Chương 16: Chapter 17: Death Parade

After Jim had met Alice and tentatively decided to evacuate from Sredina with her, he started ambling towards the divination classroom. Jim walked past the classrooms for mathematics, spell creation and alchemy, before ending up in front of an unassuming wooden door which led into the divination classroom.

"You're taking this class?" the blue-haired Dew blurted out when she looked up from her shaping exercise and saw that it was him.

"Don't worry. I'm seriously reconsidering the decision," Jim told her blithely before sitting down in one of the amphitheatre seats and summoning forth his own two rings and trying to turn one of them into a square.

"Still working on the third circle, huh?" Dew asked rather rhetorically.

"I just passed Kyros' exam this morning, which is freeing me up to take another elective."

"Isn't that what you wanted? If I remember correctly, you were standing around in front of the teacher's building to ask how many you could take," Jim replied in a bored tone of voice. Dew opened her mouth as she looked at him, before narrowing her eyes and closing it again.

"I don't remember seeing you that day," she suddenly asked suspiciously. Jim froze, realising that the event had occurred in one of his visions and that he technically wasn't supposed to know about it. He snorted.

"I know more than you think," he ended up saying mysteriously. A blue eyebrow was raised.

"Yeah? What's the second fermeatic law of thermocreatic mana conversion then?" she asked. A blank look, hands in the pockets.

"As if I'd tell you, go find out for yourself," Jim ended up saying derisively.

"Do I look like a library?" Other students streamed in, followed by professor Kalypso, an older dark-skinned woman dressed in yellow robes who went to the front while everyone else seated themselves. Instruments were already laid out on the tables. A relatively flat wooden bowl filled with water alongside a similar bowl flipped on the wrong end with a small amount of light coming out from where the rim met the table.

"Welcome to the second lecture of an Introduction to Divination," the professor announced.

"Without further ado, let us begin. In front of you, there is one of the simplest and most easily accessible mediums for divination, a calm surface of water. Next to that water is an upended bowl containing a secret message written on a piece of parchment. Your goal today will be to use the water surface to divine the contents of the secret message without picking up either bowl. You will do this by channeling clear mana in a circular pane on top of the water in front of you and trying to see inside."

Students raised their hands while Jim simply sat there wide-eyed, amazed that the professor had managed to say all that without taking a single breath. It was as the topic drifted towards a deeper explanation of the divination spell and its requirements that Jim started slowly but surely drifting off. An unfortunate side-effect of his rather terminal allergy to classrooms and lecturing.

His head supported by a propped-up hand, he began executing his famous technique of dozing with his eyes open as the professor took a few steps back and started drawing obscure symbols on the blackboard while gesticulating with her free arm. Jim was gone.

-/- In addition to being able to fall asleep with his eyes open and still look like a relatively attentive student, Jim also had the uncanny ability to awaken from this slumber the second the class structure shifted to something requiring his participation or attention. At which point he was usually capable of bluffing his way through.

"Good, now that the theory is done, feel free to start your first attempts," Professor Kalypso said happily, putting down the chalk she'd been using and leaving the blackboard a scrawling mess of undecipherable symbols. Jim looked around at the other students, and other than a select few, most of them looked just as lost as he felt. He saw Professor Kalypso suddenly start walking up the stairs towards the seat that he was using and turned a serious gaze towards the clear bowl of water in front of him.

He could see the wood underneath the surface and his own handsome reflection. He summoned a mana ring and wrestled it into the form of a circular thin cover quite easily. Unfortunately, the circle was still a bit too small to perfectly overlay the water in the bowl, and his attempt at increasing the circumference failed and caused the shaping exercise to pop out of existence in a bright sparkle of blue.

"A good first attempt at the shaping exercise, but you'll have to learn to fill the full diameter of the bowl on the water level," Professor Kalypso said, coming to a stop next to him. Jim frowned and formed a bubble composed of small hexagonal plates.

"I don't understand. Size is supposed to be handled by the spell matrix. Why do I have to adjust it myself?" he asked.

"The mage shield spell only serves as an intermediary to control the shape and movement of the bubble; it changes nothing about the quality of the mana composition, as mana naturally serves as a shield for the user without additional input. Most other forms of magic beyond this necessitate changes in the quality of the mana being used. This can usually be handled by the spell matrix at first, before the user gains a deeper understanding of the underlying qualities needed.

However, if the spell matrix controls the quality, the requirements for shaping become higher. Forcing a spell matrix to perform too many functions causes it to destabilise, or worse, dangerously exhaust the user," she explained kindly. Jim nodded and pretended that he'd listened. He'd gotten the gist.

"So, until I can make this circle fit into the bowl, there's no point in trying the spell," he eventually determined.

"Yes, but after that, you will still have to try and make your mana as see-through as possible, make it seem like it's not even there. You'll find that being able to confer this quality to spells is also useful for combat. After all, it's harder to defend against an attack one can't see."

"I see," Jim muttered.

"I'll just have to get started then," he determined.

