How to Survive at the Academy - Chapter 23

How to Survive at the Academy

Chapter 23: Glasskan Subjugation Expedition (3)

The phrase ‘rags to riches’ wasn’t enough to fully explain the miracle that was Zigg’s life.

The barbaric grasslands up north were a place that the empire has no rule over. It was a place where one constantly worries about their potential death every day. Ziggs was a descendant of the nomadic people who resided in these lands.

By the time he had grown enough, he was already separated from his family. He didn’t know when or why he was abandoned, or if he would ever be capable of reintroducing himself back to the company of others.

Rather than learning how to read, Ziggs learned how to cut the throat of a deer. Rather than learning how to purchase things from stores, he learned how to procure supplies from roadside corpses. His life was closer to an animal than to a human being.

“Ziggs, you’re like a wolf that walks on two feet.”

Ziggs reflexively nodded his head at Elka’s words the first time they met. 

The reason why she said that was obvious. The first time they met, Ziggs had a filthy appearance as he dragged an elk’s corpse behind him, his shaggy hair hanging down his face.

Elka was the only one who knew how different his current neat and tidy appearance was from how he was before. 

But the reason why Ziggs nodded then was not just because of his shabby appearance.

Their first meeting was but a distant story now. The civilized world moved much faster than Ziggs had expected, so much so that he could no longer remember what his life in the grasslands was like, back when his every day was the same.

When Elka’s archaeologist father discovered Ziggs’s talent in magic. When they brought him to their mansion. The first time he had a proper meal of warm soup and bread. When he learned the rules of civilization, step by step. When he first used elemental magic to pull out an old tree in the mansion’s garden. When he got admitted into Silvenia with Elka. And even the day they walked together to the entrance examination.

Even these passing memories of his life were becoming a distant past.

However, there were some memories that would come to mind whenever he looked up at the sky. 

“Ziggs, you’re like a wolf that walks on two feet.”

He had been living in the vast grasslands. He had eaten the bodies of animals found on the side of the road and had protected himself with the magic he had awakened alone. He had fallen asleep under the moon… 

He was a baby wolf that had been abandoned by the pack.

Ziggs had no choice but to reflexively nod at Elka’s words.

Thinking back on it, he had lived a very lonely life.

The day he first met Elka, Zigss realized what loneliness was.

That was a very old story now.

“Gasp, gasp…”

The date had already changed. It wasn’t until way past midnight when Ziggs finally arrived at the library.

Fluid Spirits and low-ranking spirits were no match for Ziggs, but they were constantly rushing towards him, causing his Vitality to wear down as he ran and used mana to defeat them at the same time.

He would’ve arrived much later if he fought Lortel.

In this situation, when every second and every minute mattered, he felt grateful to Princess Penia for stopping Lortel.

He would have to eventually repay the favor, but paying the price for what he did would have to wait for now.

“Gasp… Gasp… Phew…”

Contrary to what he expected, it was completely quiet around the library.

The annoying spirits that ganged up and attacked him all the way here were nowhere to be found.

However, he found traces left behind.

“This, This is…”

Analyzing the situation using traces left in the environment was not uncommon for Ziggs, who had a strong sense of survival.

There were traces of magic all around the entrance of the library. The cutting marks all over the floor and benches must have come from Wind Blade, and the burnt marks on the empty floor and walls were signs of Ignite.

Ziggs calmly looked around.

It was quiet around the library like usual. It was like nothing has happened despite the disaster that was taking place at the Student Center. The library located on a small hill was still completely in place.

The traces of fighting started at the entrance of the library all the way to the outskirts of the district. This wasn’t a simple defensive battle protecting the base, but a sign showing someone had deliberately beaten all the spirits circling around the area.

There were even footprints at the exact same spot several times. They seemed to have secured the safety of the library like a guard.

Whoever it was had beaten all the spirits around the library.

But it didn’t matter who it was who left these traces. Ziggs quickly rushed inside the library to find Elka. Through the large wooden doors was a lobby with an elaborate corridor extending to both sides.

And right there in the lobby was a familiar boy, laying with his back against a statue. His name came out of Ziggs’s mouth.

“Ed Rothstaylor!”

A boy who was completely exhausted and was resting. A name that made Ziggs lose all reasoning.

Ziggs ran to him like a bullet.

“Eh? What. You.”

Resting against a statue, he rose on one knee supported by an elbow.

Ed Rothstaylor didn’t look quite normal. His school uniform was torn and worn out. His body was a wreck, and his Vitality had completely depleted.  

A boy who is completely exhausted and resting. A name that made Ziggs lose all reasoning. 

