Chapter 98: The anticipated lecture and baptism

There were 8 people.

No, I wasn’t actually confident that the original 5 would stay.

Next time we will be doing something interesting. That’s what I said last week after all.

That there are 3 extra people must be because the speed that the staff clears the documents is probably abnormal. Leaving aside the students’ level, the system in Rotsgard is pretty impressive. I thought that not only the level of the students but the hyumans in general were plain.

But since at the top there’s Sofia, they are probably impressive. Well, the middle probably isn’t though.

[From today on, there will be 3 more people attending]

I wrote it simple and look at the three. Right now Shiki and I are facing the 8 students, but I beckon the three new students to come to my side. The Rembrandt sisters had pretty similar faces. As expected of sisters. Just that their hair style is different and their bearing differ, so they give different impressions. There was a time when our eyes met for a bit and they both smiled, but it was only for an instant. They soon made serious faces and reunited with the 5 students. They don’t look that ill-natured to me. They seem to properly understand their position as students.

Just that looking at Jin and Amelia, maybe because they didn’t expect that attitude from the sisters, their faces had a dubious expression. That they are not completely shocked must be because they are nervous about today’s class. The Rembrandt sisters are gathering attention even when they are just standing still, just how much of a bad reputation do they have.

[You three, introduce yourselves]

In turn, first the sisters and then the remaining one. After that I will have the other five present themselves as well.

“It’s a pleasure, my name is Sif Rembrandt. I have returned today, so there might be people that already know me. I was absent because of an illness, so until I recover completely, I may be a bother, but please do take care of me. My race, as you can see, is hyuman. My specialty is attack magic; elements fire and earth. I have a spirit’s divine protection in my earth element” (Sif)

When Sif makes a last bow, her silky blond hair droops along with her. Her type of hair is straight. Looking at her long hair flowing, it is truly beautiful. The last time I met her, she practically didn’t have any hair after all. She is practically a completely different person. The word young woman truly fits her. Conversely, I can’t imagine her as a combat type. She probably doesn’t do close combat.

“Nice to meet you! My name is Yuno Rembrandt. I am Sif Rembrandt’s little sister and just like her, I have returned just today! The reason is the same, illness. I am still unable to move at my 100% but I will do my best! My race is of course, hyuman. My specialty is physical combat. But as you can see, I have a short build so instead of vanguard I am more of a center defender. My weapons are spear and bow; depending on the situation, I switch them. My magic is mainly enhancing but it isn’t my specialty. Please do take care of me!” (Yuno)

Just like Yuno said, she has a short build. She probably is around 1.5m. It makes me doubt her use of spear and bow even more. The bows in this world are mostly big after all. But since she not only wrote it in the petition and actually said it in her introduction as well, it is probably not a lie… Yeah.

Could it be that she matches them with the party depending on the situation? It isn’t like she can walk around with both of them, so that must be it. She is skillful, and seems to be an energetic one. She has the same blond hair as her older sister, but just like if displaying her personality, her hair is cut short enough so that it doesn’t reach her shoulders.

“Nice to meet you. I have transferred from Fosk Royal Academy, my name is Karen Frost. It hasn’t been long since I transferred, so I would be glad if you teach me. My race is hyuman. My specialties, I don’t really have any; I am a jack of all trades. In terms of magic, earth is the one I am the best at, but I can use the other elements decently. Please do take care of me” (Karen)

…

Hyuman huh.

While hearing Karen’s self-introduction, I check the reactions of the other students. There wasn’t that much difference compared to the Rembrandt sisters. Actually, at the time of the sisters, I could see that the five of them looked more nervous. It is probably because of their previous reputation of having a bad personality. Jin, it may seem off-putting for you, but that expression is rude to the sisters you know?

Even so, this Karen girl…

She is using magic to change her appearance. That’s why she is being accepted by the other students without any discomfort. In my eyes, her appearance is completely different from that of a hyuman.

When I looked at Shiki, he seemed to have noticed my confusion and nods. Shiki and I can tell, so that means it is practically without a doubt an illusion type of spell. I don’t know if she is using it herself or is the effect of some sort of tool though.

Even if I question Karen here, it will only be a waste of one class and it isn’t like I am being troubled by it right now. After the class ends or if she is unable to, I will just ask her if she has some time today after all her plans are done to have a detailed talk. If she just wants to honestly take my class then I have no problems. It will probably be something troublesome though.

[And that’s how it is, do treat them well. Also, Rembrandt sisters, let me tell you this first, just because I am friends with your father doesn’t mean I will go easy on you, so take that in mind]

After the other five introduced themselves as well, I have the three of them return to the group. It would be a matter of time for them to learn that we are acquainted, so I will just tell them straight. The two of them answer me clearly in return. Yeah, they are nice girls, I think.

