novelraw Chapter 85 : Abnormal Symptoms (4)
Chapter 85 : Abnormal Symptoms (4)
Chapter 85: Abnormal Symptoms (4)
At the same time, dozens of black shadows shaped like human hands spread out from Hei’s back.
As if dozens of wraiths had taken residence in Hei’s body, the grotesque black shadow hands burst forth, wrapped around me and Kiena as well, and then vanished.
Right after that, I was faced with an unbelievable sight.
The school corridor was nowhere to be seen, and in its place appeared a vast expanse of land.
A gray plain where not a trace of vitality could be felt.
Just standing on this land made it feel as though the life force was being sucked straight out of my body.
‘Dark Element space creation magic.’
A spell that could only be realized at around the 7th Circle.
It was an advanced spell that only professors of the academy could use.
And yet, Hei not only implemented such magic, he even revealed the Dark Element rather than the Fire Element.
‘Hei is…… a Double Caster?’
No.
There was no way Hei was a Double Caster.
I wanted to deny it, but how else could I explain the magic Hei had just implemented?
It was unmistakably Dark Element magic, and of a fairly high Circle.
“Obstacles will be eliminated…….”
Hei continued muttering the same words and spread his palm wide toward the sky.
Kugugugugung-!
Then, black currents gathered like a whirlpool into Hei’s palm, and soon began forming a massive sphere.
“That’s impossible…….”
Dark Element 9th Circle magic, Orbification.
Hei was performing it right now.
As soon as Hei began implementing Orbification, Kiena’s black wolf grew even larger and completely embraced Kiena in its arms.
It was a movement as if it were sacrificing its own body to protect her so she would not suffer any damage from Orbification.
Hei’s Orbification condensed rapidly.
It swelled to its maximum size in a short time, and under the influence of the Dark Element Orbification, I could no longer see anything, and even my sense of touch disappeared.
‘I don’t know what’s going on, but……!’
Why Hei was suddenly using the Dark Element, and how he could so easily implement Orbification, which was called the ultimate magic of a single element.
There was no time to figure out things like that right now.
With only the thought that I needed to get rid of that Orbification first, I began implementing Flewd Orbification.
At that moment.
Flinch.
I felt an ominous presence.
For me to feel such a presence even in this state where both sight and touch were blocked meant only one thing.
Instinctively, I knew it—Hei’s Orbification was approaching me.
Because the magic Tyrant had used to kill me at the summit 300 years ago was exactly that.
Since I had already experienced it once, that thing called instinct was informing me now.
To hurry and defend.
Implementing Flewd Orbification to neutralize it was impossible timewise.
Therefore, I wrapped my body in all kinds of defensive magic whose casting times were relatively shorter than Orbification.
Thunk-!
Although I had no sense of touch, I clearly heard the sound of something heavy colliding with my body.
Kwaaaang-!
Right after that, a deafening roar exploded.
When I came to my senses, I was lying perfectly fine in the 3rd Class corridor.
Hei and Kiena were lying in the corridor just like me, asleep.
“…….”
What on earth had just happened?
Hei suddenly wielded the Dark Element, and Kiena’s summoned beast even looked exactly like the one Sylarid had controlled.
I shook their bodies, but both of them were in such a deep sleep that they didn’t budge at all.
I looked around.
When I had first come out into this corridor, all the lights had been turned off, but now, as if nothing had happened, brightly lit chandeliers were shining down on me.
First, I took Hei and Kiena to their respective dormitories, then returned to my own dorm room.
Kiena with Sylarid’s summoning art, Hei with the Dark Element…….
I couldn’t help but think deeply about those points.
Then, suddenly, one anecdote came to mind.
Back in Class 0, when I read my master’s book, Hei had definitely said that the color black came to mind.
That was why I naturally expected him to have the Dark Element, but the result had been the Fire Element.
And yet today, he had handled the Dark Element freely.
As if he were saying that this level of control had always been trivial for him.
He was indeed a Double Caster, but something felt different.
First.
The Dark Element magic Hei handled was at a level comparable to Tyrant’s.
However, because it felt not like it was being wielded of his own volition, but as if someone behind the scenes was manipulating him, I couldn’t come to a definite conclusion either.
The same went for Kiena.
The summoned beast she usually called forth was clearly a perfect relic, but today alone, it was identical to Sylarid’s summoned beast.
The summoned beasts Sylarid used weren’t even called relics, but monsters.
Relics were symbolic and sacred animals, but the summoned beasts Sylarid controlled were focused solely on slaughter, grotesque in appearance, with no trace of sacredness to be found.
The black wolf Kiena summoned looked exactly like that.
“What in the world is going on…….”
Thinking about it, there was one more anecdote from Class 0.
It was when Mihael Russel had implemented flash magic on all the Class 0 students, including Teacher Rezi.
Clearly, at that time, Hei and Kiena had shown no reaction whatsoever.
That meant Russel’s mana hadn’t been able to affect the two of them at all.
But since they later showed themselves being pushed back by Lamic Vir during life in 1st Class, I thought it had been a temporary phenomenon.
However, it wasn’t temporary.
Because Hei’s rate of growth was absurd.
That was why I had wondered if he might have been able to do all this all along and was just pretending he couldn’t, and now that seemed to be the correct answer.
There was something inside Hei and Kiena.
Something that even I didn’t dare try to measure.
But the problem I was still facing was that neither of them had implemented magic with their own self-awareness.
Everything that happened occurred in a completely unconscious state.
That also meant these weren’t abilities they could control on their own yet.
Usually, in cases like this, there was only one explanation.
They had been greatly influenced by heredity.
