The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character

Trent was annoyed.

By who?

The newcomer in Leo's club.

From the very beginning, that guy had been acting overly familiar with Leo—talking to him like they were childhood friends or something.

And the most irritating part? Leo actually laughed at his jokes now and then.

Leo. Laughing.

That didn't sit right with Trent. As far as he could remember, Leo wasn't the type to smile—let alone laugh. He was always calm, cold, and distant. A guy you couldn't reach, even if he was standing right in front of you.

But now?

"Damn it," Trent muttered under his breath.

Now Leo was smiling. Around him.

It made Trent's chest twist in a way he didn't like.

Jealousy.

So what did he do? He made a bet. A stupid one. With that guy.

At the time, he was sure he'd win. No doubt in his mind.

But the moment they stumbled on the hidden dungeon—something that guy pointed out before anyone else—Trent knew he had lost.

"…But it's still fine," he told himself.

He just had to outperform him now. Prove he was more useful. That he deserved to stand by Leo's side more than some lucky newcomer.

With that thought burning in his mind, Trent surged forward with his shield raised, slamming into a group of humanoid tree monsters. He stood like a wall, blocking their path and giving Leo the perfect opening to cut them down with his spear.

'Just as planned.'

He let his eyes drift over the other members of the club for a brief moment.

Violet? Out of his league. Mira? Completely devoted to Leo.

But what about Mina and Ama? Maybe… maybe there was something there.

'Romantic thoughts during battle? Tch. Idiot.'

Still, Trent was confident. He had the skill to stay focused. The strength to handle distractions.

But even the talented make mistakes.

In his effort to prove himself, he forgot something important. Something basic.

Plant-type monsters often had their core underground, in the roots.

And those roots could reach far. Far enough to ambush the rear.

Trent's stomach sank.

"Ah…"

He realized it a second too late.

One of the humanoid tree's roots was snaking toward the backline—silent, hidden, deadly.

It was going to hit someone. One of the three in the rear.

He opened his mouth to shout, already bracing himself for the worst.

But then—

"Be careful."

The voice cut through the noise of battle.

In one smooth motion, that same "weakling" stepped in and slashed the root apart with a dagger.

Clean. Precise.

'…What?'

Trent's eyes widened.

How did he see that?

Trent had only noticed the root because he was in direct contact with the monster—it vibrated through his shield. But that guy? He was way at the back. No way he could've felt it.

'Wait a minute…'

Could he actually be strong?

Rin Evans…

Was he not a weakling after all?

Trent's throat went dry as he suddenly remembered their bet.

The bet he made, fully expecting to crush the guy.

Now?

He had a bad feeling.

A really bad feeling.

While Trent stood frozen in disbelief, Rin moved forward, dagger in hand, eyes scanning the battlefield with sharp focus.

"Don't zone out," he said quietly as he passed Trent, not even sparing him a glance.

It wasn't a taunt. Not arrogance. Just a reminder. But somehow, that made it worse.

Trent clenched his jaw and turned away, feeling heat rise to his face.

Meanwhile, Rin didn't waste time.

Another root shot from beneath the ground, trying to coil around Mira's ankle.

Rin's blade sliced through it in one motion, clean and efficient, before Mira even noticed.

She glanced back. "Thanks!"

Rin just nodded. He wasn't here for praise.

From the way the roots moved, he already had a sense of their rhythm. Their pattern.

'They pulse every six seconds. Pause, redirect. That means there's a core. Somewhere nearby.'

He narrowed his eyes at the treeline.

The humanoid trees were relentless—but they weren't acting with instinct. They were defending something.

"They're coming from the north side," he muttered to himself, eyes sharpening. "Which means the root network converges around that patch of dead earth… which means…"

"Leo!" Rin called out.

Leo, Didn't listen to Rin instead he started to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAH!!!"

...And continue to Kill monster in front of him.

"What the hell?"

-----

Rin POV

"Leo!" I called out.

He didn't even look at me.

Instead—

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

His laughter echoed through the grove like a lunatic with a grudge against trees.

Then, without pause, he spun his spear and cleaved through three more humanoid monsters in one sweeping arc, their bark-like limbs flying in every direction.

"…What the hell?"

I muttered it before I even realized.

This wasn't normal.

He wasn't just fighting—he was enjoying it.

