First Kiss
At last, the Mana Road was complete.
His lower half retained the Mana Road he had always possessed. His upper half was an ice vessel forged from the azure-blue mana of Celia's Ice Soul, completed only through her help. To use this Mana Road properly, he would have to channel the mana within his body into its pathways and set it circulating — and through that circulation, he could enhance his physical abilities and activate the Ability he possessed.
And yet… honestly, he was afraid.
A Mana Road reached its peak in adulthood. In childhood and old age, mana grew thin and the Road's performance declined. In other words, the Ability he had once run on the feeble mana of his youth — Acceleration — would now, as an adult, spin far stronger and far faster than before. Could this broken, patched-together Mana Road of his truly withstand the swollen volume and velocity of his present mana?
He slowly turned his head and surveyed his surroundings. They stood in the garden of Valstein Castle. An open expanse of green lawn stretched around them, and centered on him were three watchers: Duke Dryunain, Sir Alfonso, and Celia. Every one of them was a Mana Road Awakener. People of the highest station, impossibly busy, had all gathered out of concern for him. Celia, above all, was the one who had built this Mana Road for him. If only to repay everything she had poured into him, he had to take this step.
"Celia. I'm starting."
Yes. Let's do this.
"You can do it, Abel! I believe in you!"
Why are you the one trembling harder?
Listening to Celia's adorably shaky encouragement, he focused his mind and stirred his mana. As he sank into a state of deep immersion, old memories began to surface.
…Abel! I'll always be with you!
He saw Seraphina — his childhood friend, the woman he had truly loved — smiling at him.
…Please use my Mana Road! Mister!
…He's just some lunatic who's been chasing me since forever. We have nothing to do with each other!
The moment of her betrayal crossed with the moment he lost his Mana Road, and his mana faltered. Just as despair threatened to drop him to his knees—
Woom…—!
Celia's mana, radiating from the ice Mana Road settled within him, corrected the flow. Yes. What filled the empty place left by the Mana Road he had given to Seraphina was Celia's Mana Road.
…But being with Abel is always so much fun.
His mind emptied, and in place of Seraphina, only Celia's image filled him completely.
…Abel, look at this! It's amazing!
Celia smiling at him — a smile pure as a child's. At times she grew solemn, lost in deep thought, but her heart was unmistakably kind. He could feel it in the mana of the Road she had made for him. It was intensely cold, yet the mana moved gently, as if determined to protect him.
He accelerated the mana.
Thud-! Thud-thud—-!!
The vessel of the Mana Road shuddered under the ultra-high-speed acceleration of his mana. It was several times faster than in his childhood — no, dozens of times. Even with his original Mana Road, he could not have sworn he would survive this violent current of acceleration.
Thud..!! Thrrrk...!!!
And this was a Mana Road whose holes had been barely sealed shut, half of it forged from someone else's mana. This was dangerous.
…Abel!
He heard Celia calling his name. If he opened his mouth to answer, the accelerating mana inside him would leak out and explode.
Was this as far as he could go? Would he fail to repay Celia's efforts after all? Was he going to end as nothing but a pathetic failure?
In a flash, countless memories flooded through him like a dying man's reel. The countless techniques he had learned from the neighbors of Magiavell. The know-how of memorizing every muscle movement as he watched those techniques, now spreading through every muscle in his body, seizing the violently trembling Mana Road.
He had, in truth… worked hard.
From the days when they called him the village genius, the hope of the future, through the loss of his Mana Road that had disappointed them all, right up to this very moment — he had mastered every skill he could find to fill the void left by its absence. Had all of that been for nothing?
No. It hadn't been for nothing.
Ziiing—-!!
Every fine muscle, every drop of blood, every bone — every element of his body answered his will, gripping the Mana Road and holding the explosion at bay. The muscle forms of countless techniques merged, and drawing on all his accumulated experience, he steered the Mana Road in the single most correct direction.
Crack-aang—!
And at a certain threshold, the old Mana Road shattered and rearranged itself entirely into a new form — a perfect figure eight.
Shuuuu—-! Ziiiiing...!!!!!!
The newly created Mana Road, shaped in the pattern of an eight, began circulating at high speed — his adult mana tangled with the Ice Soul mana seeping from Celia's vessel.
"Huuuuh..."
He opened his eyes with a breath like white mist.
Crk-crk-crack...!!
The green ground where he stood was completely sheathed in blue ice, and ice crystals continued to form in a spreading radius around him.
Did Lia use her Ability…?
He looked around.
Clang—! Shatter—!
Duke Dryunain and Captain Alfonso were smashing the spreading pillars of ice with spear and sword, each with his own weapon.
"Abel! That's Ice Soul..!! Think of gathering everything spreading around you into the palm of your hand!"
Celia, who had been containing the ice, shouted urgently.
Gather it in his grip?
Ah… this wasn't Celia's Ability at work. The ice was no different from Ice Soul, yet it was pouring out with him at its center. In other words — it was his power.
Just as Lia said. Gather it… in his hand.
He raised his palm and looked down at it.
Shuuuuu...!!
Like a wind of bitter cold, the frigid currents that had spread around him drew into his grasp and formed a sphere of blue light.
Ice Soul… Celia's Ability. Did that mean his Ability had become Ice Soul?
Thud-thud-thud...!!
