NOVEL NEXT Chapter 351
<351 - Instructor Russo vs Oknodie>
The instructor may be strong, but they are just a student on leave. How strong could they really be?
Camela, the very person who called for the fight against Oknodie, had the most distrust for the instructor.
To her, the instructor was merely a stalker watching over the students wherever they went, someone she had to reluctantly recruit as a burden.
“I’m not asking for much. Just give me enough time to hold off Oknodie and Hestia for one night, even a moment would do. Just create an opportunity for me to escape!”
If she could gather all the students who were in debt to the pet contract, she could force a desperate attack by pooling debts among a select few, disregarding life and death.
Oknodie wasn’t an easy opponent capable of being killed that easily, but such a self-destructing attack wouldn’t leave mercy in its wake.
To survive, Oknodie would inevitably find themselves in a situation where they had to kill their opponent.
That was Camela’s strategy.
Instructor Russo.
He was merely a discarded card for buying time for Camela’s strategy to succeed.
“Uh…?”
The moment that discarded card used the [Mana Flow Technique], Camela realized her mistake.
Flash!
An untraceable movement had occurred.
It only became clear that something had happened after a powerful shockwave turned the room into chaos.
“Gaah!?”
Camela staggered back, unable to keep her balance, and barely managed to hold onto the furniture.
‘How can a student on leave be this strong…?’
Camela had already investigated Russo’s reputation.
Instructor Weakest.
The least competent of all instructors, with the worst bonuses.
He was in a position where he was disregarded even by other instructors.
Convinced of his lowly status, Camela’s initial outreach made Russo’s power an unimaginable event.
“No, I’m only going to survive today!?”
“Noticed, huh? Then you should understand better. Brace yourself for standing here.”
In an instant, one sleeve of Russo’s school uniform was shredded to pieces.
Just like Oknodie, who was now a ragged beggar wielding a sword, Russo’s pants were also horribly torn on one leg, flapping like rags before falling away.
The difference was that while Oknodie’s skin only bore the marks of being bruised blue, Russo, who had initiated the attack, had legs drenched in blood.
The exchange rate was bad.
Russo suffered an even greater loss.
However, Oknodie’s expression was one of considerable tension, as if he were facing a warrior.
While Camela may not have noticed, Hestia could see it.
She had watched Oknodie fight every week in club activities while exploring the Paper Dungeon.
“Oknod…!”
“Don’t come here!”
Oknodie’s sword was enveloped in color.
In the West, they called it mana coating.
In the East, they referred to it as sword energy.
He unleashed the art of mana flow technique through the sword.
A color darker than pure black.
“Investing while calculating lifespan is the method of a ‘Fourth Year’. Get in the way, and you might truly die!”
*
Veteran players say they fall victim to manipulation when odds are at play.
[Camela Repulsion Event]
○ 60% chance of a fierce battle against Camela’s organization
○ 30% chance of a clash with Camela’s suicide squad
○ 9.9% chance of fighting against upper class students
○ 0.1% chance of fighting against the instructor.
A mere 0.1% chance.
A battle against an instructor, which had never been experienced despite thousands to tens of thousands of repetitions fueled by manipulative probabilities.
It was a rare chance, but not enough to truly be considered manipulation.
Though I never expected to face him like this, I wasn’t entirely in the dark about the instructor.
“Instructors are everywhere in the academy!”
I already knew the instructors’ capabilities.
Most were third-year students on leave.
The instructors guarding safe places like dormitories were even lesser second-year students on leave.
Their skills were naturally on the lower end.
Those who had neither the talent nor the dedication to stand out among the brilliant geniuses.
They couldn’t accept being trampled among those flourishing with radiant talents, akin to weeds.
“But even weak weeds have an enduring life!”
If they had managed to complete the second-year curriculum, it would be assumed they had mastered all the basics of [Mana Flow Technique].
Just like the seniors who farmed those Red Fanged Mushrooms, they sought to fill their lacking talents with their own unique methods.
“Seems like the elite of the foundation knows a lot. A freshman can discuss a Fourth Year’s methods.”
“Are you envious? Once you join the foundation, you’ll learn a lot too.”
“I refuse your transfer offer. I won’t pay the penalty fee either. And lies about repaying me for that? Not worth it.”
This senior wasn’t just a simple student on leave.
They were genuinely aiming for the ‘top.’
That’s why they unflinchingly violated the taboo of the mana flow technique.
A risky technique with unstable applications.
Used by veterans or when forming a “Last Resort Party,” a technique previously taught directly to Sing.
They were utilizing the explosive core of the mana flow technique in practice.
And they had no supplementary means.
They were even prepared for their body to deteriorate to the point of never being able to use mana again.
This wasn’t just amplification; it was multi-amplification.
“Can you really trust Camela? Enough to risk using a method that depletes your lifeforce?”
“Buying time won’t work. I’ve already set up a barrier by entering this room, and no other instructor or dorm manager will notice any commotion from the outside.”
“!”
“Still, you can manage to step outside the barrier. Six hours until sunrise. I’ve added a conditional spell that prevents re-entry after you leave.”
“Is that the negotiation offered by the instructor?”
The escape route opened by a deranged senior who was ready to stake their life.
For someone lacking skill, unprepared, or whose life was precious, retreating was obviously the right choice.
“Did you hear that, Hestia? I’m leaving first.”
“No way. You don’t really plan to go out, do you?”
“If I don’t go out, you won’t teach me the mana flow technique. You’ll tell Reap not to teach me either.”