He looked like he had been fighting to the extremes. But these were things Ziggs couldn’t afford to pay attention to calmly.

“Elka! Where’s Elka?”

“You… What are you doing here…?”

“Tell me where Elka is first!”

Ed frowned as he looked straight at Ziggs. In any case, he wouldn’t be able to communicate with Ziggs right now, as Ziggs had completely lost his mind. 

“Reading Room 3.”

Ziggs ran to the reading room even before Ed could finish his answer. He had to secure Elka’s safety right away.

He ran like crazy toward the end of the hallway, where a door labeled Reading Room 3 came into view.

But it had an unusual entrance. There were bookcases used as a barricade and a blackout curtain was blocking it from view. Though simple, the reading room looked to be fortified. 

Ziggs removed the curtains hanging from the door, opening it with such force that it broke the sliding door.

“Elka!”

Ziggs entered the room yelling her name. 

And just as he hoped for, Elka was there, safely laying on a desk. She was unconscious, however.

“Elka! Are you okay? Elka!”

Ziggs took a deep breath and observed Elka’s conditions.

She was breathing peacefully. Looking at her from head to toe, there was not a single scratch, and it didn’t seem like she had been attacked by a spirit.

It felt as though black mud was persistently pushing down his throat.

“Haaa…!”

Ziggs collapsed into a chair, his whole body exhausted.

Elka Islam was safe.

That one fact felt like great salvation for the boy. 

“Thank goodness… Really… Thank god.”

He wiped his face for a while, Elka sleeping peacefully in front of him.

Five minutes passed by before Ziggs came back to his senses.

After his breathing had calmed down, and his Vitality had recovered back to some extent, his rational and logical mind began to return. Having confirmed Elka was safe, he was now able to judge the situation objectively.

Ziggs looked around the room.

The windows were completely covered by large bookshelves. A rampant spirit looking through the window wouldn’t have been able to see inside, the view completely blocked. 

And the blackout curtain hanging on the entrance. Since it was a doorway, it wouldn’t have been a good idea to block it with a bookshelf like the windows. In a situation where you would need to run away, a bookshelf would only block your way out. Indeed, the blackout curtains were a good replacement for that.

It was a decision that showed a lot of skill and thought. Since there weren’t enough blackout curtains, the door at the back was blocked by another bookshelf, and outside it was a simple wall of defense, in case there were spirits in the hallway.

It was set up in a way that any other entrance or exit other than the door nearest to Elka would have been dangerous.

“That’s right, Elka. No matter how urgent the situation is, you were always calm and made the right decisions. Of course, it’s not like I didn’t already know that.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Elka, rather, he was so worried he couldn’t bear it. 

However, the more Ziggs thought about it, the more he realized something seemed strange, The reading rooms as barricaded with bookshelves outside. They were so big that even adult men wouldn’t have been able to lift them properly. 

It was hard to believe Elka did everything by herself. She was born weak, enough to even struggle to lift a hand ax.

Then the person who did all of these…

By the process of elimination, there was only one person who could have done it.

“That guy…?”

Come to think of it, he didn’t realize this at first because he wasn’t in his right mind, but Ed Rothstaylor was lying in the middle of the lobby, looking completely exhausted. 

Ziggs heard he was an extremely cruel and selfish person, the biggest piece of trash there was, someone who had no problem backstabbing others.

But looking at this situation right now… it was all too strange.

The traces of a battle outside, and the simple fortress around the reading room to conceal an unconscious girl. On top of that, Ed’s appearance looked like he dealt with all the spirits approaching the library to protect Elka.

The endless onslaught of spirits from the Student Center until here, where a boy was holding his legs together in the lobby, looking worn.

It wasn’t difficult for Ziggs to figure it all out.

“But…”

As someone who lived in the wild, it was obvious to Ziggs what the best course of action would have been in this crisis situation.

It may sound cold and heartless but in a situation such as this, Elka was nothing more than deadweight. 

If you wanted to keep your own life and secure your own safety, the rational and logical way would have been to abandon Elka, or use her as bait and run away. Humans had no choice but to feel guilty for such acts, but humans in need also had no choice but to worry about their own survival.

Ziggs thought that someone like Ed Rothstaylor would have no problem doing such things without any sense of guilt.

That was why Ziggs lost sense of all reasoning and ran all the way here.

“That guy… There’s no way.”

Ziggs couldn’t help but repeat the words again.

Ed Rothstaylor’s reputation in the academy was already rock bottom. You wouldn’t be able to find anyone who approved of him. Ziggs himself had seen that despicable side of his very clearly. 

There was no way a single slice of selflessness could be in such a person. That was what Ziggs thought.

