I Ended Up in a Magic Academy

Chapter 8: Class 5 Undead Beast

A girl who had once dreamed of the day she would be admitted to the Academy listened as her sister, Catherine DeRose, said gently, "What a cute and diligent girl you are, Shayna. Congratulations on becoming an S-Class first-year. It means the Academy has recognized your talent."

Shayna looked shy, fidgeting slightly but always feeling at ease when she was with her sister, a third-year S-Class student who had been the person she trusted most, especially since the DeRose family had been proud the moment Shayna was accepted as an S-Class freshman.

For a brief moment, the chaos and life-and-death pressure of the dungeon faded as Shayna's thoughts drifted to a distant memory, replaced by the warmth of a home that now felt like a dream she could barely hold onto, prompting her to murmur in a trembling voice, "I-I should've thanked my sister more…"

And then her body gave out, collapsing into silence.

I looked at Shayna and then shifted my gaze to Seiren, who still seemed normal for now though I had a feeling she wouldn't stay that way for long, before my eyes returned to Shayna and then to the monster ahead of us as a small, uneasy smile crept onto my face anyway while I let out a soft, "…Heh."

Seiren noticed it immediately and called out tensely, "Hey, Emil! What are you doing? Did that debuff hit you, too?" her voice sounding genuinely worried.

"No, don't worry," I replied automatically, already scanning the situation as my eyes flicked between the monster and the frozen timer floating in my vision before adding, "It looks like the system broke after the dungeon was sealed. However, the camera is still working."

I glanced at Seiren and said, "Let's retreat for now. This dungeon is huge, we can regroup and come up with a plan," before turning to Shayna and adding, "We need her to stay stable for this."

Seiren nodded immediately since light magic users were especially effective against undead and losing Shayna here wasn't an option, but just as we were about to pull back, the undead moved in a blur, vanishing and reappearing in an instant right in front of her and Shayna.

"Shayna!" she shouted as the monster's claw swung down, but I was already moving, pouring more mana into my weapon as the staff instantly shifted into a long blade wrapped in a sharp wind aura.

CLANG!

I parried the attack head-on and shouted without looking back, "Seiren! Do that thing, smoke now!"

"Got it!" she cast her spell, and a burst of condensed water vapor erupted, instantly expanding into a thick steam cloud that swallowed the battlefield and erased all visibility in white mist.

I grabbed Shayna's unconscious body without hesitation and said, "Let's move," as Seiren followed close behind while we retreated into the smoke, putting distance between us and the undead beast.

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Meanwhile, outside the dungeon, the old instructor facilitating the exam was in a panic, fully aware he had injected an artifact into the Minotaur that was supposed to remain under control as only an enraging effect, but now it had turned into something else, undead, leaving him in dread as he muttered, "What did I do?"

The creature had become a Class 5 Undead Minotaur, and worse, the dungeon was sealed in a way that shouldn't have been possible as the instructor stared at the screen showing Team 4 still fighting, muttering in panic that if this got exposed the academy would hunt him down, before deciding, "I need to get out of the academy as soon as possible."

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A hooded man stood in the shadows, eyes fixed on the glowing screens, a faint smile forming on his lips as he thought, Do you like my gift, young master? I'm sure you're enjoying yourself inside that dungeon, his gaze lingering cold and patient as he added, Still… your fun won't last.

He folded his arms, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he thought that sooner or later the instructors would find a way to reopen the dungeon, but then paused as his eyes narrowed slightly and he wondered if the entrance sealing itself so suddenly was the young master's doing.

For a moment, he considered staying, but then shook his head and murmured in a low, almost disappointed voice that this wasn't enough, that he couldn't take him out at the academy like this, not like this, it needed to be bigger, something more perfect, before a slow smile spread across his face as he said, "Oh… yes. That would be perfect," and turned to leave.

"Going somewhere?" A voice cut through the air.

The hooded man paused. Standing a short distance away was an instructor, watching him closely.

"…James Moore," the hooded man said calmly. "You were once known as a battle crazed maniac. And now… an instructor."

James raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised at being recognized. Then he sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"That's old news," he replied casually. "These days, I'm just a good ol Instructor." His gaze sharpened. "So… what are you doing here?" he asked. "Does this have something to do with my students?"

