episode_0024

As light returned to the world, the flying moon split the lightning.

Instead of disappearing, the lightning bolt, split vertically, divided and fell to the ground on either side. A thunderous roar followed.

Kwaaaaaaaa!!

The immense shockwave of lightning swept through the forest, obliterating everything. But where Fernan stood was unharmed. He brushed back his rain-soaked hair and smiled coolly. Acell, on the other hand, stumbled, his face contorted with signs of mana exhaustion.

High-level magic manifested by strengthening and resonating spells with various characters. That alone had left his mana core completely empty, and on top of that, he had directly faced Fernan’s inner world. Mana was slowly returning to his core, so there seemed to be no worry of losing his life, but he couldn’t stop his consciousness from scattering. Acell, gazing at Fernan through his increasingly blurred vision, opened his mouth.

“…Was the test a pass?”

“What kind of question is that?”

Fernan chuckled and sheathed his sword.

“You easily surpassed the benchmark, you’ll likely even take the top spot.”

“That’s a relief.”

It was enough that he passed. Acell released the consciousness he had been holding onto by force and collapsed on the spot. His face plunged into a puddle of accumulated rainwater, and Elena, who was standing nearby, flinched and patted his shoulder.

“Ah, Acell? Acell, are you okay?”

“…It’s mana exhaustion. Seems he overexerted himself.”

Ellen muttered, checking Acell’s pulse.

Fortunately, his pulse was normal, but mana exhaustion itself is a symptom with many variables, so quick action is necessary. Many mages died suddenly from mana exhaustion on the battlefield. It’s forbidden to think Acell will unconditionally be safe.

She arbitrarily manipulated Acell’s bracelet to activate a movement spell formation and spoke towards Fernan.

“We will transport the injured person first.”

“Alright. You two go ahead. Ah, you two also passed the test, just so you know.”

“…Unlike Acell, we didn’t significantly contribute.”

“What’s important for a vanguard moving with a mage isn’t their contribution, but clearing the path for the mage. You fulfilled that role faithfully.”

Fernan answered, shaking off the blood dripping from his body. Ellen frowned slightly, as if dissatisfied, but still nodded.

“…I understand.”

“Your face doesn’t show it at all.”

“…”

“Alright. But know this. Warriors who perform better than mages are either vastly superior in skill from the start, or they’re crazy fools who want to die away from home.”

He didn’t wait for a reply. Fernan waved his hand towards Ellen, who was about to speak, and lay down as if collapsing. Ellen also stopped talking and immediately moved to the injured tent with Elena.

Swaaaaaaa!

In the forest where everyone had disappeared. The sound of pouring rain beat against his ears. The lingering scent of lightning that hadn’t vanished occasionally let out a massive clap of thunder, and the flowing rainwater mercilessly drenched Fernan’s face. He looked up at the sky with a blank expression, then chuckled softly and closed his eyes.

“It hurts like hell.”

From the part directly hit by the magic, he felt a pain like his brain was being grilled. The wound wasn’t very deep, but due to the nature of lightning magic, which directly affects the nervous system, the pain was intense regardless of the wound. Even a Master couldn’t train their nervous system, so there was no avoiding writhing in pain.

He pretended to be fine in front of the three, but Fernan was also mentally at his limit.

If he had been hit by the magic Acell used at the end, he wouldn’t have been able to lie down like this of his own will. He would have either fainted from the intense pain or quickly knocked out the three and tried to erase the lightning that had penetrated his body.

“…Unique magic is unique magic, indeed.”

Magic that works even on a Master with a vastly different realm. It wasn’t classified as unique magic for nothing. Or perhaps, it wasn’t about the magic type but the owner who was too extraordinary.

Fernan exhaled slowly and consumed the lightning that had infiltrated his body with his aura.

It wasn’t easy. Acell’s mana ran wild as if it had a will of its own, and occasionally attempted to erode Fernan’s aura. As expected of a genius, even his mana overflowed with individuality. Ena’s mana didn’t have this much autonomy. He wondered where such a monster had popped out from.

‘Acell might have overshadowed them, but Lady Hargelin and Jinjoo were also quite decent. If they are polished, they will become even more useful.’

The level of the two wasn’t bad either. Both had good lineage, so it must have been thanks to various training they received from their families since childhood.

And Grace Baydel.

