Spirit (1)
Spirit (1)
Lately, I think I might have gotten a little arrogant.
I pretended I wasn't, but everyone kept putting me on a pedestal as if I were someone great. Had it subtly spoiled me?
I'd heard that controlling the Confession Necklace could be a bit difficult, and I'd experienced it firsthand.
But once I figured out the on/off function, I didn't pay it much mind.
It wasn't impossible to filter my thoughts. I figured I could simply cut the connection if I was about to say something I shouldn't.
It didn't work out as I'd expected.
This necklace... it ended up broadcasting a fleeting, terrible thought to the world.
[I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry]
"Eyy, there's no need to apologize that much. It's okay, so please lift your head."
I repeatedly lowered my head with enough force to drive it into the ground. The apology scrawled across the hologram beside me bowed along with me.
Th-that... the moment the necklace spat out those words too mortifying to even put into words, I'd hurriedly deactivated it.
But stopping a leak in a bottle doesn't mean you can scoop the water that's already been spilled back up.
Honestly, I was terrified that Baek A-rin might hurl an ice spear at me. Or at the very least, I expected a frosty glare and cold contempt.
"Really, really, it's fine, so you don't have to do that. You didn't have any ill intentions, right?"
[I'm sorry...]
But Baek A-rin didn't show any signs of being upset.
Rather, she comforted me as if she understood everything.
I was slightly moved. She let a remark that should've been offensive slide and was worrying about me instead. I was both incredibly grateful and deeply sorry.
"It's only natural for babies to look for a chest. So you don't have to be embarrassed about it."
[I'm sorr... Pardon?]
'?'
While I was manually typing out my apologies—not copying and pasting, to show sincerity—I heard a rather strange word.
The Confession Necklace was definitely off... had my hearing gone bad?
A question mark floated over my head.
Seeing my reaction, Baek A-rin let out a soft chuckle.
[A baby?]
"Yeah, the kind of baby you're thinking of. Not the 'story' kind, but the 'wah-wah' crying one."
'?'
A second question mark appeared. I sifted through Baek A-rin's words.
She called me a baby.
A baby...
A baby?
Was she calling me a young, suckling infant?
To my face?
I was dumbfounded.
A rebellious defiance started to crawl up from within. Along with the embarrassment and shame of being told something like that at my age.
No matter how short I might be, I wasn't small enough to warrant that kind of treatment.
In my previous world, my birth registration was a bit sketchy, but I was an adult. My status in this world also clearly made me an adult.
Obviously, I didn't have the physique or age to be called a baby, and there was no reason for it.
"What can you do? A baby is going to look for a chest."
'......'
But when I recalled the mistake I'd just made, my defiance subsided naturally.
Since I was in the wrong, resisting her teasing would just be ridiculous.
Seeing me like that, Baek A-rin kept grinning and teasing me.
She even played some mischievous tricks emphasizing her chest, which made me want to bolt immediately... but burdened with guilt as I was, I couldn't bring myself to run.
Just as I was trapped in a hell of teasing I couldn't even react to, cadets started trickling in one by one.
They didn't step between me and Baek A-rin. They simply kept their distance and watched like uninvolved bystanders.
There were a couple of faces I recognized.
I spotted Attila and Aiden sitting down a little way away.
Attila still wore a sharp impression, and Aiden had his usual blank, empty-headed expression on his face.
I felt a bit of joy seeing familiar faces after a while, but my need for help was stronger.
'Help...'
Maybe sensing my earnest feelings, Attila, who had been tapping at her smartwatch, turned her head. Our eyes didn't exactly meet, but she definitely looked this way.
She flinched. Her pupils trembled minutely as they scanned between me and Baek A-rin, then she subtly turned her body away.
'?'
Aiden, beside her, blinked a few times before suddenly gauging the mood and also turning his body away, following Attila.
'?'
I was jolted by the blatant rejection.
I thought we'd built up at least some rapport, but I never expected them to cut me off so cleanly.
Just as I was trembling from the shock—
A figure trudging into the park was caught within my range of perception.
Her cadet uniform coat discarded somewhere, a red jacket thrown on carelessly, and a distinctly indifferent face...
It was Hong Yeon-hwa.
'......!'
My expression brightened instantly.
Though I'd been betrayed by Attila and Aiden, whom I'd mistakenly thought I was close to, I had faith that Hong Yeon-hwa wouldn't do the same.
"Ah."
As if rewarding that faith, Hong Yeon-hwa's face—which had been chewing on something—also brightened instantly when she saw me.