No. The newly formed Mana Road of infinite acceleration, shed like a second skin, was clearly still moving according to his original Ability — Acceleration. That he could now wield ice mana was only because Celia's mana had helped him break through the wall. Riding the figure-eight Mana Road, Celia's mana accelerated and granted him the power of ice.
"Ugh..!"
But something was wrong. The mana accelerating through his body refused to stop at any point, building speed as if overloading—
Fwoosh..!!!!
—and the ice energy clenched in his palm inverted into its polar opposite: flame.
KWAOOO..!!
Just as the ice energy had spread before, a scorching explosion of fire erupted and set the surroundings ablaze.
"Attribute reversal?!"
The Duke's startled voice rang out.
Fwoooosh—-!!
It was burning. The fire was far too hot. It was trying to burn him too. Driven by the endlessly accelerating Mana Road, the fire mana slipped beyond control, and his entire body grew hot as magma. At this rate, he would destroy himself with his own power.
"Abel...!!"
In that moment, Celia came running without a care for the flames and—
Grab..!
"It's all right. I'm here."
—took the hand that wasn't holding the fire in both of hers and poured Ice Soul mana into him.
Thrrrk...!!
In that instant, ice met fire and steam burst forth, and the speed of the accelerating Mana Road began to fall.
"Celi..a..."
"Yes. Abel."
He could control the overloading power by his own will again.
Shuuuu...—!
In the hand Celia held, Ice Soul mana flowed. In the opposite hand—
Fwoosh—!
—Blazing Flame mana burned. And at the center of his body—
Ziiing—-!
—the completely new figure-eight Mana Road shone with white light from within, feeding him the power of Acceleration. Physical enhancement as strong and as fast as in his childhood… no. On a level that childhood could not even begin to compare with.
"You said you were going to heal his Mana Road… and he Awakened in the process. Quite the spectacle."
Duke Dryunain approached, spinning his spear with a look of admiration.
"Hoh… what kind of monster is this? A Mana Road Awakener with multiple Abilities? I've never seen the like in the kingdom — not even in the Empire, you bastard."
Captain Alfonso couldn't close his mouth for wonder.
Whump—
"Abel..! Thank goodness! I'm so, so glad!"
"Thank you… Lia."
Lia threw her arms around him, tears streaming, bouncing on her feet with joy. And it sank in at last.
He… had fixed his Mana Road. With Celia's help, he had fixed it.
"Lia… right now, I can do so much more. So tell me anything. If it's a request from you, I'll do whatever it is."
He took her by the shoulders as he spoke.
"It's hard to say it here..."
Lia flushed and answered with a glance toward the others.
"Haha. Youth, eh? Your Grace, are you all right? The young lady may well be getting married at this rate."
"We'll have to prepare the venue."
Sir Alfonso joked, and the Duke… joked?… nodding with an expressionless face.
"I want to go to the raft… just the two of us."
At that request, he nodded, slipped his hands under Lia's legs, and lifted her slender body into his arms.
"Forgive me! I'll be taking the young lady with me!"
Even if they had refused, he fully intended to take Lia with him in this moment.
"As you please."
"Hey— no funny business with the young lady, Abel!"
Neither of the two adults made any real move to stop him, so he launched himself as he was.
Woooom—-!
Bang—!!
The moment he spun his Mana Road, he kicked off the air and covered dozens of meters in an instant.
"Waaah… amazing, Abel!"
"I'm surprised myself."
With Lia's delighted gasps in his ear, he rapidly adapted to the physical enhancement he hadn't used in so long and landed. Their destination was the lakeside within the Valstein domain. Green grass and flowers carpeted the shore; clear water stretched before them, and a single raft stood waiting in view. That raft was a boat he and Lia had carved from wood together as part of their play.
"Let's ride together, Abel."
Lia sprang forward out of his arms, turned back to him, and spoke.
"Yeah. Let's."
He followed her up onto the raft. The water lapped softly as they sat facing each other and rowed out to the middle of the lake. Reaching this point always made it feel as though only Lia and he existed in the world, floating on the water.
Lia rose from her seat. A faint breeze stirred her hair and the hem of her skirt.
"Abel."
She called his name.
"That debt you said you owed me before… would it be all right if you repaid it by granting me one request?"
There was not a trace of playfulness in her. She looked straight at him as she spoke.
"If it's something I can do, I'll grant any request you make."
He rose as well and faced her.
"..."
The girl who had always been so bold now gazed at him with trembling eyes.
"Will you… love me? Abel."
Tense, she said it just like that.
Love her…?
The person who had saved him when he was drowning in despair and wanted to die. The person who smiled with a purity like a child's. The person who made his heart feel at ease and happy simply by being near. The person who had given him back everything he had lost.
"I already do."
"...!"
At his answer, her violet eyes went wide. Lia had always been the one leading him — but in this moment alone—
He cupped her face as if cradling it, bowed his head, and—
—pressed his lips gently over her soft ones, then drew back.
"Ah..."
A sweet little sound, almost a gasp of wonder, escaped between the pink lips that had only just parted from his. Then—
Whump—
"Abel...!"
Lia threw herself into his arms as if flinging her whole body at him.
"Abel..! Abel..! I like you— I like you so much..! I like you! I love you!"
"If I hadn't Awakened, that tackle would have knocked me clean off the raft, you know?"
"But! I like Abel too much..!"
For a long while, Lia rubbed her face against him, repeating the words I like you over and over. And he liked Lia too.