Chapter 264

Chapter 264

That night.

The Poisonous Alchemy assistant teachers were busier than ever.

They contacted the dormitories and personally visited each of the boycotting students to deliver Belya's message.

[Professor Belya has something to say.]

Of course, the news reached Claudia as well. She gathered up her fellow protestors in the front of the girls’ dormitory for an emergency meeting.

"What's your plan, Claudia?"

Said a boy with a big bald spot on his head, clearly dispirited with the reply.

Another student shouted back,

"The BDMAT is just around the corner. It's too late. Let's just ignore it."

"Exactly. Apologizing alone wouldn't be enough, yet she's clearly treating us and even her assistant teachers like nothing by gathering us this way in the middle of the night."

Some of the students had gone beyond criticizing her class, and they were now treating her like an 'enemy' to be defeated.

"Let's give it a try."

But Claudia, the leader, shook her head.

"There's no reason for us not to go if Professor Belya changed her mind."

There were quite a few nods from among the crowd. However, not everyone was so accepting.

"If she blabbers unnecessary things or says she'll go on feeding us poison, then let's just leave, right?"

"Yeah."

"For sure."

Claudia's face slightly stiffened. She thought she was the most passionate about the boycott, but somehow, many of the normal students had become more extreme.

She needed to temper them a bit.

"Everyone, remember. Our goal isn't to retire Professor Belya. It's to stop her from poisoning us and to ensure the human rights of students."

With that, Claudia and the students headed to the meeting point given to them by the assistant teachers.

The meeting was in a research center on the corner of the campus. A dark, dusty staircase led them down to the basement.

"This place is spooky."

When they arrived at the bottom, it was just an empty basement.

"She must be trying to gather us all to get us expelled!"

Claudia put a finger to her lips to try to get them to stop scaring each other with baseless rumors.

A moment later, footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, and Belya and her assistants entered the basement behind them.

"..."

The students stared at her with an odd tension in their eyes. Finally, she stood in front of them, her assistant teachers fanning out behind her.

"Are all of you here?"

Asked Belya.

Claudia, the leader of the protestors, stepped forward.

"Yes, we're all here. We were told you had something to say, Professor."

"Uh-huh, yeah."

Replied Belya with a yawn.

Claudia struck first.

"Will you give up feeding your students poison?"

"You think I'm crazy?"

The students' faces immediately went from scared to furious.

Claudia was bewildered, but she kept her cool and continued the conversation.

"Then, why did you gather us?"

Belya scratched at her spiky graying hair.

"Some guy asked me to."

"What?"

"He said I should talk to you guys."

She walked around, clasping her hands behind her back without properly elaborating.

"The more I think about it, the funnier it is. I told him I'd do him any favor, and then he makes an event like this for someone who has nothing to do with him."

Belya was beginning to like Simon more and more.

"...I don't understand what you're talking about."

"You don't need to."

Stopping and smirking, Belya looked straight at Claudia before saying,

"Alright, let's talk. You see, the lessons where you form antibodies by consuming poison are soon coming to an end. I'll tell you what dark spells I'll be teaching you afterward."

"!"

An earthquake of trembles ran through Claudia’s body.

"Let's just go. She said she'll keep feeding us poison. There's no reason to talk anymore!"

The boy who had objected earlier put a hand on Claudia’s shoulder to get her attention, but Claudia shook it off, her eyes fixed on Belya. Desperation in her voice, she said,

"Please tell us."

Belya smirked and opened her palm.

A magic circle formed in her hand with surprising speed, and an olive-green vine covered in thorns sprouted from it. She grew it to a certain length, grabbed the vine, and swung it.

"Yes, Professor!"

Claudia and the students hurried up the stairs, each with a case of poisons under their arm.

Before they realized it, it was already the middle of the night, and the cold wind stabbed through them.

"Huff! Huff!"

"Claudia! wait for us!"

Claudia was running, dearly clutching the case with poisons tightly to her chest.

'I'm so stupid! I'm so helpless! I can't stop crying!'

Her eyes were full of tears, but at least her mouth was smiling. In fact, she was on the verge of laughter. Who cares anymore if people point at her and call her crazy?

Feeling the freedom of finally being able to drop this painful school-wide rebellion, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She at long last knew that her professor was as good as any other professor.

This was the happiest Claudia had felt ever since she enrolled in Kizen.

* * *

The next day.

The news that Belya had summoned Claudia's protestors was already known by every student in Kizen.

"So, who won?"

"Don't you think the students won? Professor Belya must've broken and called for a ceasefire!"

"But they had rashes and all that stuff on their faces this morning. Looks like they ate the poison."

There was endless talk about Belya and the protestors in the hallways of the dormitories.

"None of the people who went there with Claudia are saying a word."

Said Rick. He looked very curious, too.

"What on earth happened to them after they were called in to see Professor Belya?! Ugh! I'm dying to know!'

Having a hunch, Simon smiled as he stretched himself awake.

'Thank you, Professor Belya!'

Their schedule was empty in the morning. It was supposed to be a Necromancy class, but all four members of Group 7 had dropped out of it. They decided to utilize the time for BDMAT training.

All four of them woke up early, got their permission slips, and decided to meet at the beach. Simon and Rick hopped on a carriage at the entrance of Kizen and soon arrived at the beach.

It was crowded again, as usual. Many of the students who had no classes and some who did have class were in the water practicing underwater combat.

"Simon, Rick! Over here!"

"Honestly, you two are so late!"

Camibarez and Meilyn had already changed into their swimsuits and were warming up. After Simon and Rick joined them, Meilyn—the group leader—got everyone's attention and said,

"This is the last beach training we can do before the BDMAT, so let's make sure we make the most of it!"

"Okay."

"Yeah!"

The four of them ran as fast as they could down the sandy beach and jumped into the water.

Simon, swimming the fastest through the water, moved his arm above his head.

{Bone Armor - Handgun Mode}

Click! Clack!

Rattle!

Bones flew out of his subspace and attached to his right arm. Simon then went under the waves.

Bubble bubble!

First, he checked his connection with the skeleton.

'It got much better than last attempt!'

Undead are normally weakened by simply being in salt water. But with Benya's help at the Mutant club, he had applied a chemical to the bones to increase their endurance.

He then conjured a magic circle in front of the handgun's muzzle. It was a newly developed dark spell, stripped of all extra formulas except the core forming the 'Jet-Black Torpedo'.

'Fire!'

The bones fired from the muzzle and passed through the magic circle in a flash, increasing the bullet's speed as it cut through the sea.

The chemical on the bones allowed him to reduce the over-reliance of structural runes in his {Jet-Black Torpedo} formula, thus allowing him to increase the speed and power.

'Alright, the first one succeeded!'

Simon resurfaced.

This time, he took some time to draw a more complex magic circle, then lowered it onto the handgun.

The magic circle melted and seeped into the handgun's bone bullet.

Then he aimed just below the surface and gave the command to fire.

Pshk!

The bone flew out with the same power as before. With this, he was confident that he could hit a Kizen student using the spell.

'I see no problem with the offensive side of things. Then, last of all...'

Simon opened his subspace above his head and called out his new summon into the sea.

With a loud splash, the summon descended.

Simon jumped on top of it and said,

"Let's run, Deimos."

His goal for this BDMAT was first place.

——