There were three days until the mid-term exams. Unlike Loki and Abel who were practically at leisure, Ian was trembling in nervousness.
âHey! Arenât you guys worried at all? This is our first test! Oh, this is not the time to be doing this⌠I canât even go to the sparring hall because of dorm rules⌠Isnât there a place I could practice?â
He couldnât swing his sword inside the living room.
âHm? A practice room? Should I make one for you?â
Abel said that as though he was cooking instant ramen.
âM, make what? Is that even possible?â
Mages seem to be able to do curious things, but make a practice room? Was that even possible? Ian was full of doubts.
âThis bro will do it for you. Just wait a moment.â
Abel went to his room and brought back his calculator. He inputted the coordinates and started tapping away.
Tap tap tap.
ââŚAnother s.p.a.ce!â
Abel created a discrete s.p.a.ce.
Although it was an overlapping s.p.a.ce with the dorms, it was a completely independent s.p.a.ce. It was a 4-dimensional s.p.a.ce that stemmed from subs.p.a.ce magic. Itâs the âchamber of secretsâ that couldnât be seen with the 3rd-dimensional eye.
ââŚ? Nothing changed.â
When Ian said that, Abel replied back.
âItâs a chamber of secrets that not anyone can enter. I set it so that you have to say the pa.s.sword to enter.â
âA pa.s.sword? Whatâs that?â
âYou see that mirror there, right? Go up to it and say this. âWow, I look handsome as alwaysâ.â
Really, such an embarra.s.sing pa.s.sword.
âHahaha, youâre teasing me right? Nothing will happen even if I say âWow, I look handsome as alwaysâ, seeâŚâ
Fwoosh.
Ian disappeared.
âWhoa!â
Lokiâs jaws gaped after seeing Ian completely disappearing.
The chamber of secrets that Abel made was a cubic s.p.a.ce that was 50m high, wide and long. It was quite large, so it was suitable to practice the sword, or even magic.
Moreover, it was a simple s.p.a.ce-creation magic, so it didnât consume that much mana either. It could even be self-supplied with the mana from the air. In other words, this s.p.a.ce could be maintained without Abelâs maintenance.
It was different from the âroom of spirit and timeâ. It was just, a simple s.p.a.ce.
Fwoosh.
Abel followed Ian inside. Seeing Ian at a loss, he started boasting.
âWow, my magic skills⌠itâs awesome.â
âYeah⌠I admit.â
âWith this, I might be able to use it for magic practice.â
âThen help me out with practice. You cast magic on me, and Iâll block. If we just do a one vs one, then a swordsman will naturally win, so.â
His words were reasonable. Originally, it is impossible for a mage to win a 1:1 battle against a swordsman. This was because they would be defenseless during long casting times. To cover for this, battle mages usually worked in a group of 3.
They would switch casting between the three. That allowed them to cast magic continuously and dramatically lessened the danger.
As such, high-rank mages above 6-circle usually had a guardian knight that accompanied them. As they cast wide-area effect magic of insane scale, they had to be protected while they were casting.
However, Abel was a common-sense destroyer. He could cast in a single second, so he didnât need to switch between people. As long as he had sufficient mana, he would be able to cast infinitely.
âI can help you out, but I canât agree that a swordsman will win against a mage. Since weâre here, letâs try it out.â
âHuh? You might get injured.â
Seeing Abel so confident, Ian found it absurd and tried to scare him a little.
âWeâll know if we try. âŚFireball!â
As soon as he finished his words, Abel cast his magic.
Clang.
It wouldnât be surprising if Ian panicked, but he blocked Abelâs magic with his sword.
âHey! How can you cast magic instantane-â
ââŚLightning shock!â
Before Ian could even finish his words, Abel cast yet another magic.
Claang.
Ian inserted mana into the sword and deflected the magic.
âOuch, that p.r.i.c.ks!â
He could avoid a critical damage, but couldnât help the p.r.i.c.kling sensation.
Tah.
Abel dashed forward towards Abel thinking that he shouldnât keep still. He exerted mana through his legs and instantly decreased the distance.
Fwoosh!
This time, Ianâs sword approached Abel before he could even cast something. Worried that Abel maybe hurt, Ian attacked with the flat of the blade.
âCaught you!â
Ian was confident.
ââŚs.p.a.ce distortion.â
Fwoosh.
He definitely had Abel, but the sword strangely cut empty s.p.a.ce.
âWh, what the heck?â
âI just distorted s.p.a.ce. You think that you swung straight, but you actually attacked right above me.â
ââŚâŚ!â
Ian was very shocked. This kind of magic was unheard of.
This was a magic that Abel, the s.p.a.ce-time mage, had created. There was no way he had experienced this before.
Although it was just distorting the s.p.a.ce, it would later be possible to switch out s.p.a.ce! At that point, no one would be able to do a thing to him unless it was a swordmaster or something.
Right now, Abel had reached 5-circle in terms of spatial magic, and 3-circle in others.
âI, I give up!â
Ian GGâed.
âWow, thatâs crazyâŚ. Iâve never seen a mage who spams magic like that. Anyway, Iâll just practice alone.â
Ian lost his will to fight seeing Abelâs frightening skills.
Actually, Abel didnât have that much mana, and he would be able to grasp victory if he held on for a bit more, but there was no way Ian knew that.
