Imperial Capital Granmire, Magic Train Station.
“[Imperial Capital Granmire, Line 2 South Station—we have arrived. This is the terminal station. All passengers, please take your luggage and exit in an orderly manner.]”
The soft female voice broadcasted slowly from the station speakers. She paused, then added with a touch of amusement,
“[Will the freshmen of this term's Imperial Magic Academy please wait on Platform 3 for their guiding instructors.]”
“[Here, I sincerely wish you all—may you obtain what you seek in your upcoming academy life.]”
Platform 3 was already gradually filling up with freshmen from the North.
“Hey, Lilian, don't touch that.”
“Hey! You can't eat that either!”
Busy restraining the sparkling-eyed, intensely curious pink-haired dumpling with both hands, Lynn sighed wearily.
After arriving, Irene had quickly parted ways with them, saying she had a task from her master to attend to first. The two of them stayed behind at the station to wait for the guide as instructed.
“Really, so reckless...”
“Don't say that, young man!” a booming voice came from beside him.
A bald man as strong as a bear clapped Lynn's shoulder with familiar ease. With his exaggerated movement, his shirt buttons creaked, as if about to pop from his massive chest muscles.
“Being curious about this place is only natural. After all—” He opened his arms and laughed with a voice like thunder, “This is the core of magic, the glory of the Bauhinia—the Imperial Capital, ‘Granmire’!”
He laughed, wanting to put his arm around Lynn's shoulder, only to find the space beside him empty.
Lynn, already ten meters away, brushed his shoulder in disgust, where sweat had been left behind.
“What is with that uncle, drenched in sweat all over.”
“Young Master, Young Master, I have deodorant potion here!”
The bald uncle's face darkened instantly. “...This year's first-years really aren't cute at all~”
“Alright, alright, freshmen of the North...” He cleared his throat twice, then spoke flatly.
“[Look here]”
The bustling, noisy train station suddenly fell silent.
Those who were fooling around, chatting, or quietly reading... without exception, everyone's movements abruptly halted, like clockwork dolls.
An irresistible, immense force forced their bodies to turn.
In the next second, their gazes snapped in unison toward the bald, attention-seeking man with his arms wide open.
“My name is Sanlais, the instructor who will guide you freshmen from the North into the academy. For the next few minutes, please—”
“[Listen carefully]”
Sensing the quieted venue, Sanlais nodded in satisfaction.
“Next, I will lead you into the academy.”
“The academy will start in three days as scheduled, so you still have a few days to rest.”
“Let me make this clear—the training at the academy is extremely harsh. If any cowards aren't mentally prepared, it's not too late to run back home.”
“Anyone want to drop out? You can step forward now!”
After waiting for a while, he scratched his head awkwardly. “Oh, I forgot you can't move right now.”
Seriously, how is this any different from an admin muting the entire chat and then asking why no one is replying?
As a show of authority, this is indeed a bit too hardcore.
Lynn complained inwardly.
Should he expect any less from the Imperial academy? Is this mind magic? Or some kind of command control?
No, neither.
Lynn's incredible comprehension instantly saw through the nature of Sanlais's magic.
“It's... telekinetic magic...”
The so-called ‘words carry weight’ was actually just channeling a massive amount of mana to form a magical pressure, forcibly moving the targets' bodies.
‘Quite a brute-force, yet unexpectedly effective way to use it.’
In the game Dawn, which Lynn had played in his previous life, these annoying crowd-control skills were usually unique to certain characters. There were usually two ways to counter them:
First was relying on raw stats—using high mana or resistance to ignore lower-tier crowd-control skills, which was also known as crowd control immunity against weaklings.
Second was paying to win—carrying enough purification potions before battle to constantly reset debuffs.
But a game is just a game, after all...
“Isn't there... a third solution?”
He closed his eyes and felt the flow of mana.
The air felt thick, almost clogging his lungs. A large amount of mana particles were brutally gathered into a clump by Sanlais.
Sensing Lynn's mental intervention, the mana particles—which had been sluggish and passive under Sanlais's brute-force control—instantly perked up.
They joyfully broke free from Sanlais's control and swarmed around Lynn, like a wronged young wife silently complaining about a brute's violence.
The moment the mana surged, the delicate balance broke instantly. The wide-area telekinetic pressure was completely dispelled.
Lynn stretched his stiff shoulders in a great mood.
That's right, the third way to cancel crowd control!
I might not have the raw stats, nor can I pay to win. But—
I'm a noble mechanics abuser!
Do you understand the weight of having the dual Gold traits [Favor of the Sinfire Witch] and [Saintess of Salvation] ⁽⁽◟(∗ˊωˋ∗)◞⁾⁾!?
“What... what's going on? I can move again?”
“What was that just now? Mind magic?!”
“Amazing... is this an Imperial mage?”
The moment the telekinetic restraint dissolved, the station erupted into a flurry of chatter.
“Bastard, I am the future Imperial Marquis, Lord Levi! How dare the academy treat me like this?”
“Waaah... Mom... I want to go home...”
Sanlais: ???
Where did the wide-area telekinetic magic go that he had spent so much effort on?
He froze with his arms still outstretched, swallowing his prepared speech.
After a while, when the commotion died down, he awkwardly continued.
Though the emotion he had built up was completely gone.
“Alright, don't be discouraged. Although school life will be tough...”
“At least tonight—the academy will host the annual freshmen welcoming party. That's a massive carnival!”
He dryly read off his prepared speech, which was supposed to be passionate, and then dropped the next piece of bad news.
“Since your instructor is a bit tight on cash, we won't be renting griffins to fly you to the academy this time. Let's build some physical endurance!”
“Heave-ho! Keep up with your Teacher Sanlais's pace!”
He bolted before anyone could react.
By the time they snapped out of it, he had already run dozens of meters away.
“Hey! Wait... wait!”
“I'm going to file a complaint...”
“That bastard muscular pervert!!”
The freshmen cursed and ran after him.
And so, a new spectacle appeared in the Imperial Capital.
At the very front of the chasing crowd, the bear-like man looked back.
His gaze fell on Lynn, who was carrying Lilian by the scruff of her neck and easily keeping up with the group.
“Even though I was gentle with these ‘fragile items,’ I didn't expect someone to actually break free...”
The brooch on his collar flickered, and a woman's mocking voice came through.
“Break free? Don't flatter yourself. Wasn't your magic unilaterally broken?”
“How embarrassing, old bald head. Is this your show of authority?”
“It seems you were the one who got shown up instead.”
The elegant voice continued: “The students from the East, West, and South all gathered without a hitch, yet you, in charge of the North, had to have an incident...”
“Oh my~ Should I say you're incompetent?”
“Stop gloating. You saw it too, didn't you?”
Sanlais didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, he grinned.
“The North has a pretty capable fellow too, doesn't it?”
Rate on N.U.
