Chapter 281: Academic Exchange [3]

Chapter 280

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Episode 73 - Academic Exchange [3]

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"Attention, all cadets from both Academies. The Opening Ceremony of the Academic Exchange officially begins now."

A powerful voice echoed throughout the plaza, hurting the ears of the weaker cadets.

’Damn, that hurt.’

Although my ears weren’t bleeding, the sensitivity of my senses made it feel as though a nuclear bomb had exploded inside them.

A professor stepped forward. He was wearing the uniform of the Holy Academy’s professors.

He was a second-year professor named Alan Everhart.

"It has been three years since the last Academic Exchange between our two Academies."

"The previous Academic Exchange was held at Elvenheims Academy, and this time, the Holy Academy will be hosting it."

"Every three years, we hold the Academic Exchange with different objectives, but the most common among them is to foster competition between our cadets."

"Each and every one of you was chosen because you represents the best of the best from both Academies."

"For three weeks, beginning tomorrow, the Academic Exchange will take place. These will be days filled with fierce competition, where you will encounter your greatest rivals, as well as outstanding geniuses and talents."

"And you will compete against those geniuses and great talents in various competitions and games. Among them is the most famous of all: a tournament where the Golden Star will be decided, a title that represents the greatness of its respective Academy."

"Now, we will proceed with an explanation of the first week."

Professor Alan took a step back, clearing the front of the podium.

A woman with long ears and fangs protruding from her lips took his place in front of the cadets.

Finally, she spoke in a voice just as powerful as Professor Alan’s.

"The first week of the Academic Exchange between our two Academies will last five days. This first week will consist primarily of theoretical tests rather than practical ones."

"You will compete in everything from the most basic subjects to the most complex. For example: Alchemy, Theoretical Magic, Principles and Fundamentals of a Swordsman, Spiritual and Elemental Arts, Summoning Fundamentals and Summoning Theory, as well as many other classes related to the Four Specialties."

"The second week will last six days and will consist primarily of practical tests."

"There will be various competitions, such as the Wild Beast Hunt, Monster Capture, the Descent into the Great Labyrinth, among others."

"The third week will consist of a tournament between the top ten cadets from both Academies."

"It will be a three-day tournament, and each match will be decided at random."

"So, if you were hoping to fight someone in particular, unfortunately, that won’t be possible unless you get lucky, of course."

"Now, the rules for this Academic Exchange have been slightly modified, so I will only mention them once."

I let out a bored sigh as I listened to the professor from Elvenheims Academy list more than one hundred and fifty rules in painstaking detail.

And just like me, several cadets had already fallen asleep, even while standing.

’Mhm, Ivan isn’t here. Looks like he’s in his dorm room.’

Since I hadn’t gone after Ivan to take his identification and lock him away somewhere safe... obviously.

’Well, I might as well take advantage of the fact that almost all the cadets are gathered here.’

I used my senses to check whether anyone was watching me or, at the very least, whether anyone was casually directing their gaze toward me.

I waited for the perfect moment, and when I finally couldn’t feel anyone’s gaze on me...

"Spatial Movement."

My figure vanished in the blink of an eye.

Using my senses, I searched for the coordinates of the place I wanted to teleport to.

An instant later, I appeared in front of the dormitory building.

The building stood more than fifteen stories tall and was fifty meters long.

I entered through the main entrance and then used the Teleportation Circle to travel to the eleventh floor.

According to the information I had on Ivan, his room was located there.

When I reached the eleventh floor, I quickly found the door to his room.

Knock. Knock.

I knocked on the door twice, and shortly afterward, I heard Ivan’s voice.

’Ah, so this is what his voice sounds like.’

I quickly channeled Mana into my vocal cords and instantly changed the tone of my voice.

"Who is it? I didn’t order anything, if you’re a delivery person."

"....."

The door opened, and Ivan’s head poked out.

The moment his eyes met mine, they widened dramatically.

Shock was reflected both on his face and in his emotions, accompanied by unmistakable disbelief.

"A-a... Doppelgänger..."

I smiled and replied in a calm voice.

"Hello. Unfortunately, you were chosen, and your identity now belongs to me for the next three weeks."

Ivan’s face turned pale as if he had seen a ghost coming for his life.

***

Ten minutes later.

"Aah!"

