章 23: Prove Yourself!

Even Old Blue, who had been utterly pissed at him, had given a 6! Didn't this mean that he had passed? By now there was only Lady Carie left, who seemed to be hesitating.

Gray patiently waited. He'd be happy as long as it was 3 or more! Then, she finally gave him a score.

[0]

Zero?! The world seemingly stopped. What, why?! But before anyone could question her, she spoke again:

"Gale, your lecture was surprisingly good, even if controversial. The question is: Can you teach magic to an actual student? I can't declare you a teacher without knowing…"

That's when she turned toward the crowd:

"Any volunteer to be taught by Teacher Gale for a few minutes?" She then turned back toward him. "Show me that you're an asset to our MAGIC Academy." She giggled.

"That so? Fine by me! Sera, come over."

Sera?! Sera Blake? Gloomy Sera?! All the spectating Teachers couldn't help but shake. Not only was she a third year, but wasn't she also cursed?!

Old Red in the back felt like beating him up. Goddamn showoff! Couldn't he have taught a weak, newly admitted student instead? It could have been something super simple, too!

But it was too late. She had already grabbed her Badge and gone up the stage.

"I'm ready, Teacher! What should I do?"

"Simple. Follow my instructions…"

That's when he subtly interacted with his Badge, sending a message! As she felt her badge vibrate in her hand, she understood! He'd send part of it via text to keep it hidden!

That's when he shared ALL his knowledge about the Curse-Extinguishing Path…

How to meld her Mana with the Curse to exploit it.

How to use Ambient Mana to Amplify the curse further.

How to resist all the negative effects that this would bring.

How to channel all that negative energy in her spells instead

Taking it all in, she closed her eyes… and started training on the spot! The crowd instantly started to gossip to fill in the silence.

"Wait, isn't she already his student?"

"What if she tries to fake a power-up instead?"

"Dumbass, Lady Carie will be able to tell easily!"

"Of course! We're in the dark, but she knows everything!"

But little did they know that even the Legendary Grandma was utterly lost! The part Gray had actually said aloud? She didn't recognize any! Yet, she couldn't just ask, right?!

"Teacher Gale, why don't you explain what you've taught her to the crowd."

"Hmmm, sure. It's quite simple, really. She's cursed and the Academy gave her 1 or 2 years to live. I just taught her a method to fix it." Gray shrugged.

"Fix it? What do you mean, fix it?"

"Oh, the curse won't kill her."

"…."

That's when Gray rubbed his head awkwardly.

"What did you guys expect? I really did say that it was simple. There's nothing more to it. The curse just won't kill her."

A curse that'd kill her in 1 or 2 years?! That had to be HEAVY! Now, he was talking about fixing it with a Mana Technique?! And he bloody called it simple?!

"I-Impossible! Are you certain this will work?!" Lady Carie exclaimed in shock.

Sera Blake? She had examined the girl herself! The 1-2 years? She was the one who had made that diagnostic in the first place! Yet, she couldn't detect any falsehood in his gaze!

Wouldn't that mean that his Curse Mastery was higher than hers?! How old was he even?! It had taken her 200 years to reach that stage! But just as she was freaking out…

"AHHHHHH!" Sera suddenly screamed out in agony, her face twisting in a mask of pain. But that wasn't all. Vile Mana started oozing out of her! No, it was even taking shape!

T-This?! A curse that could take a physical form?!

"She's doomed. Forget a year, she has a month tops!" Lady Carie mumbled under her breath. Poor girl! Except, this was just the very start…

The vile Curse became bigger and bigger. But just as it seemed about to burst, Sera suddenly grabbed it and started… absorbing it back?!

"F-Foolish girl, she's gonna kill herself!"

Lady Carie rushed to the stage to save the 'dumb' student, but she was suddenly stopped as Gray created an ectoplasm barrier. Defensive power? None! Yet, it still stopped her.

Why? Only from up close did she finally realize what this was… Souls. Souls so broken that they had lost their shapes, souls reduced to smithereens. N-Necromancer?!

Her whole body trembled. His energy…. It was just like the Duke!

"Y-you?! Don't tell me that you're—"

"Stand down. Or are you trying to kill her?"

