Footprints (1)
—Return to your designated point with the "Token of Return" within three hours.
The locations of the Tokens of Return had been individually notified to each participant.
True to its form as a library, simply providing the shelf number here allowed one to grasp the approximate position.
Confirming the details, Kirian Kirchheis vanished into the depths of the tomb.
Tap, tap, tap.
His footsteps proceeded without the slightest hesitation, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Tension rippled through the children.
Especially on the faces of Decart Kirchheis and Lumil Kirchheis, who had taken second and third place, grave expressions were evident.
"Everyone, gather up. This won't do!"
"What do we do...?"
Led by the two, several children clustered together.
On the ceiling of the Tomb of Books and Swords, the results of the first exam still floated.
1st: Kirian Kirchheis (Submitted "Condensed Mana") — 114 points
2nd: Decart Kirchheis (Submitted "Irenril's Lightning Sword") — 91 points
3rd: Lumil Kirchheis (Submitted "The Seven Sages' Chaos Control Theory") — 90 points
...
Decart and Lumil.
The two boys had expended considerable stamina and mana in the first exam to retrieve their weapon and grimoire.
In other words, it was a result born from trading energy for ranking.
Yet Kirian had ascended to the top without any such sacrifice.
Even exceeding full marks.
It was such an extraordinary achievement that even the family head, who rarely batted an eye at most things, had inquired about the details.
"Hey, Lumil. You know, right? We're branch family, so we have to stand out even more. Your parents must've told you."
"Yeah... That's true..."
"Everyone, think of a way. A way to check that guy! If we keep getting pushed back like this, we'll just end up as Kirian's sidekicks!"
They needed to devise a way to check him.
The children stared in the direction Kirian had gone, each lost in deep thought.
Then, a low voice drifted from the corner.
"Considering the content of this second exam, it's one of two things. Chase after Kirian and grab his ankle, or steal the token from him when he returns. Or try both."
It was Mihaden Kirchheis.
As he chimed in, Decart smirked, curling the corner of his mouth, and Lumil nodded with a lick of his lips.
The children all assumed Mihaden would challenge Kirian again.
"Sounds good? Then Mihaden-hyung, you take the lead. If you hold Kirian down, I'll help you score well in the final exam. I swear on my name. Everyone agrees, right?"
At Decart's bold proposal, Emil and the other children nodded.
He had been outmaneuvered by Kirian in the first exam, but Mihaden was no pushover.
With a build to match his fierce personality, retrying was only natural.
But unexpectedly, Mihaden shook his head.
"That's the method, but I never said I'd join in."
"What?"
"You guys check Kirian yourselves. I'm sitting this one out."
Mihaden turned on his heel and vanished between the shelves.
The children fell into brief confusion at the sight.
"What? Acting all goody-goody now?"
"Guess he got scared after Kirian pushed him around earlier."
"Tch. Main family direct line's nothing special. Total coward."
It was just one person bowing out anyway.
The remaining children began chattering, plotting ways to check Kirian.
If they planned carefully from the start, they could pull him down—that was their thinking.
Hoo...
Meanwhile, Mihaden's mind churned far more complexly as he moved into the darkness.
"As a party to the rules, I oppose Mihaden's disqualification."
Kirian's voice echoed persistently in his ears.
It had surely been a move to snag extra points, but...
'Thanks to that, I survived by the skin of my teeth. I almost couldn't hold back my emotions and tried to kill him.'
This was Mihaden's last chance to participate.
Failing meant immediate abandonment by his father.
He couldn't help but feel grateful.
Moreover, trying to trip Kirian up felt reckless.
Kirian was on a whole different level from ordinary kids.
'What if I sided with Kirian instead?'
Kirian: small build but exceptional magic skill.
Mihaden: weak magic but superior physical condition.
'Seems like a decent combo...'
But it was uncharted territory, impossible to predict.
No, not even certain Kirian would accept him.
'No distractions now. Focus on my own exam. One slip, and I'm out of the family.'
No matter what scheme Decart and the others cooked up, they couldn't beat Kirian.
He was certain, having experienced the boy's power firsthand.
Mihaden proceeded with that conviction—and it proved spot-on.
"Hiern, this far out, even Rohbark Kirchheis can't detect me, right?"
[Likely not.]
Having left the tomb's central area for the outskirts, away from the spectator seats' gaze, Kirian was heading in a completely unexpected direction.
"G8 shelf in the west sector, right?"
[Indeed. What you seek lies there. Though your name-marked Token of Return is on the opposite side.]
A location utterly unrelated to the second exam's objective.
But it held a goal Kirian had long considered as vital as claiming first place here.
'A replica of the divine sword Nirvana.'
Taking items from the Tomb of Books and Swords was fundamentally forbidden.
