The Academy’s Weakest Became A Demon-Limited Hunter
chapter-96

༺ Joint Practical Evaluation (5) ༻

A bigot against commoners.

He was already well aware that he was called such names.

However, Phillip Meltron would never back down from his belief that one’s worth was determined by their background.

After all, a commoner was inferior in every aspect, including their attitude and intelligence. Meanwhile, nobles were thoroughly educated and exuded an air of elegance befitting of their prestigious position.

During his academy days, he was ostracized, ridiculed, and cursed by these commoners.

Even when he worked as an assistant professor, they were thieves who stole anything that they could get their grubby little hands on.

They were even degenerates who abused their own loved ones. All of these examples were done by dirty commoners.

He firmly believed that this country had a caste system for a suitable reason. As the commoners were a far cry from the dignified and honorable nobles.

Even if there was a small chance of an exception, this universal rule remained set in stone.

This was the truth that Phillip knew.

「Fire Generation (Fire Element, ★1)」

Kwaaaah——!

Professor Phillip let loose furious flames in every direction.

The flames spread across the ground, dominating the entirety of the cave.

However.

「Wind Generation (Wind Element, ★1)」

Hooooooo——!

Kaya’s wind gathered with greater intensity as it slowly pushed away Professor Philip’s flames.

Seeing this, Professor Phillip raised the wand in his hand and conjured a bright red magic circle.

The flames battled against Kaya’s wind, raging and flowing across the arena. Wave after wave of red relentlessly charged against green.

「Sea of Fire (Fire Element, ★4)」

Kwaaaah——!

Kaya’s wind quickly got pushed away. However, she had no intention of backing down. She dragged out an enormous amount of mana to fight back.

「Zephyr (Wind Element, ★4)」

Hooooooo——!

The fierce gust of wind clashed against an ocean of flames as they continued to fight for supremacy. Kaya and Phillip’s hair scattered violently in the resulting pressure.

They pointed their respective wands at each other as they let loose their spells. The flames were spread widely, blocking their vision.

“As expected of the second seat, your ability is worthy of admiration. However, if this is all you can muster, I will be quite disappointed.”

He could feel it. The second seat, Kaya Astrea, was pouring out her entire mana reserves to resist.

It was wind magic so powerful that it was hard to believe it was from a freshman. One day, she would surely surpass Phillip himself.

However, no matter how strong she was, she was currently only a first year student.

Phillip let his mana flow with greater intensity.

Kaya squinted her eyes. The hand that held her wand shook as she tried to resist. Unfortunately, her wind was voraciously eaten by Phillip’s flames.

At that moment.

“…?”

Isaac and his 2m tall golem familiar, Eden, stood on Kaya’s right.

Lisetta stood on Kaya’s left with her rock armor lion familiar Jeff, whose mane rippled in the wind.

Philip’s eyes shook greatly. They must have been trying to distract him with this display.

“Lisetta!”

In conjunction with Isaac’s shout, a light brown magic circle lit up Lisetta’s surroundings.

「Rock Avalanche (Rock Element, ★4)」

Kuooooo———!!

Boulders exploded from the ground like a beanstalk, extending towards Phillip from both sides. It was a size and speed that could easily crush a person.

It was an admirable attempt. The sight of it made Phillip scoff in exasperation.

“That is not enough. Block it, Stego.”

Mana gathered around Phillip as a white outline the size of him converged into the form of a golem.

Stego, the 5-star rock element familiar. His body made of rocks was similar to a human, with two green eyes glowing on his face.

[Dureuk!!]

Stego let out a scratchy cry and extended both his arms, erupting a giant mass of rock from the ground.

「Rock Wall (Rock Element, ★4)」

Crash———!

Isaac and Lisetta crashed into the obstacle made by Stego.

Lisetta’s [Rock Avalanche] broke through Stego’s [Rock Wall]. However, at the same time, her rocks turned into chunks as they flew in the air.

The scattered pieces of rock were easily burned away in a whirlwind of fire.

