Chapter 253

Chapter 253

The next morning. A new routine had begun.

Simon's first class was Jane's Beginner Dark Magic, and as he had been warned, her BDMAT feedback was brutal.

She went student by student, telling them what they needed to work on.

The thing that Simon was criticized for was his 30-minute summoning time for the Blood Golem.

However, Jane didn't just point out the issue Simon was already keenly aware of.

She taught Simon how to simplify the formulas and how to practice his new hemomancy skills. Every single piece of advice was really helpful.

With that, the feedback part of the lesson was over, and Jane moved on. Class A had moved to a nearby indoor training center.

"Hands-on practice? What do you think she's going to teach us?"

"I don't know."

The mood in the class was as good as ever, as most of the students who were on edge from hearing the theme of the next exam figured that this lesson would help them work through it.

"Now..."

Jane stepped forward and announced,

"Today, we will be learning how to strengthen the cohesion of a magic circle."

"!"

The four members of Group 7 exchanged meaningful glances.

The students stood set distances apart under the instruction of the assistant teachers and then formed the circle for their most basic spell, Jet-Black Arrow.

Then, one of the assistants unleashed harsh black winds made of dark magic.

Whirrrrrrrrrr!

"Ugh!"

"I can't see a thing!"

It was as if they had just landed in the middle of a black dust storm.

Thankfully, the students were unharmed, but the same couldn't be said about their magic circles.

Exposed to the black winds, the magic circles gradually cracked and then completely shattered. What sounded like cracking glass came from all directions.

When the wind finally settled down, none of the students in Class A managed to keep their magic circle intact.

"This is harder than it looks."

"I thought at least one of us could hold it."

Some students exchanged disappointed looks.

"Is the third BDMAT something about wind or flight?"

"Right, right!"

Some students were so slow with the information that they were completely lost. Hearing that, Rick chuckled and elbowed Simon in the arm.

"Pay attention."

Jane stepped forward again.

"There is no need to be disappointed. You all failed, so you are all starting on the same footing. Now, I will explain the three elements of the magic circle bond."

All students, including Simon, strained their ears to hear her explanation.

The structure.

The bonding formula.

The ecosystem.

She explained that the circle would fall apart if any of these three elements were lacking.

"I want you to think about how your circle was destroyed."

She explained, drawing the spell herself on a mobile board.

"If your circle broke open from the outside, it is likely that your 'structural' strength was poor. The structure is the best protection for the circle."

A few students looked embarrassed as they realized that was how their spell failed.

"If the elements were pushed out of place, causing the spell to collapse, then it was a bonding issue. The quickest way to fix that is to add a bonding formula to the circle. But to do that, you will have to sacrifice something, whether it is damage, power, or casting speed."

It was like how Group 7 managed to design Jet-Black Torpedo to be cast underwater, but only after making it uselessly weak.

"There will also be times when only certain formulas malfunction while everything else stays fine, in which case you should question whether the connections between the formulas are working properly. A circle with a healthy ecosystem, as we call it, will never fall apart."

To summarize Jane's lecture, casting a stable spell was like following a thoroughly planned story from start to finish, leaving no loose ends.

She divided her students into three categories depending on how their magic circle failed.

After the students corrected their deficiencies, the assistant conjured the black wind again, and 6 students succeeded. The ones who failed were still missing one of the three elements after shoring up whichever element was the weakest.

The next round of teachings happened, and the assistant teacher created the wind again. This time, a whopping 25 students succeeded.

And after one last set of lessons and one more try...

"I did it!!!"

All of Class A, including Simon, succeeded.

From failures to successes, every single one of them stood strong. Her class was magical.

The students exchanged looks of recognition.

"This is what class is all about!"

"I don't know about other classes, but we're lucky to have her as our advisor."

After the exercise, they returned to the lecture room where she also talked more in depth about the theory of all three elements.

In particular, her explanation about 'modifying formulas' was a great reference for Simon.

'Blood Golem and Jet-Black Torpedo need a little more work.'

As he listened, he could feel his mind exploding with ideas on how to cut down on the 30-minute casting time.

"Just so you know, I didn't decide to do this on my own."

