Ch.59Chapter 59. The Wrong Path (1)

‘The Wrong Path?’

I read the quest that had appeared after a long time several times over.

Whenever a quest appeared, the first thing that always caught my eye was the reward.

Main quests would give titles, let you choose a class, or teach you skills.

Even sub-quests always gave stat points, which was always the first thing I looked for.

But in this quest, the first thing that caught my eye wasn’t the reward.

‘Cynthia is going down the wrong path?’

It was quite shocking.

Even when I did the quest to prevent Elaine’s kidnapping on the day of the entrance ceremony, it wasn’t this concerning.

“Ryuyeong?”

“Ah. Yes.”

Only when Professor Amillion called me again was I able to close the quest window.

Professor Amillion was looking at me with a puzzled expression, while Cynthia had an apologetic look on her face. Both were staring at me.

“Ah. Sorry. I was just thinking about something else.”

“…Anyway, let’s all head back for today. It’s getting late.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“…Yes.”

Professor Amillion wrapped things up.

The three of us left the forest together in an awkward atmosphere.

Once we were completely out of the forest.

‘I should talk to her.’

“Cynthia, can we talk for a moment…”

“I’ll go ahead!”

“Uh…”

“Sorry. Let’s talk tomorrow. I’m going first!”

Cynthia cut me off before I could finish, gave a quick bow, and ran ahead.

Both Professor Amillion and I watched Cynthia’s retreating figure without saying a word.

It seems I wasn’t the only one who noticed something strange about Cynthia’s behavior just now.

“I’ll be going ahead too.”

“Alright.”

I need to investigate more about Cynthia.

**

It had been happening a lot lately.

‘Sigh, I didn’t want to speak to him like that.’

Cynthia was walking weakly toward the academy exit, regretting her behavior from earlier.

She had reacted too sensitively to Ryuyeong’s words.

“Phew, why am I like this?”

This wasn’t the first time.

Getting so emotional that anger welled up at someone’s words.

Cynthia felt that she had become too emotionally sensitive lately, even by her own standards.

It wasn’t just once or twice that she’d suddenly flared up during casual conversations with friends.

It was clearly something she could have brushed off, but why did it make her so angry?

She had managed to hold it in when everyone was together, but just now, she couldn’t.

She wasn’t originally such an angry person.

“Sigh.”

When one thing goes well, stress comes from somewhere else.

Cynthia changed her direction from home, letting out a sigh of frustration.

Going home with this frustration would only make her feel worse.

At times like this, she needed to relieve some stress.

Cynthia alternately touched the bow on her back and the candy in her inner pocket.

Both were securely in place.

Step- Step-

If her steps had been weak until just now, they were now filled with confidence.

These days, Cynthia felt happy and satisfied whenever she went to the training ground.

She was no longer the person who couldn’t hit targets or control mana arrows.

Gulp-

Upon arriving at the training ground, Cynthia habitually took out a candy from her pocket and put it in her mouth.

The brilliantly blue glowing candy melted as soon as it touched her tongue and turned into liquid.

As soon as she swallowed the liquid that had been candy, Cynthia felt a surge of confidence and took out her bow.

Now quite familiar, she could see a different world.

The target, easily 200m away, looked as if it were right in front of her, and even the insects flying around it were clearly visible.

‘Today I’ll try three arrows at once.’

Creeeeak-

Cynthia pulled the bowstring without even nocking an arrow.

Soon, blue light began to flow from Cynthia’s hand holding the bowstring.

The blue light flowing from her hand instantly shaped into arrows and settled into place.

Blue mana arrows.

Cynthia had no trouble creating three arrows as she had intended.

Now the next step was to hit the targets with these arrows.

Creeeeak-

Pulling the bowstring back as far as possible, Cynthia closed one eye and aimed.

One arrow at the center of the target, one at an insect flying around, and the last at a falling leaf.

Having completed her aim, Cynthia released the bowstring.

Swoooosh-

With the sound of cutting through the air, the three arrows flew in different directions toward their respective targets.

Thwack-

One arrow struck the center of the target.

Poof-

Another disintegrated the falling leaf.

Whoosh-

“Argh!”

The last arrow, aimed at the insect flying around the target, missed.

The blue arrow continued to cut through the air, flying inward.

It was indeed difficult to hit a moving target.

