Ch.2221. Historical Distortion (3)

# 21. Historical Distortion (3)

Riel hurried to the library.

It seemed she wanted to tell the princess she served about what she had just witnessed.

She was truly a remarkably loyal person.

“My lady! My lady!”

Riel appeared before Diana, breathing heavily.

Diana asked her:

“Why are you running like that?”

“I just saw something interesting!”

Diana tilted her head at those words.

Riel began explaining what she had seen earlier.

“Aelin and Albert were training together at the training grounds, and with incredible intensity too. Aelin was practically on the verge of collapsing. Why are they suddenly working so hard?”

“How would I know?…”

Diana was dumbfounded by Riel’s question.

If anything, she wanted to ask Riel:

Why didn’t you just ask them?

Still, she offered her own guess.

“Maybe he’s trying to help her awaken? If they’re training that intensely…”

Her reasoning made sense.

Awakening is commonly described as occurring when someone desperately desires power in a time of need.

Textbooks explain it that way, and in reality, when people fall into extreme crises, they desire new power to escape those situations.

And those experiences lead to awakening.

“Oh… that makes sense. But why would she want to awaken now? The exam will be held soon anyway, right?”

“I know… why would they go to such lengths?”

Naturally, she didn’t know the answer to that either.

“Did something happen?”

The only thing that immediately came to mind was that Aelin might have lost her first-place ranking.

But that was virtually impossible.

In the middle school division, there wasn’t anyone who surpassed her—or even came close to her level.

“Let’s ask her later.”

“Aww~ But that’s no fun~”

“Do as you please.”

Diana shifted her gaze back to her book.

Riel handed over the book she had brought, then headed back to the training grounds to see what was happening again.

***

Aelin was huddled in a corner of the training ground, covered in wounds.

“Why are you so strong!?”

She seemed shocked by the fact that even with her second awakening, she couldn’t defeat me.

That’s understandable.

Her level is higher than mine, and we’re both in our second awakened state.

“By the way, you achieved your second awakening during our training. Congratulations.”

At some point, brilliant sparks had enveloped Aelin’s body as she was nearly at her limit.

And after awakening, she had threatened me with confident boasts.

But now she was in this state.

“What good is a second awakening if I can’t even beat you?”

Her second unique skill, [Judgment of the Heavens], was faster and stronger than any other skill, but it couldn’t reach me.

‘How many times have I blocked that…’

I remembered her dropping lightning from afar even during wartime.

Each time, I used [Blade of Darkness] to block that lightning.

Of course, I did the same now.

“No! Why does it keep getting blocked!?”

“That’s just how this skill works.”

In truth, her [Judgment of the Heavens] was blocked because its rank was too low.

[Blade of Darkness] can only block skills that are at least 3 ranks lower than itself.

Her [Judgment of the Heavens], both then and now, was lower in rank than my [Blade of Darkness].

“…This is so frustrating.”

“If it bothers you, raise its rank.”

She whimpered while fidgeting with her staff.

“You can’t rely on talent alone.”

“That’s why I’m doing this now.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her disgruntled expression.

Looking at her, I said:

“Let’s stop here for today. Starting tomorrow, let’s work on raising the rank of [Judgment of the Heavens].”

“What happens when it ranks up? Does it get additions like your skill?”

She looked at me with eyes full of expectation.

“Magic defense penetration, mana amplification, that sort of thing.”

“Is that good?”

She lowered her head with an indifferent expression.

“It’s the best for warfare.”

Moreover, with its wide range, it would be incredibly effective against multiple opponents.

Thanks to the magic defense penetration effect, anyone hit would immediately be sent to the afterlife.

I’ve never seen anyone survive after being hit by that skill.

“Is it really that good?…”

“Of course. With one shot of that skill, you could instantly take out hundreds of people.”

“Take out?”

“Yeah, to the afterlife.”

Her face darkened upon hearing those words.

“Someday, there will come a time when you’ll have to kill people.”

“I know… but…”

“Don’t worry too much.”

She would overcome it well.

At least, the Aelin I knew would.

“You’ll do fine.”

“I’ll trust you…”

“I appreciate that. More importantly, why don’t you all come out?”

When I looked toward the door, those who had been secretly watching us revealed themselves.

Riel seemed quite flustered.

“How did you know?”

