Ch.3938. Party Members (2)

# 38. Party Members (2)

Her words made me think of a thousand different things.

‘What does she mean? Is she talking about my actual abilities? Or could she possibly mean…?’

She burst into laughter when she saw my dazed expression.

I spoke to her as she laughed.

“I’m not sure how to take that.”

“Both interpretations you’re thinking of are correct.”

“That’s satisfying, but even so, are you really going to do it that way?”

“I think so, don’t you?”

I thought she was playing a prank she had planned in advance, but it seemed she hadn’t planned anything at all.

“Then where will we do it?”

“The survival set would work fine. Renting it for about ten days is nothing special.”

The set used for Survival, the largest event held at the end of the semester, boasts an unimaginable size.

I was genuinely shocked to hear that renting this set—which takes up about half of the Imperial Academy—for ten days was “nothing special.”

“You really do operate on a different scale.”

The imperial family is truly different in every way.

Though I’m from a noble family myself, I realized I couldn’t even compare to her.

While I was admiring her beyond-imagination financial power, someone I had forgotten about until now appeared with a challenge.

“But earlier, you said three people including Alber?”

She answered Rachel’s question with her still-bright expression.

“Yes, ‘three’ people.”

With the thought ‘Is that really something to emphasize?’ Rachel’s existence came to mind.

“So Rachel isn’t part of our party?”

“Of course not. She’s just training with us, she hasn’t joined the party.”

Rachel looked dumbfounded when she heard this.

Yet she maintained a confident expression.

“So if I pass that test, I’ll officially become a party member?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Alber, I’m signing up too.”

I wrote the name “Rachel Ignite” on the notepad from earlier.

As soon as she was registered, Rachel glared at her and said:

“We’ll see later. I’m definitely going to pass.”

Then she naturally walked out of the auditorium.

As I watched Rachel’s retreating figure that seemed to be burning with determination, I said to her:

“You’re quite kind, even creating an awakening catalyst for her.”

It seemed like she was trying to provide Rachel with an opportunity for awakening.

After seeing Rachel’s skills last time, she probably thought that if Rachel could achieve her second awakening, she could become quite a capable mage.

In fact, Rachel’s second unique skill is very suitable for dealing with large groups of enemies.

She was helping Rachel grow, but in front of me, she pretended not to know what I was talking about.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re quite the tsundere.”

“Shut up, and come to the training ground with Rachel when today’s classes are over.”

“Yes…”

Certain that I would be thoroughly beaten again today, just like all the previous days, I returned to the classroom.

As soon as I returned, almost all the students there surrounded me.

They began asking me about what had happened this morning.

Starting with, “Are you close with the Princess?”

And then:

“Is it true she’s recruiting party members?”

“When is it happening? And how are people selected?”

“And when did you join her party?”

“Did you know Diana was the Princess?”

My head spun with all these questions.

Since I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to answer them, I remained silent like a statue.

After I continued to say nothing, they eventually gave up and returned to their seats.

“That’s a relief.”

I returned to my seat with a sigh of relief.

When I got back, Rachel was staring at me intently.

“What’s with that look?”

“Are you seriously asking?”

“I honestly didn’t know anything about this.”

“Are you blaming the Princess now?”

“Yes.”

Rachel frowned at my rather shameless response.

But it really wasn’t my fault, and there wasn’t much I could tell her anyway.

“But you just need to do well and pass, right?”

“How do I pass?”

“I can’t tell you that yet.”

Rachel’s expression darkened when she heard this.

“Really…”

“I’m sorry, but the outcome will be good.”

“…”

Rachel just stared at me without saying anything.

She looked like she had something to say to me, but she wasn’t saying it.

“Do you have something to say?”

When I asked, she finally began to speak slowly.

I was secretly anticipating what she might say.

“Can I come to that training session?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, let’s go together after classes end.”

Rachel regained her bright expression from earlier.

I still wasn’t used to her emotional ups and downs.

“But what did you mean by ‘the outcome will be good’?”

“Just what I said—the outcome will be good.”

“I knew you wouldn’t tell me.”

“Then why did you ask?”

Rachel said “Just because” with a grinning expression as she prepared for the next class.

***

After classes ended, Rachel and I went to the training ground, where she was alone in training clothes, meditating.

As we approached her, she noticed us and stopped her meditation.

“You came early.”

“What are we doing today?”

She smiled and answered.

“Nothing special, except that Rachel will be joining us.”

Rachel, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.

“What do I need to do?”

“Team up with Alber and land even one hit on me to succeed. Simple, right?”

It sounded easy, but in reality, it was quite challenging.

Hitting her—with her overwhelming skill and defense-optimized abilities—was nearly impossible for peers of the same age.

The only consolation was that Rachel’s [Flame Magic] could counter her [Ice Magic].

“Sounds so easy.”

Given the significant difference in basic stats and skill ranks, it would indeed be difficult.

In fact, I had been training with her for quite some time, but I had never managed to hit her.

That fact lowered my confidence a bit.

Unlike me, Rachel, looking confident, said to me:

“Get ready.”

I activated those two skills as usual.

Normally, I would have charged at her afterward, but this time I didn’t.

Instead, I recalled a combat method I had been thinking about recently.

‘What if I throw [Obsidian Blade] while relying on [Mage’s Heart]?’

Basically, [Obsidian Blade] is activated using mana.

And it also takes mana to resummon the blade after it breaks.

This means that as long as I have mana, I can summon it unlimited times.

But in the past, I didn’t have enough mana to use such a luxurious method.

However, now I had [Mage’s Heart] that I received from her.

I wasn’t sure if this method would work against her, but it seemed worth trying.

I changed the summoned sword into a dagger form and threw it at her.

-Clang!-

She seemed caught off guard, looking quite surprised as she created a wall in front of her to block the dagger.

This method might not work well against her, but it could inflict meaningful damage on others.

I activated [Obsidian Blade] again.

The dagger that was stuck in the wall she had created completely disappeared, and a new sword appeared in my hand.

“I honestly didn’t expect that.”

“It doesn’t seem to work against someone like you, Princess.”

“Not just me—others wouldn’t fall for it either if they knew about it. But if your opponent doesn’t know, it could be quite an effective weapon.”

As she said this, she simultaneously created numerous spears in the air.

Those ice spears looked like they could fly at us at any moment, and that soon became reality.

The spears flew toward us in an instant.

-Whoosh!-

I was planning to dodge them, but thanks to Rachel’s [Flame Magic], they all burned up, making evasion unnecessary.

So instead of dodging the spears, I charged at her.

Using [Haste], I advanced right in front of her, but a wall she created blocked my way.

But this time, I wasn’t alone.

-Crackle!-

Red flames rose from that wall, and it began to melt, unable to withstand the heat.

I struck the gradually melting wall hard.

-Clang!-

Cracks began to form in the wall that normally wouldn’t budge at all.

-Clang! Clang! Boom!-

I continued striking, and the wall eventually split in half.

I expected to see her through the split wall, but that was my miscalculation.

What appeared through the split wall was not her but another wall.

A wall identical to the one we had just split faced us there.

And from inside that wall, her voice could be faintly heard.

“There are exactly ten of these walls. If you break all ten within 10 minutes, I’ll buy each of you any item you want.”