Ch.410410 – Struggling to Keep Up

# 410 – Hard to Chase

Irene heard that the owner of the footprints wasn’t Oknodie, but in a way, she had also heard that it was him.

They weren’t the only ones who had spent the semester looking only at Oknodie’s back.

She too had the desperate need to gain Oknodie’s favor to make him an ally for the North.

‘Yet I couldn’t tell the difference, while they could.’

Should she acknowledge and accept this difference in skill?

No, that was impossible.

“Even if it’s not Oknodie, these are relatively recent tracks. The owner of these footprints might know Oknodie.”

Dorothy showed interest in Irene’s decision.

“Then we’ll help you follow these tracks too!”

“Wherever Dorothy goes, I go too.”

Irene found it surprising that Dorothy and Rockpell offered to help her.

“You’re not joining the others who are looking for Oknodie’s traces? Honestly, when it comes to tracking skills, there’s probably no one better among the first-years than you.”

“Finding specific traces in a place affected by magical disasters is nearly impossible. It was like that in our forest too! In situations like this, it’s better to follow clear tracks.”

…What kind of forest did Dorothy grow up in, exactly?

Irene deliberately ignored the suspicion that came to mind.

“But these tracks are incredibly technical, maybe even rivaling Oknodie’s?”

Dorothy gaped in amazement at the traces showing someone who had stepped on a tree once and leaped 15 meters in a single bound.

This wasn’t the only extraordinary movement.

The mud marks on the bent branch proved that the owner of the footprints had momentarily used mana cultivation techniques to perfectly distribute their weight on a single branch without breaking it, and even reinforced the “foothold” so it wouldn’t break when they pushed off with force.

Perfect control over their body.

Free adjustment of balance and contact points.

Ability to extend that influence to surrounding objects.

Mana sword.

Sword energy merchant.

Evidence that their training and control had reached the extreme, with inner mana and energy overflowing to the point of potentially causing damage to surroundings.

“Wow. How is this not Oknodie?”

Dorothy, who was quickly scanning the landing point of someone who had jumped from a tree, let out consecutive exclamations mixed with bewilderment.

“Where did they land?”

“Over there. On top of another tree 50 meters away.”

“!!”

It wasn’t a lower position from the branch they jumped from.

The destination was even “higher.”

Normally, due to gravity’s effect causing loss of power, and even with energy wrapped around the body to increase speed, energy would be consumed and protective power would weaken, resulting in lower height.

The owner of these footprints directly violated the laws of physics, mana studies, and energy principles.

With overwhelming control, they suffered only minimal losses, defying gravity to fly this far and land on a higher tree.

It was so incredible that one might believe it was a magic missile rather than a person.

“They gathered the energy expelled outward back into themselves to eliminate loss. Even in the northern military, there were few experts with such skill.”

Irene recognized it.

This was not the level of a first-year student.

It was top-tier talent difficult to find even among the advanced first-year class.

At least in the field of physical enhancement, this was the skill of an incredible master who would be hard to match.

“We’re still far from catching up. Their speed is amazing, so the travel distance will be just as long. Both of you, prepare yourselves to follow!”

Though they couldn’t leap 50 meters from tree to tree freely like their target, Dorothy’s body was just as light, taking two or three jumps to track.

The pursuit continued without interruption.

Dorothy and Rockpell, from the Dimensional Rift Monster Forest—the most dangerous of the Three Great Forbidden Forests—had their own level of physical enhancement skills honed for survival.

Irene, who had served in the military, also had physical enhancement skills developed to survive in the harsh icy soil of the North.

Though unintended, they had formed the optimal pursuit team of the most agile people!

“Huh? There’s… nowhere to step here??”

After breaking through a pile of sandy dust, they faced a wide-open cliff.

Facing a huge gap over 100 meters wide, Irene expressed doubt.

“Did we lose the trail?”

“No. I’ve been tracking with fake steps and backtracking in mind, so there’s no way my eyes were deceived.”

“Are there traces on the other side of the cliff?”

“Ugh. I can’t see any.”

“…Did they fall to their death?”

Honestly, that seemed more likely.

It wasn’t an impossible gap to cross with a few tricks rather than a single leap, but…

Whoooosh!

Rumble rumble.

Air and mana being pulled down toward the bottom of the cliff.

Performing tricks while withstanding the suction of such tremendous magical winds was a different level of difficulty.

When magical winds blow through, the natural mana in the area becomes extremely thin.

With fewer mana puzzles available for casting spells, the difficulty of magic increases dramatically.

