The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 105

“Ugh… I almost died for real.”

Adela’s stone rocket was effective, to say the least.

It had more than enough power to lift both of us out of the cave.

In fact, it was so powerful that it slammed us straight into the cave ceiling.

“Ugh!”

But there was no time to complain. Adela, who had been thrown up by the same force, grabbed my hand.

Hastily, I shoved the cube into my subspace bag and started running.

The ground was trembling, and the cave was collapsing around us.

“What the hell is happening?” Seymour asked, his face twisted in confusion.

He was startled, seeing us sprinting out with pale faces.

“What’s going on, guys?”

“Can’t you see?”

Seymour turned his gaze behind us. It was impossible not to notice.

The ground he was standing on had begun to shake as well.

Finally, Seymour panicked and collapsed to the ground.

Boom.

Debris flew in all directions as the golem, which had been buried underground, burst out.

Unable to climb out like we did, it resorted to brute force, smashing everything in sight.

The cave was on the verge of total collapse.

“Hey.”

I smacked Seymour on the back of his head.

“The cave is collapsing. Run!”

“Aaaah!”

“What the hell is going on?!”

The three of us bolted in the opposite direction.

* * *

Kassan was panting heavily, gritting his teeth. He had used more mana than expected in his search.

His breath was ragged, and all he could manage were a few choice curses.

“I’m almost there. Where the hell are these guys?”

Despite his grumbling, Kassan couldn’t hide his growing anxiety. His continuous cursing was just a symptom of that.

This forest… something was off about it.

He should have been able to locate their base more easily, but the entire forest was saturated with mana, making the search doubly difficult.

It wasn’t unusual for natural surroundings to hold mana, but this density felt unnatural, almost as if someone was actively using magic.

“Adela… Did she do this?”

Was it her mana, spread out for terrain detection, like he had done?

Kassan muttered to himself, shaking his head.

No, the source of their mana was elsewhere.

“Whatever. I’ll just ask when I find them.”

He let out a sigh, deciding to figure out the situation later.

He was close now. Very close. He slashed through the weeds blocking his path with his sword.

“There.”

Finally, he could see clearly.

But something was wrong.

“What?”

He recognized the faces of the people frantically running toward him.

And behind them…

Kassan’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“A cave?”

No, what had been a cave was now in ruins before his eyes.

“Holy…”

And in front of him…

A golem was wreaking havoc.

“Shit, what the hell is that?”

Perhaps it would have been better if he hadn’t come at all.

* * *

“What did you wake up?”

“I don’t know! It just came out of the cave!”

Seymour was in complete panic. And so were Won and Natalie, barely holding it together.

The golem’s massive body, large enough to cast them all in shadow, was chasing after them, its arms swinging wildly.

Boom.

Crash.

Each time the golem swung its arms, the trees that blocked its path were effortlessly knocked aside. No, it was more like they were being flung away.

One hit, and you’re dead.

“Damn it.”

Seymour cursed through clenched teeth.

He shouldn’t have joined this damn team. At least, he shouldn’t have stayed near Han Siha.

At this rate, it was like Han Siha was attracting monsters everywhere he went.

First the puppeteer, then the necromancer, and now a golem.

It was like an absurdly grand collection of nightmares.

Han Siha gritted his teeth, watching the golem.

“Stay calm. It’s slower than it looks.”

– Grrraaaah!

It didn’t have any rationality.

Anything it saw, it would try to destroy.

They had to exploit that.

“Adela, any ideas?”

Adela, being an earth mage, might have some clue.

She shook her head, unsure.

“Should I throw some rocks at it?”

That was her specialty, after all.

“Is there any point in throwing rocks at a rock? What’s the point of hitting a boulder with more boulders?”

“At least I could crack it.”

Woooom—

Adela gritted her teeth and gathered pieces of the cave debris.

She hurled the fragments at the golem, which was still wildly swinging its arms.

Bang—

“See? I told you it was just rocks hitting rocks.”

There were cracks, but the force was nowhere near enough.

And the golem caught half of the debris in its hand.

Whoooosh—

“Dodge!”

Han Siha instinctively threw himself to the ground. The golem hurled the debris straight toward the head of the person behind him.

Crash.

Han Siha grimaced as he pushed himself up from the ground.

He thought it was Won, but instead, a completely unexpected face appeared before him.

“What the…?”

It was Kassan.

“Well, you see… How did this happen? No, I should be asking you that. You crazy bastards, what did you summon?”

Summon? Not even close.

‘This guy’s just getting in the way.’

Han Siha had no time to waste on Kassan.

“Could you move? We’re kind of in a hurry.”

“Huh…?”

“I said, move!”

Han Siha shoved Kassan out of the way and picked up his staff again.

What Adela had done just now.

It wasn’t effective, but it gave him a clue.

Basilus’ power was useless here.

The golem, with layers of mana, wouldn’t be fazed by a mere Fire Storm.

Physical attacks like Adela’s were similarly ineffective.

It wasn’t impossible to take it down, but with their current power, it wasn’t enough.

They needed to think.

And thinking was his specialty.

“Natalie, are you ready?”

They needed Natalie’s help more than anyone else’s right now.

“Y-yes, I’m ready!”

Boom.

A piece of debris hurled by the golem grazed Han Siha.

“Ugh, I thought it would be slow, but it’s damn fast for something that big.”

Must be getting some sort of mana enhancement.

Han Siha threw himself back into the fray, urging Natalie on.

“Ha… ha. Faster, we need to start faster!”

He had barely escaped death.

The mindless creature was hurling debris with terrifying force, and getting crushed by one of those would be the end.