There is no way that there would be even a single piece of selflessness left in such a person. That’s what he had thought.

“Don’t panic when you wake up. And stay right here. Everything should be over before daybreak so you should stay calm and block the entrance. And don’t provoke the spirits. Always think about your own safety first and don’t hastily move about.”

“……”

On the other hand, this was written on the blackboard.

Judging by the crooked letters, you could tell this was written in a hurry.

Even though he was in a hurry and was most likely busy, he brought a blackboard all the way here and set it up, and then wrote this message… it was easy to figure things out.

Ziggs was left with no choice but to sit for a while, staring off into space.

* * *

* * *

[Magic Skills Details]

Grade: Ordinary Magician

Specialized Field: Elements

Common Magic:

܀ Fast Casting Level 5

܀ Mana Sense Level 6

Fire Element Magic:

܀ Ignite Level 12

Wind Element Magic:

܀ Wind Blade Level 11

Spirit-type Magic: 

܀ Spirit Resonance Level 7

܀ Spirit Understanding Level 7

“Ehh, what a shame.”

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh as I crouched down in the lobby of the library.

My beginner magic had finally broken through the wall that was level 10 after training against the spirits til I reached my limit. Ignite had reached level 12, to the extent that I could now one-shot low-ranking spirits with its fire.

It was a good enough foundation to try and start acquiring intermediate magic. I was able to break some ground tonight. 

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of regret.

Spirit Resonance and Spirit Understanding were both at level 7. Just a little bit more…

When the sum of the level of these two skills exceeds 15, the field of spirit-type magic would become available and Spirit Contract slots would open up. Then you could form a contract with an appropriate spirit in proportion to your Intelligence stat, your amount of magic power, and your Spirit Understanding.

My capabilities in combat and production would greatly expand if that were to happen. I would be able to apply various attributes to enchant my arrows using spirit skills. And by raising my production level, I could try and begin crafting basic magic tools with the spirits’ protection.

With such a hopeful dream, I fought and trained until I was completely out of energy in my entire body. But I was ultimately blocked at the very end of the threshold.

I could no longer see any spirits wandering around the academic district. There were no new spirits coming towards the library either.

That clearly meant the Glasskan Subjugation team had already entered the Student Center, marking the start of Phase 2. The main stage for the story would now be the Student Center, where Yennekar was summoning Glasskan.

“This is too cruel. Even though I caught so many…”

The two spirit-type skills had been stuck at level 7 for a while. I kept hoping for one more level, just one more! With that in mind, I defeated and depleted all of my magic until my whole body was completely exhausted. But the experience points I needed at that level had already increased significantly, so both their levels had barely risen.

“I guess this is it… since I’ve only been catching Fluif Spirits and low-ranking spirits.”

If I were to catch a mid-ranking spirit instead, I could probably gain a lot of experience points all at once, and maybe even open up a Spirit Contract slot. 

But I would need to go to the Student Center to do that, and I would have to push past all the low-ranking spirits just to get there. It might be possible now with how much their numbers have dwindled since Phase 2 started, but my body was in too bad a shape to even attempt it.

And not only that, but all the important characters of the main story would be there. And nothing good would come out of hanging around a place where the all-star cast of the first-years was gathered.

I had no choice but to just wait for the next chance. Although disappointed, I called it quits and promised myself to do it another time.

Main story.

After ignoring it for a while, a question came to mind the minute it came up again.

“What is Ziggs doing here?”

I let him in since he was in a hurry, but now that I thought about it, Ziggs was a key member of the subjugation team.

An ominous feeling dawned on me. At that moment, I realized I needed to reorganize this whole situation.

Stomp. Stomp.

I heard footsteps coming from Reading Room 3.

Sure enough, I looked and Ziggs was slowly making his way down the lobby with Elka on his back.

He stopped right in front of me and slowly asked.

“What are you doing here?”

“…..”

I couldn’t read any emotion in his voice. It must have been hard for him to completely ignore me when he saw I was resting and wounded.

“I asked what are you doing here.”

This was a question I didn’t need to lie to answer.

“…training.”

“Ha!”

Ziggs laughed for a bit.

“Haha! That’s quite some training.”

I didn’t expect him to laugh. Ziggs continued to talk in a less serious voice than I had expected.

“This is a crisis situation. We don’t know what will happen next. There’s a barrier all across the sky and spirits won’t stop attacking us… and yet you were here training all by yourself? When you should be worrying about your life?”

And with that, Ziggs stopped smiling.

“No matter how naive a person is, who would believe that.”

“……”

“Okay, I feel like I’m beginning to understand you a bit as a human being. You’re this kind of person in the first place, anyway.”