[Now then, as planned, for today’s lecture I have an enjoying subject. But, as expected, the stimulus would be too high for the three new students. That’s why we will be splitting the group in two. Now then, Sif, Yuno and Karen stay here in standby. The others come here]

I leave the explanation for the three to Shiki and I lead the five to a place a bit away. I will leave Shiki in charge here, but at the end I will have to take lead.

The expressions of the five are stiff. Tense and concentrated.

“Sensei, what are we doing today?”

It’s Jin. Even though he says that everything is set by one’s ability, he seems to have a personality that attracts people and is the one that’s acting as leader. His way of talking is severe, but in the end he is an attentive person. Our ages are the same, so if our meeting was different, we could have become good friends.

[Its real combat training]

“Could it be, against sensei?!”

The face of the five magnificently cramp.

[No. I will have you fight with a summoned being. Don’t worry, if you go at it with the desire to kill, you won’t die. Life is unexpectedly that way. In the worst case scenario, Shiki will heal you so be relieved. Depending on the number of times you are defeated, the penalty will increase]

“S-Summoned?”

[Yeah, I actually am able to do summoning]

Desperate words of “Isn’t this abuse?! Something like a lecture we will be defeated several times” and “Will I have to skip all the other lectures that I have next?” How rude. There’s no way I would do something that would bother the other teachers. Everyone will be able to attend to the next classes with your body healthy!

By the way “if you go at it with the desire to kill, you surprisingly won’t die” are the words of my sensei. The word surprisingly has passed through my mind several times. Now it has become a funny story… I have survived after all.

And so, after saying random words, I summon a mist gate and a hazy shadow appears inside the mist. A single mist lizard appears.

I can tell that the students are gulping their breath. Even low grade lizardmen are said to be a threat when in group. This one clearly has beautiful blue scales that are out of the norm, armed with a sword and shield along with light armor. They must have noticed that this lizardman is a strong foe. I am already used to seeing it, but those scales that shine with the light are truly beautiful.

“Uhm, this lizardman, I haven’t seen it anywhere before. Just how strong is it?”

N, the dagger boy. For him who has to fight the enemy in close combat, the opponent’s information must really interest him. But I refuse.

[It’s a secret. After you fight him, each one of you will have to write a report of the information you managed to grasp. I will approve consulting with other classmates, but the wrong answers will return to you as minus points okay? Don’t forget that the answers you submit are your own responsibility]

“Uhm, at least name of the race…”

The bow user Amelia. There’s no way I will tell you right? In a school that has such an excellent library. There’s probably no one who has seen the mist lizardmen, but that’s not all there is to it.

[It’s a secret. He is my friend, Blue Lizard-kun. Then, begin. Until Shiki returns, you can’t go dying or no one will be able to save you, so be careful]

“I am counting on you today. Blaze is prohibited. Fight with them at 1% of your power please. It is okay to not hold back in the technical areas” (Makoto)

When I pass by the mist lizard, I whisper in his ear. He nodded slightly.

Leaving the sounds of life and death struggle of the students as BGM, I return to where Shiki-san and the other three are waiting.

[Shiki, how is the explanation going?]

“I have finished explaining the basic objectives of this class to those three and they are currently in standby. Now then, I will be heading over to that side” (Shiki)

[I leave them to you]

“If I don’t hurry they might get seriously hurt, so I will excuse myself now” (Shiki)

Shiki makes a wry smile as he heads to the place where the life and death, no, the enjoying lecture is taking place. I won’t be doing that to you three yet, so rest assured.

[Now then. About you three who are participating in my classes from today on, I think you have already heard the explanation from my assistant Shiki. I will be brief here, increase the amount of elements you can use. Learn to activate spells faster. Learn to use those points efficiently and do the correct decisions in the correct time. That is the objective of my class]

“Learn to be skillful, is what you are trying to say?”

Karen summarizes what I said. Well, in short that’s it. But the word skillful is pretty broad.

[That’s right. I am not telling you to get rid of your strong points and become skillful, I am talking about improving your weak points as well as your strong ones. If it’s Sif: water, wind and darkness elements are the current tasks. In the case of Yuno, find easy to use elements and increase the amount of non-elemental magic. Karen, you say you are a jack of all trades so, everything. Obviously, increase the ability to use all those points effectively]

It seems like the three understood what I was trying to say, they tensed up immediately.

[Today, you three will form a group and fight against me. Even if I say fight, it will be just you attacking me though. You are free to do whatever you want. In the middle of that, I will be giving you combat advice and tasks. As you can see, I communicate with writing, so make sure not to miss it. If you don’t improve on the things I point out, I will break your attack on that second miss. Keep in mind that you will be wounded. Then, we will begin in 5 minutes. Prepare]

This is something the other students did as well. At the end, they made faces filled of despair. “Fix what I have pointed out” is not something that one can do as soon as they are told. After a while, they will not be able to do the same attack of what they weren’t able to fix and slowly their cards will decrease to the point that they are zero. Predicting my students’ attacks, the battle time and calculating the remaining time of the class is just… hard.

