I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 666: Where the Wind Goes (1)

The flower garden that unfolded before my eyes gave off a strange feeling.

The sky was full of dark clouds as if it would pour rain at any moment, but the colorful flower garden was enough to create a sense of dissonance.

Isn't this too out of place to be the Demon King's doing?

"A flower garden? Why are there flowers in a place like this...?"

"Everyone, don't let your guard down. Have you forgotten? Just as that thorn vine barrier isn't an ordinary plant, these flowers are likely the same."

"I don't know what trick the Demon King is playing, but I have no intention of falling for it."

The War Mages at the front agreed to eliminate this flower garden completely.

They might not be able to burn this entire vast space, but at the very least, creating a path wouldn't be difficult.

Immediately, the magicians began drawing fire-element magic formulas.

However, one magician at the front discovered something and shouted urgently.

"Wait! Stop!"

"What's wrong?"

"The pollen in the air is strange!"

Hearing this, the War Mages halted their magic.

The magicians who had erased their formulas mid-way focused their eyes and examined their surroundings.

"Pollen?"

Very fine but noticeable, pollen was spread throughout the air like powder.

It wouldn't be strange for pollen to be floating around in a flower garden.

From the beginning, the fact that a flower garden was growing in such a place was beyond their common sense.

Naturally, the pollen floating here would not be in a normal state either.

One War Mage swiped his finger across the pollen on a flower petal and smelled it.

"This has the same ingredients as Diffusion Incense."

"What?"

"I'm certain. If we use magic here, our nearby comrades will be caught up in it."

Diffusion Incense was a material that actually increased the conductivity of magical power, interfering with the casting of spells.

For magicians who needed to draw formulas, having their spells spread uncontrollably would pose a major problem.

Experienced War Mages might be able to cast spells even within such Diffusion Incense, but this wasn't the end of the problem.

-Whoosh!

One magician created a very small flame of magical power at his fingertip.

And he couldn't help but be surprised at the flames that spread instantly before his eyes.

"Wh-what did you just do?"

"I only used a basic [Pyro] spell."

"And it had that much power?"

If they had used an even more powerful fire magic here to burn the flower garden?

Literally, a massive explosion would have occurred, turning the surrounding area into a sea of fire.

They might have burned the flower garden, but there was a high chance they would have been caught up in it themselves.

"That was almost dangerous."

"Material similar to Diffusion Incense. No, something else is mixed in, making it much more dangerous."

Given the situation, they would have to use wind to blow away all the pollen first, then calmly burn it.

"Still, it's just particles of pollen floating in the air. Wind magic should easily solve this."

If they were to reversely use the explosive diffusion of magical power to increase the force, even a gentle breeze from their side would become a strong wind and drive away the pollen.

Thinking thus, the magician who used wind attribute magic couldn't help but widen his eyes at the subsequent scene.

"What, it's not being pushed away?"

The pollen didn't budge at all, as if it was fixed in the air.

It wasn't that the pollen itself had been specially treated.

It was a counter-wind.

A wind blowing from somewhere on the opposite side was blocking the wind from this side.

'Is there a magician on the other side? Are they going to fight with wind power against us?'

But on this side, there were over 200 War Mages who could handle wind attributes.

After sending a signal, the War Mages used magic simultaneously.

That alone would have been enough to push away the pollen in a nearly typhoon-like formation.

But surprisingly, the wind blowing from the opposite side strengthened accordingly, once again offsetting the War Mages' magic.

"What?"

"What is this?"

"To block magic cast simultaneously by 200 people?"

It was unbelievable.

Could it be that the Demon King's side also had a similar scale of magicians?

"What's going on here?"

"We can't observe. Detection magic is impossible. The pollen is causing too much interference."

"Is this related to the weather phenomenon that blocked the airship?"

What if they used stronger magic here?

After a brief deliberation, the War Mages who could cast at least 4th-tier magic agreed to try something stronger.

4th-tier wind attribute magic [Wanderer's Touch]

Magic with enough power to push away even rocks with the pure force of blowing wind.

More than 30 War Mages cast this simultaneously.

The power was so strong that the flower garden not only rippled but gave the illusion that the ground was undulating like waves.

The pollen, which had been creating resistance, could not withstand this power and was seen being pushed far away.

We did it. Finally, we've pushed away the annoying pollen.

The War Mages who were rejoicing couldn't help but gape at the sight that followed.

"Wh-what is this?"

The pollen that had been pushed far away gathered more densely and surged back towards them like a tidal wave.

The pollen, which had been faint, was now visible as a bright yellow color.

A stronger wind than the one they had pushed out was carrying the pollen back.

Does that mean someone cast at least a 6th-tier wind attribute grand magic?

But the distinctive intense vibration of a 6th-tier spell wasn't felt.

"Th-this is... Unless it's a magician with the title of 'Air Colour,' this shouldn't be possible..."

The tidal wave of pollen engulfed the War Mages.

"Haa. This isn't easy."

Violetta felt the cold sweat flowing down her forehead as she concentrated.

A wind spirit appeared around her and cooled her sweat.

"Ah, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Vierano Dentis, who had cooled Violetta's sweat with the wind spirit, said it was fine.

"More importantly, it's truly amazing. I didn't think this would be possible."

Vierano couldn't help but admire the wind magic that Violetta was currently displaying.

The appearance Violetta was showing now was almost close to godhood, it was so extraordinary.

"Even though you have talent and specialization in wind attribute magic, I didn't think it would make you become a Colour Magician from there."

