The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 62

A narrow field of view. It had been a worry for a long time for the shortsighted Professor Glast.

Having a job where he was required to read a lot of books, it was inevitable that he would suffer from nearsightedness and a narrowing field of view.

Life as a teacher was a static one, after all.

As with most jobs in the world, decades of repetition turned everything into a routine and a pattern.

Even the turbulent and chaotic year-long academic schedule didn’t go outside the expectation that came with those decades of continuous repetition.

Even the unexpected events and problems that popped up every now and then would only become an experience of the past that, over time, would make a person start to think,Something like that did happen…

In the end, what remained of his memory was similar to a frame of his everyday scenery.

Sitting at the large desk in his private lab, carefully reading through and transcribing the Sage’s Seal, analyzing Celestial Magic, managing the academy’s curriculum, and reviewing the teaching materials for the students.

While doing so, the scenery outside the window changed.

Snow fell.

Rain fell.

The wind blew.

The sun rose in the east, and by the time he realized it, he found it already fleeing to the western sky.

The youngest professor, who accidentally made a mistake, came asking for forgiveness.

First year Elemental Studies majors that wanted to prepare for Intermediate Magic came to find him in his private lab.

The head dean, who was on his way to work, stopped by for a cup of tea.

With him sitting in that same spot just like that, spending day after day being buried in his work, one day those painful memories of his started to fade.

If it was a memory that couldn’t be healed, then you couldn’t help but slowly forget about it.

If you couldn’t find a cure, ultimately you would end up finding a way to forget the pain.

From some point on, his dark circles got thicker, eyes dried up, and his hair grew thin. Even if he heard the gossiping people calling him ‘Skull Face’, it didn’t hurt his feelings.

While sitting at his desk in his lab, twirling his quill, one day his vision started to become blurry.

Is it because of my nearsightedness that there’s a problem, or is it because I’m running out of stamina, or maybe I just need to rest?

That was what he had thought… Though, compared to his usual work, the intensity of it wasn’t particularly severe.

Occasionally, a glimpse of his past memories started to flood his mind again.

Straightening his spine and laying back in his chair, he wiped his face. Just like he always did, he gently closed his eyes.

There was no use in trying to recall Myuri’s face anymore. All it did was hurt him.

If that was the case, what should he draw over that long darkness over his eyelids?

There was nothing to draw. It was a massive canvas with a novice artist holding a fresh brush.

Giving up on filling in that space, wider than the open sea, he opened his eyes again… In front of him was Taylee, holding his sword, and the rest of his party facing him.

***

Ed stepped down from the railing. After finishing his review of the overall situation by traveling backwards to Trix Hall, he thought it was about time to slowly head back to the underground waterways. He didn’t want to leave, wanting to be around the scene of it all until the very end.

As Ed descended from the railing, Lucy also leaped off, grabbing his sleeve and following close behind him.

When Ed had asked her what was going on, Lucy shook her head a couple times, responding by telling him, ‘Let’s go together.’

The two of them went down the stairs leading to the rooftop of Trix Hall together.

***

Taylee’s swordsmanship cut through the air on the roof of the tower of magic power.

Before it reached Professor Glast, the defensive magic he cast blocked the sword. His sword bounced off with a bang.

Right after, Ziggs followed up by making a fist and trying to strike Glast. It was an attack that was even accompanied by reinforced wind magic. But even in that instant, Professor Glast saw through it and cast the Advanced Celestial spellTime Prison.

Ziggs, who had been subdued, could no longer move. One after another, the time prison subdued both Elvira and Adele as well.

Taylee deflected it with his Swordmaster’s Skill, and Clevius was safe because he was way out of range in the first place. Still, more than half of the party’s fighting power was disabled.

But even then, the fighting spirit in Taylee’s blazing eyes didn’t falter. Rather, now you could see that even the eyes of that coward Clevius had been swayed as he jumped into the battlefield with his trembling hands.

Professor Glast constantly distanced himself from the two fighters to avoid their swordsmanship. And then, one by one, he started to take out his magically engineered items.

***

Ed, who reached the first floor of Trix Hall, had confirmed that the situation was nearly settled.

Most of the chaos had been cleared up and the expressions of all the students, who were confused and worried, seemed to have relaxed a bit.

With Lucy, who was grabbing his sleeve and following behind him, they passed through the first-floor hallway of Trix Hall.

Fragments of a magic golem were left everywhere. It was evidence of Taylee’s battle.

The head researcher Melverick, who had fought against him, was lying unconscious.