A sword genius born from the Baydel ducal family. A monster who had mastered the sword techniques passed down through bloodline inheritance in theory at that age and was capable of opening her inner world to some extent.

If Acell had created numerous small wounds, Grace had carved a deep laceration into one of Fernan’s arms. Thanks to that, he couldn’t avoid struggling slightly in the fight against Acell’s group. Of course, if he had used his full power, the heads of the three would have flown into the air in an instant, but it wasn’t easy when he adjusted his strength and also got injured in the arm.

While he was thinking, he had almost completely consumed the lightning that had penetrated his body. Fernan groaned, got up, and brushed back the rain-soaked hair stuck to his forehead. He slightly tore his shirt to stop the bleeding on his arm, sighed deeply, and muttered.

“Ah, wouldn’t it be great if all four of them came to my class?”

He knew it wasn’t an easy wish, but he couldn’t help but be greedy. He spat out the blood that had gathered in his mouth and operated the communication device.

Woong.

He infused aura to activate the device and recalled the message he wanted to send.

[Test is over. Grace Baydel is severely injured and defeated. Ellen Hargelin and Elena von Valdemia have returned using device operation. The Disciple of Genesis fainted and moved with the two.]

Beep.

A reply came immediately.

[Ena’s disciple fainted during the test? Are you telling me to report this to them? Is this a new type of suicide method I don’t know about?]

*

“…”

His eyes opened as his consciousness surfaced. A constricting pain occurred once in his chest, then slowly subsided. It was one of the typical symptoms of mana exhaustion. If he forced himself to move in this state, the balance between his mana core and body would be shattered, leading to death.

It was something he had read in books, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

Instead of getting up, Acell stared blankly at the ceiling.

Below the fabric ceiling, a small mana lamp glowed. He turned his head to the side and saw other participants lying in similar states. None of them looked normal. Among them, Acell saw a man with both his arms and legs wrapped in lightning.

“Aaaahk!! It hurts, it hurrrts! Please get this off me…!”

It was a familiar face. He was the man who seemed to have been knocked out by a single magic spell, he thought. Fortunately, contrary to his worries, he didn’t seem to have died. Indeed, if he had died, Fernan would have come for an immediate execution, not a test.

Still, he was clearly in critical condition. Lightning magic, by its nature, caused double the pain compared to other magic. Moreover, the mana that spread after being directly hit by the magic could not be erased with ordinary control power.

The situation was the same for Lehan. With his control power, he couldn’t erase the lightning-attribute mana.

If left as is, he would continue to repeat shocks and awakenings due to the pain. If it hadn’t caught his eye, perhaps. But having confirmed it, there was no reason to leave him alone. Acell forced his creaking mana to move and collected the lightning wrapped around Lehan’s body.

Then, Lehan’s distorted face slackened foolishly.

“Just kill me… huh? I-It’s gone. It’s gone! This f****r!”

He shouted in elation. He must have been in considerable pain. Acell thought that he should be more careful in adjusting the power of lightning spell formations in future sparring with people and turned his head.

Just like that, their eyes met.

“Uh, hello…?”

The first thing that caught his eye was her red hair. Her eyes shone like obsidian, and she was lying on the bed, wrapped in bandages around her arms and neck, looking his way.

It was a face he remembered. Acell slightly furrowed his brows and opened his mouth.

“That person I saw at the test site…”

“Grace! Grace Baydel!”

She raised her upper body and shouted, then contorted her face in pain.

“Ughh…”

“Were you eliminated?”

Since they weren’t at the test site, Acell spoke using honorifics for now. Grace flinched and replied.

“Please speak comfortably to me, please.”

The emotion in her voice was so desperate that Acell couldn’t help but nod with an awkward expression.

What kind of connection did they have that made her act like that?

He thought about it, but no answer came. His first meeting with her was a week ago, and today was only their second meeting.

Not enough time to properly grasp the other person’s personality. But Grace acted as if she held a great deal of indebtedness and emotion towards him. Showing such a unconditionally submissive attitude from the start was not good in a relationship.

“…I wasn’t eliminated.”

While he was thinking, Grace said. She stroked her neck and gave a wry smile.

“Fernan found me under the guise of a test and beat me up. I did manage to give him a wound on his arm, but the result was my defeat.”

“You were the one who gave him that wound.”

“…You met Fernan too?”

“Same as you. Took the test and lost.”

He wondered if “lost” was the right word to describe it, but since the outcome would have been defeat in the end if they had gone all the way, it probably wasn’t an incorrect expression.

