Astarot was quite satisfied with life at the Gift Academy.
Perhaps his training at the Yellow Magic Tower just didn’t sit right with him.
Every time he tried to practice something at the tower, it was chaos.
“Planning to set a trap using Earth Magic? Oh dear, the wisdom of my mentor’s mentors considered Earth Magic a masterpiece worthy of cultural heritage! To think you could use such precious magic to create deadly traps!”
“What nonsense is this disciple spouting? Have you forgotten that the land improvement spells have contributed to the growth of crops and bountiful harvests since ancient times? You’re not any different from those dark mages infested with corruption!”
“Disciple, the wisdom and authority of the Earth lie in protecting and respecting the ecosystem. You must cultivate and bring grace to all living things, not disgrace the mother of the Earth with an earthquake-style magic!”
From ancient times, ancestors said:
May it be helpful to the people of the land.
Respect the natural ecosystem.
In the midst of this boring rant, Astarot recognized that he couldn’t practice any more vision magic at the Yellow Magic Tower.
Then, the elders of the Yellow Magic Tower had a run-in with the notorious Oknodie, leading to some hilarious mishaps that caused his mana circuits to surge backward, resulting in an overwhelming amount of mana causing his brain to pressure-cook him.
It felt like just yesterday, a few elders were mourning while the up-and-comers eyed the vacant elder positions, arguing between tradition and innovation. Then came the devastating news: the Underworld Invasion.
The gate to the Underground World had opened, and radical new masters jumped into the battlefield, harvesting rare materials while unleashing mana surges alongside the mainstream magicians from the Red Magic Tower, leading to utter disaster.
“The tower is already ruined. The masters are all gone, and there’s no one to rely on but me. Instead of waiting for demise, you might as well invest in me. I’m planning to go to the Gift Academy anyway, but with enough support, I might just feel grateful towards the tower.”
Having been invited to act as a test subject but ending up exasperated by the division between the old and new, and witnessing the annihilation of the new masters, the elders couldn’t just dismiss Astarot’s request for support outright.
Even though they had already tried imprisoning him, news of it reached the Gift Academy, prompting them to send someone.
“The tower does not reject those who seek knowledge; why would you try to detain someone who wishes to leave for it? If you’ve lost your original intention in building the Tower of Wisdom, surely you are also prepared to rebuild it from scratch?”
At the moment the vision magic broke with a single strike and the Earth Prison that confined Astarot shattered, the tower could no longer hold him against his will.
“Those Yellow Guys are casting spells as they please, so why can’t we?”
“How about running away if the old folks get annoying? Astarot did it; why can’t we?”
“Isn’t it the law that vision holders cannot disclose their knowledge? Just apply to the academy, and it’s done!”
While the stragglers had to take exams to enroll, the rigorous Talent Acquisition Policy ensured that those proven to be talented got direct instructors!
Despite the absurdity of the idea that all secret weapons from various organizations followed Astarot’s lead to join, it worked out for him because, thanks to it, people began to follow him, giving him authority, which the student council recognized with an offer to join the Execution HQ.
“I’m not from the Western Noble Union. Do you think nobles who value tradition and customs will accept magicians from a different background?”
“Imperial nobles think border nobles are rustic, barbaric, and act like paragons of immovability, so they dislike them, but they don’t hate all people from the Empire.”
Contrary to the rumors that anyone who wasn’t a member of the Western Noble Alliance would flee upon hearing her voice, the Execution Chief Velvet Belle was quite a reasonable person.
“If there’s any magic you desire, feel free to use it to contribute to the Execution HQ.”
Unlike the Yellow Magic Tower, she encouraged Astarot to use any magic he wanted, even requesting him to remodel a building into a hellish killing house.
Eager to put his learned magic to use, Astarot found this to be a welcome opportunity.
“I like the lethality. And the ability to control the power is delightful as well.”
“You might want to capture intruders for interrogation, so I’ve added that function.”
“This is for the trouble. I’ll be sure to ask again.”
[You received 10,000 points from Velvet Belle.]
Seeing the deposit list in his Magic Watch, Astarot felt elated, thinking, “This is what life feels like!”
“Thanks to Astarot, Tidda made tons of points! I don’t have to eat that lowly food like black bread anymore, and I’m so happy!”
“Too much praise. Even without me, you’re clever and wise enough to find ways to make money.”
“Not at all! The Beastman Resurgence Society scum keep pestering Tidda for strategies while only offering black bread! Even if Tidda is smart, I couldn’t earn any money!”
“…So it’s all the Beastman Resurgence Society’s strategies that came from Tidda’s head?”
