Chapter 599: Traumatized
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The contest between Benjamin and the two hundred mages ended hastily in an abrupt manner.
After experiencing this magical prowess that was so powerful and God-like, the mages at the scene just lost their will to fight. The attack that they had been charging up some intensely for had been blocked by their opponent with just a sweep of his hand – he didn’t even look like he was bothered by it. Was there still any reason for them to continue fighting?
Furthermore, the ice shield that was knocking on heaven’s door had completely crushed their confidence.
Despite Benjamin’s continuous urging, not only had this group of mages not stricken back in retaliation, but they had actually started to disperse as a sign of defeat. Under the watchful stares of the thousands of people outside the field, they raised both arms up high and slowly walked out of the designated battleground; some mages had even fainted and were now just lying motionless on the ground. The entire team, which was enthusiastic and rowdy just moments ago, was now crushed and without even a sliver of hope.
To them, the figure in the sky was a traumatizing shadow that they would remember for the rest of their lives. They did not have the courage to face it anymore.
"...Forget it, since nobody is keen on the contest, we’ll end it here."
Because of this, the contest came to end.
Helpless, Benjamin could only announce the end of the contest and slowly descended from the skies. Hearing this, the mages on the ground sighed in relief. However, they did not even have the courage to face Benjamin again; they turned around and left hurriedly, perhaps never again daring to come near the Academy of Magic.
Most of them might even go back and fall into serious depression, some might even disperse their own mage groups, and some people might even rethink their life in magic. The entire process had taken only two minutes, but in those two minutes, an irremovable crack had been left in these people’s hearts.
For a very long time after this, they would shudder when they heard Benjamin’s name.
Of course, these were all stories for another time. To Benjamin, his main purpose had been achieved. People from the Mages Organizations should not come to trouble him ever again. Now this episodic contest had ended, he could not forget that they were still in the midst of examinations!
The midterm examinations had to go on.
But, when Benjamin walked back into the crowd, he discovered that everyone around him, regardless of guests, teachers or students, looked like they were in a trance. They started to look at Benjamin differently.
The students, whose expressions before this had been of eagerness and expectation, were now a mixture of fear and awe; as they watched him walk, they subconsciously took a few steps backwards. Benjamin suspected that if he tried to open his mouth to say something, these people might just kneel down before him.
Was it really that bad?
Benjamin scratched his head.
It was not as though he had never done things that had shocked the world before, e.g. the giant water ball at the Imperial City. Surely those actions had been even more shocking than the ice shield just now, had it not? Why did they only see him as a monster just now?
…...Was this the difference of the effects between seeing something live and only hearing rumours about it?
He felt a bit helpless. It was good that they respected him, but this distance between them was not what he had intended. He had hoped that he could be a director who had an affinity with the students, and not some nightmare figure whom students would lower their heads and walk away from when they saw.
"Ladies and gentleman, that was nothing much. Everyone, take a break, and when the time comes, we will continue the exam." He smiled, saying to the people around him.
Everyone was still staring at him dumbly.
Seeing this, Benjamin shook his head and left the field alone. His "Descending of Water" had not only shocked the leader of the Mages Organization, but also everyone at the scene. They would need quite a long time before they could recover.
He hoped that the student's performances during the exam in the afternoon would not be affected too much by the incident. He also hoped that these people would not be so affected that they would lose their confidence to learn magic.
In an effort to mitigate the effects as much as possible, Benjamin could only hide away in his own quarters, allowing the people time to digest everything themselves.
"Was it really worth it to spend a few days accumulating enough magic just to put on a ten-minute show?" The System ridiculed ruthlessly.
Benjamin shook his head and replied casually, "As long as the initial goal has been achieved."
Even if there were ‘casualties’ who had been so shocked that they lose the confidence to learn magic, it was actually not that big a deal. It was not as though everyone had spectated this contest; many more people would only hear about it from word of mouth, and their curiosity towards Benjamin and the academy would increase. Subsequently, Benjamin’s fame soar.
From a different perspective, this could also be seen as a method of elimination.
He was wondering if his student would choose to give up or put in more effort once they had seen something so incredible. If people decided to drop out, then so be it; Benjamin just hoped that everyone who decided to stay would have a strong will.
When evening arrived, he discovered that many of the students were striving even harder in the examinations.
After all, they had experienced the attack by the priest at the school opening ceremony and were not children from pampered backgrounds. Also, the atmosphere of the academy had helped them out tremendously. They had only been learning magic for a few months, and yet, had been able to muster their courage very quickly and move on.
As for the teachers... They had been with Benjamin for a long time and had eventually developed an immunity towards his showboating antics.
"Are you talking about Dean Benjamin? He is a monster, don’t try to compare yourselves to him. Just get your meditation done properly. You have not known him for a long time, you’ll get used to it eventually."
Frank patted a student’s shoulder and did his best to reassure him.
The student nodded, pretending as though he understood, and turned around to continue with his assessment.
The midterm examinations were still ongoing; everyone’s timetable had been reshuffled. Both the theory and the practical assessments took a total of two days
The number of visitors in the academy had decreased greatly since the morning. Other than the mages from the varying organizations who had fled, some of the regular visitors were shocked too and did not have the mood to continue spectating for now. But it was just as well that there were fewer people around; it was easier to keep the order, and the examinations could be conducted faster.
Benjamin even used this opportunity to weed out a few of the Church’s spies.
"...You guys had seen what had happened just now, right?" In the remote streets of Academy, a few priests, clad in long robes, huddled together and began whispering, "We must report this as soon as possible to the honourable bishop, the threat of that mage has surpassed what we’ve imagined."
Hearing this, the two other priests nodded.
While Benjamin had been patrolling the town, the water elemental sensing technique had swept over their bodies and, surprisingly, did not discover anything out of the ordinary. If not for the System alerting him that of a few dodgy fellows grouped together in the corner, he would not have noticed them.
Hiding around the corner, he eavesdropped on the conversation of these three men and quickly confirmed their identities.
"Priests... How can this be? When I used the water elemental sensing technique on them, I detected nothing. They seemed like a couple of ordinary people." He asked in his heart.
"I don’t understand either." The System answered, "Using my scanning method, their spiritual energy levels were very low as well, not any higher than an ordinary person's. At first, I thought they were only a few petty thieves, and I wanted to prank you with them. Who would have known that they were really the Church’s men? It was sheer coincidence."
"..."
For a moment, Benjamin had nothing to say and simply remained silent. However, he knew he had better take action before those three priests reported the news back to the Kingdom of Helius; he activated the water elemental domain and trapped them inside.
"Damn it... how did he discover us…"
Benjamin was too lazy to elaborate and simply waved his hand to summon a storm of hundreds of ice blades, before ripping these lackeys to shreds.
Unfortunately, these people were worthless to him.
"Could the Church’s spies already have started to slip into Academy?"
As he walked out from the corner and stared at the people bustling about in the distance, Benjamin grit his teeth and prepared for the worst.