54. Toward the Academy (5)
54. Toward the Academy (5)
"Craft."
An earthen wall about three meters high rose between us and the fireball the wyvern had launched. Aiming precisely from horseback was difficult, and the wall I raised barely intercepted it.
Boom!
The sound of the wall shattering rang out clearly. Having destroyed more walls than ever before, I glared at the wyvern and watched for the right moment to raise the next one.
One mistake would kill me.
The survival instinct I had honed over ten years was telling me exactly when to raise the wall.
I could not die here. Frustrating or not, I had to run.
Turning around and fighting would have been easier on my nerves, but it was the worst possible choice.
Our goal right now was purely to flee, not to fight.
And our opponents were wyverns. Strong or not, they were a terrible matchup for us.
They could fly and hurl fireballs from a distance, leaving us with no way to counterattack.
The result was a war of attrition in which I intercepted each fireball with an earthen wall and blocked as much of the blast as possible.
It was an extremely troublesome situation. Raising a wall exactly where I wanted while riding a swaying horse was difficult, and the only usable material around was poor-quality dirt. A structure made of soil could not stop a wyvern.
Even a body slam would shatter the flimsy earthen wall like Styrofoam. From my perspective, that would actually be welcome, since it would slow the wyvern down.
"Aaaaah! The horse won't listen!"
"Stay calm and ride! Just keep your balance so you don't fall off!"
If she fell here, it really would be the end. Falling from a galloping horse could kill her by itself, and those insane cultists and the wyvern would immediately snuff out whatever life remained.
"Craft. Craft. Craft."
One wall for each fireball. They kept fighting dirty from the sky, leaving me no way to attack. They were flying too high for my Skill to reach, and even if I made a bow, I did not know how to shoot one. Was there anything useful among the things I had bought at the general store?
It was a complication I had not had time to consider while everything unfolded so quickly.
"Craft, Craft, Craft."
Even while breathlessly shouting "Craft," I desperately rummaged through my bag. Awful-tasting jerky, water, assorted tools... After I made about ten more walls, my hand closed around a small pouch.
Inside was...
...Would it work?
If it failed, I might burn to death instead.
Still, if the plan I had come up with worked, it might buy us a little time.
I stopped using the Skill and waited for the wyvern to launch another fireball. The moment its throat lit up, I opened the pouch and hurled it with all my strength. Purple powder scattered through the air. Fortunately, perhaps because we were moving so fast, it spread over a wide area.
But it wasn't over yet. Ignoring the throbbing in my head once more, I used my Skill.
"Craft."
An earthen wall even larger than the ones before rose from the ground and blocked our view for a moment. It was large enough to make my head spin, but if I did not create it, we would clearly be caught in the blast too.
"Millia! Cover your ears!"
"Okay!"
I started to call out to Reni, then stopped. What about Karina?
There was no helping it. One of them would have to take the hit.
"Reni! Can you handle the blast?"
"What?!"
"Cover Karina's ears!"
Since Reni's body was tougher than steel, I chose to tell her to cover Karina's ears instead. Reni could withstand a blast this loud, but Karina could not. Fortunately, Reni followed my instruction and skillfully twisted around to cover Karina's ears.
Even with our ears covered, a deafening blast erupted, loud enough to make my eardrums throb.
"If we hadn't covered our ears, our eardrums would've burst..."
I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched the wyverns stagger, probably because they had heard the explosion up close. They were monsters in every sense, so only the nearest wyvern fell from the sky. The others merely shook their heads in pain and struggled to recover their senses.
"Yohan! The horse won't listen!"
"What?"
I immediately turned around and grabbed the reins. Leaning forward, I checked the horse and found it galloping wildly in a panic. We had to keep running anyway, so all I needed to do was control its direction. I kicked its flank, pulled the reins, and guided it straight ahead while glancing toward Reni.
True to her experience as a knight who had ridden many horses, Reni quickly calmed her panicked mount and kept galloping. The look on her face said her head was pounding. Apparently, even Reni could not emerge unscathed from a blast that felt strong enough to burst our eardrums.
