The Plunging Sky Island
Aria-sensei's words left Arin doubting her own ears.
What had she just said?
To slash the Sky Island? The massive floating island hovering above them, wasn't its name the Sky Island?
To slash it?
'……Is that possible?'
Arin had been training to slash boulders, rocks, and even now the sheer rock faces of cliffs, but the Sky Island looked so vast that its cliffs might as well be cute by comparison.
Two swords barely longer than a forearm? To slash that?
No matter how many impossible things she had seen through her teacher Aria, this went beyond anything she could imagine.
Striking boulders with a wooden sword without mana? She had found it difficult herself, yet possible.
She had thought it nearly impossible, but she had believed it was possible and actually tried it.
The next challenge had been a larger boulder. It was bigger than the first, but having mastered the technique on pebbles, she figured a few more boulders would be easy.
And it had been easy. Boulders were nothing. With strength and technique, she had cleared them in just four days.
But the next challenge, the cliff, was vastly larger. Simple skill alone wouldn't suffice; it required adaptation, which was why she still couldn't do it now.
Still, she had never thought it impossible.
Soon, she felt, she would be able to slash it.
"But that's……"
Too big.
The very idea of slashing something that size with two swords wasn't even on the right track.
Just by eye, the cliffs she faced looked a thousand times larger than what she was training on.
Who in the world could possibly think they could slash the Sky Island with a sword?
And yet, right in front of Arin stood such a person.
"Hmm…… Even with the pain-suppressing spell, it still stings a bit."
"Ung…… Really…? Then should I try a strengthening spell……?"
"No need. It's rough anyway; it'll cut with a casual swing."
Aria-sensei, wounds still wrapped only halfway, bled freely while ignoring the pain with the pain-suppressing spell, loosening her body.
Beside her, Meiel-sensei asked indifferently whether she should apply a strengthening spell.
Arin's ears rang again at the answer.
'Strengthening spell? No?'
Was she really going to say something about being able to do it with skill alone again?
Arin glared at her with disdain, thinking maybe it was a joke, but only half her thought was correct.
"Even so, swinging it with raw power would be tough. Mana is necessary."
Even Aria-sensei, with her inhuman mindset, seemed to think slashing the Sky Island with strength and skill alone was impossible.
Of course, that didn't mean anyone could do it just by using mana.
Whoosh───
Blue mana swirled around Aria-sensei like fallen leaves.
The circulation was so precise it left other mages in awe.
Aria-sensei tested the mana several times, then slowly bent her legs.
Crack, the muscles folded with a sound that echoed like funeral bells.
Because only the three of them were on the training grounds, the sound was especially loud.
Aria-sensei bent her legs past the limit, like forcing a steel spring to break.
"Huu……"
She stopped, exhaled, and looked up at the Sky Island. Arin unconsciously focused her entire being on her.
Those who stand out in one field because of talent are called prodigies.
Those who stand out in many fields are called geniuses.
And those who exceed even the geniuses are called talents.
To the world, that would be the Pope of the Temple and the Commander of the Phra Kingdom's Knight Order.
But even they have limits.
There is always a finish line.
Talents simply reach it faster than others.
If someone devoted their whole life to one field, they could surpass talent in that area.
That is talent.
But if someone surpasses even the line that talents cannot cross……
What would one call them?
Boom───!!!
The packed ground shattered as Aria-sensei's figure vanished.
Arin muttered in awe as she saw her teacher's silhouette appear in the sky, almost directly beneath the Sky Island.
"Monster……"
It was the only word that fit.
Prodigies and geniuses already terrified some people with their overwhelming talent.
But someone who surpassed even them, like Aria-sensei, could only be called a monster.
Carrying mana, she had leaped nearly a thousand meters, and now……
Whump-whump-whump……
With the two swords in her hands, she completely shattered the Sky Island that had once cast shadows over the Phra Kingdom.
The island collapsed and fell with a deafening roar that echoed across the entire kingdom.
As if crushing a giant cookie, Aria-sensei reduced the enormous Sky Island to powder and descended toward the ground.
"Ugh……"
Arin squinted against the sunlight now that the island was gone, but she still watched her intently.
The sight of her falling, the way she sheathed her sword with arrogant ease——all of it imprinted itself on Arin's eyes.
As always, it was an ordinary action, but it made the blurry footprints she had been following suddenly clear.
With the path now visible, Arin tightened her grip on the two swords at her waist.
Her heart pounded so hard she feared she might snap them.
"Someday, for sure."
It was the oath she had made the day she first met them in the tent, but she whispered it again.
Someday I will become that monster too.
Arin had always admired monsters.
* * *
『Ground Shatter』
A legendary skill in the game, famous even among players for its cheating nature: a large-area annihilation skill that only three dual-wielding jobs had.
It had a clean, satisfying effect that made users adore it.
Once, twice, three times……
Arin's arms moved on their own, leaving dozens of sword trails as the Sky Island was literally pulverized.
Just as the name implied, every swing reversed the bottom and floor of the island, mixing everything into chaos.
The moment the skill ended, gravity pulled her body downward.
While falling, she created a mana platform and launched herself even faster than the debris, landing lightly on the ground.
Dazed, she woke up the staring children one by one and said to Myu,
"The rest is up to you, Meiel."
"Ung…… Leave it to me."
The island was gone, so the only thing left was Myu effortlessly clearing the falling debris heading toward the Phra Kingdom like meteors.
Myu did it with a single spell.
'『Gravity Manipulation』.
She compressed the collapsing island's surroundings and pulled it into a single mass.
Crack, crack……
As if kneading snowballs in her hands, she prepared to throw the lump outside the walls.
But before she could, she glanced at Arin.
"This…… Should I destroy it or throw it……?"
'If possible, destroy it. If we throw it, the kingdom's people will suffer.'
'Understood……'
If she threw the mass outside the walls, the kingdom's civilians would be wiped out. Destroying it was better.
Myu lowered her staff twice and fired a beam of light at the floating lump.
'『Eradication』.
Eradication——a magic that turned all matter made of mana back into mana.
It couldn't be used on life or objects with large mana, but in this situation, it was the perfect solution.
Paaang───
A thick black beam of light soared into the sky and struck the lump. Slowly, the Sky Island's debris melted into the air like a burning wick.
When all the debris had vanished, nothing remained but pure, refreshing blue mana spreading outward.
Sizzle, sizzle——the mana disappeared like snowflakes falling.
The children watching from start to finish reached out and murmured,
"Amazing……"
"Pretty……"
"I don't know much about magic, but it's incredibly beautiful."
"A great spell…… Yeah."
Arin also gazed at the visualized beauty of the mana and finally felt the quest had truly ended.
It had been incredibly difficult, but anyway, she had ended the Sky Island quest.
There was too much to do here, and if she stayed, the knights would catch her and cause trouble.
Best to leave now.
She had already shown herself, so it was inevitable. But right after the quest, she wanted to rest.
"Let's go back to the temple, Meiel."
"Ung……"
Quietly, the two of them slipped out of the training grounds without the children noticing.
First, she would change her body in the temple.
Agh, the pain-suppressing spell is wearing off——it hurts like hell.