Brownlings

This Monday morning, Nova was spending his time at the cafeteria.

He had just stepped in when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

『...Huh? Hello?』[Nova]

He turned around to find Trent, the student that couldn't quite match up to Reagan's standards.

『Oh. Good morning, Trent. Did you need something?』[Nova]

Trent had a semi-smug look on his face.

『So, how are you doing in that demon's class? I bet its a living hell.』[Trent]

Nova thought about it for a moment, before nodding.

『Yup. He's definitely a demon, and the class is definitely hell. There is no better analogy.』[Nova]

Hearing this, Trent had an even wider smile.

『Oh? Then, why did you try so hard to pass his test? I, on the other hand, have a kind teacher that teaches according to her student's capabilities.』[Trent]

Nova raised an eyebrow at Trent's question.

「Is.. He bragging? Or?」[Nova]

『...Well, I felt like it. I don't particularly think he's a bad teacher. From the way he taught that first lesson, I thought it was pretty clear that he was a very practical teacher. But yeah, his training is hell.』[Nova]

Trent's smile suddenly faded.

『...So, you too?』[Trent]

『Huh? What?』[Nova]

『I asked the other students, and they said that they were getting much stronger. It was clear that they weren't the same students from that first day of school. I wanted to know why.』[Trent]

『...Did they tell you anything?』[Nova]

Trent nodded his head.

『They said "lots of hard work". But, no matter how much hard work you put in- there is no way to grow that fast!』[Trent]

He had a bitter look on his face.

『Hmm.. I think they told you the correct answer though?』[Nova]

Trent began to get irritated and raise his voice.

『..I just don't understand it! How?!』[Trent]

『...Can you circulate your mana for entire days at a time?』[Nova]

『What?! No, that's insane. Who would do that?!』[Trent]

Nova began to stare Trent down seriously.

『...Training is hell. Can you even circulate your mana for an hour straight?』[Nova]

『No! Definitely not! 15 minutes, sure. But a hour?!』[Trent]

Nova's face began to darken a little, remembering how he couldn't even sleep in peace anymore.

『Then, you just aren't working hard enough. We're at the point where we have to train in our sleep. Constantly growing.』[Nova]

Trent began to look at Nova with a look of horror.

Nova's dark expression disappeared into his normal one.

『Alright. Keep your chin up.』[Nova]

He walked away to finish his breakfast.

『...They're all monsters.』[Trent]

---------

This time, there was a class in the morning.

When Reagan arrived, he didn't have any papers with him.

『Alright. We're going to get some practical training done today.』[Reagan]

He snapped his fingers and a portal formed.

『Alright, everyone get in.』[Reagan]

After everyone went through the portal, they arrived in a small forest.

『Okay, today we will be fighting magical beasts. Though they are weak, I'm sure you all have to get used to the killing of them. Although I usually leave you on your own, I will babysit you today. We will stay here until you all kill 10 creatures worth of magic stones each.』[Reagan]

『Magic stones?』[Nova]

『Yeah. Unlike humans who have mana evenly dispersed through their body, beasts form a crystal that they can use to supply mana to their actions. We can use these crystals for various things. If you get enough, we can even boost your mana's qualities with them.』[Reagan]

『So, are we going to get stronger from this too?』[Thomas]

『Yeah. We're going to boost all of your strength. Frankly, I can barely teach any of you any useful spells. They say humans grow the fastest in a life or death situation, so I'll put you in a situation as close as possible to that. Get ready.』[Reagan]

He snapped his fingers, and Thomas was surrounded by a barrier that closed him off from the rest of the class.

『Huh?! What are you doing?!』[Jenny]

『Why did you make a barrier, Reagan?』[Nova]

『Because, if he didn't do it on his own, it wouldn't do him any good.』[Reagan]

『...Alright! I've got this!』[Thomas]

Thomas stood next to the barrier, then cast the weapon summoning spell.

Strangely enough, the weapon he had summoned was a lance that was almost taller than him.

『Okay, monsters will be coming. Don't die.』[Reagan]

Reagan suddenly unleashed an extremely weak mist of mana that trailed into the forest.

『Beasts are attracted to mana. Thus, if you are in a situation where you must avoid beasts- avoid leaking your mana and using spells as well.』[Reagan]

Nova subconsciously nodded to Reagan's fact.

Soon after Reagan let his mana into the forest, yellow creatures the size of a watermelon started flooding toward Thomas.

『..What the hell are those?』[Marn]

When looking at them, you would see a small humanoid creature with bottom teeth that poked out of their mouth, pure red eyes, and a very distinguishing 3rd arm on their back.

They immediately began to flood Thomas, who beat them back- but couldn't kill them.

『...That's grotesque.』[Nova]

Reagan lightly scoffed at these comments.

『No. Grotesque is seeing the 5th circle version of these things. They're called "Brownlings". Once they grow into a 2nd circle, they become strong enough to match mages with 25 to 30 units of mana. Each time they rank up, you multiply the units by 5 to estimate their fighting potential.』[Reagan]

『Wait, what are circles?』[Jenny]

『Circles are certain breakthroughs and evolutions for these monsters. They occur after consuming enough for their body to change in some significant way. In the case of the brownlings, they grow a second head on the arm on their back.』[Reagan]

『...Dude. What the hell?』[Marn]

Thomas kept them away from him, but they were starting to land hits on him with their 3rd arm.

『...Can't someone just burn them all? These are really gross..』[Katherin]

Nova stared at the yellow blob faces with arms and legs rushing Thomas, and noted something..

『Why are they called brownlings? They're clearly yellow.』[Nova]

『...Normally, I'd steer clear from rumors or legends- but in the case of the brownlings... The original brownling was a rank 10 beast. That means he had about 10 million units of mana. He called himself "The Brown". He supposedly looks like a muscular bright yellow man, with legs attached to his head, 5 arms, a yellow head on his middle back arm that would open up- 』[Reagan]

He was cut short by Marn's screaming.

『NOPENOPENOPENOPE! WHAT THE HELL KIND OF CREATURE IS THAT?!』[Marn]

He shivered at the thought of such a gross creature.

『...I don't know if I want to live in this world anymore..』[Marn]

『...I wasn't done.』[Reagan]

『...Reagan. I think we got the point.』[Jade]

As they were talking, Thomas had managed to fend off most of them before he jumped into the air.

『Why the hell did he jump into the air?!』[Sophia]

He pulled his lance back and thrust it toward the ground.

『SPIRAL!』[Thomas]

A twister dug its way into the ground and started to drill into the brownlings.

After it rotated and ripped the brownlings apart for a moment, most of them dissolved into ash and dust.

The entire group had a shocked expression on their face, Reagan included.

『...It's sometimes really easy to forget, but.. He really is strong, isn't he?』[Jenny]

『..Yeah. That was awesome!』[Marn]

After a moment, Reagan smiled and snapped his fingers.

The barrier closed off the rest of the brownlings from attacking Thomas.

Thomas looked at Reagan with anticipation, while panting.

『...How was that?』[Thomas]

Reagan gave him a nod, along with a smirk.

『Not bad, except that you destroyed all of the crystals.』[Reagan]

『Huh?!』[Thomas]

He looked at the floor to find nothing but dust.

『...NO!』[Thomas]

He fell to his knees and started searching for any remnant of a crystal.

『...Man. Way to kill the mood, Reagan.』[Marn]