After 5 minutes.

Well, that’s obviously how it would be. The position of the three are just as expected. No vanguard. If I won’t be attacking anyways, there won’t be anyone set in the vanguard because there’s no one specialized in it.

[Come]

The short writing worked as the signal. From the three, Karen and Sif’s arias begin. Their voices are loud. I can already predict the scale of the magic they will use. In exchange for power, they really sacrifice quite a lot.

Yuno quickly does the first attack. She shoots an arrow at me. So instead of the spear, she decided on the bow huh. She must have taken into account the chance of being caught in the magic. If the opponent were to counter attack, she would have probably chosen the spear to protect her sister.

The arrow flies to my collar. Her gaze was directed at my chest, so… that’s quite the aim she has. It was only off by a bit. However, maybe because her physical strength is lacking, the power is low. Also, because it is a projectile, it isn’t enhanced that much by magic power.

Of course, the arrow is stopped by my barrier and it didn’t hit me.

“Eh?!”

[The power is weak. Not even worth the words. Put more strength in it. If you are aiming at my chest, don’t miss at such a distance]

Well, the attacks of her are arrows, so even if she does the same thing, it’s just going to be stopped by my barrier. Let’s try baking today.

The second attack. The strength increased, though it is still low. It seems there’s a need to strengthen her muscles. Looks like she is being desperate in imbuing magic power to the arrow, and because of that, the strengthening in her body is negligent. Like that, it won’t work in the wasteland. Well, just because her house is close doesn’t mean that the princesses of Rembrandt will be fighting in the wasteland though.

She shoots again.

“Uh?!”

[Think of body strengthening and magic power imbuing as a set. In the next one I will burn]

Before the magic is shot, Yuno’s cards might be gone. In that case, she would probably have to use a spear.

Oh, magic. Sif and Karen huh.

It looked like Karen would be able to put together the magic faster, but maybe she matched her speed with Sif’s on purpose. Simultaneous attacks are harder to deal with after all. Of course, the spells interfere with each other, so I can’t say it is always good.

If she aimed for that when she shot it, she must have quite the confidence in her skills.

“Ray!”

“Frost Break!”

Fire and water huh. Karen, if you did that aiming to match, then you are quite the challenger.

However, both magic’s mechanism and composition are practically confirmed, so I can tell what spell they will use.

The one Sif released is a heat ray, I think. This spell’s objective is most likely to pierce the enemy. And even if stopped, it looks like it would explode.

Karen’s magic probably freezes a radius around its target and breaks. This time she activated it after Sif spell huh. What’s gathering around me is most likely the chill from Karen’s spell.

I receive Sif’s spell with a barrier. I can tell that it is accumulating power. Explosion. Just as expected. The wave that was on the level of soft wind caresses my face. When blocking with a partial barrier, there’s no helping that I will be hit by the byproducts.

Karen’s spell is completed in the perfect timing. Splendid! It’s like this isn’t the first time they have matched their spells. She has good sense.

With a high-pitched noise, I get enclosed in a case of ice.

To be more precise, I was wrapped by ice after I took a little distance from it. When I look, I see that Yuno is drawing her bow close to the limit and holding off shooting. Good. She is trying to aim the best she can so she doesn’t waste the shot.

[Well done. The timespan is Karen’s sense huh, quite impressive. You took into account Sif’s explosion and used it as blinding, nice thinking. About the task, it would be Sif’s speed]

Even though I was in the middle of explaining, the cage of ice reacted to Karen’s voice and broke flashily.

[About Sif, it would be speed. It would be good if you can increase the speed of your heat ray, or make it pursue. About Karen, it would be the change in the surroundings that tells the enemy of its activation and its power. If that’s something that’s not activated directly to the target but in a space where the target is, it would be hard to hit. And even if you manage to hit, the power is just low]

“To block everything with that small barrier!”

“… Even though I hid the change in the surroundings and the power was also good”

[Yuno. I did say that I would destroy the attack that I have already pointed out right? If you can’t do anything else anymore, just bring out the spear. If you prepare properly, you can also attack me from the back]

I burn the arrow that Yuno shot thinking I was open. It wasn’t blocked by my barrier, it just burned in the middle of air.

“N-Not yet!”

“Next time for sure!”

“Maybe I should get a bit more serious”

It will probably be a complete defeat for Sif, Yuno and Karen. But I think that setbacks are best to be experienced early and recovered.

If you are motivated to do it again, come back next week.

Without holding back, I continue to block the attacks of the three, destroy them and point out their faults.

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