Since the Great Martial Tournament is approaching, there’s no harm in facing some Academy undergraduates beforehand.
If this were early in the first semester, it might be a different story, but now that we’ve passed the break, those in the challenger position are clear.
Who? Academy undergraduates.
Whether they are envious of those who gained access to the Old School Building or simply eager to test their skills, many would want at least one chance to face someone in a one-on-one match.
Thus, Instructor Kadisha initiated a project.
Graduate School. Eventually, various facilities would be built under the name of a graduate school, but for now, a new facility was being constructed.
To lay its foundation, I headed to a certain location with the project members.
“Since we came out to the outskirts of the Old School Building Forest, I feel like the undergraduates are subtly watching us.”
“They are. Even though it’s late in the evening, the fact that people from the Old School Building are out here doing something will definitely stir up a buzz among them.”
“Should we be annoyed that only those who noticed the situation are secretly gathering, or should we be relieved? There are about ten of them within a kilometer, I’d say.”
Near the location, some undergraduate students had already taken up spots or were quietly approaching after noticing our movements.
Of course, since they saw Instructor Kadisha, they assumed it was part of an Academy training exercise and didn’t approach directly.
No matter how desperate they were, few would dare to interrupt what is essentially a nighttime self-study session led by an Academy instructor.
“Alright. This looks like a good spot. Miss Yunia, could you use magic to clear this area into an open space?”
Kadisha stood at the center, taking charge, while Yunia immediately began channeling her mana.
Shhk, shhk, shhk.
Trees were sliced cleanly, leaving only their stumps behind, as blades of wind severed them effortlessly. Ludmila then wielded a Wind Spear, cutting them into appropriately sized logs.
The logs, now neatly chopped like firewood, were then moved by Evangeline’s summoned dolls, arranging them into a broad perimeter that formed a fence around the clearing.
“Yunia, should the stakes be driven in here?”
“There’s no need to place them too precisely. The magic circle can be adjusted accordingly.”
“…Don’t you need to position them exactly for the magic circle to work?”
“As long as the magic circle is structured properly, it can be fine-tuned. No need to stress over perfect placement.”
“Got it.”
Bang, bang, bang.
It wasn’t just any ordinary fence.
Following Evangeline’s coordination with Yunia, the dolls embedded the logs into the ground, serving as the framework for an enormous magic circle.
“How does it look?”
“This… I don’t think there’s even a need to adjust the magic circle.”
“Hehe. Well, the cuts were super clean, and I am pretty good at controlling dolls. Planting stakes in the ground isn’t that hard.”
“Thanks, Evangeline. I’ll proceed with setting up the magic circle now.”
Standing before Instructor Kadisha, Yunia planted her staff into the ground and activated her mana.
“Transformation, Shift, Boundary.”
Rumble, Rumble.
Soon, the remaining tree stumps and roots began to rise as if lifting themselves from the earth, and the surrounding dust settled into the empty spaces.
The boundary was marked by the wooden fence placed by Evangeline.
Each tree moved its roots like feet, settling into place between the stakes, then extending sideways to entwine around them—forming a ring.
“Wow. I’ve never seen a magic circle formed this way before.”
“It’s a spell once used by ancient dryads. It creates magic circles using plants.”
“…Ancient dryads?”
“Something like that.”
Back in the first semester, Yunia had struggled even to reveal her non-attribute magic, but now, she confidently displayed the spells she had learned in front of others.
“Yunia, do you know?”
“Know what?”
“That the ancient dryad’s magic is something no one can use anymore?”
“……Oops?”
At Ludmila’s comment, Yunia turned to look at me, sticking out her tongue playfully as she lightly smacked her forehead.
“Whoops, my bad.”
“If that was a ‘mistake,’ then it was quite the powerful mistake, Miss Yunia.”
“Uh, did I do something really bad?”
“Not exactly.”
Just because Yunia was using ancient magic that had supposedly been lost, it didn’t mean anyone could force her to teach it.
“If there had been a problem with the magic you used, I would have noticed and stopped you long ago.”
“Honestly, Phoenix, I only went ahead because you weren’t saying anything.”
“It’s fine. No matter how much ancient magic you use that humans shouldn’t be able to, it’ll only increase your value. The only downside is that some annoying people might start sniffing around, asking to be taught.”
