episode_0009

The signal flare acted as the trigger, setting everyone here in motion.

The students all began running towards the forest.

Already, magical attacks were being exchanged to hinder each other.

I calmly spoke to my teammates.

“Everyone, snap out of it! Be careful not to get caught up in the attacks! Don’t scatter!”

If one were to scatter in this chaotic place filled with bustling students, it would truly mean game over.

In such a situation, tripping or being left alone might result in injuries, let alone winning.

In times like these, one must stay focused and stick together.

However, it wasn’t easy to have things go my way amidst this crowd.

The students started running frantically, and as they advanced, they eventually tore us apart.

My companions and I gradually drifted further away from hundreds of people in the crowd.

Fortunately, Elin, who was by my side, didn’t get pushed around by the other students.

I held her shoulder tightly to prevent her from falling and shouted to my companions.

“Ron! Lloyd! The summit can wait! We must meet at the center of the forest first!”

Although I shouted loudly to Ron and Lloyd as they pushed through the crowd, it seemed like they couldn’t hear me.

This place was already a battlefield, where everyone was attacking each other to secure the golden object at the summit.

Limited resources sought after by the students.

Time was until tomorrow morning.

It’s impossible for a thousand rushing students to all receive full marks.

There are only two golden objects.

While the other objects may give fewer points, hundreds are hidden in the forest and mountains.

There might be ways to aim for those too.

But even if there are hundreds, they are still limited resources.

It’s afternoon now, but they will soon be found and gone.

What we aim for is the first place, and for that, we must seek alternative methods that others aren’t using.

“Elin, you said you trust me earlier.”

“Yes! You’re the one who helped me before!!”

“Good. Then hold on tight so you don’t fall.”

“What?”

“We’re going at full speed.”

….

Elin, she was a country girl living in a village on the outskirts of the mainland.

Her village could be described as a typical rural area.

Her parents, who originally lived in a big city, moved to a small countryside village when she was born.

It was a small village, and the village head and other elders treated her family like their own, leading them to settle there permanently.

Growing up in such a place, she was loved and cared for by her family and neighbors without any shortage.

From a young age, she helped her parents with their work, took care of her younger siblings while her parents worked, and did household chores, growing up as a kind girl.

With only younger siblings as peers, she grew up without friends.

But she had no complaints.

This place, with family and neighbors, was a happy place even without friends.

Elin’s hometown lived modestly with small fields and farms.

Even though her retired father and mother, who had earned a lot of money while in the city, lived humbly despite having wealth.

Growing up under such parents, Elin grew up to be a kind and beautiful lady.

In the village where she lived, there was a small river, and behind it stood a small mountain.

She often visited the mountain with her siblings.

She roamed the mountain like it was her own home, catching rabbits, gathering herbs and vegetables, treating the mountain as her friend.

The mountain was her second home and friend.

That’s how she spent her days happily with her family.

On a peaceful day like any other, something happened.

Dark clouds gathered over the village, and heavy rain began to pour down.

Thunder and lightning struck from the sky, and strong winds started to blow.

On a sudden day of weather, everyone in the village had securely closed their windows and doors and stayed inside their homes.

It was only belatedly that she realized her younger siblings were missing.

Thinking they might still be out in the mountains, she immediately sprang into action.

“Alen? Adel! Where are you guys?”

Elin dashed frantically through the fierce storm to find her siblings.

Despite being hit by stones carried by the wind or scratched by sharp branches, she pressed on.

Arriving at the mountain, she searched for her siblings but couldn’t find them.

She kept scanning around tirelessly. Accelerating as if possessed by madness.

“Where could my siblings be? They’re not ones to get hurt easily. They must be hiding somewhere to escape the storm.”

“Yes, hiding…”

“Hiding?”

It dawned on her. The hideout.

The hideout she and her siblings had slowly built over the years.

A small treehouse constructed on a large tree in the mountains with help from their parents.

So, it’s likely that her siblings are there.

With her thoughts concluded, she began to run.

However, no matter how small the mountain was, with rain pouring down and strong winds blowing now.

Her legs started to falter, blood trickling from a head wound caused by a stone hitting her.

Yet, she did not give up. They were her family. Her precious, irreplaceable siblings.

Her once proud pink hair now muddied,

her body soaked in rain, looking pitiful like a wet puppy, she walked and kept walking.

Because her siblings meant more to her than her own body.

In the midst of this, she sensed a change occurring in her exhausted body.

An unknown strength emerged in her body, which seemed on the verge of collapsing, moving her legs.

Her body felt lighter than before, her vision widened, surroundings becoming clearer.

Yes. She had awakened to magic.

In this world, while individuals may differ, everyone possesses magic.

But controlling magic is another realm altogether.

Ordinary people, although possessing magic, usually have slightly stronger bodies than in their original world but fail to use magic properly.

However, things change if an individual has a catalyst or has been constantly training.

‘Awakening,’ directly sensing mana, enabling the use of its power.

Yes. Her determination, belief, the desire to save her siblings awakened another power within her.

Magic, the power emitted by mana.

Originally, magic refers to refined mana within the body capable of producing supernatural powers like magic.

Her power was at the level of a newly hatched chick.

At that time, she didn’t know, but unconsciously, she used a technique to enhance her body by spreading her magic throughout her body.

Yet, she was just an ordinary person. A country girl. She had never read any books related to mana.

The extent of her knowledge was limited to fairy tales with knights that her parents used to read to her.

But her will granted her the ability to turn uncontrollable power into her own.

With accelerated steps, she ascended towards the mountaintop where their hideout was located.

Creak! Bang!

Amidst thunder and heavy rain, she arrived at their hideout.

Their other sanctuary, standing firm against the strong winds.

She climbed a seemingly fragile ladder and entered inside.

“Thank goodness… Truly… I’m so relieved.”

Fortunately, her siblings were safely hidden inside.

While thinking this, her siblings ran towards her.

They embraced her tightly.

Ellin gently stroked them.

“I’m relieved you’re all safe and sound… I was really worried about what might have happened to you all…”

“I’m sorry, sis… We came to pick wild strawberries with Adel… and because of us, sis…”

“Sis, there’s blood on your head! Are you okay? What’s wrong with your body!”

“Because of us… sis… I’m sorry… I messed up…”

‘They must have been so scared, worrying about me first. They’re truly admirable.’

She embraced her siblings tightly, calming them down.

“I’m fine. Since I’m okay, let’s go back home now.”

Swish swish

“Got it, sis. Adel, get up. Let’s go back.”

“Yeah!”

However, they were not alone in this wooden house.

“By the way, who is this person?”

A grandfather dressed in tattered clothes, wearing a strange pointed hat, lay collapsed.

His very long nose-beard and snowy white hair resembled a quirky wizard from a fairy tale.

“Oh, this grandfather and I were picking wild strawberries with Adel when the rain and wind got too strong, so we sought shelter in our hideout, but he collapsed outside our hideout.”

“My brother and I brought him in because the rain was too heavy for him to stay outside!”

“I see. Was he caught in a storm? Is he conscious? Is he awake?”

“No. He seems to have fainted from exhaustion.”

“So my brother and I mashed some wild strawberries with water and fed him a little!”

“I see. Then let’s go back home first. Our parents must be worried. Let’s take the grandfather with us too. It could be dangerous here.”

“I’ll help, sis.”

“Me too!”

Carrying the grandfather, Ellin descended from the treehouse first, assisting Adel and Allen down safely.

They found their siblings and unexpectedly picked up the unidentified grandfather, but they could return home.

They just needed to get back home before the weather worsened. That’s what she thought.

Until the demons appeared.