Nidhogg, now clad in the Carian Knight Set, walked through a dark corridor. He heard the sound of splashing water and saw a massive, rotating waterwheel.
This was the very waterwheel Little Ranni had mentioned.
In fact, even without Miniature Ranni's guidance, Nidhogg roughly knew the way. The Magic Academy was like a second home to him. He had passed through here countless times.
He also knew that beneath this waterwheel was hidden a trapped doll girl. If caught, she would die, be forcibly teleported to the territory of the "Blasphemous Lord" Rykard, to Volcano Manor, and then resurrected.
It was just unclear if she would still be effective now. And, of course, Nidhogg wasn't going to test it with his own life.
Beside the massive waterwheel was a short stone bridge. After crossing it, Nidhogg saw a tall, erected stone tablet.
However, the "master" here didn't welcome him.
A tall, thin ghost appeared after the air distorted, revealing white hair and a dark body.
This being, neither man nor ghost, still held a rotting sword in its hand.
It was an Alabaster Lord.
In fact, they are all called Alabaster Lords, and also Onyx Lords. They master gravity-related magic and have a place in the Magic Academy.
Rennala's eldest son and Ranni's elder brother, Radahn the Starscourge, had gone to the city of Sellia as a child and learned gravity magic from the Alabaster Lords.
After that, the Alabaster Lords took the opportunity to enter the territory of the Carian royal family.
Before Nidhogg stood one of these Alabaster Lords.
The Alabaster Lord appeared beside the stone tablet, with no intention of talking to Nidhogg. It quickly approached him, raised its Rotten Greatsword, grinned, and slammed it into the ground!
CRASH—!
Dark purple waves of magic erupted from the Rotten Greatsword, shaking the originally intact ground and rapidly spreading to Nidhogg's feet!
Before the gravitational disturbance began, Nidhogg leaped into the air, choosing offense over defense. His Bloodhound's Fang struck the Alabaster Lord's sword!
The Alabaster Lord rose, parried with its sword, barely resisting Nidhogg's strike. It then jumped and swung its sword at Nidhogg.
At the same time, it raised its left hand, condensed a dark purple-black sphere, and hurled it at Nidhogg!
Sorcery: Gravity Well!
FWOOSH—!
As soon as Nidhogg landed and stood firm, the Gravity Well roared towards him. He immediately gripped his sword with both hands, carved a lunar arc, and sliced the Gravity Well in half!
But the aftermath of the gravity magic was still there, pulling his entire body towards the Alabaster Lord!
The Alabaster Lord seized the moment, stepped forward, raised its greatsword, and swung it down fiercely!
It didn't expect this to be within Nidhogg's foresight.
Nidhogg had already seen through the Alabaster Lord's series of moves. He blocked its sword strike with a backhanded swing. Then he heard a CRACK!. The Alabaster Lord's greatsword snapped in two!
The Alabaster Lord was stunned. Its eyes widened. It didn't understand what was happening.
In fact, during their first sword clash, Nidhogg had cracked the Alabaster Lord's Greatsword with Bloodhound's Fang. But the Alabaster Lord had been focused on countering and hadn't noticed.
When they clashed swords the second time, Nidhogg deliberately struck the cracked spot again. So the Alabaster Lord's greatsword broke clean in two!
Nidhogg's fang was a high-quality weapon, constantly strengthened and restored. With Nidhogg's own strength, it was no surprise that it could cut through the Alabaster Lord's rotting sword in two blows.
The Alabaster Lord had unexpectedly lost its weapon.
Nidhogg took advantage of the Alabaster Lord's confusion. He knocked it down, struck it in the chest, kicked it into the stele, and with a loud CRASH!, shattered the entire stele!
The Alabaster Lord crashed to the ground. Before it could get up, Nidhogg's Bloodhound's Fang was already before it. He struck with his sword and, with a CRACK!, split its head open!
THUD—!
The Alabaster Lord, its brains burst, feebly collapsed beside the shattered stone tablet.
Nidhogg felt the golden brand pulse.
Level Up: LV 99 → LV 100
Acquired Sorcery: Gravity Well
"This is glintstone sorcery that manipulates gravity. It releases gravity wells. Affected targets are pulled towards you. Power can be increased by charging."
"A gravity technique Radahn learned as a child. His teacher was an Alabaster Lord."
Finally, Nidhogg's level had reached three digits. It felt like crossing a bottleneck. He breathed a sigh of relief.
The newly acquired "Gravity Well" was the second type of sorcery he possessed. But he didn't take it too seriously. He was in the Magic Academy. He would surely be able to obtain more types of sorcery in the future.
Miniature Ranni, sitting on Nidhogg's shoulder, was not surprised that Nidhogg could kill an Alabaster Lord.
She calmly pointed at the massive waterwheel to one side.
"Jump onto the waterwheel platform. The wheel's rotation will lift the platform to the top. Jump onto the cliff. You'll see the school building and classrooms of the Magic Academy."
"Alright, Ranni. No problem, Ranni."
Nidhogg leaped onto the nearby waterwheel platform. When it rotated and lifted the platform high, he jumped off and landed on the cliff.
However, he wasn't alone on the cliff. There was also a group of wandering nobles with longswords.
One by one, they looked like zombies, crouching and fiddling with boxes of glintstone crystals. Seeing Nidhogg, they rushed at him. But, naturally, they were killed by Nidhogg on the spot.
This group of wandering nobles, being nobles, must have had a good background before.
But they wandered, homeless. Even in the Magic Academy, these mages didn't want to entertain them, leaving them only outside the schoolhouse, like servants. It seemed they were in the wrong line and unwelcome.
Nidhogg reached the gates of the Magic Academy schoolhouse. He saw a table and chair by the door, filled with many bottles and small boxes. Inside lay some magical materials.
He simply glanced through them and soon found a booklet with the name of the owner of these things—none other than the "waste of a stone," Thops.
It seemed Thops's treatment in the Magic Academy was probably no better than that of these wandering nobles. He couldn't even enter the classrooms of the school building. Otherwise, he wouldn't have died at this table and chair in the end.
Little Ranni also saw all this. She sighed softly and said, "When we return to power, we will let him earn respect. Such humiliating things will never happen again."
With a sigh, Nidhogg entered the school building and classrooms. He saw a room full of magical books, as well as several glintstone crystals placed on the floor. These were the keys to the mages' spellcasting.
Entering the classroom of the school building, as soon as he stepped into the corridor, Nidhogg encountered a mage with a sword and shield.
Yes, one of the factions here also had close-combat mages.
But even in close combat, the mage was no match for Nidhogg. He was still directly cut down by Nidhogg. At the same time, this commotion alarmed many mages in the school building, as well as a large pot.
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