Chapter 99
Chapter 99
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Second Heart (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"...Huh?"
The blade was wrapped in white mana. Sparkling brightly. Ronan's mind went blank at the sight, identical to Nebula Klazier's.
"...Guess it's finally my time to die."
Ronan let out a hollow laugh. He'd thought he'd slept enough on the airship, but apparently not. As he relaxed his focus, the light on the blade faded.
'No way that's possible.'
Ronan closed his eyes. He poured mana into Ramancha once more. He could feel the mana extracted from the tumor flowing up the hilt.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds passed before Ronan cautiously lifted his eyelids. Flash! A dazzling bolt stabbed into his retinas.
"Fuck."
The pitch-black blade was now flashing so brilliantly it could light up a party. No matter how many times he tried, it was the same. After standing in place for a long while, Ronan turned on his heel.
'I'm screwed.'
He didn't care about Vaju right now. He needed to figure out what the hell was happening.
After a few trial and errors, Ronan headed to Gallerion Hall, the main building of the Martial Arts Department. Zadodin was absent, probably in class, and he had no idea how to get to Secret's office.
But Naviroje, the former Sword Saint, would surely know something. Creak. As he opened the door to the first arena, an unfamiliar scene unfolded.
"If you're all here, let's start... Hm?"
The students, who should have been sparring, had set down their weapons and were huddled together. Naviroje stood before them, drawing something on a massive portable blackboard with chalk.
It looked like a monkey pierced through the chest by a cannonball, but it was hard to tell what exactly it was. She nodded as her eyes met Ronan's.
"It's been a while, Ronan. How was your trip to the Dawn Magic Tower?"
"...Until just now, I thought it went fine."
Ronan sighed with a complicated expression. From Naviroje's reaction, it seemed she hadn't heard about what happened at the Dawn Magic Tower yet.
Adeshan was among the seated students. Spotting Ronan, she waved with a bright smile.
"I was just about to lecture on cores and auras. Perfect timing. Sit down."
"Cores... Talk about impeccable timing."
Ronan trudged over and sat beside Adeshan. Thanks to awakening shadow mana, her complexion looked much healthier than before. Noticing the shadow on Ronan's face, she asked worriedly,
"Long time no see. You look awful. Something wrong?"
"I'm done for, Senior."
"Huh...?"
"I've turned into a bald-worshipping retard just like those guys..."
"B-Bald?"
Adeshan tilted her head at the nonsense. Ronan sighed deeply again, as if exhaling his lungs and swallowing them back. Naviroje resumed the lesson.
"Good. You all know about cores already, but let's go over it once more. Ronan, you answer. What happens if you pour water into a straw basket?"
"...It leaks out?"
"Exactly. A heart without core formation is just like that. A heart woven from straw. It can circulate mana without issue, but using it beyond that is a strain."
Adeshan began jotting down notes. Ronan realized he and she were the only ones here without formed cores.
Naviroje explained cores while drawing diligently. He'd thought she was all about practical combat, but her theory lessons were surprisingly solid.
"Ultimately, forming a core means changing the material of your heart. At minimum, it needs to be wood or pottery level for you to store mana in it and use that as a power source. Now, look at this knight."
"...Knight?"
Not counting her abysmal drawing skills, that is. Ronan was shocked to realize the cannonball-pierced monkey was meant to depict a knight operating a core. Naviroje pointed to various parts of the monkey knight's body as she explained core operation.
"There are various ways to form a core. The method I recommend is steady stimulation with mana through training. It's the most basic, side-effect-free approach."
In essence, remodeling the 'existing' heart through consistent training was the basic principle of core formation. Naviroje emphasized the core's importance repeatedly, as it was essential for awakening aura— one's unique personal mana.
The way to awaken aura was solely to accumulate absorbed external mana in the core or circle and await mutation. Soon, Naviroje concluded,
"Nothing comes without effort. Think of it as replacing each strand of straw with steel and devote yourself to training."
Having swiftly finished the theory, she moved to her usual practical session. Everyone except Ronan and Adeshan was instructed to spar using their cores actively.
The two without cores had to swing at scarecrows in a remote corner. Naviroje said,
"Don't feel too bad. Your cases are special. Think of it as investing time to make a big vessel."
"Got it. But Instructor, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Is it possible for two types of mana to manifest from one core?"
"No."
It was a sharp, veil-cutting declaration. Ronan bit his lip and asked again.
"Absolutely? No matter what?"
"Precisely, there's no known case. Unless you have two hearts, it's impossible."
Ronan groaned with closed eyes. As expected, this wasn't normal.
"I see. Damn it... But what's this then?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I... think I formed a core."
"What?"
Naviroje's eyes widened. She wouldn't look that shocked even if her independent daughter announced a pregnancy. Instead of answering, Ronan drew his sword hilt. Mana oozing from the tumor dyed the blade pure white.
"This is...!"
"But it's not from the heart, right? Am I getting sold to a zoo now?"
"The mana properties have completely changed. What on earth happened?"
"That's what I'm saying. Ah, can you see the sparkling?"
"Sparkling?"
"Nothing."
Ronan sighed in relief. Fortunately, the flash distinguishing Nebula Klazier was visible only to him. Naviroje placed her hand on Ronan's chest and murmured with intrigued tone.
