Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Whereabouts Unknown
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Rachel let out a short sigh and teleported several times.
From her actions, I could guess that she had found me by crudely traversing the battlefield in a similar fashion.
With her help, I arrived at the Minima tribe’s encampment.
Countless students were groaning in the camp, receiving treatment for their injuries.
‘…Hmph, so that’s where they were. Helping in the rear.’
The number of casualties might be lower than I thought.
It was common for students to suffer serious injuries at the academy, but it was rare for a student to die.
This was partly because the academy’s healing facilities were outstanding, and partly because its students were among the most talented in the world.
Each of those students had at least one way to protect their own life.
It was just that situations like the present were an exception.
“Please follow me this way.”
“Allen, I’ll see you in a bit.”
Rachel seemed to have other things to do and teleported elsewhere. I followed Alexius to a tent in the center of the encampment, one that was a size larger than the others around it.
“Chieftain! I’ve brought Lord Allen.”
“Show him in.”
With the chieftain’s permission, I entered the tent.
*Flinch—*
As I took a step inside, I couldn’t help but hesitate at the sight before me.
“…What is that?”
In the center of the tent, several concentric metal rings spun in place mid-air, drawing in starlight from the open sky above.
Perhaps because of this, the inside of the tent was bright despite having no torches.
“An astronomical instrument. It was made several generations ago with the help of beastmen and dwarves.”
“I see.”
The chieftain stood behind the instrument.
Hearing his calm voice, I stepped fully into the tent. Alexius followed behind me.
“Welcome.”
“Is that instrument perhaps related to the power Julius used? If so, the reason you called for me is…”
The chieftain didn’t deny it. Before answering my question, he bowed his head.
“First, I feel I must apologize to Lord Allen, who must have come with expectations.”
I said nothing in response. He hadn’t finished speaking yet.
“It has become difficult to grant you the same power as Lord Julius.”
“What is the reason?”
I didn’t throw a fit, saying it was absurd or that it was different from what he’d said earlier. I simply asked for the reason.
“It is too late.”
While we spoke, Alexius began making various preparations.
“The wandering stars reveal themselves in the sky day and night, but we foolish mortals can only see their gentle light in the dark. And on a day like today, when the stars pour down, we draw very close to them, making it an incredible opportunity to even carve the Stigma of the Stars…”
As his explanation began to drag on, I cut him off.
“In short, you’re saying you can’t give me as much power as Julius because morning is coming, is that it?”
The battle was still raging outside. It was a waste to spend time on unnecessary talk.
“…That is correct.”
He looked disappointed that he couldn’t finish his speech. Soon, Alexius, having finished his preparations, approached.
“So, what we can give you is this.”
Alexius pointed to the space beneath the metal rings of the astronomical instrument.
“It won’t take long.”
The concentric metal rings had already stopped spinning. Yet even with the instrument at a standstill, the light gathered in its center did not disperse.
“It may not be the same as the Stigma of the Stars that Lord Julius received, who managed to arrive so suddenly and perfectly match the time of the ritual, but…”
As I sat beneath the astronomical instrument, the collected light slowly descended.
“It will be able to grant you what you need most. Something that will be of help to a mage like yourself, Lord Allen.”
My consciousness slowly began to fade to black.
“Then, we shall begin.”
At the break of dawn, the blessing of the stars began.
* * *
「Allen, wake up! Allen! I said, wake up!」
Someone was chattering noisily.
「Ugh, hurry and wake up! This is no time to be sleeping!」
It was a familiar sound. Always loud, always full of complaints. Just like Vestla… Ah.
「I definitely woke you up, okay? I did! So don’t go blaming me later for…」
“Enough.”
I gripped the hilt dangling at my waist.
A brief wave of dizziness washed over me, but it vanished in an instant. In fact, my mind felt clearer than before.
「Wow! You’re awake! I was so surprised when you didn’t come to after the ritual ended! I thought those bad guys had lied…」
Vestla chattered on, her voice filled with relief. She was as energetic as ever.
Ignoring the rest of what she was saying, I exited the tent.
“Thankfully, not much time has passed.”
Many students were still nearby, groaning from their injuries, and the sky was still dark.
「That’s why I kept talking to you, to wake you up on purpose…」
I started running toward Veðrf?lnir’s location and asked Vestla a question.
“I know, I know… Just explain what happened.”
My memory was blank after my consciousness had faded to black.
「You lost consciousness after receiving that ‘Blessing of the Stars’ thing those bad guys were talking about.」
“And?”
「Huh? That’s it.」
“What?”
「I was just worried because you wouldn’t wake up! If they had tried to harm you, do you think I would have just stood by?」
“Hah…”
Regretting that I’d even asked, I quickened my pace. The vitality in my body surged as I pushed off the ground, accelerating.
