Chapter 348

               

“Acrey!”

Countless orbs of light filled the air.

Screeeech—!

Berus’s magic swept through the charging horde of orcs in an instant.

He looked down at his own hands in disbelief.

‘This kind of power…?’

The Berus family had been a line of summoners for generations.
That heritage gave him clear talent in summoning—but in pure magic, he had always fallen short.

Even after studying from the [Introduction to Star Magic], he could feel he had changed over the past few weeks, but—

‘I didn’t think it would be this much.’

He wasn’t the only one surprised.

The lower class’s monster-clearing speed was holding its own against the advanced class.

Anri’s eyes went wide as she watched the battle unfold.

“They might actually win!”

Beside her, Eclere spoke with a serious expression.

“It won’t be easy. Yoinia’s there.”

As a fellow advanced-class student, Eclere knew Yoinia’s skill well.
In terms of mana capacity, Yoinia surpassed not only Eclere but even Elric, the second-ranked student in their year.

At her words, Anri and the others stiffened nervously.

Seeing their unease, Leo smiled faintly.

“We’ll win.”

He looked over the lower-class students as he spoke.

Since joining Seiren, they had always been treated as bottom-feeders.
Their hopes had turned to disappointment, and disappointment to despair.

As a result, most of them lacked confidence and shrank back easily.

The lower-class students turned to Leo.

“That Yoinia girl may be talented, but as long as she’s a half-baked mage like that, she won’t be able to use her power properly.”

“H-Half-baked?”

Eclere looked dumbfounded at Leo calling one of Advanced Class 1’s top students half-baked.

“Yoinia’s strength is her immense mana, so the professors have focused on teaching her high-level magic most students can’t handle. She and Lea are the fastest learners in Advanced Class 1. She’s already using spells that second-year seniors won’t learn until next semester—and you’re calling her half-baked?”

“Focus and specialization aren’t bad things. But do you think there’s a single senior who can only use high-tier magic and not basic ones?”

“……”

“If your path is to become a Star Mage, sure—that training method makes sense. But raising a few prodigies by concentrating resources on them? Any academy could do that, not just Seiren.”

Leo turned toward the advanced-class students across the field.

“Admiration for the Founder of the Nebula and the Comet Mage is admirable—it’s a fine motivation to grow.”

The lower-class students listened intently.

“But that’s not the real goal. You’re training to become heroes, not second versions of the Founder of the Nebula or the Comet Mage.”

He smiled softly.

“Believe in yourselves.”

Leo pointed toward one of the statues standing on the edge of the field—one of the many depicting the Comet Mage scattered throughout Seiren.

“Those were her own words—the founder of this academy.”

The lower-class students’ eyes widened, then lit up with renewed determination.

“Yeah! We worked so hard for this!”

“Let’s do this!”

Everyone clenched their fists.

Watching them, Anri approached with a wry smile.

“Looks like you should be the class representative, Lyle.”

“You fit the role too. Keep it. I’ve already done it once.”

“What?”

Leo grinned at her baffled expression.

“W-Wait! The monsters are charging! Defend, defend!”

A shout rang out as new monsters emerged from the summoning circle—trolls, charging wildly toward both teams.

The advanced-class students, focused solely on offense, were caught off guard.
In an instant, several were injured, and their formation collapsed.

The lower class also faced the brunt of the assault, but their front-line knight-class students stepped forward.
The mages in the rear quickly cast reinforcement spells.

When the lower class’s vanguard held the trolls’ assault, the crowd gasped.

“Wait, reinforcement magic? That’s a secret technique of the noble families!”

“How are those lower-class kids using that?!”

First-years stared in disbelief.

Even the upper-class students looked surprised—then intrigued.

“Interesting. Did they modify a new form of Star Magic?”

“I didn’t expect much from the lower class… but they look more like the advanced ones now.”

“Individually, the advanced-class mages might be stronger, but… are those really the ones worthy of being called hero candidates?”

“If aura or summoning were allowed in this test, would those advanced kids even stand a chance?”

Cold gazes turned toward the advanced class.
The senior students’ interest was clear, while the Pureblood Council teachers’ faces darkened.

In Seiren and across elven society, the Pureblood faction still held considerable influence.
Since the news of Luna, the Founder of the Nebula, returning, Seiren had been treated as a holy ground.

Luna—the pride of the elves, the hero who had once saved the world.
Elves had long revered and worshipped her.
Now that she had miraculously reappeared, the Purebloods’ power had inevitably grown stronger.

But even so, they couldn’t control everything.

There had always been elves skeptical of the Pureblood ideology.
No matter how conservative a society, there would always be opposition to extremism.

Seiren was no exception.

Many senior students viewed the Pureblood Council with disdain.
That was why this first-year midterm had been arranged—to showcase the Pureblood system’s success.

And yet…

‘To be humiliated by those lower-class brats!’

Luhagen’s face twisted in anger.

‘That boy—he must have done something!’

His bloodshot eyes locked on the figure wearing a Seiren uniform—Leo.

For a brief moment, their eyes met.

Leo smirked.

‘Don’t think this is over, Leo Plov!’

Luhagen ground his teeth.

Beeeeep—!

The sound signaling the end of the exam rang out.

“We did it!”

“Victory!”

The lower-class students erupted into cheers.

Berus’s team, the winners, stood frozen in disbelief.