"...It's real. Something functioning as a power source has taken root beside the heart."
"A core? It wasn't formed under the best circumstances, so honestly, it's a bit scary."
"We'll see when we test it. If it looks wrong, I'll handle it. Give it a swing."
Naviroje nodded toward the scarecrow. Clicking his tongue once, Ronan gripped the hilt.
'Fine, damn it. I knew it.'
It sounded reckless, but he knew clashing directly was the only answer. Ramancha vanished from sight in an instant. Slash! The scarecrow crumbled into dozens of pieces.
"So fast...!"
Adeshan exclaimed. It was transcendent speed. Even with enhanced dynamic vision from shadow mana, tracking the sword path was hard.
But Ronan and Naviroje remained composed. The speed was no different from his usual mana-infused slashes.
"Hard to tell from that. Try manifesting sword energy."
"Sure."
Hiss— A strange breath escaped Ronan's lips. This time, sword energy. As he focused and swung, crescent-shaped energy rode the blade path and fired.
Boom! The straight-flying energy embedded in the scarecrow's neck and exploded. Stone dust scattered alongside butterfly-dust-like flashes.
"Damn."
Ronan frowned. As expected, no difference in power or range. Feeling the anomaly in his body, Ronan's eyes widened.
"Hah... Haah... What?"
"Your color's bad. You okay?"
"Wait... Haah, something's off..."
He hadn't even moved much, yet breath reached his throat. It felt like twice the stamina drain compared to usual sword energy. Suddenly, his legs gave out, and Ronan collapsed. Seeing his worsening complexion, Adeshan panicked.
"Ro-Ronan...! Hold on. I'll get water."
Adeshan dashed to the office. The blade's light faded. Just in case, Ronan switched the power source back to his original heart. His breathing steadied slowly, strength returning to his legs.
"Ha... What a mess..."
"Operates separately from the existing core, huh. Intriguing."
Naviroje stroked her chin interestedly. Ronan muttered curses under his breath. Currently, he couldn't find any differences from his cursed original heart. No, it was actually worse.
Sharing mana capacity with the original heart was a relief, but this was just a slight increase in total usable mana. And a flashy one only good for parties. Anger began building gradually.
'Fuck, is sparkling all it does? Just more exhausting?'
"I'll check on the other students first. Keep testing within your limits."
Naviroje turned away, having observed Ronan. It was class time; she couldn't focus solely on him.
Ronan stood, regulating his breath. He couldn't accept what had happened to him.
'There has to be more.'
The mysterious power source was likely born from Vaju's influence. From a being of immense power, good or evil—it couldn't end here.
Ronan switched power sources again. His body grew heavy as sparkling mana climbed the blade.
Moving before an advanced scarecrow, he took stance. Made from scrapped magic-engineered knights for advanced users, it was said to be ten times tougher than regulars.
Most of his training focused on spars with Schlieffen and stamina, so this was his first time testing one. Looking up at the scarecrow, Ronan tilted his head.
"Hm?"
The armor it wore bore the Grancia crest. Probably a donation from the Grancia side.
An inexplicable sense of familiarity hit him. A knight in Grancia armor. Recalling the memory, Ronan nodded. It was months ago.
'Looks like that guy. Dolan, was it?'
The advanced scarecrow strikingly resembled Sir Dolan Conchesto, the Grancia Duke's guard knight. The Nebula Klazier spy had infiltrated the dorm at midnight to kill Ronan. Suddenly recalling Dolan's fighting style, Ronan raised a brow.
'Come to think of it, his aura manifestation was unique.'
"Ronan, you okay now? Here's the water..."
Adeshan approached from behind with the canteen, but Ronan didn't notice. Absentmindedly lifting his leg, he stomped the ground with his right foot.
'Like this?'
Thud! A dull sound rang out as sparkling mana rippled. Adeshan, carrying the canteen, lost balance and staggered.
"Kyaa!"
"Senior?"
Ronan turned. Adeshan was falling. He lunged, catching both her and the airborne canteen.
"Th-Thanks..."
"What'd you trip on?"
"G-Good question? What?"
Adeshan looked around in flustered confusion. Nothing on the flat stone floor to trip over.
Suddenly, Ronan's gaze sweeping the floor reached Adeshan's leg. Clang. Ramancha slipped from his hand. A curse escaped Ronan's lips.
"Fuck."
"What's wrong?"
Ronan didn't answer. His eyes remained on Adeshan's leg—precisely her ankle. Squatting suddenly, he grabbed her calf.
"Wh-What are you doing?"
"This is...!"
Adeshan flushed in panic. She tried desperately to shake him off, but he clung like a cicada, unmoving.
Thin, tree-root-like things wrapped her ankle. The sparkling mana roots were very similar to Dolan's aura.
'Damn it, what the hell?'
It seemed he'd manifested it himself. As doubt thickened his mind,
Rip! Suddenly, space beside them tore open. A bearded old gentleman stepped out gracefully.
"Long time no see, Ronan."
"P-Principal Kratir?!"
"I've been looking for you. If you're free, join me... Hm?"
Adeshan's eyes widened. It was Phileon Academy's principal, Krava Kratir.
All eyes focused on them, but Ronan ignored it, fixated on Adeshan's ankle. Noticing their state belatedly, Kratir furrowed his brow.
"...Did this old man interrupt an important moment?"