Chapter 24. Settlement
The central plaza during the freshman initiation.
Cain, who had undergone demonic transformation, had a massive, grotesque left arm and right leg attached to his body.
He was covered in wounds after being attacked by the combined forces of the first and second years, and he let out a wild roar.
“Graaahhh!”
Having half of his soul devoured by the demon, Cain no longer retained any sanity.
What drove him now was nothing but the inferiority and jealousy that led him to choose the path of a demon.
As he unleashed his mana, dozens of magic circles lit up across the sky.
“Damn! Another magic bombardment!”
But the circles distorted and shattered before they could even activate.
The one who destroyed them, Drenor, stood glowing with golden light.
“Dre—norrrr!”
Cain forced his body to move and charged toward Drenor.
Despite his bulk, his speed was frightening.
Drenor didn’t dodge. Instead, he channeled golden energy into his sword and struck at the oncoming Cain.
【Gladius Mălum Exstirpantes – The Sword that Destroys Evil】
A technique that compresses his unique ability, Spell Breaker, into a blade.
A sword that overwhelms anything made of mana—a blade of anti-magic—cleaved through Cain.
With that, the connection to the demonic power was severed, and Cain collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
The end of demonic transformation always leads to death—demons never return the souls they consume.
With the demon’s power gone, the mana barrier that had shrouded the central plaza vanished, and the students burst into cheers of relief.
“The barrier’s gone!”
“We’re saved!”
Professors who had been trying to break through the barrier arrived soon after, confirmed the students’ safety, and an announcement rang out with the sound of a bell.
[Attention: As of this moment…]
The initiation ceremony was officially declared over.
It was explained that the intruder had been a second-year student and that the incident had been staged, but no one was particularly surprised.
Because the moment Cain had transformed, the second-years had explained everything.
While professors and teaching assistants, relieved that there were no casualties, mingled with the teary-eyed students, Drenor quietly observed Tyron, who was looking at Cain’s fallen body.
In the original story of Spell Breaker, Tyron wasn’t even supposed to be there.
He was meant to only observe Drenor from a distance, having avoided direct confrontation.
But because Drenor had intervened in Tyron’s earlier fight with Cain, Tyron had ended up stuck in the plaza and fought alongside Drenor.
Now, Tyron looked down at Cain’s limp body—his expression a mixture of sorrow, betrayal, and self-reproach for not preventing this outcome.
But Drenor asked with indifference.
“Did you know he’d end up like that?”
“…Not in my wildest dreams.”
“That’s good. If you were in on it, I’d have had to consider killing you too.”
“Maybe that would’ve been better…”
“…Don’t end up like him. Killing you would be a pain.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Drenor walked away from Tyron, breathing heavily.
“Haah…”
The dizziness hit him hard—it was the first time he had used this power. As he stumbled, Sonia rushed over to support him.
“You did great.”
“Thanks. You helped a lot.”
Drenor gently touched the necklace around his neck.
A gift from Sonia, the necklace had a one-time magical protection effect, and it had saved his life during a critical moment.
In their battle against Cain, Drenor prioritized Sonia’s safety, while Sonia provided support to him.
If either had been absent, they might have fallen in battle. In that grueling fight, they had leaned on each other.
Perhaps that’s why, in the aftermath, they stared into each other’s eyes—only to look away awkwardly soon after.
Just then, Ceres Laplace, who had also fought with Drenor, approached.
“That power. Yours?”
“I used it for the first time, but yeah.”
“It destroys the core of magic—if you understand how the spell works.”
“…? Is that a question or do you already know something about it?”
Drenor was aware that this power originated from the royal blood flowing in his veins.
While powers like Spell Breaker could manifest in rare individuals outside the royal family, Drenor still wanted to keep his ability hidden just in case.
Ceres, however, responded calmly.
“Never seen that power before. But I can grasp the method and structure. I’m from the Laplace family—we deal in spatial magic.”