Could there be some secret behind Kiena’s and Hei’s birth?
Even if I wanted to find out, the orphanage where they had grown up in the Underworld was already gone.
I couldn’t uncover it on my own.
I put together all the situations and came to a single conclusion.
‘I was going to go to 5th Class alone, but plan revision. I’m taking the two of them with me.’
Hei handled the Dark Element at a level comparable to Tyrant, and Kiena controlled Sylarid’s summoned beast.
Since I couldn’t find out immediately, the plan was to keep them by my side, observe them, and find the clue.
Because there was a chance that the two of them might have a small connection to Sylarid or the Draco Family.
The words Kiena muttered, ‘the place where the pieces come together’.
Hei had muttered words with the same meaning.
I didn’t know what those words meant.
To find that out, I revised the plan to take these two to 5th Class.
In any case, it meant they had to go to that place where the pieces came together, so all the answers would exist there.
For now, I decided to wait for tomorrow to come and then check their condition tomorrow.
When the next morning came, I deliberately called Kiena and Hei and came to the cafeteria together.
“What’s going on? You always eat alone, but today you’re asking to eat together?”
Hei asked.
His expression was quite refreshed, and he looked to be in good condition.
“Just because.”
As I answered, I also subtly checked Kiena’s expression.
It wasn’t much different from Hei’s.
When the three of us sat side by side like that, I asked formally.
“Did you sleep well? You look like you’re in a good mood.”
“Yeah! I think I slept the best since entering the academy. I feel super refreshed?”
“Hei, you too? I also feel strangely clear-headed and really refreshed!”
“But you two, about yesterday.”
“Yesterday? What about yesterday?”
When I tried to bring up the main point, the two of them just looked at me with clear, innocent eyes and expressions that said they had no idea what I was talking about.
“At night…….”
“Night? I was tired yesterday, so I went to bed early. Did something happen?”
“I also went to bed early yesterday.”
Both of them looked like they couldn’t remember anything about yesterday.
I quietly closed my mouth.
To be in peak condition even after implementing such large-scale magic yesterday.
Especially Hei—he was someone who had struggled quite a bit with frequent burnout in 1st Class, yet to implement magic of that level and instead feel refreshed was strange.
‘Come to think of it, he didn’t get burnout in 3rd Class either.’
Looking at the current results, it had been quite a grueling duel schedule, yet he was completely fine.
Then there was only one answer.
It meant that thanks to the experience accumulated in 3rd Class, the unknown ability latent inside Hei was slowly beginning to awaken.
“No, it’s nothing. Kiena, Hei.”
“Yeah!”
The two of them answered energetically, as if they had been waiting for it.
“If you win just two more times, that’s 200 points.”
“Since Artel suddenly started working hard at duels, I worked hard too so I wouldn’t fall behind! We promised to go to the main academy together!”
That was Kiena’s answer.
“Alright, then let’s gather 200 points today and maybe take the interview together tomorrow?”
That was the conclusion I reached after going through yesterday’s events.
No matter what kind of interview the professor had prepared, I was confident the two of them would pass easily.
“Let’s do it!”
Kiena answered innocently.
Hei was the same.
The morning classes passed without anything special, and afternoon free time arrived.
I was holed up in the dormitory, continuously keeping an eye only on Mob.
[Ranking Board]
Artel, Kiena, Hei - 199
Not long after, the ranking board changed once again.
Only 1 point remained until 200 points.
I sent a message to Hei and Kiena via Mob.
-Last 1 point. Let’s all do our best.
-Kiena : Artel, you do your best too! Go go!
-Hei : Wow, we’re really taking the 5th Class exam! But what happens if we fail……? Even if I dig through the notices, there’s nothing like that written.
-Kiena : Don’t think about failing! We can do it. We’ve always done it so far, right?
-Hei : That’s true……. Artel is here too, so it’ll be fine, right? But is the interview done together, or separately?
Unexpectedly, Hei was curious about the details of the interview.
On the other hand, Kiena was just optimistic.
Comparing their tendencies so far, it felt like the two of them had switched places.
-Even if it ends up being separate, we can just say we’re doing it together. We’re Joint Admission students.
-Kiena : Artel, genius!
-Hei : That method…….
-Anyway, see you later.
I wrapped up the conversation there and immediately went to find and apply for the next duel opponent.
As expected, the duel application was approved straight away in less than three minutes, and I headed to the duel arena.
At the entrance of the duel arena I arrived at.
I made one suggestion to Cullem.
“What? You want to give the Element-Favored Duel Arena to the opponent this time?”
“Yes.”
From 3rd Class onward, an Element-Favored Duel Arena matching the applicant’s element was assigned.
Up until gathering 199 points, I had only used the Fire Element-Favored Duel Arena.
But thinking of this as the last duel of 3rd Class, I was simply curious what an Element-Favored Duel Arena of another element would look like.
Anyway, even if I gave up one favored arena, there was no way I would lose.
“Who was the student you were dueling against?”
Cullem checked the list now.
“Mihael Russel?”
“Yes.”
Up until gathering 199 points, I hadn’t challenged Russel to a duel even once.
And for some reason, ever since entering 3rd Class, Russel hadn’t caught my eye at all.
To the point where it felt like he was intentionally avoiding me.
“But why are you deliberately trying to hand over the favored duel arena to the opponent?”
“Just, I was curious what an Element-Favored Duel Arena of another element would look like. Is that an unreasonable request?”
“It’s not that, but it means don’t complain later even if you lose.”
“That won’t happen, so don’t worry.”
“Well, fine. If you want to give yourself a handicap, there’s no reason to refuse.”
Cullem readily agreed.
“Go to Portal 16.”