To cast magic in such a place, a magician needs to carry many mana puzzles and have high mana purity to generate great power with small puzzles.

Otherwise, the spell would be canceled upon casting or swept away by the mana winds.

Physical enhancement, though less difficult than using magic, faces similar challenges for the same reasons.

Moreover, Dorothy could see the meaning of the traces left on this cliff.

━━━

[Heaven-Reaching Cliff]

A massive cliff with a 100-meter gap.

The magical winds blowing below the cliff look like the sword mark of a giant swung with tremendous will.

━━━

This was a sword mark.

A strike so powerful that its trace remained in the world even after many years.

Crossing through the trace of such a master’s strike was absolutely not an easy task.

“Dorothy. Is your intuition really pointing to the other side?”

“Yes. I’m certain!”

“Then Dorothy must be right.”

Irene showed curiosity.

“You trust her intuition quite a lot for it to be just a hunch.”

“Dorothy’s intuition never fails. If it did, she would have become monster food long ago.”

The human brain warns of unrecognized dangers based on information perceived unconsciously.

In this respect, Dorothy’s highly developed senses were more precise than others’.

Even without visible reasons, her brain had calculated that their target had crossed this place.

“Then I’ll make a foothold.”

Irene, with her unparalleled purity in ice properties, formed a large ice bridge connecting the cliffs.

Whoooosh!

Rumble rumble.

Despite the violent winds immediately causing ruptures throughout the bridge… it held.

If it didn’t dissolve instantly, they could cross the bridge and jump a much shorter distance than 100 meters.

“This is my turn. Hold tight.”

Swift Rockpell.

The long-haired man who always followed Dorothy.

Irene had never seen his true abilities.

No, no one knew his true capabilities.

No one had ever seen him exert his full strength.

Today, Irene finally witnessed his deliberately hidden capabilities.

‘He’s fast!’

It wasn’t just his stepping speed that was fast.

Even while sprinting across the bridge that was collapsing from the magical winds, his distribution of energy for body enhancement and the force he applied to the ground was precise enough not to accelerate the bridge’s collapse.

Near-perfect control.

Moreover, the natural mana left behind where he ran contained a clear “will.”

-Quickly. Even faster.

-A speed no one can match.

There are stories that fragments of heroes’ selves imbued in weapons used by great heroes speak as if they were living humans.

Though not traces capable of communication, they momentarily inscribe their will in the atmosphere.

Amazed by this remarkable talent, Irene realized:

‘This man’s peak might… even surpass mine.’

A survivor of the Monster Forest.

Was this the extent of his capability?

“My guidance ends here. Jump.”

The remaining distance to the other side of the cliff was half—50 meters.

Still harsh.

It was a distance they couldn’t cover in one jump from the trees, requiring two or three leaps.

<Mana Cultivation Technique>

<Hard Bullet>

Revealing his reserved strength, Rockpell shot straight like a bullet to reach beyond the cliff.

He untied the rope at his waist and instantly infused it with energy.

Whoosh!

The rope extended straight like a ladder.

Dorothy, stepping onto it, wiped away cold sweat in relief.

“What about Irene?!”

“…Look behind.”

<Flight Magic>

Dorothy’s jaw dropped.

“That’s cheating.”

“I can’t maintain it long. Flight magic consumes too much.”

The three safely reached the other side of the cliff.

Near the cliff were various safe zones.

It was an appropriate time to recover depleted energy and regroup.

If only they could meet the entry restrictions set by previous users.

[Additional Entry Condition: Join the Heaven-Reaching Cliff Investigation Team]

“They’re investigating the bottom of that cliff we just crossed…?”

Isn’t that insane?

As Dorothy voiced this thought, a response came from inside the safe zone.

“It is insane. If you don’t have sufficient skill.”

“!!”

Unlike the weak seniors who were just keeping watch at the entrance, this presence had the same aura as the incredibly strong seniors they had felt during the sports festival.

Someone with such power that it was incomprehensible why they remained a student on leave spoke to them.

“Chasing after the one who went ahead is even more insane. The next magical disaster is of a different ‘level.’ It might be better to climb down this cliff instead.”

“Did you see the person who went ahead?”

“A girl with doll-like, elegant appearance.”

“Doll-like… elegant?”

“There should only be one person among the first-years with such an appearance.”

Dorothy and Rockpell’s faces hardened simultaneously.

Irene finally understood.

If that girl was the identity of the person whose traces were so difficult to follow, no wonder it was this challenging.

“Zhang.”

What they had been chasing was Oknodie’s closest friend.