「Still, you’re safe because I was protecting you!」
I didn’t answer and instead expanded my sensory perception.
Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters…
As a flood of information from the vast battlefield rushed into my mind, I suddenly felt a sense of unease.
‘There’s no headache?’
[It will be able to grant you what you need most. Something that will be of help to a mage like yourself, Lord Allen.]
The chieftain’s words came to mind, and I immediately spread my perception even wider.
Beyond one kilometer, then two, and even past the three-kilometer mark that had been my limit, I felt no headache. Normally, I would have had a nosebleed and a severe headache by now.
My perception continued to stretch until I finally felt the same headache as before at the ten-kilometer mark.
‘My limit has expanded.’
As I tested it on my way to the battlefield, I found I could sense things in detail within a 300-meter radius without any headache. If I pushed myself, I could even extend that range to one kilometer.
Even without testing it, I was sure my resistance to mental attacks had also increased significantly.
The chieftain had been right.
The Blessing of the Stars hadn’t granted me a special ability like Julius’s, but it had permanently enhanced my mental fortitude—the most crucial asset for a mage.
‘Few mages can expand their sensory perception so widely.’
Even if a mage’s perception range grew as their rank increased, not many could actually use it to its full extent.
It was difficult to process the immense amount of information that flooded in from such a wide area, especially for a young mage whose mental strength had yet to fully develop.
In that sense, the blessing of the stars was far more beneficial for me in the long run.
After all, a mage’s sensory range defined their domain, the area where they could strike with precision.
‘This is actually better than what Julius got with the Stigma of the Stars.’
I was uneasy about the idea of having a stigma carved into my body, creating a connection to a transcendent being like a ‘god.’
The Black Book and the White Book were enough when it came to transcendent powers related to that.
An uncontrollable variable had the potential to put even myself in danger.
It was only natural, even if I had only received help from the books so far.
I picked up my pace.
About halfway there, the sounds of battle fell silent.
* * *
*Rumble—*
By the time the distant monster came into view, I could hear Julius’s voice cutting through the sound of thunder.
“This bastard’s been putting on a show like he’s got something special, but there’s nothing!”
I looked up at the monster’s condition and was quite surprised.
“If it wasn’t for that sneak attack earlier, I’d have… ugh.”
Veðrf?lnir was a wretched sight, a far cry from the overwhelming presence it had displayed before.
Holes were torn through both of its wings, from which black blood flowed endlessly.
Its once-lustrous black feathers were plucked out in patches, revealing a hideous form, and it was covered in scorch marks.
One of its eyes was impaled with a sword of light, preventing it from regenerating.
“…Didn’t you say it wouldn’t take long?”
「Yeah, maybe ten minutes? That’s all that passed…」
‘Ten minutes, she says…’ To her, even that much time was just a moment.
Despite spending months with me, a gap in our perception of time still existed. It was to be expected from dragons and giants, who lived forever unless they chose to die.
‘So that’s why the chieftain and Alexius weren’t in the tent.’
Despite its injuries, Veðrf?lnir was barely keeping itself afloat with the wind.
“—Ignorant livestock. No, now that you’ve achieved civilization, this is more fitting. Ignorant human. Do you even know what you are doing?”
Countless things flickered in the monster’s eye before being absorbed.
And so, it knew. It understood what that man’s existence signified. Blessed by the Thunder God?
“—Do you know what your very existence proves? That the time is drawing near. The time of the apocalypse. Which means, again…”
Black, and white. The eye that had made it an incarnation of wisdom saw those two colors.
Just as the monster, its eyes filled with fury, was about to continue.
Behind me.
The White Book.
*Swoosh—*
It opened without a sound.
『Feels a faint emotional stir at the deaths of other students. Finishes the Blessing of the Stars and experiences a moment of dizziness before achieving an enhancement of mental fortitude. Afterwards, asks Vestla about the time…』
『Feels a f■■nt emoti■■al st■r at the dea■■s of ■■her stude■■s. Finishes the Bles■■ng ■■ the S■■rs and e■■eriences a m■■ent of d■■ziness bef■re achie■■ng an enh■■cement of men■■l f■■titude. Af■erwards, asks Vest■■■ ab■■t the ti■…』
『■■■■s a ■■■nt ■■■ti■■al ■■■r at ■■■ dea■■■ of ■■■er stude■■■. Fin■■■es the Bl■s■■ng ■■ the S■■rs and ■■■■■■■■■■ a m■■■nt of ■■■■■■■■■ bef■■■ achie■■ng an ■nh■■■■■■■ of m■n■■l f■■■■■■■. A■■■■■■■■, asks ■■■■■■■ a■■■t the ■■…』
At that moment, a sharp crack echoed through the air as the monster looked up.
*Boom—*
A small meteor pierced through the monster’s body. An expression of shock appeared in its eye. Veðrf?lnir’s body convulsed, and Maria, not missing that brief opening, began to move.
