“Sigh…”
“You’re looking gloomy despite having beaten the Flame Dragon Priestess, Rourke.”
“You look like you’re having fun, Gareth.”
As I was walking down the hallway, sighing for who knows how many times, a handsome guy with a mischievous grin approached from the front.
The name of this good-looking guy with tanned skin and a well-toned body visible even through his uniform is Gareth Orrot.
He’s the heir to the Orrot family and a spirit user with the enviable title of ‘Young Noble’. He’s one of the few spirit users who mainly engage in close combat, and the long sword at his waist is said to be a magic sword passed down through his family for generations.
His personal skills are impeccable, and in terms of pure swordsmanship, Gareth is probably better than me.
Moreover, he’s one of the few school friends who know about my circumstances.
“Well, you know, it’s amusing to think about how you were desperately fending off the Salamander’s attacks while keeping that composed look on your face.”
“That’s not funny at all. I’ll hit you.”
I really thought I was going to die from that last Salamander breath attack. I knew I couldn’t definitely block it with just water spirit magic even if I mobilized all my spirit power, so I managed to defend by mixing in wind attributes to form a spiral defensive wall, but my back was drenched in cold sweat at that time.
If I fight again, I’ll literally be turned into barbecue. Ha ha, not funny.
“Still, you’re an amazingly powerful spirit user as always. To handle spirit magic to that extent with just minor spirits…”
“Well, I’m honestly grateful for my talent in that area. Having so much spirit power really helps.”
When dealing with spirit arts, you basically need spirit power and the power of spirits as a medium. Therefore, the spirit arts that spirit masters excel at naturally become the attributes of the spirits they’ve contracted with.
For example, Leia would have the fire attribute of Salamander, while Misha would have the light attribute of angels.
However, as long as you’re just using spirit arts, you can handle any attribute if you can contract with a spirit of the attribute you want to use.
Now, for those of you thinking, “Wait, doesn’t that mean I can’t use spirit arts without a contracted spirit?” This is where simple contracts come in. If you contract with a minor spirit of the attribute you want to use that’s just floating around, even I can use spirit arts sufficiently.
But there’s one problem when doing this.
Spirit power consumption.
Obviously, the bigger the technique, the more spirit power it consumes. For instance, that Salamander’s breath attack I took probably consumed an enormous amount of spirit power.
Yet, skilled spirit masters use such big techniques casually without hesitation. Why is that?
The answer lies in their connection with spirits.
Spirits are entirely composed of spirit power, and even low-ranking spirits have more than twice the average spirit power of spirit masters. Therefore, when using big techniques, spirit masters borrow spirit power from their contracted spirits to reduce their own spirit power consumption when activating spirit arts.
However, with simple contracts, the flow of the contract is one-way from the spirit master to the spirit, so you can’t receive a spirit power supply. Well, strictly speaking, they do send some spirit power, but it’s negligible compared to contracted spirits.
That’s why simple contracts are mostly used as a diversionary tactic to increase the number of moves, and not many spirit masters use them in combat.
Well, I have to use them because I don’t have a contracted spirit.
The reason I don’t run out of spirit power despite using spirit arts frequently with simple contracts is simply because I have an absurdly large amount of spirit power.
Thanks to this, I can manage even with a very inefficient fighting style where I put 15-20 spirit power into a spirit art that normally requires 10. I’m really grateful for my talent in this area. I can perform reckless spirit arts multiple times.
“By the way, Rourke, from the looks of it, are you planning to go straight home?”
“What else is there?”
Now that the exchange battle is over, my role for today is done. I don’t have afternoon classes, so my only option was to go home and sleep.
“There’s supposed to be a recreation event with the new students organized by the student council, and a dinner party in the evening.”
“I’m not going. It’s troublesome. Plus, I don’t want to stand out.”
After spending a year at this academy, I’ve learned that whenever I do something, I tend to stand out in a weird way. So I’m not participating in either event. I’m going home to sleep.
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“I think you’ll stand out even more if you leave after causing such a scene…”
“I don’t care! Anyway, I’m going home! When I say I’m going, I’m going!!”
Ignoring Gareth, who had a somewhat exasperated expression, I set off for home.