Claudia spoke up, her voice rising as the classroom fell silent.

"We are going to boycott the Poisonous Alchemy class starting today, and we've decided to join forces with all the other classes."

A massive boycott coordinated with other classes! Things were quickly escalating.

"Of course, we're not trying to force Professor Belya to retire, and we're willing to stop the boycott even right now if she stops poisoning students with her eccentric classes and corrects them to teach based on textbooks. Until then, we'll boycott classes, staging protests in front of the Poisonous Alchemy building."

Claudia's friends moved quickly, placing papers and quill pens in front of the students. A girl walked up to Simon, giving him a set and saying, "Thank you!"

Simon scanned over the papers.

[We are against Professor Belya's dangerous classes! We don't want to be poisoned!]

It was a petition with a long list of complaints for what Belya was doing, including her dress code, her attitude, and her verbal abuse of students.

Claudia emphasized,

"It is a fight to regain what little rights we have as students. If you agree, please sign the paper. The power of each and every one of you will really help."

Creeaak!

That was when Hector pushed back his chair and stood tall.

"I can't bear to listen to this bullshit anymore."

He turned and left the lecture hall, his faction following after him.

Claudia watched with a mix of fury and fear, but as soon as Hector left the room, she spoke even louder.

"Please! I believe we should stop Professor Belya's eccentricity with our own power!"

Hector's quick exit actually helped Claudia's cause.

The students who were afraid of Hector's retaliation now began to sign the paper, no longer having to fear him watching.

Getting sucked in by the atmosphere, more students picked up their quills.

"I'll sign, but I can't boycott the classes."

Said a male student as he held out his paper to Claudia.

"I don't want to catch the ire of a Kizen professor."

"Oh, of course, I understand. Thanks for signing, but let me know if you change your mind."

By the looks of it, more than 30% of the students in Class A had signed. Simon was reading the papers and thinking about it when suddenly there was a commotion next to him.

Cindy Vivace and Claudia were arguing.

"I'm not doing it."

Cindy bluntly refused, and Claudia gave her a look of betrayal.

"Cindy! I trusted you so much! How could you do this to me? I even showed you my Poisonous Alchemy notes before!"

"Doesn't really sound appealing to me."

Cindy stood up, dragging her chair.

"You've been obedient with her classes. Why are you doing this now?"

"What do you mean by now? It's obviously because—"

"Let's be honest."

Cindy grabbed her blazer from her chair and hung it over her shoulders.

"You called it a class boycott, but aren't you just inciting the poison pathetics in each class?"

Poison pathetics was a slang term used by some Kizen students to belittle the Poisonous Alchemy students.

Claudia's expression hardened.

"And, the poison pathetics bastards dropped in ranking after the recent second BDMAT. They've been making a big deal about it this whole mission eval period. That all the other professors are taking care of their majoring students, and their professor is just spewing up poison regardless of the BDMAT."

"Hey! That has nothing to do with it! Aren't you being too m—"

"Since I started this rant, let me finish it."

Cindy shrugged.

"I'm not taking Poisonous Alchemy anyway, so it doesn't matter. But if what you're saying is true, then I hope Professor Belya will continue keeping the poison pathetics back. Kizen is supposed to be an ultra-competitive arena, right? I mean, if their misfortune increases my chances of surviving, then, oh well."

She looked back at Class A.

"Y'all should think like a Kizen, too. Let's go."

Cindy and her group left the room.

Claudia glared at Cindy with the fury of a thousand suns.

"...Our friendship is over forever, Cindy."

Cindy turned around and smirked.

"How could our friendship end when we didn't have one to begin with?"

While some students agreed that Belya's poisonous alchemy class was too painful, others, like Cindy Vivace, tried to keep the Poisonous Alchemy students in trouble.

Frustration was understandable, but Claudia was fueled by spite and went around the class diligently to try to persuade as many as she could to her cause.

And this time...

"Simon!"

She stepped up to Simone's desk.

"Please! This is about getting us students at least some of our rights back, and it would be so helpful if you, the S.A.1, would join the boycott!"

Simon stared at the papers, then slowly closed his eyes to think.

After a moment, he had made his decision.

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