"Do your best; these are the only two basic prerequisites. There are more levels to the shaping exercise for higher tier spells, but we can leave that for the future," the professor said before promptly moving on to the next student in need of assistance. Alone again, Jim sullenly glared at the bowl of water in front of him. He looked to the left just in time to catch Dew throwing him a smug look, a perfect circle hovering above her palm. He maturely stuck out his tongue at the annoying girl before getting to work.

-/- It was days after the first divination class that Jim was seriously reconsidering his life choices in front of the large square building, which held the illusion field used by Professor Quatzel to commit war crimes against his students.

"You sure we can't complain about this class with the headmaster?" Chemirk asked lazily as the rest of the students slowly joined them. Evergreen for his part simply scoffed, shaking his head, brown locks going everywhere.

"Quatzel has been a professor at this academy for more than three centuries. I sincerely doubt people haven't already tried." He paused.

"Also, I already asked Professor Vector, she said no."

"Maybe with my family's influence we could finally accomplish something," Jim interrupted in a stressed tone of voice. He was getting used to dying, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed it. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Chemirk and Evergreen both turned to give him a dismissive look.

"You don't have to be here if you don't want…" Evergreen eventually cursed.

"What are you even talking about?"

"I don't have a choice," Jim eventually muttered.

"There are dark forces gathering. Those of us who cannot shine at night will be extinguished by morn'." He probably wanted to be here less than everyone else, but if he wanted to survive the upcoming storm, he needed to fully utilize his talents. The world was dangerous, way more dangerous than he'd ever thought in the past.

"You're turning into a poet and a seer after that one class of divination you took?" Chemirk asked dubiously.

"He's right," Evergreen said in agreement.

"The international situation isn't looking good. My family told me that if I can't reach the fourth circle by the end of this year, I likely won't have anything to contribute."

"Funny," Chemirk noted.

"My father told me that if I can't make the fourth circle by the end of the year, he'll send me to the front. Be it the one to the east or the one to the west. A talentless prince is more useless than nipples on a man. If you can't contribute prestige, you'll contribute a martyr to the family. That's what he said."

"My family just wants Second Circle. It's enough to defend some trade caravans, and a mage in the family is always prestigious," Jim muttered.

"But Second Circle doesn't suffice anymore. There are criminals out there casting Supernova."

"Where?" Evergreen asked dubiously. Jim gave the other boy a complicated look. Despite coming from an aristocratic military background, Evergreen obviously wasn't as well-informed as he thought. Or were the Evergreens maybe in bed with the headmaster? For that matter, Chemirk was a part of the royal family, which was most definitely scheming something.

It was odd that he was even talking to the two, considering they'd never spared him a glance in the past, but his sheer brilliance had always made it a relatively common occurrence that people sought his favour. Two more students suddenly joined the trio.

"Orphan, Waterfowl," Jim greeted distractedly. The blonde Mitelos idiot gave him a happy wave while Waterflower simply glared at him.

"Go die," the blue-haired girl told Jim, causing Chemirk to snicker. The girl then turned to Evergreen.

"Why'd you call us here early, Marcus?" she asked.

"I could have continued studying." Evergreen, seemingly as exasperated as Jim at the girl's studiousness, rolled his eyes.

"You probably tried to find out more about the course from the older years," he posited. The girl nodded.

"They didn't want to say anything. One older girl just reassured me not to worry. There's only ever been one actual fatality in the last hundred years." She paused and frowned.

"It didn't really make me feel better."

"It seems to be some sort of hazing ritual," Chemirk added lazily.

"The older students had to figure out this mess of a lesson themselves, so now they want us to have a similar experience. It's kind of like when my older brother slipped me poison a few days after I was born. You know, to welcome me to the family." Jim turned to the prince with wide eyes.

"Really?" he asked.

"Did you survive?" Chemirk and Herus laughed while Evergreen palmed his face. Dew simply rolled her eyes all the way into her forehead.

"Don't laugh at my joke," Jim muttered angrily at the blonde Mitelosian.

"Then stop being such a fucking clown, Savant," Evergreen interrupted.

"How you made it into the top three, I'll never know. Even if your magical skills improved vastly, your brain is still lagging behind a few decades." Jim stopped listening after the compliment about his magical skills and looked at his nails in disinterest.

"Don't compliment me," he rebuked.

"It was a given."

"Ugh-" Waterflower groaned before Evergreen interrupted the two of them.

"Anyway, I was able to ask around recently, and now that I've done one class, people are more willing to open up. Quatzel's game is actually relatively simple." He held up three fingers.

"There are essentially three different variables. His skill-set, the quality of his skillset, and the environment."

"I saw him doing some mental arithmetic with his fingers. Idiot still uses his joints like an abacus," Jim commented idly.

"Exactly, he uses some sort of calculation to decide what area of magic he's going to exhibit. Sometimes it's fire magic, sometimes it's large destructive spells like supernova, and other times it's body enhancement." Jim unconsciously rubbed at his chest, remembering when the lich had put a fist straight through his body with a punch. The damn bag of bones jumping around impossibly high and kicking and punching people to their deaths was definitely not something he'd expected, or wanted to ever see again.

"The second variable is the quality of his magic," Chemirk said with a sigh.

