Chapter 6: The Outdoor Drill
While the day of the outdoor drill was fast approaching, Rio was currently attending one of the elective classes for fifth and sixth years. The name of the course was “General Theory of Sorcery” — and Celia was the class instructor. It was a course that was typically avoided, as it was difficult with no practical use. And yet, because Celia was the one teaching it this year, there were more students enrolled than ever before.
Despite turning seventeen, Celia’s outward appearance had stopped progressing beyond middle school-age, making her indiscernible from her students. On top of that, her alluringly cute appearance, coupled with her friendly personality, meant her popularity as an instructor was through the roof. As a result, many of the students in the room — particularly the male students — had selected the class not because of their burning desire for knowledge, but because Celia was the one teaching it.
There were currently forty students — including Rio — in the classroom. Among the female students were Christina and Roanna, as well as Flora, who was from the year below the others.
“First, I’d like to ask everyone for their definition of sorcery. Let’s see... how about Princess Christina. What do you think?”
“Sorcery is a technique that manipulates magic essence and spell formulae to cause a variety of phenomena to occur,” Christina said, immediately offering her own interpretation.
“Ooh, what a wonderful first response. Brilliant, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Christina answered modestly with a cool expression.
“Sorcery can be defined from many different perspectives, but the definition Princess Christina gave is the most general. There are also definitions that focus on the activation process of sorcery, but what kind of process is that exactly? —Mr. Stewart?” Celia called on Stewart, who eagerly stood up to answer.
“Yes, Professor. Sorcery is activated by pouring magic essence into a spell formula.”
“Close. I’d give that answer 80 out of 100 points. What do you think you’re missing?”
“I’m... not sure.” Lost for words, Stewart frowned in frustration.
“Rio, then. What about you?”
“If the formula for essence control cannot be created, then there’ll be a need to control the essence being poured in. Sorcery will not activate if that control fails.”
“Correct. 100 points.” Celia gave a satisfied beam at Rio’s smooth answer, while Stewart’s expression quietly darkened.
“So what is spell formulae? Miss Roanna.”
“Yes, Professor. Spell formulae are said to be formulae that can alter the world.”
“Correct. Wonderful answer.”
“Thank you very much, Professor,” Roanna said, blushing happily at Celia’s compliment.
“Sorcery is activated by controlling the magic essence within our bodies to manipulate formulae, which can alter our world. It’s almost like the work of god, right? Well, the formulae themselves were created by the Six Wise Gods, so that’s not entirely wrong to say.”
Every student in the classroom was hanging onto Celia’s words.
The Six Wise Gods were the beings that the people of Strahl worshiped. They credited these gods for contributing to the history and development of the region. Even Rio knew of the Six Wise Gods, but unfortunately, his life as an orphan meant that his belief in them was extremely weak.
“You may already know this, but essence control is also markedly related to the formula contract that is needed to acquire and use magic. Lower class magic can be grasped simply by instinct, but a high level of essence control is essential to acquiring and using magic of a higher difficulty.”
“Professor!” Stewart raised his hand to ask a question after Celia’s evenly-worded explanation.
“Yes, Mr. Stewart?”
“You mentioned that essence control is related to formula contracts for acquiring magic. Does this mean that those with inferior essence control cannot acquire magic at all?” Stewart looked at Rio with a mocking grin. This caused the students around him to giggle, but Rio coolly ignored them.
“That is incorrect. Compatibility with formula contracts differs from person to person, so there will be magic you cannot acquire no matter how efficient your essence control is,” Celia said with a delicate frown.
The art of magic involved storing the formula inside the body, to be activated at will by chanting its spell name. Simple rites known as “formula contracts” were necessary to store the spell formula inside the body. They were performed by using a special catalyst to draw the contract formula on the ground, standing on it, chanting the spell, then manipulating the essence. If the ritual was successful, the formula would be stored inside the body, which would allow the sorcery to be verbally activated without the need to draw the formula.
