episode_0077

It was a surprising piece of news.

“Stitch came from Prince Verdi?”

“That’s right.”

Sian abruptly stopped wielding his sword and turned to Aria, asking, “Did you have any acquaintance with Prince Verdi before?”

“No, that was our first encounter back then when you and I met,” Aria replied.

“Then why did Stitch come?”

“I… I’m not sure about that.”

Aria looked perplexed as she fidgeted with the Stitch she had brought.

Sian sheathed his sword back into its scabbard and approached Aria.

“Anyway, he contacted me because of some difficulty, right?”

“Yes.”

“Give me the Stitch.”

As Sian received Aria’s Stitch, he pondered, “Is he trying to establish a connection with the Silvesta family or something?”

The packaging was meticulously sealed with care, unlike the usual Stitches exchanged for correspondence. While it might be a luxury afforded by the resource-rich Bahat Empire, it made Sian wonder.

“Could it be…?”

Sian thought as he peeled off the wrapping.

“Perhaps he recognized Aria’s talent in that moment?”

Aria possessed the talent of becoming a Swordmaster in the future, a fact known to Sian. If Prince Verdi sent this Stitch to initiate a friendly relationship with Aria in anticipation of utilizing his skills, then he was a remarkably insightful individual.

“I thought he was just a carefree prince who enjoyed revelry, but seeing him in a different light now. People should not be judged solely by appearances.”

Sian unfolded the Stitch after unwrapping it.

“What could be in here that caused Aria such distress?”

He scanned the contents with a serious gaze.

“Hmm?”

Sian’s mouth fell agape.

“This is…!”

Indeed, people should not be judged solely by appearances.

He thought Prince Verdi was merely a clueless prince who enjoyed frivolity, but…

It was a moment of self-reflection for Sian, realizing his misjudgment from before.

▶ To the esteemed Lady Aria of the Silvesta Viscountcy,

I have received the telepathy conveyed through your gaze yesterday.

I, too, am willing to engage with you at any time.

Lady Aria, until we meet again…!

From Prince Verdi Bahat.

“….”

He wasn’t clueless; he was just foolish.

Sian deeply regretted his actions from yesterday and vowed to act differently when facing Prince Verdi in the future.

***

“Why isn’t there a reply! Why on earth…!”

Verdi, seated at his dormitory desk, clenched his fists against his temples in frustration.

“I poured my heart out… why hasn’t there been a single word in response for a whole month!”

“….”

Watching him from the side with a disdainful look was a man, his confidant and steward since Verdi was a one-year-old baby—Alberto.

To see Verdi, whom he had cared for like his own child, infatuated with a woman, Alberto was not pleased.

Alberto sighed and racked his brain.

How could he provide a good solution to help Verdi in his distress? He pondered and pondered.

“Ah!”

Finally, an idea struck Alberto.

He immediately spoke to Verdi, “Your Highness Verdi.”

“What is it, Alberto! I’m in the midst of a serious dilemma!”

“I understand. I apologize for interrupting your busy schedule, but may I offer a suggestion?”

“What is it?”

“The ball is approaching soon, isn’t it?”

The ball—a social event held towards the end of the semester where all first-year students who have completed their level exams are promoted to second-year. It is a social gathering attended by students from all departments like Swordsmanship, Magic, Alchemy, and Elementalism, held at the ballroom located at the far end of the Ariel Academy.

“And?”

“Think about it. How partners are chosen at the ball.”

“How partners are chosen…?”

At a ball, there are two ways to form a partnership.

The first is to agree in advance with someone you are close to.

The second is to seduce the opposite sex through dance and then form a partnership.

Thinking of this, Verdi seemed to have a great realization as he opened his mouth wide.

“Alberto, that means…!”

“Yes, if it’s the dance of Verdi, the best dancer in the Bahadra Empire, there will be no woman in this world who can resist.”

“Haha…! Alberto, indeed you are the Genghis Khan of the Bahadra Empire! With that, we will never fail!”

“You flatter me.”

“This is not the time; hurry up! …Cancel all the swordsmanship lessons today. Rent a practice room where we can dance right away!”

“Yes!”

***

A month passed, and Sian, feeling anxious about not sensing any significant changes in his progress, was heading deep into the back mountains of the academy.

“If I keep swinging just the sword like this, I won’t realize anything. I need to use some old tricks.”

The back mountains of the academy were not a protected area, so one could freely destroy rocks or trees, and it was a secluded place with few people around.

A training ground known only to a few. Sian decided to make use of this place.

“Huh?”

As Sian climbed up the rugged mountain, he spotted a figure in the distance.

Soon, Sian came face to face with the man who appeared to be Cain. They both recognized each other as they locked eyes and froze like statues simultaneously.

“……”

“……”

It was Cain.

Sian pondered whether he should greet him or pretend not to know him, but there was no need for that as Cain pretended not to see Sian and walked past him.

Sian watched silently as Cain walked away.

“…Looks like things aren’t resolved yet.”

Although they had settled their differences last time, there would naturally be no good feelings between them. It had been only a short period since the troublemaker had turned over a new leaf, and there might still be distrust.