“Guidelines came from above about what strategies to create, but without any money and thoroughly annoying, they aimed for us to fail as quietly as possible! Then this strange guy, Son Ohchun, suddenly popped up, claiming the title of Revolutionary Army General under the name of the Beastman Resurgence Society, and it seemed impossible for us to fail!”
Disregarding such a smart talent and exploiting him led the Beastman Resurgence Society to lose power over time.
Astarot now understood the reasons behind an organization’s struggles with expanding influence on the continent.
Anyway, the Gift Academy gathered talented individuals, so the quantity and quality of information flowing in were on a different level.
“I’d love to live this way for a lifetime.”
It was indeed a very satisfying day, at least until the Execution HQ sent an urgent summon.
“This is breaking…?”
He had inscribed restoration spells that wouldn’t lag behind the automatic repair technique engraved on the academy’s floor.
All sorts of traps, from iron hammers that popped out when triggered to pressure-sensitive floor traps and mana-sensitive electric traps, were all completely wrecked.
It looked less like traces of a petty thief sneaking in or a disordered intruder from the student council and more like a Giant Golem had rolled through and smashed all the traps to bits.
“Who did this?!”
“That kid.”
Clack-clack.
With the irritating sound of heels, Velvet Belle appeared from the upper floor, holding a kid who was limp like a cat by the scruff of the neck.
“Wow! Zero Tier Male! Astarot! Hello!”
“Oknodie? How could this little one create such chaos as if a Golem had charged in? You must know that’s absurd.”
“Don’t misunderstand. You’ll know when you see it.”
“Me? How far?”
“…You’re playing dumb? That’s not a wise approach against me, Oknodie.”
“Hehe. You caught me! I just practiced rolling because it looked fun!”
Rolling? How could this little one roll to create such mindless destruction?
As he stood there dumbfounded, Velvet Belle released Oknodie, who straightened up and said proudly.
“Consider it an honor! It’s my first time showing off this new technique!”
The moment Oknodie bent, a Mana Barrier already unfolded in front of her.
Roll roll.
As her body rolled, the Mana Barrier stretched out following her rolling trajectory.
Manually.
Updating every moment.
Such insane calculation speed and precision were impossible without a mad genius, but the true excellence in rolling was just about to begin.
[Leap]
[Sense of Balance]
Oknodie, who rolled honestly in one direction, suddenly leaped off the ceiling, bouncing faster while colliding and leaving afterimages, scattering throughout the interior like a ping pong ball.
[Charging]
[Instant Attack: Specter Assault]
[Powder of Death]
[Mass Rotation]
[Flight Magic]
[Shadow Clone]
She crashed against the wall like a bomb, demolishing half of a trap while a few dazed execution agents turned pale and claimed to be poisoned.
“The last dodgeball is me myself becoming the dodgeball! The 5th stage dodgeball Dimension Ball, stacked with instant death abilities, and going a step further, I approach randomly within close distance to insert the instant death right in and bounce back with the 6th stage dodgeball [Roll Roll Ball]!”
“Dodgeball…? How come…??”
The number of traps that had been deactivated, thanks to the rotating chaos that stirred mana storms and resulted in failures, was frightening to count.
But what was this dodgeball?
Was my trap just broken because it wanted to play dodgeball?
How the heck does that insane charging technique relate to dodgeball?
No matter his absurdity, Oknodie had already joyfully wrecked all the traps.
“So how did you catch that?!”
“Like this.”
Velvet lifted her heel slightly.
At the same time, shadows stretched across the room.
[Spatial Synchronization]
[Scale 1:1000]
The enormous heel, amplified a thousandfold, stomped down on the rollicking Oknodie, crushing him.
“Ow.”
The now flattened Oknodie crawled out and knelt like a punished child.
“Oknodie. I understood the method. So why were you jumping around here? You must have known there were traps after entering the building, and there had to be a reason for coming in. It doesn’t seem like you, who catches my eye, fell into Tidda’s trick.”
“I came to stop my senior from kidnapping and locking up instructors, causing polar bears to become refugees and Antarctica to melt! And that was a big deal because,”
“Don’t need to know.”
[Spatial Synchronization]
[Scale 1:100]
Seeing Oknodie’s mouth covered by a finger substantially larger now, trying to bite it in a fervent rebellion, Astarot pondered.
To uncover why the senior had overpowered Oknodie vs. maintain the face of the senior, who consistently furnished him with points and magical practice.
After a mental balance game, he reached a conclusion.
“It’s not something I need to know.”
Astarot was about to wisely turn away when he halted.
He detected the presence of a transparent mosquito clinging tightly to Velvet Belle’s colossal finger.
Oknodie’s attempt at rebellion against a figure who showed no signs of weakness piqued his curiosity.
