The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 114

The Archmage Glockt was a character from the past, but his name was mentioned quite often throughout . The reason for that is because the legacy he left behind was large.

He’d made various achievements in his research and had been recognized by various academic societies—whether it be in the field of elemental studies, monster ecology, herbal medicine, operation of magic power, principle of resonance, elementalism, or others. He was also a royal magician leading the extermination of monsters, worked a few years as a mercenary, saved city-states located out on the frontier, and even subjugated the ultimate fire spirit Theorpis and the ultimate water spirit Friede at the same time… He truly lived the life of a hero.

After retiring, he inherited the will of his teacher, the Great Sage Silvenia, and devoted his effort to nurturing future generations. He also invested all of the assets he had accumulated throughout his life to fund research in the field of education and other different types of academic societies. It was said that he spent little to no money on himself.

Traces of that still remained at Silvenia Academy.

There was Glockt Hall, which was one of the three buildings of the Student Center. There was the Glockt Scholarship Foundation that I was indebted to. And even Glockt’s magic theories had remained a constant within the curriculum.

If the Great Sage Silvenia was the one that founded Silvenia Academy, then one could say that it was Archmage Glockt that was the first contributor to the success and development of said academy, turning it into the world’s best education institute.

That was all information that I read in the settings book of the game, as well as all the stories I heard and remembered of him since I arrived in that world. After all, he was one of the most important figures in the history of magic.

However, nothing was known about his final years. At the very least, not in the history books.

Still… I knew a little bit about it. That was because went into detail, to some extent, on Lucy’s past.

After he felt that all his assets were gone and he did all that he could… he hid in the massive Lamelin Mountain Range, northwest of the continent.

There, he found Lucy abandoned in a monastery.Taking her in and raising her, he quickly started to recognize her talent with magic. She also had the Blessing of the Stars, which allowed her to grow quickly.

But if there was something unexpected… You could say that it was the fact that Lucy’s talent with magic was far greater than Glockt had thought.

Even if she had been left alone, she would have come to understand her magic power on her own, making a name for herself as a magician. But she just so happened to meet a teacher that was considered a great Archmage that would forever go down in history… Possibilities and coincidences met, causing a chemical reaction. That resulted in a gemstone with tremendous talent.

Regardless, the Archmage Glockt spent his twilight years deep in the Lamelin Mountain Range.

He lived his life while keeping himself interested in his hobbies. He took up writing, did the chores necessary to survive in the wild, and honed the jewel of humanity known as Lucy Mayreel… But eventually, that life of his came to an end.

A rainy day in a shabby cabin.

Archmage Glockt had become completely worn out, to the point that his past as a legendary man that once commanded the world and led the history of mankind was no longer visible.

His back was hunched over, and wrinkles were all over his body. Half of his face couldn’t be seen because of his shaggy beard, and his frail, white hair had become rough, without any life to it.

There was no family to watch over him. His wife, whom he met when he was still young, had lost her life while subjugating Theorpis. And all of those whom he could call his comrades had already died.

After becoming one of the greatest men in history, all the people he began to meet were those that either feared him, or tried to take advantage of his fame. After all, the person that sat at the top would always be lonely.

He lived a long and difficult life.

His life was so full of so many ups and downs that, if weaved into a book, a massive action-adventure epic could have easily been made.

Still, there was still someone at the end of his life that would carry on his will. That fact alone was enough for him to believe he had lived a fairly successful life.

A night, where the sound of the heavy rain fell against the cabin’s roof.

And just like that, a magicians’ journey had come to an end.

“And so, my journey began. But now here it ends.”

“It ends…?”

At sunset.

A time that connected the lively daytime of Acken Island to the calm night.

The sky was dyed red, ready to face the long night that was about to come.

Around the time the eastern sky was slowly accepting the darkness, Lucy and I went walking for quite some time.

Lucy grabbed one of my arms as she led the way. I continued to walk while keeping a moderate stride.

If she were to fly around using any sort of weight-lightening magic, or if she were to utilize her magic power a bit more aggressively, she could travel long distances with Spatial-type magic. She even had a history of flying to Ophelis Hall from the North Forest in an instant after she became furious, pouring out her magic power.

And yet, Lucy was choosing to walk unnecessarily slowly. It seemed that she wanted to keep pace with me and tell me about something as we headed to the destination.

“For now, you can stop holding my hand and walk normally. I’m not going anywhere.”

