Magic Academy Mayhem: A Class Full of Maniacs - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Cynthia feared death, and death alone.

Everything else fell beyond the boundaries of fear.

So once she realized a First Order Magical Beast was not as strong as she had imagined, Cynthia’s last trace of hesitation vanished completely.

Using skillful footwork to slip past its attack, she drove her twin blades into the Flame Leopard’s abdomen, attempting to shatter its Magic Core in one blow.

“Roar!!” Sensing the threat of death, the Flame Leopard let out a furious bellow and launched a lethal strike without regard for its injuries.

Although Cynthia dodged in time, its sharp claws still tore across her right arm.

The razor-edged tips ripped through flesh, and the wound, deep enough to reveal bone, was quickly covered by gushing blood.

The Magic Leopard’s claws carried a faint toxin that amplified the pain of the wound several times over.

Cynthia raised a hand and wiped away the blood spilling from the corner of her lips, forcing down the wave of dizziness. When her gaze swept over the torn, flipped-open flesh on her arm, a dark glimmer passed through her eyes.

She did not retreat. Instead, she poured more strength into her wrists and pressed the twin blades deeper.

The grating sound of steel slicing through organs was especially chilling.

In the instant before the Magic Leopard could launch a second attack, the blade in Cynthia’s grip pierced straight through its central Magic Core, her hand punching clean through its abdomen along with it.

A crisp sound like shattering glass rang out. Cynthia lowered her eyes and glanced at the Magic Leopard, whose eyes were still wide open though all life had left it. Only then did the sliver of displeasure caused by her injury finally fade away.

She was just about to pull her hand back when a thick, foul stench, accompanied by a faint whistling through the air, came from behind her. Cynthia’s instincts screamed danger.

She swiftly yanked her blood-soaked hand and blade out of the corpse, kicked the dead leopard’s body away, then used the force to twist aside and evade the poisonous stinger attacking from behind.

The moment she landed, she rolled to avoid a second wave of magic stingers. Without the slightest hesitation, she flung one of her blades backward.

“Screech!” A sharp, piercing cry from a Magic Eagle rang through the clouds.

Cynthia looked up. The owner of the poisonous stingers was a giant Magic Eagle.

Its level was clearly a little higher than the Magic Leopard’s. Even after being stabbed in the abdomen, it had not died and was still struggling in midair, trying to flee.

Cynthia had just prepared to throw her other blade as well and force the Magic Eagle down when Vernel made her move first from the distance.

Taking advantage of the Magic Eagle’s panicked retreat, Vernel raised her bow and drew the string, firing an arrow into its heart at an extremely precise angle.

The arrow tore through the air, leaving a streak of light. The instant it struck, the Magical Beast that had been struggling in midair died on the spot.

With its life gone, the corpse crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

Meanwhile, the thirty or so Magical Beast that had been besieging Eli and Sangmo had also been turned into corpses.

The Magical Beast had never expected that these humans, who showed not the slightest fluctuation of magic power, would be so terrifying.

The bodies of their own kind had already piled into a small mound. The remaining Magical Beast looked at one another and, in the end, chose a third option between revenge and a full stomach: survival.

In less than half a minute, they fled in a frenzy as if they had all agreed on it beforehand.

None of the five people present had any intention of giving chase.

After confirming that the Magical Beast had scattered, Cynthia stepped forward and pulled her blade from the corpse.

The twin blades, already engraved with red rose patterns, looked even more sinister after being stained with blood.

Cynthia tried silently reciting a magic incantation in her mind-Purification.

Only after waiting for quite a while were the bloodstains on the twin blades finally cleaned away.

Cynthia fell silent.

Although she knew the windup time of magic was related to the strength of one’s own magic power, this was far too slow…

And this was the most basic, simplest everyday spell.

Cynthia was rather glad she had not been foolish enough to stand in place and chant a magic incantation just now, trying to use it to defeat the Magical Beast or something of the sort.

Otherwise, before she could even finish the incantation, she would probably have been dead beyond saving.
The pain in her arm was growing sharper by the second. Cynthia pulled herself out of her thoughts, returned her twin blades to the Spirit Weapon Space, then followed her memories and used her mind to take a bottle of recovery potion from her Magic Storage Ring and drink it.

The original host might not have been loved or valued by her family, but thankfully, she still received the treatment a duke’s daughter ought to have. She was not so neglected that she lacked even high-grade potions.

“Captain, how did you get hurt?” Richter came over, his gaze locking onto the hole in her arm without so much as a blink.

Just as Cynthia thought he was about to offer some polite words of concern, Richter said, as if relieved, “Good. You won’t die for the time being.”

Cynthia’s eyelid twitched. She had the distinct feeling this guy had not finished his etiquette lessons. “…You certainly have a way with words.”

Richter put on an innocent face and said with utter sincerity, “I’m just relatively honest.”

Cynthia gave a dry laugh and looked down at the wound on her arm.

After drinking the recovery potion, the pain had not yet faded, but the wound had immediately stopped bleeding, and the torn flesh was gradually healing.

For the first time, Cynthia truly felt the reality of this world’s setting.

As expected of a magical world.

The effect of this potion was even more exaggerated than anything she had read about in Western fantasy novels…

However…

She lifted her head and looked at her four teammates.

These people clearly were not starting from zero. At the very least, she could be certain they were far more proficient than her when it came to magic.

She was actually rather curious.

“Everyone’s stronger than I expected. So why did you follow me and run away?”

A full fifteen kilometers. They certainly had the patience and willpower for it…

Were they planning to hide their strength?

That was what Cynthia thought, but Richter looked perfectly sincere. In a solemn tone, as though taking an oath, he said, “What are you talking about? You’re the captain. Of course I absolutely obey whatever decision you make. As for the other three…”

He glanced at the others from the corner of his eye, his smile unchanged. “They probably all think everyone except themselves is trash, so none of them wanted to be the thankless idiot who stuck their neck out.”

The barb in his words was not hidden in the slightest. Vernel and Sangmo showed no signs of displeasure, which was as good as silent agreement.

Eli, however, could not let it pass. He lifted his eyes, his tone cold. “You sure washed your own hands clean. What are you, some green-tea spirit reincarnated?”

Even after being insulted, Richter did not get angry. He kept smiling.

He looked as if he did not have a temper at all, yet every word he said somehow carried a passive-aggressive edge. “Student Eli, the gap between your personality and your appearance is quite large. I don’t think anything I said hit a sore spot, did it? Why are you so angry?”

Eli’s Spirit Weapon, which had already dispersed, reappeared at his side. His voice was a degree colder than before. “Disgusting.”

Richter’s Spirit Weapon manifested as well.

Cynthia, who had been quietly watching the drama from the side, admitted that she no longer understood how things had developed like this.

Yesterday, although the two of them had not spoken to each other directly, at least they had seemed relatively harmonious.

She had thought they might continue getting along in such a friendly manner from then on. But now, on only the second day, the atmosphere had plunged several degrees below freezing and entered some bizarre ice-breaking phase of trading insults. What the hell was this…

At this rate, before the new team’s adjustment period was even over, their squad would probably be forcibly disbanded and expelled from the academy for brawling.

Seeing that a major fight was about to break out, Cynthia was just wondering whether she, as captain, should make a symbolic attempt to mediate when the ground suddenly began to shake violently.

“What is happ-”

Before she could finish saying “happening,” a black-gray vortex appeared on the ground. It formed so quickly it took only a few short seconds, and its range was enormous.

The five people present did not even have time to dodge before they were forcefully swept inside…