Chief

"Is that really Mage Hand?"

"Mage Hand can be used like that?"

"Holy... holy... if anyone tells me Mage Hand is just a utility spell again, I'm going to lose it..."

"I'm going to save up my points to trade for Mage Hand..."

Haul had lost without even knowing what happened. After being carried off the stage, he quickly regained consciousness, only to be left in a state of utter bewilderment.

He didn't understand it, but the surrounding audience had seen it clearly. Borne had stood there from start to finish. After Haul launched his attack, Borne simply raised his hand, and three Mage Hands appeared: one struck Haul's abdomen, one hit his sword-wielding wrist, and the third smacked the back of his head, leaving Haul collapsed on the ground.

This display by Borne didn't just stun the numerous students; even the big shots in the viewing stands cast curious gazes his way.

Mage Hand, a 0-level cantrip!

Borne's actions perfectly interpreted what a caster's combat should be—no matter how small a spell is, as long as it is used properly, it can produce powerful lethality!

Hearing the voices around him, Borne nodded inwardly, It seems the effect is quite good. I should be able to collect a few thousand points in commission after the competition.

Thirty-some sets are still too few, the share is too small. I'll have to grind a bit more when I get back. Hmm... I need to account for at least three-quarters!

"So strong! Is this kid really a newly promoted Arcanist? Even Arcanists who have been promoted for years might not have this level of control!" The referee glanced at Borne, forced to admit in his heart that the world of geniuses is truly not something ordinary people can understand.

"Student Borne Ioulaum, will you continue... hmm?"

The referee suddenly stopped, then turned around and nodded repeatedly, as if communicating with someone.

Message? Or some other magic?

That spell is quite good.

A true otherworld version of a walkie-talkie!

Afterward, the referee asked Borne, "Student Borne, the Dean says your strength far exceeds that of your grade, but making you the Chief directly isn't quite appropriate. If you can withstand challenges from other students for 20 rounds, the title of Chief is yours."

"20 rounds?"

Borne pondered secretly, feeling that this was fine; otherwise, this ranking competition would waste several more days.

"Alright, no problem!"

Borne gave his decision quickly.

The referee then loudly announced the temporary adjustment to the competition schedule, causing another uproar in the surroundings.

They were all teenagers, and at such a hot-blooded age, there were always those who felt dissatisfied with the 'special treatment' the Dean gave Borne. Seeing him hog all the limelight, they were all very indignant.

They scrambled to get up there and teach Borne a lesson.

Borne was amused the moment he saw it; there really were so many people with a death wish.

If I don't give you a taste of hardship, you'll never know why the flowers are so red!

Soon, the first challenger took the stage. Just as the person was about to introduce himself, Borne cut him off directly.

"Let's start quickly. I'm in a hurry. Choose your casting distance if you need to."

Being snapped at by Borne made the challenger's face flush red, followed by a surge of rage. Before the referee could even call the start, he charged at Borne with his weapon raised.

Borne: ...

A pale blue Mage Hand appeared once again. The challenger actually had some skill; although he was blinded by rage, he was indeed capable, at least in terms of physical durability.

He charged straight through the attacks!

"Idiot..."

Borne muttered, then a Mage Hand appeared on the ground, grabbed the challenger's ankle, and tripped him directly.

Afterward, seven or eight Mage Hands appeared and hammered the fallen challenger's head. It must be said that this big brother was truly durable; he tried to stand up twice while taking the punches, but was knocked down both times. Finally, unable to take it anymore, he loudly conceded.

Referee: ...

Watching the first challenger get beaten into a pig's head and then limp off the stage, the momentum of the crowd, who had been filled with righteous indignation just a moment ago, diminished significantly.

"Next, hurry up..."

Borne called out.

Referee: →_→

Provoked by Borne, the momentum that had died down surged up once again.

Feeling the 'enthusiasm' of his classmates, Borne sighed, "Youth is truly great—full of passion and unafraid of setbacks!"

Referee: (ー_ー)!!

Soon, another challenger took the stage and immediately put distance between himself and Borne.

He began circling, quickly closing in on Borne while using his weapon to intercept the Mage Hands appearing along the way.

"Hi!"

A sudden loud shout startled not just the challenger, but even the referee. "Watch me disarm you with my bare hands!"

Two illusory Mage Hands were seen pressing their palms together, directly 'jamming' the challenger's longsword.

The challenger was instantly dumbfounded, and the surrounding audience was equally stunned...

Borne's application of Mage Hand had once again completely reshaped everyone's understanding.

What in the hell was this, catching a blade with bare hands?!

As the weapon was "jammed," the challenger was flipped onto the ground by Mage Hand, and then the standard procedure followed.

This challenger was quite sensible; after failing to get back up, he shouted his surrender and scurried back, looking disheveled once the Mage Hand dissipated.

"Next..."

Borne added fuel to the fire at just the right moment. The next challenger stepped onto the stage—this time a muscular "hulk" wielding a greatsword. Borne could only sigh; as expected of a magic world, to have such bulging muscles while only in the first year.

