As they departed from Aland, new companions joined their party.
"Simon! I was too careless earlier!" Benz, still in his green uniform, clapped Simon on the shoulder with a laugh. "I never expected a Summoning student to use a curse of delusion! Ah, if I hadn’t fallen for that, who knows how the match would have gone!"
The female Aland student walking with them snorted.
"Don’t be ridiculous. You saw the Kizen president break out of the vines with his summons, yet you still thought it would work again? A necromancer’s first instinct should be suspicion."
"You wouldn’t understand unless you’ve experienced it! That illusion was incredibly realistic!" Benz insisted, turning to Simon. "Right, Simon? You just caught me off guard in a battle between summoners! I’ll definitely win next time!"
"Of course. I welcome a challenge anytime," Simon replied with a smile. "I’m glad we’ll be studying together at Kizen, Benz. Let’s work hard and rise through the ranks together."
"Sounds good!" Benz grinned, baring his teeth.
The female student sighed heavily.
"A complete loss in both skill and character."
"Stop muttering back there!"
Simon, Jane, and the Aland transfers exited the path leading back out of the campus. The forest slid shut behind them, concealing the way once more.
"You have arrived." A member of Kizen’s staff was waiting for them. "Professor Jane, the teleportation circle to Sierra is ready."
"Good work. Let’s go." At her expressionless gesture, the students hurried onto the circle.
The Carlos Kingdom, Melberg Canyon. The air was hot and muggy, thick with the musty smell of rock. Towering mountain ranges dominated the landscape, their steep cliffs and deep, narrow valleys creating a treacherous terrain. One wrong step could send a person tumbling hundreds of feet to their doom.
’There’s a school in a place like this?’
Simon wondered, wiping sweat from his brow.
Jane, walking ahead, emerged from the canyon.
"We have arrived."
The students hurried to her side, their eyes widening in unison.
"Whoa...!"
Before them stood a colossal, bright red mountain, so vast it looked as if a god had painted it with crimson dye. It was almost entirely bare rock, with buildings jutting out from its sheer peak.
Simon’s eyes sparkled.
’So that’s the next necromancer school, Sierra!’
"N-No way." Benz’s lip twitched. "They’re not going to make us climb all the way to the top, are they? Those bastards at Sierra! Trying to drain Simon’s strength beforehand is such a dirty trick...!"
"There will be a mana elevator."
Jane was right. As they approached the cliff face, Sierra staff were waiting with an elevator large enough to comfortably fit five people. After Jane and the students stepped onto the platform, which was inscribed with a magic circle, a staff member politely closed the door. Simon touched the wall; it felt like solid mana.
"We will now ascend. For your safety, please do not run."
’Clank!’
An engine whirred to life, and the elevator began its smooth ascent.
"W-Whoa! It’s fast!"
"I can’t look down!"
Even the Aland students, clearly on their first visit to Sierra, huddled down nervously.
Jane looked at Simon.
"Student Council President, how are you feeling? Can you handle another opponent?"
"Of course, Professor!" Simon answered vigorously. He had known he would be facing representatives from both Aland and Sierra today. He had deliberately focused on using curses in his match with Benz to conserve his strength.
’I’ll have to use either the Royal Guard or Chaos in this next battle.’
’Thud.’
The elevator came to a halt. They had ascended a mountain thousands of feet high in mere minutes. The doors opened, and the group stepped out.
"Ugh, what is this?"
"It’s hard to breathe."
The sudden shift to high altitude was immediately noticeable. The air was thin, their ears felt clogged, and a wave of dizziness washed over them. Before them lay the Sierra campus. The buildings, constructed from red brick and earth, matched the crimson cliffs. The architecture was unique, with rounded roofs and an abundance of serene stone statues. And just like at Aland, the headmaster and faculty were waiting at the entrance.
"Werukamu. Karamutto!" the Sierra headmaster greeted them in the local tongue. He was a man in a red suit with a neatly parted hairstyle that exposed his forehead, and he sported a well-groomed beard. He spread his arms wide. "Welcome! Vice-Headmaster Jane and students! Welcome to the prestigious Sierra, which boasts a long and storied tradition!"
"Thank you for the warm welcome." Jane and the headmaster shook hands, both smiling.
"Now, now, please come inside. I will give you a personal tour."
The Sierra headmaster was a man of immense pride. He did not pass a single building without extolling its virtues.
"This is our special training facility where students can experience virtual combat! It cost a fortune, but seeing their happy faces makes it a worthy investment."
"That is nice."
"Ah, Vice-Headmaster Jane! Last year’s exchange was canceled due to Kizen’s quasi-wartime curriculum, but we can look forward to it this year, can we not?"
"Yes, I will personally propose it to Lady Nephthys."
While the adults discussed business, the Aland students huddled together, whispering criticisms under their breath, their rivalry flaring.
"Doesn’t the gym seem a bit small? Ours is at least three times bigger."
"Wow, an apple pie is 100 silver. The prices are outrageous."
Simon, however, looked around with the sparkling eyes of a tourist. When would he ever get another chance to visit Sierra? Everything was different, from the architecture to the learning environment. Students in red uniforms occasionally waved at him from windows, and Simon smiled and waved back.
