The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 67

Winter’s night air was strangely different from that of spring or summer. There was no feeling of dampness in the forest. The chilly air, which went straight into my lungs, was rather refreshing.

The crunch of the leaves as I walked through them tickled my ears. I fixed the position of the rope hanging from my shoulder. At first, I had thought about making a crude ladder. However, since it was deeper than I had originally thought, it would have ended up taking at least a full day to make it. Instead, I prepared a rope to go down.

“Why are you still following me?”

I thought her condition today was especially strange.

Still clutching my sleeve, Lucy didn’t have the slightest change in expression or appearance.

After coming all the way to the outskirts of the forest, I could finally see the hole that Lucy had made.

It wasn’t something you could call magic. It was closer to her simply gathering magic power within her body and brute forcing her way through the ground.

Thanks to that, the hole’s entrance wasn’t that big.

Lucy’s figure was already small, so no matter how much magic power she might have compressed inside her, there was a limit to how big the hole could be.

I tied one side of the rope to a nearby tree and threw the other down into the hole that led underground.

The rope unraveled itself nicely as it fell down through the hole and opened up a new path to take.

I tugged on the rope a few times just to check that it was tightly secured.

“We could just go down with my magic, though.”

“It’s fine. I told you before we got here, but I’m not planning on going down just once. So, I need to personally check whether or not I can go up and down with this rope alone.”

I couldn’t bring Lucy with me every single time I went to the library.

After telling Lucy to use her own magic in moderation to follow me, I grabbed the rope as I made my way through the hole.

Slowly inching my way down the rope and kicking off the wall, I went down further into the hole.

In case the rope ripped, or it wasn’t long enough, I concentrated so that I was prepared to catch myself with both arms against the inner wall. Though, the rope was pretty sturdy. I didn’t think I would actually have to do such a thing.

She could have just used Spatial-Type Magic to head down first, so it was strange seeing Lucy follow me by grabbing onto the rope as well.

After what seemed like a long time of creeping down the rope, I finally made it to the main hall of the library.

There were barely any light sources in the hall of the dark library. I had to wait a bit until my eyes got used to the dark.

Eventually, I was able to see the aftermath of Lucy’s Magic Power, which had completely collapsed the entire area.

Everything was mostly buried in the marble that supported the inner wall, but… there were still quite a few magically engineered items and recipes that seemed to be fine.

There was no need for me to feel the need to take every single item I saw right away. Either way, the entrance to the secret laboratory had already been closed off, so there wouldn’t be anyone that could find the library right now. I had plenty of time.

I headed straight over to the table that was in the center of the library.

Moving the table out of the way, I found a strange crack on the floor. Looking through the gap, I saw a keyhole.

Lucy, who was still following behind me, gripped my sleeve tightly and tilted her head.

“Why did he put a secret safe in such a place but held onto the key separately?”

“I’m not sure.”

I took the key out of my pocket and put it into the keyhole. Turning the key clockwise, it made a clicking sound and the marble floor began to spread apart.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

From inside, a gust of wind shot up.

All of the magic power that was concentrated in such an enclosed space had released all at once as it opened up.

After dealing with my shock, I tried to clear my vision once more… In the small underground space, there was a golden magically engineered item. The size of it was no bigger than a thumb.

***

“Haaa, haaa…”

It should go without saying, but there was no way the amount of stamina needed to go up and down the rope would be the same.

As I continued pulling on the rope and kicking my feet away from the ground, I began to sweat profusely.

Lucy had offered to help, but I refused. What was the point of checking whether I could go up and down with the rope if I didn’t even try to go back up on my own?

Far above me, Lucy had one hand holding on to the rope. Maybe it was because of all the Weight Lightening Magic she had applied, but it looked like she wasn’t holding on at all. Rather, it looked like she was just grabbing it.

“If it’s just this much… I can manage going up…”

How far down the library was located wasn’t actually as deep as I had originally thought. All of the vitality training I had continuously put myself through over the last year wasn’t going to waste. Even though it was a bit difficult, it still didn’t feel like I was completely overdoing it.

Even though I started to lose some strength as I continued to go up, I still held onto the rope tightly and took a break by lying down on a protruding part of the wall.

No matter what I thought, it was still a little too much for me to go up the rope all the time. For the time being, I’d have to keep on using the rope. However, as expected, I would have to eventually make or buy a proper ladder.

Also, pretty soon I should be getting the materials for the magically engineering items that I had asked Lortel for… I wondered if she would be willing to throw in a decently sized ladder for free.

That was what I had hoped for, but… Realistically, I didn’t think she would be giving something like that away for free. After all, no matter what, she was still a merchant.