The student president Verus, who had also tried to stop Taylee from running off on his own, was also resting in a corner. Taylee must have been full of rage with Ayla having been kidnapped. Even Verus couldn’t stop Taylee when he was in such a state.

Ed ran over to Verus, who was nearly done with his term in office, trying to console him by saying that he had gone through a lot. Verus shook his head, saying he had only tried to stop Taylee because of his position as the student president but that he fully understood why Taylee was doing such a thing.

The second semester was nearly over. He would be busier once vacation came. Once the next student president election was finished, he would have to start preparing for graduation. The student president Verus said something with a bitter smile.

“What did I do while I was in office…?”

After saying that, he looked up at the night sky and through the broken ceiling, recalling that he had only lived a life being swayed by others.

***

Clevius’ swordsmanship left a telling blow on Professor Glast’s shoulder. It wasn’t deep, but it was still a meaningful wound. Professor Glast grimaced as he activated theShock-Enhanced Wave Ball.

Clevius, who had gotten shocked, nearly fell off the top of the tower of magic power. Taylee had barely managed to grab onto him, pulling him back. With his legs trembling in complete fear, Clevius couldn’t hold himself back from putting up a fuss.

Professor Glast, who barely managed to create distance between them, patched up the wound on his shoulder. Given that he would keep on bleeding, he tied it up with his robe. To keep all of the close-distance fighters in check, he cast all sorts of beginner elemental magic.

For inexperienced students, it was magic that would require them to fully concentrate to use each one, but for an experienced person like Professor Glast? It was extremely easy, to the point that he could cast multiple times all at once.

It was hard for the two close-distance fighters to deal with, but Taylee bravely rushed in through the elemental magic.

***

Ed and Lucy, who were crossing through the education district and heading towards the entrance of the underground waterways, met Lortel as she was on her way from the commercial district.

Ed had asked how she ended up handling the Golden King Elte, while Lortel responded saying that she had locked up in a guest room back at the branch.

Elte was bound to lose all of his vested interest after some time anyway. As long as she made it so he couldn’t run off anywhere, there wouldn’t be a problem any longer. Now that they had the upper hand, there would be no more tricks he could use.

Asking Lortel if she felt any complicated feelings, since he was once her dad and she was now going to lose him, she shook her head.

Then she responded by saying that the pain of loss was nothing more than an improbable feeling to her.

She’d never had a family or friendship that she felt connected with enough that, if she lost them, she would truly feel any form of sincerity.

Saying that losing something was only a privilege for those that ultimately had something, Lortel and Ed looked up—standing side by side—at the tower of magic power.

The light coming off the tower enveloped the academy in desolation.

***

Glast, who was keeping Taylee and Clevius in check with beginner magic, began to emit a different Celestial Magic Power.

A dark reddish, ominous magic power filled the entirety of the rooftop.

The advanced Celestial Magic,Time Acceleration.

In an instant, the magic power flowing throughout Professor Glast’s body exploded as his movement speed increased to a completely ridiculous degree.

The action itself seemed slow and sluggish, but the speed itself was strangely quick. It felt as if Professor Glast’s own sense of time was speeding up.

Even beginner magic was being cast at ridiculous speeds, making it hard to withstand his attacks—let alone break through them.

However, as Taylee activated his Swordmaster’s Skill, his hair turned white and his eyes glowed red.

The awakened Taylee rushed through the beginner magic, narrowing the distance.

Professor Glast, who was caught off guard by Taylee’s movements beginning to even catch up with his own, increased his speed. He quickly pulled out theShock-Enhanced Wave Ballsonce again and activated them, but this time Taylee’s swordsmanship cut through it all.

Ultimately, with the distance being narrowed, Professor Glast was cut on his side. Blood poured out as the pain started to rise.

Professor Glast’s eyes started to tremble greatly as his response to the magic power became noticeably unstable.

With that, Professor Glast’sWind Bladeleft a telling blow on Taylee.

Taylee collapsed after getting stabbed in the abdomen, but he stood up once more as the blood poured out. With his noble resolve to save Ayla, he overcame the excruciating pain and stood face to face with Professor Glast.

In the end, because of the instability in his Celestial Magic Power, a moment was made. A moment of weakness that broke down one of the Time Prisons, releasing Elvira from the seal.

Elvira, who had quickly grasped the situation, began throwing explosive reagents. Finally, Taylee’s party was able to get back a long-range support, which brought them hope.

Professor Glast quickly began to cast another Celestial Magic,Miniature Time Reversal.

