Chapter 15 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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I muttered while gazing down at eyes filled with terror.
"Born from the earth and returning to it suits us perfectly, doesn't it? Let's eat some dirt and see if we can find our humanity."
"Ugh, mmph…!"
"If you do well, it might even be good for your core. At least better than a rat. Right?"
The guy thrashed around, kicking at my clothes. At the same moment, a flash sparked in the corner of my vision.
Boom—!
I raised my arm to block the spell. The dirt I'd been holding in my hand scattered into the air.
One student, his face dazed, pointed his wand and shouted.
"You… you… You can use magic!"
"You're seeing things."
I shrugged casually and replied. He gaped at me, dumbfounded by the absurdity.
"Th—this…!"
Seizing the moment while I answered the other guy, the student grabbed by the collar swung his wand.
Boom—!
I immediately threw up a barrier, reflecting the spell. After all my training with Leo, attacks fueled by emotion didn't even register as threats. The student must have gotten hit by his own rebound—he clutched his eyes and collapsed to the floor.
"Argh! Hey, do something about this bastard!"
"I'm already on it!"
A shout came from somewhere, another student yelling back.
I deflected the attack and glanced around, then moved the animal that had fallen to the ground to a safe corner.
For something they called "doing it," it was way too easy to block, confirming my divine power was more than enough for their level.
At the same instant, one student relentlessly bombarded Lucas while gulping nervously.
*It's not getting through at all.*
Cold sweat dripped from the hand gripping his wand.
None of this made sense. Even with three of them pouring attacks, the barrier showed no sign of cracking. Spells that slipped past the defensive range were nullified by Lucas matching them with equal power, rendering them meaningless.
Bang—
The student got hit by Lucas's counter and staggered back.
The mere fact that Lucas was casting magic felt so unreal it drowned out the pain.
*No, of course he can use magic.*
The kindergarten-level spells I'd seen in class were something anyone from a family with even a nominal title could manage. It wasn't an exaggeration to say nine out of ten couldn't go beyond that, so I'd assumed he was in that category too.
But…
*To think he could wield it this flawlessly.*
The Ascanien family ranked among the empire's elite in mana alone, so that made sense for them.
But not this guy. That's why he'd gotten in through that unprecedented donation admission.
*No way he actually drank blood to gain mana…*
Even as a Pleroma, when he couldn't use magic, he'd just seemed pathetic and creepy.
Part of me had even suspected he was just pretending to be a Pleroma for self-defense.
Better to be an object of fear than ignored entirely.
But this situation shattered every assumption I'd made.
The student stared at Lucas's face amid the barrage of flashes pouring from all directions.
Unlike his friends charging in screaming, Lucas looked annoyed, squinting slightly as he flicked his wrist.
Whoosh—
Lucas dispersed the barrier shards that had grazed his cheek into the air. Even reinforcing it against three nonstop spells, the impacts still jolted through.
*Even if their skill sucks, three is a bit much.*
No more dragging this out. Time to wrap it up.
Lucas swept his wand diagonally, shoving two students back, then leveled it horizontally at the last one.
"Huh?"
Before the student could process it, his balance faltered. When he blinked his eyes open again, damp earth filled half his vision, and the hand holding his wand was bound by Lucas's restraint spell.
"…!"
"Aren't you giving in too easily? You should at least be able to block this much."
Lucas sneered down at the student sprawled on the ground. The student bellowed.
"Hey, give this bastard the same treatment!"
"First things first, you should dispel the restraint spell…"
As the student realized this and opened his mouth to yell again, Lucas let out a hollow chuckle and kicked him. Then he spun around, blocking an attack coming from behind.
*Now I get why they're so obsessed with the pecking order.*
Because they've got nothing else going for them.
I hadn't exercised in ten years and had only trained in magic for two weeks, yet I was holding my own. That alone spelled doom for them. Mana gap or not.
Lucas batted away the remaining two's attacks and strode toward the students. They faltered and shouted.
"This guy's completely insane, right?! Huh?"
Lucas silently kicked one in the shoulder, flipping him over. The side attack was crushed under a simple spell.
The flipped student twisted his head and yelled desperately.
"Hey, hey! Have some humanity! This is too much…"
"Humanity?"
"Argh!"
Lucas wrenched his arm back.
"When you slammed me into the wall, where was your humanity? Now you want it?"
"I—I didn't do it! He did everything!"
The student gestured desperately toward the guy far off clutching his eyes, protesting his innocence.
*…What a spectacle.*
Lucas didn't deem it worth responding to. He slammed a spell into him and dealt with the last student.
Maybe seeing the guy next to him eat extra hits for running his mouth, this one stayed quiet.
Lucas finished with the two students and stood up.
"Phew…"
He'd neutralized all the ones who could interfere. Lucas approached the student who'd tried feeding him the rat earlier.
The student clutched his wand in one hand and pressed his eye with the other.
"Hand over the wand."
"N-no… Argh!"
Lucas stomped his wrist and yanked the wand free. The guy grabbed his wrist and groaned face-down.
Lucas twirled the wand as he spoke.
"Nice one you've got."
"Wh-what…"
"Well, if you've got no skill, you've gotta throw money at it to stick around here."
The donation student saying that must have been too ridiculous—the guy stared blankly at Lucas before snapping to and yelling.
"You bastard, give it back! I'll report you for theft!"
"That's what you're worried about?"
Lucas smiled and knelt on one knee beside him.
"Was it fun?"
"W-what…"
"Ah, never mind. What am I even asking? Experience teaches faster than words."