“You’re almost there. You’ll be outside soon.”

“Yeah… I know… Haah…”

Wiping my sweat, I took out a phoenix-shaped ring from my pocket.

A golden phoenix ring that was reforged with Celestial Magic.

It was clearly Professor Glast’s life’s work, something that he had probably spent years making.

“So, what is that thing?”

Far above me, I could hear Lucy’s voice. Before I even realized it, Lucy was already waiting for me at the entrance of the hole.

[ Glast’s Golden Phoenix Ring

—

A magic tool that twists the line of time to gather and bring magic power from your future self back to the present you.

The Legendary Grade magic engineered item ‘Golden Phoenix Ring’ contains both Celestial Magic Power and the power of Advanced Time Magic.

Temporarily greatly increases the wearer’s magic power. You can use magic that consumes more than the amount of magic power in your body only once.

When using magic that requires more than the maximum amount of your magic power, your magic power will be suppressed for a time proportional to the amount of the excess magic power used.

Once the suppression of magic power begins, the power of the ring is not available until after the suppression is lifted.

—

Grade: Legendary

Number of Uses: No Limit

Production Difficulty Level: ●●●●◐

Resonance Owner: Ed Rothstaylor ]

“I think I know the reason he had secretly hidden away this magically engineered item in the library and held onto the key separately.”

I looked up at Lucy. I wondered if she was also curious, or if she was still uninterested in anything else like usual.

If you could use your own future self’s magic power in advance, then in theory I could even use advanced magic right now.

However, if I did that, I’d be unable to fight for a time equivalent to the amount of magic power I had borrowed. If I used it rashly, the price to pay could be massive.

Ultimately, if you were going to use the item during combat, it was a finishing move that you should only take out when you were put in an extreme spot.

However, it was a completely different story if you didn’t use it in combat.

If I simply followed the structure of using mana that surpassed my own limits purely to strengthen my specs, and slowly paid back that borrowed magic power over time… then it could actually be extremely beneficial.

For example, with spirit contracts.

It now made sense how Professor Glast, who was relatively lacking in terms of spiritual resonance, was able to handle such a large number of spirits.

After all, the key to spiritual resonance and spiritual understanding was ‘Magic Power Efficiency.’

Both were just a means to measure how efficient your individual magic power was in terms of Spirit-type Magic.

Yennekar’s level of magic power and her resonance level were already high, so by synergizing the two she was able to handle a ridiculous number of spirits. That was just the nature she was blessed with.

The main reason that beginner Elementalists weren’t able to make contracts with spirits of higher levels was ultimately because of the lack of magic power within their bodies. No matter how high you increased your spiritual resonance and magic power efficiency, it would never amount to the sheer importance of inherent magic power.

In other words, if I used the power of the ring well, the entry barrier could be minimized.

By using that magic tool to temporarily use magic power from the future and create a contract… The excess amount of magic power that I received in advance to do so would slowly recover over time.

It was a simple and reckless calculation, but my guess was that if I gave up on using magic power for a month or two, I’d be able to make a contract with a high-ranking spirit immediately. Of course, as a magician the risk of not even being able to use beginner magic for a month or two was too great. All of my grades in practical courses would probably drop to the floor.

Luckily for me, winter vacation was coming up soon. The risk would be relatively lower if I did it then.

To put it bluntly, it was just like taking out a loan. Doing it wasn’t any different than taking a loan from my future self to be able to use magic in the present.

It felt like, while everyone else was struggling to buy a house with cash, I was buying one with an interest-free loan… Was that metaphor too much of a stretch?

In the end, it was all because of the power of Celestial Magic, which could twist the flow of time itself. Obviously, that was something that not just anyone could do.

It was the best piece of treasure, one that could be used as a means of enhancing my specs as a last stand in the case of an emergency.

If I went scourging through the entire library, I probably wouldn’t find anything more valuable than that.

“This ring is a magic tool that allows you to use more magic power than the amount you naturally have. Of course, there is a risk to it. You can’t go around using it recklessly.”

From the beginning, that stubborn professor’s actions all had a clear purpose.

“It’s a sin to support and push those with uncertain talent, and it is my life’s mission to polish those gems born with natural talent…Even though he always said that, behind everyone’s back he was making something like this.”

I was wondering why there happened to be so many magically engineered production formulas laying around in the library… But it was all for his research.

Maybe the key Glast had taken out while he was dying wasn’t for me… but instead for Myuri.

The last gift to his daughter, who had reached the wall of her talent and ultimately ended up dying.

Thinking about things now, it was like the pieces of the puzzle had finally come together.

However, in the end the ring never reached its rightful owner. More than anyone else, Glast himself must have expected that result to some extent.