Essence capacity had the tendency to be passed on through genetics, and there was a noticeable difference in the power of those who could and couldn’t use magic. This meant that those who could use magic were able to receive special privileges more easily, leading young royalty and nobility to believe that magic was limited to the chosen elites. Furthermore, while it was discovered that Rio had sufficient amounts of essence to acquire magic, for some reason, he failed to form any kind of formula contract and was yet to obtain a single magic. His fellow classmates had been growing envious because of the flawless ease with which he accomplished everything, so the focus of all the ridicule directed towards him suddenly shifted — Rio’s inability to use magic proved he wasn’t one of the chosen ones.
“I see. So only the chosen ones can acquire magic. Thank you very much, Professor.” Stewart sat down smugly, despite the fact that Celia had refuted his statement.
“...Now, back to the lecture. In the first place—” Celia resumed her teaching with a small sigh. The rest of the lecture proceeded smoothly from there until the end of class.
After class...
“That was wonderful, Professor Celia! It’s no wonder they call you the ‘Genius of the Royal Academy.’ Your profound opinions greatly moved me!” Stewart breathed, approaching Celia after class to offer his emotionally-charged opinion.
“Ahaha... Thank you,” Celia said with a forced laugh. Meanwhile, Rio was trying to pack up his things as quickly as possible to leave the room, but...
“Oh! Rio—” Celia attempted to call out to him, but Stewart rudely interrupted her.
“Hey, commoner. Why are you taking this class when you can’t even use magic? The only thing you have going for your is that silver tongue and brute strength.”
Rio stopped and turned around to face Stewart. “I may be unable to acquire magic, but I am still capable of sorcery.” This kind of conflict was a daily occurrence for Rio; as usual, he simply shrugged it off.
“That’s not what I mean. I’m referring to the fact that having despicable filth like you in the room poses a danger to the young women here,” Stewart expressed in clear disdain.
“I haven’t the faintest intentions of attempting such befouling actions...” Rio shook his head flatly.
Status, lineage, honor, income: those were the factors that noble daughters considered when seeking a marriage partner. Their entire purpose, one forced onto the girls since birth, was to marry a socially distinguished partner. However, a noble twelve-year-old girl was still just a twelve-year-old girl, so the reality was that many of them were simply more interested in outward appearances than matters of matrimony.
As far as Rio was concerned, he still had a youthful innocence left in his naturally androgynous appearance that had only grown more prominent with the passage of time. Now that he had reached his senior school years, female students would approach him because of his alluring appearance and the sense of rebellion that he seemed to exude. Rio ignored each and every one of those advances, which resulted in unfounded rumors being spread out of resentment. Stewart most likely ate those rumors up with enthusiasm when they were being spread, but they had eventually died down. Or so Rio thought...
“Do not deceive us. There have been recent rumors that you’ve been tricking the girls in my grade,” Stewart said clearly. Rio looked at him in confusion.
“Trick them? I haven’t the slightest recollection of such things...”
Could he be referring to the letter he received from that female student the other day? But he hadn’t tricked her at all... Rio firmly shook his head.
“Hmph. Don’t get full of yourself. You may have been the only one to triumph against a knight during the tournament, but that was just a fluke. You got lucky.” Stewart continued to argue against Rio, who easily shrugged the statements off.
The truth was that recently, unbeknownst to Rio, female underclassmen were starting to hold him in a higher regard — all because of his tournament match.
“I am more than aware of that fact.”
“Then don’t step out of line, especially in front of me. Commoners should know their place. You’re an eyesore.”
“I understand. Then I shall endeavor to remain inconspicuous during my classes with you.” Rio bowed to please Stewart, but he remained irritated nonetheless.
“Hmph. You should stop attending the classes that we share altogether,” Stewart said, causing the room to fall silent.
“Mr. Stewart, that’s enough!” Celia interrupted in an angry voice. She had been holding back from intervening out of caution over the possible consequences, but it had escalated to a degree she could no longer overlook.
“Are you siding with him, Professor?” Stewart asked with a sullen expression.
“You are a noble, are you not? Then you must know not to attack others without conclusive evidence. What you are doing now is bullying the weak, plain and simple,” Celia reprimanded firmly.