“That’s so underhanded…!”
“What will you do?”
Hestia reluctantly broke her silence after much internal conflict.
“You’re confident, huh?”
“Of course!”
“…I’ll call for a healer. If you get hurt, I’ll kill you.”
As Hestia left, Camela scoffed at her.
“Your friend didn’t seem as close as you thought, did she?”
“Shut up. You don’t belong here.”
Vibration
Diffusion
<2nd Level Amplification Magic - Force Energy>
The intense energy released clashed against the force energy expelled by the instructor, creating a strong vibration.
Without having learned defense techniques, just the backlash left Camela feeling nauseous as her face grew pale.
“Think it over. Camela is not a great option for loyalty.”
“Many inferior students have fallen for the foundation’s temptations, but all have ended up miserable.”
“Don’t you think Camela’s pet contract is any different?”
“It’s no different.”
The instructor readily acknowledged that.
It didn’t mean he was conceding.
“It’s simply this: No matter what contract exists in or out of the academy, her contract is no different. Provide labor, and you receive compensation. If circumstances are unfavorable, betrayal occurs. It’s the same whether you rely on a lord in any territory or bow to any merchant.”
A stark awareness of the harsh society.
It was an acknowledgment that faced reality and despair rather than dreams and hope.
“Camela was my highest-paying employer. And she has fulfilled her contract. That alone is enough reason for loyalty.”
“What a loyal dog you’ve become!”
“Unless you plan to leave, this is where our conversation ends. From now on, I won’t stop until I chase you out.”
With a skill level evidently above Sing’s clumsy mana flow technique, Russo restarted the explosive core.
This person was the original practitioner of the explosive core.
Amidst all those lousy instructors, it was a matter of probability that exactly this person had appeared.
“Hmph. Still, this is a veteran player I’m up against.”
I took a charging stance to counter, extending my leg like a whip in the instructor’s direction, scattering horizontal and vertical sword strikes…
Multiple afterimages appeared, mixing in the [Rewind] technique, reversing my actions.
[Accelerated Afterimage Sword - Overlapping Trajectories]
Striking with the sword at a different timing along the same path.
The afterimage carried mana and dashed forward, but the real body moved a beat later, executing unilateral cuts against the enemy’s counter-attack.
The instructor was definitely deceived.
He kicked at the afterimage made of mana, but his leg merely brushed through empty air.
Immediately following was my real attack, and I was absolutely certain it would connect.
I was convinced after seeing the bloodied leg of my senior.
“The explosive core is a dangerous method that foregoes lifespan for maximum power from insufficient mana. If you have mana to spare for defense, you’d never use it!”
Swish
The prediction hit home.
Without a doubt, the senior’s leg had been cut.
Eight millimeters shallower than I calculated.
[Russo Style Mana Flow Technique]
[Explosive Core Rotation Angle]
As soon as I realized I felt the impact at my toes after kicking through the afterimages, the senior instinctively channeled mana into one side of their body, twisting their muscles to rotate.
With this self-damaging technique, wounds opened and blood gushed out.
There was no time to laugh about it.
The blood that splattered interrupted my line of sight right as I had planned to continue the sword strikes.
“!!”
Utilizing the Accelerated Afterimage Sword to send out afterimages in different directions—left, rear, right—while leaping upward with the [Leap] ability.
The probability of the real body getting hit was a quarter.
Though they knew how to increase destructive power at the cost of personal burden, they were dealing with a mindless commoner who couldn’t discern a high-level technique.
“Impressive resolve and power, but that’s all!”
Muscles inevitably damage themselves when overused.
Unless they learned the [Numbness] technique like veteran players, such recklessness wouldn’t escape [Stiffness].
That gap is an opportunity.
As I swiftly dodged and retaliated, those calculations were shattered by the sight of my senior’s hands pressing into the ground below.
“Did they twist their upper body’s strength to compensate for their paralyzed lower half!?”
They unleashed a powerful horizontal kick, sweeping the ground around them with their arms and waist.
The afterimages shot off in all directions, disappearing in one blow.
I found it.
Our gazes met as if to say it.
If I leap for a kick, I’ll slice through them right there.
Instead of leaping towards me, Russo’s leg slammed down onto the floor.
Crash!
The floor tiles shattered and rose.
Cleverly, instead of rushing at me, he used strong repeated kicks to shatter tiles and send them flying into the air.
Rattle rattle!
Amidst the chaos of the broken tiles, I landed back on the ground, furrowing my brow.
“How many years do you think you’ve just taken off your lifespan by doing that, instructor?”
“Not much. Compared to what I was prepared for.”
This wasn’t just bravado.
The feeling gained from mixing in direct actions, along with the truly reckless choice of burning lifespan.
This instructor was dead serious.
Top Student.
A veteran player with experience.
Chief Scholarship Student of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation.
Against someone like me, impossible to surpass the barrier of talent.
Over the next six hours until dawn, he was determined to stake his life and future to stop me.
I held that incredible resolve in high regard and responded sincerely.
“I thought so, so I found this!”
In the moment smoke began to billow, from the time I landed on the ground and beyond, what I accomplished was more than just breaking tiles.
I had sliced through the locking mechanism of Camela’s desk, retrieving the bundle of contracts tucked inside.
“If you surrender nicely, I’ll spare the contracts!”
“!!!”
This was the secret of veterans, genuinely threatening.
If I slice this, you won’t get any points!