Her pace quickened several times, and in a flash, she was upon me. She reached out as if it were the most natural thing in the world and began to stroke my head.
The corners of my lips twitched at the touch threading through my hair.
"You got discharged okay? No aftereffects or anything?"
—Shook his head.
"Really? You're not lying? Your face tells me otherwise, though."
Her touch descended from my hair and cupped my cheek.
I pressed my cheek further into her fiddling hand. As the area being touched grew, so did the satisfaction.
Just as I was savoring the pleasant sensation, her slender fingers traced the dark shadows under my eyes.
She narrowed her eyes, seemingly unconvinced by my answer, and then her gaze drifted to where my left arm was, her expression sinking into gloom again.
I didn't like seeing Hong Yeon-hwa make that kind of face.
Just as I was about to divert her attention, Hong Yeon-hwa's gaze had already shifted.
Her stare prodded the back of my neck.
"Hm?"
Her two eyes blinked. A strange emotion flickered in them before she extended a slender finger and tapped against the Confession Necklace.
"What's this?"
Her voice sounded normal. But there was something about it. It felt like she wasn't entirely pleased for some reason.
"Who'd you get it from?"
Did she not like the necklace? I thought the design was clean and decent enough.
"It's an artifact. It has a thought-projection function. He got it from Ellia."
"...Ellia? An artifact?"
"Yes. But he can't control it right now, so it's turned off."
Baek A-rin, who had been watching me and Hong Yeon-hwa from behind with a curious gaze, explained on my behalf.
The function of the Confession Necklace, and the fact that it was currently deactivated due to the incident earlier.
Fortunately, when it came to explaining that incident, Baek A-rin caught my desperate signals, flashed a grin, and spun it favorably.
Having listened intently to that answer, Hong Yeon-hwa looked back down at the necklace.
"......"
Her eyes lifted. A subtle, meaningful gaze bore into me.
It wasn't quite a chill, but it was definitely an odd look.
I tilted my head to express my confusion, but Hong Yeon-hwa simply said it was nothing and stroked my cheek once more.
If the Confession Necklace had been on, what would I have blurted out?
I didn't want to imagine it.
.
.
.
"Alright, is everyone here?"
Not long after, Professor Liana arrived.
There was still roughly ten minutes left until the announced time.
I used the Observation Authority to count the cadets, and there wasn't a single one absent.
Professor Liana stood with her back to the lake doing some final checks, and the cadets were seated in a semicircle around her.
I was one of them. Sitting at the very back edge of the semicircle, I rummaged in my pocket.
— Riiip
I pulled out a piece of candy I'd been hoarding in my pocket and tore open the wrapper. I took out the contents and popped it into my mouth with a nom.
It didn't taste like much, but it felt wrong to just keep it stored away forever since it was a gift.
I'd also been told by the doctors that, while it wasn't full-on malnutrition, I ought to put something in my mouth regularly, so I'd brought along nutrient bars and candy.
"......"
'?'
While I was doing that, a stare flew at me from the side. Wondering what was up, I looked over using my spatial perception. Hong Yeon-hwa was fixated on my lips... or more precisely, on the candy that was sticking out because I hadn't fully fit it inside.
A colorful piece of candy.
It was the Okchundang Baek A-rin had gifted me.
The look she was giving it was similar to the one she'd given the necklace earlier.
"...It's nothing. Forget it."
Just in case, I offered her a spare piece of Okchundang, but Hong Yeon-hwa only shook her head.
— Clap!
As we did that, Professor Liana, having finished her checks, brought her hands together.
The crisp sound of her clap spread among the cadets.
"Now that the time has come and everyone's here, let's get started, simple and quick!"
I straightened up my posture as well.
I was already behind on the material. If I fell behind on this too, my Midterm Evaluation scores would be buried in the basement.
Drawing everyone's attention, Professor Liana began her explanation with her back to the lake.
Today's lecture was 『Understanding Spirits』.
"Let's start with the definition of a spirit. It's simple! We call entities that operate with a faint self-awareness and uniqueness, woven into providence, a spirit. And the art of forming contracts with spirits and commanding them is called Spirit Arts."
It was exactly those spirits you'd commonly see in the fantasy genre back in my original world.
Fundamentally, there are basic attribute spirits like water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth.
There are also spirits of special attributes, but most belong to the basic ones.
"I expect you all know this from theory, but I'll go ahead and ask anyway. What is the strength of Spirit Arts?"
"The output and the sheer volume that comes from controlling a large number of spirits."
