The Academy’s Barbarian - Chapter 80.2 - A Changing Future (3)

Don’t forget to rate and review the novel on NovelUpdates

After a brief farewell, Sylphie used the return stone, holding the bag full of Phosphorus stone and Arma’s Disguise.

Paah!

A blaze of pure white light soon erupted and a moment later, Sylphie was nowhere to be seen, and at that moment, Dirac kicked the ground in a hurry. He had somewhere to go.

‘She said it was near the border of Zone 4, right?’

Dirac moved briskly with a skeptical face. After a while, having arrived at the location Sylphie had mentioned, he widened his eyes.

“……!”

Sylphie’s words were indeed true.

Top-grade mana stones radiating a brilliant light — six mana stones were arranged at regular intervals. Dirac blinked his eyes wide and mumbled, “Who put them here…….”

But there was something else besides the mana stones — neatly butchered chickens, rabbits, and even a deer. It looked like someone was offering a sacrifice to someone.

“Were they planning on holding some sort of ceremony?” It was a plausible guess. But he soon dismissed the thought. That wasn’t important right now.

What was important were the top-grade mana stones that lay before him. Staring at it, Dirac swallowed hard. ‘No one’s watching anyway.’ And since there was no video recording device either, there was no chance of getting caught if he took them.

‘Even if something goes wrong…’

…there was a way out; he could just pin the blame on Sylphie, who had been with him here all this time.

As soon as he finished thinking this, Professor Dirac threw all his hesitation away.

“Huhh, huhu,” With a greedy laugh, he stuffed six top-grade mana stones into his pocket in the blink of an eye, “I’m lucky today.”

After throwing all the animals that were presumed to be sacrificed into the lake, he turned around leisurely.

Perhaps due to being overly elated, he was careless. Was it because of the excessively joyful mood that he failed to notice something?

Hiss! Sizzle!

It was the ashen smoke from the mana stones that began to seep into his body. However, oblivious to this, Dirac continued to walk…

…towards Zone 2 where the students were.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, at that moment…,

…the examination venue of Zone 2 was abuzz with explanations related to the second exam.

“The second test is a treasure hunt of sorts.”

“All you have to do is find a material with a stable flow of mana in this area and submit it.”

“The less twists there are in the flow of mana, the higher the score will be, so please be careful when taking the exam.”

“Then the exam will begin now!”

At the signal of the supervisors’ cry, the students immediately kicked the ground; the time limit for the second exam was 30 minutes.

It was not enough time to take the test without using magic, so it would be better to move fast.

With this thought in mind, the students began to explore their surroundings.

However, unlike other students…

…there were also those who wandered around the area leisurely, as if they were taking a walk. This was Ulan’s group, who had achieved significant results in the first examination.

They had a reason for such leisure.

“This should be good enough.”

“Me, too, with this one.”

Five minutes into the exam, Noah and Dilia achieved their goals — they were Blessed by Mana, afterall.

Because they could see the flow of mana with their naked eyes, they were able to find materials with a steady flow of mana without using any cumbersome methods.

Ulan, on the other hand, was not.

“Hmm.”

Ulan frowned, his eyes darting around the area. But no matter how hard he stared, nothing seemed to work.

Was it because she felt sorry for him? Dilia spoke softly, “Should I, um, help a bit?”

“No. I’ll find it myself.”

The same answer as in the first exam. Anyway, he was stubborn in strange places.

Dilia made a pouty face. But this time, he wasn’t as stubborn as before, “However, if you have any identification methods, I would like to hear them.”

It seemed that if things went on like this, it would take days to reach their goal. And this request was answered by Noah.

“It’s surprisingly simple,” she said, “a stabilized flow of mana means that the material itself is close to perfection.”

“Close to perfection?”

“Yes, so you need to find a material that is least affected by external stimuli.”

“External stimuli……….” Ulan muttered to himself.

Noah pointed to her own pebble, which she had found five minutes into the exam, and said, “This pebble has a near-perfectly constant flow of mana, with very few twists, so it should be able to withstand any external stimuli. I’ll demonstrate it…”

Noah was about to prove what she had just said.

However, at that moment…,

Whoosh!

…Ulan suddenly snatched the pebble.

Snatched away in the blink of an eye. Noah, who was momentarily stunned, hastily reached out.

“Wait a moment…!”

She felt ominous for some reason; and Noah’s premonition turned into reality.

Crack! Thud!

Making a loud noise, the pebble shattered; not just broken into pieces but turned into powder. Watching the fragments scattered on the ground, tilted her head.

“That’s not right.”

“……!”

“I must have picked the wrong one.”

Ulan muttered grimly.

At the same time, Noah’s eyes widened to the size of lamps.

“Wh-what did you do?!”

“I gave it some external stimuli.”

“No, I said it was not that kind of external stimuli, but magic! Magic!”

“Magic?” Ulan frowned. As if he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Today, we can’t use mana, right?”

“Well, that’s why they shared this with you!”

Noah, with a helpless expression, took out a small device.

This was a tool distributed by the supervisors before the explanation of the second exam began—the ‘improvised mana detector.’

When held against an object’s surface, it would immediately react to a faint mana response.

And based on this reaction, the main content of this exam was to calculate the mana flow of the corresponding object.

“Haha, here’s how to use it. First, take this device to the material and…”

However, before the explanation could even conclude…

Clang! Thud!

Ulan’s improvised mana detector slammed into a nearby rock, and with the sound of rock splitting, the device got stuck near the handle.

A force to be reckoned with.

Ulan clicked his tongue low and muttered, “This one seems to be a dud too.”

“You’re using …… incorrectly.”

“So it wasn’t stabbing, but slicing?”

“Rather, let’s just throw away the idea of using it as a weapon,” Noah sighed. It didn’t seem to end with just a verbal explanation.

“First, me and Dilia are going to give you a demonstration. Just follow along and…….”

But then she closed her mouth again.

Because Dilia, who had been with them until now, had disappeared without a trace. Where did she go? While looking around…,

“Dilia is over there.”

…Ulan pointed in a direction.

Right at the border between Zone 2 and Zone 3. Dilia was standing there, staring blankly at Zone 3.

“Dilia!”

When Noah called her name loudly, Dilia turned her head around.

“What were you looking at earlier?”

“I’m, uh, a little, nervous.”

“Zone 3?”

Dilia nodded wordlessly.

She muttered with a stern face, “……Something bad, it’s coming.”

As soon as Dilia’s answer was finished.

A thin shadow stretched out from the direction of Zone 3. A few moments later, accompanied by an ashy aura, a distinct figure became palpable.

And at that moment…

…the identity of the approaching figure was revealed.

“That’s……!”

A man whose complexion turned pitch-black.

A man emitting an inexplicably menacing ashy aura.

It was Professor ‘Dirac Ormine.’

(End of Chapter. . . . . . . .Thanks for Reading. . . . . . . . . )

Translator’s Notes:-

If you can’t wait to read what lays ahead, subscribe to Patreon for 20 advance releases from the link below!!!

Join Discord here ->>> https://discord.gg/w7asSW2xkQ

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ˳༄꠶ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

『 Previous Chapter ❖ Next Chapter 』

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ˳༄꠶ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

『 Patreon 20 Advanced Releases』

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ˳༄꠶ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Rate and review the novel on Novel Updates 👉 The Academy Barbarian

⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⊱⊰⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