“If he had time to make something like that, it would have been better to…”

“Don’t talk about meaningless things, Lucy.”

I cut Lucy off.

“It’s all in the past now.”

***

“You know, I once had the button here on my sleeve fall off.”

It was so freaking difficult.

I hadn’t realized it would be that hard to climb up the wall while holding onto the rope.

Actually, when I imagined doing it in my head, I thought I would be able to manage it somehow. But it was just ridiculous. I really needed to get a ladder quickly.

“The button at the end of this sleeve here. I don’t even know when I lost it. But it was uncomfortable without it, since the sleeve had become too loose.

So, I kept thinking.”

I was almost done with my climb up.

Honestly, I was thinking of asking Lucy halfway through to carry me up, but I was so close… I was determined to finish by myself.

Seeing Lucy at the top of the hole, talking about this and that, was an unfamiliar sight to see. Did she always talk so much?

“Is that so?”

“The Ophelis Hall maids repaired it for me, and everything was fine. Afterwards, I was careful to make sure not to damage my sleeve when I used any magic that makes me float.”

Lucy sat absentmindedly at the top of the hole, looking up at the sky. Through the clouds, a passing star glistened off of Lucy’s eye.

“I often experience just how important things are after they are gone… I thought it wasn’t anything special, but actually it was quite amazing.”

“That’s a surprisingly common story, you know. Doesn’t that message show up in fairy tales and such?”

“Yeah.”

It really was nothing more than a small thing.

Eating a few meals together, sitting next to each other absentmindedly, exchanging a few words back and forth, greeting each other, and meeting up to hang out together whenever you’re bored.

The daily life that you shared with someone was ultimately just a collection of small things.

A relationship that developed smoothly from a wonderful opportunity was something that only happens in dramas.

There was a crisis, adversity, and the volition to overcome it. Then there was the act of saving someone or being saved instead.

The establishment of such a beautiful and splendid relationship was certainly romantic, but not something you could call realistic.

That isn’t really something I should be judging who it suited more. However, I did think that it was something better suited for Taylee than me.

Heroic actions, the life of a protagonist, the hardships of the world, friendship and effort, and then victory. The beautiful relationship that bloomed from all of that.

For ordinary people that lived regular lives, building a relationship with another wasn’t something as exaggerated or flashy as that.

It was all more dull than one might have thought. However, you couldn’t judge the merits and demerits between the two.

The roses that bloomed splendidly and the pleasantly simplistic lilies were all beautiful, and we didn’t necessarily judge the values between the two of them.

I didn’t know how Lucy felt when she lost Glockt… and I couldn’t simply make a guess about it.

“There was actually something I wanted to ask you, which is why I followed you.”

At that point, with just a few more kicks off the wall I would have reached the surface. I could already start to feel the fresh air from above.

“Are you going to Dex Hall?”

A question that hit hard.

I looked straight up above me at Lucy, who was sitting around by the entrance.

I was either going to end up entering Dex Hall or continuing my life at the camp.

The scale weighing the two was still neutral.

Entering Dex Hall would definitely make my life easier. I could disregard all of the rules of living in the wild that I had already gotten used to. I would simply live my life according to my academic schedule, focusing purely on my studies but also limiting my freedom.

However, if I maintained my lifestyle at the camp, I would have a relatively larger number of things to worry about. I would also have less restriction on how I used my time. It was also a good environment for training my vitality and production skills. I might be used to it now, but… the conditions that came with living in the wild were still inadequate.

I could invest in the long-term by making further improvements to the camp’s environment, but those were all products of effort. Soon enough, I’d be getting even busier, so I worried over whether that would even be possible to do.

If I couldn’t decide between the two and the scale never fully tipped in favor of one side… It would end up coming down to the smallest bit of weight to make my choice.

No matter how small or trivial that might be, if it weighed in its favor… People would always end up choosing that direction.

“Could you not go?”

That phrase popped out of Lucy’s mouth.

I couldn’t help but doubt what I had just heard.

However, it wasn’t that I wasn’t convinced… I could fully understand what she was saying when I looked up at her expression.

“Entering Dex Hall… No matter what, it will be more comfortable to live in. I would have to be out of my mind to try and continue living out here in the wild during the cold winter.”

Saying that, I felt like I had completely run out of breath and needed to head up to the surface immediately.

I squeezed the hand gripping onto the rope as I pulled myself up.

Lucy, who was listening, looked up at the sky quietly.

The stars in the sky were visible from time to time, but most of the sky was covered in dark clouds.

“I guess that’s true.”

It was as if she had given up on something, or as if she had cut off any line that she was holding onto inside of her.

As usual, her expression didn’t waver at all.

