NOVEL NEXT Chapter 368: A Beach Episode [I]
Azel sighed as he closed the door behind him.
'Damned racist,' he thought.
Since he didn't do anything wrong, he could guess the only reason the guy had sent him out of class was because he had been talking with Sylvia the day before.
Oh, and maybe because he intruded into the guy's office once as well. There were quite a few reasons for the elf instructor to be annoyed with him, but Azel wasn't bothered.
'What do I do now…?' he wondered.
Everyone else was in class, so the hallways were empty. This whole situation made him look like a problem student. "I guess I could go to the cafeteria."
Suddenly, the door behind him opened, and Reinhardt bumped right into him.
"The fuck… what are you still doing here?" Reinhardt complained, pushing past him and slamming the door shut behind him. "Damn that racist elfish freak…"
'That's one thing I agree with him on,' Azel thought.
Reinhardt stormed off, leaving Azel standing alone in the hallway.
After a moment, Azel sighed and began walking toward the cafeteria.
…
The large hall was quiet when he arrived.
There were no students were around; just a few maids moving about, cleaning tables and wiping trays.
He was the only person there apart from the staff.
'Wow… so I spent all that time trying to beat Skinbutcher and I don't even get a special skill or something?' he thought, shaking his head as he sat down.
He was looking at the notifications and sure he had received some item rewards but still… He expected something more.
"I at least got an overpowered cloning skill from the first one," he muttered, taking a seat and pulling out the Fragment of the Sky.
The black crystal stayed between his fingers. "But now, I don't even have anything apart from this."
He turned it in his hand, watching the light refract through it. Now that Elione was dead, the fragment was completely inactive.
'I wonder how I'm even supposed to use this,' he thought, frowning as he stared at it. He didn't want to use it but he did want to know if it was free for use…
A system window appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to bond with the Fragment of the Sky?]
[Y / N]
[Note: Bonding with the Fragment renders your soul completely to the Children of the Sky. In essence, you become a puppet of the Sky.]
Azel stared at the message for a long second, expression flat.
'Does that mean… they were just toying with Elione?' he wondered. 'And why is this even an option? Who the hell would want to become a puppet of the Sky?'
He closed the window and stored the fragment back into his inventory. His mind felt heavier the more he thought about it.
'There's no way I'm doing that,' he decided, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of him.
For a few moments, he just sat there in silence… staring off into space.
'I wonder if there are more fragments around the world… and which of these "Children of the Sky" are controlling people through them?'
There were quite a lot of them… and the weakest was as strong as the strongest man in the world, that was how cooked they were.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice how much time passed until his watch pinged softly.
'Already?' he thought, glancing down.
The first class had ended.
He checked his schedule and groaned. The next one was Advanced Enchantment class with Flare.
"Great," he muttered, getting up from his seat and heading for the classroom.
…
By the time Azel reached the classroom door, the hallways were filled again.
Students were moving in the hallways chatting and laughing as usual. They couldn't be bothered to do anything else.
As he approached, he spotted Sylvia standing outside the door, her silver hair gleaming softly under the light.
She looked up immediately.
"Azel!" she called out, jogging up to him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just in the cafeteria for a bit."
Sylvia looked genuinely apologetic. "Please don't mind my cousin… he overreacts a lot."
"Yeah, I noticed," Azel said dryly. "Wait, the Professor's your cousin?"
"Yes." Sylvia said, "He's too uptight and hates humans as well. Dad told him to work here so that he could see that humans and elves weren't much different."
'I don't think he understood the assignment.'
They reached the door together.
Sylvia placed her hand on the handle and opened it… but instead of a classroom like she expected, there was a forest.
The tall trees stretched endlessly in every direction and the air was filled with the gentle chirping of birds..
He looked back, and on the far end of the hallway, through the open door, he caught a glimpse of an elf… the same instructor from before glaring at him from down the hall.
The death stare was so intense that Azel almost laughed.
"Let's go," Sylvia said quickly, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside before the door shut behind them.
Azel blinked again as his surroundings shifted.
"I can't believe there's an actual forest in here," Sylvia said in awe, looking around. "Even though it's being held by enchantment magic, it still feels real…"
Before Azel could reply, the forest suddenly began to glow.
The chirping stopped.
The trees faded into thin air.
The green leaves dissolved into blue light until everything disappeared.
Azel looked around again… now, instead of standing in a forest, they were barefoot on soft sand.
The sound of waves reached their ears as the salty breeze brushed past.
A beach.
The transition had been seamless, almost like stepping into another world entirely.
Azel turned his gaze toward the open sea.
The sunlight reflected off the water in dazzling flashes. "Ah," he muttered. "Now this is unexpected."
The two of them walked closer to where the rest of the students had gathered. They were standing under umbrellas and palm trees, all staring around in confusion.
At the center of it all stood Professor Mynes.
She was wearing a swimsuit that didn't leave much to imagination… It was black with gold patterns, perfectly matching her hair.
Her expression, however, was unprofessional as ever. She was grinning like a child.
When she noticed Azel, she smiled knowingly.
"Professor…" one of the second-years raised a hand, looking bewildered. "Why are you dressed like that? And why has the forest vanished? We're… we're on a beach."
Mynes turned to the student with a teasing grin. "Isn't it obvious?"
She snapped her fingers.
Instantly, everyone's clothes glowed and changed.
The boys' uniforms turned into long swimming shorts, and the girls' uniforms became swimsuits of various designs.
A collective shout filled the air.
"Wait, what—?!"
"Professor, this is—!"
"I didn't agree to—!"
Mynes ignored them all, placing a hand on her hip. "That's the whole point of the class."
She gestured toward the water. "Today, you're going to learn an enchantment that allows you to breathe underwater."
The entire class froze.
Azel raised an eyebrow. "Breathe underwater…?"
"Yes," Mynes said cheerfully, stepping closer to the water as it lapped at her feet. "You'd be surprised how many of you can barely enchant a stone without breaking it. This will help improve control, precision, and endurance."
Sylvia looked intrigued. "That actually sounds interesting."
Mynes clapped her hands. "Exactly! I thought we'd have a bit of fun while learning. Besides, this environment is entirely artificial… it's a stable enchantment field, so even if you drown, you'll wake up on the sand."