***

Ed, Lucy, and Lortel walked side by side and before they knew it, they reached the entrance of the underground waterways.

While thinking about whether they should head into the underground waterways to look around, the top third year alchemy student Dorothy came out of the entrance. She seemed to have recently come back to her senses.

Ed asked how she was doing out of courtesy and Dorothy responded by complaining that her head hurt, and she felt rather dizzy. Then, she spoke about her confrontation with the terrifying Yennekar.

Ed didn’t really know what he should be saying in response, so he just kept listening. Dorothy continued rattling on before she suddenly looked up at the towers of magic power that had risen high in the sky.

She started to talk carefully, saying that she didn’t know what Professor Glast was planning to do, but at the very least she still recognized him as an important teacher to her.

Even though it felt like he was always looking at them from somewhere far away, and that distance had never been narrowed down, if she had to pick the best teacher she ever met at Silvenia Academy she would always pick Glast.

Ed listened on, understanding just why Dorothy was so involved in that scheme of his. Everyone criticized Glast for being ill-mannered and rude, but to others he was a reliable and kind teacher.

***

Professor Glast’s wounds healed in an instant as the dark-reddish magic power covering the sky grew even more massive.

Miniature Time Reversalwas a spell that rewound time for your body, reverting all wounds on your body to nothing.

With every ounce of magic power being manifested, Taylee, Elvira, and Clevius kept their eyes open. Due to the power of Celestial Magic, which ignored the law of causation, in an instant Taylee’s fighting spirit was wounded.

But he couldn’t get frustrated there. As long as his lifelong partner Ayla’s life was still being kept as collateral, Taylee could never give up. Only Taylee himself knew just how enormous Ayla’s presence was in his life, which was full of difficult and arduous hardships.

He entered the second stage of the Swordmaster’s Skill, which he had activated. In an instant, Taylee’s mind was filled with all sorts of techniques.

But Professor Glast was definitely not an enemy that would be pushed around.

The Celestial Magic that Professor Glast had researched to its limit covered the entirety of Taylee and his party. It was the Advanced Celestial Magic,Nightmare Engravement. Even Taylee couldn’t cut it down with his Swordmaster’s Skill.

In an instant, Taylee and his party fell unconscious, into a state of nightmarish hallucinations as they experienced their own deaths hundreds of times over.

An illusion of being cut, stabbed, or injured in other ways—countless times, over and over again until their minds broke.

In terms of time, it all took place over only a brief moment. However, it wouldn’t be strange to consider it a hardship that would break down your heart hundreds of times over.

But even then, Taylee, Clevius, and Elvira all broke through the hallucination in an instant.

Unlike Clevius, who had thrown up, or Elvira, who had tears and snot running down her face, Taylee clenched his teeth and ran straight back at Glast.

However, he couldn’t break through Glast’s defenses with his fragile body. The low-ranking spirits that Professor Glast had called on rose in unison, concentrating on Taylee’s body with elemental magic.

Taylee tried to break through as much as he could, striking dozens of times, but in the end he couldn’t reach where Professor Glast was standing and collapsed as his body became a wreck.

The moment Professor Glast was about to deliver his final blow, anIce Spearpierced through his abdomen.

***

Taking advantage of the disruption of his Celestial Magic during his fight with Taylee, Ziggs had also managed to break through theTime Prison.

Grasping the state of the situation immediately, he started to cast the Intermediate Ice MagicIce Spearwithout delay.

It was rather crude compared to Lortel’s, who was already well versed in Ice Magic, but it was enough to quickly cast and subdue Professor Glast.

Blood gushed from Professor Glast’s mouth. It was a fatal wound.

But Professor Glast once again cast a time-related magic by paying with part of his lifespan, so he was able to repair his wound.

***

It had already been quite a while since they had run into Dorothy.

After a discussion, Ed and Lortel decided to not go back into the underground waterways. The ground looked rather unstable because of the continuous earthquakes, to the point that it wouldn’t be strange if it were to collapse at any moment.

Ed was disappointed, feeling like it was a waste to leave all of the magically engineered items and production formulas that were still in the Soul Library, but in the end it wasn’t something that was worth risking his life over.

While standing around and thinking about watching over everything to make sure it finished well, Yennekar came out of the forest.

Yennekar returned after confirming that Elte’s mercenaries had all retreated without any major issues. She came back later than he had thought, making him wonder if she had perhaps stopped somewhere.

With Ed asking where she had come from, she responded by saying there was something she definitely wanted to check.

