Acceleration (1)
Five hundred years ago, the Restricted Area had been sealed off to all but a select few.
The reason was simple.
It had been Ulfrik's laboratory.
The place where he conducted all sorts of experiments and analyses with his disciples in tow.
As his disciple in swordsmanship, I had studied wartime tactics there, and I'd even helped build the passage leading into the Restricted Area.
So of course I knew who—or what—lurked at the far end.
'Dumroad as the gatekeeper, huh.'
Truly, one lives and learns. This one thought that thing wouldn't last long after being born in the lab. And yet... it's survived five hundred years...
I nodded.
The Eternalism academy members had preserved the legacies from five hundred years ago with unnecessary reverence.
Which was why they'd entrusted the role of gatekeeper in the Restricted Area to such an ancient being.
It wouldn't recognize me, but encountering a familiar face was quietly thrilling.
'Guess I'll have to deceive it unintentionally.'
There were two things I planned to take from that treasure trove.
First, Ulfrik's training journal. Second, the gray star iron.
Nothing beat that journal for insights into how he'd grown.
'The problem is, nothing belonging to Ulfrik can be removed.'
I'd have to sneak the journal out.
So when Obri Iark asked about the purpose of my visit to the Restricted Area, I mentioned only the star iron.
She tilted her head quizzically.
"Gray star iron—you mean the rare metal harvested from the meteorite that fell to the surface?"
"Yes."
"Don't you already have the Mudra sword?"
"I do."
"Then why the star iron?"
"I'll melt it down and drink it as a potion. What happens after that? That's a secret."
And that was all.
I clamped my mouth shut, and Obri scowled deeply.
Curiosity killed the cat, as they say.
She offered the pachir again, and I nearly took it before pulling my hand back.
"What's this?"
"It seems valuable enough to trade for a pachir."
Honestly, it was...
But I shook my head firmly.
"This time, it's a dragon's eyeball."
"...Tch."
Rejected outright, Obri shoved the pachir into her mouth with a grimace.
The twitching furrow between her brows and her pursed lips made for an intriguing sight.
'Almost fell for it.'
Does it taste that good? This one wants just a bite too.
No deals with Obri.
I'd lay the groundwork for the "real deal" later, sure.
Truth be told, melting down gray star iron and drinking it wasn't some grand secret.
'It's fallen out of practice in this era, but five hundred years ago, anyone who mattered knew it as an elixir.'
It wasn't mana.
It was the primal superhuman strength that differed from nature's mystical forces.
'The qi that knights wield.'
In other words, energy I could pour into my sword.
I didn't know the exact reason, but star iron was infused with ultra-dense qi.
Absorbing it would help me recover even a fraction of the realm I'd built in my past life.
This life, I'd focused on magic, but no reason to let a usable weapon rust.
I might not breach the Noble Wall again, but it could deliver a decisive blow when it mattered.
"......"
We left the relic vault and pressed on.
The passage gradually widened.
Enough to hide all sorts of invisible traps.
At some point, Obri stepped ahead.
"Stay behind me, Kirian. From here on, step only where I step. Exactly."
The traps of the Restricted Area had begun.
Our trades had fallen through repeatedly, but she hadn't forgotten her duty as my shield.
I eyed her back and quipped,
"Sunbae."
"What."
"Gonna get hurt again?"
Her face twisted in wounded pride.
I shrugged and continued,
"I heard it's pretty dangerous in this passage. Your foot's already heavy enough."
"...I handle my own safety. And yours too. Quit yapping and follow."
Transformation spell Werewolfization applied.
Obri immediately activated her transformation spell and crouched low.
Like a wolf spotting prey in the underbrush.
Hierniorn snickered.
She wants to ditch the training weight, but you keep poking her pride, so she can't. Doing it on purpose?
Of course.
I'd been deliberately prodding Obri.
She started it.
But I had no intention of letting pride get her hurt.
'Time to show her.'
What?
'Who should be in front.'
kekeke
At the same moment, the Restricted Area activated.
From the vast darkness ahead.
Shuuuuu—!
Mana surged, and gravity began to warp.
A Space Reversal spell, flipping ceilings with floors, fronts with backs.
That was when Obri leaped forward.
* * *
Tatata-tat-tat!
A werewolf's physical prowess was unmatched.
Far beyond humans or orcs, and at higher transformation levels, it rivaled ogres and trolls.
Among its many advantages, my favorite was—
'The claws.'
Weapons as hard and sharp as freshly forged steel, wielded from the fingertips.
That was why I favored Werewolfization among the forms.
