SHAMAN PROTOCOL
Chapter 79: Valid Elective

Chapter 79: Valid Elective

Silence enveloped the cafeteria as the tension hung in the air.

One student gulped, a bead of sweat rolling down his neck—the first sound breaking the silence since Tahu’s bold declaration.

The bullies’ faces, especially the black knight phantom wielder, darkened at the duo.

"You freshmen nobodies..." he hissed through gritted teeth, the vein on his forehead protruding more when he heard his phantom speak in his head.

Master, you will be in trouble if this escalates further.

He knew that, but...

All students were watching, and if he backed down now, he—the next head of the Dray Clan—would end up a laughingstock.

No way in hell would he let that happen.

The trays in the cafeteria rattled as some floated, reacting to the sheer pressure coming from the second-year bully and his phantom.

"This is bad," a student muttered in dread. "Let’s get out of here."

"Let’s go—I don’t want to die on my first day."

Students started to panic, quickly abandoning their tables. This was no longer just a show of phantoms. The rising tension between spiritual energies made it particularly dangerous.

The student, the silver knight wielder, stared at his bully with wide eyes. After a second, his breath hitched before he yelled, realizing that his bully was merging with his phantom on academy grounds.

"Watch out—!"

BAM!

The students evacuating and the beaten silver knight wielder halted at the sudden eruption of spiritual energy. They shut their eyes and intuitively raised their arms to protect their heads from flying debris. The ceiling shook and dust fell from its little cracks while the light bulbs shattered in an instant.

The Silver Knight Phantom protected its wielder, leaping away to a safer corner.

When they recovered, they peeked at the clash.

There, they saw the table Mikel and Tahu had been eating at earlier, split in half. Standing beside it was the second-year bully, wielding a glaive enveloped in thick spiritual energy. His lackeys had backed off—but not too far, hovering close enough to anchor the ritual.

His lackeys had their fingers pressed against each other, already standing at each corner, their mouths moving as they provided support to keep the black knight phantom wielder stable.

The students quickly searched for Mikel and Tahu, as they were no longer around the table. They spotted Tahu first, standing in front of a group of students near the exit.

"Didn’t we agree that this doesn’t need to be a spiritual battle?" Tahu complained, furious. "This is dangerous!"

Then they moved their gaze, searching for the other guy. And there was Mikel, still chewing, tray in hand, completely unfazed.

"How can..." one student muttered, her voice a mix of disbelief and shock. "... he still eat?"

Mikel casually ate the rest of his food, eyes fixed on the second-year bullies.

So, that one is a combat type, and then the other two are his supports, huh? This is interesting. Didn’t know we could do that.

[Master, be careful.]

[Threat Detected: Low to Mid. Unstable merging.]

"That’s unstable? Doesn’t look one to me," he whispered, studying the glaive in the bully’s hand, then the two others nearby. "I see."

It seemed even he (the bully) could barely merge with his phantom without the help of those two, huh?

"Hey, Tahu," Mikel jerked his chin at the bully. "We don’t need to pay for the broken glass—"

The rest of his words cut off when something sharp flew in his direction. His eyes widened as a few strands of his unruly hair were snipped and fell on his shoulder. Embedded in the wall behind him was the sharp blade of the glaive, its long pole stretched inches over his shoulder.

What the...

[System Notice: Confirming cafeteria combat as a valid elective.]

[System Warning: Host may face expulsion if further escalation occurs.]

If Mikel hadn’t tilted his head and clenched his hand out of instinct, that glaive would’ve struck him in the head. Or rather, the Blood Chain would’ve just made its grand entrance, considering how excited his cursed relic was getting.

"Hey!" Tahu roared while the other students paled. "Did you just — were you trying to kill him!?"

"Yeah," the bully mocked, cocking his head in Tahu’s direction. "So what? What you gonna do about it?"

At the same time, he raised his hand, and the glaive flew back into his hand. The bully then turned his gaze to Mikel, who was blatantly mocking him by still eating that crap served in the cafeteria.

Mikel’s eyes were still wide from shock, making the bully snicker.

"Try eating that crap now," he taunted. "And I’ll make sure it’s your last meal, you heterochromia freak."

"This is bad... this is bad..." one student panicked as they now faced a real threat.

This time, they knew someone wouldn’t just get hurt—someone might die. But alas, just when the student near the exit tried to escape, they paused as an entire table came flying in their direction. Their breath hitched as the shadow of the table slowly covered their pale faces.

Just then, Tahu’s figure glided in front of them, punching the table in half.

The table cracked loudly, but even then, some students who reacted quickly managed to block the debris from hurting anyone.

Tahu’s eyes narrowed, burning with fury as he stared at the lackeys.

"Have you lost your mind!?" Tahu roared, only for the bully to laugh. "How could you target other students—"

"They’re not the targets," the bully cackled, running his hand through his hair. "You’re just standing close to them."

He paused, hand still in his hair, gazing down at Tahu. "It’s your fault for putting them at risk."

Tahu clenched his jaw, fists tight. He was strong—even without using spiritual energy—but against someone wielding such a powerful phantom, it wasn’t enough.

Tahu was also a combat-type shaman. But the problem was... he couldn’t use his skills here. Not because of school rules, but because of the very ground he stood on.

"No... this is not..." the silver knight wielder winced, holding his side, eyes fixed on his bully. "If he keeps forcing that merge with the Guardian Glaive... he’ll lose control."

And if that happened, the glaive wouldn’t just harm the user—it would hurt everyone nearby. As a phantom wielder, he knew that much.

This realization didn’t just hit him. Everyone with basic knowledge felt it as the rising dread thickened in the air.

"Run!" the silver knight wielder yelled. Students screamed, bolting for the exits, only to find the doors wouldn’t budge.

"What? They’re locked?!"

More cries followed, but the rising fear was silenced as the bully’s laughter echoed across the cafeteria.

"HAHAHA!" The bully’s laughter started low, then rose until it echoed through the cafeteria, silencing the panicked crowd.

Slowly, everyone turned toward him, fear etched into their faces.

"Heh... Hahaha..." the bully wheezed, face twisted into a malicious grin as he gazed at the first-years. "Too many of you, huh? Makes the school feel crowded. Cutting a few down won’t matter—you’re all gonna die, anyway. So, don’t blame me. Blame yourselves for being too weak."

Everyone’s heart sank as they knew that this lunatic... meant every word.

"We’re... done...?"

As the realization hit, Mikel ate the final spoonful from his tray.

"HAHAHA!" The bully howled with laughter, while the students’ expressions twisted with terror and hysteria.

But then, a figure appeared right beside him.

His laughter cut short as a shoe heel slammed into his side in a roundhouse kick. Out of instinct, he raised his arm and the glaive to block it. It was too late when he realized he should’ve dodged it instead of blocking it, when the impact sent him flying.

WHAM!

The bully flew, crashing into the wall with a bang. With his Phantom as a weapon, his back hit the wall without protection.

Meanwhile, Mikel now stood where the bully had been just moments ago, holding an empty tray. The screen on his side hovered with a clear text:

[System Alert: Relic agitation rising. Blood Chain requesting deployment.]

"Like I was saying..." Mikel cocked his head in Tahu’s direction. "Tahu, that guy shattered my glass. It’s safe to say that he’s gonna pay for the damages, right?"