"Sometimes he's as strong a sixth circle combat mage, and sometimes he jumps straight to archmage territory." Evergreen nodded.

"The other students told me that he goes higher in the beginning. Apparently, learning how to cut your losses and successfully escaping is the first skill we should develop. In the future, he will also include fourth and fifth circle combat strength."

"Even the fourth circle is problematic in the hands of a centuries-old archmage. Even if he keeps to only three simultaneous spells with low output, he has way too much experience," Waterflower interrupted. The trio of students who had already attended a class shared a defeated look and shrugged.

"The third variable is the environment," Evergreen finished.

"Sometimes it's water, sometimes it's trees, and sometimes it's a mountain."

"That sounds relatively easy, actually," Herus piped up. Jim wanted to grumble about who'd asked him, but this time Waterflower came to his rescue.

"With three variables of several possibilities each, he basically never repeats an exact scenario," the girl muttered angrily.

"How is this simple?" The blonde-haired boy blinked innocently with his big blue eyes.

"Well, it doesn't really matter what magic he uses and where he uses it. In the end, it seems that he always does the same thing. You just have to survive."

"Easier said than done," Chemirk said with a defeated sigh.

"I've started learning the hiding in the ground spell. We haven't gotten to the point where the professor runs out of time yet before he gets everyone, but I'm sure the second years will improve enough to hold him off for longer soon enough. Especially if the difficulty is going down and not up."

"Doesn't the royal family have some secret magic?" Herus asked curiously.

"Would that be capable of defeating him?" The temperature around the group dropped, and Evergreen lightly slapped his minion on the back of the head. The magic that the royal family was using to sustain their privileged position would inevitably turn the debate towards politics rather than academics. Chemirk was the only one who seemingly remained unperturbed by the insensitive question.

"Well, that's the thing, isn't it?" he said.

"It wouldn't stay a secret very long if I used it in class."

"I'm going to fight him," Evergreen suddenly announced, seemingly to change the topic.

"I've improved my missiles, my shield, and I have some other surprises I've been working on. If I get lucky and he goes down to fifth Circle with a weak element, I think I could get in a lucky hit." The group suddenly turned to Jim, expectantly.

"What did you prepare?" Chemirk asked curiously. Jim tilted his head.

"Prepare what?"

"A spell to raise your chances of survivability," Chemirk elaborated. Jim had, in fact, been working on divination and the shaping exercise that would allow him to cast mana missile and the shield at the same time. As for Combat Magic 2, he'd mostly been trying not to think about it. He couldn't not answer though…

"You guys aren't thinking strategically," he said.

"Every week, more people will be joining because they graduated from CM1. By default, the number of people between the professor and me will be higher every time. I didn't even do anything, and my chances of survival have already increased." He turned to Evergreen and shot him a thumbs up.

"Do your best. I believe in you. You guys are the real heroes," he said genuinely. Evergreen suddenly lurched forward, fist raised, red face and had to be held back by both Herus and Chemirk.

"Let me at him!" the militant boy shouted.

"Let me fucking at him!"

"Hey, first years!" a voice suddenly called from behind the group, causing them to turn around. Hayate, the sickly-looking Shufian boy, was looking at them with exasperated eyes. He jerked his head towards the building.

"Class is starting soon. You don't want to find out what happens if you're late!" Jim nodded and followed the older student into the large square building. The other four first years followed behind him, as was only proper. -/- Combat Magic 2 and Divination continued as normal in the following weeks. In a way, the schedule wasn't all too different from the one Jim had glimpsed in his visions.

CM2 took about as much time as CM1 had taken, and the addition of divination was manageable considering how it allowed Jim to daydream about how he'd catch all the Mitelosian criminals in the country soon. The only things that really changed were the fact that he was slightly more focused on his studies.

He still spent about 1/20th of the time studying and practising that Waterflower did, but he justified that to himself with the fact that the poor girl was simply afflicted with a lower amount of talent and thus had to put in more hours. The additional hour or two spent in the library and in the training fields was taken away from the fact that his visions had ruined several adventure novels for him by spoiling the ending.

Similarly, the Red Lantern held less appeal when he already remembered trying the new girls whenever they came. His visits decreased drastically, and he now drank and relaxed there only a few times per week. His motivation for living up to his potential had certainly increased from the past, but the fact that Alice had already planned an exit strategy for him in hopes of getting into his good graces let him relax more than he otherwise would have been able to. Depending on her status, they would make a good match.

The woman certainly knew her place, visiting him and fawning over his prophetic abilities. She asked him if he'd seen anything new every few days, always managing to find him in the most random locations, such as the alleyways leading towards the red light district and once even in his very own academy dorm room while he slept. He'd been shocked to find her sitting next to his bed when he woke up.

But her beatific smile and the red twinkle in her eyes assured him that she was doing this solely out of respect for someone in his position so as to waste as little of his time as possible. It was like this that the days until the forced academy conscription slowly fell from the calendar in Jim's room, landing on the floor and finding themselves inevitably crumpled up and in the trash can alongside some empty wine bottles and the occasional perforated sock.