The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

Knowing where the center of the forest was at the start was quite a big advantage.

Those with relatively good heads would realize that where they were originally standing was the center, but unlike Asel, this wasn’t much of an advantage for them.

The southern forest of the Academy. This piece of land is an artificial ecosystem created solely for the entrance exam, and its size is unimaginably vast. Finding the center without a map after being randomly thrown into such a place was a very difficult task. To begin with, they wouldn’t even know where they were standing.

On the other hand, Asel started from the center. No matter which direction he went, finding his way was relatively easy. Still, just in case, he laid down magic near the central location.

Crackle!!

Lightning dances on his fingertips. Asel gently threw the dark blue lightning that bloomed at a tree.

[Lightning Trace]

The lightning that spread out left a burning trace as soon as it touched the tree. Asel nodded after confirming that his magical power was deeply embedded in that trace.

By leaving magical power like this, there was no need to worry about getting lost, as he could just return to where he could feel the magical power even if he went far away. It was right to be thorough with insurance.

He moved his steps while igniting lightning between his fingers.

Asel headed towards the east of the forest. Squelching mud slowed his pace, and dense foliage blocked the sun. Since it was still winter, a cool chill settled low in places where the sun didn’t reach. Feeling this severe cold for the first time outside of Wiheim, Asel overlaid a barrier mixed with the subtleties of fire magic over his skin.

With this, he could now have some resistance not only to physical attacks but also to magic and the surrounding environment. Asel continued moving while looking at the fine steam rising around him. After about 10 minutes had passed like this, Asel saw a form wriggling in a pile of grass.

It wasn’t human. Then there was only one answer.

‘A golem.’

Asel focused magical power in his eyes to confirm the identity of the creature in the grass pile. As expected, a golem easily over 2 meters in size was shaking its body while curled up in a ball. Although the grass pile was quite wide, it wasn’t big enough for a golem of that size to hide. It seemed to be hiding by crumpling its body.

It appeared to be more intelligent than expected. Who could the creator of the golem be, to be able to come up with such an intricate design?

Curiosity welled up. But Asel suppressed his curiosity and focused on the exam. There would be other opportunities to disassemble golems. During the exam period, he had to focus on defeating golems and taking their cores. Since the goal was to receive a high score, he had to move diligently from now on.

He quickly drew up magical power and established the magic formula in his mind. He recalled and manifested magic at a level that could kill the golem, which hadn’t yet discovered him, in one strike. An intermediate-level lightning magic followed his will and came out into the world.

Crackle.

The lightning that bloomed on Asel’s hand rushes at high speed. The lightning, fired faster than sound, draws a square around the golem and instantly forms a cube made of lightning. The golem hurriedly rose at the overwhelming magical power surrounding it, but Asel was even faster.

[Four-Way Lightning]

Crackle crackle crackle!!!

Lightning storms inside the formed cube. The golem’s limbs disintegrate. The arm it stretched out to escape is finely shattered as soon as it touches the wall. The golem opened its mouth as if to scream, but the lightning that struck down shattered its neck.

The head that fell powerlessly was buried in the mud. And not long after, the golem’s movements stopped. The only form remaining was around the heart where the core was. Asel withdrew his magic and rummaged through the shattered golem’s chest to pull out the transparent core.

The amount of magical power contained in the core wasn’t that impressive. The number needed to operate the device he saw earlier would be about 50.

It was quite a lot.

Not telling the number of cores needed was probably to test the participants’ judgment, reasoning, and magical power sensing abilities.

“It’s not such a difficult task.”

Asel muttered while putting the core in his backpack.

He thought the difficulty of the exam would be outrageous since they said it was the continent’s best educational institution. But it was more doable than expected. At this rate, it seemed there was no need to form a party. If the golems fell with one magic attack, vanguards or supporters wouldn’t be very meaningful. It seemed like he could easily pass even by himself.

‘I wonder if it’s the same for others.’

Asel moved his steps while recalling some of the fierce faces he had seen before the exam started.

He scattered magical power around to find the location of golems. He moved towards them without hesitation.

“Damn it.”

Ruhan cursed as he pulled the core out of the golem’s chest. The transparent core pulled out along with stone fragments sparkled beautifully in the light. He exhaled a long breath and got down from the fallen golem’s body with the core.

“Is anyone severely injured?”

He asked, looking at the fallen participants around him. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. There were some minor injuries, but nothing too dangerous. However, it was clear that everyone was exhausted. They had just hunted their fifth golem, but the fatigue accumulated was too much compared to the harvest. It was because the difficulty of the exam was unreasonably high.

“Damn Academy. Each golem is equivalent to a skilled expert.”

A young man with sharp features, Paul, spat out. He gritted his teeth while trembling his arm that had cracked from blocking a golem’s fist once.

This was too serious to be called just a test. Each golem was equivalent to a fully-fledged expert, and they weren’t even told how many they had to catch.

An expert isn’t just some passing nobody. They’re warriors who can easily obtain fairly high positions. Breaking walls with their fists and running at speeds beyond limits are actions as natural as breathing for them. And they’ve let loose such monsters in the forest like real wild dogs.

Moreover, some even ambush by hiding. It was enough to drive one crazy.

“Still, this might be a good harvest at this rate.”

A girl with ash-gray hair and golden eyes, Selina, muttered while leaning against a tree.

