Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Class Assignment Test (4)
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The core of shamanism lies in transactions.
You offer a price and, in return, manifest a corresponding phenomenon.
That is the foundation of shamanism: the Offering.
In that sense, shamanism shares similarities with deals made with the stars. To be more precise, however, shamanism is an act that imitates transactions with the stars.
Spells based on the Balance.
Shamans, unable to wield the stars themselves, created their own scales in admiration of them, mimicking the Balance.
Shamanism. The Offering.
The process is simpler than the Balance. It requires no complex calculations. Nor does it demand high skill. In place of all that, it permits only one form of payment.
The body.
The payment method for the Offering is the flesh of a living being. Yet no one knows which part, or how much, will vanish.
Controlling that is what the shamanic world calls talent.
In that regard, Belnoa had talent in shamanism.
Crunch. Crackle.
Belnoa's offered fingers began to bend.
"……."
Belnoa said nothing. His expression didn't change.
Of course, he felt the pain. But it wasn't unbearable.
Repeated offerings many times over.
It was pain he'd grown accustomed to in the process.
Belnoa calmly gauged the count.
'Five.'
The offered fingers numbered five.
From experience, Belnoa instinctively knew what this level of offering could achieve.
Soon, he was certain.
'This is enough.'
A gut feeling born of experience.
Belnoa moved according to that instinct.
"…!"
Rak, leaping toward Belnoa, froze mid-motion. His superhuman instinct, bordering on the realm of beasts, issued a warning. Retreat.
Thud.
However, Rak did not retreat.
Instead, he pressed forward another step, rolling his shoulder. A spell activated on the axe in his hand.
Haste.
The axe was aimed at Belnoa's nape.
'What a true barbarian.'
Watching that, Belnoa clicked his tongue.
'I didn't plan on winning unscathed... but this is a bit much.'
He steeled himself to offer up an entire arm.
Soon, the transaction reached its end.
Whoosh!
Belnoa's fingers fully snapped, and the shadow cloaking him exploded. An offering equivalent to five fingers. The stars responded to that offering.
The exploding shadow surged toward Rak's nape.
The hasted hand-axe hurtled toward Belnoa's nape as well.
And then.
"Stop."
Restriction.
Click.
With the sound of something locking into place, everything halted.
"That's far enough."
A chilling voice rang out, and the axe stopped dead. The shadow was pinned in midair. Amid the artificial stillness, footsteps approached.
Clack. Clack.
Belnoa tried to turn toward the sound. But his body wouldn't move. Neither would his shamanism. The shadow remained utterly still.
'What is this...'
Through his fixed field of vision, Belnoa looked at Rak.
Rak was drenched in cold sweat. His eyes trembled. At the end of that gaze stood a woman.
Ash-gray hair and blue eyes.
Belnoa recalled her name.
'Lania van Trias.'
The assistant professor he'd seen on the platform.
She had pulled Rak away from Belnoa. Then, she stepped right in front of him, taking his place.
"This."
The shadow clustered in front of Belnoa.
She pointed at it and spoke.
"I warned you that excessive competition is grounds for test disqualification, didn't I?"
Her voice was as cold as her eyes.
She reached out her hand. Gripped the shadow. Though it was sharply honed, it couldn't even scratch her.
-Crunch.
Soon, the shadow crumbled.
It didn't stop at crumbling. At her gesture, a scale appeared in the air. Belnoa recognized it at a glance.
'Balance...?'
The shadow was placed on one side of the scale.
Belnoa's right hand moved on its own to the other side. The scale tipped up and down several times before finally leveling out.
Crack. Creak.
As if time were rewinding, the broken bones realigned. Belnoa watched, entranced as if possessed.
'...She hijacked the transaction?'
The body paid as 'payment' through the offering.
She'd returned it by placing the shadow on the Balance.
'...Is that even possible?'
It was a method he'd never heard of.
Belnoa blinked dazedly. But his reattached fingers remained unchanged. Perfectly fine.
Click.
Finally, whatever had bound them dispersed. Belnoa collapsed to the ground and looked up. His eyes met hers as she gazed down at him.
Cold eyes.
Eyes filled with hostility.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Shamanism mediated through shadows.
'Shadow Weaving.'
The one who'd used this spell suddenly came to mind. The wound was gone now, but his nape itched for no reason.
'...Someone who uses this is still around.'
For now, I decided not to dwell on it.
I shook my head slightly and was about to speak when.
"I lost."
Rak spoke before I could.
He continued, looking at Belnoa.
"I couldn't dodge it. I was certain of that. So I pressed in. I judged that ripping off the arm controlling the shadow would stop it."
"……."
"But that doesn't seem right. Even if I tore off the arm, the shadow would have lingered. Am I correct?"
"You are."
Belnoa admitted it readily.
"Once the offering... anyway, once the price is paid, it hits without fail. No matter what happens to me."
"I should have blocked it."
"...It wouldn't have been easy to block, but that would have been the right choice."
Hm, Rak nodded.
"Then it's my defeat after all. Impressive. I acknowledge it."
Then Rak looked at me.
His expression seemed refreshingly clear.
"I believe I've lost, supervisor."