A few minutes later, I was caught by the student council members and literally dragged to the recreation venue.
Seeing this, Gareth let out a deep sigh.
The location had changed from the hallway to the academy’s cafeteria, where I’m now seated.
This cafeteria with its high ceiling is very spacious. From where I’m sitting, I can barely make out the students at the far end with my naked eyes.
This large cafeteria, used for gatherings and events, can easily accommodate several hundred people, making it perfect for recreational events like this one.
“That’s why I told you it was impossible.”
“Shut up. I thought I could make it.”
I sit next to Gareth, who has an exasperated look on his face, with my arms crossed and a disgruntled expression, leaning back in my chair.
“Don’t make such a grumpy face. You’ll scare the new students.”
“Of course I’m grumpy. Why am I being forced to attend when the paper says it’s voluntary participation?”
Yes, the paper describing the recreation event says it’s voluntary participation.
Yet somehow, I’m being forced to participate. It doesn’t make sense.
Actually, after parting ways with Gareth, I managed to reach the school gate, but there I was caught by the student council members and ordered to return to the recreation venue. I protested that it was supposed to be voluntary, but they wouldn’t listen to me at all.
Apparently, it’s problematic if the second-ranked student in the year isn’t present at the recreation event, but that’s not my problem. As long as the princess, who’s the top student, is here, my presence as the second-ranked student shouldn’t be necessary.
In the end, neither I nor the council members would back down, and we got into a scuffle. Despite being outnumbered, I somehow managed to force my way through the school gate, but then an angel appeared out of nowhere and knocked me out with a single blow. When I came to, I found myself brought to this recreation venue.
By the way, I don’t know who carried me, but they must have dragged me, right? My uniform is all dirty. I really won’t forgive the student council for this. They better pay for the dry cleaning.
“…There sure are a lot of people, aren’t there?”
I change my train of thought and shift my gaze forward.
Instead of the usual long tables, round tables with five to six seats each have been specially prepared for this recreation event. I observe the students sitting two or three to a table as I speak.
Additionally, second-year students from our grade are densely packed around us, chatting. The population density is off the charts.
“You’re right. From the looks of it, almost all first and second-year students might be participating.”
“Does everyone have that much free time?”
“I think it’s more like everyone was looking forward to this event today.”
“Really? I find it boring.”
Honestly, I only remember falling asleep listening to endless boring bragging and mysterious tales of heroism when talking with seniors. If there’s any good memory, it’s probably just that the tea and snacks prepared at the tables during the conversation were delicious.
“Unlike last time, this time Misha-sama is in charge of the welcoming party as the student council president, so everyone’s looking forward to it,”
“As expected, the princess is quite popular,”
Well, with that beauty, good personality, and excellence, there’s nothing but elements to make her popular.
…No, perhaps her personality wasn’t as good as they say.
“I feel like I’ve been insulted somehow, Rourke-Areas?”
“It’s just your imagination, Princess.”
A chilling voice called out from behind, and as I turned around, there stood Misha, her platinum blonde hair swaying, her blue eyes fixed on me.
What, can the princess read minds or something?
“Hey, Princess. This is voluntary participation, right? Why am I being forced to attend?”
“Rourke-Areas, you’re the second-highest ranked second-year student, aren’t you? Please consider your influence.”
“It’s just second place, right? With you here, Princess, it doesn’t matter if I’m here or not.”
People often remember the name of the first-place student but forget those ranked second and below. How many new students would even know who I am?
“…I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you have an unusually low self-esteem.”
“I consider it an accurate self-assessment.”
After all, I’m a failure without a contracted spirit. If anything, it might be too high.
“Too much modesty becomes self-deprecation. You should be careful.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, can I go home now?”
“No. It’s about to start, so please wait there.”
Despite my casual attempt to leave, I wasn’t given permission. Sighing, I watched Misha’s back as she headed towards the stage set up at the front of the cafeteria.
As Misha took the stage, the noisy cafeteria suddenly fell silent, and all eyes focused on her.
“New students, congratulations once again on your admission to Eutrea Academy. I am Misha Romus, serving as the student council president.”
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