Book 1 Chapter 88
【88】87.
“Professor, is it true that a fairy has been discovered on the Isle of Phantasms?”
Eliza raised her hand and asked with a serious face.
Yura, who had been grabbing Ulta by the collar like a gangster, sighed and let go of his collar.
“There were indeed sightings reported by second-year students who were doing their practical training here two days ago.”
At her words, the students murmured.
“Of course, it’s all nonsense! I’ve never heard of a fairy being discovered on the Isle of Phantasms, not in all my years of teaching, nor even during my student days…!”
Yura, who had been shouting with conviction, paused and looked at Leo.
‘Wait. Now that I think about it, Phoenix was originally a phantom beast not known to be on the Isle of Phantasms.’
But then, one day, a first-year student suddenly came back with a contract.
‘And with a young Phoenix, at that.’
Yura’s expression turned serious.
‘Surely, there aren’t really fairies too, are there?’
Just as she was feeling this doubt.
Ulta, free from Yura’s grip, straightened his uniform and shouted.
“Juniors! If you are also summoners, you must have a romantic ideal about the Three Great Phantom Beasts!”
The first-year students’ eyes sparkled.
Why wouldn't they?
Every summoner dreams of it at least once! Their own image, having contracted with one of the Three Great Phantom Beasts!
Of course, fairies are generally phantom beasts that contract with elves, but that doesn’t mean there were no fairy pact-makers other than elves throughout the long history.
An opportunity to meet a powerful summoned beast!
Such an opportunity, summoners, by their nature, would jump into a pit of fire or the depths of the ocean without hesitation.
“Don’t you want to see one! A fairy!”
“Yes, we do!”
“Hey! Don’t incite the first-years with unconfirmed stories!”
Yura, who had been lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality and flared up.
Ulta sighed deeply, looking at Yura.
“Professor, I’m disappointed. When I was a first-year, you were an associate professor full of dreams!”
“…You try being a full professor at Lumern for three years and getting worn down. See what happens.”
“Ah! It makes me so sad to see you become a weak adult who compromises with reality! Isn’t it because you live such a harsh reality without dreams that your personality is getting worse and worse!”
A vein throbbed on Yura’s forehead.
*Swoosh!*
Carlo, who grabbed Yura as she lunged at Ulta, shouted.
“P-Professor! Calm down! Calm down!”
“Let me kill him…! Let me kill that insolent fellow who runs his mouth however he pleases!”
Even as a fifth-year student, Ulta was the only one who could speak so carelessly in front of a professor.
The first-year students were terrified, seeing the veins bulging on Yura’s hands.
After a moment, Yura, who had barely calmed down, asked.
“Alright, Ulta. The inter-departmental competition is just around the corner. You’re not just planning on some fairy-finding game, are you?”
At her words, Ulta snickered.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Looking at Ulta, who was smiling brightly, the female students shrieked.
“Juniors. What did I emphasize to you as the basic mindset of a summoner?”
“Inclusivity.”
“No, it’s love.”
All the first-years looked at Yura.
“You’ll just have to filter what you hear well. But he’s definitely skilled, so his advice will be helpful.”
The first-years nodded.
Having experienced quite a bit since coming to Lumern, they took it in stride.
“It’s not just about loving the summoned beast that you’ve contracted with. You must be able to love all summoned beasts! And you must be able to achieve harmony based on trust! Yes! The state where the summoned beast becomes me and I become the summoned beast, a unity of self and object! Harmony with nature! That is true love for summoned beasts!”
The first-years made woeful faces and looked at Yura.
They tried to filter what Ulta said, as Yura had instructed, but at their level, it was still hard for the first-years to properly understand his words.
Yura pressed her temples.
“So… to interpret that, it means you should be able to communicate with summoned beasts you haven’t contracted with by increasing your affinity… Hey! Speak normally! Normally!”
Yura, who had exploded, shouted and then took a deep breath.
“Alright. I understand your intention well. You want to do that, right? Even if it’s a bit early for the first-year youngsters.”
Yura curled up the corners of her mouth.
At that cat-like smile, the first-years instantly felt uneasy.
Whenever she made that expression, something ominous invariably happened.
“Senior Ain is like that, and that insolent Ren guy too, they all push the first-years hard. So we’ll have to do the same.”
“That’s right.”
“But to do that, there are more than one or two paperwork issues…”
“I’ve already taken care of everything.”
Looking at Ulta, who handed over a bundle of documents, Yura exclaimed, “Oh-ho!” in admiration.
“As expected of Ulta. Excellent.”
“You flatter me.”
The first-year students felt even more uneasy as the two, who had been talking about killing each other just moments before, now got along perfectly.
This was because Yura herself was not someone with a normal way of thinking.
No, in fact, she was the most eccentric human among Lumern’s professors.
Yura grinned.
“First-years. From now on, you will stay on the Isle of Phantasms for three days for special training! Your senior has already gotten the overnight stay requests approved for the dormitory, so there’s no problem!”
“What?”
“It’s the weekend starting tomorrow anyway.”
“I-I have an appointment to meet someone in Lumerian tomorrow, though?”
“We need to rest on the weekend!”
At the students’ protests, Yura said indifferently.
“Why should I care about that? You yourselves just said you liked the idea of finding fairies.”
“W-we did say that, but.”
“Eliza, say something. Professor Yura still listens to you!”
While Weden was the top student in the Summoning Department, Eliza was the student most trusted by the professor.
Weden had no interest in departmental affairs, whereas Eliza diligently helped with them.
But Eliza’s reaction was lukewarm.
“Since this is a proposal from the Professor and Senior Ulta, it must be for our benefit. As long as comfortable sleeping arrangements and quality meals are provided, I’m fine.”
