How to Survive as the Academy Student Council President

Fsssshh-
As I drew up Mana, the Mana Heart near my chest thumped and began to spew power.
It soon flowed down my arm and into Bell’s mana orb filled with flame.
Watching the orb absorb everything I poured in, I drifted into thought.
'This fire orb will remain inside my body after ingestion, constantly neutralizing the yin of Gu-eum Jeolmaek.'
In a way, you could call it a kind of artificial organ.
But an artificial organ with a Mana nature totally different from mine can trigger a rejection response from my body’s immune function.
To prevent that in advance, I’m doing exactly this—feeding it my Mana ahead of time to align the orb’s Mana signature and tissue “type” as closely as possible to my own.
'A delicate process that preserves the yang nature of Bell’s Extreme Flame, while reshaping it to resemble my Mana’s character.'
Even with system assistance, this isn’t a one- or two-day job.
I’ll have to keep injecting Mana into the flame orb daily, whenever my Mana naturally recovers, for quite a while.
'It’s a little tedious, but…'
This procedure is an enormous “exploit” that will completely remake the character named Loen—who originally couldn’t use normal magic.
If it lets me actually cast, this much trouble is nothing.
It’s like a blind swordsman opening his eyes; you can’t exactly complain that the process is bothersome.
If this succeeds, I won’t have to keep stacking gear and drugs just to slug it out hand-to-hand.
Shiiine-
"……"
I watched the Mana value on the status window hovering to my side tick down, and continued the injection.
And a moment later—
Ping-
[ Mana injection complete. ]
Only when my head started to swim from excessive Mana outflow did the injection finish.
Even with Milia’s Mana Gloves reducing the cost, it was close.
"Haa… haa…"
I lifted my trembling hand off the orb and leaned against the wall to steady my breath.
Bell’s mana orb glimmered with a lustrous light.
No longer a feral Extreme Flame—what swirled quietly within the sphere felt refined and calm.
'That’s enough for today.'
I’ll need several more rounds of this before ingestion becomes possible.
And stabilizing it post-ingestion and neutralizing the yin—that’s a separate task.
I placed Bell’s mana orb back in its case, took off the gloves, and set them on the alchemy bench.
Then, after topping off my Mana with a Mana Supplement Stone, I moved straight to the next job.
'If you bought a new item, you enhance it first.'
With a touch of anticipation, I took out the leather pouch I’d brought.
Since I was already in the lab, I intended to enhance Milia’s Mana Gloves.
Unlike my current artifacts, these were fresh gear I’d just acquired, not yet enhanced.
Today, let’s boost their stats using the [Amplify] and [Restraint] spells.
I even bought Enhancement Stabilizers in the Underworld to avoid shattering them like the magic orbs last time.
'In other words, enhancement gacha…'
Shff—
From the leather pouch I laid out alchemy stones, enhancement stones, and stabilizers around the bench in their respective directions.
'…Alchemy is truth—the path to a higher order of soul, a road to godhood.'
It corresponds to the Tree of Sephirot in the mysteries of Kabbalah.
Place the ores on the ten Sephirot, and infuse Mana into the twenty-two Paths that connect them.
Fsssshh—
As I fed Mana into the bench, the ten ores linked in sequence, gleaming, and fired that light toward Milia’s Gloves set at the center.
Watching the gloves blaze under the prismatic glow, I fell into thought.
'These gloves are [Ancient] grade.'
Item rarity has six tiers:
Common, Rare, Ancient, Relic, Epic, Legendary—and each tier allows up to three enhancements.
Therefore, as Ancient grade, this item can reach +9 at most.
Restraint and Amplify can only be used on +5 or higher items, so first let’s get to +5.
[ Proceed with enhancement? ]
Yes.
Whoom—
I tapped the log, and a flash filled my vision.
Depending on enhancement level, random stats were applied to Milia’s Mana Gloves.
Ping-
Mana +1
Life +1
Strength +1
Endurance +1

Intelligence +1
Enhancement complete.
"…Hah."
I couldn’t help a dry laugh.
It’s better for stats to pile into one attribute than spread evenly.
For mage-use gear, Mana +5 or Intelligence +5 would’ve been ideal.
And yet we get this sorry spread.
'Still… think positive.'
For an all-rounder like Loen, a balanced rise isn’t the worst. I’ll leave it for now.
Anyway, with the minimum +5 achieved for Amplify and Restraint, I first cast the alchemy-imbuement spell [Restraint].
Shrrr—
As Mana drained from my body, golden chains of power poured out of the air.
They bound the shining gloves and began the enchantment.
[Impose a demerit on Milia’s Mana Gloves, and randomly enhance an existing effect.]
Chirr—
On the status pane, effects flipped past like a roulette.
After a dazzling spin, the log popped up.
Restraint: [Increases damage taken when equipped. 30% -> 40%]
Enhancement: [Increases maximum stored magic scrolls. 3 -> 5]
[ Restraint application complete. ]
"Ho."
I stopped the Mana feed and checked the result.
Stats aside, the Restraint outcome was quite usable.
Now I can store up to five spells at once—basically a direct upgrade over a magic orb.
Sure, getting hit will hurt even more, but that’s an acceptable price.
Shrrrr—
With Restraint done, the various enhancement stones on the bench had spent their effects and crumbled.
I set fresh stones and decided to add [Amplify] next.
Ride the tiger.
I’d paid my bad-luck tax on the stat roll, and Restraint stuck nicely—time to push through.
Chirr—
With a surge of Mana, I cast [Amplify], and this time silver chains burst from the air, binding the gloves as the enchantment took hold.