"Status Window."
"Huh?"
Arrive at Kalon Academy.
Distance: 30 km
Reward: 1 Trait Point
We had already covered 20 km? Just how insanely fast were we riding?
I closed the Status Window and looked back at the wyverns and cultists receding into the distance. We seemed to have shaken them off. I could no longer hear the wyverns' cries or the fireballs exploding against the ground, nor could I feel the heat scorching my back.
"...We barely survived."
"Yohan, I'm tired~"
Millia slumped limply against me. As the top of her head settled just below my chin, I rested my head on top of hers and adjusted my grip on the reins.
"Once we get into that city up ahead, it's over. Just hang on a little longer."
The end was finally coming into sight.
The end I had longed for so desperately.
----------------------
Arrive at Kalon Academy.
Distance: 1 km
Reward: 1 Trait Point
"The horses are completely spent too."
It was unavoidable after such a forced march, but at this point riding was no faster than walking. We had no choice but to dismount from the horses, whose legs were trembling too badly to move, and walk toward the academy. I wanted to run, but recklessly wasting stamina now could leave us in serious trouble.
"I'm tired..."
"Just a little farther. We're almost there."
We were finally at Kalon Academy.
Seeing Kalon Academy—the setting of Survival Academy—no bigger than my fingernail in the distance stirred something in me. It was the academy I had wandered around until I was sick of it in the game. Unable to believe I was finally seeing it in reality, I rubbed my eyes.
Ten years.
A whole ten years.
The years I had wasted in the wrong place. But even that was finally approaching its end.
Arrive at Kalon Academy.
Distance: 0.6 km
Reward: 1 Trait Point
With so little distance left, the wait was maddening. We were clearly getting closer, yet it kept feeling as though the distance refused to shrink. Once I arrived, would I finally become someone who belonged to Survival Academy?
Would something change?
I would find out once I got there, I supposed.
I steadied myself and forced my aching feet to keep moving.
0.5.
0.4.
0.3.
0.2.
0.1...
It was right there. Right there.
A wyvern was not going to suddenly pop out, was it?
Or an assassin come charging out from the academy...
They were ridiculous worries. But had there ever been a time when I was not being screwed over? The closer we came to the gate, the more tightly wound I became.
It was not over until it was over.
The phrase came to mind out of nowhere.
But right then, it was exactly what I needed to remember.
"Halt! Entry into the academy is currently forbidden—"
"Karina is in critical condition! Clear the waaaay!"
The soldiers went pale at Reni's shout, which rivaled the roar of a dust explosion. The noise left my ears ringing in an instant. I stared at the guards while covering Millia's ears with my palms. My ears ached.
"What's the meaning of shouting so suddenly—"
"Shut up! Open it, now! Before I smash my way through!"
Was this what the roar of a ferocious beast sounded like? Reni advanced while radiating an aura terrifying enough to frighten anyone who looked at her. She seemed ready to smash through the entire gate if it remained closed. Reaching inside her clothes, she pulled out a gleaming badge and hurled it at the guard.
The badge punched into the stone wall and remained embedded there. Looking ready to faint, the guard stared at the mithril badge proving the identity of the Church of Kalon's Saintess, then whirled around and shouted.
"O-Open the gate! The Saintess has arrived! The Saintess has arrived!"
Only then did the gate begin to open.
The gate opened with maddening slowness. A sideways glance showed Reni was on the verge of smashing through it. Fortunately, she did not lose patience and charge before it opened completely.
The gate was completely open. But I did not move rashly. An enemy might suddenly appear. I could not let my guard down.
...Fortunately, the figures beyond the gate were startled guards in familiar uniforms.
Were there really no more enemies?
With bleary eyes, I gazed at the scene beyond the open gate.
A neatly paved gray road, just like in the game.
Brightly colored houses clustered tightly together. And at the end of the road, the enormous academy.
"...Finally."
As relief washed over me, a gray window appeared before my eyes. Even without looking closely, I knew what it was.
[Mission Clear]
Reward: 1 Trait Point
We had arrived at Kalon Academy.