“Once something happens it will be too late! There are even rumors he’s been making passes at you, Professor,” Stewart insisted.
“Nothing of the sort has ever happened, and as a teacher I would never allow such indecent relations to happen in my classroom anyway,” Celia stated resolutely. Her intensity made Stewart reluctantly back off.
“...If you insist, Professor.”
He shot Rio a glare and left... but not without a final comment to keep him in check.
“Remember this, commoner. If you mess up, you’ll be making an enemy of my family — the House of Duke Huguenot.”
“I shall keep that in mind,” Rio replied. He bowed once to Celia, then left the room.
◇◇◇
The morning of the outdoor drill.
Armed students clad in the uniform of the Royal Academy of Beltrum gathered in a mountain forest area northeast of the capital, two hours away via enchanted airship. There were ten people to a squad, and Rio’s squad was currently holding their pre-drill briefing.
“I will now read out the drill details.”
Alphonse Rodan was the commander and leader of Rio’s squad. Other notable members included Christina, Roanna, Flora, and Stewart.
“This drill takes place during a hypothetical war where an enemy has invaded our kingdom. Our small squad was dispatched to stop the enemy’s troops, but we must retreat from the battlefield by making our way through the mountain forest. In order to avoid our pursuers, speed and covertness is of the utmost importance.” Alphonse opened the map in his hands as he explained.
“The time limit is until sunset today. If we miss that deadline, we’ll lose a lot of points. It goes without saying, then, that the faster we arrive the better.” The drill results had no effect on graduation itself, but receiving good grades for it would be beneficial to those entering the military afterwards.
“And so, ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving just after noon,” Alphonse announced confidently.
“Just a moment, please,” Roanna objected with a clouded expression. “That might be possible if we assumed a straight route. However, this is the mountain forest — it should take much longer to traverse. Arrival after noon shouldn’t be possible.”
“Worry not, Lady Roanna. I have already plotted out the shortest route using the old roads.” The confident smile on Alphonse’s face did not waver.
“...What are you implying? The exam location was only announced yesterday,” Roanna said with a doubtful expression.
“One of my family’s private soldiers is a former adventurer, you see. He just so happened to know this area well. There were several old shortcuts that I simply informed Alphonse of.” Stewart, who had been listening silently until now, spoke up with a triumphant look.
“That’s how it is... You could say information is everything in a war. Our grades have been essentially guaranteed with this,” Alphonse said with a cheerful grin.
“Well, my personal belief is that this is underhanded and shameful.” Roanna maintained her stern expression.
“I also find it unwise to trust information from such unknown sources,” Christina added curtly. The words of the princess herself caused Alphonse’s mood to darken slightly. “You needn’t worry about that, Your Highness. Comparing my map with this map here shows that my information is indeed authentic and very reliable,” Stewart responded calmly in place of Alphonse, who had grown somewhat nervous. Christina narrowed her eyes.
“...If we wander onto the older roads, there will be a greater chance of encountering monsters and savage beasts. What are your thoughts on that?” she asked Alphonse.
“This area has undergone a safety check beforehand. The drill requires us to escape our enemy pursuers, so choosing to travel along the older roads makes sense,” Alphonse offered hesitantly.
“I see. Fine. You’re the commander of this squad, after all — I shall defer to you.” Contrary to expectations, Christina backed down easily. She may have had her own opinions, but she wasn’t about to challenge the decision of the commander.
“Leave it to me, Your Highness. I promise, we shall obtain the highest score in our year,” Alphonse stated respectfully with a sigh of relief.
After that, they moved onto the final checks of their formations and attack plans for monster encounters.
“Hey, Rio — you should feel honored. We’ve prepared a way for you to be useful despite your inability to use magic. You’re in charge of carrying the supplies for our squad,” Alphonse said. He directed his gaze towards the bags left a short distance away from them. Two extremely large packs stuffed with supplies were lying on the floor: a backpack and a shoulder bag. They most likely held all the supplies necessary for the drill. There was far too much for a single person to realistically carry, but there was no point in arguing, Rio deduced.