But.

“It’s a problem that will be forgotten if I behave well.”

Sian no longer wanted to cause trouble. He wouldn’t harass anyone, nor would he indulge recklessly.

His goal was simply to survive until the time of the Demon King’s advent in four years and graduate normally.

Once he became strong enough that no threats could reach him, he would have the leisure to study more about this world.

“For now, let’s focus on training.”

Sian moved on.

.

.

.

“I guess this should do.”

Sian, now planning a new attempt to enter the 5th stage, was about to undergo a transformation. The so-called rebirth.

“I will attempt a full-body aura transformation from now on. Normally, one must reach the 6th stage mastery to apply aura to the whole body, but…”

With a sufficient physique, rare individuals at the 5th stage could achieve a full-body aura transformation.

Today, Sian decided to transform his body like those rare individuals. It was a very risky attempt, but Sian was confident.

“Now, the method for that!”

In theory, to apply aura throughout the body, one had to pierce the blocked blood vessels with the massive amount of mana emitted from a high-density 6th stage core.

“So, I just need to unblock the blocked blood vessels.”

While naturally, blood vessels would open up as one reached the 6th stage through traditional training…

“But there’s not enough time for that.”

The Demon King would resurrect in four years. It would take decades to reach the 6th stage conventionally, which was unfeasible given the limited time.

“So, I’ve taken out insurance.”

Recently, Sian had been exchanging information continuously with the clandestine information organization, Night Raven, based at the tavern Lutio.

He provided them with various information on what businesses would be advantageous, gaining favor with Night Raven by sending them information through Stitch.

As someone well-versed in the affairs of this world, Sian gradually shared useful information. It was an easy task.

“One of the things I received in return was this.”

Sian looked at what was in his hand.

It was a rare soul bead.

Upon eating, the explosive elixir that amplifies magic power, Yeongdan. Cyan ordered this from the night crow for today.

Cyan immediately sat in a proper posture. Then, she pricked various parts of her body with her fingers.

“Puk! Puk! Puk!”

It was an act to block the flow of blood.

Now, except for the dantian area, there was no circulation of magic power in the blood.

“I will amplify the magic power like this.”

Cyan closed her eyes and swallowed the Yeongdan.

Then, changes began to occur in Cyan’s body.

“Woooo….”

The amplified magic power by Yeongdan surged within her body.

Simultaneously, a pain as if her whole body would burst attacked Cyan.

At this rate, Cyan’s dantian would not be able to withstand the emitted magic power and would collapse.

“I’ll go until it’s about to break!”

Time passed, and suddenly a minute had gone by.

If she persisted any longer, her dantian would collapse.

“…Right now!”

“Puk! Puk! Puk!”

Cyan used her finger to prick the previously blocked blood vessels back to normal.

And then it happened.

“Tuhwaak! Kuuuuuu!”

The confined magic power began to rapidly circulate within her body.

“Ugguggeuk….”

Magic power erupted. The pain felt like her whole body was about to burst, engulfing Cyan.

If she lost consciousness for a moment, she would fall into a critical situation.

…However, Cyan aimed for this.

Cyan, amidst excruciating pain, grabbed the sword placed on the ground while rolling her eyes and swiftly converted all the magic power flowing within her body into aura without releasing it outward.

“Kugwagwagwa!”

The erupting magic power transformed into aura and spewed out from the sword.

Unlike usual, it was fierce, rough, and a very large aura. It was a side effect of a massive amount of magic power being converted at once.

However, this level of emission was insufficient to stop the eruption.

“I will emit the aura with my whole body!”

At that moment,

“Kugwagwagwa!”

Aura rose from Cyan’s entire body.

As a result, the blood in Cyan’s body burst and repeated reverse flows.

The pain, as if her whole body would burst, tripled.

“I must not lose consciousness for a moment! Now is crucial!”

Cyan took out another Yeongdan from her pocket. The second Yeongdan she ordered from the night crow.

It was a rapid regeneration Yeongdan containing the divine power of a high-ranking priest.

“Thup!”

Cyan swallowed it immediately.

Unable to withstand the erupting magic power and aura, the torn and bursting blood vessels, due to the effect of the Yeongdan…

Regenerated.

Burst.

Regenerated.

Burst….

This process repeated for about 5 minutes.

This was the final stage. If things continued like this, her blood vessels would be reconstructed to withstand the erupting magic power. A behavior akin to evolution.

“Even performing surgery without anesthesia would be less painful than this, damn it!!!”

Alone in the mountains, Cyan screamed silently that day.

.

.

.

.

“Gasp, gasp….”

“I rushed here because I felt an unusually strong magic response… Are you Gongja?”

Iris looked at Cyan with wide eyes from her expressionless face.

In her own way, Iris seemed surprised.

“What on earth have you been up to?”

“Iris… water… my throat…”

“….”

…A faint aura was flowing out of Cyan’s entire body.

Yes.

Not from the sword, but from her body.

Cyan’s body was steadily expelling the aura.