Practical Exam (6)
It's warm.
When Kael draped his uniform over her, Medeia felt the lingering warmth of his body still held within the fabric.
It reeked of sweat, yes, but that hardly mattered.
What mattered to Medeia was Kael's warmth.
She hugged the uniform tightly against herself, wanting to hold onto that heat a little longer.
Her heart settled.
She wanted to feel this warmth for a long, long time.
Yet the night's cold was merciless, stealing away the last of the heat trapped in the cloth with cruel speed.
"Ah……"
Medeia looked up at the sky.
The moon and stars of the night sky glittered in a breathtaking display, yet none of it pleased her.
The same night that twisted her appearance into something grotesque.
The same night that robbed her of the last remnants of Kael's warmth.
All of it was the work of this wretched night.
That was when it happened.
"Achoo."
Kael, standing watch, sneezed.
Having given his uniform for her sake, all that remained on him was a shirt so thin it could not even keep out the wind.
There was no way he wasn't freezing.
That idiot……
Medeia rose from where she sat.
The distance between her and Kael was not far.
She stepped up in front of him and gazed at his face through the darkness.
Beautiful……
Kael's eyes, gleaming beneath the faint moonlight, were beautiful.
Looking at those eyes that shone so purely—so unlike her own cursed gaze—she felt a fleeting twinge of jealousy.
But it lasted only a moment. Remembering why she had stood, Medeia lifted the uniform she still held and settled it carefully over Kael's shoulders.
In that instant—
"Kael?"
Their eyes met.
Can he see me?
Startled, she tried to look into his eyes again.
Thud!
Kael shoved her aside.
"……!?"
At the same moment, a blade of pure black sliced through the space between them.
That was close.
A fraction of a second later and that jet-black sword would have cut Medeia down.
Fortunately, the sixth sense that had awakened with the coming of night allowed me to detect the attack in advance.
Who the hell is this?
I turned my head toward the sudden attacker.
Clank. Clank……
Accompanied by the scrape of armor, the figure emerged from the darkness.
A suit of armor that covered its entire body in black.
Blue eyes glowing from the slits of its helm.
A greatsword as dark as pitch.
"……Death Knight."
The one that had assaulted Medeia was a Death Knight—one of the highest-ranking undead.
Why is a Death Knight here?
This place was the Cemetery prepared by the Academy for the practical exam.
It was not a place where an out-of-bounds undead like a Death Knight should appear.
I had no idea what was going on, but the situation was bad.
Without the slightest hesitation I shouted toward Medeia.
"My Lady! Run!"
From the very beginning the creature had been targeting Medeia.
Knowing that, I had to get her as far from this place as possible.
"W-what are you talking about?! Run? We have to fight together! How are you supposed to face something like that alone……"
But Medeia refused to listen.
Instead she raised her staff, ready to fight at my side.
Clank. Clank……
The Death Knight began to move.
There was no time.
Left with no choice, I scooped Medeia up into my arms.
"I'm sorry, My Lady."
"What are you try— Kyaaaaaaah!!!"
Without hesitation I hurled Medeia far into the distance.
It was a dangerous method, but it was the only way to put space between her and the Death Knight.
As for the landing…… she was a mage. I trusted she would manage somehow.
Clank. Clank……
Confirming that Medeia was clear, the Death Knight moved.
I raised my sword and barred its path.
"Your opponent is me, you tin can bastard."
Clank. Clank……
Only then did the Death Knight's blue gaze turn toward me.
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly without meaning to.
It was because of the Black Mana pouring off the creature.
Simply by radiating that energy, it was enough to choke the air from my lungs.
On par with Hate…… no, maybe even stronger.
My instincts said so.
Looking back, I had only managed to defeat Hate because he had let his guard down.
But the thing standing before me now was a knight of death that possessed no concept of carelessness.
A Death Knight.
I had no idea how long I could last against something like this.
Still, I could at least buy Medeia enough time to escape.
Woom!
I drew up my Aura.
Full power from the start.
A half-hearted strike would not even scratch this thing.
From the very first moment I poured every Core I had stockpiled in my heart into the fight.
