Chapter 16

　　As the students gathered and formed lines, the teaching assistants approached. They personally fastened plain, clunky white bracelets onto each student’s arm. When Simon moved his wrist, he found it was surprisingly heavy.

　　"Channel Jet-Black into the brazelet," Hongfeng instructed.

　　Without much suspicion, the students did as they were told.

　　"Aah!"

　　"W-What is this?"

　　Suddenly, every student’s body buckled as if under an immense weight.

　　"You all know the Exhauzt curze, yez?" Hongfeng said with a smile, her hands on her hips. "The neckzt courze iz over there."

　　She pointed to the very same steep hill they had just descended. At the summit, a TA stood waving a flag he had planted in the ground.

　　"You will climb to the top of the hill with the Exhauzt curze active."

　　The students’ faces turned deathly pale.

　　Oh shit, wait a minute…

　　Isn’t this going too far?

　　But no one dared to protest to a Kizen professor. Hongfeng’s grin stretched from ear to ear.

　　"Get ready. I will be checking who fallz behind."

　　Finally grasping the grim reality of the situation, the students lined up at the start, their faces like stone. Trailing behind them, Simon was already drenched in sweat. Just getting to the starting line with the curse was a struggle; he seriously doubted he could climb that steep hill.

　　"Alright. Now, go!"

　　At Hongfeng’s shout, the entirety of Class A surged forward. At first, they all walked upright, their dignity winning out over the crushing weight of the curse. But by the midpoint, where the slope grew steeper, such pretenses were abandoned. Soon, noble and commoner alike were reduced to crawling on all fours, dignity forgotten in the dirt.

　　"Hah! Hah!"

　　"Ugggh!"

　　The air grew thick with pained gasps and guttural groans. Though their bodies were caked in mud, with Hongfeng and the TAs watching, they had no choice but to press on.

　　"Huuuuuh…!"

　　Simon planted his hands—now bleeding from scrapes against the rocks—on the ground and dragged himself forward. Every movement was agony. His vision swam, and the sky bled into a sickly yellow.

　　I have to do this, no matter what.

　　This had nothing to do with advanced studies or prior knowledge. This was a test of pure physical strength and willpower. If he fell behind his peers here, he might never catch up. While others paused to rest, Simon squeezed out every last ounce of strength to keep climbing. He found a rhythm, a pace he could maintain, and refused to compromise.

　　His arms began to tremble, defying the commands of his brain, but Simon forced them to move. He could see the summit. The TA and Hongfeng were standing where the finish-line flag fluttered in the wind.

　　Just a little more!

　　He was in the lead. The gap between him and the runners below, including Dick, wasn’t massive, but Simon was undeniably ahead of the other Class A students. And there was one other person beside him. Hector was climbing at nearly the same pace.

　　…Damn it, you again, Hector thought, grinding his teeth. It was infuriating. From the very first class, this nobody kept getting in his way. Worse, Hector was secretly using a technique to lessen the curse’s effect, yet Simon was keeping pace with sheer grit. Now, his pride was on the line. Hector’s fighting spirit surged.

　　As they neared the flag, the slope steepened. The two front-runners pulled away from the pack, their pace quickening.

　　"Keep going!" Hongfeng shouted, clenching her fists. The TA clapped, cheering them on.

　　I’m number one!

　　I’m number one!

　　Just as Simon and Hector stretched out their arms, desperate to be the first to touch the top…

　　A pair of pristine shoes stepped onto their outstretched arms, using them as a bridge. Unlike the two mud-caked boys, a girl with sky-blue hair passed by effortlessly, her skirt fluttering with each light step.

　　Meirin Villenne, the top-ranked student of Class A. She was the first to reach the summit.

　　"Congratulationz. Meirin, you are number one," said Hongfeng.

　　"Thank you, Professor," Meirin replied coolly.

　　The TA beside her checked her name off a list. Simon and Hector froze, utterly stunned.

　　"How did you do it?" Hongfeng asked.

　　Meirin lifted her chin. "I calculated the resistance formula and dispelled the curse before climbing."

　　The words hit Simon like a hammer. To think there was a way to simply undo the curse instead of fighting through it with brute force!

　　"Good work. You may rezt now."

　　Meirin politely accepted a drink from the TA and sat in the shade of a tree, leaning against its trunk. Once again, first place was hers.

　　"Professor Hongfeng!"

　　Just then, a TA ran up from the bottom of the hill.

　　"We have an injury! It looks like a minor twisted ankle."

　　"I will go zee."

　　She glanced once at Simon and Hector before following the TA down the hill.

　　"…Hah, how absurd."

　　The moment Hongfeng was out of sight, Hector, having finally dispelled the curse completely, pushed himself to his feet. Simon, still on the ground beside him, watched with wide-eyed surprise.

　　Hector strode the remaining distance to the summit. After his name was recorded in second place, he took a drink and glared at Meirin.

　　"Hey."

　　She turned her head.

　　"What the hell are you doing, dispelling a curse in a Combat Magic class? You think I struggled like that because I couldn’t do it?"

　　"Whatever," Meirin scoffed, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

　　A smirk twisted Hector’s lips. "Then again, how would a little lady who spent her life locked away in the Ivory Tower know anything about the real world?"

　　This time, her eyebrow twitched. "Are you trying to pick a fight?"

　　"I’m stating a fact. Our performance can’t be graded during the student protection period. The key is to impress the professor with a diligent attitude. That foolish stunt of yours will only get you on Professor Hongfeng’s bad side; it certainly won’t earn you any points."

