Free Web NovelChapter 244: Chapter 208: Zog, the Bane of the Magic Academy
Students were scattered sparsely throughout the large lecture hall at Repin Academy.
The old Mage at the lectern wiped his lenses, perched his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and let his gaze sweep across the classroom before sighing helplessly.
As a lecturer for Fire Element Curse, his class had once been one of the most popular at the academy. No matter when it was scheduled, even for the "killer" 8 a.m. morning lecture, it would always be packed to the brim.
However, the situation changed drastically with the emergence of the Zog Group.
The Illusion School had suddenly become the most popular School, and enrollment in other Schools had dropped significantly. Many students, even those who couldn’t get into an Illusion class, would still go just to sit in on the lectures.
Fire Element Curse was still doing relatively well. For many, controlling fire had always been an appealing prospect, simply because it was really cool.
It was just like how many protagonists in modern comics were designed to be Fire Element users.
A classic.
Today, however, it seemed his class was about to become another victim, its students drained away by the Illusion School.
The old Mage opened his roll book. Usually, in a class where attendance was so visibly poor, taking roll would be incredibly awkward for both him and the students.
But he was an old-school man, and rules were rules.
"Elon Lucas."
"Here."
"Eric Martin."
No response.
The old Mage made a mark in the roll book.
"Professor, he isn’t feeling well."
"Ha! Not feeling well? I stopped using that excuse fifty years ago. If you’re unwell, you need a note from the school doctor. And don’t even bother showing me a fake one with a faulty magical seal."
At his words, the student who had been about to pull out a fake note retracted his hand.
By the time he finished the roll call, less than half of the enrolled students were present.
"Galina." The old Mage called out the last name.
He had a high opinion of the young lady, Galina. She always rushed to get a seat in the front row and eagerly answered every question in class.
Teaching a student like that was a joy; no one wanted to face a completely unresponsive class.
Besides, Galina was very talented in Fire Element Curse. A student who was both talented and enthusiastic—teaching someone like that gave a professor a real sense of accomplishment.
Admittedly, her talent was a little strange. No matter what fire spell she cast, it always manifested as a giant fireball.
’Still, a fireball is a fireball,’ he thought. ’As long as it works, that’s all that matters.’
After a few seconds of silence, the old Mage found it strange. He glanced at the front row, but there was no sign of Galina.
"Galina?" he called again.
Still, there was no answer.
"Is she perhaps not feeling well?" the old Mage asked, offering her an out.
’Even a fake note from the school doctor would have been fine, just to humor this old, soon-to-be-retired professor,’ he thought.
But he was disappointed. There wasn’t even anyone there to try and fool him.
For some reason, a wave of melancholy washed over him. Even his most enthusiastic student hadn’t shown up. It felt as if his profession was growing old right alongside him.
"Does anyone know why Galina isn’t here?" He wanted to get to the bottom of it.
The classroom fell silent. Snitching to the professor was a surefire way to be despised by your classmates.
However, such fragile student solidarity was easily broken.
"Whoever tells me first gets five extra points on the final exam."
The old Mage decided to exercise his professorial authority. After all, he had control over many aspects of his students’ exam scores.
It was only five points, which wasn’t much. Every year, he added more than that to final exams just trying to salvage failing grades. He always did what he could to help students pass.
The words had barely left his mouth when a student shot to his feet as if a firecracker had just gone off under him.
The other students nearby, seeing he had beaten them to it, grumbled in frustration, regretting that they hadn’t been faster.
"Professor, I know! Today, wild Shell Beasts spawned over at the school’s Feather Pipe Organ Lake. The people who aren’t here all went there to farm for Digital Eggs," the student said.
"Huh?" The old Mage did not enjoy the feeling of hearing several words in a single sentence that he didn’t understand.
"You know the Digital Monster Machine, right?" the student explained. "You can raise a virtual pet inside it. The pet needs to consume resources to level up, and defeating wild enemies is the main way to get those resources."
"It’s a game?" The old Mage had heard of this gadget that was currently all the rage among young people.
"More or less. It’s a little different, but you can think of it that way."
’A game... so this is the Illusion School’s fault again,’ he thought. ’It feels like their influence is everywhere these days. Why didn’t I ever notice them being so influential before? Still,’ he mused, a strange sense of relief mixing with his anger, ’at least Galina, my star pupil, only skipped class to go have fun. She didn’t run off to audit an Illusion School lecture. She probably wouldn’t understand it anyway. There’s no way to cast an Illusion Technique in the form of a giant fireball.’
"Open your Spellbooks. Today, we’ll be discussing..."
The old Mage’s heart wasn’t in it, but out of a sense of professional duty, he still conscientiously began the day’s lesson.
’I’m starting to understand how Professor Furin must have felt during her classes,’ he thought.
As he lectured, he made up his mind to report this problem to the headmaster. Repin Academy was, after all, the most renowned cradle of Mages in the south.
’The students are all addicted to games and neglecting their studies. How can this be allowed? We need new school rules to restrict them. Otherwise, how are the Mages we train supposed to stand on their own two feet in the future?’
Meanwhile, on the southeast campus, the shore of Feather Pipe Organ Lake was packed with people.
There was barely any empty space left on the lake’s surface or in the sky above. Some people were even using underwater breathing magic to wait in the water, all just to find an advantageous position.