“You all did wonderfully! Truly amazing!”

Tears welled in Laura’s eyes as she hugged each of her students one by one.

As their homeroom teacher, she knew better than anyone what they had endured—how unfairly they’d been treated simply for lacking in Star Magic achievement, how much emotional pain they’d hidden behind their smiles.

Seeing them triumph over Advanced Class 1 filled her with overwhelming pride.

“They really won! Lyle, it’s all thanks to you!”

Berus’s team rushed toward Leo.

He chuckled softly.

“Don’t dump the credit on me. You’re the ones who did it.”

“But still…”

“You never lacked talent.”

“What?”

“If you didn’t have any, you wouldn’t have entered Seiren in the first place.”

Leo patted Berus on the shoulder.

“You just didn’t fit Star Magic very well. All I did was give you the push you needed. If you’re thankful, thank Professor Laura for teaching you—and Assistant Professor Anna from Lumene’s Magic Department when she arrives in a few days.”

The lower-class students stared wide-eyed as Leo continued.

“You won today because you never gave up.”

Their eyes glistened.

“Lyle.”

“What?”

“Can we call you big brother?”

“I want to call you my dear brother.”

“Big brother!”

“Dear brother!”

The lower-class students chorused enthusiastically.

“Stop with the nonsense and focus on the remaining exams.”

Leo burst out laughing.

“Let’s prove it—that Seiren was wrong to abandon you.”

—

The following exams were a series of shocking upsets.

The deliberate matchups—pitting lower-class teams against the advanced classes to highlight the latter’s superiority—
ended in complete disaster.

The revolt of the lower class.

Every single lower-class team defeated their advanced-class opponents.
The advanced-class homeroom teachers went pale with horror.

Meanwhile, the middle class, trained under the same system as the advanced class, didn’t win a single match.

That could only mean one thing.

The educational methods of both the middle and advanced classes were fundamentally flawed.

‘Impossible! How could those rejects beat the advanced class?!’

Professor Geras, homeroom teacher of Advanced Class 1, turned ghostly white.
He kept glancing toward Acting Principal Luhagen, who wore an icy expression.

Swallowing hard, Geras turned to Lea.

“Lea! The honor of Advanced Class 1 depends on you!”

He grabbed her shoulders desperately, but she spoke in a flat tone.

“Professor, please let go.”

He flinched and stepped back.

“I’ll do my best—it’s an exam, after all—but not for the honor of Advanced Class 1.”

Lea smiled faintly.

“I’m not exactly fond of your teaching methods either.”

“L-Lea…”

She walked toward the field.

Elric was already dominating his match against the middle class, earning praise from the seniors.
“Truly worthy of a class representative,” they said.

Everyone watched the lower-class uprising with fascination.

But the one student who drew the most attention across Seiren was, without question—Lea.

Tap, tap.

Standing in the arena, she waved toward the distant Anri’s team.
Eclere, among them, smiled brightly and waved back.

Taking a deep breath, Eclere said, “Like I said before… Lea’s on another level. So we should stick to the plan.”

“Still… isn’t this too dangerous?”

One teammate asked nervously, but Eclere only smiled faintly.

“When the exam starts, you’ll understand.”

Beeeep—!

The test began, and the summoning circle flared—goblins poured out.

A massive surge of mana followed.

Flash! BOOOOOOM!

Blades of light rained down from the sky.

The overwhelming power wiped out the goblins in an instant.

Everyone gasped.

“Hmph.”

Lunia rested her chin on her hand, eyes sparkling.

“As expected of a Tingel.”

Indeed, Lea was on a different level.

“Ah, I hate geniuses. Pulling off something like that in her first year.”

Marven, the fifth-year representative, chuckled.

His gaze shifted toward Lunia and Evertune.

“But that team’s got a smart plan too. They know they can’t win, so they’re conserving mana for later rounds.”

Marven stroked his chin with interest.

Then, dozens of magic circles floated around Eclere.

“Multiple chanting? Impressive.”

Marven whistled.

“She’s the class representative, after all.”

Evertune crossed his arms.

“Mana capacity isn’t the only measure of a mage’s skill. Judging by magic ability alone, that Eclere girl has more than enough to represent her year.”

He smiled coldly.

“Though I don’t understand why she’s grouped with the lower class. Maybe because those lower-class students don’t act like it?”

Luhagen’s hands tensed, veins bulging.

‘You insolent…!’

“Senior Evertune, you seem to think anything beneath you is worthless.”

“That’s just his charm—utterly consistent arrogance.”

Evertune’s eyes turned sharp toward Lunia and Marven.

Lunia looked away innocently while Marven chuckled.

But soon, the scoreboard showed Lea’s team taking a commanding lead.

Everyone nodded, unsurprised.

And then—

Crack!

One of the fallen goblins began to move.

Creak, creak—

Its head twisted with a sickening crack.

An illusion spell prevented the monsters inside the arena from recognizing the outside world—
yet the goblin’s eyes turned directly toward Leo.

Flash—

A crimson light gleamed within its eyes.

At the same time, dark red smoke seeped from its body.

Leo’s eyes twitched.

‘…An undead?’

“Kikekekek!”

With that shriek, every fallen goblin corpse began to rise.

A wave of dark mana swept through the arena.

Leo’s face hardened.

He recognized that power all too well.

‘Hell Kaiser.’