How to Survive as the Academy Student Council President

[Quest Complete: Artifact Creation]
[Tubal-cain’s Star]
Category: Support Item
Grade: Epic
An artifact imbued with the power of Tubal-cain, the god of blacksmiths. For some reason, people of this world cannot use it.
Automatically restores the durability of the linked artifact.
Amount restored: 1% of total durability per second
Consumes mana when the recovery effect is activated.
The Easy Craft function has been unlocked. Future crafting will proceed with simplified processes.
[Quest Complete: Potion Manufacture]
[Fierabras’s Blessing]
Category: Consumable Item
Grade: Rare
A potion said to have been used long ago by a knight who reached the stars. Its focus is on secondary effects rather than pure recovery.
Upon use, increases the effects of all consumable items by 100% for 500 seconds.
You cannot cast magic while the effect is active.
The Easy Craft function has been unlocked. Future crafting will proceed with simplified processes.
[Congratulations. You have successfully advanced in rank through quest success.]
[Intermediate Alchemy 1st Level]
You have achieved the astounding feat of clearing multiple quests at once. All tech trees of Intermediate Alchemy are opened.
[Artifact Creation]
[Potion Manufacture]
[Ore Refining]
[Astronomical Research]
[Human Body Modification]
.
.
.
Notification windows filled my vision.
“Hehehe.”
Half-zombified after staying up several nights in a row, I fully savored my joy.
This was practically the third day I’d been holed up in the lab. Aside from one hour of sleep a day, I had invested every remaining moment into crafting.
And after that effort, I had finally succeeded in creating Tubal-cain’s Star and manufacturing Fierabras’s Blessing.
I dropped to the floor with a thud and bowed my head.
“With this… I can rest.”
Even when I was a pro gamer, even after retiring and parking myself at rank 1 in various games’ ladders, I had never worked this hard.
Maybe it was the influence of my high Intelligence stat; my capacity for hyper-focus felt greater than it had ever been in reality.
Soaking in a mixture of rapture and fatigue for a moment, I stood back up and looked at the artifact I had made with my own hands.
Tubal-cain’s Star, a pendant in the shape of a pentagram.
I opened the lid of the pendant and pressed the button in the center to activate it.
Vwoong-.
When I pressed the button, the mana core located at the center of the star pulsed like a heart and released mana, and soon a blue light spread along the complex mana circuits.
Before long, the mana core blinked with blue light, as if indicating it was ready to link.
I touched Derode’s Ring, worn on my ring finger, to the core.
Ting-.
Link [Tubal-cain’s Star] with [Derode’s Ring]? It cannot be changed for the next 24 hours.
“Yeah.”
Without hesitation, I proceeded to link the two.
Shhhh-.
Mana spewed from Tubal-cain’s Star like shimmering heat haze and coiled around Derode’s Ring, linking the two artifacts.
[Link Successful]
When the durability of [Derode’s Ring] decreases, [Tubal-cain’s Star] will automatically restore its durability.
If the distance between the two artifacts exceeds a certain range, the link will be canceled.
‘So there is a distance limit.’
In the game, I had just kept them in my inventory, so I hadn’t known, but it seemed you had to keep the two close together to maintain the link.
Since I always wore the ring, I just had to keep this pendant on me as well. I could buy a necklace chain later and connect them.
I closed the notification window and stored Tubal-cain’s Star in the inside pocket of my jacket.
With the pendant in there, the jacket pocket bulged annoyingly.
Looking down at that shape, I shrugged my shoulders.
‘I really need to get myself a subspace pouch.’

Since it would be enchanted with space-time magic, it would be insanely expensive, but at this rate my jacket pockets wouldn’t survive.
I’d have to carry around more artifacts and consumables from now on.
Creak-.
After finishing my work, I opened the door and stepped outside to find Ciel sitting primly on the sofa, reading a book.
She lifted her eyes from the pages, saw my haggard state, and asked with a worried expression,
“Lord Loen, have you not pushed yourself too hard?”
“I admit it. But it was worth it.”
I quietly clenched my fist.
‘Reaching Intermediate Alchemy level.’
Now I could clearly call myself an alchemist.
In terms of external treatment, it meant I had earned the qualifications to enter the Deialon Mage Tower as an apprentice mage.
I could also officially open a workshop under my name and sell products.
As for personal changes, my combat power had increased several times over compared to before.
