I Am Just An Ordinary Clown Of The Academy

✦  Chapter 21 – Elysia (5)  ✦

「Translator – Creator」

𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝

“About two hours left. Anyone who wakes up fights me again.”

Elysia’s chilling words reached my ears, and I immediately shut my eyes tightly, feigning unconsciousness.

“Don’t pretend, Loki. I know you’re awake.”

Of course, given Elysia’s prowess, she could likely tell I was conscious just from my breathing. Still, I continued my charade, hoping she’d leave me alone.

You see, Professor, I’m still knocked out. Please don’t bother me.

“Hmm? Refusing to get up? How disappointing.”

*Tap. Tap. Tap.*

Her footsteps, clear and distinct, echoed through the classroom, drawing closer.

‘That demon instructor wouldn’t just leave me lying here… would she?’

A wave of unease washed over me, and I decided to take a peek. The mask concealed my eyes, so she wouldn’t be able to tell if I was awake.

My eyes flew open, and I leaped to my feet, my body instinctively moving before my mind could process the impending danger.

*Crash!*

“Eek! Throwing a desk suddenly like that is dangerous!”

“So, you were awake after all,” she said, her voice devoid of surprise.

Elysia had picked up a desk and thrown it at me. If I hadn’t gotten up, it would have hit me squarely.

“What do you mean ‘awake’? My body simply reacted on instinct, propelled by a primal urge to survive.”

Since I was already up, I took a moment to assess the situation.

Apparently, the battle had raged on for some time while I was unconscious, and the desks I had hurled earlier were now strewn about the classroom.

Nearly every desk was either shattered or split in half, and some were even on fire.

“Next time we fight, it might be better to move the desks outside first.”

Elysia seemed to share my sentiments as she surveyed the chaos around us.

“Good idea.”

As she gathered the scattered desks into a pile, she seemed to recall something and queried, “Next time, you won’t have any desks to throw. Will you be okay with that?”

“Of course! There are plenty of other things in this classroom I can use.”

If all else failed, I could always store the broken desk fragments in my subspace pocket and launch those at her.

“You have a knack for setting traps. Where did you learn?”

Thank you for the compliment. I didn’t learn them from anyone. I taught myself.”

My trait, [The Creator’s Touch], made constructing traps ridiculously easy. All I needed were the right materials. The challenging part had always been figuring out the optimal locations and timings for setting them up.

If I hadn’t learned to fight from Duke Adellion, I’d still be fumbling around, trying to figure out how to properly set up my traps.

Surveying the classroom, I asked the unflustered Professor Elysia, “Is this classroom an artifact?”

“It is.”

I thought so.

While desks and other items were destroyed, the floor and walls remained unscathed. Even the wall dented by Kuran earlier had returned to its original state.

“Do you have any other questions?”

“Nope! I think I’m all set. Should I help you tidy up while we wait for the others to regain consciousness?”

“Don’t spout nonsense. Attack me before I come at you myself.”

Tch. 

I had hoped to avoid the confrontation.

All the other students were still unconscious. If even one of them had been awake, I might have had time to set more traps.

“I really don’t want to fight without an audience, but…,” I mumbled.

*Whoosh.*

Seizing the opportunity, I whipped out a dagger, flinging it towards her with a casual underhand toss.

The dagger sailed through the air, aimed directly at her chest.

*Thud.*

She caught it, of course, her reflexes as sharp as ever.

Raising my hands in a gesture of surrender, I asked, “Do I have to fight if I surrender?”

“Are you seriously asking?” Elysia retorted.

“Heh, of course not. But what if, eh?”

“Ugh… From the moment I first saw you, I knew you talked too mu—.”

Her sentence was cut short by a dagger plummeting from the ceiling, aimed directly at her head.

She narrowly dodged it.

“That was a close one, Professor. You have to admit, it would’ve been a shame if you’d gotten hurt.”

“You threw that dagger when you raised your hands, didn’t you?”

“Ding-ding! Right again! You catch on quickly, Professor.”

My cheerful facade masked my growing concern. I was out of traps, and throwing daggers at her was pointless.

‘Looks like I’m going to have to fight her… for real.’

I charged towards her, swinging my staff. Despite having fought continuously for the past hour, she showed no signs of fatigue, easily dodging my attacks.

*Whoosh.*

“Do you remember the entrance exam, Loki?”