Yennekar continued to explain something that Takan had told her after the previous Occupation of Ophelis Hall incident.

‘Come to think of it, I sensed a strange flow of magic power coming from the outer part of the northern forest. We should check it out when there’s time.’

‘It seems to be a magic circle related to Celestial magic, as it’s only active at night. Merilda is figuring out the exact location it’s coming from.’

Seeing as it was Celestial Magic, she had suddenly been reminded of it and went to check on it right away. She thought it might have been a magic circle that was set up to build a tower of magic power, but there wasn’t a single tower in the northern forest.

If that was the case, could it have been a magic circle that was engraved for another reason? Yennekar seemed to be greatly concerned about that fact.

That was why she wanted to check it out one more time. When Yennekar had asked Ed if he could come with her, Ed nodded his head. He was also interested in it.

As they were about to leave, they heard the rustling in the bushes in the forest right behind the zelkova tree next to them.

With it came a ‘Hecek!’ sound.

Checking to see who was hiding, it was the Assistant Professor Cleoh Elpin, who was sitting there by herself and hugging her knees.

***

Even though the injury might have reverted, that didn’t mean he didn’t feel the pain.

The pain of being stabbed many times still lingered in his mind, shaking Professor Glast’s spirit.

Because of the forbidden magic power that he had brought to its limits, the veins in his eyes began to enlarge and his already pale complexion started to turn even more white.

Reinforced Claw Fingers, Shock-Enhanced Wave Balls, Call of the Abyss, Ignite, Wind Blade, Hellfire, Devilish Infection, Time Acceleration, Beginner Spirit Magic,Short-range Spatial Movement, Gravity Reversal, Cleansing Wind, Magic Golem Summoning, Explosion, Monster Unleashing, Spatial Freezing, Reagent of Misfortune, Chestnut Flower Reagent, Smokescreen Reagent, and Steel Rock Reagent.

With all sorts of magically engineered items, elemental magics, summoning magics, spatial magics, interference magics, curse magics, and even alchemy reagents, he was able to control the battlefield. The top of the tower of magic power was quite large, but there still wasn’t a place that Taylee and his team could safely stand.

In an instant, Taylee’s party began to be cornered.

Nevertheless, Taylee’s fighting spirit didn’t break.

At that point, he might have been frustrated but his eyes were still blazing with passion as they focused on Ayla, who had always been by his side. His resolve to save Ayla was enough for anyone to be in awe about.

Taylee and the party he was leading began to try and break through Professor Glast’s Interference Magic.

The close-ranged fighters, who were forced to go the long way around, managed to close the distance and damage Professor Glast’s body slightly.

Even though he was dodging, widening the distance, and blocking there was a limit to what he could do. In the first place, Professor Glast was weak in close combat.

Blood started to spurt from his shoulder again as a dagger grazed his collarbone with a magic attack, piercing through his thigh.

Nevertheless, over and over again he used the forbidden magic power to its limit, rewinding the state of his body. No matter how fatally wounded he might get, Professor Glast had no intention of falling.

It felt like they were hitting a tall, sturdy wall with their bare hands. But Taylee and his party refused to get frustrated or give up.

Never accept defeat. Never give into the pain. And don’t get frustrated by the hardships.

That was what it meant to be a hero.

Finally, the remainingTime Prisonwas broken as ‘The Romantic Adele’ finally joined the battlefield.

***

Surprised by the sight of Yennekar, Assistant Professor Cleoh—with a somewhat fearful expression—began to apologize over and over, as if she had done something wrong.

Yennekar, who was rather troubled by her reaction, bowed her head in apology as well. But Cleoh didn’t seem to have a sense of relief from that, as she started to look a bit nervous and a cold sweat rolled down her face.

When Ed asked her what she was doing there, she responded saying that she ran away because the underground waterways looked a bit dangerous.

Ed observed Cleoh’s face. Her skin had spots on it here and there, she looked disheveled, and her eyes were bloodshot. He was even going to ask if she had really ended up crying because Yennekar was so scary… but the tear stains on her face were already quite dry from before.

Asking her if she was crying, Cleoh panicked and responded with a strained laugh, smiling and nodding her head.

Cleoh ended up crying as she left the battlefield and looked up at the towers of magic power that were suddenly high up in the sky.

Before he could ask just what was so sad about it, Assistant Professor Cleoh answered.

She had been a pupil of Professor Glast’s for many years, ever since she first entered Silvenia.

