The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 296: Hard Work and Labor Will Never Betray You

“Kyaaaaaaack!!!” Molly Saelyn shrieked as she curled up and trembled from fear.

Rumbleeeee!!!

As if it had been waiting for this very moment, the cave shook and collapsed. The students’ only exit was now completely blocked off.

Upon realizing this fact, the students could not help but frown.

“Is this another illusion?!”

“This is not funny anymore! Is he looking down on us?!”

“Terrible Shock is a 7th Circle magic! This is not even funny! How can someone aside from the Great Sage use such magic?!”

Jumping up from among the students, Celvice proudly declared, “I’ll give it a try. Illusion Deconstruction Magic is my forte.”

He placed his hands over the pile of debris…before his expression went stiff.

“Celvice, what’s the matter?”

“Uhm… How do I say this…?” Celvice, who was groping around with a blank expression, muttered, “I don’t think…this is an illusion.”

“What?”

“If that’s the case… We’re really trapped here?”

Celvice collapsed after hearing his classmates’ screams.

“Food… Go and check on the food!!! As for those who can use Communication Magic, quickly contact the academy…! The academy professors!!!”

The entire situation turned chaotic. Some students trembled in fear, some ran around in a panic, and a handful were simply resentful of this sudden situation that they had found themselves in. And of course, there were those who had quickly grasped the reality in front of them.

“Food… There really are food rations here…” Josiah murmured as she dragged a huge sack out from the part of the cave that was still intact.

The huge sack was filled with dried rations and a supply of water.

“That boy… Did he bring us here with this plan in mind from the very beginning?”

“Why in the world would he do that?”

“How the hell would I know?!”

Being in such a stressful situation, the slightest hint of irritation made the students blow up from frustration and high emotions.

Timmy, who was watching the others bicker and argue, hurriedly shouted, “Everyone, shut up!!! If you all fight in this situation, then there’s a chance that we might not be able to get out at all!”

“Ah, whatever! Let that guy pull us out of here or whatever! It is obvious from how he simply disappeared from sight that he can use magic as he pleased!”

That shout effectively silenced all of the students.

“That… uhm… Josiah.”

“…” Josiah remained silent.

“The magic that the boy used earlier… Is it really Terrible Shock? T-The 7th Circle Magic?”

“I don’t know either… But I am certain that the cave did not collapse naturally. I think the spell being 7th Circle magic is impossible. I did not feel the flow of mana at all.”

It was completely impossible for the cave to have just collapsed naturally. The students could see that very precise parts of the cave had been destroyed for it to have collapsed like that.

“Still, he couldn’t have done such a feat with the support of the academy’s magic tools. If that’s possible, then the mage towers would have already been flipped upside down, no?”

“However, I have never heard of someone using magic without a chant…”

“On top of that, I can’t even feel any kind of mana in his body.”

“What the hell is that boy…? What is his identity…?”

After the brief discussion, the students fell silent again.

Then, the usually silent Molly Saelyn carefully raised her hand and said, “Uhm, guys… Do you remember when the instructor mentioned the 9th Circle…?”

“…”

“Perhaps… He really, truly meant it…?”

The students had no choice but to entertain the least likely possibility as truth.

Why had a boy their age been sent to become their temporary instructor? If they thought deeply about why the boy had come under Great Sage Hellison Valestia’s recommendation, then there was a chance that the boy had spoken the truth from the very beginning.

The more they thought about it, the more the students found it unbelievable.

“Ha! That’s ridiculous. Do you think that even makes sense? The greatest mage, the Great Sage, is only at the 7th Circle. It’s already a stretch if the boy’s at the 7th Circle, but you’re telling me that he’s at the 9th Circle? Ridiculous.”

“Then, how do you explain the Balrog on the school grounds…?”

“That’s obviously an illusion artifact!”

“Right. However, we now know that that boy is definitely a mage. I don’t know what he’s done but he’s definitely cheating. This is most definitely a very meticulous and detailed Illusion Magic.”

“Then, he’s most likely a cranky and ill-tempered old man. Right?”

“If he’s an instructor whose forte is in Illusion Magic, then everything would make sense.”

Josiah frowned when she saw the other kids shouting loudly and impatiently. Their words were obviously hollow and not backed by evidence, but their current situation was convincing them that their perspective was the truth.

