Magic Academy Mayhem: A Class Full of Maniacs - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Cynthia had no idea what her teammates were discussing. Her body was trapped between ice and fire, her flesh, muscles, and meridians feeling as though they were being torn apart and then healed over and over again.

Did every mage have to endure pain this intense when breaking through to a higher star rank?

Cynthia could not help wondering if this was what the book meant by the Conservation of Cost…

Her thoughts gradually scattered under the torment. Fortunately, the points of light in her Soul Sea successfully condensed into a miniature star, glimmering as it floated above the sea.

One Star… success.

The pressure in Cynthia’s heart vanished all at once. She was just about to stop absorbing Magic Element when she discovered that the elemental motes within her sea were gathering on their own, trying to form a second star!

Cynthia realized this was an opportunity. Seeing no movement from the outside world, she simply went with the flow and pushed through in one breath.

Compared to the bone-piercing pain from before, the stinging she felt while condensing the second Spirit Star was practically insignificant. In fact, it was gradually fading away.

Warmth enveloped her body, as comfortable as if she had sunk into a hot spring.

The second star successfully condensed, and the floating elemental motes finally dispersed completely.

Cynthia knew this was her limit. She did not continue and withdrew her spiritual sense.

The moment she opened her eyes, an enlarged face leaned right in.

“Captain! Congratulations on jumping two stars in a row~”

Leaving his personality aside for the moment, there was truly nothing to fault about Richter’s face. When he smiled like that, he looked exactly like an angel.

It was hard to slap a smiling face, so Cynthia gave a polite nod. “Thank you.”

He suddenly extended a hand in front of her. “Captain, you smell like blood. Is your body all right?”

Cynthia glanced at him and said, “I’m fine.”

The pain in her body had gradually receded along with the completion of her star-rank advancement. It was not bad enough that she needed someone to support her. She was about to ignore him when a pale-gold potion appeared in his palm.

His fingers were even and slender. Because his skin was so fair, even the pads of his fingers were set off with a faint reddish flush.

The pale blue veins also stood out clearly, lending his hand an especially alluring tension.

Richter smiled. “A Healing Potion, for our esteemed captain.”

Cynthia’s impression of him, aside from the fact that he was a black-hearted lotus, had one other point-this guy was seriously overfamiliar, and beneath his shrewdness, he seemed to carry a trace of a young man’s innocence.

She did not know whether she was overthinking it, or whether he was simply that complicated.

“Thank you for the kindness, but there’s no need.” In the end, Cynthia chose to refuse.

There was no need to owe someone a favor for something she did not lack.

“All right…” Richter looked regretful, like a dejected puppy, but he did not force it.

At that moment, Vernel spoke. “There are monsters approaching us.”

Her words instantly drew everyone’s attention.

All eyes turned toward the forest.

Less than a minute later, a Third Order Fengyang Twin-Winged Demon Bird flew out from the direction of the forest.

Before it even got close, it beat its wings fiercely, sending countless feathers as sharp as arrows flying out.

Cynthia had learned about this kind of Magical Beast yesterday while cramming the monster encyclopedia. It excelled at long-range attacks, and its entire body, feathers included, contained toxins.

Once struck, the victim would fall into a paralyzed state.

Cynthia turned sideways to dodge the feathers and warned, “That bird’s feathers carry a paralytic toxin. Be careful not to get hit.”

“Got it~” Richter always responded so quickly. He swept a glance over the dark forest where the flock had scattered. “But aside from that ugly bird, it seems there’s something else here too.”

Cynthia used a detection spell with a shorter wind-up to check.

It was a Dark Abyss Demon Turtle.

Its weakness was that it moved extremely slowly, but its abilities were by no means weak.
Within roughly a five-li radius of its position, it could slow hostile targets by using gravitational pressure.

No sooner had Cynthia finished analyzing the situation than the Dark Abyss Demon Turtle actually came to a stop and unleashed its gravitational oppression outright.

In an instant, Cynthia felt as if several boulders had been piled onto her body-and the gravity was still increasing.

She raised her hand and summoned her Spirit Weapon. That much worked.

But it was exactly as Richter had described back in the waters. Even if they could mobilize the magic inside them, it was only a thin, meager fraction of it.

Which meant they couldn’t use magic or spells to fight back. They could only endure it head-on.

Eli, beside her, realized the same thing and gave a derisive laugh. “…Looks like our Jellyfish Teacher really went to a lot of trouble.”

A Demon Bird that excelled at long-range attacks, paired with a gravity-wielding Demon Turtle-together, they just so happened to correspond to the lesson.

There was no way that was a coincidence. This was clearly man-made.

Everyone understood that much.

Vernel silently speculated, “Our magic is being suppressed, so we can’t launch a forceful assault. Maybe the lesson only ends once we meet the standard the teacher set for us.”

Sangmo the invisible man, in a rare show of agreement, nodded.

The Demon Bird released more and more feathers, so densely packed they fell like rain. Under the influence of gravity, all five of them were moving more than ten times slower than before.

Cynthia had already begun dodging while hacking at them with her twin blades.

With magic effectively off the table, they could only rely on the most primitive method.

The other four did the same.

—

The sky gradually darkened.

The gravitational pressure grew stronger and stronger, and all five of them had gained more than a few bloody wounds.

Cynthia raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her lips and swung her already numb arms like a machine.

The Demon Turtle and Demon Bird had kept up their attacks the entire time, but they hadn’t launched any other offensives. Griffin was probably controlling things from the shadows.

Perhaps Vernel’s guess had been right. This test really might not stop until they turned in a satisfactory answer.

Seeing that everyone was starting to run out of strength, Cynthia suggested, “Let’s hold out back-to-back for a while. Four people each cover one direction, while one person rests in the center of the protective circle. Then we rotate in order.”

Richter immediately said, “Good idea.”

Eli no longer had the aloofness he’d shown at the start, and even his words carried a bit of exhaustion. “Then let’s do that. Who’s resting first?”

Richter raised his hand. “Me!”

No one objected to his enthusiasm. They formed a defensive circle and enclosed him in the center.

Because ever since earlier, his complexion had gone from pale, to deathly pale, to utterly bloodless.

His tone was still full of energy, but his condition was so awful he looked like a ghost.

Even Cynthia, whose star rank was lower than his, hadn’t ended up like that.

Clearly, his physical constitution was the worst in the team. It fit perfectly with the image of a sickly noble young master who had been pampered for years in the story.

While blocking the fireballs spat out by the Demon Bird, Eli mocked him in a flat voice. “For a grown man, your body really is pathetic. If you’re weak, train more. If you die someday, no one’s going to collect your corpse.”

Richter took out a blanket and spread it over the filthy ground. Only after sitting down did he reply carelessly, “Did Eli drink poison just now? Did saying that make your unfortunate life feel slightly more triumphant?”

Eli said, “Can’t see yourself clearly, can you?”

Seeing this inexplicable war of words about to begin again, Cynthia had no intention of interfering at first-until she realized the two of them were getting so caught up in their insults that they’d started neglecting their defense.

A feather struck her in the back, and pain, followed closely by numbness, spread through her entire body.

Cynthia’s eyes darkened. She endured it, then endured it again, only to discover she couldn’t endure it one bit.

She took a deep breath and suddenly shouted, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“?!” Sangmo and Vernel were both startled by this sudden, deranged roar.

Why had she suddenly gone crazy?