Reincarnated as the Only Male in an All-Girls Magic Academy!-Chapter 29: Curses.

The second Ren stepped into the massive auditorium, he was hit by a wall of perfume, chatter, and the sheer overwhelming presence of girls. A lot of them.

The space was absolutely gigantic, carved into a semi-circle with glowing light panels hanging like floating chandeliers, casting a soft magical sheen over everything.

Dozens of sleek, tall doors lined the edges of the curved walls, all currently swinging open and shut as waves of girls walked in, their crisp Academy uniforms swishing around their sexy legs.

The sound of heels clicking on the polished floor echoed like the prelude to an elegant battle, and Ren—clad in his neat uniform, silver hair slightly damp from his earlier shower—felt like he had walked straight into a magical modeling convention.

It was dazzling and, frankly, a little exciting. But Ren stayed cool.

His silver eyes calmly swept across the room, scanning for a good seat.

He preferred to be somewhere with wide visibility, so he could observe the stage without being in the middle of the crowd.

Strategically, the far left corner of the upper ring gave the best view—close to the exit, good airflow, and far enough from the chattiest groups.

He adjusted the strap on his belt and made his way up the steps toward it. Just as he reached the seat and was about to settle down—

"Ren!"

His name rang out across the semi-buzzing hall.

He blinked, tilted his head calmly, and turned toward the source. It didn't take long to find it.

Lia was waving at him from a premium spot just above the center podium, where the view of the whole auditorium was perfect.

Her usual cool and beautiful face was further softened by her wide smiles, which in Lia-speak was basically a sign of acknowledgment.

'Huh... she waved me over. Voluntarily,' he thought, his mind instantly dissecting the moment. Just a week ago, she could barely speak without glaring at him in embarrassment.

And now she was casually calling him over like they were good buddies?

That was... progress.

But as his eyes flicked to the person sitting beside her, his steps paused mid-motion. Just one seat over from Lia was Mirabella. Elegant. Effortless. Dangerous.

Her long silver hair fell in layered waves, her sharp violet eyes scanned the room like a queen watching her court, and even while just sitting, she looked like she could end someone's career without standing up.

A flick of her fingers and the crowd would part like the sea. She was coolness incarnate, wrapped in a perfectly pressed uniform and an air of lazy danger.

Ren didn't even need to begin any analytical deductions to know she was raised in power.

'Alright,' Ren thought, mind flickering through possible explanations.

'Lia and Mirabella know each other well. They're sitting together, which means they're close enough to share casual moments. Possibly friends. Maybe more like a junior-senior dynamic?'

'Or maybe allies in some internal Academy structure. Should I ask? No. Not yet. Best to observe.'

Shrugging mentally, he began walking toward them, smooth and confident like he belonged there all along.

When he reached the row, Lia scooted over and tapped the seat between herself and Mirabella. "Sit here," she said coolly, the corners of her lips just barely tugging upward.

"Gladly," Ren said with a nod, giving a short polite look toward Mirabella.

"Mirabella," he greeted with calm ease, sitting down beside Lia and lowering his voice just enough so only she could hear him.

"If you keep offering me seats next to you, people might start thinking we're super close friends or something scandalous."

That earned him the tiniest cough from Lia and the faintest hint of pink at the tips of her ears.

Mirabella's eyes flicked toward him with mild amusement. "How's your week been, Ren?" she asked casually, folding one leg over the other like a goddess waiting to be entertained.

"Not bad," Ren replied, carefully neutral.

She tilted her head, lips curling into something resembling a grin. "I imagine training with a kusarigama isn't easy. Hope it's not breaking you."

Ren's silver eyes gleamed with a slow grin. "Worried about me?" he asked smoothly. "Don't be. I don't break. But you might want to worry about whoever I train to fight against."

Mirabella gave a short, amused laugh that made some girls nearby glance over. Approval flickered in her eyes like a candle catching a breeze.

She didn't reply, just gave a little nod, a silent acknowledgment of his growing confidence.

Lia leaned back slightly. "Instructor Reissa hasn't shown up yet," she commented, frowning a little.

"It's not like her to be late. She's the type that shows up fifteen minutes early just to glare at people into punctuality."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Maybe she tripped over her own superiority complex?"

That made Lia laugh for real this time.

But before they could continue speculating, the main door of the auditorium slammed open, and what floated through wasn't a tall, imposing instructor.

It was... a floating pink ball of light.

The thing bounced in mid-air like an overly enthusiastic jellybean. A cheerful, high-pitched voice boomed across the room.

"Heeellooo future curses experts! Sorry to disappoint! Instructor Reissa is currently occupied—definitely not captured by bandits or abducted by magical squirrels, don't worry—and I, her smart, obedient, and super charming assistant, will be taking today's orientation class in her place!"

Silence.

A few girls blinked. One actually leaned forward like she was trying to figure out whether she was hallucinating. Then came the whispers.

"Is that thing for real?"

"It's... cute? In a weird way?"

"I swear if this turns into a learning disaster, I'm walking out."

The pink spirit didn't even flinch. "Aww, you girls are so sweet! Yes, I'm real. Yes, I have feelings. And yes, I am smart enough to teach this class, thank you very much!"

It turned in a dramatic circle. "Now, let's get this show rolling! Today's orientation class is—drumroll please—An Introduction to Curses!"

Ren rubbed his temples slowly, trying not to laugh. "This place just keeps getting weirder."

Mirabella sighed, but there was a smile tugging at her lips.

Lia leaned over and whispered, "If that thing starts dancing, I'm actually leaving."