*Squish—*
No sooner had the sword of white light plunged into its torso than Julius shouted with an anxious expression.
“Everyone, get back—!”
*CRACK!*
A bolt of lightning struck down. Without a thought for his remaining stamina, Julius unleashed dozens of lightning strikes. The monster’s eye turned toward me one last time.
With that, it seemed unable to hold on any longer and plummeted to the ground.
I glanced behind me, but I couldn’t tell what the monster had seen in its final moments. I checked the White Book just in case, but it was the same.
『Feels a sense of futility knowing the monster was killed thanks to a randomly falling meteor. However, feels relie…』
The moment the monster was dead, Maria flew off to deal with the remaining monsters.
Julius stared into the air with his eyes squeezed shut, then a grin stretched from ear to ear, and he let out a roar.
“I got the last hit!”
He jumped around for a while, bouncing all over the place. Swallowing my own sense of futility at the sight, I sheathed my sword.
“…Is the long dungeon practical finally over?”
I had learned a lot during this practical and made some decent gains.
Now I would have to figure out the exact limits of my enhanced mental fortitude, rethink the White Book’s hypothesis, and I also had things to do with Rachel, but…
“I should go find my teammates.”
First, I returned to the Minima tribe’s encampment to find Alexius.
If my teammates were injured, they would be receiving treatment there, and since we had spent some time together, he would know their whereabouts if they were on the ground.
But what I heard when I met him was not their location.
“…You haven’t seen them?”
“No, if the others came here, it seems they didn’t come looking for me. Milled is in the rear, so I can give you her location.”
I got the general location and headed there. Milled was lying inside one of the tents for the injured.
When she saw my face, she greeted me with a silly grin.
“Allen, my junior!”
She said she had been moving with the student council members and was injured when the monster attacked.
Then, when I told her the monster was dead, she beamed and pulled out a heap of apples from her subspace, exclaiming.
“Junior, you did great! You did amazingly well! Here! Take these apples as a reward!”
“By the way…”
I took the apples and asked.
“Do you know where the other team members are?”
“Huh? The others? Weren’t they with you, junior?”
“…You didn’t happen to see them during the battle?”
Sensing the strange shift in the atmosphere, she answered in a hurried tone.
“Uh… I’ll, I’ll ask my friend in the student council and look for them! I’m sure they’re all fine!”
“…You should rest.”
I rushed off to find Rachel.
‘Rachel would know. Didn’t she say she heard my location from my teammates?’
I pushed away the images forming in my mind and searched for her.
And.
“…What? Your teammates, Allen? Senior Milled and the guide, Alexius, are at that encampment…”
“Not them…”
My voice was low as I cut her off.
“Weren’t the other team members there…?”
“Allen, wait a moment. Right now…”
She seemed to realize something was wrong with me and moved closer, but I shook my head and stepped back.
“I’ll see you in a bit. It won’t take long.”
“Allen!”
My feet last touched down at the spires.
One of the four spires, toppled like a toy. There, I took a single orb from my pocket.
One of the Hero’s Five Great Divine Artifacts.
[Celestial Eye]
Clinging to a faint hope, I used the orb.
The orb instantly exerted a powerful suction, pulling at my mind. When I opened my eyes, I could see my own body below.
‘Evan Baroque, a man from the Baroque family.’ No information appeared.
‘Ariel Heil, a woman from the Heil family.’
No information appeared.
‘William, a student of Galshdin Academy.’
No information appeared.
The white part of the orb began to turn gray. I stood there with a blank expression before coming to my senses.
No, there was still hope.
This was a Divine Artifact of the Hero, after all.
One of five treasures created by gathering all the world’s treasures to defeat the Demon Lord.
It could be called a treasure just for its ability to find anyone in the world, but that was not enough for it to be called a Divine Artifact.
Therefore, the Celestial Eye had one more function.
‘To see a desired past.’
More accurately, it helps you find the past you wish to see.
It couldn’t see more than three days into the past, and you had to be near the location, but that was more than enough to find out where my other teammates were.
‘A few hours ago, my teammates who were in this ruin.’
The white orb began to turn gray at an incredible speed.
The world started to flow in reverse.
The black monster was sucked back into the ruin. The toppled spires returned to their places, and the ruin guardians that had poured out returned inside.
My body automatically descended into the ruin, giving me no time to resist.
‘As I thought, they were in the ruin.’
The artifact’s power might not have worked because they were inside. The Celestial Eye had a wide range, but one could easily hide from it if they wished.
Past the first floor, the second, the third, the fourth…
My body shot through the underground levels at high speed.
When it passed the fifth floor and reached the sixth, my body stopped.
‘They were trapped here…’
I turned my head to memorize the location, and there, in front of a secluded fork in the path.
“Ah.”
Were two bodies.