We stepped out of the North Forest, passed through the commercial district, and were nearing the western coast. That meant we had been walking for quite some time.

As we continued to walk, passing through the commercial district, the people around us kept on staring—making me feel on edge.

That was because the sight of Lucy grabbing my arm while dragging me around was quite strange to all those around us.

Lucy was known as the top student in all of Silvenia and a once-in-a-generation, legendary magician. Although her face might not be well known… there were still going to be people that recognized her. Especially among the students at Silvenia.

It was rather uncomfortable, having to receive the strange glances of people as we passed through the commercial district. And my arm was getting numb from having been stretched out for such a long time.

“It feels like I’m being dragged along. So, you can stop.”

As I said that, Lucy looked down at her arm and then looked up at my face.

Her eyes were still blank, yet I somehow felt more emotion from them than before. Whatever the case, it was said that after knowing someone for a long time, you were bound to open your heart to them somehow. It was just surprising that such a little girl, who looked like a talking doll, was slowly starting to look more like a human being.

Lucy then let go of my arm and started to twist the ends of her white hair for a moment. She then pulled down on her large witch hat as she nodded her head.

“So, where are we going…? Can’t you just tell me where we are going first…?”

“The West Coast of Acken Island. We are almost there.”

“Isn’t that just a seashore? Did you suddenly want to see the ocean? Though, I don’t think that’s the case.”

“…….”

Lucy was about to say something, but as if it was going to be difficult to explain, she just shook her head.

Then, flapping the excess of her sleeves, she waved her hand in the direction we were heading. There wasn’t a need to say anything, so I just nodded my head as I continued to follow Lucy.

“Do you know where that old man’s hometown is…?”

“The archmage Glockt? I think it was mentioned that he came from the lawless zone of Kohelton to study in a private school?”

Lucy shook her head.

“That’s just the place where the old man spent his childhood.”

“What…?”

“The history book was wrong.”

That was also strange. The fact that a person that could confidently say the history book itself was wrong was right in front of me.

It must have been a story that Glockt had personally told Lucy, so Lucy was probably right.

“Then…?”

“Here, in Acken Island.”

“……..”

Lucy looked up at the vast early evening sky while fixing her hat.

A few birds were disappearing into the distant forest, under the setting sun.

From that moment on was a territory that was completely outside of the storyline. And it was even a story outside of the history books.

It was not in the setting book for , nor was it in the history books of the world. It was completely hidden knowledge.

“When the old man was going around studying, there weren’t any major schools here on Acken Island like this. Just a few indigenous villages and monster tribes.”

“That would have been the case back then. In the first place, only after the massive subjugation of the monsters here on Acken Island was Silvenia Academy able to be established.”

“Actually, back then there was a Silvenia Academy. But it was very small in size and… It was embarrassing to even call it a school. I was told it was just a singular private building that held classes.”

A school established by the Great Sage Silvenia on Acken Island. A time where it wasn’t famous yet and they couldn’t afford to recruit studious students.

What kind of childhood did Glockt have when he met Silvenia on Acken Island… Neither Lucy nor I knew.

‘Silvenia Academy is a treasure that my teacher, Silvenia Robester, devoted her entire life to for the advancement of academics.’

‘Here in this precious treasure, there are many predicted ordeals that will eventually arrive. Of course, only Silvenia herself, who was a researcher of Celestial Magic, could properly see it.’

‘After the rain falls, the ground will harden. Most of the ordeals that arrive will be overcome by Silvenia Academy itself… But an ordeal that cannot be overcome without the help of your strength will also surely come.’

‘When that time comes, for the sake of this old man… Could you please lend your strength…? Lucy.’

“I don’t know what was so great about it, but that old man only talked about the days he spent here at Acken Island, learning. And until the moment he died, he continued to worry about this school. He was a real stupid old man.”

“……”

“The place that old man considered to be his true hometown was here, Acken Island… So, there’s nothing else I can do.”

Nothing I can do? Just what in the world was she talking about? I wanted to ask, but I was completely speechless.

When I started to imagine what she meant, I couldn’t help but worry about it.

As I said before, from that point on it was completely unknown territory.

It was a story that wasn’t told in the storyline or in the history books… That was why I couldn’t help but worry about it.

Archmage Glockt had met the end of his life in a cabin up in the Lamelin Mountain Range, northwest of the continent. And Lucy was the one that was by his side, watching over him.

