Chapter 95: Darkness

Time’s up—we couldn’t check everyone’s abilities. Heading to the room used as staff office…

“Are you alright?”

Sister suddenly asked.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine… why? What’s wrong?”

Besides Sister, a few Teachers had gathered here too. Something must’ve happened.

“No, it’s just… the teachers assigned to that class usually got injured on the first day. I was worried…”

“Really? From what I saw today, they seemed like good kids.”

“Really? Nothing happened?”

“Hmm… no, nothing really…”

The Teachers were all staring at me with heavy concern, but nothing bad happened.

“How were the kids?”

“Well… they were all cheerful and friendly. Maybe they’d be good at teaching?”

I said with a laugh. The others looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

“Hey, Noah, what the hell are we supposed to do?! This teacher’s nothing like the others!”

“We can’t kick them out with our power!”

“Shut up.”

I said it. Everyone fell silent.

“That teacher’s seriously weird. From what I saw, they’ve got at least four jobs—warrior, mage, monster tamer, blacksmith.”

“So… that’s as many as Freyja Crus, the Knights of the Sanctuary. Could they be some famous talent?!?”

“No… I’ve never heard of a “Gojo Shumon”… And there’s almost no information on Japan at all.”

“But if they’re really that strong… how the hell did they even get here…?”

I cut Arthur off with a hand. Their strength was undeniable. But if we didn’t get rid of them, our future was over.

I stood up from my seat and headed toward the desk in the corner of the classroom.

"O-oi... Noah!"

The girl sitting there was the youngest in the class, quiet and brooding, like a shadow in the corner. I tried to cheer her up with a bright greeting.

Hey, Emily. I need your power. You heard the story, right?

Emily kept her head down, but since that was normal, she went on talking.

Didn’t we all promise? He’s just in the way if we’re gonna get what we came for!

"…but… I…"

Trying to convince Emily, her voice fading like smoke.

"If anything happens, we'll definitely jump in to help. You believe in us, right?"

Emily nodded silently too. If even she lent her power, Gojo’s strength wouldn’t matter at all.

I should be able to kick Gojo out by tomorrow.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Next day, morning——

I was jotting down notes about the kids in the staff room. After checking their abilities yesterday, I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on what they can do.

Noah Schmidt

Sage Lv. 5

Fourteen years old, Swiss—what’s shocking is that she suddenly manifested an upper-tier profession: “Sage.” Guess abilities really do show up at wildly different times for everyone.

Victor Maze

Mage Lv. 7

Belgian, 15 years old

Lewis Bernaard

Monk Lv4

French, 11 years old

Arthur

Warrior Lv. 8

French, 14 years old

Sara Dubois

Great Mage Lv9

French, 16 years old

Chloe Martin

Beast Tamer Lvl 6

French girl, 12 years old

Wait, six people... I thought I’d checked everyone. Did someone slip through? Probably Emily, the Luxembourg girl... Yeah, I remember her—kinda shadowy, right?

Well, I’ll figure it out today. I decided to head toward the classroom.

"Morning, everyone!"

"Good morning!"

Same as yesterday—everyone seated neatly. Five out of seven confirmed yesterday, so two left today...

Still, the kids’ abilities are seriously impressive. They looked way better at using their powers than I did back in the day. I didn’t learn it through hard work—more like it just... happened. I’m not even sure I can teach it properly.

But what really caught my attention was the level. I thought levels only went up after defeating monsters. But these kids haven’t fought anything. So why are their levels rising?

Is there another factor I’m missing? Or is there something different about the abilities tied to my职业 board and the ones that just... appear naturally?

Anyway, no point overthinking it. I’ll just start doing what I can.

"Alright, let’s continue with Sara’s ability—"

"Teacher!"

Noah raised his hand. What’s up?

"Can I please have Emily go first today? I’ve been really looking forward to learning from Gojo Teacher!"

"...Oh. Got it."

Noah smiled, so I decided to go with Emily first. The girl sat in the corner of the classroom—our youngest student.

She was hunched over, shrinking into herself, barely noticeable.

"Emily, can you tell me about your ability?"

"...I... I..."

She whispered so quietly I barely heard. I leaned in closer—

"...Don’t get too close... you’ll... change..."

"Huh? What?"

I took another step forward—and something shifted.

"Huh?"

I looked down. Something was on the floor. A few scattered dots. Blood? I rolled up my sleeve.

My arm was covered in countless tiny holes. Blood was pouring out.

I panicked, scanning around—tiny black orbs floating in the air. They were invisible even to spatial detection, countless beyond count.

"This is—"

Dark magic! I鉴定ed the girl.

Emily Simon

Demon Lord Lv7

职业 Skill: Dark Blessing Rank C

I took a step back. Demon Lord? So suddenly a top-tier ability just activated… If that’s true, there’s no way I could control it.

"What’s wrong, Teacher?"

Noah smiled, asking. I’d known from yesterday he was hostile—through telepathy. So this is how he’s planning to push me out… using her…

"…Please… don’t… make me… use it…"

Emily stood up from her seat, trembling, terrified. I couldn’t just leave a kid like this behind.

I cast Barrier Art, creating a glowing shield around us to keep others from getting hurt.

"Huh?"

"What’s this?!"

I sealed off the space, making sure only me and Emily remained inside. The Barrier Art shield was made of light magic. Dark magic should be nullified by light—no side effects should spread.

"Alright, Emily. Let’s begin. I want to see what you can do."

"...Teacher… you’re hurt…"

I rolled up my sleeve, showing my arm.

"No wounds here. You’re just imagining things, right?"

"...Liar… just now… how…?"

I stepped closer. She flinched, stepping back.

"No… don’t come near me… it always brings bad luck…"

"Bad luck?"

"...Everyone’s afraid… of me…"

"Why? Nothing scary about you at all."

Darkness spread from Emily’s shadow. The number of floating black orbs increased, and since there was no way to escape the barrier, the space overflowed with them.

"...Monsters... Even among supernatural talents... they call us monsters..."

"I get it. But you don't need to worry about it."

"...You can't possibly understand... No one stronger than me... I've never seen anyone like that... So it must be..."

Emily spat out the words, sounding agonized.

"Coincidence. I've never met a supernatural stronger than myself either."

I stepped toward Emily. The black orbs scratched my body, but I ignored it, closing the distance without hesitation.

"...No... Don't come closer... You'll die from my ability..."

"I'll prove your ability doesn't work. Attack me with everything you've got."

"Stop!! Don't push Emily any further!! She’ll really die!!"

Noah screamed from outside the barrier. He and the other kids were desperately trying to break through, but their powers were useless.

I raised my hand, pouring mana into the air. Countless lights appeared inside the barrier, covering the entire space. Emily’s face twisted in terror as she stared.

As I stepped closer—

"Nooo!! Don’t come!!"

The floating black orbs surged toward me all at once. "Light magic—" The fragments of light around me flared brighter the moment I spoke.

"—Stellar Radiance—《Radious Meitia》—!!"

Countless beams of light struck the black orbs precisely, shattering them all. The darkness vanished completely. Emily collapsed onto the floor, stunned.

"W-What? I was the stronger one, right?"