Chapter 37: Chapter 37

The Academy dorms were divided into three levels.

The lowest grade was the Amaldi Hall, the middle grade was the Owell Hall, and finally, the highest grade was the Dantère Hall.

However, as was the case with all places where people lived, there were unofficial ‘ranks’ within the dorms. The ‘ranks per grade’ was implicitly discussed in each dormitory, where autonomy was granted, was an example of that.

In the case of the Dantère Hall, the ninth floor was where the most ‘excellent students’ gathered.

This was the case for the five students who were gathered in a secret room right now, holding their breath while watching the magical screen projected by the magic projector.

“Why isn’t he moving?”

“Does he have good senses?”

“Hmm… Arnold installed them, so how could he see them?”

Arnold Cullard.

The eldest son of Baron Cullard and a third-year student at the Imperial Academy. Uniquely, he was one of the few members of the Archery Department in the entire academy.

Arnold pushed up his glasses with his index finger and smiled smugly.

“You never know. The Cullards have been hunters for hundreds of years, so we’re very good at traps.”

“Then wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

“Dangerous? I removed the danger. Where’s the need to cut off a freshman’s hand or leg? In return, the traps are extremely difficult to release or destroy.”

Arnold majored in shooting—that was, archery. Arnold’s house was famous for their archery from a long time ago.

As a house famous for their archery skills, they were also expert hunters. In the process, Arnold learned how to create and set up traps. The problem was that those trap techniques were being used in the hazing of the new student arriving on the ninth floor.

“I’m excited. This is my first time attending a ceremony like this.”

“Arnold was beaten up when he came here, so he’s probably put a lot of thought into this.”

“But compared to what I had to go through, it’s nothing. I was interrogated and tied up! At the time, the concept was probably ‘a terrorist group on the ninth floor of Dantère Hall’, right?”

“We’ve all had our share of ups and downs.”

All five of the people who had gathered had gone through some kind of hazing when they first entered the ninth floor.

The person who had gone through hazing last had to prepare the one for the next newcomer. Arnold was the last to enter the ninth floor and, as was tradition, prepared his own initiation ceremony.

‘Fufu, he’s going to faint soon.’

Arnold chuckled as he imagined the boy in the video screaming in agony.

“But the top student, and the Autonomous Department at that… maybe things will be a little different this time? His eldest sister is a genius, his second sister is also a genius. If he’s in the Autonomous Department, he’s bound to be a greater genius than them.”

Then one person raised a question. It was a girl with one eye covered by her hair.

Her name was Priscilla. She was a fourth year student in the Theology Department.

“What do you mean? Are you saying my traps won’t work?”

Priscilla chuckled as Arnold snapped and said, “I didn’t say that, but I guess you’re not confident?”

“Of course I am!”

Priscilla ignored Arnold’s objections and pointed to the video.

“Look, he’s still not moving.”

At those words, Arnold just scoffed, “He’s very alert. But how long do you think he can stay like that? The elevator’s magic power has been cut off, so it can’t go anywhere, but if he can only go forward, he will move.”

But there was one more possibility.

“It seems to me that he is examining something closely.”

As Priscilla said, Dane didn’t seem to be simply standing still. He was turning his head little by little, and where he stopped, his eyes were shining sharply.

‘No way.’

Arnold denied the absurd thought. That couldn’t be possible.

He’d applied excellent paint to hide the traps, and he’d also carefully applied lubricant to prevent the squeaking of the gears from being detected. It was a trap that even the most cautious animals would fall into, so there was no way he would have noticed.

“Oh. He’s moving.”

Dane finally moved and caught everyone’s attention. Arnold pretended not to care, but at that moment, he gulped nervously.

‘Three steps forward.’

Just three more steps and the hazing would finally begin.

He started lightly, with a wire trap.

If the newbie touched it, the water bag installed on the ceiling would burst and he would get soaked. As he became flustered and unable to make sense of things, the ground trap would be activated.

The floor trap was triggered by moisture.

If he didn’t move immediately, the floor would sink and he would be exposed to a smelly liquid.

‘Even if he gets out of that, all kinds of traps are waiting for you.’

If his calculations were right, the newbie would arrive before them while soaking wet, with a nasty smell coming from his legs, beaten a couple of times with a cotton-filled glove, covered in feathers, and a blank mind.

Arnold’s heart was pounding at the thought of finally getting revenge for the hazing he had received.

“Huh?”

Dane stopped exactly three steps forward and looked up.

Was it a coincidence?

No.

Dane snapped his fingers toward the ceiling.

Tang!

The water bag installed on the ceiling burst and water poured out onto the floor. The floor trap activated at the same time.

Creak!

“…”

Dane was fine. His whole body did not get soaked or sink into the floor. He was just wrinkling his nose and frowning.

Two of the traps that had been prepared with great care were blown away right from the start.

He didn’t even avoid it, he just destroyed it?

Even though Arnold had hidden them so that no one would ever notice?

“What the…? I thought you said he would never find them.”

