Link

This time, Jenny was standing in the barrier.

『...Are you sure she's going to be okay? She doesn't have any close combat capacity, right?』[Marn]

Reagan looked at Marn with a slight look of disdain.

『...What?』[Marn]

『Beasts are living creatures too. As long as a living creature exists, their first priority is staying alive. If you would run at a woman charging a fireball at you, you'd be dumber than a rock.』[Reagan]

Marn remained silent after this.

『Oh! They're here!』[Sophia]

Looking at the distance, there was another swarm of brownlings running toward Jenny.

『...Oh god. They're so much worse when they run at you...』[Jenny]

『Well, quick! Start casting!』[Katherin]

She raised her hands and began to channel her mana into her spell.

They saw her fireball and they backed up slowly.

『...Is a single fireball going to be enough for that swarm?』[Jade]

『I don't know… that's a really big fireball!』[Marn]

She finally cast it, but it was big enough to wipe out the entire swarm if they were bundled together.

『Woah! I think she has it!』[Katherin]

Suddenly, the brownlings all spread out in all directions.

『...What did I say about all living creatures?』[Reagan]

He was slightly disappointed at this result.

『Control!』[Jenny]

Suddenly, the fireball exploded in midair.

『Huh?! What did she just do?』[Sophia]

The fireball suddenly split into many tiny fireballs that went in all directions.

『...Ah. Not bad.』[Reagan]

The fireballs curved behind and around the trees, and all shot through the air.

Each of the fireballs managed to hit their intended target, causing dust and screams to fill the air.

『So, how was that?』[Jenny]

Reagan nodded his head and gave a rare thumbs up.

『Good. You seem to have a high level of mana control. Have you been practicing?』[Reagan]

Jenny laughed as if she was embarrassed.

『Just a little!』[Jenny]

She looked at the tiny pea sized crystals on the floor.

『Control!』[Jenny]

They all shook for a moment before flying into her open palm.

Thomas jaw had dropped, leaving his mouth wide open.

『...I'm kinda jealous.』[Thomas]

The class laughed at Thomas.

------

Next up was Jade.

She promptly summoned her weapon, which was something similar to a spear- but with a blade at the end along with two piercing points.

『What is that?!』[Marn]

Thomas looked at the weapon's shape with an intense focus.

『Hmm… I think they call it a glaive? It's a polearm with a blade on it, so I think that's correct.』[Thomas]

She swung it around her body and prepared for the oncoming wave.

『Okay. I'm ready to go.』[Jade]

Reagan nodded, then let out a thin mist of mana.

The brownlings immediately came flooding in.

『Gakahaha!』

『Guraaahaaha!』

『Grahaw!』

They were screaming with intense fervor.

『Woah! Aren't they a bit loud this time?!』[Marn]

Reagan nodded while looking at the loud brownlings.

『When an area has a lot of beast kills, the survivors tend to go into a berserk form. This is due to the mana in their blood evaporating into the atmosphere when they die.』[Reagan]

『You mean that thing where they turn into dust?』[Thomas]

『Yes. That's due to them being weak creatures that haven't fully adapted to the mana in their bodies. If they had become 2nd circle brownlings they would have left corpses when they died.』[Reagan]

For the first time in a while, Anastasia spoke.

『...So in the end, we have to kill them.』[Anastasia]

『...Yeah. To keep our loved ones and nation safe, we kill beasts. We take some of their mana, then let the rest return to the universe.』[Reagan]

Nova's ears perked up at this sentence

『...Universe? Isn't mana only in our world?』[Nova]

『...No. They say the strongest creatures exist in space.』[Reagan]

『They say? Who? I thought you didn't believe in legends?』[Marn]

Reagan gave an irritated look to Marn.

『Hey! Jade has come into contact with them!』[Jenny]

Upon looking at Jade, they found the brownlings were all around her.

She slowly turned around and made sure to find each and every one of their positions.

『...Link!』[Jade]

She shined a golden light before the same color started shining on the brownlings one by one.

『Is this her seed? What is it doing?』[Jenny]

They all stared at the crowd of golden auras.

Before long, a brownling started screaming and rushed at her.

『Gurahaha!』

『...We'll find out in a moment.』[Reagan]

She raised her polearm and cut the brownling into powder.

『Here it is.』[Jade]

The brownlings in the area immediately started wailing, before they exploded into a wave of dust.

『What the?!』[Thomas]

Jade quietly started to pick up the little crystals.

『...So, it links the targets together, and they share damage?』[Reagan]

She looked up and shook her head.

『No, not quite.』[Jade]

He was taken aback a little bit when she denied his observation.

『Then, what does it do?』[Reagan]

『Nova was teaching us about "rules" a while ago. When I first awakened, it was a simple novelty spell that let two people feel what the other person felt. Then, I was thinking- what if it took one thing and transferred it to another.』[Jade]

Reagan suddenly looked surprised.

『He taught you about rules? Before I did?』[Reagan]

Katherin had a funny look on her face and was trying to suppress her laughter.

『Well.. To be fair, Nova is basically the teacher nowadays.』[Katherin]

Reagan was awestruck for a moment before he shook his head.

『...No. The reason why is because with broader and stronger spells, the more mana it consumes.』[Reagan]

Observing Jade now, she was clearly a bit out of breath.

『I'm alright. It's just that my mana capacity isn't high enough yet. I can only do that about 3 times.』[Jade]

Reagan had a big grin on his face before he burst out into uncharacteristic laughter.

Everyone stayed silent until he stopped laughing.

『Simply, you all can use techniques that are uncharacteristically strong for your level. This is good. I leave it to you all to completely demolish the rankings.』[Reagan]

Nova thought back to Reagan destroying his door.

『...Did he bust down all of your doors too?』[Nova]

『...Yeah.』[Thomas]

『Yup.』[Marn]

The girls just stared at the boys with a blank look.

『...He could have just sent a message to you all though?』[Jenny]

『...』