「Fire Ball (Fire Element, ★3)」

Hwareuk! Crash! Crash! Crash!

Phillip counterattacked. His [Fireballs] were 3m in diameter as they fell on Isaac and Lisetta like ballistic missiles.

Isaac blocked them with a rock barrier formed by Eden, while Lisetta dodged the bombardment on her lion familiar, Jeff.

Phillip casually floated in the sky, not having moved an inch. After all, he effortlessly blocked the combined attacks of Isaac, Kaya, and Lisetta.

Hoooo!!!

“Hm?”

Kaya’s wind grew in intensity. The squirrel familiar on her shoulder combined its wind magic with hers. She was clearly not to be underestimated.

To match Kaya’s wind, Philip raised the intensity of his flames as well.

“Ugh!”

His attacks were heavy with power. Kaya gritted her teeth. She wouldn’t be able to last long in this tug-of-war with Phillip’s flames.

The suffocating heat in the cave gradually spread.

The bright green wind that was wrapped around the flames wavered.

It was hard to see due to the maelstrom of various spells. The fierce flames slowly cornered Isaac’s party.

Crack—! Boom—!

Even the messenger hiding in the corner was assaulted by flames. The round magic tool fell to the ground as it crumpled into ashes.

Phillip blinked his eyes calmly.

It would be difficult to break through such a large storm of flames.

Phillip lightly waved his wand like a conductor as he spread the flames even further. He aimed at Isaac and Lisetta who were looking for a chance to counterattack.

“…What in the world?”

However, the mana of the weakest person here was felt in a different place.

On top.

Phillip raised his head while squinting his eyes.

Beyond the fierce tempest of flames, a boy looked down on Phillip with his feet placed firmly in ice. He hung from the ceiling like a bat.

Concentrated ice mana formed in his right hand as a complex pale blue magic circle formed in front of him.

How did he get up there? It wasn’t hard to think of the answer. The golem familiar, Eden, probably flung him up with pure strength.

The staff that he held since earlier was given to Eden as if it was too bothersome to carry.

From examining the magic, there was no doubt that Isaac was planning to use the 5-star spell [Frost Explosion].

The ice that held Isaac to the ceiling was defrosted and Isaac succumbed to gravity as he rapidly fell towards Phillip.

‘Is he trying to pierce through these flames?’

The flames were still roaring in every direction. Unless he was planning on becoming a charred corpse, there was no way he would foolishly decide to brave the fire.

Therefore, it was impossible to harm Phillip

Contrary to Phillip’s thoughts, Isaac’s target was, in fact, not Phillip.

“…!”

Isaac reached his arms out towards the firestorm.

The collection of ice mana in his right hand emitted a brilliant pale blue glow as it exploded forth in every direction.

「Frost Explosion (Ice Element, ★5)」

Kuaaaaaaah———!

An immense explosion of ice created gigantic masses of ice that crashed into the heat of the flames, pushing it back briefly.

An enormous amount of water vapor was released into the air.

“Ugh!”

The explosion of vapor flung Isaac backward as Eden jumped up to catch him.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Kaya’s wind disappeared like a phantom.

Phillip’s flames fell upon Kaya, however, Kaya lifted her body with wind mana and quickly flew away into a corner.

The tip of her light green hair was slightly singed as she got away. It was an inevitable sacrifice.

「Cold Divergence (Ice Element, ★2)」

Crackle———!

Isaac used that opening to take back Zhonya’s Staff from Eden and proceeded to spread out a fog of cold air with [Cold Divergence].

[Cold Divergence]. It was a commonly used spell by ice element wizards to block vision.

Phillip could not see anything because of the thick fog above his head.

Crash——!

The giant ice masses that were not melted by the flames crashed onto the ground as they broke into smithereens.

‘Something’s off…’

Alarm bells were ringing in Phillip’s mind as the flow of battle was suspicious.

It felt like Isaac was purposefully blocking his vision. Additionally, Kaya seemed to time her escape simultaneously.

‘Were they already preparing their next atta-’

He was given no time to think.

