Chapter 253


    The next morning. A new routine had begun.


    Simon''s first ss 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 forms 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. ss 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 ss 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 nces.


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


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


    <em>Whirrrrrrrrrr!</em>


    "Ugh!"


    "I can''t see a thing!"


    It was as if they had justnded in the middle of a ck dust storm.


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


    Exposed to the ck winds, the magic circles gradually cracked and thenpletely shattered. What sounded like cracking ss came from all directions.


    When the wind finally settled down, none of the students in ss 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 werepletely 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 exin the three elements of the magic circle bond."


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


    The structure.


    The bonding form.


    The ecosystem.


    She exined that the circle would fall apart if any of these three elements werecking.


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


    She exined, 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 ce, causing the spell to copse, then it was a bonding issue. The quickest way to fix that is to add a bonding form 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-ck Torpedo to be cast underwater, but only after making it uselessly weak.


    "There will also be times when only certain forms malfunction while everything else stays fine, in which case you should question whether the connections between the forms 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 nned 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 ck wind again, and 6 students seeded. 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 seeded.


    And after onest set of lessons and one more try…


    "I did it!!!"


    All of ss A, including Simon, seeded.


    From failures to sesses, every single one of them stood strong. Her ss was magical.


    The students exchanged looks of recognition.


    "This is what ss is all about!"


    "I don''t know about other sses, 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 particr, her exnation about ''modifying forms'' was a great reference for Simon.


    ''Blood Golem and Jet-ck 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.


    He couldn''t wait to get out of the lecture room and start tweaking his magic circle, and he wanted to prepare a magic circle for the ocean, as well.


    And just like that…


    "Thank you for the ss!"


    Jane''s action-packed morning ss was over.


    She and her teaching assistants grabbed their briefcases and left the room with the swiftness of the wind while the students chatted amongst each other and packed up.


    "That was awesome! I knew Professor Jane should''ve taught Mechanics of Jet-ck!"


    Said Meilyn, excited. She was still reeling from the experience.


    Rick, who was stuffing his textbooks into his backpack, chuckled,


    "Oh, that again? Are you disrespecting Professor Eric right now? I''ll tell him everything~"


    "When did I say that?!!"


    Meilyn snapped, swinging her textbook at Rick, who quickly ducked and dodged.


    "Aah, not again! Don''t fight!"


    Pleaded Camibarez. Simon just continued packing up, now used to seeing them fight.


    "Cami, do you happen to know what our next ss is?"


    "Yes. It''s Poisonous Alchemy!"


    Meilyn looked disgusted when she heard that.


    "Wow, the first and second ss are pr opposites, I see."


    "Yeah."


    Just as they were about to leave the lecture room…


    <em>p! p!</em>


    "Everyone, I''m sorry, but can I have your attention for a second?"


    * * *


    * * *


    A girl stepped to the front of the lecture room, drawing everyone''s attention with her booming voice.


    It was a girl with a neatly braided ponytail, udia Menzies. The top Poisonous Alchemy aspirant in ss A.


    Her shout stopped students on their way out of the ssroom, wondering what was going on.


    "As you all know, the next ss is Poisonous Alchemy."


    She looked visibly nervous.


    As her friends behind her cheered her on, she nodded with a forced smile and continued.


    "The new professor, Professor Belya, is forcing students to take extremely painful and barbaric sses by poisoning the students."


    Simon''s eyes widened as he listened.


    ''Wait, what did she just say?''


    The other students also gasped in surprise.


    They''d all been talking about Professor Belya behind her back, but they''d neverined about her in front of everyone like this before.


    "Honestly, I don''t think it''s even a ss."


    udia''s voice grew louder as if she was determined.


    "It was better with Professor Lang. At least we got to learn something then. But the only thing I''ve learned in Professor Belya''s ss is that eating poison makes you sick. You throw up, you get nauseous, your skin breaks out into hives, and it even affects your performance in the next ss. We all know that, right?"


    The students gulped. It was a statement that most of them could rte to, even if it was a little too much.


    She mmed her palm down hard on the desk.


    "Some students have had pre-existing conditions worsen! Some students had their grades reduced from being locked up in the ward! I think this isn''t—!"


    "Wait."


    A voice interrupted her.


    A heavy silence engulfed the ssroom.


    "Who…"


    The boy in the back of the room, a towering figure, stood up.


    "…are you to stop the bastards from going to the ssroom?"


    It was Hector.


    udia''s face stiffened at the unexpected resistance from ss A''s big shot. Even the Hector faction, who had wholeheartedly agreed with her speech, flipped like a lightswitch and added,


    "That''s right! Who are you to meddle with a professor? It''s ridiculous."


    "I didn''t like her from the start."


    A harsh atmosphere formed around Hector.


    udia''s bottom lip trembled with fear, but she forced a smile.


    "I-I''m sorry, Hector. I just wanted to—"


    "So what the fuck is your point?"


    Luckily, he was going to at least listen rather than take away her right to speak. He even sat back down to give her the floor again.


    Emboldened by that fact, udia said with a grave seriousness,


    "I''m going to boycott her ss."


    <em>mor!</em>


    The entire ssroom instantly burst into fervent whispers at the shocking announcement.


    Students boycotting a Kizen professor''s ss: a ce which absolutely must not be disturbed! It was something no one had imagined.


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


    udia spoke up, her voice rising as the ssroom fell silent.


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


    A massive boycott coordinated with other sses! Things were quickly escting.


    "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 entric sses and corrects them to teach based on textbooks. Until then, we''ll boycott sses, staging protests in front of the Poisonous Alchemy building."


    udia''s friends moved quickly, cing 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.


    <em>[We are against Professor Belya''s dangerous sses! We don''t want to be poisoned!]</em>


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


    udia 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."


    <em>Creeaak!</em>


    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.


    udia 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 entricity with our own power!"


    Hector''s quick exit actually helped udia''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 sses."


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


    "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 ss A had signed. Simon was reading the papers and thinking about it when suddenly there was amotion next to him.


    Cindy Vivace and udia were arguing.


    "I''m not doing it."


    Cindy bluntly refused, and udia 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 sses. Why are you doing this now?"


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


    "Let''s be honest."


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


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


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


    udia''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 ultrapetitive arena, right? I mean, if their misfortune increases my chances of surviving, then, oh well."


    She looked back at ss A.


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


    Cindy and her group left the room.


    udia red 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 ss was too painful, others, like Cindy Vivace, tried to keep the Poisonous Alchemy students in trouble.


    Frustration was understandable, but udia was fueled by spite and went around the ss 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.


    ——