That's right.

Currently, Violetta had become a magician with the title of Colour, a single-attribute elemental user.

Originally, she had talent in wind attributes, but that didn't mean she couldn't use other elemental attributes.

Considering that magicians with the title of Colour are born to handle only one element.

In Violetta's case, it was a very heterogeneous situation.

"I'm surprised too. I didn't think this would be possible."

"Is this thanks to the Great Demon's power?"

What made this possible was thanks to Surna.

It wasn't that Surna gave Violetta some power to make her an Air Colour Magician.

Rather, it was the opposite.

"To seal all the talent for other elemental attribute magic, forcing her to handle only one element."

The method Surna used on Violetta was simple.

Rather than developing her magical talent, he forcibly suppressed it.

It was similar to the method when Rudger conducted clinical experiments related to magical circuits, where he conversely fed magic suppressants.

He forcibly suppressed, even erased, Violetta's talent for magic of other elemental attributes.

For an ordinary magician, taking such an approach would reduce their full power to less than a quarter.

It was like restraining all other parts of a perfectly healthy person and making them use only one arm.

But for a very small number of people, such suppression leads to the unintended development of talent.

Violetta was just like that.

"With conditions, though."

Violetta's talent specialized in wind attributes.

Surna, who knew and could implement a method to suppress other talents.

And Vierano, who could assist Violetta with spirits.

Violetta hadn't become an Air Colour Magician.

If anything, she was closer to 'imitating' the talent that should have been innate.

Deceiving herself and ultimately covering even the eyes of the world.

Forcibly stealing and borrowing a talent that shouldn't have been given.

That was Violetta's current situation.

"It's also thanks to the Wind Elemental Lord. Because of that, the number of wind spirits in this domain has increased exponentially."

"Whatever the case, it's a good thing that our forces have increased."

However, despite getting stronger, Violetta's complexion wasn't very good.

The price for handling a talent that she shouldn't have been able to grasp was by no means light.

Every time she cast a spell, the mental drain was enormous.

She wondered how magicians with the title of Colour could control the elements of nature at will, but they didn't cast magic purely with magical power, instead their will reached nature and resonated with it.

That's why their 'brains' had to be structurally different from other magicians.

Trying to forcibly imitate that, Violetta felt like she was wringing out the inside of her skull like a rag.

This wasn't just like going on a diet to fit into clothes that didn't suit her body.

It was a dangerous method of cutting off her own flesh to fit the clothes, and forcibly adding flesh where there was none.

Considering that the one who taught and implemented this method was the Great Demon Surna.

The saying about making a contract with a demon wasn't exactly untrue.

"Ms. Violetta. Your physical condition..."

"I'm fine."

"You shouldn't overdo it. Our goal is to buy time anywhere."

Vierano Dentis' eyes were full of concern as he gazed at Violetta.

"If you use that power excessively, you may never be able to use magic again."

She had literally sacrificed the driving force to use magic in the future to gain her current power.

If she stopped at an appropriate level, it would be fine, but if she continued to maintain this overexertion Violetta would become unable to use magic ever again.

She would fall from being a magician whom everyone looked up to, to being an ordinary person.

"I know. I know what will happen to me if I push myself further here."

But, Violetta continued.

"I don't mind."

Violetta turned the incoming wind into her own and sent it back towards the opponent's side as she spoke.

"I am from the lower class of society. I was born in the back alleys, and I should have ended my life there without anyone's recognition. I had nothing in my hands from birth."

The swirling wind circled above the flower garden, forming a vortex that engulfed the magicians.

She could feel the War Mages' bewilderment through the wind.

"I couldn't even think about wanting to do something. Even that was a luxury. It wasn't just me. All of us were like that."

She was just busy living day by day.

Before falling asleep late at night, she always had the same thought.

I hope I can survive tomorrow too.

Even hearing that a friend had died somewhere in the neighborhood was no longer surprising.

It was common for someone to be sold or become an experimental subject.

Human life was cheap, and that was the norm there.

Violetta hated that.

Despite struggling to take care of herself, she helped lower-class women in the same situation.

If she had tried to survive alone selfishly, she could have certainly lived abundantly.

Yet she didn't because she didn't want to.

But the responsibility she bore as the leader of an organization was heavy, and at some point, she was becoming broken as a person.

Born in a swamp, destined to never escape it and eventually sink into it.

Not even realizing this herself, and now accepting it naturally to the point where the future seemed hopeless.

It was Rudger who saved her from that swamp.

"I could make all the clothes I wanted, my younger sisters didn't have to starve, and the people on the streets could live with smiles. I overcame my trauma, learned magic, and got lots of things I wanted to do."

She had received so much.

Perhaps even if she tried to repay the debt for her entire life, she wouldn't be able to return it all.

The man who had bestowed such grace wouldn't expect repayment either.

That's the kind of man he was.

So at least in this moment she decided to fight for the man who had shown a path forward to someone as insignificant as herself.

This kind of pain, compared to those desperate times, wasn't even worth counting as painful.

"But little by little, I'm starting to get a feel for how to handle the wind."

When she first tried to move the wind with just her will, she felt like her brain was on fire.

As she endured and continued, she gradually began to get the hang of it.

It wasn't that difficult.

She became able to handle the wind more efficiently, and the headache gradually faded.

Once she realized what she needed to do, her speed in handling the wind accelerated.

Vierano's pupils dilated at the sight.

The wind had changed.

"I guess I wasn't that untalented after all."

Violetta said with a playful smile.