I gestured toward the tree-ring arena created by the ancient dryad’s magic—a colosseum-like dueling ground woven together by trees.
“They can learn if they want—by defeating you in a 1:1 match. That’s exactly why we built this dueling arena in the first place.”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be the Graduate School?”
“This is the First Dueling Ground, one of the affiliated buildings of the Graduate School.”
I pointed to another open space next to the magic circle that Yunia had laid out.
“We’ll build dormitories a bit farther from here, so this can serve as a training area separate from the research wing, just like the facilities in the Old School Building.”
“If we’re talking about positioning within the Old School Building, wouldn’t this correspond to the Old Library, Junior Phoenix?”
Yurha smiled meaningfully and gestured toward the distance between the location I pointed to and the wooden dueling ground.
“The Old Library…?”
“Now, now, Senior Yurha?”
Before Yurha could say anything more, I quickly covered her mouth with my hand.
“We’ll talk about the Old Library later. Right now, let’s focus on completing this dueling arena. The undergraduate students should line up and establish their own rules, so that before they can enter the Old School Building, they must first pass through this dueling ground.”
“Understood. So, what’s next? If we’re suddenly constructing a facility here…”
“If we build a structure and it gets destroyed during duels, repairing it would be a hassle. That means we need to design an extremely efficient dueling ground that can withstand the battles.”
I turned my gaze toward one of the undergraduate students who had been observing the circular dueling arena, created with ancient dryad magic.
“Miss Shuri?”
“Y-Yes?!”
“If we were to use this space as the foundation, what kind of dueling ground would you want to create?”
“Uh, well…”
“Or… would you like a sample?”
“…A sample?”
“It may be different from what you would create, but I have my own expertise in this field.”
I brought my hands together as if in prayer and gently channeled my mana.
“Field Magic, activate.”
* * *
1 hour later.
“Student Council President Keyarnim. This is the structure that the Old School Building students set up.”
“…Structure?”
Julius Keyarnim, the Student Council President, momentarily clicked his tongue as he observed the massive fortress-like facility built in the clearing of the forest.
“This wasn’t here yesterday, was it?”
“No. It appears to have been suddenly created using magic.”
“…If it weren’t for magic, there’s no way such a facility could have been built so quickly. Student Council members, let’s make sure other students don’t enter recklessly.”
At Julius’ command, the Student Council officers formed a human barricade.
“W-Woah!”
“This is our chance to witness the magic of the Old School Building students!”
“Abuse of power by the Student Council!!”
The undergraduates beyond the barricade clenched their fists and shouted, but Julius simply smiled, his hands casually clasped behind his back.
“The Great Martial Tournament is fast approaching. Since even the Student Council officers want to achieve excellent results in the tournament, we can’t just let this opportunity slip by.”
“That’s exactly what abuse of power is…!”
“Then break through with force.”
“!!”
At Julius’ declaration, the undergraduates hesitated.
Those who had been standing idly just moments ago now gripped their weapons and pointed them at the opposition as if they had been waiting for this moment.
“Did you call this an abuse of power? No. This is an oppression by strength.”
“T-The Student Council is fighting for itself…!”
“We are maintaining order in advance, for the students. Right now, you are nothing more than rabble disturbing the Old School Building students.”
Snap.
With a flick of Julius’ fingers, the battle between the Student Council and the undergraduates erupted.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As the fight began, Julius stepped forward, summoning his rapier into his hand and entering the fortress-like facility.
Step, Step.
The moment he crossed the entrance, Julius saw it.
Unlike its outward appearance, the interior was much larger than expected.
A battlefield marked with lines.
And on the other side of that battlefield, a woman stood with her arms crossed.
“You’ve arrived, challenger.”
“Cutting Wind?”
“I… I am…”
Blushing slightly, the woman took a deep breath and then proudly declared her designated line.
“T-The Gym Leader of this training hall! Ludmila!”
Unfolding her arms, Ludmila pulled out an object resembling a badge.
“Only those who defeat the Eight Gym Leaders and collect all the badges may enter the main building of the Old School!”
* * *
Champion.
That glory shall belong to a graduate student.
