Ludwig nodded to himself, having learned all five spells in less than one day was bound to make even Van Dijk proud. Or maybe even surprised.
Having finished learning the skills, Ludwig was hesitant between trying them and not to, but held from doing so, he didn’t want to get pulled into more problems so soon
He then remembered the assignment Olim had given him: a report on Necessity versus Morality in the Use of Necromancy. Pulling out a notebook, he began jotting down his thoughts, drawing on his understanding of his former world. His ideas focused on the balance between morality and legality, and the concept of fighting evil with evil—subjects his homeschool teachers had drilled into him relentlessly.
After all, Ludwig came from a corporate family that had certainly dirtied its hands more than a few times. His father had been preparing him to take over the company one day, needing him to possess a heart strong enough to make tough decisions. Yet, he also didn’t want Ludwig to become so consumed by ruthlessness that he lost his humanity entirely. It was a delicate balance his father hoped he would master.
“Morality is your shield, Ludwig,” his father would say. “Even if it’s hollow, the world needs to believe in your righteousness while you do what needs to be done.”
The contrast wasn’t lost on him. His current situation demanded the same razor-thin balance.
Satisfied with his effort and writing Ludwig raised his head up looking at the time.
He realized that it was well in the morning. Today was the weekend, a day off from all the events of the Academy. Seeing that he had nothing else to do for the rest of the Day, Ludwig felt slightly bored.
‘I should check on those two,” he said to himself, not much out of camaraderie, but more of a need to prove his humanity and compassion though he cared less for that. Something inside him seemed to be pushing him toward needing to socialize.
Ludwig placed the books inside his ring and walked out of his dorm room, only to find a new set of clothes on his door.
Looking at his right and left arm, he finally realized that his clothes had been burnt on one side and were missing an entire sleeve on the other.
He quickly grabbed and donned the clothes, then proceeded into leaving the room. His destination was the infirmary.
Some short time later, Ludwig arrived to the doors of the infirmary which seemed to be open for all.
The academy’s infirmary buzzed with subdued activity. Rows of beds stretched along the walls, each occupied by a student recovering from injuries sustained during the dungeon trial. A faint antiseptic scent hung in the air, mingling with the muffled groans of the injured.
There were a few students in it, all of them bedridden, and all of them from the last dungeon run the group had went to. Ludwig took a quick glance at the group and saw Hoyo sitting next to the resting Kassandra.
“Oh, Ludwig! Come, come!” Hoyo said.
Just as the words left his mouth, everyone in the infirmary turned their heads to look at the newcomer.
Ludwig eyes quickly scanned the area before he moved closer to the two. But the eyes of the students never left him, especially now that they all began talking to each other under their breath, probably about Ludwig.
“That’s him… the one who fought the Champion.”
“Undead? More like insane…”
“I heard he didn’t even flinch when they tore his arm off.”
Ludwig felt their stares prickling at his back as he approached Hoyo and Kassandra. He leaned in slightly, his voice low “What’s up with those guys?”
Hoyo laughed as he looked at Kassandra, “He really is clueless.”
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Kassandra replied with a smirk. “You’re either a brilliant student—brave and capable of fighting things that would wipe out half a classroom—or completely oblivious to everything happening around you. Sometimes, you’re both at the same time”
Ludwig had no idea what was going on truly, and his confusion lasted enough that Hoyo explained.
Hoyo leaned back, folding his arms with a grin. “Well, let’s just say you’ve become the talk of the academy. Bron, on the other hand, got a massive earful from Olim.” Hoyo said, “He had apparently managed to get the info about the next dungeon by external means, outside Olim Rembaldi’s knowledge. Which makes him a cheater, even then the Academy doesn’t care much about that and cares more about the fact that he took the mantle of leadership and failed miserably. The teacher shared with us some of the contents of the test, and guess what,” Hoyo said.
“What?” Ludwig asked innocently, he was slightly afraid that Olim might have exposed him.
“Olim already graded your and your result only, you actually got full marks for the test, a lot of students didn’t like that though, especially the nobles. But, who among all of us actually thought of going and fighting the Boss and the Mini-Boss by themselves? Most of us actually hid and cowered in fear, some even died and some captured, but you rescued captured students, led others, and helped others save their lives, in comparison you did all that Bron should have, which further made Bron’s situation more dire,” Hoyo said.
“I guess…” Ludwig said as he processed the information.
“I think he is still missing the point,” Kassandra said, “Your actions were actions that the Nobles should have taken, if you didn’t move, the Nobles wouldn’t have been blamed, and they’ll push everything under the rug as the test being too difficult and the commoners have actually dragged them down, but since you acted and they didn’t, none of the nobles could even find an excuse to themselves. Which by the way isn’t that great for you,” Kassandra said.
“Kassandra, I don’t think he’ll need to hear that part,” Hoyo tried to quiet her down, but she was as bold as one can get.
“Explain,” Ludwig said.
“I hate to use this term, but, you made the Nobles lose Face,” she said.
“Face? Like the skin?” Ludwig looked even more confused.
“I mean, by acting in a way befitting of a noble, and they didn’t, they were embarrassed, and embarrassed nobles are dangerous, be careful around them Ludwig.”
Ludwig sighed, more random problems seemed to come after him. “Enough about that, how’s your body?” Ludwig asked.
“Just a couple of broken ribs,” Kassandra said, “Getting struck in the chest by that Champion’s tail was not fun. But once the healer comes, I should be good to go,” Kassandra said as she looked at Ludwig, “Speaking of which, what the hell happened to you?”
Hoyo jumped in, “Yeah, instead of asking about others, what about you? if it was me who had lost an entire arm and had the other blown, I’d probably be dead by now, also that’s one of the reasons that everyone is talking about you, Mr. Undead.”
Ludwig’s heart skipped a beat, though he had no heart.
Did the academy know of his nature?
“Stop it,” Kassandra interrupted, rolling her eyes. , It’s a stupid nickname don’t bother with it.” She said.
“What nickname?” Ludwig asked.
Hoyo coughed, proudly claiming, “Seeing you had sustained injuries that would make the bravest men wince and cry in pain, while not uttering a single sound of complaint or agony, the whole freshmen class is calling you Ludwig the Undead, since you can’t feel pain that would make the living cry.”
Ludwig sighed inwardly, ‘Too close for comfort…’