For some strange reason, Josiah felt anxious. The thought that she might really die if she continued to listen and attend that crazy boy’s class rang the alarms in her head.

“Someone that’s not even twenty is already a 9th Circle mage?! Bullshit! Forget that, get up! We have to move a bit so we can get out of this place!”

The students, as if hypnotized, readily lifted their pickaxes and shovels and began to work.

***

Having been in Davey’s crazy classes not just once, but twice, the students of Class F were all reduced to rags in just a single day.

The students all glared at Davey, and nobody stopped Timmy who charged forward, grabbed Davey by the collar, and punched him in the face. Timmy screamed, “Is this what a teacher should do?!”

“What? Are you dissatisfied?”

“Dissatisfied?! Are you asking if we’re dissatisfied when we almost died there?!”

Davey smirked at the cries of Timmy, who represented the students. Then, he picked up the pickaxe that Timmy had dropped and said, “What did you think about this item that you used to get out of that place?”

Timmy flinched. With his eyes twitching, he stated, “It’s just a pickaxe.”

“Just a pickaxe? Are you a moron?” Davey snapped, his biting remarks making Timmy frown.

He could not believe that the students in front of him only saw the pickaxe as just a normal tool.

He continued, “This is a pickaxe inlaid with enchant magic. If you just used normal pickaxes and shovels, you would have taken one whole month to get out of the cave. Perhaps you would have already frozen to death on the fifteenth day.”

The quick-witted students immediately understood the situation, falling silent. Simply put, they realized that they had been using +15 max reinforced pickaxes.

Since this was his first time formally teaching students, Davey had decided to put some effort into it. So, he had casted a 7th Circle High Enchant on the tools. After all, such a magic was sophisticated enough to make the impossible possible.

“Even if you gave us a magic pickaxe, it does not justify the fact that you tried to bury us students inside the cave. Is that something a teacher should do?” Timmy challenged.

Davey pressed his hand on Timmy’s head and turned him around. Then, he said, “From what I heard, Class F is the class of failures.”

“…”

“You mentioned wanting to reach higher. But you’re here trying to play the knight in shining armor, questioning my methods that will allow you to reach such a height?”

The academy’s greatest talent, Josiah, might be in Class F. However, she alone could not win the Magic Festival.

“Don’t even try to think that the others would be slacking off just because you’re all playing around and goofing off.”

If they wanted to rise above the others, the students had to put in even more effort than they were doing now.

With a big frown, Timmy shouted fiercely, “Then, we should practice magic more, not this kind of nonsense…”

He then suddenly stopped talking.

Timmy Lendarouge was the class representative. He often took the lead alone and led the entire class’ opinion. That was why Davey thought that he should make this point clear to the boy.

“You have to trust me. If you leave your trust with me, I promise to turn you into crazy psychos who no one would be able to ignore and belittle in this academy,” Davey said solemnly, effectively silencing Timmy and the rest of the class.

“Your doubts and questions about my existence is what I am hoping for. Doubt and question me more. Continue to dig out information about my existence, think about who I am, and wonder about what I am doing. I have no qualms about that. After all, this is the homework that I have given you from the very beginning. However…”

Davey retrieved a potion from his waist pocket and handed it over to Timmy before continuing, “I will never tolerate any kind of questioning nor dissatisfaction regarding the contents of my classes. No opportunity knocks on your doors twice. If you don’t want to attend my lessons, then you can refuse to attend. The academy would not put restrictions or penalize you like what they did with Josiah previously. But once you refused to attend my classes, it would be over. I will never look back at you and give you another chance.”

The students looked at each other. Davey just told them that they could quit and leave. However, for some strange reason, they could not bring themselves to quit his classes.

“Will it…really be effective?”

“I have told you this before. A teacher is someone who will lead their students onto the right path until the very end.”

That was the reason why Davey was willing to put in the effort to make the students undergo changes within the fifteen days of his stay as their temporary instructor.

It was the fault of the kids, who were unaware of the harsh reality of the world, that they fell for Davey’s honeyed words.

***

A week of their temporary classes with Instructor Devy flew by in a flash. The students’ neat and sparkling Shakuntala Academy uniforms had quickly turned into rags.