“I understand,” he replied, and nodded without objection.
He tentatively tried to lift the backpack and immediately realized it wouldn’t take long for his stamina to drain away... But it wouldn’t be a problem if he enhanced his strength.
Rio quietly enchanted his physical body. No magic activation formula appeared, which meant that no one realized Rio had strengthened his body.
A girl suddenly appeared next to him. “U-Umm, are you all right? It must be heavy having to carry all that by yourself...”
It was Flora.
She was in the year below Rio and Christina, but in all his time in the academy, Rio had only spoken to her once. Several days after Flora’s enrollment, she thanked him for his help in the kidnapping case. Ever since then, he could feel her looking at him on several occasions, but she had never spoken to him again — until today. It was truly a surprise to Rio to have her speak to him now. His eyes widened subtly.
“Umm. Shall I carry some too...?” Flora offered her help as Rio struggled to react.
“No, it’s fine. Thank you for your concern.” Rio immediately pasted a smile on his face as he gently rejected her.
Flora wasn’t a bad person — she had an unusually gentle personality for a member of the highly prejudiced royalty and nobility of Beltrum. But because she had been raised like a princess in a glass palace, her natural disposition was far too soft. She was ignorant of how her actions could affect her surroundings. In this situation, there was no possible way for Rio to accept Flora’s offer. If he did, they’d be subjected to the criticisms of those around them. In any case, the bags weren’t even a weight Flora could have carried to begin with. Still, Rio did thank her for her good intention.
“Princess Flora, you should not be exchanging words with the commoner,” Alphonse suddenly interrupted, meaning to disparage Rio with his words. “Associating yourself with filth like that will only place your image in a negative light.”
“That’s right, Your Highness. This barbarian has more than enough strength to spare anyway,” Stewart chimed in. He stepped between Rio and Flora to increase the distance between them.
Rio bowed once toward them before he walked away to wait for the signal of their departure.
Later, Rio’s squad marched along an old road that stretched deep into the forest. No matter how far they walked, there was nothing to see but dense, overgrown vegetation. It was still before noon, but the air was dark and chilly against their skin, filled with high-pitched bird chirps and beastly roars heard in the distance. They startled Flora every time.
Every member of the squad was dressed in their uniform and armed with a weapon, with the exception of Rio, who also carried two additional packs. His burden was incomparably greater than theirs, yet they continued to walk onwards without any consideration for him. Flora would occasionally turn back to look worriedly at him — he took up the rear of the march — but Rio showed no sign of fatigue in his expression.
“Eyes ahead, Flora. Worry about your own stamina,” Christina warned Flora, who was fidgeting restlessly. She kept her voice low and true to the concealment required for the drill.
“B-But sister, this is wrong. Why is he the only one...” Flora said with a look of sadness. Christina’s eyes widened by a fraction at the sight of her timid sister raising an objection.
“He should be equipped with an artifact that enhances his physical abilities.”
“But his essence and stamina can’t last if he keeps it constantly activated. We need to take more breaks, or take turns carrying the supplies...” Flora’s concern over Rio’s burden made Christina’s expression darken.
“Have you forgotten what I told you before you enrolled into the academy? To refrain from associating with him?”
“...I remember. That is why I have followed your words this entire time. But, sister... I don’t understand. Why is he always alone?”
“It is what it is,” Christina replied simply.
“How can you...” Flora was taken aback.
Roanna, who had been listening to their conversation as she walked alongside them, appeared troubled. “In an environment like the Academy, needless association with him will not be of any benefit to either party. This, I am sure he is aware of.”
“W-What are you saying, that can’t be—”
“It is. Now stop this mindless chatter,” Christina spoke over Flora. “We’re meant to be withdrawing from a war right now, so—”
“Monster!” Alphonse suddenly yelled. The entire squad tensed up.
Monsters. The ecological details of these supernatural creatures were shrouded in mystery. They possessed a certain level of intelligence, but they were hostile towards everything except their kind. Their defining trait was the way their bodies disappeared upon death, leaving behind only a gemstone filled with magic essence — an enchanted gem. The male students — all except Rio — reached for their swords at once and assumed their battle positions. The female students raised their staves, primed and alert. Although they were in the middle of a drill exercise, the battle about to begin was not an exercise.