At Eliza’s words, the students looked desperate.
But Yura made an incredulous expression.
“Huh? Eliza Hergin. What are you talking about? Comfortable sleeping arrangements and quality meals? Where would you find such things?”
“What?”
This time, even Eliza was slightly flustered.
“What you’ll experience is the wild.”
Yura folded her arms and smiled with a wild charm.
“Surviving in this great wilderness that has established its own unique ecosystem! That’s what you’ll be doing starting today!”
“What did you say?”
“You want us to stay in that forest for three days?”
“It’s not just staying in the forest for three days.”
Ulta smiled broadly.
“I will forbid summoning magic for three days. Of course, using aura and magic is also forbidden. You must purely survive in that forest with your own strength.”
“Eek?!”
“Is that even possible! All sorts of phantom beasts and spirits live on the Isle of Phantasms!”
Phantom beasts and spirits that are not contracted are very dangerous beings.
Especially if one encounters hostile phantom beasts or spirits, they could lose their lives.
To be told to survive for three days on an island teeming with such wild phantom beasts and spirits, the first-years couldn’t help but be dismayed.
“A summoner should be able to handle summoned beasts without taming them.”
“T-that’s…”
“Of course, those who don’t want to do it can give up.”
Yura said with an expressionless face.
“But I won’t give any special training to anyone who gives up during the inter-departmental competition. The gap with the students from the Knight and Magic departments will widen as a result.”
The faces of the Summoning Department students hardened.
“Did I not tell you in the first class? That you can’t be like students from other departments.”
The students clenched their fists.
“Considering the phantom beasts or spirits you might have to deal with in the future, this isn’t even close to being a risk. Do you think I’m just thoughtlessly pushing you into a dangerous place?”
“N-no, Professor.”
“Then you must know the reason for this training?”
At Yura’s question, the students fell silent.
It was a moment when no one could speak rashly.
“Isn’t it because young summoners these days lack an understanding of summoned beasts?”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Leo.
Yura grinned.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because it’s a world where you can easily acquire the catalysts needed for summoning if you have money. You can also contract with powerful summoned beasts through the Hero’s World.”
Leo looked at the dense forest.
“Many summoners have been able to obtain powerful summoned beasts, but I think they’ve also strayed from the essence.”
“….”
“Because there are also sights that can only be seen when you go directly to find and contract with a summoned beast.”
“Such an old-fashioned thing to say, junior.”
Ulta’s eyes gleamed.
“But precisely because of that, it’s the correct answer.”
Yura snickered.
“Leo is right. If you contract with a summoned beast through a catalyst, you can indeed easily obtain a powerful phantom beast. But it’s difficult to truly draw out the summoned beast’s abilities.”
Yura looked at the students and said.
“We summoners are humans who communicate with special beings that use the power of nature. In that sense, we partly conform to nature while also dominating it.”
Everyone focused on Yura’s words.
“That’s also why Ulta talked about inclusivity to you. How many summoners among you have witnessed the true nature of the summoned beasts you handle?”
Yura narrowed her eyes.
“Did you directly see their true forms and make a contract? Didn’t you all conveniently get catalysts from your families or phantom beasts easily obtained during class?”
Not a single student answered that question.
“You cannot use true summoning magic that way. You need to experience nature and understand the phantom beasts and spirits that live there more deeply. That is one of the paths to reaching a higher stage as a summoner.”
Yura grinned.
“Do you still miss a warm bed and food?”
“No!”
“Don’t you want to go higher?”
“Yes!”
“Good! That’s the spirit!”
Yura clenched her fist.
“Alright, then I’ll hand out daggers for each of you to use.”
“And I’ll also hand out these butterfly nets.”
Ulta said with a smile.
“…You don’t really think you can catch a fairy with that, do you?”
Yura squinted.
“Why wouldn’t I be able to catch one?”
“Sometimes I’m ashamed that you’re the top student in the Summoning Department.”
Yura spoke with sincerity, but Ulta merely smiled.
***
The Isle of Phantasms was one of the largest islands in Lake Lumeria.
In terms of size alone, it was much vaster than the academy’s main island where Lumern students resided.
As such, going deep into its center revealed a vast wilderness.
All the students of the Summoning Department, abruptly thrown into the wilderness, wore tense expressions.
As they couldn’t use summoning magic, they had to be prepared for any situation.
At the same time, they also harbored a strange sense of anticipation.
It was because of Ulta’s story about the fairy.
Thus, the students each began to make their sleeping arrangements for the three days.
This training had the premise of being an individual competition, as it was also preparation for the Battle Royale during the inter-departmental competition.
‘Fighting each other is forbidden. In emergencies, cooperation is possible. But you must take care of your own sleeping arrangements and food.’
These were Yura’s words before sending the students into the forest.
‘This training will also serve as a practical exam, so do well!’
‘Subtly, the summoning magic class is the most hardcore one.’
It was when Leo was looking for edible berries for meal preparation.
“F-fairy! A fairy!”
An urgent voice was heard from afar.
At that cry, students nearby were seen moving quickly.
Leo also moved swiftly.
But when he arrived, a male student from the Summoning Department was shouting with unfocused eyes, his head bitten by a flower-shaped plant with teeth.
“It’s a fairy! A fairy!”
“…Is that idiot caught because he couldn’t even recognize a plant-type phantom beast and approached carelessly?”
“Ugh! You fool!”
Several students approached to rescue their classmate with expressions of disdain.
“I feel like an idiot for rushing over, tempted.”
Eliza scowled and turned away sharply.
Just as the students were scattering again.
Leo looked up at a tree.
There, he saw a childish Fairy Prince holding his stomach and rolling on a branch.
‘He probably needs a good smack to come to his senses.’