter how many times they reviewed the footage.

“…..”

Just one person.

Only Garein continued to replay Zeon’s footage with cold eyes.