——Kuooooooo!!

As his flames pushed away the cold air, Phillip saw a gigantic object filling his vision.

A huge chunk of ice pierced through the air with a threatening loud noise.

Kaya had used her wind mana to collect the white cold air.

Through this, she wrapped the cold air around the huge chunk of ice and shot it in the direction of Phillip.

In the corner of the cave, Isaac was sending waves of ice mana with Zhonya’s staff. He must have used the vapor to synergize the elements together, thus creating this huge chunk of ice.

If the aim of the vapor was to make this, it was worthy of praise…

…For a commoner, that is.

The reason why cold air was used to wrap around the chunk of ice was to ensure that it did not melt.

Of course, Kaya was the one who was truly exceptional.

To control a mass of ice of that size would require an immense amount of mana, as well as exceptional mana control. It was a talent worthy of the second seat.

After focusing back on the fight, he realized that the only mana he could perceive was from Kaya and Isaac. Even now, he could not feel Lisetta using any spell. It meant that she was looking for an opening.

Thus, that comet of ice was a combination of purely Isaac’s ice and Kaya’s wind.

Phillip laughed leisurely as he poured out even more mana.

He had the fire element. As such, this kind of attack was merely a waste of mana.

They weren’t gonna win against him anyway. He was certain of it.

He was going to play along for a while until the time was ripe to subdue them. Then, he would torture the commoner bastard a bit before…

…He eliminated all of them.

Kuahhhhhh———!

It was right in front of him now.

At the most opportune moment, when it was almost impossible for him to dodge. It was truly a blink in the fabric of time.

During this moment, he didn’t question the situation too hard. As such, he made a decision based solely on instinct. It was based on the logic that fire would always melt ice.

That logic paired with Phillip’s insane competitiveness decided his next actions.

Phillip waved his wand towards the white ice wrapped in cold air. His wand glowed with light red mana.

「Napalm Bomb (Fire Element, ★4)」

Crash!!

Massive flames exploded out of the magic circle as the resulting shockwave shattered parts of the ice chunk.

「Firestorm (Fire Element, ★4)」

Hwarereuk——!

At the same time, a storm of fire erupted.

The flames surged with greater strength, swallowing the entire chunk of ice while releasing massive waves of heat.

A second tug-of-war started against Kaya’s wind. While pushing away the comet, the flames quickly melted the ice.

‘I shall lightly cook all of you.’

Suddenly, Phillip saw Isaac let out a small smirk as if he was waiting for just this moment. That’s when Phillip realized.

“···!!”

The ice melting off the meteor made it more compact. As such, Kaya was able to use this new size more aerodynamically.

As a result, it expertly penetrated [Firestorm], scattering the flames as it continued to shoot toward Phillip.

The speed and size of it were not decreasing at all.

Only at that moment was Phillip able to see what was hidden inside the ice.

It was a golden boulder.

“Ste…!”

It was already too late.

1-star Ice Element Spell, [Ice Generation].

2-star Ice Element Spell, [Cold Divergence].

4-star Wind Element Spell, [Zephyr].

And finally, 3-star Rock Element Spell, [Falling Boulder]

The comet made of various spells did not give Phillip a single chance to escape before collapsing on top of him.

「Frostfall Comet of the End (Rock + Ice + Wind Element)」

Boom———!!

The collision of fire and ice let out even more vapor.

Additionally, the collision of the boulder with the ground let out an immense boom as dust and flames scattered everywhere.

The huge chunk of ice paired with the skillful control of [Zephyr] produced this triple joint spell, [Frostfall Comet of the End].

And within it, Lisetta’s hidden boulder made of highly dense mana completed the spell.

Isaac, Kaya, and Lisetta covered their faces with their arms due to the resulting explosion.

The wide cave was filled with white smoke until it gradually faded away.

[Frostfall Comet of the End] disintegrated into powder as a rainbow of colors started to float in the air.

[Dureuk. Dudureuk…]

In the thick silence, Stego’s dull cries echoed. His green eyes faded and his body came to a stop. It seemed as if he had fainted.

