Chapter 103: Academy (2)

Yuri sat in an empty chair near the waiting room. Whispers echoed around him.

“Isn’t that Yuri Briol?”

“Wow, the famous third prince actually came…”

“Is he going to give a lecture?”

“There wasn’t any prior announcement.”

“He’s so handsome.”

“He really has black hair…”

Even though the mage was the one on stage, it was Yuri who drew the most attention.

Some students in the back even stood up just to get a better look at him.

The mage’s face twisted.

[Attention, everyone! Silence!]

His voice boomed through a voice amplification artifact on the stage. The mage calmed the students and resumed the lecture.

His voice was sharp and clear, making it easy to hear, but the content was mind-numbingly dull.

Yuri began to regret coming out to watch.

“Hmm…”

In any case, he had to take care of his primary objective.

He ordered Laurent and Jared to secure Edran, who was sitting in a corner. Seeing them approach, Edran, unsure of what to do, slumped down in defeat.

There was no way he could leave the auditorium now, even if he wanted to.

[What I’ve developed this time is…]

The mage’s voice droned on. Each speaker had a one-hour slot, so there was still plenty of time left in his talk.

He was discussing his achievements in magic, but nothing he said was truly useful to the students. It seemed like he was using complex terms on purpose.

As the students started nodding off—

[You, third row from the back, the redhead.]

The amplified voice of the mage rang through the hall. The half-asleep student barely lifted his head.

[Which faculty are you from?]

“Huh?”

Still dazed, the student scratched his head and stood up.

“Fencing faculty.”

[Perfect. Come up here.]

The student hesitated for a moment, but eventually climbed onto the stage. The mage raised his staff.

[This is the most basic defensive spell: Shield.]

A semi-transparent barrier appeared. The mage tapped it with his staff, producing a dull thud.

[Now I’ll apply the enhancement spell I developed.]

As he chanted another spell, a bluish light flowed over the barrier. The Shield began to glow with a blue aura.

[What I’m developing is a general enhancement spell that boosts the effectiveness of all types of magic. It’s still in its early stages, but the Shield research is nearly complete. I don’t think anyone here could break it.]

As he spoke, the mage glanced at Yuri from the corner of his eye.

[Absolutely no one.]

Yuri picked up on his intent and let out a soft chuckle. Clearly, the mage wanted to use him as a prop to raise his own prestige. As the rumors said, he loved to show off.

But Yuri had no intention of playing along. When he didn’t respond, the mage spoke again, more irritated.

[Redhead. Try to break it, if you can.]

The annoyed student immediately raised his sword. His sword aura technique was decent—he was skilled.

However, his strike was blocked by the Shield. The rebound caused him to fall back onto the floor.

The mage burst out laughing.

[Look! That’s the power of my enhancement spell.]

Purely by effect, it was impressive. A spell that enhanced other spells had enormous potential. For instance, boosting a Fireball would make it far more destructive.

Yuri thought it might be a good idea to have Hernando learn this spell soon. After that, the mage called up several more students to try breaking the Shield.

None succeeded. Given their age and level, it was expected.

Seeing that the Shield held firm, the mage openly directed his provocation toward Yuri.

[Hahaha, Your Highness. What do you think? Care to give it a try?]

What a petty man. All eyes turned to Yuri. He sighed and stood up.

Yuri was quite popular among the Empire’s youth. When he stood, small cheers erupted among the Academiaum students.

Yuri even raised a hand in greeting, hyping up the crowd. Envy filled the mage’s eyes.

Yuri spoke.

“I told you to continue. Why did you stop?”

[It’s an honor that you’d want to participate. But I’m worried that if the Alliance hero fails, it could hurt your reputation. There’s no need to try.]

Assuming equal levels, it wouldn’t be strange for a knight to be unable to break a carefully crafted magical shield.

Just as in real combat, a knight might cut down a mage before the spell is complete—their strengths lie in different areas.

Even so, the mage seemed determined to provoke Yuri. Yuri let out a small laugh.

“Not bad. You’ve made a decent spell.”

[Already admitting defeat?]

Yuri ignored the comment and examined the Shield calmly. Compared to others, it had a more solid magical structure.

“Hmm…”

Meanwhile, the Academiaum students watched him with eager eyes.

If he just walked away, he might disappoint them. Yuri decided to make it interesting.

“Since we’re doing this, how about a little bet?”

[A bet?]

“From here, your lecture looked pretty boring…”

That line drew laughter from the students. As chuckles spread, the mage’s face turned red.

“If I break this, you stop the lecture and step down. You’re putting us all to sleep.”

The students roared in support. This time, they didn’t hold back. The entire auditorium cheered Yuri on.

The mage’s face twisted.

[F-Fine! Let’s do it. But…]

He sneered and added:

[If Your Highness fails to break it, I’ll also take over your lecture time. How’s that?]

Murmurs spread across the hall. It was practically a declaration of torture.

But Yuri nodded.

“Deal.”

In truth, breaking that Shield using only a knight’s technique, even for someone of Yuri’s caliber, was nearly impossible—and the students knew it. That’s why whispers rippled through the audience.

[Excellent. Hehehe…]

The mage grinned wickedly. He had an ace up his sleeve.