“I have my ways.”

I knew because the status window reacted to the person fidgeting behind her, but I acted as if I had detected them through my own skill.

The person who had been fidgeting behind her stepped forward and asked us:

“But why are you training so hard?”

“She seemed to be jealous of me, so I decided to help her out.”

Aelin was surprised by the word “jealous” and glared at me.

It was true, though.

She seemed to know it too, as she didn’t deny it and remained silent.

“You two get along so well.”

She looked at us as if envious.

It was probably because she had a poor relationship with her own siblings.

But Aelin denied her words:

“We don’t get along!”

“You look extremely close to me.”

In her eyes, even our bickering and insulting each other would look like close siblings.

“We do get along.”

“Why are you admitting it!?”

“Who knows. Anyway, Senior Diana.”

She looked at me questioningly.

“What is it?”

“Would you mind sparring with me?”

Even considering that she had only achieved her first awakening, she was much stronger than me.

I knew that if I fought her now, I would definitely lose.

But I needed more detailed information.

Not whether she was stronger than me, but how strong she actually was.

She said:

“Alright.”

She gave a faint smile.

Then, raising her staff, she said:

“We’re doing this now?”

“Yes.”

I pointed my sword at her.

Immediately, Riel gave us the signal.

“Ready! Begin!”

With that signal, sharp ice daggers in the shape of swords that she had summoned flew toward me.

-Clang! Clang!-

I shattered those ice daggers and advanced forward.

At that moment, ice spears erupted from the training ground floor.

I quickly used [Swift] to avoid the danger.

“Your reaction speed is quite good.”

“You flatter me.”

Looking at the training ground floor, not only the area where the spears had erupted, but most of the floor was frozen.

Not only that, but the surrounding temperature had dropped dramatically.

It was the effect of her unique skill, [Merciless Cold].

‘Does it also increase stats?’

Being in an area frozen by [Merciless Cold] probably had the effect of increasing stats as well.

To counter that skill, I activated [Mortal’s End].

“Ugh!…”

It was clear that the pressure was affecting her, probably because she didn’t have divine protection yet.

However.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!!-

I was struggling just to block the ice daggers flying from all directions.

Moreover, ice daggers flew from anywhere within the range of [Merciless Cold].

Her mana reserves were so vast that she cast spells endlessly.

“What will you do now?”

I had no choice but to take some hits as I ran as fast as I could.

-Swish! Swish! Swish!-

Each time those spells grazed my body, it felt like I was freezing, but I had no choice.

If I just kept defending, I would end up in a stalemate.

I used [Swift] to advance to her front.

“I don’t think so.”

She smiled and created a massive ice wall in front of her for protection.

I tried with all my might to break that ice wall, but it was beyond my strength.

-Clang! Clang!-

No matter how many times I struck the ice wall, it didn’t budge.

And all the while, ice daggers continued to target me.

‘Ah… I’ve lost.’

I already knew it, but facing her directly made me realize it more painfully.

I felt the fact that I was weak and she was overwhelmingly strong.

She probably hadn’t even used a quarter of her total mana yet.

‘And yet I’m in this state…’

I was still just a kid after all.

“I surrender. I admit defeat.”

I accepted my loss and surrendered.

She then returned the frozen training ground to its original state.

I marveled at the amazing sight.

‘It never gets old, no matter how many times I see it.’

Although it was a sight I had seen many times before, it had been a long time since I’d witnessed her magic, so it felt somewhat nostalgic.

She looked at my dazed expression and said:

“You’re quite skilled, though.”

“I was completely outmatched.”

It was an undeniable, crushing defeat.

“Outmatched” was the perfect description for the result.

However, contrary to my thoughts, Riel and Diana praised me.

“Even among second-years, no one can do this much. Usually, they’re done after those first ice daggers.”

“Yes, you did quite well.”

If this was considered doing well…

I now understood just how insurmountable she was in this academy.

‘So that’s why those guys reacted that way…’

Now I understood Chris and Rakel’s reactions.

Seeing my dejected expression, she said:

“Your pressure is quite good at this level. Please reconsider my offer from before.”

“You mean joining your party?”

“Yes.”

She was giving me another chance.

Such opportunities probably wouldn’t come often.

“Alright, I’ll join your party, Senior. But please give me some time. Just one month.”