The Academy's Time Looper-Chapter 54: Purple

*BANG*

Sent flying backward due to Athen’s punch, Caldris flew face-first into the wall, thankfully missing the bloody portion of the wall by a few meters.

Trailing behind him, the mana-blue sword soared upward into the air so that its tip was facing the ceiling.

As the mana-blue sword followed after the teacher and eventually clanged against the wall, portions of it dripped out, creating a trail of light-blue mana.

The trail of mana started right in front of Athen before slowly going up, reaching its apex a few centimeters below the ceiling, and then slowly descending until it met the wall Caldris had banged against.

Staring at the end of the mana trail, Athen spotted Caldris leaning against the wall with his back still facing against Athen.

His hands were covering his face, and he was crouching while desperately trying to regain his balance.

It seemed the professor had managed to protect going face-first into the wall, but he still seemed somewhat dazed.

Not skipping a beat, Athen, not wanting to miss a single damn second of his beating, closed his eyes.

As the hallway was already completely silent, he simply focused on his heartbeat and cleared his mind.

Within seconds, a gust of wind brushed against his face, forcing his eyes open.

In the next second, Athen’s entirely purple-highlighted figure could be seen sprinting at the frozen, crouching teacher.

Nearing the professor, Athen sighed upon seeing that the hole that he had made in both the teacher’s outer and inner layer of mana had been patched up.

It seemed time was not on his side...which was quite ironic.

Although he was sure he could make another hole in the teacher’s mana since Caldris was dazed from the hit, Athen did not have the time.

According to his internal count, the challenge would be over in less than two seconds.

Hearing no voice sound inside his empty head, Athen grinned and turned away, happy with the outcome and satisfied with the fight.

"...I should probably move away."

Pausing mid-sprint, Athen used the last portion of frozen time to back away from the teacher, going back to where his crossbow was.

As the layer of purple mana surrounding Athen’s figure began to flicker, he glanced down at his right hand.

Surprisingly, it was flickering as well.

It seemed that he had already used most of the mana he had concentrated in his wrist.

As time resumed to normal and the purple hue surrounding Athen’s body and right hand disappeared, the teacher slowly turned around so that his body was facing away from the wall.

However, he was looking at Athens’s previous location, the one he had been in before activating his time-stopping ability.

At that moment, before the Caldris could even look around for Athen, a sudden noise rang out in the silent hallway.

*Ring~ring*

*Ring~ring*

*Ring~ring*

The sound, echoing throughout the hallway, came from Caldris’s smartwatch until, finally, the professor slapped his watch.

*Ring~ring*

*Ring~r-*

As Caldris’s hand made contact with the watch, the watch abruptly ceased its ringing, plunging the room back into silence.

Although the upper portion of the teacher’s body was alright, the bottom portion had suffered the tax of Athen’s fight.

The teacher’s previously clean black pants were now tattered with holes, and the color had already faded into a light grey.

One injury in particular caught Athen’s eye.

Through a hole in Caldris’s pants, Athen could see that the teacher’s knee seemed to be bleeding and had a slight wound.

"..?"

Rather than being happy that he made his opponent bleed, Athen was bewildered and confused.

How did the simple impact against the wall manage to break through both of the teacher’s layers of mana?

In addition, the wall’s impact damaged the teacher’s physical body, which Athen’s fist could not even do.

The point on the teacher’s back where Athen’s fight had made contact was completely fine, with not even a hole or tear in sight.

Standing up tall and not attempting to hide, Athen placed his crossbow back into his briefcase, patiently awaiting the teacher’s first words.

However, just as the teacher found Athen’s figure, his mouth subconsciously opened.

"AHHHH!"

There was no longer any blood flowing out of Athen’s self-inflicted wound, which was abnormal in itself; however, the pain had returned...tenfold.

Biting his tongue to force himself to close his mouth, Athen gazed at his right hand, which was still painted blood-red by dried blood.

As Athen took deep breaths in and out, attempting to resist the pain coursing through his body, Caldris finally took a step.

Rubbing his eyes, Caldris, without any sign of anger in his eyes, glanced between Athen’s trembling face and the grievous wound on his wrist.

Pointing at the wound on his wrist, Caldris questioned with a grim expression.

"Was this your first time using mana."

At first, Caldris had assumed Athen was a regular mana user; however, now, seeing the student’s expression and large wound, his expression...brightened.

Hearing Caldris’s dead serious words echo through the hallway, Athen nodded his head immediately.

"Good...that means no one else has seen it."

Caldris had long forgotten about the fight and his vow not to pass a single student during this exam.

All that mattered now was the color of Athen’s mana and who knew about it.

Seeing Athen’s confused expression, Caldris immediately assumed that the student didn’t know the significance of his colored mana.

In Caldris’s mind, Athen was probably a tossed-aside member of some noble family who had managed to awaken the purple-colored mana.

And since he had just used his mana for the first time, no one knew of his significance and importance.

However, at long last, Caldris finally glanced downward, spotting the nametag on Athen’s collared shirt that read..."Kai."

Suddenly, Caldris halted mid-step.

Confirming in a trembling voice, Caldris asked.

"Kai...are you Kai de Valor...?"

At that moment, as the teacher’s trembling worlds entered his ears, Athen knew he had somehow...messed up.

All this fight...Athen believed that he had been acting perfectly to fit Kai’s role.

Kai was supposed to be powerful, and Athen had beaten the teacher in a fight...so he had done well, right?