"Hmm..." The Sierra headmaster, who had been quietly observing Simon, turned to Jane. "So that young man is Kizen’s new Student Council President."
"Yes," Jane confirmed.
"A second-year president! How refreshing! Kizen is truly a step ahead. I naturally assumed it would be Lorraine Archbold or Serne Aindark! Haha!"
Jane’s eyebrow twitched.
"He is an outstanding student who took the top spot in the entire second year. His presidency was the natural course of events."
"I see! However, the Transfer Evaluation Match was originally an event where a Kizen upperclassman would teach and evaluate our students, was it not? I am a little worried." The headmaster’s eyes narrowed. "What if, by some chance, our student were to win? It would be a bit of a... loss of face for Kizen, would it not? Haha!"
"You have absolutely no need for such worries, so—" Jane’s expressionless face broke into a smile. "—you had better wake up from that dream." Her voice, however, was utterly chilling.
"Hahaha! Spoken like the true Vice-Headmaster Jane," the headmaster boomed, then lowered his voice conspiratorially. "In that case, how about a personal wager? If our student wins, you, Professor Jane, will teach Jet-Black Dynamics at Sierra for a year."
’That’s ridiculous!’
Simon, who had been eavesdropping, gaped. Even Kizen students fought for a spot in Jane’s classes. The idea of her taking on a visiting professorship at Sierra while already swamped with her duties as Vice-Headmaster was absurd.
"Very well," Jane said coolly.
’Professor Jane?!’
"In exchange, if my student wins, I expect you, Headmaster, to take charge of cleaning the bathrooms in Kizen’s main building for a year."
She had not just raised the stakes; she had sent them into the stratosphere.
"Hahaha! That sounds delightful! Excellent!"
Caught in the middle of their battle of wills, Simon felt his mouth go dry. A cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck.
’Th-they’re just joking... right?’
"Well, that is enough of the tour. Let us head to the arena."
Following the headmaster’s lead, the group stepped onto a teleportation circle in the plaza. The moment the world resolved around Simon, he was met with a deafening roar.
"WHOOOOAAA!"
The arena was packed with students in red uniforms, a roiling sea of crimson that looked like magma boiling at the peak of a volcano.
’Booooom!’
’Booooom!’
Mana fireworks exploded overhead as jets of flame shot into the air. Exhilarating music—Sierra’s school anthem, he presumed—blasted through the air, and the students sang along at the top of their lungs, arms slung over each other’s shoulders. A squad of cheerleaders in matching uniforms performed an energetic routine.
’This is insane.’
But it was not the crowd or the pyrotechnics that shocked him. It was the arena itself.
Built thousands of feet above sea level, the battlefield consisted of dozens of narrow, pillar-like rock formations, separated by yawning gaps. Below them, a sea of clouds churned, concealing a bottomless abyss. A fall from this height would be fatal.
"Welcome, Kizen!"
"First time at Sierra’s Sky Arena?"
"Wahahahaha!"
Taunts rained down from the stands. Simon laughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek.
’There’s a limit to home-field advantage.’
What Aland had done was child’s play compared to this. Without flight magic, fighting here was nearly impossible. And Simon had no skills specialized for flight. It was painfully obvious that Sierra’s representative would be a master of it.
[We’ve kept you waaaaiting!] a male student in a red uniform shouted from the stands, his voice amplified by a crystal orb. [I’m Mahoven, a third-year, and I’ll be your commentator! Let’s introduce the contestants! First, on the right! He’s the young, second-year Student Council President from the distant Roc Island of Kizen, Simon Polentia! Let’s have a round of applause!]
The air crackled with a volatile mix of genuine applause and jeers meant to break his spirit. The commentator wrapped up Simon’s introduction with a dismissive wave.
"[And in the red corner on the left!]" he boomed. "[Direct your attention to the red corner! Our hero! Our star! Our ace!]"
A searing red spotlight flared to life on the opposite side of the arena.
"[Jetz Schiemalad makes his entrance!]"
’WHOOOAAAAAH—!’
Fireworks erupted in a dazzling cascade as the crowd roared. A magic circle flashed, and a boy in Sierra’s red uniform, a lizard-scale scarf draped around his neck, shot out from its center. He unfurled wings of pure black magic and soared through the sky with effortless grace.
"Jetz! Jetz! Jetz! Jetz! Jetz!"
Every time Jetz Schiemalad streaked past the stands, the students responded with a thunderous roar. After electrifying the arena, Jetz executed a perfect somersault in mid-air and returned to his starting position.
"Simon Polentia," he declared, his voice ringing with confidence. "Word of your exploits has reached us even here, on the other side of the continent!"
He extended a hand, his finger aimed squarely at Simon.
"But this is Sierra! This is our nest! Here, we are invincible!"
’WHOOOAAAAAH! JETZ! JETZ! JETZ! JETZ! JETZ!’
"Invincible, you say." Simon smiled calmly, placing a hand on his hip as the hem of his black coat fluttered in the wind. "We’ll see about that."

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