An Enemy All His Own
The western reaches of Roke Island spread out into a desolate wasteland.
It had once been a lush, forested region, but after a professor's dark magic experiment conducted there long ago ended in catastrophic failure, the land had lain barren for centuries, refusing to grow so much as a blade of grass.
Atop the tallest, most remote hill of this wind-scoured expanse, where nothing stirred but the sand-laden breeze, training equipment of every kind lay scattered in disarray.
Someone was training here.
His bare torso, bared to the air, revealed a powerfully sculpted abdomen and dense muscle, and scales covered parts of his body. One eye had transformed into the slit pupil of a reptile.
Ranked third overall in his year, and Class Representative of the Summoning Department — Hector Moore.
This hill in the wasteland was a place he frequented for private training. In particular, throughout the entire Mission Assessment period, he had shut himself away here, pouring sweat into every session.
"So here's what I think — we need to join forces to deal with a common enemy."
And right now, an uninvited guest had walked in and was talking his ear off.
It was Aseraz Mikel.
"I trust you understand what I'm getting at, Class Rep."
Thud!
Hector dropped the Death Dragon wings attached to his back. Striding over, he snatched up a water bottle lying toppled on a rock, twisted off the cap, and gulped it down.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, droplets trailing down from his jaw and along his neck.
Tap.
Setting the bottle back on the rock, Hector wiped the sweat streaming down his forehead with the towel draped around his neck.
"You looked half-dead through every class. Were you that hung up on Simon Polentia?"
Aseraz sneered.
"We're both hung up on him, aren't we? That cuts both ways."
"……"
"You and I are the same breed. We can't stand having anyone above us. Between the two of us, the rankings trade back and forth every exam — but the one standing over both of us is something else. He's not just some 'wall.' You've been watching him since first year, so you know that better than anyone."
She spread her palm open.
"That the gap in talent is nothing short of a cheat code."
An opponent that sheer effort could never, ever close in on.
Sit in the same seat, attend the same class for the same hours, and still the results that came out the other side were different — a monster, plain and simple.
Aseraz had felt that chasm acutely during the Corruption lessons especially.
"Wearing yourself out trying to climb over a wall that was designed to be unclimbable will only skin your knees and wreck your body. A wall like that isn't meant to be climbed. You have to smash it with a hammer and walk through the rubble."
Picking her way through the clutter of training equipment, she continued.
"I'm going to drag Simon down. This school has an entire institution built for exactly that — it practically goads you into it. Anyone who doesn't take advantage of that would have to be an idiot."
Hector, who had been listening in silence, let out a long breath.
"That much is true."
The corner of Aseraz's mouth curled upward.
Just as I thought.
She had sensed it from the very first moment she saw him in their department — this man and she were the same kind.
The kind who would do anything to win, to stand at the summit.
"I need your cooperation. Let's join hands for this exam and drive Simon out of the school together. What do you say?"
Hector closed his eyes slowly.
"……Judging by the way you're talking, this isn't the first pitch you've made. How many have signed on to this plan?"
"Nearly the entire Top 10."
Aseraz smiled.
"The others might see him as some kind of idol, but you and I both know he's a rival we have to break. Against a common enemy, we combine our—"
"A common enemy."
The air changed in an instant.
When Aseraz saw the sneer on his lips — something closer to contempt than mockery — she belatedly realized that something had gone very wrong.
"No. That man is my enemy."
A thick, concentrated bloodlust bled into Hector's voice. The infamous Dragon Fear. Aseraz felt a chill slice through her entire body, marrow to skin.
"It has to be me who breaks Simon Polentia. Until I've broken him with these two hands, I won't stand by and let cheap tricks drive him out of this school."
Thud! Thud! Hector advanced on her with heavy, thundering footfalls.
"An unclimbable wall, you say? Going to smash the unclimbable wall with a hammer, are you?"
He added, curling his lip:
"Like a loser would."
"……!"
Aseraz shuddered.
And then she thought:
I was planning to take down Simon Polentia in this exam — but before that, I'll have to deal with you obstructionists first.
He wasn't the same breed at all.
This man was mad on an entirely different level.
That afternoon.
Aseraz and Merdiana walked side by side, comparing notes on how their respective recruitment efforts were going.
"I honestly didn't expect Hector Moore to come out like that."
Merdiana clicked her tongue in disappointment, her autumn-colored hair swaying in sharp, angular waves.