"Kirian! Step exactly where I stepped! No exceptions! And don't lag behind, or else!"
Obri shouted as she vaulted onto the ceiling like it was air.
The twisted gravity scrambled directions with every step.
But her claws were sharp enough.
Pak! Kagagagak...
They gouged the stone floor, countering the inversion and steadying her stance.
The floor was now the ceiling, but Obri sprang forward again.
Then the walls tilted like a nightmare.
She poured maximum power into her sturdy legs and leaped high.
'Careful on landing. Lose balance, and you'll get swept into another gravity effect.'
Tat!
For a moment, I thought of the training weight, but pushed it aside.
The wolf-human's four paws crushed protruding rocks and depressions as she dashed.
From here, gravity intensified.
Next section: step wrong, and you'd fly backward to the start.
No arrows or blades, but far more perilous and tricky.
'That's why our predecessors left guides for this passage.'
Step only on the safe spots.
That's why I'd emphasized following her path—for Kirian.
Like a squirrel scaling a massive tree, Obri bounded across walls and ceilings.
"Urgh...!"
She nearly slipped on slimy moss, tumbling into the void.
But she whipped her tail to regain balance.
A sigh of relief escaped unbidden.
Then she glanced back.
"Ahem. I saw nothing. Keep going, sunbae."
"......"
Kirian was smirking.
He'd seen her flail.
"That tail's pretty handy."
"N-no, it's been a while for me too, so the route got fuzzy...!"
Obri trailed off mid-excuse.
Something felt off.
She turned back to Kirian and pinpointed it.
Where he stood.
"You... how are you standing there?"
"My legs work fine."
"Don't joke around!"
Kirian chuckled.
Incredibly, he stood where she hadn't stepped.
He took a step forward; gravity shifted slightly, tilting his body, but he didn't fall.
Another spot she hadn't touched.
Wrath furrowed the werewolf's elongated snout.
"I told you to step only where I did! Why ignore me?!"
"......"
Werewolfization made her temperament feral too.
But her raised voice wasn't just that.
She sensed it subconsciously.
Gazing at Kirian, who smirked wordlessly.
"From now on, sunbae follows me. Step only where I do."
"...!"
She intuited he was the better guide.
Unlike her frantic breakthrough, Kirian strolled leisurely.
Thud, thud, thud...
Zigzagging past her through the passage.
That alone sufficed.
Far more efficient than her known path.
No need to scramble.
Just follow past-life experience and the flows revealed by my Transcendental Eye.
"Kirian!"
"My ears hurt."
His calm gait never faltered, his breathing steady.
As if he'd lived here.
"How in the world..."
"Sunbae's breath is scorching my neck. Mind dropping the transformation?"
Roles reversed.
But she couldn't snap.
Obri finally released Werewolfization, reverting, and trailed behind.
"Kirian."
"Wanna know how?"
"Yeah."
"Figured. Dragon eyeball again."
"That damn dragon eye..."
One day, she'd snag it.
And uncover everything about him.
As mild defeat washed over her, another thought surfaced.
The training weights they'd both locked on at Beno the blacksmith.
'What now?'
Neither had removed theirs yet.
Tie seemed likely.
But Kirian, walking ahead, thought differently.
Judgment day approached.
'Speaking of, that guy's due any moment...'
The gatekeeper managing this controlled zone.
The eternal sentinel bound by House Kirchheis.
"Hold up. Kirian. Stop."
Obri grabbed his sleeve.
The chaotic Space Reversal had quieted.
Next instant, a hazy silhouette pierced the passage's gloom like a ghost.
"The Nameless One greets you."
"......"
Obri stepped forward with a slight bow; the shadow replied in silence.
As always, she pointed to Kirian and continued,
"New trainee from our academy. He has his pass—check it and let him into the Restricted Area."
"......"
"Go on, Kirian. I'll wait here."
Even third-years and above could enter only once a year.
Obri had used hers on a graduation task; she couldn't proceed further.
The shadow beckoned Kirian, who passed through the iron gate at the passage's end.
A laugh bubbled up.
Nothing funnier than a familiar face trying to act tough.
"I know your name."
"...?"
The shadow finally looked up at Kirian, head cocked in puzzlement.
"Dumroad."
"...!"
The shadow shuddered at the name.
In the next moment, the inky form shattered like glass.
Through the cracks emerged a pale, androgynous figure.
It spoke in a shallow voice, neither male nor female.
"How do you know my name? All my masters who knew it are long dead."
Because I'm alive again.
Kirian swallowed the words and smiled faintly.