“Professor Glast is obviously a person that you can’t help but hate. He’s a stubborn old man that’s completely rude and disrespectful, and with that skull-like face of his he will just dump all of his own work on you and preach about his own self-righteousness. And if you don’t do something the way he wants, you’ll just get yelled at… No matter how much you try to like him, he’s a person that you just can’t like.”

No matter what, it seemed as if she had some guess as to what the whole story was about or the meaning behind Professor Glast’s words to her. He was a man with great intuition and a good eye for useless things.

“But… At least… Out of all the people I’ve met since I came to Silvenia… He was the most scholarly scholar.”

Sniffling, Assistant Professor Cleoh looked up at the tower of magic power in the night sky, just like everyone else.

Either way, she was the one that had been with Professor Glast since the start of her degree program, all the way to when she was a new professor… She was his pupil.

***

With Adele joining in, the tide of the battle started to turn little by little. With the help of Adele, who had an exceptional talent for Cleansing Magic and strengthening her allies, the moments Professor Glast had to give up on their distance had noticeably increased.

Even after being stabbed in the stomach, stabbed in the shoulder, and getting fatally wounded repeatedly, Professor Glast stood up again and again without blinking an eye.

At some point, he even gave up tying his blood drenched faculty robe.

Even Taylee was covered in wounds. The difference was that Taylee couldn’t rewind time.

Even though he was already in a bad condition drenched in blood, he still continued to lift his sword. Even his mental state wasn’t in a normal condition due to repeatedly being attacked by mental magic.

Nevertheless, his will did not break. His legs were firmly planted on the ground. At that point, his will power was nearly the same as his human limitations. Being born with a strong will was the only blessing that fate had ever given him.

Professor Glast fended off Clevius’ swordsmanship, sending him flying back with wave magic. In the gap where he was occupied, Elvira managed to land an attack of elementary magic into Glast’s abdomen, though he quickly overcame it by gathering Celestial Magic Power.

However, Ziggs’ wind magic was already striking him from behind. Some of it was blocked, but he couldn’t completely avoid getting wounded. The area around his shoulder had gotten cut again.

With a smokescreen reagent being cracked open, in an instant everyone’s view was covered. But Taylee’s swordsmanship created a gale that instantly cleared it out of the way.

He tried to send Taylee, who was quickly approaching him, far away by using a magically engineered item—but all of a sudden, theShock-Enhanced Wave Ballsweren’t working. Adele’s obstruction magic had temporarily broken the magic power circuitry of that item.

With that being the case, he had then tried to restrain Taylee’s movements by using beginner magic, but Taylee had already managed to use his sword to pierce through his abdomen.

“Hurkghk.”

Once again, blood started to bubble from his mouth as he stumbled… Professor Glast tried to cast his Celestial Magic one more time.

But that time, his body’s time didn’t revert back.

The flow of magic power had overloaded to its limit, preventing him from performing any more miracles.

“Eughk…”

Taylee, who pulled out his sword, used his swordsmanship to strike him down again.

Professor Glast couldn’t stop that one.

Of course, he had thought that his wound would have been healed and the battle would continue on. But that fatal wound was never reversed.

Vigorously bleeding out and stumbling, Professor Glast slowly moved back.

“Eugh, ughk.”

Taylee and his party all eased their stances, ready for combat. Just in case there was a chance he may be acting, they were still prepared to land one additional strike to end it all.

However, all the magic that Professor Glast had manifested was lifted and the spirits, which were constantly keeping that back row in check, were soon recalled, disappearing into the air.

“Keughhhh……”

There was a sound that was like wind leaking through his backed up, bloody phlegm. Professor Glast, who continued to back away, was now pushed up to the edge of the rooftop of the tower of magic power.

The wind up in the sky tickled his blood-stained cheeks.

The top of the tower, where the entire flow of magic power had disappeared, soon began to shake little by little. It was a sign of its collapse.

Finally, Professor Glast let out a self-ridiculing smile…

“Alright. You win.”

Gently closing his eyes before opening them again.

He opened his arms out wide, as if he was beckoning the starry night sky into a hug. The only thing that lay in his arms was the cold night air, but he couldn’t stop smiling. It didn’t feel all too bad.

What was that feeling…? As expected, it was just his own self-deprecation.

In the end, there was only one last thought he had. It was exactly as one would expect.

“I miss you… Myuri…”

Was that his dying wish? Or was it a lingering feeling?

Pulling out the last bit of his remaining magic power, he slowly let go of the strength from his body.

Behind his back was an endless cliff.

Glast’s body briefly floated up through the cold night air.