Truly very "magical"...

The hulk swung the greatsword, and the force generated by gravitational acceleration was not something a single Mage Hand could block, but that didn't stump Borne.

First, a leg trip, and as the greatsword fell, he followed up with an Enhanced Bare-Handed Blade Catch.

Six Mage Hands "jammed" the greatsword.

Muscle Man: =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧̣̥̇)

Audience: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

Afterward, it was the familiar routine: a wave of fists took the muscle man out. Given that this one possessed a sturdy Muscle Armor, Borne specifically summoned extra Mage Hands to focus on him.

"Damn... we've been played..."

"So he wasn't limited to controlling eight Mage Hands at once..."

"Nobody ever said he could only control eight..."

"..."

Looking at the noisy crowd below, Borne shouted again: "Is there no one who can cast spells? Why is it all warriors? This is Giles Academy, how did it become a warrior academy!"

"Pfft..."

"Hahaha..."

Many military bigwigs in the stands were amused, and some even winked at the Dean.

Dean: ...

Referee: (ー_ー)!!

The referee secretly wiped away sweat, thinking to himself, This guy really doesn't know when to stop stirring up trouble...

Under Borne's "provocation," another challenger soon stepped up.

He chose to keep his distance immediately, then chanted a spell rapidly at the referee's signal. Amidst the cheering from the crowd, a pale blue Mage Hand appeared behind the caster's head and knocked him unconscious with a single punch.

The cheering cut off instantly, and the entire arena fell into a brief silence...

Borne felt like he was acting like a villain, then let out a long sigh, "These kids, are they missing a screw in their heads..."

With that tone and expression, not only the first-years couldn't stand it, but even the upperclassmen were getting angry.

Referee: Could you please say a little less...

After that, two more came up—one with a two-handed sword and one with a bow—and were both easily taken down by Borne.

Seeing the crowd below "intensely" discussing tactics, Borne used his Mage Hand to bring over a stool and sat down in a swaggering manner.

Referee: (ーー゛)

First-years: (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)

Subsequently, four more "Champions" volunteered, one of whom even mastered mobile casting, but their final fate was to be tripped and rubbed into the ground.

The crowd below finally quieted down, and for a long time, no one came up. Borne counted on his fingers.

Eleven, is it?

Borne felt that going on like this was too slow, so he asked directly, "Referee! There are 9 left, why don't they all come up together? That would be faster."

Referee: Σ(°△°|||)︴

At this moment, the Dean's voice echoed, "Very well, follow his request!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The referee then began to announce the temporary rules.

Needless to say, it caused another commotion.

Soon, 9 challengers were selected.

"Swordsman, shield-bearer, archer, and caster—this combination..."

A military bigwig's eyes lit up, immediately recognizing the squad formation, "This is a military squad combat formation. Not bad, I didn't expect such talent among this year's freshmen."

Seeing the coordination of the 9 challengers, even the audience felt that Borne was in for a rough time.

"Heh heh heh, let him show off..."

"I wonder if he'll be able to get off the stage..."

Everyone was waiting to see a spectacle, and even the referee felt Borne had little chance of winning against the opposing team.

This lineup was clearly not meant for a match, yet this guy was actually spacing out, muttering something about wanting to fight ten people at once...

Is he regretting it? Did he forget there were nine of them!

The opponents had already set up their formation, and this guy still hadn't snapped out of it...

"Hey... hey... are you ready?"

"Hm... me? I'm ready anytime..."

Borne gave a thumbs-up and a confident smile. Of course he had noticed the situation; it was just a team fight, not like he hadn't seen one before.

So they're treating me like a boss to be raided? Let me show you what a harsh lesson from society feels like!

"The match... begins!"

As the referee swung his hand down, two arrows immediately shot toward Borne.

The corners of Borne's mouth curled up slightly, "Let me show you my absolute defense!"

"What?"

"How is this possible..."

"This has to be fake..."

A pale blue phantom manifested around Borne!

It was unmistakably a giant-sized Mage Hand!

The visual impact of the giant Mage Hand on the crowd was undoubtedly immense.

This wasn't just shattering their worldview; it was a complete subversion of it!

The nine opponents were also stunned, completely forgetting to continue their attack.

Looking at the arrows embedded over three inches deep, Borne frowned, "The intensity is still too weak. I have to put extending the limbs on the back burner for now. If the intensity isn't boosted, even if I build a Gundam, it'll just be a fragile prop!"

"Sigh... this won't do. I still need to find a way to get a calculation tool; the computational load is just too high..."

After a moment of thought, Borne fixed his gaze forward and grinned, "Sorry, everyone! I'm done playing..."

Following that, over a dozen giant Mage Hands appeared simultaneously.

Watching the massive fists descend, the challengers lost all confidence in resisting. Forget about coordination; their formation was scattered in an instant.

"We lost..."