After numerous experiments, he was well aware of the Shield’s durability.

Not even a seasoned knight could break the enhanced Shield.

Knights and mages belonged to different domains. If a mage had enough time to cast, in terms of raw force, a knight couldn’t compete.

No matter how gifted the third prince was, breaking that Shield at his age—without even reaching adulthood—was unthinkable. Maybe in ten years.

The mage smiled triumphantly.

Hero of the Alliance or not, he was still young. By provoking his pride, Yuri had fallen into his trap without even realizing it.

[Come on, show us what you’ve got. Hehehe…]

The mage urged him while Yuri remained still. But Yuri wasn’t reacting.

He had already entered a world no one else could see.

His vision desaturated—everything turned black and white. The Shield created by the mage now appeared as a gray, fibrous structure.

He could see its magical structure in full detail. Yuri understood what needed to be done.

He returned his vision to normal and drew Guilty.

A cutting light shimmered along the blade, and the students swallowed nervously.

Inside, Yuri activated his mana technique. The slow flow surged into waves that coursed through his body, following the energy pathways.

Eventually, those waves reached Guilty.

They formed an infinite fractal spiral pattern.

“Uh…”

“The sword…”

Everyone could feel something extraordinary was happening.

What started as a faint ripple now expanded in spirals beyond the edge of the blade.

Yuri’s first technique—

The Spinning Whirlwind Sword.

He was unleashing it right there, in the auditorium of the Academiaum.

Yuri had perfected this technique through training. He no longer expelled energy outward uncontrollably—now he condensed it inward through the spin, thus achieving even greater destructive power.

At a glance, it seemed like a faint energy covering the blade, but its power couldn’t be compared to ordinary sword energy.

Yuri was literally holding a storm in his hands. The rotating energy vibrated from the tips of his fingers.

Everything was ready.

“Here we go.”

Yuri unleashed the strike against the Shield. A dry, heavy sound echoed throughout the auditorium.

And then…

“Ah…”

Something happened that no one could believe.

The Shield didn’t just break or collapse—it was literally shattered in all directions.
It looked as if thousands of whirlwinds with no defined direction had ravaged it.

“Uh…”

In the end, all that was left of the Shield was a mangled structure, as if a pack of wolves had torn it apart. But it still wasn’t completely broken.

The mage, who had frozen like a statue, regained his color and spoke quickly.

[I-It didn’t break entirely! So this is my victory…]

But before he could finish speaking, the Shield collapsed. If only he had held back a little longer, he might have saved some dignity, but by rushing to speak, he only looked more ridiculous.

[The victory is mine…]

The Shield finally shattered and disintegrated on the floor. The mage fell silent.

Only silence remained.

The fragments of the Shield faded away, returning to the mana they came from.

Yuri raised his hand.

“The victory is mine.”

With his declaration, the whole room erupted in applause and cheers. Yuri responded to the ovation by bowing his head, one by one.

While he received the acclaim, the mage on stage, still clinging to the artifact, bit his lip and swallowed his humiliation.

Yuri said to him:

“Thanks for the lecture. You can leave now.”

And, as if inviting him to leave, he began to applaud. The students joined in.

The mage glared at him and, in the end, left the stage as if fleeing. He didn’t even go to the waiting room—he exited the auditorium directly.

Watching his retreating figure, Yuri shrugged.

“Why provoke me like that…?”

Anyway, since he had won, he was also assigned the time originally reserved for the mage. A long lecture was ahead.

Yuri stepped up to the stage where the mage had been. The students’ gazes followed him.

Academiaum was a higher education institution, so most of the students were his age or older. Perhaps because of that, some still observed him with skepticism.

‘Surely his battlefield feats are just exaggerations,’ they seemed to think.

With various expressions facing him, Yuri took the voice amplification artifact.

[Testing, ah.]

He tested the mic a few times until he got the hang of it, and then spoke at the right volume.

[You must’ve been bored stiff listening to that lecture.]

Some laughed.

[I’m Yuri Briol. Third prince of Briol and member of the Alliance.]

Yuri paused for a moment.

[Honestly, I didn’t decide what I’d be teaching…]

Laughter again among the students.

[But thanks to the previous mage, I’ve got an idea now. I’ll give a brief talk and then take questions freely. So, here’s one—what do you think my lecture will be about?]

Yuri spoke to the red-haired student from the swordsmanship faculty, the one the mage had called out earlier.

[Hey, you, the one who got scolded a moment ago.]

Laughter broke out again among the students.

“Uh? Yes?”

[Any guess what my lecture is about?]

“Uh… I guess… stories and lessons from your time in the Alliance? Or life advice?”

A sharp kid. If Yuri had gone with what Laurent suggested, he would’ve guessed right instantly.

But Yuri took the talk in a different direction. He didn’t see himself as someone extraordinary enough to be giving advice.

Even if he pretended to know things, it all came down to personal experience, and that didn’t mean it applied to everyone.

So he prepared a more practical lecture.

[Wrong. What I’m going to teach is this.]

Yuri unsheathed Guilty from his waist and raised it high. Mana swirled like a vortex.

[The secret technique you just saw—The Spinning Whirlwind Sword.]