Lucas scooped up dirt in one hand again, then seized the student's shirt collar and dragged him forward.
"Eat."
"...."
The sprawled students around froze, watching. The collared one wore a similarly stunned expression.
As the guy just stared without reacting, Lucas's grip tightened.
"I got to practice magic thanks to you all. Least you could do is let me return the favor."
"…How am I supposed to eat this?! Make some sense."
"Rats make sense?"
"...."
"Whatever. It's more realistic than eating a live rat."
Lucas glanced at the mystery animal lying far off, then shoved the dirt forward.
"Gonna make me say it again?"
The guy's hand trembled as he grabbed Lucas's arm.
"Hey, hey. Let's not do this…"
"Not do this?"
"I won't bully you anymore… so let's stop, yeah?"
"Nope."
Thud—!
Lucas mimicked the student's earlier line and slammed him into the ground.
"Guh, urgh…"
"You've got a lot to say, but honestly, what's it gonna solve now? Just remember one thing."
Lucas hoisted him up by the collar again.
"If you don't do as I say, I'll report everything that happened today. My magic'll pass as self-defense, and the school'll expel you lot to keep it from reaching your dad's ears."
"...."
"Need me to spell it out more?"
"Hey, it's gross, but just close your eyes and do it! Fuck, we can report this bastard later!"
One student bellowed from afar.
Only then did the guy snap out of it and start thinking furiously.
*…I never planned to actually report it.*
I figured, like last year, he'd just take whatever and bow his head without a word. Didn't expect him to change this much.
If he reports this, expulsion's on the table. And if that happens, no proper title inheritance.
A chill ran down his spine.
What was the point of getting into this school?
Expulsion was the one thing he couldn't afford.
*…No evidence. Just deny it outright?*
No good.
The student's eyes darted to the others around.
If even one rats out, it's over. They might spill everything for immunity from expulsion.
*Or should I flip it first?*
But there's a catch.
No guarantee they'd accept that deal 100%. Initiating it myself could dig my own grave.
Honestly… what he's demanding is so outrageous, it might go beyond self-defense.
Sure, we brought it to his mouth, but he didn't swallow. We could claim it was just a prank and walk.
*If I play it right, I could turn the tables on him?*
And as much as I hated to admit it, aside from blindly obeying once, no other exit from this mess came to mind. He'd definitely use magic.
Lucas tilted his head, studying the student's face.
"Wheels turning hard, huh? Eat it yourself before I stuff it in."
Lucas's lip curled into a smirk.
The student, eyeing the ominous smile, slowly brought his head toward Lucas's hand with utter reluctance.
His friends around groaned and grimaced.
"Eww…"
"Fuck, no way I could do that…"
*Whenever you followed orders before!*
Even if I did most of the dirty work, taking full blame for this was bullshit.
Once this moment passed, deal with Lucas first, then beat the rest.
The student gritted his teeth and touched his tongue to it.
Watching, Lucas furrowed his brow and chuckled.
"No… You're actually eating it."
"…!"
"Spit it out. Too gross to watch."
As the guy gawked at him uncomprehendingly, Lucas narrowed his eyes like the thought disgusted him.
"You didn't swallow, right? Haven't seen your throat move yet."
"You… earlier you said eat…"
"Of course it was a joke. Who'd actually eat this humanely? Makes everything I ate today wanna come up… You're something else."
Lucas snickered, then raised an eyebrow at the guy's dazed face.
"Tasty? Since you tried it, tell me what it's like."
"You bastard…!"
The student swung a fist. Hyped up, his aim sucked—it was easy to dodge—but Lucas just squinted a bit.
Smack—!
"Ugh…"
Should've led with a punch from the start.
More reliable than dud spells.
Lucas winced, rubbing his eye socket.
It stung like a knife cut, heat flaring then cooling like an ice pack.
Pain like torn skin, but disappointingly, flesh didn't tear easily.
*Still, that'll leave a bruise.*
Poor aim or just brute force, his head throbbed hard.
*This is dangerous.*
No, it wasn't a total miss. From that angle, a clean hit would've broken bone.
As Lucas squeezed his eyes shut against the spinning vision like he was drunk, the guy seized his collar and yanked his arm back taut.
Then one student yelled desperately.
"Hey! Don't hit him!"
The shout made the guy freeze.
Only then did Lucas's expression register.
"Why stop? Keep going. Beat me till you feel better."
Lucas burst out laughing, eyes wide.
Telling him to hit more—it reminded him of what Leo said the first time he properly cast magic, and the laughter kept coming.
The student released the collar and backed away hesitantly.
*Why the hell is he grinning?*
The friend's urgent "don't hit" replayed.
There had to be a reason.
How many people laugh after getting hit? Earlier, when shoved into the wall, no smile at all. Why now…
*…No way.*
The thought drained the color from his face.
Another student behind yelled with all his might.
"That bastard's doing it to play victim later after getting hit!"
"Not playing. It's real."
Lucas said, clutching his still-ringing head.
"I never said the no-report thing was a joke. You force my hand like this, I've gotta report."
"Ah, no… Lucas, I…"
The guy flailed anxiously, and Lucas shook his head with a smile.
"I get it. Misunderstanding. You just couldn't hold back your temper and swung first. Right?"
"…Wait, yeah. It was really a mistake. You know that!"
"I do."
Hope lit up the student's face.
"Then…!"
"Thanks for the mistake. Nice to have some visible evidence."
The student's expression twisted sour.
Lucas flashed a pleasant smile and patted his shoulder.
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