Thinking of Fernan, he suddenly recalled the ‘inner world open’ he had shown. An ultimate technique and unique world that can be used when one reaches the extreme in any field. He didn’t know what kind of inner world Fernan held, but the gray moon he showed was beautiful, yet also lonely.

‘What is Master’s inner world like?’

Ena made it a habit to put her inner world into her magic, but she had never actually opened her inner world. He roughly understood that it was related to eternity, but he didn’t know the details.

It felt strange to directly ask about the inner world a person held, so it seemed right to quell his curiosity until she told him or showed him. Acell took a long breath and opened his mouth.

“Do you know me?”

Other thoughts could wait. Acell felt the need to talk to Grace about this first.

Someone with the skill to take a test with Fernan would surely be admitted to the academy. He wanted to avoid making things awkward every time he met such a person at the academy if possible.

He knew she held a strange feeling towards him, but if she didn’t explain it in detail, he was the one who would feel more uncomfortable. Acell thought so and glanced sideways at Grace.

Grace met his gaze but didn’t open her mouth immediately. Innumerable thoughts of anguish filled and disappeared from her eyes repeatedly. What remained in the end was a thread of hope. She forced a smile and managed to utter a voice with trembling lips.

“…Acell, do you really not remember me?”

“Yeah.”

At that single answer, Grace collapsed.

“…Ah.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and then began to flow without any resistance. There was no sobbing. Just quietly. She remained lying still, gazing at Acell, and simply shed tears. The emotion visible in that appearance was so pitiable that Acell quietly waited until her tears stopped.

How much time passed like that? Grace opened her mouth with a voice mixed with moisture.

“It’s all… gone, then. The promise we made, the simple wedding ceremony, the house we built together.”

“…”

“It’s all, all gone.”

Acell didn’t understand her muttering. But he understood the emotions she revealed.

Despair, grief, sadness, depression, etc. They were all negative. Acell rolled his eyes with an awkward expression.

Honestly, he didn’t feel much empathy. She was a woman he had only seen twice, and if she just cried without any explanation, he didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say when he knew nothing?

Should he offer comfort, or just stay silent?

Acell hesitated for a moment, then decided to react, albeit briefly. He felt she would stay like that all day if he didn’t.

“Uh… Grace?”

“…Hmm?”

“I don’t know why you’re like this, but wouldn’t it be better to focus on the present rather than being trapped in the past?”

“…”

No answer came back. He wasn’t expecting an answer, but when even the sobbing stopped, he couldn’t help but worry if he had said something strange.

But at least she stopped crying, so wasn’t that a good thing? Acell thought so and cleared his throat.

Grace stared fixedly at him, then gave a wry smile and opened her mouth.

“…You’re just as bad at comforting people as you were back then. I told you that when this happens, you just need to hold them…”

I’ve never heard that.

“…Yes, you’re right, if I get lost in the past, I won’t be able to do anything. I need to get up so I don’t meet the same end as before. But…”

But it’s still sad. Grace finished her sentence and pulled the blanket over her head. He could faintly hear sobbing, so it seemed she was having one last cry. Acell sighed deeply and roughly ran his hand through his hair.

‘This kind of thing doesn’t suit me.’

Even when he was in the slums, it was Evelyn who took care of comforting orphans they met by chance. All Acell did was teach them how to survive. There were times he had a chance to comfort crying children a few times, but in every case, they either cried even harder instead of stopping or he gave up quickly because he felt suffocated. He never dreamed he would be doing that again after becoming an adult.

Fortunately, Grace stopped crying quickly, unlike a child. She threw off the blanket and rubbed her swollen eyes with her hand, saying.

“I know you have many questions. I’ll tell you when the time is right.”

“Is there a reason to hide it?”

“…I’m not sure. For now, I’m not mentally prepared enough.”

He wondered if there was anything to prepare for, but he nodded anyway. Seeing that, Grace wore a faint smile.

“Let’s spar later. I want to cross swords with you again after a long time.”

“…? I don’t know how to use a sword.”

“?”

“?”

The faces of the two crumpled in similar ways.

“…Aren’t you a swordsman?”

“I’m a mage.”

“A magic user? Acell the mercenary, famous as a spell hater, is a magic user?”

Grace asked, her eyes widening. Acell frowned heavily.

The difference in their memories, well, it started right there.