Coming from the Aurora Magic Tower, she had a relatively high voice within the group. Perhaps because of this, the others who had been expressing complaints closed their mouths tightly and turned their heads towards her.

“No one knows the situation in other places. Maybe we’re the fastest.”
“…How can you be sure of that?”
“That’s not what I meant to say. I meant let’s not get discouraged and keep doing well.”

Selina retorted irritably and glared at Borwell.

“Are you dense? Instead of muttering complaints and bringing down the mood, just shut up and rest. It’s annoying.”

Selina finished speaking and closed her eyes. It meant to stop talking noisily. The group, while showing dissatisfaction towards her, quietly remained silent and regulated their breathing. It was natural considering the power of magic Selina had shown.

Constellation magic that handles the power of stars. Although it requires quite a long preheating time, once completed, even low-level magic can easily tear apart other magic of the same rank from different branches. If she hadn’t fired her magic appropriately, Paul’s arm wouldn’t have just cracked, it would have been completely shattered.

Besides this, she had shown several achievements like crushing golems’ legs or smashing their heads. For the group, Selina was an indispensable talent. There were more than enough reasons to cater to her whims.

“…The sun is setting.”

Ruhan muttered while looking at the sky gradually turning sunset colors.

They had certainly started in the morning, but it was already evening. The short winter day also played a part.

When the sun sets completely, the cold will probably become even more severe. They needed to set up a camp before it was too late. They didn’t want to spend the night shivering in the cold.

They could have continued marching, but wandering through a forest teeming with golems and wild animals without light was tantamount to suicide. Moreover, many of the animals they had seen on the way seemed more nocturnal than diurnal. It would be difficult to react if they suddenly jumped out of the bushes while tired.

“Let’s spend the night here.”

Ruhan said, looking at Selina. Selina opened her closed eyes, looked at the sky once, and nodded.

“Yes, that would be better.”
“We’ve only found 5 cores, and we’re already resting?”
“Shut up, Borwell. You collapsed trembling as soon as you saw a golem, and now your mouth is opening?”

Paul growled at Borwell. Selina agreed with his words.

“If you don’t like it, leave. We won’t stop you.”
“…No. I’ll help.”
“Really? Then go and bring some branches and leaves. Enough for all five of us here to rest.”
“…Alright.”

Borwell swallowed hard and left to gather branches. Selina only opened her mouth again when his back was no longer visible.

“Paul, rest since your arm is shattered. Sevia, you go get some firewood nearby and light a fire. I’ll go lay down some barrier magic around.”
“I’ll level the ground.”

Selina nodded towards Ruhan and got up from her seat to prepare barrier magic formulas in appropriate positions.

At that moment, the sound of thunder was heard from somewhere.

Rumble!!

She frowned and looked up at the sky, thinking it might rain, but there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Just as Selina was hardening her expression at this anomaly and about to spread out detection magic.

“Aaaaargh!”

Borwell’s scream was heard from inside the forest. The group immediately stopped what they were doing, grabbed their weapons, and headed towards where the sound came from.

Not long after, they could find Borwell collapsed on the ground. Ruhan and Sevia quickly approached his side.

“Borwell! What, what happened!”
“Magician…! Magician…”

He foamed at the mouth and trembled. Both his arms were burned black, and blood was seeping from his cracked skin.

Crackle, crackle!

Dark blue electric currents flickered and disappeared repeatedly on Borwell’s body. Selina realized that this current occurred from being directly hit by magic and hardened her expression coldly.

“It’s an ambush.”
“What?”

Before Ruhan could react to Selina’s muttering, lightning flashed from the dark forest. Immediately after, lightning fired at a speed beyond cognition pierced straight through Borwell’s shoulder blade.

[Pursuing Lightning]

Boom!!

With a loud roar, his body jerked, and the bracelet activated to teleport him to a safe place.

It was judged to be a severe injury. Selina swallowed hard, estimating the power of the lightning that had just been fired.

The vaguely felt density of magical power was at least 6th rank. It was an enemy with too extreme a difference for her, who was still 5th rank, to handle. But she remembered that she wasn’t alone and waited for the owner of the lightning to appear.

There was no need to wait long. As soon as she drew up her magical power, a man walked out of the darkness of the forest.

It was a familiar face.

The magician who had attracted everyone’s attention with his entrance. He revealed himself with lightning wrapped around his body. He tilted his head as he looked at the four people gathered together.

“…? Are you a group?”
“…Everyone, prepare for battle.”

There was no need for conversation. Ruhan said this while drawing his sword, and Paul and Sevia tightly grasped their weapons. Selina naturally retreated and incanted magic. Asel let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded by this sight.

“Attacking first and then this… This is ridiculous.”
“Attacked first…?”

Selina, who had more leeway than the others thanks to retreating, heard Asel’s muttering. She hurriedly opened her mouth to stop her companions, but Ruhan was faster. He rushed forward and swung his sword quickly.

No matter how strong, he’s just a magician. Fighting at close range like this with a swordsman was tantamount to suicide. He wouldn’t be able to incant, let alone form a magic formula. A backline without a frontline is as good as defeated the moment they step forward.

This was common sense. A fact everyone knows and believes without doubt. That’s why Ruhan aimed for Asel’s shoulder without hesitation.

A simple swing with no thought of defense or even evasion. Asel looked at that trajectory and then flicked one finger upwards.

With just that, the magic was completed.

[Rising Lightning]

Boom!!

A massive lightning bolt surged from the ground to the sky.