16
Chapter 16
'Old Hag...'
Memories flooded back to Enoch. There was no way to stop them.
It was during the Demon Realm Invasion.
The frontline collapsed due to a Commander's poor judgment.
Thousands were surrounded. The retreat path was blocked, and the demon forces were closing in from all sides.
Enoch had already scraped the bottom of his mana reserves. Blood streamed down his head from his injuries.
A comrade fighting beside him fell. Then another.
The despair of defeat grew heavier for humanity.
That was when Esme stepped forward.
The moment her staff hit the ground, natural mana converged on her, and space itself warped.
— Boom.
The closing demon army vanished in an instant. She had evacuated thousands of surrounded soldiers all at once.
Even as a skilled wizard, Enoch felt like a mere ordinary person in that moment.
Esme stood there, solitary and still.
When Enoch approached, he found her leaning on her staff with both hands, barely holding on. She had used far too much mana at once.
He remembered her mentioning a secret technique that allowed one to harness all of the natural mana at the cost of their own life.
At the time, Enoch had thought, 'Has the old hag finally gone senile?'
That day, Enoch witnessed the secret technique of an Archmage for the first time.
Enoch rushed to catch Esme before she collapsed.
The old woman's body was light. He couldn't believe that the person who had handled the most mana in the world could be this frail.
Esme slowly opened her eyes.
Her eyes met Enoch's, and she spoke.
"You lazy bum."
...
"Don't cry."
Enoch wasn't crying. And yet, he was.
"Old hag."
Enoch called out softly. No other words would come.
Esme smiled faintly, the wrinkles deepening on her face.
"The rest..."
Her breath grew shallow.
"I leave it to you."
That was the end.
#
Enoch blinked, and the reminiscence faded.
He saw Esme descending the stairs.
She was alive. She was breathing.
The sound echoed each time her wrinkled hand leaned on the staff.
That's right. She hadn't died yet. The old hag was still alive.
'Because I've returned to the past.'
Enoch knew this, but seeing her before his eyes made his chest tighten.
Esme stopped once she reached the bottom of the stage and looked toward Enoch.
She stared at him in silence for a long time, as if weighing something. Enoch couldn't bring himself to make a single expression under that gaze.
Esme spoke softly.
"Can I participate too?"
The whole auditorium froze.
In the VIP seats, Lionel uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. Nadia's eyes widened. Edouard finally peeled his back off the seat.
Garrett's mouth hung open. For the first time, a crack appeared in Isael's perfect smile.
The audience fell into a panic.
The undisputed strongest Awakened on the continent. The living peak of magic. The Magic Lord of the Vermes Magic State—the Archmage.
An absolute being who had reigned at the summit for sixty years had offered to spar. With an F Class student.
Lionel spoke softly to Nadia.
"Is this for real?"
"I don't know either..."
Nadia replied without taking her eyes off the stage.
"To think the Elder would go down there herself..."
Isael murmured, clasping her hands together.
"It means there is something that managed to pique her interest."
Edouard spoke quietly.
"That F Class student..."
Garrett looked down at the stage with his arms crossed. He said nothing. That silence was heavier than any words.
The waiting area next to the VIP seats.
Vincent grabbed his secretary's arm.
"She's actually standing on the stage?"
"I just..."
"Shouldn't we stop this? If the VIP gets hurt—"
"How are we supposed to stop her... Vice-Principal?"
At the secretary's words, Vincent had no choice but to fall silent.
Saphent stood beside them, arms crossed, watching the stage with anxious eyes. This was not the picture he had envisioned.
Ever since his student had been carried out on a stretcher, he felt the Academic Festival had completely slipped from his control.
'How could a mere F Class...'
Saphent gnashed his teeth, consumed by an inferiority complex.
Enoch was looking at Esme.
"......"
And he replied with a smile.
"Of course."
Enoch turned around.
On one side of the stage, Edelyn stood close to Benny, staring at Esme. Her fingertips were tucked slightly into her sleeves.
Enoch stood before Edelyn.
Edelyn looked up.
"Teacher..."
"It'll be a good experience."
Enoch said shortly.
"There's no need to be afraid. No matter who the opponent is, what you've learned doesn't change."
Edelyn looked back and forth between Enoch and Esme. Eventually, she made up her mind.
'If Teacher says it's okay, then it's okay.'
The fingers that had been hidden in her sleeves came out.
"I'm not afraid."
Her voice no longer trembled.