“I-it’s a coincidence! A coincidence!”

Arnold’s heart began to pound as he denied it.

Meanwhile…

‘A hydraulic engine in front… if I touch it, something might pop out from the curtains.’

Dane, who had just destroyed two traps easily, jumped over the sunken floor and analyzed the next trap quickly.

‘Should I shoot «Mana Bullet» again?’

Dane hesitated for a moment and then shook his head.

Instead, he summoned a single arrow with attack power incomparable to that of a «Mana Bullet».

“There should at least be this much impact.”

Unlike «Mana Bullet», which could be used by anyone who knew how to manipulate magic power, it was a spell that only ‘mages’ could cast.

The 1-chain spell left Dane’s hand and shot forward一

Thump!

It hit Arnold’s well-hidden trap not far away.

A glove filled with cotton fell from under the curtain the moment the trap was destroyed. Dane aimed for the core of the machine and completely destroyed it without giving the trap a chance to be triggered.

Arnold’s jaw dropped, and the rest of the group had gone beyond surprise and began to get interested.

“As expected of House Sogres.”

“I heard that his older sisters were treated badly at their initiation ceremonies.”

“Those two were legends of the Dantère Hall. They never left from the time they entered school until they graduated.”

“Is that a big deal? They fought so much. It was a nightmare. I hope he’s a bit quieter.”

While Priscilla and the rest of the students were growing excited, Arnold finally screamed when he saw Dane easily destroying the fourth trap.

“My… my traps were all…”

This time, it was a trap where feathers would burst out from all directions the moment Dane should have grabbed the doorknob to open it.

If he was soaking wet, the feathers would have stuck to him, and even if he wasn’t, it would have been enough to obscure his vision and cause panic…

“It looks like he knows what kind of traps there are. Does House Sogres also teach hunting?”

As one guy said, Dane went straight to the trap as if he already knew it and dismantled it in an instant.

“This time it’s not destruction, but dismantling. That’s even more amazing.”

“That’s amazing. He found everything Arnold worked so hard to hide so easily.”

It was still too early to give up. The last one was really difficult.

«Summoner’s Illusion».

There was no need to avoid it or dismantle it. The moment he stepped into its area of effect, a realistic illusion would appear and force him to fight.

Of course, it went a bit beyond what he had learned as a hunter, but Arnald was the one who cast it. Arnold trusted in the trap that he had even used magic on.

“What the hell?”

But Dane stepped into the area of effect and tilted his head at the strange summon that appeared before his eyes.

“It’s an illusion.”

He had learned it from his eldest sister. Of course, he also knew how to disperse it.

Dane drew up his magic power and released it toward the illusion. Although it didn’t cause physical damage, it was effective against illusions that had no substance.

It disturbed the flow of magic power, making it impossible for the illusion to function properly.

“…”

Because of that, Arnold despaired, and the rest looked at Arnold with pity.

Illusions were created with magic. According to the law of magic, if the suppressing magic power was stronger, the illusion would be scattered like that.

In simple terms, Dane’s magic power was stronger than Arnold’s.

“It’s ruined,” Priscilla concluded simply.

Even the last trap was easily defeated.

Dane, the target of the hazing, looked very calm and relaxed, not surprised.

In a word, it was a mess.

“Never mind. The initiation ceremony was a bust, so let’s just go out and have a welcoming ceremony.”

“Would you like to eat something?”

“Should I go to Donelf and get some grilled chicken legs?”

“Sounds good.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

As they chatted and were about to get up, Priscilla pointed to the screen.

“What’s that?”

Dane, who had dispersed the illusion, was approaching the core of the trap, which had stopped functioning.

“What is he trying to do?” Priscilla asked as she looked at Dane.

He knelt on one knee in front of the core, raised his hand, and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Arnold, what’s the new guy trying to do?”

“Is it because the core is expensive?”

“No way, he’s from House Sogres.”

“Who knows? Their house might emphasize frugality. I guess it belongs to the newbie since he destroyed the traps. Arnold, how about giving in?”

Amid the amusing speculation, the trap in the screen began to shine. For a moment, the laughter stopped.

“What did he do?”

“Is it core recovery?”

As everyone was making their guesses, Priscilla unconsciously turned her head at the strange feeling coming from behind her and saw…

“Kyyyyaaaa!”

The summons Eterarch with its teeth bared.

“What the hell?!”

“Damn! What’s going on all of a sudden!”

“No way, with that trap…”

Then it must be an illusion, so why were they surprised?

The reason was simple.

Unlike Arnold’s, the skill of the caster who has just sent the illusion into the room by using the trap was far superior. It could be called a ‘realistic’ illusion.

It wasn’t difficult for Dane. All he did was slightly change the structure of the already designed code to create one of his desired shape, and then he changed the activation instructions and conditions.

“So this is how you write it.”

Who would have thought that the next talent he displayed after entering the academy after swordsmanship would be with traps?

“Should I leave it for about ten minutes?”

Dane laughed at the screams coming from inside the room.