I sighed as I swung the katana with my right hand.

’This Sword Art is pretty lacking.’

It had far too many openings, weaknesses, and countless completely useless movements.

That was why I had decided to perfect Ivan’s Sword Art to the absolute limit, and after several minutes of analysis and practice, I had finally completed it.

Honestly, compared to Inverted Heaven Sword Art, this fallen noble’s Sword Art was little more than child’s play.

It had been a little troublesome getting him to show me his Sword Art, but everything had worked out in the end.

"Mhm, this should be his Cadet Identification."

I was holding a card about the same size as a credit or debit card.

On the surface of the card was a magic circle that recorded the number of points each cadet possessed.

’I wonder what they did with my Cadet Identification.’

I had left it behind because it wasn’t particularly important, except for one small detail: it contained a total of thirty thousand points.

When I checked Ivan’s card, I discovered that he barely had fifteen thousand.

The minimum requirement for advancing to Second Year was to accumulate ten thousand points, since points functioned as the Academy’s currency and were used both to purchase things and cover daily necessities.

"Ugh, but seriously, why did this guy give his Sword Art such an arrogant name?"

Extreme Katana Art.

The term Extreme was generally used to describe something that had reached the absolute peak of its potential.

Therefore, a Sword Art bearing the term Extreme implied that it had reached such a height that almost no other Sword Art could compare to it.

’Well, I can’t just change its name that easily. Besides, it’ll only be temporary, so I’ll just have to put up with it.’

Perhaps because I was a Swordsman, I had somehow developed a strange ego when it came to swords.

For example, if I heard someone say:

"Swords are fucking garbage."

I would feel completely disgusted with that person.

I lightly shook my head to stop thinking about it, then reached out toward the unconscious Ivan.

"Spatial Movement."

His figure disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The place I had sent him to was none other than the Preserver Islands.

More specifically, a room where several maids were waiting for him, as if he were the young master of a prestigious noble house.

Though, of course, only temporarily.

Click!

I closed the door behind me.

Then I stored the room keys in my Inventory.

From today onward, this would be my room.

A minute later, I went down to the first floor of the dormitory building and stepped out onto the campus.

I had planned to return to the plaza, but instead of teleporting, I decided to take a leisurely walk.

Why rush back when I could take my time, especially knowing they were going to spend the next while shouting out one hundred and fifty rules?

’Better take it slow.’

While walking back toward the plaza, I strayed slightly from the path and headed toward a nearby café.

As soon as I arrived, I quickly ordered a chocolate coffee.

"And could you give me some coffee-flavored chocolate cookies, too?"

"....."

The saleswoman stared at me for a few seconds before a smile slowly appeared on my face.

"Of course. That’ll be fifteen points in total."

I pulled the card from my pocket and handed it to her.

A few seconds later, she returned it to me. I then took the cookies and the cup of coffee.

I took a sip and savored the combination of multiple flavors, from the bitterness of the coffee to the faint taste of chocolate.

The aroma it gave off was also strong enough to be noticed from several meters away.

And as I enjoyed one sip after another, I suddenly heard a girl’s voice behind me.

"Oh, wow, so this is called coffee. It has a very unique aroma, mixed with several others."

I frowned and, without even turning around, replied:

"Of course it’s coffee. What else would they sell in a café? Besides, it’s chocolate coffee, which I consider the most delicious when it comes to both taste and aroma."

As a crazy, psychotic, lunatic, and completely unhinged coffee fanatic, I was, of course, a top-ranking Coffee Scholar.

So, hearing such an obvious question about whether what I was drinking was coffee sent my ego as a coffee fanatic through the roof.

"Oh, well, if you say so, but I find something else to be more delicious."

"Mhm, what could possibly be more delicious than chocolate coffee?"

I replied as I took another sip of my coffee.

Then, the girl behind me answered with absolute naturalness:

"What I consider the most delicious thing is right in front of my eyes. Your scent, especially the smell of your blood. Even my mouth keeps watering, and my Spirit is drooling over your great Natural Affinity."

"Right now, what I desire most is for you to be mine alone."

"...?!"

’Huh... What?’

Countless imaginary question marks began floating above my head.

Then I turned around.

And the person standing in front of me was...

’The Princess of Elvenheims, Very’Daal Elarion Valheim.’