[Based on Milia’s Mana Gloves’ existing effects, add a random bonus effect.]
Again, a carousel of possible add-ons spun across the status pane.
Unlike Restraint, Amplify carries no extra penalty—but its effect spectrum is massive.
Which means the odds of landing something useless are high—a true gacha.
I waited, heart tight, and soon a chime sounded with a new effect.
Ping-
[ Movement Speed increases by 1%. ]
"……"
Who exactly is 1% Movement Speed supposed to impress.
"Again."
I fed in more stones and Mana and cast Amplify once more.
Ping-
[ Damage taken decreases by 2%. ]
"……"
Wearing the gloves makes me take 40% more damage; this does nothing.
"Again."
[ Effect Resistance increases by 1%. ]
"…Again."
[ Freeze Resistance increases by 2%. ]
"……"
More garbage add-ons, one after another.
And with each reroll, my enhancement materials kept shrinking.
Watching my precious Mana, enhancement stones, and alchemy stones drain away made my eyes sting—but I couldn’t stop here.
Double down.
I kept rolling Amplify until something decent appeared—when suddenly—
Ping!
A burst of brilliant gold, and a window popped up before my eyes.
"!"
[ When Mana Absorption triggers, inflict Stun on the target for up to 3 seconds. ]
'This is…!'
My eyes went wide as I read the golden notice hanging in the air.
A beam of light after a run of trash effects.
'Stunning a target on contact!'
Items with crowd control are exceedingly rare even in-game.
And not a mere slow, root, or silence—but a clear-cut Stun.
Landing something this powerful at the Amplify stage—and at low-grade alchemy level—is astronomically unlikely.
'…Luck’s on my side.'
Grinning at the log, I was satisfied.
Despite the heavy spending, this Restraint/Amplify gacha was a major success.
Gacha is all about the flow.
I’d blown through my materials and Mana, but my heart felt rich.
'Money can be earned again.'
Effects like this can’t be bought.
Wearing a satisfied smile, I finished the alchemical imbuements and stepped out of the lab.
***
The next day.
After a few general-ed lectures, I headed for the Ishtal territory.
With Professor Verdandi on disciplinary leave, Basic Swordsmanship had been paused, but a new instructor had arrived to continue the course.
When I got off the tram at Ishtal’s transfer center, a familiar face was waiting.
"Hey there, Lord Loen. Been a while."
A chubby male student waving both arms from afar—Garfield Moti.
I shrugged at him.
"It’s hardly been a while."
We’d seen each other just days ago.
I joined Garfield and we strolled toward the lecture site.
"……"
He chattered nonstop at my side, and while I let most of it go in one ear and out the other, one bit of info caught my attention.
"Lord Loen, Ishtal is hosting a sports festival soon—had you heard?"
"Ah… right."
I stopped where I stood and took in the scenery anew.
Along the ashen roadside, planters overflowed with flowers of every color, and the lampposts were strung with flags bearing the emblems of the various academies like a pageant of nations.
So that’s why Ishtal’s downtown felt lively—the sports festival prep.
Chloe and I had talked about it during our interview not long ago, but I’d let it slip my mind.
'A sports festival…'
I stared blankly at the flags fluttering in the wind and thought.
The first big event before midterms, coming after the March start of term: the sports festival.
It’s an inter-academy event where students from each school gather to compete, alongside the Competitive War.
The difference is that its results don’t affect grades or performance reviews.
It’s very “Academy”—aimed at friendship and healthy rivalry among students.
Of course… you’d be naive to think it’s just some ordinary field day.
In some ways, it’s a tournament where the academies’ honor and pride are on the line, separate from grades.
And the prizes aren’t trivial, either—everyone will grit their teeth to win.
After a brief pause, Garfield asked me,
"You’re the General Student Council President, are you not? Do you have any role in this festival? Hosting or support, perhaps?"
"Hmm. Maybe I’ll stick a spoon in the finished stew."
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
This festival is an Ishtal-hosted event.
It’s the first big one since Freya took the presidency; she must have prepared diligently.
Given the unpleasant business involving her sister lately, a successful sports festival could help divert some attention.
I could butt in under the pretense of “helping with preparations,” but done poorly, that would be throwing ashes on a finished meal.
My reputation has improved a little recently, but dislike still outweighs favor by a lot.
I’ll watch for now and help if there’s a part where I can actually contribute.
Chatting with Garfield about this and that, we soon reached the drill field.
We slid into the ranks of murmuring students and waited a bit, and then a new face greeted us.
Step, step—
A middle-aged man with dark blond hair mounted the platform.
Sturdy build, with a long scar running down the middle of his face.
He fetched a camp chair from somewhere, sat, crossed his legs, and introduced himself.
"Welcome. I am Zimmer Dmitry, temporarily taking over this lecture in Professor Verdandi’s stead."
He was the younger brother ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) of Egil Dmitry, Captain of the Royal Guard, known as the Sword of the Knight Kingdom Gilbert.
A swordsman on a level close to Verdandi, who stands just shy of Master.
But he’s the type better suited to a battlefield than an academy. By teaching standards, he has plenty of disqualifying points.
In fact, in-game, he never took a professor’s post.
Looks like Gilean’s appearance has tangled causality into a mild butterfly effect.
Zimmer scanned the gathered faces with a mildly annoyed expression, pausing briefly on Freya and me.
"It’s an honor to instruct both a Hero candidate and the notorious delinquent infamous across the continent at the same time."
"……"
Flap—
Zimmer gave the papers he’d brought a cursory flip, then jerked his chin toward the drill field.
"For now, we’ll respect Professor Verdandi’s existing curriculum. Everyone, head out."