The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 241

Crackle.

The soft duvet tickled the tip of her nose, making her scratch her face a few times. Eventually, she would drift off to sleep, enjoying the crackling sound and warmth of the fireplace.

Lucy Mayreel, a small girl, was hidden beneath the blanket, with only her head peeking out.

In front of the warm fireplace—which felt as comforting as several fluffy blankets—sat an old magician.

As if wanting to tend to the fire before Lucy fell asleep, he poked the burning logs a few times with an iron poker.

Glockt Elderbane was old and had difficulty controlling his body. He had grown so frail that Lucy worried even the slightest bump might cause him to collapse.

He had already lived a fulfilling life. As he often said, there were few reasons left for him to continue living. And yet, he continued on.

When asked why, Glockt never gave a clear answer. Instead, he quietly served Lucy her meals.

“I’ve lived quite a long time.”

As the flames flickered, the shadows dancing along the cabin walls swayed with them.

It was a night without stars. As if taking their place, a few fireflies clung to the windows, casting soft light.

Glockt’s wrinkled hands tightened around the iron poker.

“A long time ago, I hated my teacher.”

Perhaps because Lucy had taken many naps during the day, she was struggling to fall asleep. Noticing this, Glockt spoke in a gentle, soothing voice.

Telling old stories was the best way to lull a child into sleep.

Glockt Elderbane, who had lost his entire family at a young age, had once lost the will to live.

When he went to the Great Sage—the most knowledgeable person in the world—and told her he no longer wished to live a life filled only with pain, she slapped him across the face.

He couldn’t believe that the pioneer of Celestial Magic, an unparalleled scholar, had resorted to using her fists. Yet upon seeing her bright smile and hearing the powerful words that followed, his despair faded.

“For now, just keep surviving. You won’t know unless you try!”

After that, he became the first disciple of Silvenia, who had been exiled to Acken Island. Back then, his days were filled with constant activity.

He was dragged around as her assistant, helping with everything from research to dangerous experiments. Most days were spent grumbling or letting out deep sighs.

Without warning, she would grab his wrist and drag him to the peak of Right Mountain to show him the view. She would burst into laughter as Glockt trembled in fear before a giant wind wolf he had never seen before. She would scold him harshly for being careless when he got injured, only to become dejected over poor research results and then cheerfully lecture about magical theory the very next day as if nothing had happened.

Being swept along by her life, he eventually became a true magician himself.

As he continued working diligently, many people came seeking to become his disciples. His books, hastily written to help explain magical theory, were widely praised.

He mourned the lives lost unjustly on the battlefield.

He fought and defeated monsters and spirits that were no different from natural calamities.

He fell in love with a woman as if by fate. Like fireworks, their love blossomed into a family.

But the woman he loved died in battle, and with her death, he lost his family.

Realizing there were still things he wished to protect, he forced himself to stand again, even while drowning in grief and exhaustion.

He fought those who sought to harm him. He clasped hands with those who supported him.

He studied, taught, fought, ran, cried, laughed, grew angry, and reconciled.

And after all of that, he found himself in a cabin deep within the mountain range, where no one ever visited.

The prediction he made when he was young—that his life would be spent in solitude—had proven partly true.

After all, no one understood their own life better than the person living it. Even at a young age, he had possessed remarkable insight into his destiny.

However, there was one thing he hadn’t considered. Not the destination, but the journey.

“Even though I was just living my life, people suddenly began climbing onto my shoulders and relying on me. They came to me without being asked. They applauded, laughed, worried, and got angry with me… There were times I wanted to push them away because they felt burdensome and annoying.”

Perhaps it was too complex for Lucy, still so young, to understand. Even so, Glockt spoke slowly, hoping she might remember his words someday.

“But without them, life feels empty.”

The image of the old man leaning back in his wooden chair with a gentle smile etched itself into Lucy’s memory.

“Living isn’t easy. Still, when you reach the end of your life, Lucy… I hope you can look back on it the same way I do.”

Lucy gazed at him from beneath the blanket. Glockt, staring up at the ceiling, did not look back as he slowly drifted into sleep, reminiscing about the days he missed.

“I’m glad I kept living.”

***

Boooom!

Did her life flash before her eyes? For a brief moment, Lucy recalled the distant cabin in the Lamelin Mountain Range. She clenched her teeth and snapped back to reality.

She was in the entrance plaza of the commercial district.

While exchanging elemental magic attacks with Silvenia, she had failed to block Velbrok’s magic power bullets, which sent her crashing into the commercial district.

Though multiple layers of defensive magic protected her, every bone in her body screamed from the impact.

She placed her hands on the ground to stand, but the surface was slick. Blood poured from her wounds, dripping onto the floor.

Without hesitation, she gathered her magic power and sealed the bleeding. It seemed she had been flung straight into the traditional fountain in the entrance square.

Groups of monsters roamed the bloodstained ground. Survivors battling nearby glanced at her in shock, but Lucy ignored them, brushing off the water as she stood.