"Because I am Teacher's disciple."
Enoch said nothing. He simply nodded once and turned away.
Enoch spoke to Esme, who was waiting on the stage.
"This is my disciple."
Esme looked up.
"Her name is Edelyn."
Enoch didn't try to hide his pride.
"You'll be surprised once you spar with her."
Esme looked past Enoch and focused on Edelyn.
Ashy chestnut hair. Eyes hidden behind bangs. She walked toward the stage in silence.
Esme let out a boisterous laugh, one that defied her age.
The crowd fell silent.
"I'll look forward to it."
Leaning on her staff, she walked to the center of the stage.
Just as Edelyn was about to step forward, Benny spoke up beside her.
"Don't lose."
Edelyn glanced at Benny.
"Be realistic."
"Still, don't lose."
Benny was unusually serious. He wasn't the type to make such a face, and seeing that, Edelyn answered.
"I don't plan on losing either."
Then, she walked to the center of the stage.
No signal was needed to begin the sparring.
The moment the two stood facing each other, the atmosphere shifted.
Edelyn surged her mana.
She felt her mana storage open. The mana within the regular hexagon etched in her mind began to glow purple.
Three Water Balls.
Orbs of water materialized around her hands and shot forward simultaneously.
— Swoosh —
It was a probe—a first move to read her opponent's flow.
Esme gave a single lift of her staff.
Mid-flight, the three Water Balls vanished.
They didn't explode or bounce away. They simply disappeared without a trace, as if swallowed by space.
Edelyn couldn't detect any mana flow. She couldn't even guess how or where the spell had been cast.
Edelyn's feet came to a halt.
'They vanished...'
Lionel let out a low whistle.
"Space Magic. She's starting off strong."
"Do you have any idea how difficult that spell is?"
Nadia asked.
"I do. It's her Unique Magic. No one else can replicate it."
Lionel answered curtly.
"But that girl."
Garrett interrupted.
"She's not stopping."
Only Edelyn's feet had stopped; her eyes were still darting, trying to read Esme's mana flow.
Even though her opening move had failed, she didn't waver for a second.
Esme touched the ground with her staff, and Edelyn felt the mana condense. Reflexively, she leapt to the side.
— Flash!
Icicle Lance.
A thin, sharp spear of ice sliced through the space where Edelyn had just been standing.
It wasn't a grand or flashy spell. It was a basic spell delivered with absolute precision; there was no wasted movement.
Isael spoke softly.
"She dodged it."
"It wasn't just a simple dodge."
Lionel said, keeping his eyes on the stage.
"She read the mana flow to avoid it. She couldn't detect the Space Magic, but she managed to pick up the Icicle Lance."
"Is there a difference?"
Edouard asked.
"A huge one. Space Magic is high-dimensional, so it's only natural she couldn't read it."
Lionel glanced at Edouard for a moment before returning his gaze to the stage.
"But since the Icicle Lance is a relatively simple spell, she could feel the mana gathering. She caught it, despite still being an Academy student."
Edouard fell silent.
Edelyn cast her magic while on the move.
'I am Teacher's disciple. I can't afford to fall here.'
Five Water Balls. She aligned their path with the momentum of her sprint.
— Swoosh!
All five shot toward Esme simultaneously.
Esme summoned three more Icicle Lances.
— Flash! Flash! Flash!
She struck the incoming Water Balls with pinpoint accuracy. Water splashed everywhere. Two spheres remained.
Just as Esme tilted her staff to deal with the remaining Water Balls—
One of the two shifted its trajectory.
The Water Ball, which had been traveling in a straight line, curved. It aimed for Esme's flank, moving outside the path of the Icicle Lances.
A complete blind spot.
— Whiz.
Unlike its linear path, it began to rotate rapidly.
In the VIP seats, Nadia gasped.
Lionel leaned forward.
"That kind of mana control..."
"While running."
Nadia followed his thought.
"She changed the magic trajectory while she was sprinting."
Edouard couldn't take his eyes off the stage.
Garrett spoke in a low voice.
"Why is a child like that in F Class?"
It was a mutter to himself, yet every VIP nearby heard it.
Isael spoke quietly.
"That level of delicacy couldn't be achieved without long, grueling effort..."
Edouard remained speechless.
Lionel murmured under his breath.
"A student with that kind of talent in F Class. Isn't there something wrong with this Academy?"
No one replied, but they all seemed to be in agreement.
Esme stared at the curving Water Ball and smiled.