SRS 68

“Ahhh!”

Students riding griffins for flight training were scattered in every direction in an instant.

“Crazy professor! He’s insane!”

Lisa, who had forgotten every bit of saintly speech she once used, shouted in a furious voice as she fled from the griffin and flew right toward Yohan.

Flap!

Her griffin, seemingly agitated by the chaos, flapped its wings far too widely and wobbled in the air.

“Ahh! Liri, calm down!”

Seeing her sway so precariously, Yohan stroked the neck of his own griffin, which thankfully was calm.

Maybe it was just its nature, or maybe it was because Yohan often shared divine power with it, but his griffin was unusually calm and rarely lost control.

Feeling proud, Yohan called out to his friend.

“Try using your divine power, Lisa.”

“What? No way! It spits divine power out! Can’t you help me instead?”

“…It spits it out?”

That was new. Yohan blinked, confused, but seeing his friend nearly losing her grip, he flew closer.

“Ugh!”

“Wait, no! It’s eating me! It’s eating me! Help!”

“Professor! Melek got eaten by your griffin!”

“Ugh, ow… hit my head pretty hard.”

“Professor! Melek’s inside the griffin!”

“Ah, don’t worry! Even if it’s gone berserk, its body still remembers not to swallow students!”

“That’s not the problem!”

Chaos like this wasn’t new. After a month at Fantasiademia, even conversations that made no sense stopped feeling strange.

Tuning out the surrounding shouts, Yohan directed his divine power toward Lisa’s griffin. The moment light flared from his finger, the creature calmed down and softly purred.

“Wow… I thought I was dead.”

Lisa wiped the sweat from her forehead and thanked him, then turned to look at the giant griffin below.

“What are we gonna do about that?”

“…Yes. Looks like half the students are running, and the other half are trying to fight it.”

Yohan looked down. Among the hunters charging in, he spotted Suhyeok’s black hair. Among the swordsmen was Kylus. And Mikael—who’d been beside him right up until the griffin went berserk—was now surrounded by the mage students, reluctantly casting spells while they pecked him for help.

…Mikael’s is popular with the magic department.

Then again, with his skills, it would’ve been strange if he wasn’t. But at Fantasiademia, “popular” didn’t mean what it did anywhere else. In the resurrection school, popularity meant “someone useful to drag along when things go wrong.”

Yohan would know.

“Where’s Yohan? Find Yohan!”

“If we stick close to him, we’ll be fine! He’ll protect us!”

“They say gods grow stronger the more followers they have! If we believe in Yohan, he’ll get stronger and save us! Just believe!”

“Idiot, Yohan’s not a god!”

“Close enough!”

“Someone go ask Yohan to share some divine power! I’m already drained from giving it to my griffin!”

Yohan was very popular among the Divine Studies students, but moments like this were the price.

“……”

Was the spell really cast only on the griffin? Maybe a few fragments had bounced off and hit the students too.

He looked down at his classmates, who were frantically searching for him with feverish eyes. During the fight with the hydra, they’d all been polite, disciplined, and proud of their calling as priests. Now they looked possessed.

Feeling uneasy, Yohan turned his gaze back to the giant griffin. The offense-type students were attacking it, but their weapons couldn’t pierce its thick hide. Every hit bounced back and struck allies instead, causing even more chaos.

“…We should weaken it first.”

As he muttered, blue light flashed around the griffin, and suddenly, every attack began breaking through.

“There!”

“Thanks, Mikael!”

“I knew you could do it!”

Judging by the shouts, Mikael had successfully cast a weakening spell. Encouraged, the students launched an all-out assault.

Yohan watched them regroup and nodded. With disasters happening every other day, everyone was getting frighteningly good at fighting.

…But is this really alright?

Feeling a strange mix of pride and dread, Yohan tilted his head. Was this even a resurrection school anymore, or a military academy?

“Let’s help too! Forget Yohan for now!”

“Dispel the curse! Dispel it first!”

“Everyone, gather! If we combine our divine power, it might work!”

The priests finally gave up on finding Yohan and began dealing with the crazed griffin themselves. Watching from higher up, Yohan was moved by their effort and channeled divine power in support.