“Ha…”

“On the first day, we got buried inside a cave. On the second day, we were forced to carry buckets of water while climbing a deadly mountain…”

“Ha… On top of that, we were forced to fetch another round of water if both buckets ended up having different levels of water.”

“I have no words for the third day either. I really thought my limbs would get blown to pieces.”

“Ah… The forest with explosive mana stones…”

The students, with nothing but the uniforms on their bodies, had been thrown inside a forest littered with explosive mana stones and had been tasked to escape. They had taken an entire day and a half to finally get out of that forest armed with complete trust and reliance on each other.

Unfortunately, their next task only proved to be even more daunting. They had to infiltrate the goblin settlement without using magic and steal the goblin chief’s things.

Even though goblins were considered to be weak monsters, there would still be a lot of them in their own settlement. Upon catching humans, they would tear the men apart while humiliating and disgracing the women. That was how vicious these monsters were.

However, Instructor Devy had been relentless, pushing his students inside the goblin settlement.

‘I’ll save you if you’re in danger. However, everyone has to succeed. Our lesson will not end until everyone has succeeded in the task.’

The students had gotten caught. However, without fail, whenever the students who had infiltrated the goblin settlement had gotten caught in a crisis, weird artifacts spewing smoke had suddenly fallen from the sky.

The artifact was one with an expensive magical additive, a scent, that drove away goblins.

At that point in time, the students had no other choice but to work together and rely on each other again. No matter how much they looked at it, their teacher, Devy, was a crazy psycho. Otherwise, their teacher wouldn’t let them jump and roll around until they almost went crazy.

The students have never even been allowed to open a book on magic theory during the crazy psycho’s classes that did not have any rhyme or reason at all. Anyone that would get caught reading such a book would be treated like some dirty mutt and beaten to death. This was because Instructor Devy had clearly given them a warning that the lessons would be led by the teacher and that the contents of the class would be chosen carefully by the teacher. However, they still could not help but think that it was too much.

“Ah… That boy…”

The students, who trudged toward the academy cafeteria without even dusting off their worn out clothes, frowned at the boy who ate leisurely on one side.

“My appetite is coming back just by looking at him.”

“Right. He’s really handsome.”

The girls, who found Davey handsome and just as likable as before, could not hide their irritation.

Despite everyone’s irritation and frustration over the unfavorable situations they had been in, no student skipped any of Davey’s classes. Why? It was mainly because of the declaration and promise that Davey had made on the first day. He had confidently promised them that he could help them grow.

The students were very curious about Davey’s identity, so they immediately tried to ask their families or use their own connections to find out. However, none of them had managed to get the correct answer so far. Needless to say, the students and most of the people around them did not know the identity of their instructor.

“If I were to be frank, I find this a bit unexpected. I did not expect you to come to class regularly.”

“…I also don’t know,” Josiah answered indifferently.

Looking at Josiah’s frown, a sign of obvious annoyance and irritation, Timmy grinned.

Even though their bodies were exhausted from constantly experiencing hardships, the students were gradually getting used to it. In fact, they could already use their heads more. They also quickly realized that their crazy instructor never gave them problems that did not have a solution. The only issue they have been facing was that the solutions had always been out of the box.

“Oh my, who’s this, huh?”

Just then, when a very relaxed voice rang out, Timmy turned around to see a group of people that he never wanted to see or run into at the academy. He muttered, “Voshyr.”

“I thought beggars have appeared in the academy, but it’s just the students of Class F, huh?”

“Keep that trap shut, Voshyr. If you don’t have any business with us, then scram.”

The boy, Voshyr, listened nonchalantly to Timmy’s scathing remarks before showing off his neat clothes. He said nonchalantly, “Well, it suits you. That ragged and tattered uniform is befitting of the class of failures.”

“Hihihihihi.”

Just as his group giggled loudly, Voshyr turned to Josiah Frances, who continued to eat without saying a word. He called, “Hey, Josiah Frances.”

“…”

When Josiah remained silent and unbothered, Voshyr asked, “I don’t understand why a genius like you is looking like that?”

“You don’t need to understand. Get lost.”

“How about coming back to us now? Even if you’re a problematic student, the professor will still accept you back into Class A.”

“Of course, you’ll have to pay a price. Do you know that you’re famous? I heard that you’ll willingly spread your legs just to improve your magic skills and career.”