　　Her eyes flashed with anger. "You have a seriously twisted personality. Why are you harassing me when I was minding my own business? Are you that furious about getting second place?"

　　"I’m telling you not to ruin the class for the rest of us. And for the record, someone like you isn’t even on my radar." With that, Hector turned away. His gaze fell on Simon, who was just now struggling over the crest of the hill.

　　The TA smiled and handed him a drink. "Simon Polentia. You’re in third place."

　　"Th-Thank you."

　　Completely exhausted, Simon staggered over and collapsed in the shade of the tree before gulping down the drink.

　　Meirin’s and Hector’s gazes lingered on him. For a long moment, the three rivals caught their breath together in the silence of the shade.

　　***

　　As time passed, students began to trickle in. Even those who lacked the stamina to make the climb eventually succeeded as the curse’s effect gradually weakened.

　　"I-I feel like I’m dying, Simon."

　　Dick finished with a respectable rank, but he soon joined a group of students emptying the contents of their stomachs in the distance. Simon went over to pat his back.

　　Except for a few who had dropped out from exhaustion, everyone made it to the top, but the fatigue from the class was immense. As the students lay on the ground, unable to lift a finger, Simon wondered how they would ever get back to Kizen. If they had to ride the hippos again, at least half of Class A would be left behind.

　　Fortunately, Hongfeng had contacted Kizen and received permission to use a temporary teleportation magic circle.

　　"Woooaahh!"

　　A magic circle materialized on the field. All they had to do was step on it to return to Kizen. The servants who had brought their lunch had used the same method. The students sighed in relief and lined up. Simon, waiting with them, stepped onto the circle with Dick.

　　A Jet-Black light erupted from the circle, enveloping Simon’s body. He felt his feet lift off the ground, the teleportation beginning—

　　THUD!

　　He felt as if he had slammed into something. The impact sent him sprawling to the floor.

　　"…Huh?"

　　He looked up. His surroundings had changed. Dick was gone. Simon was alone in a small cabin.

　　This… isn’t Kizen, is it?

　　Simon got to his feet. The cabin had a cozy atmosphere, much like his old home in Leshill, but this place was smaller, wilder. The walls and floor were made of rough, unfinished wood. A hammock hung where a bed should be, and animal furs served as carpets. On one wall, salted game hung drying in the sun.

　　The cabin door opened, and a tall woman entered.

　　"Zorry to ztartle you, Zimon."

　　"Professor Hongfeng!"

　　She smiled warmly and offered him a seat. With a bewildered expression, Simon sat down. She brought him a cup of tea and briefly explained what had happened. A suspicious formula had been woven into the teleportation circle. When she had the TAs investigate, they discovered a subroutine designed to react to a specific student’s Jet-Black and send them to a different location. The target was Simon.

　　"Can you think of anyone? Zomeone who would do thiz?"

　　Simon, who had no one in mind, shook his head. Hongfeng hummed thoughtfully and crossed her arms. Unlike Simon, she seemed to have a suspect.

　　"Zo, I interfered with the magic zircle and changed the coordinatez to my houze."

　　"Ah…"

　　"It iz my job to protect ztudentz from unknown threatz. And…" Her eyes sparkled. "I alzo wanted to zpeak with you alone, Zimon."

　　"…Me?"

　　"Contacting a ztudent during the protection period iz againzt the rulez, but from the lookz of it, zomeone haz already broken them." Her ever-present smile faded, replaced by a more serious expression. "Zimon Polentia. What do you think about majoring in Combat Magic?"

　　Simon’s eyes widened.

　　"If you wish," she continued, "I am willing to accept you az my direct dizciple."

　　"…Oh!"

　　A direct disciple. A student personally mentored and nurtured by one of Kizen’s professors. A professor could take on three direct disciples per grade, and a student could only study under one. The benefits of becoming a direct disciple were immeasurable. Above all, the one-on-one guidance from a professor who took absolute responsibility for their growth was a privilege every student coveted.

　　The professors, too, were extremely cautious when selecting their disciples, as it directly reflected on their own performance, and there was a strict limit on how many they could take. Yet here was Hongfeng, offering to make Simon her disciple on the very first day of class.

　　"I… don’t quite understand."

　　Simon was flustered. The offer was an incredible honor, but he felt he hadn’t done anything particularly noteworthy. He had simply kept up with the other students, and he had lost the final hill climb to both Meirin and Hector. Besides, it was only the second day of school. Hongfeng would meet countless other students, yet she had chosen him. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around it.

　　"Ztudentz may look at rankz, but I look at talent." Hongfeng took a sip of her tea. "Your uze of Jet-Black to rebound when you jumped over the ravine. That waz the firzt time, waz it not?"

　　How did she know? Simon thought, surprised, but he nodded.

　　"And yet, your leaping ability waz the bezt in Clazz A. Thiz iz beyond mere talent or coinzidenze. On top of that, you proved your phyzzical ztrength and enduranze on the hill. Iz more praize nezezzary?"

　　Simon swallowed hard. It was still difficult to believe, but he could hardly argue with a Kizen professor who was laying it out so plainly.

　　"That ztamina, that mentality, and above all, that incredible talent for Jet-Black. If you come to Combat Magic, you will allow your greatezt giftz to bloom." Hongfeng clasped her hands, her expression frighteningly earnest. Her pronunciation of the continental language became much more precise. "In a few yearz, I will make you ztrong enough to zurpazz me. No, ztronger than anyone."