The hooded man didn't answer right away, only giving a small knowing smile as he softly said, "We'll meet again," before James reacted instantly, his body blurring forward with incredible speed, only for the hooded man to be faster as a faint glow flickered in his hand from a forbidden artifact.

"…Tsk," James clicked his tongue, "an instant return-type forbidden artifact," as he lunged forward, only for the space where the hooded man stood to distort and for him to vanish into thin air, leaving James standing alone.

A minute passed before hurried footsteps echoed behind him as two students, Earlric and Alex, approached breathless and urgently informed him that Emil, Shayna, and Seiren were trapped inside the dungeon with a Minotaur converted into a Class 5 monster, and after a brief moment with his eyes closed, James nodded and said, "Got it. Thanks for telling me."

He looked toward the sealed dungeon, his expression turning serious.

"For now… we wait," he said with a quiet breath, explaining that when a dungeon is forcibly sealed, it can't be reopened immediately and takes at least five hours to break open again.

His jaw tightened slightly. "Five hours is a long time."

His gaze hardened as he stared ahead, quietly adding that he just hoped they could survive long enough to hide.

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The faculty could do nothing but wait as the dungeon remained sealed and its timer crawled forward at an agonizing pace, leaving the instructors and students frozen before the screens, able only to watch as what they were seeing slowly turned into a tragedy.

Elira stood near the front, her eyes locked onto a single figure on the screen, the black haired boy with crimson eyes who had offered her a contract, as she thought quietly, "You're not just all talk… right?"

On the screen, the undead creature lunged forward, its massive claw aiming straight for Shayna, and everything happened too fast as a scream broke the silence with Catherine de Rose shouting in despair, her voice echoing through the room raw with panic as she watched her younger sister about to be torn apart, and for a split second no one moved before—

Clang! The attack was stopped. It was parried. A figure stood between the monster and Shayna. It was Emil.

The room fell into stunned silence as someone whispered in disbelief, "Wait… did he just parry a Class 5 monster?" while others couldn't even respond.

Samantha Remington watched the screen, her face pale, her hands trembling slightly and just like Catherine. Her sibling was still inside that dungeon.

At the back of the room, Pavel and Caen stood quietly, their eyes fixed on Emil with no shock on their faces, only recognition, while Zinnia stood apart from the others, knowing exactly what kind of lunatic her lord was, especially when he took an interest in something.

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Back inside the dungeon.

I carried Shayna to a safer area, but it was only temporary; she flickered her eyes as if waking up, though still affected by the Undead curse debuff and would recover fully later.

After a while, Seiren and I managed to reach a relatively safe spot as well, the air still tense but, at least for a moment, we were no longer being chased.

I glanced down at my staff, turning it slightly in my hand. "…Not bad," I murmured. "This thing works better than I expected."

Seiren watched me from the side, her brows slightly furrowed. "…Are you enjoying this?" she asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

I blinked and looked at her as I repeated, "Enjoying? What do you mean? I want to get out of here too," the words coming out smoothly even though it was a lie, because deep down… yeah, I was enjoying this.

If I were alone, I would've already rushed back in, maybe even smiling like a lunatic as I clashed with that monster, but not now, not in front of them, so I decided to change the subject and asked, "How's Shayna?"

Seiren glanced at Shayna, who was still leaning weakly against the wall "…Not good. She's still affected by the de buff," Seiren said. "We need her to wake up fully. She's the only one who can cast a dispel."

I nodded slowly, knowing Seiren's ice and water magic was powerful but lacked support spells like dispel, and said calmly, "Then we wait; debuffs like that usually wear off in thirty to forty-five minutes."

I paused, gathering my thoughts before continuing.

"We've already been running and hiding for a while now... maybe fifteen, maybe twenty minutes since that fight." Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a small magic device and checked the time. "Still 3 PM…" I slipped it back.

"Alright," I said, looking at Seiren, "rest for now, recover your mana, and once you're both ready… we go back and face it again," and after a brief hesitation she nodded and said, "…Okay," surprisingly without arguing.

Seiren couldn't stop thinking about it as she glanced at him again, the black-haired boy with crimson eyes who was both her classmate and teammate, remembering how easily he had blocked the Minotaur when it attacked Shayna, and that smile…

That brief, unsettling smile made her grip tighten slightly as she wondered what he really was, an ally or something else?