Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Academy (15)
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It felt like the world, which had appeared in black and white, had suddenly burst into color.
To adapt to my senses sharpened by the spiritual medicine, I scanned my surroundings. Zombie chimeras limping here and there registered clearly.
'Heavy, Sharp.'
Swiik—Puk!
Thin needles infused with Mixed Origin Qi shot out. They pierced straight into heads dozens of meters away.
Throwing lightweight steel needles that far isn't easy.
But in this casually flung volley, the Mixed Origin Qi carried just the right weight and sharpness.
Ordinarily, operating internal energy with this level of precision would have been impossible. Now, though, it was feasible.
'Come to think of it, I only got this spiritual medicine thanks to Helena.'
If not for that cave she'd stumbled upon by chance, I never would have obtained it. Sure, there were suspicious aspects, but tagging along with her meant fortune fell into my lap even while I slept.
'Hm?'
Thanks to my mana sensitivity heightened by the spiritual medicine, I sensed something off. I sharpened my loosened focus.
'The mana flow feels a bit strange...?'
I couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but the mana currents were grating. They didn't feel natural—like they were being drawn somewhere.
"Hold on... Let's stop for a sec."
"Huh?"
I halted, ignoring Amelia's puzzled glance from behind.
I honed in on that instinctive irritation. Scanning around, I spotted another group at the edge of my vision.
They looked like the lowest-tier cadets, with innate mana around 1-star to 2-star.
One in particular stood out. Her petite frame contrasted sharply with her bouncing chest.
'Short, but damn...'
Her height seemed under 160 cm, which made certain assets pop even more.
The potion bottles dangling from her belt were unusual too. Yellow ones, red ones—vials filled with all sorts of colorful liquids hung in clusters.
She screamed alchemist.
A zombie chimera was closing in on them. A monster they could handle if they stayed calm.
"I'll take care of it!"
The alchemist-looking girl hurled a yellow potion vial at the zombie. It smashed against its head.
Pajijijik!
"Grraa...!"
Lightning erupted from the shattered glass. The zombie was engulfed in intense electricity from the mystery liquid.
Even from this distance, the crackling thunder felt threatening.
A direct hit like that should've wrecked it. Based on the zombie's stats I'd scouted earlier, anyway.
"Kwaaak!"
But the zombie was fine. Its barrier hadn't even cracked. A bit of stiffening was the only damage.
The thing, which had only charged up close before, now lunged from ten meters out. Way faster than earlier.
The alchemist's group started panicking.
"Wh-what...? Why isn't it dead?"
"Sera, calm down! I'll block it! Hah!"
A burly guy stepped up to intercept the zombie.
One-handed sword and shield—he was clearly from the knight department. He thrust his shield forward.
Kwang! Kwang!
"Ugh?!"
The shield guy's face twisted in shock as he blocked the zombie's strikes. Its raw power was beyond expectations.
Successive impacts shattered his balance. His extended shield flew off, and the zombie seized his arm.
He flailed reflexively, but the zombie's iron grip rendered it meaningless.
"Wh-what...? Aaaah!!"
Jeoeok!
The zombie's head split vertically, chomping down on the man's arm.
"Kyaaak!! Get off!"
The alchemist's group floundered, unsure what to do as the shield guy tumbled with the zombie attached.
Pajik!
Fortunately, a barrier flared from the belt at his waist. The zombie's teeth couldn't pierce the defensive artifact.
Grinding sounds echoed from its futile gnawing. The standard-issue artifacts for cadets were holding up decently.
If the artifact took damage beyond its limit, it would teleport him to safety.
'Hm?'
The barrier flickering from his belt began shaking violently.
Kwajik!
"Kaaaak!!"
The barrier shattered. With it, the man's arm vanished into the zombie's maw. A fountain of blood sprayed from the ragged stump.
"Kyaaaak!!"
The panicked group screamed, drawing more zombies their way.
Yet the teleport still didn't activate.
"What the...? The teleport?"