"Kill her? She's about to get devoured by that curse and—"

Gray could see it in her eyes. She really was trying to help, but how could he convince her not to? Ah! He grabbed a certain cursed potato from his soul, throwing it at her!

"Catch!"

"W-What?! A-Abomination!"

She shuddered in disgust and dread as she sensed the ungodly curse contained within. It looked like a potato, but it couldn't be, right?! Impossible! And yet there it was…

"D-Don't tell me you've been carrying that all along?! How are you still alive?!"

"Alive? I'm not just alive. I'm great! It doesn't affect me one bit…"

Gray casually remarked. It really was true. This cursed potato affected relatives/dog/lover, and he had none of that in this world! Still, it instantly gave him credibility!

"F-Fine. P-Please take it back. This potato scares me…" Taken out of context, this would have been so goddamn weird! Luckily, Sera nicely gave a diversion.

— RUMBLE! RUMBLE! —

Mana violently exploded out of her!

Ah, but it wasn't regular Mana, either. This Mana was tainted black, the color of the curse, and it completely wrecked the stage! Just in time. After enduring came EXTINGUISHING!

Was this still the simple technique?!

There was a freaking crater all around her!

That wasn't just surviving a curse, that was a nuke spell!

"Good! Great! Keep at it; I believe in you! Just a little more push, and it will be all over!" Gray encouraged, as she had since their meeting.

With one last cry, she powerfully opened her eyes and— Coughed blood all over. No, she exploded blood all over the place! And that's when she fell to the shattered floor.

"Young Woman, are you alright?!" Lady Carie rushed next to her, but she had barely arrived when her face contorted in horror. "T-This, she's dead?! Y-You killed her!"

Dead?! As Gray kneeled next to her, the world went insane. Yet, he didn't care about it all. He only had eyes for Sera, his most cheerful gloomy disciple. She really seemed dead.

Was she, though? He didn't know. He truly didn't. After all, he'd look just like that went he went to the Library Realm! Dead? Not dead? Spirit trapped? He didn't fucking know!

But even if the chance was slim…

He raised his eyes, searching for someone. Only then did he see the Armageddon he had caused. Students were running wild, as if headless chickens, and so were the teachers!

"DEAD?!" "Are you shitting me?!" "After all his confidence?!" "She was so happy to help him too!" "WTF!" "Could it be... he's actually a fake?" "Ah, I remember now, potential NULL!"

"Students, exit the Lecture all orderly!" "No pushing!" "Stay away from the Stage!" "Someone get a healer!" "Goddammit, call the Enforcers too!" "It's a fucking mess!"

Ah, Gray finally found his target! Old Red! He seemed to have suddenly aged a century, but he nevertheless came forward seeing Gray gesture him.

"Are you insane?! What have you done, kid? You're really trying to get me fired, aren't you?!"

"No time for that. No matter what, make sure nothing happens to her. I can bring her back. Promise me! Just promise me!"

"Fine, kid. For your sake, I'll guard her with my life. Satisfied? But right now, you really should worry about yourself."

— SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! —

That's when the room's back door exploded open, a couple of Blood-Red Mages invading…. Enforcers! It took them half a second to locate him and even less to capture him!

"Gray Gale, you're thereby arrested for homicide!"

"Your strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile."

"Tch— Didn't even make it a week!"

Gray was instantly blindfolded, brought away, and thrown into… what was that?! An asteroid floating in the void? Was this another realm or an illusion? Either way, it was a prison.

The only thing besides that were the voices that came and went:

"Don't even try to escape. This place's airtight."

"We've been here for centuries, and so will you be…"

"Hehe, despair! Even the Headmaster wouldn't be able to escape!"

Despair? He didn't have time for that. He had to get out and find Sera. The answer would be in the Library if she could still be saved. But how could he access it without…

Even now, the voices kept going and going as if incorporeal devils.

"SHUT UP! I'm trying to think!"

"Y-You, you can hear us?!"

クリエイターの想い
ClasslessAscension

Sera. Sera. Sera. Sera. Fuck this prison. Fuck those voices. I have to find her, save her, and them... we'll see then. Goddamnit, how did this even happen?!