The Laplace family had a unique perspective when it came to spellcasting.
To her eyes, aura, mana, and divine power all appeared as distortions in physical phenomena.
Drenor tensed, worried she’d confront him about being royalty—but her interest wasn’t in him.
“That crumpled piece of paper you had before—who gave it to you?”
She was referring to the anti-Cain strategy note Van had given Drenor.
Neither of them had understood its true nature at first, thinking it was just a sheet with magic circles.
But after the recent events, both of them couldn’t help but question the person behind it.
Even so, Drenor had benefited greatly from that note during his battle with Cain.
Although he was suspicious of the note’s origin, the fact remained—it had helped him. So he tried to defend Van.
“I can’t say.”
“That person might be the one behind all this.”
“If that were true, why give me a tool to stop the incident? That doesn’t make sense.”
“…Good point. Then I’ll stop asking. But I have a proposal.”
“What is it?”
“Let me teach you magic.”
“Out of nowhere? Why?”
“Among first-years, I’m the strongest in both theory and power. So let me teach you.”
“What I mean is—why would you want to teach me?”
“Just seems fun.”
Drenor glanced at Sonia before responding. Sonia tilted her head, not understanding why he was looking at her.
As he kept staring, Sonia blushed, and Drenor asked her:
“What do you think about learning magic with me?”
“W-what?! Uh, sure! I’d love that.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Drenor turned to Ceres.
“If you teach Sonia as well, I’ll let you teach me.”
“No problem.”
Drenor didn’t notice—but Ceres had a plan.
If the person who gave Drenor the note was someone close to him, then by sticking near, she might naturally find the lead she was looking for.
Ceres didn’t think that person was a demon worshipper—but she still wanted to meet them.
Why?
Simply because… they seemed interesting.
When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by a medieval-style, grayish-white ceiling.
I groaned and pressed my throbbing temple as I slowly sat up.
Looking around, I realized I was in the academy’s treatment facility on the northwest side.
The structure resembled an old cathedral but was clean and moss-free.
Between two windows at the far end stood a statue of the goddess modeled after the main deity of the Lumen Order. Draped above it was a cloth adorned with the church’s emblem—a pair of dragon wings encircled like a halo.
After surveying the surroundings, I tried to recall what had happened.
After the initiation ended, I collapsed from the side effects of the elixir.
Judging by the crimson hue of the room, it must be late afternoon—I probably slept straight through classes.
Luckily, students aren’t penalized for missing class during the week following the initiation, so I didn’t care. I lay back down without concern.
Sure, the dorm bed was better, but I was too lazy to move.
Still lounging, I opened my system messages.
Event Rewards:
[Main Event – Freshman Initiation has concluded.]
[Hidden Mission – Survived until the end of the event. Bonus EXP awarded.]
[You’ve reached Level 15.]
Thanks to the hidden mission, I got extra experience and reached level 15. That meant 12 extra stat points—all dumped into mana, of course.
Next: skill proficiency.
[Skill proficiencies have increased.]
[Fire Magic (Low) → Fire Magic (Mid-Low)]
[Earth Magic (Low) → Earth Magic (Mid-Low)]
All that effort before the event—forcing down bitter mana potions and spamming magic circles—paid off!
Now I could use 3rd Circle fire and earth spells! Others were still capped at 2nd Circle, though.
Shame my swordsmanship didn’t level up, but I’d get there eventually.
Here’s my current status:
Name: Van Astrea
Level: 15
Strength: 15
Mana: 40
Divine Power: 10
Skills:
Fire Magic (Mid-Low)
Water Magic (Low)
Wind Magic (Low)
Earth Magic (Mid-Low)
Dual Casting
Swordsmanship (Low)
Divine Arts – Healing (Low)
■■■
And most importantly: Bond Levels.
[Multiple bond levels have significantly increased.]