Natalie desperately chanted her spell.

“Yes… yes!”

Han Siha’s instructions were clear: aim the water cannon at the golem.

Natalie wasn’t sure what that would achieve, but she had no choice but to trust him.

“Please, please…”

The enemy was unaffected by Adela’s magic, and even Basilus’ higher-level magic was ineffective.

Could her Aqua Blast really work against it? She doubted it, convinced that her attack would either be repelled by its mana shield or absorbed without a trace.

“Ahhh!”

But with no other option, Natalie cast the spell.

Aqua Blast.

It was a spell she had only recently developed, still far from perfect.

Swoooosh—

A powerful jet of water shot through the air.

* * *

“…Is this really going to work?”

Natalie murmured in a trembling voice, her face pale. The golem, as if enraged, swatted aside a tree with a single swing of its arm.

Her water cannon had pierced the golem’s mana shield, but that was all. The water merely seeped into the golem without causing any visible damage.

However, Han Siha remained calm and focused.

“Kloshti?”

“Squeak!”

Natalie had done her part.

While Basilus intercepted another piece of debris hurtling toward them, Han Siha directed his attention to Klosti.

It was a simple principle.

Water expands when it freezes.

Han Siha knew that even the largest boulder could be shattered if it were rapidly frozen.

Kloshti’s eyes glowed a brilliant blue.

Ssssss—

Ssssss—

Kloshti’s role was to freeze the water that Natalie had shot into the golem.

“No way.”

Natalie’s eyes widened in astonishment.

The golem seemed to sense something was wrong and stopped thrashing. Its body creaked and groaned.

The water that had seeped into the moss-covered cracks was quickly freezing, causing the golem to fracture.

Creeeeak, creeeeak.

Its body, which had withstood Fire Storms and physical attacks, was now slowly breaking apart.

– Grrraaaaah!

Instinctively, Han Siha unleashed a mana blast at the charging golem.

It wasn’t strong enough to destroy the golem.

But the force of the blast acted as a catalyst, exacerbating the cracks in its body.

The golem thrashed its arms wildly, screaming in frustration, but it only managed a few more steps before its legs shattered beneath it.

– Grrraaaaaagh!

The golem tried to rise, as if refusing to accept its demise.

But it was a futile effort.

Crrraaack.

In an instant, the massive creature crumbled into countless fragments, its collapse reverberating through the forest.

Boom.

“Han Siha!”

Natalie cried out his name, rushing forward.

* * *

It hadn’t been a move made with certainty.

It was simply the only option they had.

“I… I thought I was going to die…”

“…”

“I didn’t think it would work…”

Natalie was sobbing, clutching her hands as if she were praying to a god.

The pressure of being the last hope after Adela and Basilus had failed must have been overwhelming.

Despite following Han Siha’s plan, she had believed it wouldn’t work.

Adela felt the same.

“I was just thinking of escaping and contacting the Academy for help. I never imagined we’d actually defeat it.”

A golem.

It wasn’t a monster that second-year students should be able to defeat.

While all of them were extraordinarily talented, they were still only fifteen years old.

But Han Siha shook his head.

“No, we could do it.”

Even without me, you would have managed to defeat it.

Seymour let out a chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief.

“That’s some unexpected humility.”

“No, I mean it.”

Though the golem hadn’t appeared in the original story, these students did manage to take down a Fire Golem in their third year.

Even without me, Adela, Won, and Natalie would have found a way to defeat it.

Seymour, on the other hand…

Seymour’s future was uncertain.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

By that point in the original story, he’d already been locked up in a dungeon, well on his way to becoming a dark character. He didn’t really count in this scenario.

“I’m just proud to see you being a decent person.”

“…Huh?”

“Never mind, forget it.”

“What, are you my parents or something? Seriously… hey, hey!”

I turned my attention away from Seymour and focused on someone else.

The guy who had been trembling like a leaf.

“You look like you have something to say.”

Kassan hung his head low as soon as I spoke. He had nothing to say for himself. If he tried to explain, I was ready to punch him right in the mouth.

“…I’m sorry.”

He should have stopped there.

“I-I didn’t mean for this to happen. I swear, I didn’t intentionally remove the tracking stone.

I was just worried about you guys and started looking for you… But I had no idea there’d be a golem out here in Ardel’s outskirts…”

Should I just punch him now?

Smack.

“Ow!”

Kassan blinked in disbelief, stunned that he’d just been hit by his junior.

I could read his thoughts, clear as day.

“Shouldn’t you be more surprised that you’re still alive rather than that I hit you?”

“What?”

“After nearly dying just now, I think you should be more amazed that I saved you.”

“….”

I mean, Kassan had almost literally died just now.

Why did I save this guy?

I’d assumed it was Won behind me. I didn’t have time to check, and I didn’t expect this guy to suddenly show up in front of me.

Kassan nodded slowly, probably realizing that if he said anything more, he’d get hit again.

“T-thanks for saving me.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

Wait, no.

That wasn’t quite enough.

Sure, Kassan had helped us find the cave and the cube, and we’d gained a lot thanks to him.

But things could have easily gone the other way, and we all could’ve died.

The cube was important, but not more important than our lives.

The more I thought about it, the more pissed off I got.

“Huh?”

Kassan flinched as I placed my hand on my forehead, as if he had already sensed what was coming.

“But seriously, I’ve been wondering since earlier…”

“Huh? What?”

“Is that really all you have to say?”

“…”

“Don’t just flap your mouth… do something.”

Kassan’s eyes darted around nervously, clearly catching my drift.

Then, without much hesitation…

“I-I’m sorry!”

He hesitated, then dropped to his knees.

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