âShould I call Reina then?â
âHow? Isnât she in the girlâs dorms?â
âThere is a way.â
A portal magic would do the trick.
It would be possible If he opened a portal tunnel that connected the chamber of secrets to Reinaâs room. Theoretically, that is.
âCanât you change the pa.s.sword?â
Reina frowned. The pa.s.sword was definitely not to her liking.
In the end, Abel had created a pa.s.sage to the window in Reinaâs room.
âWow⌠it really worksâŚâŚ.â
Ian exclaimed once again.
He resolved to himself that he wouldnât be surprised no matter what Abel did anymore.
âThen do your best at practice!â
Fwoosh.
He finished his words, and just left through the pa.s.sage on the wall.
âLetâs see⌠Lokiâs obviously first⌠and the magic department⌠what the!â
The mid-terms ended, and the four were standing in front of the scoreboard.
Ian was shocked after seeing the list.
âAbel is first in the magic department?â
Shrug.
Instead of replying, Abel held up his shoulders. His expression was asking Ian what was so surprising.
âReâŚinaâs first too? What the h.e.l.l? You guys are all first except me!â
Ian didnât like his middle-of-the-road grades.
âHey, you were complaining about how hard everything was a few weeks ago. So that was all an act!â
âHaha, I just tried hard.â
Abel made a smile towards Ian who had no idea about his cheat key.
Abel also looked at the scoreboard to see the rest.
âThe magic department⌠2nd is Cain and 3rd is Sibel?â
He knew that Cain was good, but Sibel was unexpected.
(T/N: Sibel = Sibelius)
Well, he took the top spot, so it didnât matter.
âLooks like I donât have to go to the room of spirit and time for a while.â
Abel felt light now that the exams were over.
Although he used a cheat, he did definitely put a lot of effort in. He was satisfied.
Clang!
A flying(?) cup hit the wall and shattered into pieces.
âAaack! 2nd? F*ck! Why am I 2nd!â
Tremble⌠Boom.
Cain hit the table with his fist in rage.
He hit so hard, that blood flowed from his ripped skin.
âAbel⌠Iâll make you my side. If you reject⌠I can only erase youâŚâŚ.â
If anyone saw Cain like this, then they would be shocked. This was Cainâs true face.
Abel had followed Cain to the clubroom for MARIO. As Cain told him that they wanted to speak alone, the two were the only ones in there.
âWell, I did come since all he wanted was to drink some teaâŚâŚ.â
It seemed as though he wanted to join him.
âFirst, congratulations on getting 1st! Haha. Iâll definitely catch up to you next time!â
Cain laughed heartily to loosen the mood.
âIt was only a slight difference⌠I was just lucky.â
Replied Abel.
âI didnât know you were so good. Whatâs your secret?â
A secret huhâŚâŚ.
âYou just need to study mainly textbooks.â
Abel gave the common reply of all top rankers. He couldnât possibly say that he distorted time.
(T/N: People who get full marks in college entrance exams always say âI mainly studied texbooksâ even though most people go to cram schoolsâŚ.)
âHaha, interesting fellow. Now that I know your skills⌠why donât you join me?â
Cain went straight to topic.
âHmm, the club MARIO huh⌠it sounds alrightâŚâŚ.â
He did feel that it would be more comfortable if he had friends researching into the same topics. Moreover, he was considering taking Luna with him as well. She always walked around alone, after all.
Seeing Abel hesitate, Cain spoke again.
âAt this opportunity, Iâm going to throw away all those maggot trash and Iâm planning to go with a small, elite force. If you join me, then Iâll let you work under my father later. And Iâll give you 20 gold a month starting tomorrow for research funds. How about it?â
âMaggot trash?â
Thatâs not nice. This was getting slightly strange.
Abel realized that something was up. He decided to probe Cain a little.
âYou mean the commoners?â
âYes! Are you also a n.o.ble? Now, that makes it a lot easier. Theyâll be working under me once they graduate. I canât stand having them treat me like a friend anymore.
Actually, why donât you come to my city once? We have a ball every weekend, and only the top 1% can attend. Iâll take you along.
Donât miss this opportunity! This is the last chance you can work for me.â
So as expectedâŚâŚ. He was different on the outside from the inside. A total sociopath and hypocrite.
âThis guy isnât normal eitherâŚâŚ.â
This was one of the most problematic types of people out there. These kinds of people cannot be looked down upon just because they were a student. Among his seniors that pa.s.sed the teaching license exam, there was someone who was expelled thanks to a sociopathic student.
And Abel had to say something about that.
âI donât think thatâs fine with me. I hate superiority complexesâŚ. Weâre friends, we arenât under or above anyone⌠And Iâm the top student, shouldnât you be coming under me? Thanks for the tea, see you later.â
Abel sipped the rest of the red tea.
Tap.
Then he placed the teacup on the tale and left.
Tremble.
Cain trembled in frustration after hearing that from Abel.
âAaaaaaaaaargh!â
Clang.
He threw the teacup that was on the table.
Smash, smash.
His frustration wasnât vented yet and he started kicking the shelf on the wall.
âI wonât let this go, AbelâŚâŚ.â
Cain gritted his teeth. His fists trembled violently due to anger. His nails dug into his palms.
However, he didnât even know what kind of person Abel was.