A stretch of silence engulfed us.

Ziggs looked at me with a serious look on his face, and then after a while, he closed his eyes and got lost in his own thoughts.

After standing still for a long time, what Ziggs did next was completely unexpected.

With Elka still on his back, Ziggs bowed his head and bent all the way to his waist.

“I really owe you a great favor, Ed.”

Ziggs suddenly speaking to him with respect was surprising enough, but the unexpected action made it even more difficult to figure out what would happen next.

TN: Till now, Ziggs has been speaking casually to Ed. 

“I will definitely repay this debt when the opportunity arises.”

It was at this moment that I finally figured out what was going on. That girl Elka on Ziggs’s back was definitely… his lover, or would be his lover, someone who had been with him since their childhood.

I couldn’t help but think about it. Zigg’s past was not given much importance in the game. The name Elka was only mentioned in a supplementary book, so it was an unknown name for even the most dedicated of fans. 

“Then hurry and go back to the Student Center.”

The words came out on their own.

Ziggs, who still has his head down, looked as if he had been stabbed in the lungs.

“Didn’t you abandon the Student Center and run all the way here to save Elka?”

Fortunately, he didn’t ask me how I knew all of that. Ziggs was in shock and didn’t have time to argue about such things.

“I’m not going to scold you for making such a selfish decision. But now that you’ve confirmed Elka is safe, you should go and hurry up and do what you have to do.”

There was no need for me to say much.

Ziggs was one of the most talented first-year students in Silvenia. Ziggs participation would determine the victory or defeat of the subjugation force. There was no need to worry if the main story was progressing the way it should, because if Ziggs was here right now, then the subjugation force itself won’t get established in the first place. 

They may be able to go past Phase 2, but Phase 3 with the high-ranking fire spirit Takan was a different matter  

The only way to break through Takan was with Ziggs.

The main character Taylee would knock off some of Takan’s scales, and then cut his tail off using the Elemental Slash skill. Then Ziggs, who had excellent battle sense and agility, would climb on top of Takan’s body and directly inflict magic damage on its torn flesh.

Takan would scream in pain from this. Meanwhile, Ziggs would make a hole in its neck, and Taylee would jump down from the ceiling to cut it off again.

In order for this battle to happen, Ziggs needed to be there.

“Go and give Taylee a hand. Just do whatever he wants. Some way or another, everything will work out just fine.”

“Taylee… Do you mean Taylee McLaure?”

“That’s right. That guy who barely escapes failing every single day.”

Although, Taylee shouldn’t be that weak nowadays, given that it’s already the Act 1 finale. I’m sure he’d been training to increase his stats. Plus, he had already gone through various events at this point. He must have already gotten some sort of special skill or abilities.

If he had been fostering his skills with optimal efficiency and not wasting an inch, he should be able to use intermediate magic. Although, I didn’t think he would’ve gotten that far by now.

I was sure Taylee’s efforts in raising the level of his skills were not up to my satisfaction. But he should still be trying his best… This episode was when he would receive a swordmaster skill, which meant that he would be able to take care of things by himself soon enough.

Ziggs made a weird face.

“Ed, don’t you hate Taylee?”

Shit!

Since Ziggs saw the incident at the entrance exam, he would’ve definitely felt something was off from my words. 

“This isn’t the time to be arguing about what’s right and wrong.”

I waved my hand, dismissing the topic away.

Either way, he was still an important character in the main story, so I didn’t need to give him more information, nor should I get too close.

“And I don’t see why people value Taylee so highly… I never had the chance to talk with him properly yet…”

“It’s not over-evaluating him. A particular example would be the high-ranking fire spirit Takan. You won’t be able to deal damage to it unless Taylee uses Elemental Slash. It’s not about the destructive power, it’s about the compatibility of the skills in a given situation.”

Since it had already come to this, giving this much of a tip should be fine.

“Listen carefully. Don’t go trying to break through Takan’s scales with magic. Wait until Taylee cuts through the scales with his Elemental Slash. I don’t think there is anyone on the subjugation force with enough pure firepower to break through Takan’s scales. So don’t go around wasting your magic power trying to. Stay calm and wait for the right moment.”

The key to this battle was to attack the part of Takan’s scale that had been exposed by Elemental Slash.

I didn’t really want to give too much away, but I figured I might as well tell him this for insurance. The moment Ziggs appeared at the library, the original timeline had already been messed up anyway. I thought it was only reasonable to take some backup measures such as this. Just in case.

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ziggs seemed like he still had a lot of things to stay, but he held them in and merely accepted everything I had said.

It seemed he may have realized it too. That the summoning circle for Glasskan in the sky kept getting darker and darker. We didn’t have much time left.

