Chapter 97: Chapter 97 : A genius and a crazy professor

Professor Rick adjusted his spectacles and clapped his hands, commanding the attention of the buzzing classroom.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s begin with the very basics,” he said in a cheerful but firm voice, striding up to the projection board at the front.

With a flick of his wrist, a glowing red rune appeared on the smart board, etched with smooth, looping strokes and angular curves.

“This,” Rick declared, stepping aside, “is the fundamental rune for unleashing a Fireball Spell. F-rank. Nothing fancy, but deadly enough if you mess it up.”

Murmurs broke out among the students.

He then turned toward his desk, pulled out a fresh parchment, and calmly replicated the rune with practiced ease.

Once completed, he infused a faint trace of mana into the paper.

The rune pulsed, gleamed—and with a sudden fwoosh, a small fireball burst into existence, zipping forward a few feet before fizzling out harmlessly in midair.

Gasps echoed through the room.

“As you can see,” Rick said, brushing off his hands, “I don’t even have a fire affinity. But with runes and a bit of mana control, I can still pull off a fireball spell.” He smiled, the tips of his gray-streaked hair catching the ambient glow.

He turned to face the class, his expression now a little more mischievous. “Now, your turn. Draw this exact rune on your parchment. But—” he raised a finger, “only infuse mana after you’re sure the rune is correct. If it’s wrong, well…”

He chuckled darkly. “Fire spells have a nasty way of exploding in your face. I don’t recommend getting a new hairstyle like that.”

Laughter trickled through the class.

“Relax,” Rick added with a grin. “It’s just F-rank. No one’s gonna die.” He paused dramatically. “Probably.”

A few students gulped nervously. Rick smirked. “If you’re unsure, just ask me to check it first.”

The class nodded in unison, heads bending down to their parchments.

Rick began to walk through the aisles, hands behind his back. “Don’t be ashamed if you don’t get it right on your first try. Nobody does. Rune drawing is about precision and talent.”

Just then, a confident voice rang out.

“Professor! I’ve completed mine.”

Rick turned with interest. “Already?”

Lilia sat up straight, wearing a smug smile that practically glowed. She held out her parchment with a perfectly drawn rune, lines smooth and sharp like practiced calligraphy.

Rick took the parchment, eyes scanning the rune closely. He gave a low whistle. “As impressive as always, Lilia.”

With a flick of his fingers, a translucent barrier shimmered into existence a few meters away. “Alright. Infuse mana and fire at the barrier.”

Lilia nodded, her violet eyes gleaming. She focused on the rune, her fingers glowing faintly.

A fireball shimmered to life and shot toward the barrier, colliding with it in a small but crisp explosion before dissipating.

Rick clapped once. “Very good. Controlled, clean, and with perfect structure. You’ve got fine control over your mana.”

Sliding back into her seat beside Alex, Lilia leaned toward him, her smirk widening. “Struggling, Mr. Godly Beauty? Can’t figure out a simple rune?”

Alex didn’t even look up.

“I could teach you,” she offered, voice sweet but clearly baiting. “But only if you promise to go to the Academy Ball with me.”

Inside, she was nearly vibrating with triumph.

’Finally! All those sleepless nights studying rune formations in the organization’s library are finally paying off. Took me a whole week to draw my first one properly. He’s just a newbie at this—it’ll probably take him longer, even if he is talented.’

Alex finally raised his head—and gave her a soft, casual smile that somehow irritated her more than any insult could.

“Sorry,” he said smoothly. “You’re not worthy to walk beside me.”

Lilia blinked. Her jaw tightened.

’Did he just insult my looks again? The very same looks that earned me daily confessions? Where guys line up just to get a single smile from me? The same ones that make them fight to carry my books?!’

Before she could retort, Alex stood up.

“Professor,” he said clearly, “I’m done as well.”

Rick blinked. “That was… fast, Mr. Dragonheart.”

He glanced around. Most of the students were still scratching their heads—some literally. A few had scribbled such wonky lines it looked like chicken scratch.