Next to him, Phillip laid on the ground bleeding.

Thanks to his [Basic Protection Magic] he always had activated, the resulting shockwave must have lessened. However, the state of his body was nothing short of a wreck. It was understandable as he was hit with Lisetta’s boulder that was accelerated by Kaya’s wind.

“Kuheuk…”

Phillip groaned out in pain.

He only understood what happened after it was all over.

[Frostfall Comet of the End].

While Kaya and Phillip were focused on their tug-of-war, Lisetta must have used [Falling Boulder] to create a boulder infused with a highly dense rock mana. Kaya probably used her wind to support it in the air.

Isaac and Lisetta’s rock element spells were probably distractions that made it hard for him to detect the mana that was used.

Isaac must have used the exploding vapor as a smokescreen to quickly freeze the boulder. During that moment, [Elemental Synergy] occurred to make the ice thicker than normal.

Finally, Kaya’s wind gave this huge comet the momentum it needed.

The [Cold Divergence] used in [Frostfall Comet of the End] also had a clear goal. The white fog resulting from the cold air hid what was actually within the ice, making it difficult to react until the inevitable moment of defeat.

‘Were they planning this… From the very beginning…?”

Phillip chewed on his lips. His trembling hands grabbed the ground for support. He could have never imagined that he would be in such a miserable state instantaneously.

It was as if he was dancing on someone’s palms from the very beginning.

Step—.

He heard footsteps right in front of him as a shadow loomed over.

Phillip raised his head and looked at the student.

That silver-blue-haired commoner, Isaac, was looking down on him.

He was definitely laughing. It was as if he knew it would be like this since before the fight even started…

‘Do you mean to say that this was all according to your plan…?’

His anger surged.

How dare a student, much less a commoner, play him like a fiddle and look down on him?

Phillip was so furious, he couldn’t stand it.

From the depths of his mind, intense denial rose like lava.

“Professor.”

Isaac kneeled down and looked at Phillip. His expression was one of assured confidence. Confidence that the situation would play out his way.

Truthfully, Isaac had a lot of different strategies and tricks to take down Phillip. His expression only reflected his happiness in defeating Phillip on his first attempt.

It was only for that reason that he smiled. Honestly, Isaac didn’t have the time to be satisfied with just this trivial matter.

‘Why do I… need to look up… to this commoner bastard?’

As shame and anger swirled within Phillip, Isaac started talking.

“We won.”

“…You’re just a commoner! How dare you say such blasphemy…!”

The commoner bastard dared look down on him? He didn’t want to accept that he was defeated by a nobody like him.

Phillip exploded in rage.

“How dare you!!”

A light brown magic circle appeared between Phillip and Isaac.

A 5-star rock spell. As huge stone projectiles shot out of the ground and walls to attack Isaac—.

“···!!”

From underneath Professor Phillip, a black dagger sheath glowed.

Kwaaaa———!!

The sheath shot out ice explosively. In an instant, a sharp ball of ice formed, and the cave was filled with waves of cold air.

The cold explosion flung Phillip into the air and his body was instantly imprisoned in ice. His surprised expression seemed frozen in time.

“Let’s consider this as self-defense, okay?”

Isaac spoke while picking up his fallen possession. The Sheath of Disaster let out a white vapor from the aftermath of its [Ice Explosion]. The message he shamelessly conveyed was that he had no choice but to attack.

Earlier, he squatted down to secretly put the Sheath of Disaster under Philip. Isaac was cautious of Philip’s competitiveness which could result in a sudden attack against him.

The cave, which had once been filled with the heat of Philip’s flames, was now filled with cold air produced by Isaac’s spell.

Isaac sighed and let his white breath flow like smoke from a cigarette.

Soon thereafter, his ice was defrosted. The sharp ball of ice split and became blue powder that scattered in the cold wind.

“Ugh…”

Collapse.

Phillip’s body collapsed back on the ground.

With his body bloodied beyond recognition, he finally passed the hell out.