Too much.

"We have to stop him! He's losing his mind!" I shouted, panic rising in my voice.

Leo had entered [Berserk Mode].

A hidden side effect of his [Weapon Master] talent. A terrifying one. The more enemies he faced, the more blood he spilled, the stronger he became… until eventually, he lost control completely.

It was like watching a cheat character glitch out in the middle of a boss raid.

Sure, right now, he was probably stronger than Ryen when it came to clearing large mobs like these, but this wasn't sustainable. If we let him keep going, he'd start swinging at anything that moved—ally or enemy.

"What? How do you know…?"

Violet stared at me, wide-eyed.

Ah, crap. That slipped out.

I wasn't supposed to know that.

"I mean—come on. Look at him. That's clearly not someone in his right mind."

I waved it off as obvious deduction. Violet didn't look convinced, but she let it slide. Maybe because Leo just impaled another monster while laughing like a drunk warrior god.

Then, from behind us—

"Calming Mind!!"

…Did she just shout the name of her spell?

I turned around. Yep. It was Ama Votson, the party's healer.

Some people cast spells silently. Others preferred to yell them out like they were starring in a magical girl show. Ama, unfortunately, was the latter.

Not my favorite kind of party member.

Still, credit where it's due—the spell worked. A soft light glowed around Leo, pulsing once, then again, like a heartbeat.

The wild look in his eyes flickered. His grip on the spear loosened slightly.

He didn't drop it, but the laughter… stopped.

His chest rose and fell, breathing heavy, but normal again.

"…Tch."

Leo wiped blood from his mouth and turned away, muttering like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't just gone full war god for the past five minutes.

Violet let out a breath she'd been holding. "That… was close."

"No kidding," I said, wiping sweat from my brow.

Trent, watching from a distance, looked like he was rethinking his whole life.

Ama just smiled proudly, as if shouting the name of a spell and saving a berserk front-liner was an everyday thing.

And me?

I was just trying to pretend I didn't almost spill knowledge I shouldn't have had.

'Gotta be more careful.'

But deep down, I was more worried about something else.

That had been just the first phase of the Hollow Grove. If Leo was already slipping into Berserk Mode…

How were we going to survive the rest?

----

The last of the humanoid trees fell with a loud thud, its bark splitting apart as Leo's spear tore through its core.

Silence followed—tense and breathless.

And then, only the sound of heavy breathing and crackling embers from Mira's last fire spell filled the air.

I stepped forward slowly, eyes scanning the now-cleared area. No movement. No growling trees. No more vines trying to strangle someone's ankle.

We were safe.

For now.

"Whew…" Violet sank down on a mossy rock, brushing her hair back and wiping sweat from her forehead. "That was more than I expected."

"You okay?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Just tired. I didn't expect to tank half the aggro myself before Ama's barrier spell finally kicked in."

"I cast it at the right time!" Ama chirped.

I turned to look at her. She smiled, holding up a hand as if waiting for a high-five.

No one returned it.

"...Seriously?" Violet muttered.

"Okay, okay…" Ama grumbled, lowering her hand and hugging her staff to her chest. "No one appreciates timing anymore."

Leo sat down against a tree, his spear across his lap, breathing deeply.

His hands were still stained with sap and blood, and even though he wasn't laughing anymore, his eyes hadn't returned to their usual cold calm.

He was somewhere in between.

Trent walked up to him and dropped his shield to the ground with a heavy clang. "You good?"

Leo gave a slow nod. "Tired."

"You went overboard," Trent said, voice neutral but not unkind. "Again."

"I had to," Leo said, wiping his mouth. "Too many enemies at the same time."

His tone was flat, almost robotic, like he was trying to justify it even to himself.

I sat down on a broken stump, a little apart from the group, trying to catch my breath. My leg was aching from the last dodge I made earlier. I hadn't fought much—just the occasional interference—but even watching that chaos was exhausting.

"You were really sharp back there."

I turned to find Violet looking at me.

"What?"

"Catching that root. Protecting the healer. Not bad, weakling."

That last word was laced with teasing, not malice.

"…Guess I'm good for something after all," I replied with a grin.

"Now let's start evaluation of everyone's perfomance."

It was Leo who said that as he stood up.

It was one of his habit after every fight he went through.

Gusse, he will do that again, even in doungen.