One poor soul at the back—determined or just foolish—infused mana into his sloppy rune. It exploded with a loud BOOM, smoke filling the area and leaving the kid with a soot-blackened face and singed eyebrows.

The class burst out laughing as the poor boy ran from the room, sniffling.

Rick chuckled. “Try not to end up like that lad, eh?”

Alex smirked. “Don’t worry about me, Professor.”

“Alright then,” Rick said, adjusting his glasses. “Let’s see your parchment.”

Alex replied calmly, “I didn’t use one.”

The room went dead silent.

Rick blinked again, confused. “You… didn’t draw it?”

Lilia scoffed. “Did you not hear what the professor said, Mr. Apex? You were supposed to draw it first.”

Rick frowned slightly. “Are you making fun of my class, Alex?”

Alex shrugged. “Not at all, sir. I just… drew it a bit differently.”

Understanding dawned on Rick’s face. His eyes widened.

“…No way. You’re kidding.”

Alex raised his right hand.

Without any parchment, without any tool, he began drawing in midair. Trails of glowing red mana followed his fingertip as the rune took form—perfect, elegant, pulsing with quiet energy.

The class watched in stunned silence as the rune floated in the air, shimmering with power.

And then—

WHOOSH!

He released it.

The fireball rocketed across the room, hitting the test barrier with a resounding BAM! The barrier flared with light—and cracked.

Everyone stared in stunned silence.

Gasps filled the room. One girl even dropped her pen.

Rick’s jaw dropped; there was clearly awe in his expression.

Around the room, mouths hung open. One student muttered, “He cracked it… with an F-rank spell.”

Lilia’s eye twitched. Her jaw hung open.

Meanwhile, the one who caused the commotion—Alex—stared at the cracked barrier with wide eyes. His hand was still raised, a faint wisp of mana trailing from his fingertip like smoke.

“I… I just wanted to conjure a little fireball,” he muttered under his breath, blinking slowly. “I wasn’t expecting it to hit that hard.”

Then, as if summoned by his confusion, the cool and slightly smug voice of his system echoed in his mind.

[Host, I’ve already informed you—your mana is significantly denser and purer than the average cadet’s.]

Alex’s brow twitched. ’Oh right… you told me that this morning when I was yelling at you and calling you useless.’

[…]

He smirked to himself. ’Guess you’re only useful when it comes to explaining things after the fact.’

Rick, meanwhile, was still standing there, slack-jawed and motionless, staring at the barrier as though it had personally insulted him. Alex waved a hand in front of his face.

“Professor? You alright?”

Rick blinked, then snapped out of his trance like someone rebooting. “What just happened? Did I… did I see that correctly?”

Alex shrugged. “You tell me. Did I do it right?”

They both looked at each other, equally confused, until suddenly Rick burst into full-blown maniacal laughter. It was loud, dramatic, and entirely inappropriate for a classroom setting.

“I FOUND HIM! I finally found him!” Rick howled, spinning in a circle like a child on too much sugar. “After all these years, I finally have someone who can represent our first-year runecraft division in the Inter-Academy Tournaments!”

He threw his hands to the ceiling, grinning like a madman. “No more mockery from the other departments! And the rival academies! Let them laugh now! HAH!”

Alex took a cautious step back. ’This guy’s nuts… maybe I should reconsider attending his classes.’

Rick lunged forward and grabbed Alex by the shoulders, shaking him with wild excitement. “WHERE did you learn Aero Scripting?!”

Alex stared blankly. “Aero… what now?”

Rick looked like he was about to faint. “What you just did! Drawing a rune mid-air with pure mana! That’s called Aero Scripting—an advanced runecrafting technique that only becomes usable once a person reaches at least Expert-mid rank!

Your core has to evolve, and your mana needs to be both dense and precise!”

“Oh…” Alex nodded slowly. “I just saw Senior Phyl using it in his duel with Maria. I paid close attention and followed the same steps.”