She was saddened by the loss of the old man, who was like her own father and teacher. But life continued to flow. All that was left for Lucy was a shabby cabin without an owner, and a cold, lifeless corpse.

There came a time when one had to choose their own life. A time where the cradling and protection of oneself came to an end.

So, what was the first thing that Lucy wanted to do? First off, her teacher’s body needed to be taken care of.

It was a terribly sad thing to do, but it wasn’t difficult. At that time, Lucy must have already raised her skills in magic quite a bit. So, she should have been able to cautiously use her magic to gently bury her teacher in the ground.

However, she didn’t do that.

After that, I listened to Lucy’s explanation.

“……”

Walking along the west coast, Lucy told her story. I continued to listen to her story while only occasionally responding.

She covered his body with a blanket, then tied him up with a leather rope as she cast freezing magic to stop his body from decaying. And by using floating magic, even though the magic power efficiency wasn’t great, she could still carry him quite easily.

However, after keeping it up for an hour most magicians would have already been completely exhausted. But since she was Lucy, it was possible.

She quickly gathered all the food and other junk from the cabin into a leather backpack. And with that, she left Lamelin Mountain Range.

Her destination… the southernmost point of the continent, Acken Island.

Goosebumps began to run down my spine.

Even if you were to open up a world map, pick up a quill, and draw a line straight down… It was still a distance that would take quite a while to reach.

From the Lamelin Mountain Range all the way to the southernmost point.

Passing through The Great Forest of Urekle and The Great Lakes of Alka to get to the land of alchemy, Krett, and then through Meylan Plains to get to the Holy City Karpea. From the Denkin wetlands until finally reaching the border of the Kroel Empire. Then, continuing downstream along the Telden River to reach the Commercial City of Oldek, Countess Aolin’s territory, Baron Islam’s territory, Countess Sale’s territory, Duke Rothstaylor’s territory, Marquis Feder, and Countess Tess’ territory. Passing through the Zenit Mountain Range and crossing through Dres River, and then southwest of Zahul’s frontier territory, going through the Great Forest of Kranfell, traveling through the empty plains for a long while before finally Mexes Bridge, which connected to Acken Island, coming into view from a distance.

During that journey, she continued to use magic to preserve her teacher’s body, as well as floating magic to carry him. She also needed to maintain the magic on herself so that she could move. She endured it all, until the very end.

“…How long did it take?”

“Three months. I got a little lost.”

By the time she arrived… it must have been hard to say that she even looked human.

The place Lucy was guiding me to turned out to be a coastal cave, which had to be entered from the far-off outskirts of the western coast.

It was a cave that only showed itself when you got close to the cliff, after walking along the coast for quite a while.

Going inside with Lucy, I was surprised to see how large it was. I didn’t know if it was a naturally large cave or if Lucy had widened it.

I called it a cave, but light from the outside seeped in through the cracks of the broken rocks. Because of that, the inside of it was rather bright.

After walking around inside for quite some time, suddenly the wide-open landscape started to show itself again. The outer wall had been completely torn down, so you could easily look out at the open sea.

It was a place where the sun shone, and the cool sea breeze blew in. It was a place that was always cool. The flowers that bloomed among the rocks swayed with the wind.

Next to the grave, there was a roughly-made tombstone created from the rocks that were sticking out.

And in front of the tombstone were all sorts of miscellaneous things. Probably things that the owner of the tombstone owned when he was still alive.

“This place…”

“It was difficult to find, since I could only go off the fragmented stories that he told me a long time ago… But I still searched the entire island for a week just to find it. And in the end, I somehow managed to.”

Lucy walked past the tombstone as she sat facing the sea.

“This is the place where the Archmage and the Great Sage exchanged teachings and trained.”

The cave that overlooked the sea was a place of deeply buried memories of the dead Archmage.

Was it the place where his final memory took place? Rather than when he was actively traveling across the continent, was it there, where he trained in magic while arguing with his teacher?

At least for Lucy, it seemed that way. All that was left was a tombstone nestled in an open cave.

The wind blew. It was a damp sea breeze.

Lucy’s hair, which was beautifully tied into two sections, danced in the wind as it glistened a strange red color to match the red sky of the late evening.

I calmly walked towards the tombstone as I looked at all the relics that were lying around. It was all sorts of junk, like a shabby wand and an old robe.

“……”

However, a book caught my eye.

A regular person…. Wouldn’t have been able to hold in their gasp.