"With a grudge like his, I figured cooperation was a given. Well, at least we secured Elisa and her ghost ship, so it's not a total loss."
This time it was Aseraz who asked.
"What about Jules, the Battle Arts Representative, and Elysia from Hemomancy?"
"Jules agreed on the goal of taking down Simon Polentia, but she wants to move separately. And Elysia just keeps talking in circles."
"?"
Merdiana closed her eyes as if the mere thought of it gave her a headache.
"She held me hostage through a three-hour tea time and the conversation went absolutely nowhere. Something's off about that girl. It's like there are butterflies flying around inside her skull."
Aseraz had heard the rumors about Elysia too.
The Blood Cat Tribe.
A girl who could glimpse the future.
One of the Top 10, yet utterly impossible to read. Or maybe — she didn't actually have a mind of her own at all.
"But honestly?"
Merdiana lifted her chin.
"It doesn't matter what happens with the others. The one we're about to meet is the one that counts."
Northern Roke Island — the Kolov Mountain Range.
The two of them were climbing the mountain well into the late hours.
"We're here."
When they crested the ridge, a massive thatched cottage came into view.
It looked like the timeworn dwelling of a hermit. For a single person's home, it was enormous — the door, the windows, even the shoes and clay jars set out on the ground were all oversized.
"From what I've dug up, the half-giant Chatel Maer apparently lived up here in the mountains with his human father as a child."
Merdiana swept her gaze across the surroundings as she spoke.
"I'd guess he built this house for the memories."
"No one's inside."
Either she had no interest in that kind of backstory, or she was simply efficient — Aseraz was already peering through the window, and a moment later she unfurled her magic circles and began a wide-area scan.
Before long, she pointed off to the side.
"This way."
Descending a little further from the cottage, they discovered a large cave halfway up the mountainside and stepped inside.
"It's not naturally formed. Looks like Chatel bored straight through the mountain."
Merdiana, walking in the lead, said this — and then abruptly had to stop.
A magical barrier blocked the way forward.
Aseraz immediately conjured her magic circles around her.
"I'll try hacking the barrier."
"Ooh. You really are reliable."
Aseraz's fingers danced like a pianist's. She linked her own magic circle into Chatel's, then dismantled the security formulae one by one.
Watching her work from the side, Merdiana shrugged.
"Ever regret going into the Summoning Department?"
"……"
"You had talent in every field, after all."
Aseraz lowered her eyelids briefly, then raised them again.
"No regrets."
"Glad to hear it."
Vmmm!
At last, she inserted a new rune into the circle — and every security formula dissolved, the barrier winked out entirely.
The two of them could now press deeper into the cave.
"Careful."
They had walked only a short distance before the cave's end came into view — and with it, a sheer, fathomless drop.
Aseraz knelt cautiously and peered into the darkness beyond.
The mountain's interior had been hollowed out on a colossal scale, forming an artificial cavern of breathtaking size.
The mountain they had climbed looked perfectly intact from the outside. To carve out a sight this impossible without so much as disturbing the surface — only Chatel, the specialist in Dark Earth magic, could manage it.
Then—
"Ah!"
The cave floor beneath their feet dropped away. Both of them plummeted, gravity seizing them at once.
"What the—?"
Merdiana grimaced and pulled the 'Bees' from her uniform sleeve; Aseraz readied her dark magic. But before either could act, a section of the ground rose up like a pillar, caught them both, and began to move.
They came to a halt before a colossal statue standing at the center of the chamber.
Crack.
Crack.
Fissures spiderwebbed across the serenely smiling face of the statue, and then the eye section burst apart — and living human eyes pushed their way out from within.
Aseraz nearly screamed.
"So you've. Broken my barrier."
Inside, sure enough, was Chatel Maer.
"Mid-training. What do you want."
"We have a proposal for you."
Merdiana said calmly, smiling.
"What do you think of the Anti-Simon Polentia Alliance?"
"……"
Chatel Maer's eyes narrowed to slits.
"Hooah! Hah!"
The training ground Simon had chosen for the Mission Assessment period was the Forbidden Forest.
There was no special reason for it. To any other student it would have been an extremely dangerous place — but for Simon, it felt like home.
Apart from the sentries who patrolled at set hours, there wasn't a soul around, and he never had to worry about prying eyes. It was perfect.