The eyes of the Class F students started to burn when they saw the other children mocking and sneering at Josiah. Obviously, they had never felt such anger before.

They were classmates, but they were ultimately still strangers who lived in different nations. After graduating from this academy, which ended in high school, their relationships with one another would also end. That was why they usually did not pay much attention to the other’s business.

This was especially the case for Josiah Frances, who had come from a different class and was not on good terms with the other Class F students. In fact, her relationship with Class F had turned sour after her unauthorized absence during the previous Magic Festival.

However, for some reason, the other students felt really angry this time.

Timmy jumped up out of reflex with the muscles of his forearms bulging. Grinning widely, he felt like being a crazy psycho would be very helpful in such a situation. Just when he was about to grab Voshyr by the collar and punch him in the face…

Thwack!!!

“Fighting while eating in a public place. Very good. Three penalty points for everyone in Class F,” Davey said calmly as he blocked Timmy’s fist that was about to hit Voshyr in the face. He added, “After eating, gather in the classroom. From now on, we will hold our lessons in the classroom.”

Davey’s words angered the Class F students even further.

“Instructor! Did you not hear what that crazy bastard said?!”

Davey picked his ears at the loud and fierce cry. He asked, “And so?”

“W… What?”

“So? Does that mean that you can fight?”

“This damned boy…” Timmy said, gritting his teeth at the cold and heartless question.

He ran out of the cafeteria soon after. Most of the Class F students ran after him with the same furious expressions on their faces. There were only a handful of them left behind in the area.

“What the hell? So, it’s true. There really is an instructor that’s the same age as us,” Voshyr spat out slowly, patting Davey on the shoulder and sneering.

“You must be having a hard time teaching those failures in Class F, huh? Why don’t you just come to my family and become our exclusive mage instead of suffering in that place? You seem like a kid. But if you’re a mage, my younger sister will definitely find you to her liking and take good care of you…”

Boom!!!

The remaining students of Class F watched with gaping mouths as Voshyr, who was still sneering and mocking them, collapsed on the ground.

“I’m not a kid, you f*cker,” Davey said calmly as he turned to look somewhere else.

He saw a man sporting a dirty look and watching the situation from afar. The man asked, “So, you’re Instructor Devy from the rumors. However, what the hell are you doing? How dare you touch Attending Mage Collin’s promising Class A students?”

“That’s what I want to ask,” Davey said, throwing all politeness out of the window.

“Wh… What did you say?”

“Since they’re still young and immature, the children can be excused. However, a teaching assistant like you should not do something like that,” Davey said as he grabbed Voshyr and threw him away.

“Keoook!”

“Vo… Voshyr!!! Hey!!! You!!! Do you not know who Voshyr is? How dare you do this to him?! He is the next duke of Golia Duchy and is Attending Mage Collins’ apprentice!”

Just because everyone was equal when in class did not mean that the hierarchy and class system that ruled the world outside would disappear. The Saint’s ranking far surpassed the rank of the royal family in this hierarchical system.

“So, what do you want me to do? Would you like me to drop some meteor in the duchy right here and now?”

“Wha, what?!”

“Or perhaps you want me to remove that pompous call girl, Attending Mage Collin, from the mage tower for good?”

“You’re crazy! How dare you insult us like this?!!! You’re just someone who came here through nepotism, entering through the recommendation of the Great Sage!!! What authority do you have here?!!!”

“What authority, huh? It seems like you still don’t understand the situation that you’re in…” Davey said as his voice gradually trailed off.

As he approached the man, a blue aura, the symbol of a Sword Master, appeared and covered him entirely. Then, he whispered, “This is not a threat. However, the only people who can come after me in this academy are the students of Class F.”

“Hi… Hiiiiieeeee!”

The people in the surroundings were all embarrassed and flustered by the man’s unexpected reaction to Davey’s provocation. They felt confused.

“My students are already sensitive enough. Don’t you dare try to touch them. If I see you coming after them with your bullshit, then I’ll make sure to break your neck.”

Swooooosh!!!

The blue energy surrounding Davey’s body condensed and turned into a blade that flew past the man, creating a thin gash on his neck and causing blood to drip down his throat.

‘Even if they are cheeky and arrogant rascals, they are still my first disciples. Don’t you dare lay a hand on them.’