Is It Wrong for an Extra to Steal the Protagonist's Harem?-Chapter 59: Combat Training [3]

"Well. That’s a disappointing streak," Leonard rumbled, his voice echoing in the massive training cube. "Let’s see if the last one can break it. Alex Edelhart. Step up."

I stepped forward, tapping the Essence Spring in my jacket pocket, my mind already calculating the trajectory of the shifting walls. I was ready to shatter this little obstacle course.

"Wait a minute."

An intervening voice cut through the tension. Leonard, who was about to slam his hand down on the starting rune, paused and turned his gaze toward the heavy double doors of the training ground. I instinctively followed his gaze.

The sight of that massive, slightly crooked witch hat had now become familiar to me.

Professor Cassandra stood at the entrance. She looked exhausted, holding a stack of parchment, her robes slightly rumpled. She had at least bothered to button her blouse back up since our little meeting in her office, though she still radiated an aura of dangerous, sleepy annoyance.

"Professor Cassandra?" Leonard frowned, clearly unhappy with the interruption.

"Professor Leonard, come out into the hall for a moment," she ordered, gesturing with her pipe.

"I am currently in the middle of a practical evaluation, Cassandra."

"And I am currently dealing with a bureaucratic nightmare," she shot back, her cat-like eyes narrowing. "Come out. There’s something important to discuss regarding the new transfer student."

’Transfer student?’ I mentally bookmarked that. Transfers in the middle of the first semester were incredibly rare. It usually meant a major plot character was being introduced off-schedule. The butterfly effect of my actions was definitely rippling.

Reluctantly, Professor Leonard sighed, his broad shoulders slumping. He turned back to the students.

"You brats, take a break and wait. Do not touch the maze. And obviously, no one is allowed to leave the training ground until I return."

The moment the heavy doors closed behind Professor Leonard and Cassandra, a collective, heavy sigh echoed around the room. The oppressive atmosphere lifted instantly.

"Thank the gods," Martin wheezed, collapsing onto the floor. "I thought my heart was going to explode."

The remaining members of Group 5 huddled together, engaging in a serious, trauma-bonded conversation with grave expressions. Maya, however, didn’t join them. She stood awkwardly on the periphery, rolling her eyes at their pity party.

Eventually, she shuffled over to me. Our eyes met.

"Hey, Alex."

Her voice had absolutely no strength behind it. She looked up at me through her blonde bangs with an expression that seemed like she would burst into tears if I poked her.

"...Because of you, I was evaluated first. I looked like an idiot in front of the whole class. What are you going to do to make it up to me?"

"If it were a different order, would the result have been any different?" I asked flatly.

Maya opened her mouth to argue, then closed it.

"Well... I guess not," she admitted, letting out a deep, dramatic sigh. "But it’s still too much! You threw me to the wolves. I have nothing to say when you put it that way, but it still hurts my feelings."

She nodded her head pitifully, reaching out to lightly tug on my sleeve.

"You sold me out, Alex. At least give me some feedback. What do you think I should have done?"

I sighed, pulling out my Academy-issued magical tablet—a thin slab of enchanted glass we called Trivia. Verbal explanations of magical theory were tedious, especially for someone who relied on instinct as much as Maya did.

"Look here, Maya."

I activated the tablet and drew three distinct magical circuits on the glowing surface with my fingertip.

"In order: Mana Arrow, Fireball, Ice Spear," I pointed to the glowing diagrams. "These are the exact structural formulas of the attacks the second-year students unleashed on you."

"Uh..." Maya squinted at the complex geometry. "The lines are really thin. Is the mana amount really that small? Can a spell even be cast with such a low volume?"

"Exactly," I smirked, tapping the center of the Fireball circuit. "That’s what you should be focusing on. With my [Calculation Power], I analyzed their spells the moment they fired. These seniors are emphasizing output and appearance over density."

I expanded the image.

"Eighty percent of the mana they used was dedicated to light, heat, and sound—making the spell look terrifying and loud. But the actual kinetic force? The core density? It was practically hollow. Trying to build a massive, stationary ice wall to defend against them was a mistake. You wasted your mana blocking fireworks."

"Ah~!"

Maya’s eyes went wide with sudden comprehension. Her gloomy, defeated expression instantly vanished, replaced by a bright, admiring glow.

"So this is what they mean by ’knowledge is power’..." she murmured, staring at me like I was a god of wisdom. "I didn’t know what kind of attacks were coming at me, so I panicked and just blindly tried to block everything. If I had known they were hollow..."

"You could have formed a thin, angled ice ramp," I finished for her. "Deflect them rather than block them. Or just punch right through them with your own dense spell. They were sloppy attacks from arrogant seniors who wanted to show off."

"That’s right! Sloppy!" Maya giggled, her confidence returning in full force.

But it was at that exact moment a shadow fell over us.

"Hey. You down there."

A voice, dripping with venom, interjected from above. I didn’t even need to look up to know who it was.

Three second-year students were leaning over the railing of the floating observation platform, glaring down at us with absolute malice.

"You little freshman bastard, what are you so arrogant about?" the slicked-back blonde senior snarled, his knuckles white as he gripped the railing.

"Seniors’ magic focused on output and appearance? Sloppy?" Another senior, a girl with a wand tapping angrily against her palm, scoffed. "Are you that confident in your little F-Rank theories, trash?"

"It’s his turn soon anyway," the third senior laughed, cracking his knuckles. "Let’s see how well he calculates when I shove a ’sloppy’ fireball down his throat."

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue and casually turned off my tablet, sliding it back into my pocket. Engaging in a shouting match with extras didn’t suit my temperament, so I decided to ignore them for now. Let them stew.

What they said wasn’t wrong, anyway. My turn would come soon. And I was going to enjoy wiping the smug looks off their faces.

Professor Leonard’s absence turned out to be longer than expected. The "transfer student" issue must have been a massive headache.