‘I think I can do it with a little more practice.’

Cynthia clenched her fist in disappointment and began preparing to shoot again.

Although she had missed the insect, Cynthia wasn’t discouraged at all.

She was already satisfied with having created three mana arrows simultaneously and hitting two targets.

Creeeeak-

Cynthia pulled the bowstring again without rest.

Her eyes, looking toward the target area, sparkled intensely.

**

‘Was Cynthia always this good?’

After parting with Professor Amillion, I immediately followed Cynthia.

It was because of an unfounded intuition.

For some reason, I felt like I needed to follow Cynthia right away.

I thought she was heading home, but Cynthia changed direction and headed to the training ground.

Swoooosh-

Thwack-

“Yes!”

Cynthia shooting arrows at the target over and over.

Although she was shooting three arrows at once, only one had been hitting the target since earlier.

It was the same this time, but she was noticeably pleased.

‘Something’s definitely suspicious.’

It wasn’t that Cynthia’s behavior or training method was suspicious.

I had been following Cynthia since she headed to the training ground, and I clearly saw it.

Something Cynthia hurriedly put in her mouth as soon as she entered the training ground.

Because she was covering it with her hand, I couldn’t see its exact shape, but I had a rough idea of what it was.

A memory I had temporarily forgotten due to the Cain incident.

The time when Cynthia received a “candy” from someone late at night.

When that memory suddenly came back, I was certain that what Cynthia put in her mouth was candy.

After eating the candy, Cynthia immediately picked up her bow and continued shooting arrows without rest.

I knew from Cynthia before how difficult it was to create mana arrows.

When I asked why she carried real arrows if she could make mana arrows, Cynthia had seriously replied.

That creating even one mana arrow required tremendous concentration and took a long time.

But Cynthia’s current appearance completely contradicted what she had said then.

Not only was she easily creating three mana arrows simultaneously, but she was also continuously shooting them.

It didn’t look difficult at all.

‘Her power and speed are no joke either.’

The power of the arrows Cynthia was shooting was also considerable.

The speed of the arrows cutting through the air was so fast that even I couldn’t follow them with my eyes.

Honestly, judging by the skill Cynthia was showing now, I wasn’t sure who would win if she fought against Elaine.

Of course, in a fight between a knight and an archer, Elaine would definitely win if she could get close.

‘…This doesn’t make sense.’

It was ironic that I thought Cynthia seemed formidable.

Because just a few weeks ago, Cynthia wasn’t like this.

Just look at what she showed in the competition.

She was so scared of the ghoul and death knight that she couldn’t even properly hold her bow.

“Phew.”

While I was blankly watching this unfamiliar version of Cynthia, she finally put down her bow.

How many mana arrows had she fired in succession?

Since they were mana arrows, there were no arrows stuck in the target, but the center of the target was deeply dented.

Creeeeak-

Cynthia, who had lowered her bow and sighed, picked up her bow again.

‘She’s not done yet?’

“Ah.”

I thought she might continue, but that wasn’t the case.

Cynthia, who had been aiming her bow, seemed to sense something strange and put it down again.

“As expected, 30 minutes is the limit.”

And she muttered quietly to herself.

’30 minutes…?’

It was a whisper from afar, but I heard it clearly.

30 minutes is the limit, huh.

Creeeeak- Crackle-

Cynthia aimed her bow at the air and pulled the bowstring.

I naturally expected a mana arrow to form, but that didn’t happen.

With a crackling sound, one arrow began to form but then stopped.

It was hard to believe this was the performance of someone who had been easily creating three arrows until just now.

Then, without hesitation, Cynthia slung her bow over her back and began to pack up.

‘Huh…’

Cynthia quickly finished packing as if she wanted to leave the training ground as soon as possible and started walking.

Watching Cynthia’s retreating figure leaving the training ground, I suddenly thought of someone.

Cain Hover, who was still lying in the infirmary unconscious.

Cain Hover, who drank a potion and suddenly created nine fire birds.

And Cynthia, who ate candy and easily created mana arrows.

Potion, candy, increased power, the wrong path.

“No way.”

As various words combined, one thought pierced my mind.

The vague suspicion gradually turned into certainty.

It seemed that Cynthia was in quite a dangerous situation, just like Elaine’s kidnapping incident.

Though it was a bit different in nature.