‘From Intermediate Alchemy onward, I can use [Transmutation].’
Gazing at my clenched fist, I thought.
[Transmutation] was a type of alchemy that transformed objects through a transmutation magic circle.
Magic suited for combat applications, like sharpening steel or causing the ground to rise.
I wouldn’t go as far as that famous guy whose sibling was a suit of armor and who had a mechanical arm and leg, but I could attempt a similar combat style.
Of course, that fighting style relied heavily on agile movement and martial arts, so it wasn’t exactly a perfect fit for me—but the fact that I had more options I could use in combat was greatly welcome.
And it wasn’t just [Transmutation]; the tech tree had opened to allow various skill enhancements in many different ways.
It was like a swordsman suddenly unlocking an entire array of sword techniques at once: two-handed swords, curved blades, dual blades, and so on.
When I thought about grinding experience for all of those skills, it felt dizzying, but the idea that I myself would grow stronger made it easy to accept.
“Come to think of it.”
In the midst of those thoughts, I glanced at the carefully prepared lunchbox set out in front of me and gave a small smile.
That I’d been able to endure with so little sleep was thanks to consistent nutritional supply.
Because Ciel had faithfully packed my lunches all this time, I’d managed to hold out.
I expressed my thanks to her.
“Thank you for helping without complaint. Thanks to you, I was able to complete the work.”
“It is only natural.”
“Nothing in this world is natural. Every favor we receive is someone’s goodwill. It’s not exactly a reward, but… take this.”
I handed over a leather pouch filled with several bottles of Fierabras’s Blessing and various consumables.
“What is this?”
“Consumables for physical reinforcement you can use in an emergency. Take it.”
With Gilean, Carmilla, and even their minions coming and going inside Union as if it were their own home.
Now that the Chairman had started moving personally, things might become a bit safer, but you never knew.
It was best to be prepared.
Since Ciel’s foundations lay in martial arts, she could make the most of Fierabras’s Blessing’s effects, making it the perfect self-defense item for her.
If she drank this potion and used a physical enhancement stone, she’d be able to extract herself safely from almost any situation.
She might even be able to fight a demon on equal footing.
“I also put in an instruction manual, so make sure you read it before taking anything.”
“Hmm.”
Bubble-.
Ciel narrowed her eyes as she looked at the sky-blue liquid bubbling inside the potion bottle.
“Are you sure it’s safe to drink?”
“……Probably.”
I could guarantee the effect. After all, I had made it myself.
But considering the ingredients that went into it… someone with a sensitive stomach might very well end up with diarrhea.
Call it an unexpected side effect.
Even so, if you regarded it as the price of saving your life, spending a few days glued to the bathroom wouldn’t be such a big deal.
Wearing a slightly displeased expression, Ciel still carefully accepted the leather pouch I handed her.
“Understood.”
***
Monday.
The midterm results were posted on the academy bulletin board.
Students crowded in front of the board to check their scores.
They reacted in various ways as they checked their rankings—heaving sighs of relief, drooping in disappointment, or clenching their fists and shouting for joy.
I had already checked my rank, so instead of joining that crowd, I quietly headed for the lecture hall.
The Introduction to Intermediate Magic classroom was likewise buzzing with students talking about the results.
In particular, several students had gathered around Beatrice, chatting.
“Your Highness, would it be possible for me to join as well?”
“If you’d only let me in, I’ll work my hardest!”
They were trying to join the academic club “Door of Truth” that Beatrice led.
The requirement for joining that club was to place in the upper ranks of the year.
It seemed some students were using their exam results as leverage to ask for admission.
‘……I could apply to join too, I suppose.’
This time my score in Introduction to Intermediate Magic was 90.
I had barely met the admission requirement for Door of Truth.
Of course, I was already a member of the Alchemy Club and the Purification Studies Club, so I had no intention of joining Door of Truth too.
I already had so much to do that even two bodies wouldn’t be enough.
However, Door of Truth was the gathering place for Eredor’s talented students, so my “Magic Olympiad” invitation could be used to good effect there.
I should negotiate with Beatrice using this invitation and squeeze out the maximum benefit.
“Hm.”
Looking around the classroom from my seat in the back, I spotted Bell happily chatting with other friends.
At first she’d been marked by a group of nobles and had a rough time, but ever since she started hanging around with Beatrice, the annoying gnats seemed to have dropped away.