[Introduction to Celestial Magic – Author, Glockt Elderbane]

“……”

I didn’t bother unnecessarily showing my emotions. However, if you studied even a little bit of magic, you would know about it.

Celestial Magic… there was no such thing as an ‘Introduction’ to it.

It was a field of magic in which a clear system had yet to be established, even though countless genius magicians had studied it for a long, long time. It was an area of magic research that was like a mountain that had yet to be conquered.

Until the moment the Archmage Glockt died… He was writing a book that established a system for Celestial Magic. Although it wasn’t published in the end, a draft of it had already been completed to some extent, seeing as it was in the form of a book.

The value it held was indescribable, even if you were to convert it into monetary value as well.

The old memoirs Glockt wrote as he visited the southern continent and studied the magic of their region. Those alone had sold for about 7000 gold coins.

He had said that his trip to the southern continent would be his last book. But was he really preparing for a final posthumous work, using his last remaining bit of strength?

If that posthumous work of his really was a book that contained an explanation of Celestial Magic… At the very least, I was not in a spot where I could measure its value.

“You can take it. Either way, I already know how to do it, so I don’t need it.”

Lucy, who was sitting on her knees and looking out at the sea… slowly spoke.

That book was a keepsake of Glockt. I understand just what that meant to Lucy, so I couldn’t just respond to her half-heartedly.

However, Lucy continued to look up at the sky as she carefully spoke.

“This is where my journey ends.”

From the Lamelin Mountain Range to Acken Island.

Just imagining it, it was a hellish journey. But the reason she was able to finish it in the end must have been because of the regret she had towards her teacher that was left behind.

“However, I still haven’t even lived half the life I have been given. So, I might start another journey, or maybe I will just stay like this until the end. Still… I plan to keep the promise I made with that old man.”

“The promise that if a crisis befalls Silvenia, you will protect it at least once?”

“That is my last obligation.”

The question of how she knew that would happen never came back up. It was because I had already heard of the will that Glockt left behind for Lucy.

That last promise was the reason Lucy had yet to leave Silvenia. It was also the last thing stopping her from moving on with her life.

Only after keeping that promise would she be able to completely let go of Glockt…

“I’m afraid of the ‘emptiness’ that will come after I take care of all of this.”

Lucy had a lot to say.

However, her voice had lowered. She looked completely dazed as she sat there.

On the other hand, the sky she looked up at was still as peaceful and beautiful as ever.

Lucy, who must have lived while watching Glockt’s twilight years up close, must have realized just how frightening it was to be thrown into the vast wide world without any reason to live.

She knew it herself. That she was born with an incredibly strong power.

If she decided to become the best magician on the entire continent, she might even be able to surpass Silvenia and Glockt at their peak, both of whom were known as legendary magicians.

But what was the meaning of life if all that remained at the end was emptiness?

That’s why the girl was searching for a reason to live. Was she going to run away from the void for the rest of her life, just like her teacher had done?

Her teacher had memories of that coastal cave as well as with Silvenia. There were quite a few memories he had to reflect on at the end of his life.

But what about Lucy? Sometimes she had excitement about things, but sometimes she also had a fear that weighed heavily on her chest, putting her to sleep.

That was why she couldn’t help but be lazy.

She couldn’t do anything but lose interest in the world and continue living with the flow.

After coming to Acken Island and burying her teacher, the first journey of her life had been completed to some extent.

At that point, the girl’s world had been gradually becoming colorless.

After coming to this grave, had she started to feel depressed?

The girl sniffled as she hugged her knees. Not to the extent she was crying, but just because she was a little down. Because that was all in the past.

Lucy spoke in a soft tone of voice.

“It’s not a very pleasant story, and it’s not that fun to listen to. But it would be troublesome to come back to this place again…”

Behind her, sitting quietly in front of the tombstone, I quietly listened to her without saying anything.

“I just wanted to show it to you.”

For the girl that was looking up at the sky, there was only one ordeal left for her.

After that, she would be able to live her own life, completely free from the shadow and restraints her teacher had placed on her.

However, a life without direction was like a ship lost in the current.

Because I didn’t know that feeling at all… I just sat there with Lucy for a long time.

The sun was setting in the western sky.

The occasional sound of the crashing waves echoed against the walls of the cave.

Thanks to the cool breeze of the late spring, even after sitting for a long time it was neither too cold nor too hot.

That was quite fortunate.