“There is a temporary base that the first-year students had built in the Student Square. I’ll escort you there.”

“Forget it. Go by yourself. There’s not much time left so hurry up and get moving. I’m going to just rest here.”

“Ed, you never know when the spirits might come over here again.”

Phase 1 had already ended. The library should be safe from this point onwards. But Ziggs didn’t know that and was worried for me.

“It’s fine, just go. I’ll figure this out.”

“……”

“The most important thing right now is for you to get back to the Student Center. You know that too.”

Even though he already knew that, Ziggs had already left everything behind just to come here. My words seemed to have hit a sore spot as a shadow passed over Ziggs’s face.

“Whether you may be feeling guilt or shame, worry about that after all of this, okay?”

With that, I was able to clearly deliver my message to Ziggs.

Ziggs closed his eyes for a second to weigh in the pros and cons before nodding his with a tern expression. He fixed Elka on his back when he very clearly said.

“Thank you for the advice.”

And just like that, Ziggs headed towards the entrance of the library.

I let out a sigh as I leaned my back against the statue, watching Ziggs walk away.

Ugh, what a headache.

Anyways, this should be the end of that. As long as Ziggs returned back to the Student Center before Phase 3, in one way or another, things should work out fine…

“Hold on a second…”

All of a sudden, I thought of something that made me feel a weird sense of anxiety envelop my chest.

A weird echoing of words was going through my head as I stared at Zigg’s back as he walked away.

I remembered the countless times I played ‘Silvenia’s Failed Swordsmaster’. I understood the basics, did my best to control the variables, and made sure that there were no harmful influences that would affect the main story. 

And yet… I still kept feeling the strange claw of anxiety in my chest. I had no idea where it could be from.

No, if I really thought about it. It was…

“And I don’t see why people value Taylee so highly… I never had the chance to talk with him properly yet…”

It was because of something Ziggs said.

From what I remembered, Ziggs was a supportive character that recognized and helped the main character Taylee. Whether it was a crisis or whenever deemed necessary, Ziggs would work together with Taylee, thus, creating a closer bond between them.

To put it simply, he was a character designated to be the main character’s friend. A ‘reliable colleague’ or a ‘friend’. 

So it was strange he didn’t have much appreciation for Taylee. Wasn’t Act 1 already about to end? Maybe, there wasn’t enough time for them to build a proper bond just yet. 

But even then, Ziggs was talking about Taylee as if he had never even met him before… that was definitely strange.

I went through my memory and wracked my brain for when Taylee and Ziggs became friends for the first time. It was…

‘Act 1 Chapter 9: End of Semester Evaluation.’ 

It was the first time Ziggs and Taylee fought each other in a duel. The story followed their battle and how Ziggs started to recognize Taylee, the boy continuing to grow each every moment of the battle.

But after thinking that far, all kinds of possibilities unfolded in my head.

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

“Hey, Ziggs.”

“Huh?”

I called to him as he made his way out.

“I changed my mind. I should go to the Student Center too.”

It was a place where all the main characters would be gathering. There was no reason for me to go, originally.

But unfortunately… everything had just collapsed.

The finale of Act 1, Glasskan’s Subjugation, was currently underway.

However, I didn’t know why but, the finale happened last night instead of at the end of the semester. It had moved a whole month forward.

There was no way to know why Yennekar’s actions had been accelerated so soon, or what type of variables came into play here. I wasn’t sure if we would ever find out the in future either. But right now, every move Yennekar Palerover would make was like an empty piece of the puzzle.

But there was one fact that I became certain of.

Because Glasskan’s Subjugation happened earlier than scheduled, ‘Act 1 Chapter 9: End of Semester Evaluation’ hadn’t happened yet.

And what did that mean?

A phrase from a strategy guide I read a long time suddenly came to mind.

■ Phase 3: The Battle at Nail Hall’s Corridor

Achievement Condition:

Get to the Combat Practice Field where Elementalist Yennekar is waiting

Appearing Enemies:

High-Ranking Fire Spirit Takan x1

※ The entrance will be different depending on what you chose after defeating Altair. The turning point will pass by quickly so make sure to pay attention. 

※ The key to defeating Takan is to continuously damage its tail using your Elemental Slash, which you should’ve learned from Act 1 Chapter 9. After you cut off the tail using Elemental Slash, use it again to attack the head.

At this point in time, when Act 1 Chapter 9 still hadn’t happened, Taylee didn’t have Elemental Slash just yet… 

But what this meant was that right now, Taylee couldn’t beat Takan.

Needless to say, it meant the collapse of all the major premises of the story.

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