Strangely it felt as if she was shying away.

It was a sky full of dark clouds, one that she had seen many times over.

Lucy fixed her hat as she repeatedly whispered to herself.

“It will rain.”

I was so completely dumbfounded by her remake that I answered back.

“No, it won’t.”

“……?”

“It’s not the season for rain.”

Soon after I finally reached the surface, I laid down on the dirt.

Looking up to the sky and taking deep breaths, snow started to fall on the bridge of my nose. Thinking about it, that was the first snowfall of the year.

Already, the time for rain had already passed. Naturally, that made sense, given how cold it was.

Like a ghost, Lucy had sensed from the dark clouds up in the sky and the moisture she felt on the tip of her nose that it was going to rain, but… it wasn’t something that would always work.

Unless the raindrops actually fell from the sky above, you could never be completely sure.

However, after a long rainy season one would unconsciously think that it would rain. Even if it was past the season where it would rain, your senses had grown accustomed to it already so you might be mistaken.

The number of snowflakes that gently fell to the ground started to increase, more and more.

When rain drizzled down, it felt awful and chilly. However, when it was snow that fell, it felt rather cozy and warm instead.

While some might consider the act of rain turning to snow to be somewhat romantic… in fact, it has another meaning besides that.

Anyone could tell that the rain that fell on your body and the snowflakes that gently laid on top of the world were obviously different.

“Well, that’s that.”

I spoke to Lucy, who was standing still while she absentmindedly stared up at the falling snow.

“I have had too many things to take care of recently, so I haven’t been able to secure enough firewood to survive the winter.”

Saying that, Lucy quickly turned her head as she stared right at me.

“I don’t think I can manage it all by myself, so help me out when you have time. It’s just like you had told me before. I don’t have enough firewood.”

“Really?”

Fwoosh!

Bam!

She climbed on top of my stomach as I laid on the dirt. She fixed her hat and leaned her head towards me.

“Really? Really? Really?”

“I’ve already completely adapted to living in the camp… So, if I just improve the environment a bit more, there will be way more benefits in continuing to live at the camp.”

“……”

Hearing that, Lucy lifted her upper body once more… looking up at the snowy sky.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Regardless of the scene, it was a Lucy that I had never seen before… with the corner of her mouth lifted all the way up in a smile… I couldn’t help but be left completely dumbfounded.

***

After finishing Act 2, we were now in Act 3, where the hardships grew.

Closing my eyes while thinking about it, it hit me like a truck.

The Benevolent Princess Penia, who became disillusioned with the academy’s corrupt inspection department and tried to grab ahold of new authority within the academy by becoming the academy’s student president.

The distrustful saint Clarice, who wished for the destruction of the Telos Religious Group, and even Claude, the disaster alchemist that drank the blood of an evil god and became corrupt… Each and every one of them was a formidable opponent, but in the end the girl that was standing at the end of the stage was none other than her.

The final boss of Act 3. Lucy Mayreel, ‘The Awakened One’.

Once everything was over, we could greet each other again.

Obviously, if we were both still alive and healthy.

***

Thud.

The stack of documents that was placed down on the table was quite thick. Over the course of the week, there were quite a number of issues that needed to be dealt with.

“Haaah…”

Assistant Professor Cleoh sat in her private lab, sipping on a cup of coffee.

The vacancy of a professor was bigger than she had thought. Just how he was even able to conduct research on the seal while dealing with all of that work was a complete mystery to her.

Though, most of the work had already been completed. As long as the conference agenda was settled, the only thing left for her to do was the first-year class assignment exam that would take place over break.

The notice for it had already been written. It was already issued to the addresses of every incoming student. A notice that they should come to Acken Island over winter break to take the examination.

She was worrying quite a bit about what to do for the exam. Like last year, she thought about having them just search for the marbles. However, if the exam’s contents ended up being identical, the second-year students could end up leaking information on it. She ended up thinking that she needed to spend more time trying to figure something else out.

“Hmm~ Even so… I’m still short on manpower.”

Assistant Professor Cleoh sighed deeply as she scratched her head.

“As expected… I’ll have to ask the academy for more scholarship students that can help. I’m sure the academy will be okay with that, right? Well, these days… I have the image of being the youngest professor that has been given all this work… so it feels like everyone is doing their best to help me with whatever favors I ask of them…”

She knew that it wasn’t a completely good situation to be in, but she needed to take advantage of it while she could.

Anyway, her assistant Anise—who was in charge of dealing with the current workload—was doing a great job, so… all she needed was another student to take care of a simple supervision job.

Hoping for a hardworking student to come her way, Assistant Professor Cleoh fell right back into the pile of work left to do.