It was undeniably real.
Monster encounters were an expected part of outdoor drills, however, so the students remained calm and composed.
“No one panic! They’re goblins, and there aren’t many of them. Once the four of you in the front guard raise your physical abilities with your artifacts, we’ll charge forward and crush the enemy.” At Alphonse’s order, the four boys in the front started to chant at once.
“Augendae Corporis!”
The bracelet underneath their uniforms started to glow as the sorcery to enchant their physical abilities was activated. The bracelets were a magical artifact that acted as a starting point for the geometric spell formulae to appear and wrap itself around the students.
Artifacts were activated by chanting the spell name in a similar way to magic, but unlike the human body, which could store multiple formulae for magic, artifacts were typically restricted to a single formula. This allowed incompatible people who failed to form a formula contract the ability to use the artifact, but the sorcery could only activate the way the bracelet was set to.
The four boys took off and closed in on the group of goblins — monsters that took on the shape of small, hideous people. In no time at all, they had been defeated.
Goblins were among the weakest monsters that existed; though the students were only around twelve years old, the legitimate combat training they received at the Academy, coupled with their ability-strengthening artifacts, meant the goblins stood no chance. As the bodies of the goblins vanished, an enchanted gem the size of a pebble was left behind.
“Well, that was nothing. It’d take a more formidable monster to stand a chance against us,” Stewart said proudly. The easy victory seemed to have lifted his mood.
“As expected, you can always rely on Stewart. Unlike the useless thing over there.” Alphonse praised Stewart pleasantly before turning his gaze to Rio.
But Rio was staring deeper into the forest and paying absolutely no attention to Alphonse’s words. That seemed to strike a nerve.
“Hey, Rio! The battle’s over. Stop daydreaming or we’ll leave you behind!” Alphonse yelled.
“My sincere apologies,” Rio replied, tearing his eyes away from the forest depths. They immediately resumed their march.
Meanwhile, deep within the forest where Rio had been staring, a lone man was hidden amongst the plant life.
It was Reiss.
He wore a black robe that covered his entire body as he moved as silently as the dead.
“Oh my, that was close. To think he would notice me at this distance... What a child,” Reiss muttered in awe. He actually wanted to draw a little closer than this, but deemed it too risky to do so.
“He might actually be the one who defeated my subordinate five years ago. The secret agent I sent to the House of Duke Huguenot has been working well, so I suppose I could use this chance to test his true strength...” Reiss muttered in delight, his mouth turning up in an eerie, devilish smile.
◇◇◇
Their march progressed smoothly after that. The only monsters they came across were goblins, which posed no real threat; male students vied to show off in front of Christina and the other girls, and would compete with each other over who could defeat the goblins.
The information Stewart had procured turned out to be accurate, making their early afternoon arrival seem more and more realistic with each passing moment.
Unbeknownst to them, however, the seams of their successful afternoon were just waiting to come undone.
The students had grown fatigued from walking around unfamiliar mountain forest terrain, and the goblin eradications they had been so enthusiastic about at first eventually wore down to monotonous chores to deal with. Rio — the one who should have succumbed to exhaustion first — continued to keep a cool, unwavering expression, which prevented the competitive male students from voicing their complaints.
“More goblins. Is it just me, or have their numbers increased?”
“It’s just you. You know the saying: seeing one goblin is a sign of thirty more.” Stewart and Alphonse continued to sound optimistic.
Roughly half an hour later, the woodlands that obstructed their view suddenly disappeared. A clear, blue sky spread endlessly before their eyes.
They had cleared the forest. The goal was right before them — or so they all thought.
The tree line ended at an open area, but beyond that, the forest resumed its spread before them — or rather, below them.
Rio’s squad had reached the top of a cliff.
Dumbfounded, they walked up to the edge to look down at the forest roughly 100 feet below them. If they could find a way to reach the bottom, then the goal would be right before them — but trying to descend without climbing ropes was a death wish.