Rick froze. “You… saw him do it once and learned it?”

Alex tilted his head. “I mean, it wasn’t just once. He conjured several spells using that technique.”

But Rick was no longer listening. He had entered a new phase of maniacal joy, laughing and muttering to himself while pacing in circles.

’Great. Now this professor’s probably plotting to trap me in some rune-crafting library with ancient scrolls and zero sunlight. I just wanted to learn this art, not get adopted by the Rune Research Department. Should I just make a run for it?’

Alex sighed. ’Was it a mistake to show off that much?’

He glanced at the cracked barrier again and frowned slightly.

’If this is just an F-rank fireball, how strong are the higher spells going to be for me?’

His system chimed in with its ever-helpful tone.

[It’s all because of your talent:

[Dual-Soul Resonance] (Enhanced learning speed, intuition, and adaptability).

Don’t let it get to your head, host. You’re still not a genius—it’s your talent.]

’Shut up, useless,’ Alex muttered internally. ’It’s my talent, so I am a genius. You don’t get a vote.’

Turning toward Lilia, he gave her a cocky grin. “You know, you can still kneel. If you do, I might use 0.0001% of my brainpower to consider taking you to the ball.”

Lilia’s mouth twitched violently. Her face turned a shade redder than her hair—part embarrassment, part rage.

’Did… did he just suggest I kneel? Again?!’

For a wild second, she actually considered it. Then she shook her head violently.

’What the hell am I thinking?!’

Alex smirked wider, clearly enjoying her internal crisis.

Lilia was speechless.

’What just happened…?’

She asked herself as her brain slowly rebooted.

As her thoughts cleared, one conclusion began forming in her mind:

’This guy… he’s dangerous. Extremely dangerous.

We must get rid of him at any cost.

First, I should report him to the higher-ups.’

Her paranoia kicked in as her thoughts spiraled.

’Just what kind of terrifying talent does he possess?

First, he became the apex by beating hundreds of prodigies.

Then, he dueled the student council president Alicia von Crestvale and held his own—even injuring her.

Now this? What the hell kind of monster is he?!’

Just then, Rick’s voice boomed again, dragging everyone out of their daze.

“Where’s my GENIUS?!”

Lilia flinched and turned to look at the front of the class—only to find that Alex was gone.

Rick spun in place like a malfunctioning turret. “WHERE IS HE?!”

A student sheepishly raised their hand and said, “Uh… sir. He ran away. You were laughing and mumbling like a lunatic, and then… poof, he ran away.”

Rick froze. The words finally sank in—but not the insult.

“HE RAN?!”

He stomped to the center of the classroom like a war general. “FIND HIM! I want him alive and well! I don’t care how you do it! Anyone who doesn’t help is getting an automatic F in this course!”

Everyone stared in horror.

“…Whether you like it or not,” Rick added with a glare. “Now MOVE!”

The students, driven by sheer academic survival instinct, stood up as one and saluted.

“Yes, sir!”

Rick turned to Lilia, narrowing his eyes. “You too. Or are you planning to fail?”

Lilia straightened, hiding the storm of emotions swirling inside her. “Y-Yes, sir.”

Then, just as Lilia started to move—

Rick’s voice echoed. He said, “Wait. He’s strong. Take this with you.”

Lilia nodded, looking at the paper in her hand.

As the students stampeded out of the classroom in search of the escaped prodigy, Rick stood in front of the cracked barrier, still grinning like a villainous madman.

Meanwhile, far away, Alex was already strolling down a quiet corridor, munching on a snack he’d picked up from a vending stall.

’Too much attention is bad for a beautiful man like me,’ he muttered with a sigh.

In his mind, the system gave a small scoff.

[At this rate, you are almost begging for attention, Host.]

’Eh,’ Alex shrugged, licking his fingers. ’Being modest was never my thing anyway.’

And with that, the first spark of chaos lit within the academy’s Runecrafting history.

—————

A/N:-

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