[Bond Levels:]
Lidifin Lightjustice – 27%
Reina Serenia – 23%
Tyron Drake – 21%
Drenor Azurum – 19%
…
Finally, more than just Tyron and the mystery character had bond levels above 20%! That’s rare—even in the game, I barely managed this by week two of first semester.
Lidifin’s huge leap was thanks to overcoming her trauma, while Reina… we’d literally fought for our lives.
No system message popped up, but I also did a mental tally of the resources I used in the battle:
Mid-grade mana stones, weapons (Reina broke my wind-blessed sword), elixirs, and mana potions.
It was about the cost of stopping two raids. Worth it? Well, it was all prepped in advance, so no regrets.
But Reina being ranked top didn’t get her the treatment she deserved.
She got no special attention, despite the raid and her rank. A bit unfair, really.
Still, my plan worked. She became top student even without powerful backing—and she wasn’t even disliked for it.
I checked my final message notifications and relaxed for the first time in ages.
No one else was in the treatment facility, and I could finally rest.
That’s when I heard a knock.
Knock knock knock.
Even without answering, the door opened. Reina and Lidifin stepped into the infirmary.
“Oh? You’re already awake?”
“Th-thank goodness…”
“When you suddenly collapsed, I thought you were dead!”
“Thanks for worrying.”
The two dragged chairs over and sat by my bed, handing me a paper with proud smiles.
“Ta-da! Look!”
I instantly knew what it was but pretended to check the contents anyway.
It was the Freshman Initiation Scoreboard.
Among the second-years, barely anyone scored over 10, while the top three were all first-years.
[3rd – Tyron Drake. Score: 22]
Wait…? In the game, Tyron’s score was 12. Why the sudden 10-point boost?
Ah—those who helped subdue Cain got an extra 10 points as an apology for failing to prevent his transformation.
He wasn’t even supposed to be in the central plaza. I’ll have to check that later. Which means…
[2nd – Drenor. Score: 25]
Of course. He defeated upperclassmen without knowing their attack patterns. Truly the protagonist.
But still no match for—
[1st – Reina Serenia. Score: 36]
Our Reina is always the best. Ten points ahead of second place. Even if Drenor had beaten Cain twice, he couldn’t catch up.
Reina, eyes sparkling, looked at me expectantly. I gave the reaction she wanted.
“Whoa! Reina got first place?! And 36 points?!”
Reina puffed her chest and grinned.
“Impressed?”
“Totally awesome.”
But she didn’t seem entirely happy.
“Still… we all fought together, but I got all the points.”
She was bothered that the reward wasn’t shared.
Lidifin smiled.
“I wasn’t aiming for anything big, so I’m happy Reina got it all.”
I chimed in.
“Right. Better than splitting mediocre scores. And we won without any backing. Besides, the system gives points to the one who finishes things off.”
I didn’t say it, but that was part of my plan. Still, Reina looked downcast.
“But your efforts…”
It wasn’t even her loss—but she still looked sad. Too kind for her own good.
I was about to comfort her, but Lidifin spoke first.
“Th-then maybe Reina can treat us to something yummy like Van did?”
Oho, not bad.
I jumped on the idea.
“Make mine super expensive.”
“U-um, I’m okay with something cheap…”
“I told you—when someone offers, just take it.”
While we bantered, Reina chuckled and then laughed out loud.
“Okay. I’ll buy you guys something really tasty and expensive.”
“Yes!”
“Good thing Van woke up before the welcome party.”
At Iris Academy, the freshman welcome party was held the day after initiation.
The initiation is for identifying faction prospects and sorting new students. The party is where those students get scouted.
“You weren’t going to wake up, so we weren’t going to go.”
“What?! You have to go, Reina!”
At the welcome party, factions offer benefits—equipment, coaching, and more—based on a student’s performance.
And Reina had shone brilliantly. All the factions would fight to recruit her.
Yet, Reina just smiled faintly and let out a sigh.
“You’ll understand once we get there.”
“…?”