Ren leaned back in his chair, folding his arms with a small grin. "Nah. I want to see where this goes. Besides, if a floating jellybean can teach curses, I need to know how."

The pink spirit bounced midair like an overcaffeinated balloon, its glow shimmering faintly as it spun in a playful twirl.

"Now, now, everyone sit tight and open those pretty little ears! Today, we're gonna talk about one of the spiciest, creepiest, and most deliciously misunderstood things in the magical world—curses!"

It clapped its tiny, light-made hands, and a floating chalkboard materialized behind it, complete with squiggly stick figures and sparkly labels like a preschool cartoon.

"First thing to know," it continued, its voice high and excited like a magical kindergartener on a sugar rush, "curses aren't just bad luck or spooky whispers in the hallway!

"Nope! They're actual living things! Mean little beasties born when bad feelings gather in one place for too long.

"So if a bunch of people get really angry or super duper sad in the same spot over time—bam! A curse might be born like a creepy magical baby! Isn't that wild?"

The auditorium was dead silent.

Ren raised an eyebrow. Creepy magical baby? That's certainly... one way to explain it.

But the spirit wasn't done. It waved its hands and conjured little cartoon animations above its head: an angry blob, a crying blob, a betrayed blob, all floating like bubbles.

"There are soooo many types of curses," the spirit sang. "Because there are so many feelings! The more common the emotion, the faster a curse of that type might pop up.

"Like if everyone in a village feels betrayed all the time—yep, you guessed it, Betrayal Curse! Or if a school's full of jealous rivals and broken hearts? Boom! Lust Curses, Envy Curses, even Spite Curses!"

The animation showed a heart turning black and sprouting legs. It was adorable in a horrifying kind of way.

Ren found himself fascinated despite the goofy delivery. It made sense in a twisted way. Emotions as fuel. Negative feelings as seeds for monsters.

"But wait, it gets better!" the spirit said, spinning again. "Curses don't just exist. Oh no, they grow! And not just on their own, either.

"Let's say an Anger Curse is hanging out in a place where people fight a lot, yell a lot, throw chairs at each other. You know, like your average family dinner!"

A few students snorted with laughter.

"Well, that Anger Curse absorbs all that yummy, yummy angry energy like a tiny wormhole. And it gets stronger! Bigger! Scarier! And even worse—it can start to mess with people's heads!"

It pointed a tiny glowing finger at its cartoon. "An Anger Curse fighting you might make you feel angry too. So angry that you lose control. Say mean things. Hit your friends. Smash your teachers' desks.

"All that anger lets the curse crawl deeper and deeper into your brain until—uh-oh! Mind control!"

A few girls actually gasped. Lia's brows furrowed. Mirabella sat straighter.

"Now don't panic," the spirit said cheerfully, even as its cartoon showed a brain getting tangled in red, thorny vines.

"Curses are ranked by power, from Stage One—those are teeny, squeaky little curses—to the big bad ones.

"The strongest ever discovered? The Twenty-One Calamities. Each one is a Stage Fifteen curse. And if you ever meet one? Run. Or at least scream first, then run. Preferably both."

Ren leaned forward, hands steepled under his chin. Stage Fifteen... so there's at least fifteen measurable levels of power.

But only twenty-one known at the top. Which means something's preventing others from getting that strong. Or maybe... we just haven't survived long enough to document more.

The spirit's voice dropped a little, growing more serious but still in that weirdly adorable tone.

"But sometimes, sometimes... things get real bad. Imagine an entire city full of one emotion. Like sadness after a disaster. Or rage after a war. Or fear after years of nightmares.

"That place becomes soaked in malevolent energy. Thick and gooey like evil syrup. And then, guess what happens?"

The floating chalkboard showed a crack opening in the air, jagged and glowing purple, with dozens of cartoon curses pouring out like bugs.

"That place might trigger the birth of something awful called a Wound. It's like a portal—an open boo-boo in the world—that connects us to the Malevolent Realm, where curses live and party!

"And when a Wound opens, hundreds of curses come flying out like piñata candy, except instead of sugar they want your soul!"

The auditorium broke into stunned murmurs. Even the students who were clearly only here to look cute were now paying attention.

"Wounds are super dangerous," the spirit warned, conjuring an animation of what they looked like. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"They look like floating purple-black cracks in the air, like someone took a sword and slashed reality itself. They shimmer, they buzz, and they smell like sadness and burnt toast."

"Wait..." a voice called out suddenly, breaking the tension like a sledgehammer. A girl from one of the front rows stood up, her face pale. "You mean... like that?"

She pointed toward the massive window that spanned the back wall of the auditorium.

Everyone turned at once. Heads whipped around. Ren's breath hitched as he followed her gaze.

Outside, beyond the courtyard and the distant training fields, the clear sky had warped.

And there it was.

A floating crack in the air. Huge. Pulsing. Purple-black like bruised glass. It shimmered like a heatwave and oozed violet mist that turned the surrounding clouds dark.

Red lightning danced around it. The edges bled into space like tendrils from a gaping wound.

A real Wound!

Right outside!

Silence slammed down harder than thunder. No one even breathed. Then came the low, deep hum. A vibration through the glass. And behind that shimmer—

Shapes.

Hundreds of them.

Moving.

The spirit turned midair and blinked at the sight. "Oh..." it said, its glow dimming slightly. "Um... heh. Well, this is awkward."

Then, in the same cheery tone as before: "Alrighty, class! Pop quiz! Who remembers what we do when a Wound opens near the campus?"

Chaos exploded!