This wasn't normal. As the shield guy took damage, the ambient mana flows grew even stranger. Mana leaking from his wound was being sucked somewhere.
And the zombies' muscles were swelling. Their scrawny limbs were thickening before my eyes.
I checked the safety device at my waist. Communications read zero. No contact with the outside.
Si-woo glanced back at the women. Amelia looked rattled, while Helena merely frowned slightly.
"Looks like some kind of barrier."
"For now... let's help them."
Helena and Amelia's ranged attacks exploded the zombies' heads.
All the incoming zombies' heads exploded. The alchemist's group finally noticed us.
The rattled alchemist snapped to her senses. She pried open the zombie's corpse head and pulled out the shield guy's arm.
Clutching the severed limb, with another supporting the shield guy, they rushed over to us.
"Hah... Hah...! Th-thank you!"
"Kuh... Th-thanks."
Thanks to the shield guy, we'd spotted the problem fast. The bite wasn't clean like a beast's—it was ragged.
"The arm... not sure if it'll reattach."
I had no clue about this world's medicine. Helena spoke up from behind.
"If it's within two hours, it should be reattachable. Got any potions?"
"Ah! Here's a low-grade potion..."
"Not that—use this to treat him."
She handed over a high-grade potion. Even that simple act betrayed her status.
'Yeah, definitely gotta get closer to her.'
I tore my gaze from Helena and eyed the clock tower. Unsettling mana flows were radiating from it at the center.
"Anyway... the mana flows point to the clock tower as the issue. There's a safe zone on the way—maybe head there and assess the situation? What do you think?"
Safe zone.
A shelter unique to artificial rifts. Like an emergency underground bunker—though entering put you at the lowest point.
But the training exercise had gone to hell long ago. Escort this group there, then hit the clock tower to investigate.
Helena's face lit up as she nodded.
"Sounds good. No time to waste—shall we?"
*
The group set off toward the clock tower.
Amelia, slicing zombie heads with wind blades, grimaced. The monsters they encountered were getting tougher.
"Si-woo... the zombies feel more solid."
She was right. The monsters were steadily strengthening as time passed.
'Seems like they get stronger the more people die inside the rift.'
Mana from all directions was converging on the central clock tower. It might turn dangerous for me too, before long.
Even now, it was overwhelming for the lowest-tier cadets.
If they fell, all that mana would flow straight to the tower. The monsters would grow stronger in turn... a vicious cycle.
"We need to sort this out fast."
"Yeah."
Helena's eyes sparkled at my deduction, like a teacher itching to praise a star pupil.
"Uuh..."
The shield guy stared at his stump with a teary expression. The potion first aid and numbing had dulled the pain, but the sense of loss must've been horrific.
Such scenes were likely unfolding across the artificial rift.
'If the monsters get strong enough to wipe out most cadets... we're screwed.'
At that point, even I'd be in jeopardy. The mana from hundreds of cadets coalescing? The resulting monster strength was unimaginable.
I racked my brains, glancing at Helena.
'That clock tower question I asked her before... this has to be it.'
If she'd known about this since then, she was either involved... or privy to the details.
'No way the lady's the terrorist...'
Something similar had happened before. That Murim Alliance guy who'd shown up at Blue Bee Mountain after a prophecy.
Combat skills too polished for a cadet. Spiritual medicine that was too fortuitously perfect. And those eerie questions hinting at future knowledge.
'At minimum, a precog. Or...'
I watched her explode another zombie head, then tested a blessing.
'Observe.'
Target's Main Temperament: 'Memory Wish: Loneliness'
Now I knew Helena felt lonely. She was cold to everyone approaching except me.
No sign she wanted to befriend others. If she was lonely, why not treat them kindly like she did me? It was odd.
'And a Memory Wish...'
I pondered the meaning. A desire to remember something... or for someone to remember her. Those were the two possibilities.
Linking it to her foreknowledge led to one conclusion.
'Forgotten by everyone... a regressor?'