Anyone with eyes could see that Borne had already won; it was only a matter of time before the challengers were knocked off the stage.

As the shield-bearing guard was knocked out of bounds, the archer had no choice but to raise his hands in surrender. This acted like a signal, and soon the rest followed suit one after another.

The group looked at each other, wearing helpless, bitter smiles.

No one in the audience would mock them; this was an absolute gap in strength!

With the last challenger conceding, the referee officially announced Borne as the winner!

This also meant he had become the first-year chief!

Perhaps for the next five years, no one would be able to shake his position!

Compared to the students' amazement, the high-ranking officials and representatives saw much more, and much further.

Soon, everyone began offering congratulations to Count Ioulaum, while many others were already thinking about how to adjust their relationship with Ioulaum House.

As for the commotion the giant Mage Hand would cause among the students, Borne had long been mentally prepared. The more famous the Mage Hand became, the more points he would earn later.

Just as Borne was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something and turned to ask the referee, "Teacher, can I challenge the chiefs of other grades?"

The referee was stunned by Borne's sudden question. It wasn't unheard of for a lower-grade chief to challenge a higher-grade student, usually for the sake of a friendly spar to see the gap between grades.

But to come out and challenge a higher-grade chief directly was a first. Unlike the "friendly spars" of others, this guy was clearly here to challenge, and given Borne's current performance, his chances of winning were quite high.

The key was that the title of chief represented the best in the grade. Being defeated by a higher grade was understandable, but if defeated by a lower grade, could that chief still be called a chief?

Would the lower-grade chief be counted as a lower-grade or a higher-grade student?

The title bestowed by the academy would become a joke, and that would deal a massive blow to the academy's prestige!

The audience heard Borne's words to the referee, and they all turned their gazes toward the second-year chief.

The second-year chief's face darkened. This is truly catching a stray bullet while lying down; who did I offend...

Regarding Borne's special request, the referee couldn't give a definitive answer and had to quickly contact the big shots.

Borne knew the referee had to ask for instructions, so he asked again, "Teacher, ask them one more thing: if I defeat the higher-grade chiefs, can I have their share of the rewards?"

Referee: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

So after all that, you were eyeing other people's rewards.

"No!"

A voice tinged with anger rang in Borne's ears. This time, he didn't need the referee to relay the answer; he knew it was the Dean's voice without even guessing.

Even watching a monkey show requires payment; since there was no benefit to be had, Borne wasn't about to do it, so he lifted his feet and bolted.

Giving no one else a chance to strike up a conversation, he hurried out of the competition arena.

In the days that followed, because Borne had locked in the top spot early, everyone else could only compete for second place. It was hard to say if it was because Borne's "performance" had been too outstanding, but the number of spectators for the rest of the first-year matches dwindled to almost nothing.

Every year after the ranking tournament, students usually took time off to party, but today, unusually, no one was playing. Everyone had suddenly become diligent and eager to learn; the library and laboratories were packed every day, leading to a shortage of lab space and even arguments, which forced the Enforcement Squad to take up permanent residence in the Wizard Tower.

Although he had locked in the top spot early, the first-year tournament wasn't over yet, so Borne couldn't use his authority as the top student to exchange for the right to read the Nether Scroll. However, his points were rising rapidly; for this reason, Borne sold the spell formula for his enlarged Mage Hand to the Tower Spirit, naming it Giant's Hand.

Perhaps because the Giant's Hand formula was more complex, the Tower Spirit classified it as a 2nd-circle spell, and it sold for over a thousand points, which made Borne incredibly happy.

However, following the public revelation of Borne's identity, more and more people approached him under various pretenses. After initially declining politely, he eventually had to issue a stern warning that he wouldn't be so courteous if they continued to bother him.

That still didn't stop others from approaching him with ulterior motives, such as seduction... ahem. As an outstanding youth of the new era, Borne declared that women would only affect the speed of his spellcasting.

A bunch of idiots! They didn't even bother to check my age!! Couldn't they wait until I graduated to use this trick!!!

Damn it...

He certainly couldn't resort to violence; he could only scare off some minor nobles. Of course, beating up a minor noble wouldn't have any consequences, but doing the same to a major noble or one of the Ten Great Noble Houses was a different story.

You wouldn't just be hitting one person, but the face of an entire noble house. Unless Borne possessed the strength of the Dean, he had to decline when he could, and being annoyed to no end, Borne could only hide in the Wizard Tower's laboratory.

However, the laboratories charged fees, and the larger the lab, the higher the cost. Borne, who had grown accustomed to freeloading off the Wizard Tower, was certainly not going to stand for that.

Even so, Borne still discovered that the rooms surrounding his had all been rented out over the past few days.

Borne wasn't surprised by this; he had long known he couldn't keep it hidden for long, though he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

The academy was only so big, and once Borne's identity was confirmed, finding his room was far too simple.

Fortunately, yesterday, Borne had found a good spot within the academy.

And by the time it was confirmed that Borne had disappeared again, three days had already passed.