“Hey, doesn’t this mean the information was wrong...?”
“Yeah, what are we going to do? Retracing our steps is going to take forever.”
Two male students glanced over at Stewart as they muttered to each other. The squad had been moving according to the information Stewart had provided; the thought of all their efforts until now being in vain dampened their spirits.
“Is there something you’d like to say to me?” Stewart asked the whispering students in an irritated voice.
“N-No, nothing of the sort. Right?”
“Right.”
The students shook their heads in a hurry. They were both sixth years, but couldn’t stand up to a single fifth year boy. Their families couldn’t afford to defy Stewart’s family — Duke Huguenot’s family. Their disgruntled gazes naturally turned towards the commander instead. Alphonse was also from a rather distinguished family — the House of Marquess Rodan — but it fell behind in rank compared to Duke Huguenot’s.
“W-What’s with that look? If you have a complaint, say it with your mouth,” Alphonse threatened the students looking at him.
“Then, may I?” Christina took the initiative and spoke up first.
“Y-Yes, Your Highness?” Alphonse’s expression froze at the appearance of the First Princess.
“Which way from here? The path appears to have ended,” Christina asked, seeking an answer for the highest priority issue at hand. Alphonse was thrown off guard, having been certain that she would make a complaint instead. But he soon realized that being criticized directly was the easier route, as he had no idea how to deal with this unexpected turn of events. His mind had been so focused on avoiding the blame, he hadn’t had the time to come up with a solution.
“About that... Umm...”
“You are the commander of this squad. You were the one who advocated the use of Stewart’s questionable information for our strategy, so you must have prepared for such an outcome, no?” Christina questioned plainly as Alphonse struggled to find his words.
“M-My information was not questionable—”
“I am not speaking to you, soldier.”
Stewart tried to get a word in edgewise, but Christina shot him down with resolve. “In the military, the commander’s words are final. This may be a training exercise, but we are following the same rules. If the commander tells us to move forward, then we move forward. I hope you understand that your single command can place the entire squad in danger.”
“Y-Yes ma’am.” Alphonse nodded with a pale face. An unbearable silence fell over the squad.
It was then that it happened.
A single wooden spear came flying out of the forest behind them, piercing the body of a male student.
“Huh...?” The student with the spear in his abdomen uttered a noise of confusion.
Roanna spotted the enemies immediately. “I-It’s an orc! With other monsters too! Ready the defenses!”
Orcs were much more ferocious monsters compared to goblins. They stood over six and a half feet tall and had strength that far surpassed that of a human. They were also known to occasionally move together with goblin mobs.
“F-Front guard! Use your shields to block the spears. Rear guard, cast Cura on the injured!” Alphonse promptly commanded, but the monsters made their attack before the students could react. Three spears came flying towards the squad. One struck the ground, while another flew towards Rio. He silently drew the longsword at his waist and sliced it away in an instant. On the other side of the group, the last spear pierced Stewart’s torso. “AAAHH! Take it out — someone take it out!!” Stewart yelled as he thrashed about wildly, beyond all sense of shame or decorum. Panicking from the pain, he lunged towards some male students nearby.
“Whoa! Stop it!”
“H-Hey! Don’t come this way!”
Terrified by Stewart’s bloodstained uniform, the students shoved him away. The force of their push caused him to crash heavily into Flora.
“Kya!”
Flora was in the middle of treating the injured boy from earlier when she was sent flying towards the cliff. She landed right beside the edge. The impact of her hitting the ground caused the unstable cliff edge to crumble away.
“Flora!”
Christina, who had been focused on the monster before her, turned around at the sound of Flora’s scream. Her expression turned to distinct horror when she spotted Flora, moments away from falling off the crumbling cliff edge.
“Eek! H-Help me...!” Flora glanced around for something to grab onto, when she locked eyes with Rio. A pained expression flickered over his face before he threw the equipment off of himself and broke out into a run.
Flora’s body had nearly fallen from sight.