"Hm... ."
Since he admitted it himself, I had nothing to add, but something felt off. Belnoa didn't look entirely satisfied either.
'Why were these two matched up in the first place?'
Did Aphria's standards demand dropping one to open an upper-class spot? They were high, sure, but not that high, as I recalled.
'Upper class? They could hold their own on the battlefield right now.'
Their talents were too precious to waste by dropping one.
Rak's instincts went without saying... Though I wasn't thrilled, Belnoa's shadow shamanism was the kind that even gave Kyle trouble.
'A little polishing, and they'd match a centurion...'
The class I was assigned to was the upper class.
There was no need to push these two into it. Those who rise will rise anywhere. But a bit of greed stirred.
I wanted to teach them myself.
I didn't know why, and it was crude... but they handled mana in a way similar to me. In other words, I could see it with my eyes.
How to fix it.
How to handle mana more efficiently.
It felt like staring at a machine with grit in its gears. Just a tweak, and it'd be perfect. So, naturally, I wanted them close by...
'But that would violate fairness.'
I needed a plausible excuse.
I pondered briefly. The assistant professors had stated the test's purpose as 'mana control'.
Mana control... control...
"Ah."
A thought flashed through my mind.
Come to think of it, there was no better way to test mana control.
"Follow me."
I took the lead.
Not toward the forest's edge, but its heart.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
"This is...?"
Belnoa blinked.
He'd sensed something off since entering the forest's center. He'd dismissed the possibility as absurd.
But.
"Isn't this the Mana Spring...?"
Seeing it before him left him speechless. Belnoa alternated glances between the supervisor and the boundary line right ahead.
A gift left by an ancient dragon mage.
The Mana Spring.
A line marking the area of its effects.
"Can't you tell?"
Lania pointed beyond the boundary as if wondering why he asked.
"Go in for one minute."
"Pardon?"
"Endure one minute, and I'll overlook that shamanism."
What did that even mean?
"...I heard that just approaching the Mana Spring causes mana to rampage in your veins, decomposing your limbs."
"Ha."
She scoffed at his words.
"That's only if you dunk yourself in the central spring. This is far from the source. Besides, your limbs won't decompose. Your blood vessels will just burst a bit."
For some reason, it sounded like she'd experienced it.
"Rak?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Same for you. Endure one minute, and I'll ask Professor Rosel to put you in the upper class too."
Rak swallowed dryly.
Then he slowly turned to look at Belnoa.
"What."
"...You going in?"
"...I don't know."
Belnoa was on the verge of losing it.
It felt just like the slums training where a blade was held to his nape: 'Kill or be killed.' Exactly that emotion.
'Is this woman really a professor?'
He glared at Lania with half-lidded eyes, but only a cold stare returned.
"...You'll really let it slide?"
"I swear on the name of the Ashen... no, House Trias. Fudging it as a draw isn't hard."
"......"
"So, you doing it or not?"
Belnoa hesitated.
Even if he won, if this assistant professor reported the Offering-based shamanism... everything would be invalidated.
Even in a competition test, manifesting shamanism through Offering was outright murder. It could lead to expulsion.
'Then that old man... won't protect Chloe's identity.'
That couldn't happen.
Belnoa gritted his teeth and answered.
"I'll do it."
"...Then I'll do it too."
As if waiting for that, Rak chimed in.
Belnoa tilted his head at the sight.
"...Why you?"
"If you do it, I do it."
"Why?"
"The warriors of the North said: Accept defeat, but don't fall behind. I don't want to fall behind."
What was this guy on about?
Belnoa gave up trying to understand Rak. He stepped to the boundary line and steadied his breathing.
"Hoo..."
Exhaling deeply, he steeled himself.
Belnoa took a large step forward. The moment his foot crossed the line and touched the Mana Spring's domain.
Thud!
A crushing pressure bore down on his body.
"Guh!"
Belnoa choked on his breath.
Bloodshot eyes. Breathing hurt. His throat clogged. Something was wrong with his respiration.
Unconsciously, he raised his hand. Gripped his nape. Veins bulged on the arm he looked down at.
'Can't... breathe.'
And.
"Kuh... ."
Rak was the same.
Glancing sideways, Belnoa saw Rak with a nosebleed. Drip. Drop. Blood fell to the ground. Not just Rak. Belnoa's nose stung too.
Looking down, blood was dripping.
Belnoa felt his mind growing hazy.
His vision spun.
Up and down lost meaning.
Just before his consciousness snapped.
"Fifteen."
The voice from behind anchored his mind.
"Sixteen."
The voice drew closer.
"Seventeen."
Soon, the voice passed him. Clack, clack. Heeled shoes striking the ground.
"Eighteen."
Belnoa barely lifted his head.
"Nineteen."
Ash-gray hair appeared before his eyes.
"Twenty."
That ash-gray hair kept moving farther away.
After venturing deep into the forest, the gray turned back. The hair swayed gently.
"We're at a third now."
Her breathing was steady.
Her movements unchanged.
"Say something if you can't take it."
Her voice seemed leisurely, at first glance.
Author's Note:
Five updates a week, kept my promise...