No one had the guts to mess with a classmate favored by the imperial princess.
Thanks to that, she was now getting along well with other commoner friends.
But as Bell was busy talking with her friends, they suddenly pushed her toward Beatrice.
“Ah, wait a second.”
“Never mind that, just go talk to Her Highness. You’re close, aren’t you?”
Judging from their reactions to Bell’s high score, they were probably pressuring her to join Door of Truth.
While the students were in full bloom talking about their exam grades and the upcoming Competition Battle—
“Now then, everyone please take your seats~”
Professor Martelgia and Teaching Assistant Wayne appeared.
Martelgia quieted the students and opened her mouth.
“Thank you all for your hard work on the exam~ I trust you’ve all checked your scores. The practical exam scheduled for the end of this month has been canceled~ You all know why, right~?”
“Yeees-.”
The practical exam, held each month to test students’ combat ability and give them actual experience.
It would not be held this month, and the reason was, of course, Gilean’s previous assault.
The circumstances and culprit of the incident had not yet been fully uncovered, but it was clearly an abnormal event.
With Beatrice at the lead, Union’s guard numbers had been reinforced and vigilance heightened. Naturally, marching out with students to another dangerous unexplored zone was out of the question.
Martelgia continued.
“However, the Competition Battle starting in May will proceed «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» as normal. Please prepare yourselves for that~ And don’t forget to check your mailboxes for challenge letters, okay~?”
“Yeees-”
Listening to the students’ obedient replies, I sank into thought.
‘The Competition Battle, held twice a year and taking the place of final exams.’
It was a long-standing tradition that showed directly that Union was not merely a place of learning, but an educational institution preparing for battle against demonkind.
Of course, in the current age there were many purely academic academies with no combat capability whatsoever, and they proved their research results through the academy festival’s academic conferences.
But that was secondary.
All of those academic research results were likewise focused on developing better weapons and magic, or increasing crop yields.
We might be soaking in the peaceful atmosphere of academy life now, but that would only last so long. What I—and all of them—must never forget was……
‘That in Mir Elin Saga, humanity is currently at war with demonkind.’
A territorial struggle between humans and demonkind that had spanned hundreds of years.
This was also the reason the de Valis family of the western front was still respected by everyone on the continent.
They were the vanguard standing against monster invasions for the sake of mankind.
The peoples of the continent honored that unrequited sacrifice by sending large quantities of supplies and manpower every year.
Even if most of that manpower was made up of prisoners sentenced to the harshest punishments, in a situation where every unit of labor was precious, even they could be used as part of the war effort.
Professor Martelgia’s voice struck my eardrums as I drifted into those thoughts.
“Alright then, since I don’t think anyone wants to dive straight into new material right after exams, we’ll replace today’s class with learning about everyone’s origin attributes~ Wayne.”
Wayne rolled a cart in from somewhere and brought it to the front of the professor.
Flap-.
When Martelgia pulled off the cloth covering the cart, a rather complex-looking machine device was revealed.
On the surface of a large engine-like machine, crystal spheres, light bulbs, mirrors, and such were tangled together.
With multiple vacuum tubes connected, it looked like some primitive form of computer.
Professor Martelgia spoke.
“This is something called a mana detector, a device that analyzes the mana attributes a person possesses~ We borrowed it from the Mage Tower for a short time, and it’s incredibly expensive, okay~? You absolutely must not break it~”
If even Martelgia, who casually handed out reinforcement stones worth ten million krone, emphasized that it was incredibly expensive, then this machine must cost in the hundreds or even thousands of billions.
She went on.
“Once this semester’s introductory course ends, you’ll be taking practical classes next semester~ This is to check your origin attributes in advance so you’ll be ready for that~ There might be some of you who still don’t know your origin attribute~”
Most students who grew up in noble households and entered Union already knew their origin attributes, but people like Bell from commoner backgrounds had never been given such an opportunity.
This lecture seemed to be for them.
‘Of course…… I don’t know my origin attribute either.’
Since information about Loen was extremely limited, even I didn’t know my own origin attribute.
This would be a good chance to find out.
I had to identify an appropriate material for my origin attribute anyway if I wanted to make the Azoth Sword.
“Alright then, Beatrice, would you come up first~?”
At Martelgia’s call, Beatrice rose and stepped up onto the platform.