Hurry — that was the only thought in his mind as he accelerated to an impossible speed. In an instant, he had reached the cliff edge — and dived off without hesitation. He extend his arm out and grabbed Flora’s hand, which had been grasping at thin air. If he gotten there just a second later, he wouldn’t have made it in time.
Rio’s and Flora’s eyes met once more midair. Flora’s eyes were teary with relief, but it was still too early to relax. At this rate, they would both end up experiencing ropeless bungee jumping together from 100 feet up — but Rio wouldn’t let that happen. He could at least save Flora.
“Sorry,” he murmured softly, yanking Flora towards him by the hand he had grabbed. Then, he rotated their bodies around in the air.
“Kya!”
A dainty squeal of surprise could be heard just as Rio used the momentum of his turn to throw Flora back up the cliff with all of his abnormal strength.
“Kyaa!” Flora’s body landed at the top of the cliff with a thump. She might have suffered some light scratches, but Rio couldn’t do much more than that.
That should be far enough from the edge, Rio thought. With that, the corner of his lip twitched up in a smile. But his relief was only momentary, as the consequences of saving Flora soon caught up to him.
Rio fell to the ground from the top of a 100 foot cliff.
◇◇◇
The members of the squad who had just watched Rio dive off the cliff to save Flora were stunned.
“E-Exterminating the monsters comes first! Alphonse!” Roanna was the first to come to her senses and snapped their commander out of his stupor.
“...Defense positions! Men in front, hold your shields and protect Her Highnesses with your wall! Rear guard will launch a barrage of offensive magic. Roanna, you assist with the healing. Take your positions!” Alphonse ordered, reorganizing their formation.
The battle from that point onwards was overwhelmingly one-sided. The front guard became a wall of shields, while the rear guard healed the injured and killed the monsters with their offensive magic.
That much was a given — the ability to use magic made humans far more powerful.
Even the very first level of offensive magic taught at the Academy was enough to gravely wound a human. In a head-to-head battle, any one of the students present had enough power to take out a group of goblins by themselves. This level of magical power was why the standard fighting tactic for sorcerers when facing non-magic users was to maintain a mid- to long-range distance from their opponent. There was no way they would lose as long as they kept that up, short of their opponent having enough mobility to dodge or a high level of defense to block the magic attacks.
“Electrica Projectilis!”
The blitz shot Christina launched contained a barrage of lightning bolts that blew away the remaining goblins. Their bodies vanished, leaving behind enchanted gems and concluding the battle. There were two students who had been injured, but Roanna had helped Flora keep the healing up under Alphonse’s orders.
The issue now was Rio’s whereabouts and how Flora had nearly fallen off the cliff. As everyone calmed down, the air between them grew delicately tense.
“Umm, Princess Flora. How did you fall off the cliff?” Alphonse asked awkwardly in an attempt to clear up the situation.
“I was casting Cura on the injured when somebody suddenly crashed into me from behind...” Flora answered hesitantly.
“Who was it?” Alphonse asked. One of the female students nervously raised her hand and answered timidly.
“Umm... I believe the one who bumped into Her Highness was Stewart... I was standing right next to Princess Flora, so...” Both her voice and her face seemed rather sickly; she was most likely frightened of Stewart. The boy in question — having just been healed — turned to glare at her with a demonic wrath.
“Are you saying it’s my fault? I was pushed too! I’m a victim!” Stewart yelled insistently, as though he didn’t quite believe it himself.
“Oh, no — I’m not saying it’s your fault at all.” The girl who made the statement withered under Stewart’s glare.
“Then who’s fault do you say it is?”
“Oh, umm... The... the one who pushed you, perhaps?”
“That’s right! Someone pushed me! That person is the culprit!” Stewart declared, shifting the blame off of himself.
“Is this really the time to be searching for a culprit?” Roanna asked, clearly fed up with the topic. Stewart turned to her with a sulky expression.
“T-Then what do you suggest?” Alphonse asked her hurriedly.
“Do we save him, or do we leave the forest? Those are our current options, no?” Roanna frowned as though she found the answer to be obvious.