Ziiiiiiing!
As the Cores flooded into my Aura, a deafening roar tore through the air, loud enough to shred eardrums.
"Kh……!"
I had used only two Cores.
Just two, yet the price was beyond imagination.
Pain like my insides being shredded to ribbons threatened to snatch my consciousness away.
Crack!
I clenched my teeth and endured.
If I blacked out here, it would not end with only my own death.
Even if I died, I would drag this tin can bastard down with me. With that resolve I glared at the Death Knight.
I can see it.
Blue lines appeared across the Death Knight's body.
Through the skill Absolute Perception, every opening in the creature was laid bare before my eyes.
"Huu……"
Steadying my breath to push the pain aside, I swung my sword straight at the Death Knight.
Clank. Clank……
As I attacked, the Death Knight swung its own blade in answer—but the strike never reached me.
The red lines had already told me exactly where the attack would come from.
"Die!"
After dodging its blow, I drove my sword into the Death Knight's body exactly where the blue lines guided me.
In that instant—
KWA-AAAANG!
My Aura detonated.
The shockwave hurled me far backward.
Even the sword I had used could not withstand the explosion of Aura and snapped cleanly in half.
"Hahk, hahk…… Khhh!"
It would not have been strange to collapse on the spot, yet I held on.
I could not fall until I confirmed the creature's end.
At last the dust cleared, and the sight that emerged made me spit a curse.
"Damn it. Disgustingly tough……"
An all-out attack had only managed to blow off one of the Death Knight's arms.
Even that was slowly regenerating through the Black Mana streaming from its body.
So this is how I die?
I no longer even had the strength to stay on my feet.
Just as I thought I was finished—
Core Skill proficiency has increased.
Core (2-Star) → Core (3-Star)
"……?!"
My Core proficiency had risen.
And I could feel the presence of Cores blazing hotly within my heart.
Three of them.
Huh.
I never expected my Core proficiency to jump like this all of a sudden.
I had not imagined it for a second.
One more time……
It was jarring, but this was a chance.
One more opportunity to land a real hit on the bastard.
I forced my trembling legs to still and used the broken half of my sword as a cane to stand.
Then I wrung out every last drop of remaining mana and forged it into Aura.
"Huu."
Taking a deep breath, I locked eyes with the Death Knight.
It stared back at me even as it regenerated its arm.
"This one's going to hurt a lot."
With those words I slammed all three Cores straight into my Aura.
ZIIIIIIIIING!!!
A roar erupted so violently it felt as though the sword itself were screaming.
At the same moment the Death Knight, sensing the danger, charged.
I could barely stay upright as it was; going to it would have been impossible. How convenient that it came to me instead.
"Drop dead, you bastard!"
The Death Knight swung its blade for my neck at the exact same instant I swung mine.
Thuk!
The moment my sword touched it—
KWA-AAAAAAAAAANG!!!
An explosion bloomed just like before.
But the power was on an entirely different level.
The instant the broken half of my sword met the Death Knight's armor, the runaway Aura pulverized that armor into dust.
Only then did the Death Knight realize something had gone wrong and try to escape—but it was already too late.
The unstable Aura, destabilized by the Cores, had already wrapped around its entire body.
Sssssssss……
In the end the Death Knight, unable to flee, crumbled away into dust—armor and all.
Confirming that sight, I closed my eyes.
Leaving behind Medeia, who was sprinting toward me from far away.
No. No. Please be alive, Kael.
After being flung far away by Kael, Medeia ran with everything she had to return to where he was.
Please stay alive.
She had already sent a magical transmission to the professors overseeing the exam.
If she could just reach him and hold on together, they would make it.
Believing that, Medeia ran like a madwoman.
She stumbled and fell.
Her knees scraped raw and her palms stained with blood, yet she paid it no mind and kept running.
That was when it came.
KWA-AAAAAAAAAANG!!!
An ear-splitting explosion roared out.
There had been one earlier as well, but this one was on a completely different scale.
Medeia's face went deathly pale.
What if something had happened to Kael?
And when she finally arrived—
"Ka… el?"
What entered her eyes was the sight of Kael dying.