But something unexpected happened.

“Ah! Dispelling the curse is forbidden! This is a combat exercise, remember? Especially you, Yohan! Don’t use your divine power for purification!”

Professor Ariel’s desperate voice echoed from below.

“……”

Yohan froze, then immediately reshaped the gathered divine power into a glowing blade and hurled it at the griffin. He kept a straight face, pretending that had been his intention all along.

Lisa, beside him, stared in disbelief.

“…You really have changed, Yohan.”

Hearing the concern in his friend’s voice, Yohan felt his ears grow warm. He coughed awkwardly and covered them with his hand to hide the redness.

“Yohan, you’re not going down there?”

“Yes.”

“Really? I thought you’d jump right in to help. Why not? Not in the mood today?”

“…It’s not that. I just thought maybe me helping all the time might keep the others from growing on their own.”

He did want to go help. He flinched every time someone called his name, and he felt the urge to rush down to protect them. But after spending a week working as a teaching assistant, Yohan had learned something: the students in the Divine Studies Department weren’t nearly as weak as he thought.

They’d all been competent people in their own worlds. That’s why they’d chosen to come to Fantasiademia, survived its trials, and become full students. Until now, he’d helped them whenever they asked, but maybe that had actually taken away their chance to experience real combat and grow stronger through it. Watching how much they’d improved in just a week, he realized they deserved more chances to fight by their own will and strength.

“Oh…”

Lisa exclaimed in admiration.

“You know, you sound more like a real teacher than our professors.”

“Don’t tell me to become one.”

“I wasn’t.”

“…I’m sorry.”

He must’ve reacted too quickly after hearing that same comment so often while teaching. To hide his embarrassment, Yohan cleared his throat and turned his eyes back to the battle below.

Even while giving them room to act, he still needed a good grade, so he quietly supported the fight in ways that wouldn’t be obvious.

When the griffin staggered back from attacks, he formed barriers of divine power behind it, blocking its retreat so the others could hit more effectively. When reflected attacks flew toward students, he shaped thin blades of light to knock the dangerous ones off course.

Watching from beside him, Lisa looked shocked.

“Yohan, since when could you control your power that precisely?”

“Huh?”

Yohan blinked and stopped mid-focus. His skills had indeed improved a lot in the past two weeks, but hearing it from someone other than Mikael made him realize he had noticeably progressed.

“…I guess it just happened from practicing.”

“Yes, you’re really… uh. Never mind.”

Lisa trailed off after giving him a pitying look. Yohan wondered what she’d been about to say, but there was no time to ask, he had to stay focused on the battle.

–grrrr!

The berserk griffin, weakened by the students’ combined assault, started flying lower and slower.

“It’s getting tired! Now! Hit it with everything you’ve!”

Suhyeok shouted at the top of his lungs, and everyone unleashed their strongest spells and attacks. Yohan added a burst of divine power, and Lisa descended with her griffin to aid the other priests.

–Grrrr!

After 10 more minutes of fierce attacks, the griffin finally dropped down. It wasn’t quite a clash, more like it chose to land and retreat.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

The students took it as an escape attempt and charged after it, their determination fueled by revenge. Before they could reach it, Professor Ariel appeared and threw up a barrier between them and the griffin.

“Stop! Stop! That’s enough! Calm down, everyone! You won!”

Panting, the professor snapped his fingers, dispelling the spell. In an instant, the griffin’s body healed, every wound vanishing as if rewound in time.

–Prrrr!

The massive griffin snapped its beak at Ariel, apparently scolding him.

“Ow, ow, ow!”

The professor dodged frantically, running in circles to escape the angry creature’s pecks, all while clapping proudly for the students.

“You were all incredible! Such teamwork! With this much progress, I can finally make the announcement I’ve been holding back!”

Still being chased by his griffin, Ariel reached into his bag and pulled out a small parchment.

“Alright, listen up! This is from the vice headmaster! It’s the notice for this month’s basic ability test!”

“……”

The whole area was enveloped in silence.

At that moment, Yohan could see the rare sight of all his friends turning serious at the same time.