“Of course I do!”

It was the day I’d met the main characters of Croaka. How could I possibly forget it?

*Whoosh. Swish.*

“I watched all of you fight that day.”

“But my handsome face might not have been captured well on the monitors, Professor. Surely you agree that I’m even more handsome in person?”

*Swish.*

“I handpicked each and every one of you for the Special Class, based on your performances that day.”

Professor Elysia chose not to respond to my inquiry regarding my handsomeness.

But silence, as they say, is often interpreted as consent.

Even a dragon couldn’t deny my undeniable charm.

‘A face so handsome, it captivates even dragons. That’s me.’

*Whoosh. Clang.*

“I had two criteria for selecting special class students. What do you think they were?” she queried, sidestepping my swings.

“……………”

I didn’t respond, focusing instead on my attacks.

“First, I chose those with unique abilities that would be difficult for other instructors to teach. And second… those who, like you, Lucas, and Clara, wore expressions of… frustration during the golem battle.”

She continued to evade my attacks, her movements fluid and effortless, as if she were merely toying with me.

“Those frustrated students, I’ve noticed, have made significant progress during the past week.”

I pushed off the ground and distanced myself from Elysia, trying to catch my breath.

“Lucas and Clara also seem to have been motivated by someone and have become stronger,” she continued.

“…………..”

“But, the one who has improved the most in such a short time is you, Loki. What happened during this week?”

What happened?

I spent every waking moment sparring with the Emperor, that’s what happened.

My rapid progress was likely due to the Clown’s Mask I was wearing; its curse, while debilitating in some aspects, had unexpectedly accelerated my mastery of Shadow Step and swordsmanship.

“Although the other students haven’t realized it yet, your weakness is quite simple,” Elysia stated matter-of-factly, her words hitting me like a sharp blade.

“Stamina. You know this best yourself, don’t you?”

The reason I purposefully distanced myself, the reason I didn’t respond to her questions, was because my stamina was nearly depleted.

Those who engage in close combat typically build their stamina from a young age.

For a fighter, stamina is just as crucial as their skill set.

But I was different.

Before coming here, I was an extraordinarily handsome but otherwise ordinary person.

I only had six months to increase my stamina here. Although the ‘Clown’s Mask’ helped improve my stamina quickly, it still wasn’t enough.

“And your movements seem to consume a lot of stamina as well.”

Shadow Step, while incredibly useful for both offense and defense, was incredibly taxing on my body.

During the entrance exam, the monsters had been relatively weak, so stamina hadn’t been an issue.

And during the golem fight, I’d focused solely on dodging.

“So that’s why you rely heavily on traps,” she observed.

Elysia was right.

I’d been relying on traps because I simply couldn’t afford to engage in a prolonged physical confrontation.

“Wow, noticing that just shows how different from other academy professors are,” I said. My trait, [Poker Face], concealed my exhaustion well, making it difficult to tell that my stamina was nearly depleted.

So far, only three people had noticed my stamina issue — Professor Elysia, the Emperor, and Duke Adellion.

The common denominator? They’d all spent a significant amount of time fighting me.

“But since your weakness is stamina, overcoming it shouldn’t be too hard,” Elysia noted.

Indeed, improving stamina wasn’t difficult—it just required training.

“It may not be hard, but it will take time. But who am I? I do have other methods to increase my stamina,” I hinted.

That “way” was the elixir the Emperor had gifted me.

One of its effects was a significant boost to stamina.

I’d been tempted to consume it immediately, but the Emperor had advised against it.

‘It’s better to consume it after you’ve built up some stamina on your own. It will work more effectively that way,’ he had said.

According to his calculations, based on my current rate of progress, the optimal time to consume the elixir would be in about a month.

“Oh? And what might that method be?” Elysia inquired, intrigued.

I pressed my index finger to my lips, even though exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me.

“That, Professor… is a secret.”

No matter how tired I was, I had to deliver that line.

While I was resting after delivering my satisfying line, Elysia, who looked pleased, said, “Who said you could rest, Loki? The only time you’re allowed to rest is when you’re unconscious.”

Her words brought back memories of my past life, of the countless forum posts and online discussions dedicated to Elysia’s… unique teaching methods, which had earned her the nickname “Demon Instructor.”

“So get hit and pass out.”

I woke up two hours later.

— End of Chapter —

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