"Yes! As Cadet Isabella said, the hallmark of Spirit Arts is overwhelming numbers."
At the words of one female cadet, Professor Liana smiled broadly.
"Spirit Arts isn't just about controlling a single spirit. If your affinity, the caster's vessel, and your manageable mana suffice, you can form contracts with any number of spirits."
Of course, it varies depending on talent, but even an average spirit caster can command dozens of spirits via contract.
It's exceptionally rare for dozens of spirits to all be of a single attribute.
Even if the individual strength of each spirit differs, because a spirit caster brings along spirits of different attributes, they can exploit elemental matchups quite easily.
Furthermore, you can order spirits to carry out individual skirmishes, and since spirits possess a baseline immortality, you can keep deploying them in battles repeatedly.
And during all of this, it isn't as if the spirit caster is completely unable to act themselves. You can still engage in combat using Body Strengthening, Aura, Magic, or other Unique Abilities.
"I am a spirit caster who has achieved a fair amount of mastery. A Superhuman who became a high-grade Hero in the Anti-Army Combat division."
Combat-oriented Heroes are all about results. Whatever their current skill level, they first build up achievements and get their rank assigned based on that.
Among those ranking criteria, combat Heroes are broadly divided into three categories.
Anti-Personnel. The ability to handle human-sized enemies.
Anti-Monster. The ability to subjugate monsters.
And Anti-Army.
Anti-Army Combat Heroes have a rather unique standard.
Can they single-handedly exert a significant influence on maintaining the Frontline?
It's a much trickier standard than Anti-Personnel or Anti-Monster.
Because of that, most heroes increase their rank through Anti-Personnel or Anti-Monster combat.
And Professor Liana was a hero who had climbed up through the Anti-Army division, effectively reaching the top tier.
Right before her retirement, she left behind a legacy of personally blocking an entire axis of the Frontline when monsters were surging back.
"Of course, everyone wants to be like that, but Spirit Arts is especially a skill where innate talent is critical."
Professor Liana's calm voice settled across the park.
"Why? Because for a race other than special ones like fairies, handling spirits requires a contract procedure, and without affinity, you can't even attempt that contract."
Spirits are difficult to utilize.
Primarily because there aren't that many people qualified to even try using them.
Those qualified to use them are the ones who possess Spirit Affinity as a Unique Ability.
Even among the first-year cadets at Siyoram—which gathers talents from all around the world—only a very few are learning Spirit Arts.
That's how extremely rare a talent Spirit Arts is.
"What is today's learning objective? That's right, checking your affinity! Who knows? Maybe you have an affinity we just hadn't discovered back when you first enrolled!"
With a beaming smile, Professor Liana crooked her finger.
Thump! One of the boxes placed nearby jerked, and a five-colored sphere popped out, flying into Professor Liana's hand.
Having caught it, Professor Liana flinched slightly.
"...?"
Professor Liana looked down at the crystal orb in her hand.
On the surface, faint five-colored energies were roiling wildly inside the crystal orb.
Except for the color, it looked similar to the crystal orb she'd used when teaching me mana.
The differences were that it was smaller in size, and instead of mana, peculiar energies were clustered and floating around inside...
And it was rattling faintly.
'Is that energy the spirits?'
From a moment ago... no, right from the instant I noticed it, it had been bothering me.
I kept getting the feeling that those energies were thumping their bodies against the walls, trying to get out, and their direction seemed to be facing right this way.
"...Of course, even if you lack Affinity, you'll have absolutely no trouble listening to today's lecture. The 'Understanding Spirits' lecture isn't about how to command spirits—it's about understanding the concept of spirits and learning countermeasures."
Professor Liana swept her gaze over the faces of the intently listening cadets.
Then, after looking down at the crystal orb once more, she lifted her head and stared at one particular spot.
"But..."
Her gaze lingered especially long on that single place.
"Still, it'd be nice to have some Affinity, wouldn't it?"
The direction where I was...
No, she was looking straight at me.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Baek A-rin
●●●●●○○○○○(51▷53/100)
｢Affection｣ ｢Question｣ ｢Confusion｣ ｢Sorry｣
...
Lee Ha-yul → Attila Blero
●●●●○○○○○○(49▷48/100)
｢Friendship｣ ｢Upset｣
...
Lee Ha-yul → Aiden Reynolds
●●●●○○○○○○(45▷44/100)
｢Friendship｣ ｢Idiot｣ ｢Upset｣
[Conditions to lift the "Curse of Silence" have not been met.]
[Conditions to lift the "Curse of Solitude" have not been met.]