Chapter 64
The moment I heard Karnarov's voice, I drank the potion and pushed my dragon mana to the limit.
Thought Acceleration.
A power I naturally gained when Dragon Eye was enhanced.
I slowly observed the situation and started thinking.
The first thought I had was.
'How?'
My mind spun at full speed.
And I found the answer quickly.
I felt it instinctively, and by reason too, this was the answer.
The 55-second trigger, Karnarov's skill, and...
the biggest variable in this world.
'It's unique magic.'
I thought he might have twisted the inventory storage conditions with hostility, but...
If that were the case, there'd be no reason for it to appear exactly at 55 seconds.
It can only be explained if it's Karnarov's unique magic.
I already knew space-type magic existed from what I'd heard from Adrian before.
Then that must be a unique space-type magic.
But.
"That doesn't change how I deal with it."
[Overclock, Stage 2]
All my stats rose by two stages.
Even by simple calculation, I was several times stronger.
In that state.
"Casting, Bullet."
Five seconds.
Enough time for one exchange of attack and defense, and that's it.
Ordinary cards are meaningless.
At the very least, I had to play the strongest card I could.
"Casting, Bullet. Delay, Short!"
"Casting, Bullet, Double!"
There's no point in holding back on the staves.
One staff crumbled to dust, and the other was left in tatters.
Three prongs of attack using dragon mana split the arena apart.
But.
"Oz Caster, Distortion."
Space warped.
It was as if the spherical space where Karnarov stood belonged to another place entirely.
When the dragon mana touched that boundary, it slid smoothly across the surface.
—Kiiiiiiiiik!!
The dragon mana surged ahead, scraping away at the surface, but it only smashed into the innocent wall instead of Karnarov.
I expected as much, but it wasn't working at all.
Karnarov only looked this way as if he found it interesting.
"Quite a sharp attack."
Sharp? It didn't even reach you.
Still, this attack had made my opponent waste a turn too.
One turn.
If I dodged or blocked just one turn, a minute would pass.
I was about to choose evasion, but...
"Casting Domain, Fix."
Coordinate Lock.
The moment Karnarov cast the spell, my attempt was blocked at the source.
It felt as if every single tissue in my body had been seized.
I couldn't move at all.
Karnarov slowly raised his staff.
Two seconds left.
"In the world of mages, this is a common attack. Try to block it."
A murderous amount of mana gathered at a single point at the tip of the staff.
"En Crypt, Penetration."
The magic circle he cast was so complex I couldn't even follow it with my eyes.
How much more would I have to learn to pull that off in less than a second?
A voice burst from the waiting seats a little to my left.
They were so shocked that I could hear it clearly over here too.
"T-th-that's top-tier attack magic!!"
"That’s not student-level magic!"
Even this is probably just a plain ordinary attack to Karnarov.
His skill was truly overwhelming.
"Damn it, all or nothing!"
The last card I could play right now.
Shields lined up before me.
The fired mana bullets collided with the shields with a vicious sound and shattered them all.
Meanwhile, I prepared something I'd never tried before.
"Casting, Shield!"
The final shield I wove from dragon mana.
The shield was barely finished when Karnarov's strike arrived, almost simultaneously.
I poured the mana that had flowed from Dragon Eye down my arm into the mana shield.
It felt like the circuit would burst at any moment, but it somehow held.
It showed just how excellent the Basic Defense Magic circle was.
—Kiiiiiiii!!
Focus.
I had to keep the shield up no matter what.
My staff had already burned away, so I squeezed out mana with my own hands and held on.
"Aaaaah!!!"
My hands feel like they're burning away.
'Damn it!'
I'm far behind in both output and skill!
But I can't let it break through.
Somehow, somehow, cancel it out!!
The mana bullet doesn't have much mana left either!
If I can just endure this, victory is right in front of me!
A battle between shield and mana bullet.
The shield kept shrinking in area, and the mana bullet's overwhelming momentum was steadily being worn down!
But in the end, in the clash between spear and shield, the shield lost.
—KWA-CHAAANG!
The mana bullet broke through my barrier.
Its power had been greatly dulled, so it wasn't lethal, but...
If it hit me in my current state, I'd be eliminated.
Watching the mana bullet slowly creep toward me, I thought.
Damn it, if only my staff had been just a little better....
Then.
With a whoosh, the mana bullet vanished like a candle snuffed out.
As if all of its momentum up to that point had been a lie.
...What?
I looked at Karnarov.
Karnarov's expression was calm.
Very calmly, he informed me of a simple fact.
"A minute has passed."
Ah.
Now that I think about it, there was no way only a few seconds had passed after all that chaos.
All the tension left me at once.
So what happens with the score?
Would it be announced later?
While I was hoping it would come out quickly,
Karnarov added one more line.
"Congratulations. You're unquestionably the top student."
With those words.
I lost consciousness.
* * *
"Do you all really think that student being the top student makes any sense!"
Professor Georgia gave an impassioned speech at the faculty meeting.