Yet Kirian pressed on undeterred.
He knew the sole exception.
—Acquisition is permitted if one proves worthy qualification and is chosen by the item.
Kirian intended to claim the weapon Ulfrik Kirchheis had wielded as his primary armament 500 years ago.
* * *
The Allmaster who exterminated demons.
Ulfrik had been a great hero who slew demonkin using both magic and swordsmanship.
At least until he revealed his true colors at the Demon King's Castle.
'And in truth, he was even more exceptional with the sword.'
Iphril's words resurfaced.
Something about how even a hundred more years of training wouldn't catch up to him?
The sword that genius swordsman had acquired in his youth and used longest was Nirvana.
Of course, the bastard had wielded many weapons, but he favored Nirvana most.
'To the point where, when the original neared ruin, he commissioned the dwarves to craft multiple replicas.'
Dwarven craftsmanship could replicate 80% of the original's performance, if not 100%.
Thanks to that, Nirvana endured even after 500 years.
Kirian's reasons for seeking it boiled down to two.
'An excellent weapon in itself, and a potential clue to investigate Ulfrik's fall.'
Nirvana was powerful on its own, but that wasn't all.
Absorbing its master's mana, it unleashed three special functions.
Perfect for a mage and swordsman like him.
It would also serve as a foundation for the cherished blade he'd craft later.
'Plus, an item bearing Ulfrik's traces.'
Just as high-level spells leave unique mana residues, superior weapons retain a knight's innate ki.
The patterns of a swordsman's lifelong training etched into it.
Later owners would overlay their own, but if he could read and decipher Ulfrik's ki...
'Might uncover his weakness.'
The bastard had fallen to Demon King, but his essence likely remained unchanged.
No guarantees, but securing Nirvana could yield a thread of vengeance.
That was when it happened.
[Turn left there. No, not that left—the second left.]
The phoenix guardian pecked his shoulder with its beak, directing him.
He grumbled, turning back.
"Be more precise. Don't confuse me."
[What am I to do about this maze of shelves?]
Grumbling irritably, Hierniorn was still an excellent guide.
Thanks to it, progress was smooth.
[Aren't you dawdling a bit?]
"It's fine."
He had no intention of obsessing over first submission in this exam.
A leisurely pace posed no issue.
Then, suddenly.
Thud...
Something toppled.
A minor commotion from not far behind, somewhere in the darkness.
Narrowing his eyes, he expanded his Transcendental Eye.
Darkness lifted, mana flows from afar analyzed, revealing data.
Faint detection of others' mana.
At least 3+ pursuers.
The pint-sized pursuers' presence.
As expected.
'Came quicker than thought.'
This exam explicitly permitted "stealing and submitting another's token."
It encouraged competition among kids, so pursuers were inevitable.
But he had zero intention of running.
He'd reach his goal soon; time to shake the interlopers here.
"Hiern, go confirm the exact number."
[Understood.]
He waited in place.
The guardian returned: seven pursuers.
[And not all of them. Some seem to be encircling nearby, in case you slip another route.]
Given his first-exam display, the kids were proceeding cautiously.
Grouping for a gang-up wasn't odd.
Hierniorn flapped onto a bookshelf.
[What now? Seven at once is...]
"Obviously not."
One hand couldn't block ten fists, as they said.
Squeezing all his power might make it possible, but no need for that risk.
Plenty of other ways.
A method to ditch the trailing kids at once.
"Hm. This'll do."
He picked a wooden beam rolling on the floor.
A hefty timber left after shelf repairs.
Hierniorn tilted its head.
[Hmm? Planning an ambush and clubbing their heads? Looks heavy for that.]
"What, you think I'm a mountain bandit?"
His plan was entirely different.
First, he selected a flat side, set it down, and placed his sole atop.
Not huge timber, but matching his small foot size perfectly.
[What on earth?]
"You'll see."
Eyeballing measurements, he drew up mana.
Red flash condensed between palms, flaring intensely.
A simple spell.
Layered Cut spells deployed in sequence, carving the wood.
Slice, slice, slice...
Beams sheared in seconds.
The result: shoes.
No—wooden shoe molds.
[What is... this?]
"Quiet. Concentrating."
Not stopping at one, he carved more relentlessly.
In moments, seven pairs of wooden shoes done.
He glanced into the darkness.
"Hiern, how do you think they're tracking me?"
[Footprints...? Yes! Footprints!]
"Right. Following my prints in the dust. So I'll turn that against them."
A new spell bloomed from his fingertips.
This time, path-reserved Telekinesis.
"Go on, get lost."
He grinned.
With that, incorporeal footsteps thudded off at forks in the path.
Bait to lead the pursuers astray.