Silvenia reappeared in the sky, gathering magic power with her massive staff once more.

Lucy spat out the blood pooling in her mouth, pulled aside her torn blouse, and began gathering magic power.

“Are you the one maintaining that seal on Velbrok, Lucy Mayreel?”

Her disciple’s disciple. As Silvenia looked down at her, there was no trace of reason in her eyes.

Even though Silvenia recognized her instantly, Lucy did not panic.

She merely shook her head.

“Don’t do something so pointless! Please! Stop it! Don’t! Don’t do it! Just stop! Stop, please!”

Lucy’s head throbbed as Silvenia’s shrill cries echoed.

She was already exhausted from restraining Velbrok. Facing a master of Celestial Magic as well was far too much.

Still, Lucy Mayreel held her head high. She had no intention of running or collapsing.

Even as blood continued to drip from her body, her mind kept working.

“Since you cannot defeat Velbrok, you’re forcibly maintaining the seal I created long ago, aren’t you?”

The words made no sense. Lucy had done no such thing.

She chose not to respond.

“It’s abnormal for a person to possess enough magic power to maintain such a massive magic circle. You… you must be the variable behind all of this… Lucy Mayreel… Haha… Yes… As long as I eliminate you, everything will be resolved. I only need to deal with you…”

Lucy closed her eyes as blood continued to flow.

She had heard about Velbrok’s resurrection from Ed many times. Each time, she had told him she would help bear the burden with him.

Bleeding heavily, she continued to think until she reached a conclusion.

“It’s a shame you’ve lost your sanity.”

Lucy raised her blank gaze to Silvenia.

“No matter how exceptional you are with Celestial Magic, there are limits. A human alone cannot wield enough magic power to transcend time. Leaping across such a distant future to reach the present is impossible…”

Though Lucy often appeared absentminded, her insight was sharp.

She understood Celestial Magic far better than most.

There was no magic capable of true time travel—of jumping into the future. Even if such magic existed, the required power would exceed what any human body could withstand.

So how did Silvenia exist in the present?

The answer was simple.

She hadn’t moved forward through time—she had stopped it.

Intermediate Celestial Magic: Time Prison. A spell that froze the target’s time until the caster’s magic power was depleted.

Casting it on oneself was dangerously reckless. Yet, in theory, it allowed one to reach the future.

In the past, when Silvenia arrived on Acken Island, she became obsessed with calculating magical flow.

She calculated the exact amount of magic power needed to reach the moment of Velbrok’s resurrection. But magic power alone wasn’t enough.

By casting Time Prison on herself, her own innate magic power would also be frozen, causing the spell to collapse.

That meant she needed an external source—something capable of sustaining the spell. A magic stone infused with her Celestial Magic, or another vast external reservoir.

That was the Substitute Magic Merilda had spoken of—the very research Silvenia conducted on Acken Island.

The pieces finally came together. Lucy lifted her head and looked toward Right Mountain.

At its summit—

During the first-year placement exam, Lucy had sat there watching over Ed. The Substitute Altar.

Its origins had long been unknown. In truth, it was the remnant of Silvenia’s research into future traversal.

“You were trying to go beyond that cliff.”

Like an explorer seeking an unknown land—crossing darkness, sailing an endless sea, enduring suffering—she wanted to see it with her own eyes.

The point Silvenia observed. Where all futures converged into endless darkness: the Cliff Point.

To reach and surpass it, Silvenia threw herself into the future. Observation alone wasn’t enough.

But what awaited her was an unimaginably long imprisonment within Time Prison.

Though her body’s time was frozen, her consciousness continued in the dark. Time Prison did not halt the mind.

Submerged in endless darkness, Silvenia endured countless years by sheer will.

But she was human—and human endurance had limits.

The innate fear of darkness gnawed at her. The same fear that drove Crown Prince Lindon to lock himself away in terror. She was exposed to it relentlessly.

For a long time, she endured.

She smiled and vowed to survive, resisting the whispers of darkness.

But in the end, her heart shattered.

Lucy didn’t know every detail, but she understood enough.

Enduring unending suffering while fighting primal fear would break anyone.

Silvenia was not someone Lucy could dismiss. Her achievements were undeniable. Her research had improved the world.

Yet Lucy had no intention of bowing.

Because Lucy had something to protect.

Not the world’s future. Not the darkness.

“I am sorry.”

Lucy rarely spoke with such respect, yet she bowed to her teacher’s teacher.

“I’m not an extraordinary person. I don’t concern myself with the fate of the world or the future. You should know—disciples don’t always grow the way their teachers wish.”

The only thing Lucy wanted to protect was a single man.

The fallen noble who lived in the North Forest.

He had given her purpose. And she would protect him at all costs.

She didn’t care about grand destinies or endless darkness.

She was merely returning what she had received.

Lucy clenched her fists as blood continued to fall.

Even knowing she risked her life, she did not hesitate.

All the stars above Acken Island vanished.

The sky itself disappeared, obscured by the thousands of elemental magic circles Lucy had cast.