In fact, the top student had not yet been decided.
He was the top student by score, but Professor Georgia and the other noble faction professors kept harping on fairness.
Reinhart's top student.
That position carries far more weight than you'd think.
It rarely changes, remains until graduation in the fourth year, and receives every kind of support from the school.
Georgia couldn't accept that.
That a commoner, not even a noble, would receive such support.
"This is blatant favoritism!"
"Hoho, are you saying I'm showing favoritism toward my student?"
Karnarov's eyes gleamed with interest.
"Exactly. Otherwise, there’d be no reason to give a commoner so many opportunities, would there?"
Karnarov sighed.
What is truly important?
And which side is forgetting that?
"Do you really think only nobles should be the top student?"
"Isn't that obvious? The Empire is a nation built by nobles and led by nobles! Then..."
"It is also a nation saved by a hero. Your noble faction says the hero came from a noble family, but..."
"I'm not saying we should have a historical debate! If you were an illegitimate child yourself, you'd know how important this issue is... gah."
Karnarov stared straight at Georgia.
Even though there was no trace of hostility, Georgia shrank back.
But the faculty meeting quickly split into three camps.
The opposing faction that agreed with Georgia.
The pro camp, including Isabel and Karnarov, who valued skill above all else.
And the neutral faction, debating whether the exam content had actually been lighter on Yumia.
The principal, Patsteman, spoke up.
"First of all, it is a matter listed in the standard curriculum for Basic Magic."
When students' abilities are exceptionally high,
they may take the exam including one additional unit course.
In that case, the exam content must match the difficulty of that subject.
Compared to other subjects, Basic Magic was extremely important.
That was why this rule existed.
"Isn't that a rule from more than ten years ago! Karnarov, this was a rule you weren't applying at all either!"
"That was because Reinhart had no talent."
At Karnarov's words, the professors began to murmur.
It was a statement that could become controversial.
"First, let us sort out the situation."
"...Understood."
When Principal Patsteman stepped in, the meeting room fell silent.
Even if his combat power is surpassed by the younger generation, his achievements are unmatched by any mage.
After all, he created Basic Attack Magic and Basic Defense Magic.
He was regarded as the man who rewrote modern magic.
His words carried considerable weight here.
"You didn't attend the Basic Magic final exam, did you?"
"...That's right."
Professor Georgia and the others answered.
"First, Professor Karnarov divided the exam content into two parts."
Patsteman began explaining.
"The first 30 seconds test only combat ability using Basic Magic, and the latter 30 seconds test overall combat ability."
Slowly, step by step, in a way even a child could understand.
"And from our perspective, the first 30 seconds given to Young Master Yumia were, compared to the top student's mana pool..."
"would have been light, wouldn't it!"
"It was extremely harsh."
"...Huh?"
"From the very start, he was throwing attacks at Young Master Yumia that only someone in the latter half of their second year could barely block."
The neutral faction asked Patsteman back.
"Is that... really true?"
"Karnarov! Is all of this true..."
"And."
The opposition was completely subdued by the next remark.
"I've never seen a madman use unique magic and top-tier attack magic on a first-year student before. Hohoho!!"
* * *
As soon as I recovered from the backlash of Overclock, I was summoned to Karnarov's office.
And there.
There was an unexpected person.
An old man with a long white beard greeted me with a bright face.
"I watched your performance well! Your position as top student was just confirmed in the faculty meeting."
"...Huh?"
The grades were out already?
"Basic Arithmetic, Herbology, Basic Magic, Magic Combat, Potionology. All A+ grades. Imperial History isn't an F either, so there's no one in this school whose grades can surpass yours."
Come to think of it, Linia hadn't lasted 55 seconds either.
Yes!
Karnarov. I endured that rigged nonsense and won!!
'Bleh bleh bleh.'
"But I heard you were giving me something."
Honestly, this was much more important.
"Usually, if a student requests what they want, the school grants almost anything."
"Oooh!!"
LAN cable! A structure in the western forest! TV installation! Library access pass!
What should I ask for?
However.
Patsteman poured cold water on my excitement.
"For this top-student reward, unfortunately, you don't get a choice."
"Why?"
"If you want to know why, hear the explanation from him."
After giving Karnarov, who was standing beside him, a look, Patsteman left the office.
Karnarov sat down and looked straight at me.
"We decided that the reward for you would be determined by me and Isabel. I'll set up a schedule, so keep your time open."
"Why! I want something else!"
Honestly, when I hit one minute, I thought the top spot was guaranteed.
So on the way here, I had already thought up all sorts of rewards.
And now I had to throw that plan out!
My Reinhart overhaul project!!
"You'll like it."
I growled in earnest.
"If not, I might just scrap the whole thing..."
"We'll be issuing you a staff. Naturally, it'll be durable enough to withstand dragon mana. It will be such a superior item to the staff you've used until now that comparison itself would be an insult."
"Where should I have it delivered, Professor?"
But it was too large a piece of equipment to call it that.