Simon sprinted through the Forbidden Forest at full tilt until his throat burned and his lungs were screaming. Weaving freely around the forest's terrain, he pushed his speed higher and higher. His gym clothes were quickly smeared with dirt, and beads of sweat dripped steadily from his brow.
Good. Good.
His condition was excellent. The leg he'd injured on the grassland, and the wound Rate had carved into him — both were healing steadily.
Grrrrrr.
Right on cue, the cry of one of the forest's native monsters rang out.
A werewolf — one of the most frequent threats prowling the Forbidden Forest.
Here it comes!
Simon picked up speed, then brought both hands together as if interlocking his fingers, miming a grip.
And the instant he flung both hands wide, emerald jet-black blazed like glowlight and stretched out liquid-long.
Simon swept both arms behind his head, then brought them crashing down from above with everything he had.
<Simon Original — Royal Guard>
In the treetops.
Beside the boulders.
At his rear.
Everywhere, the skeletons that had been running alongside Simon flashed emerald and transformed into Royal Guard units. Sweeping teal cloaks behind them, they burst forward like rifle rounds and cleaved with their blades.
Shrrk!
Shaaak!
The werewolves that had lunged at Simon were shredded to fragments and scattered across the ground.
"Nice!"
During this stretch of training, Simon had been honing his fundamentals above all else.
He was also working to shorten the Royal Guard's casting time until it could be used as casually as a basic spell. By now, he could cast it far faster even without invoking the Blood Golem spell.
Whoosh!
Bursting out of a dense thicket, Simon planted his foot on a cliff face and launched himself skyward.
Keeeeeeeh!
This time it was the forest's harpies, roused by the commotion, swooping in to attack. Simon extended his arm, and a Skullwing he had pre-made as a summon-type undead flew straight to him.
Thump!
Simon mounted the Skullwing. Then, with the same gesture as before, he slashed his hand downward — and from the sky, a teal flash streaked in and settled into the Skullwing.
<Royal Guard>
Vmmmm!
The Skullwing's bone wings warped into razor-edged blades. He punched straight through the flock, tearing the harpies' bodies apart.
"Good work!"
Simon leapt down from the Skullwing and kept running.
This was deep into the Forbidden Forest — past this point, mid-sized and large monsters roamed.
GRRAAAAAAARGH!
A hobgoblin a full one-and-a-half times the size of a man came charging in. Simon calmly opened his subspace.
Clack! Clack!
This time, thick, heavy bones erupted from the subspace, morphing the moment they emerged and assembling themselves into armor.
<Simon Original — Bone Heavy Armor>
Mounted inside the colossal armor, Simon crooked his finger once more — and from the sky, a teal flash descended like lightning, transfiguring it into 'Royal Guard' state.
The sight of the massive bone armor engulfing Simon and charging headlong was like watching an entire fortress move.
BOOOOOM!
KRAAAAK!
The Bone Heavy Armor tore into the hobgoblin horde.
Overwhelming strength and raw destructive power. Just by running forward, it flattened every hobgoblin in its path, leaving them crumpled and broken in its wake.
Simon slipped out through a gap in the armor and reached back over his shoulder.
Gate, open!
He lifted Overlord to cut the monster's throat — and then winced.
Habit was a terrifying thing. He'd completely forgotten he'd left Overlord with the Vanilla Group for its overhaul.
<Bone Spear>
So he switched to a different spell. The enormous Bone Armor rose into the air, reshaped into a giant lance, and pounded down on the monsters one after another, crushing them flat.
Once he'd harvested the necessary materials from the fallen monsters, Simon brushed off his palms and walked on out.
"Kukuku! Impressive, boy!"
Pier smiled, having witnessed Simon's new technique.
"To weave the Royal Guard in at the precise moment and timing is one thing — but thou hast clearly focused on shifting form the instant the Guard takes hold as well!"
"Yes. This is how I buy the time I'll need to chain it into Chaos magic, the Death Knight, and eventually the Bone Dragon."
The closer one stood to techniques of that caliber, the more everything came down to fundamentals. For the Simon of today, this training was indispensable.
"Whew."
Having punched straight through the Forbidden Forest, Simon could see a city in the far distance.
The student city of Rochest.
"Shall we, then?"
Today, at long last, was the day of his long-awaited meeting with Benya Vanilla.
It finally felt like he'd be getting his hands on everything he needed.