“T-That’s not something for me to decide alone...”
“Good grief... What do you think the role of the commander is for?” Roanna sighed in disgust at Alphonse’s behavior, unfitting for a commander.
“I-I value the opinion of my squad members too. What does everyone else think?” He looked to the other members for their thoughts.
“...Is he even alive?”
“I don’t think there’s any way we can save him, since he fell from this height and all. How would we get down there?”
“Yeah, exactly. It’s too risky to search for a commoner who might not even be alive.”
And so on. Opinions were exchanged, all in opposition of Rio’s rescue.
Suddenly, someone abruptly spoke up.
“Actually, it was him. The commoner was the one who pushed me.”
It was Stewart.
He had a strangely contemplative look on his face; the students gathered their attention on him.
“That coward was so terrified by the battle that he shoved me away from him. Because he did that, I unwillingly collided with Princess Flora, to my greatest regret...” Stewart said, twisting his face into a look of grief.
“In other words... he feared the crime of killing a royal and dived after the Princess in desperation to save her, falling in her place. Then Stewart should be clear of any wrongdoing...” Alphonse nodded in understanding.
“T-That cannot be! He saved me!” Flora immediately objected, unable to accept that conclusion.
“That’s not what the witnesses say. I was pushed by that boy, wasn’t I?” Stewart asked, looking at two male students as he did so. They were the students who had thrust Stewart away from them earlier, and they flinched in surprise before responding.
“Y-Yeah. That’s what happened.”
“I-I saw it too.”
Both boys agreed with each other in a rather forced tone. Stewart smiled in satisfaction.
“Did you really see that happen?” Christina asked in a low voice. Her intense gaze nearly caused Stewart and the boys to take a step back.
“Y-Yes, there was no mistaking it,” Stewart said, nodding first. The other two boys followed his lead.
“...I see. What about everyone else? Did anyone else witness what happened?” Christina asked the squad at large, and looked over the group of students. But their reactions were weak — they merely glanced at each other in awkward silence.
“We were all preoccupied with the monsters that appeared... Elise, did you see anything?” Roanna asked. Elise was the girl who had testified to seeing Stewart’s collision with Flora. Stewart also turned to look at Elise, his expression cold.
“Huh? Ah... no, I don’t think so... I didn’t see that much...” Elise responded with a strange nervousness in her tone.
“And that’s the truth?” Roanna pressed.
“Y-Yes!” Elise startled, nodding as her body trembled.
“Then we should decide our next step immediately. Discussing this any more will only lead us in circles,” Roanna said, looking at Alphonse unhappily.
“T-Then perhaps we should get out of this forest first? We’ve been entrusted with the safety of Her Highnesses, so we shouldn’t stay here any longer than necessary...” Flustered, Alphonse turned to Christina for her judgment. Personally, he would have rather focused on minimizing their demerit points than ignoring the exam to rescue Rio, whose fall was his own doing anyway. In his mind, losing a commoner like Rio didn’t count as a major incident.
“Could you stop looking to me for every decision? You’re the commander. Make your commands at your own discretion. Your leadership is all over the place,” Christina warned him with clear irritation on her face.
“Y-Yes ma’am! Then we shall immediately depart for our destination.” The blood drained from Alphonse’s face as he hurriedly came to a decision.
“Wait! You’re really just going to abandon him?” Flora demanded in an unrelenting tone.
“W-We are moving on as a team. We cannot afford to put the entire squad at risk over one boy who fell of his own accord,” Alphonse replied, his speech awkward under pressure.
“Of his own accord...? Then... then, I nearly fell off the cliff of my own accord. I shall go save him myself.” Rendered speechless at first, Flora immediately recovered to voice her declaration.
“Absolutely not! You must refrain from such outrageous thoughts, Princess Flora!” Roanna scolded her in a panic.
“Roanna! Even you...? He might be severely injured and waiting for someone to help. Don’t you realize that?”
“...This is a matter of priority versus possibility. There is a possibility he is unharmed... But the exam going on right now is the priority. We cannot ruin our entire drill over an uncertain possibility for a single commoner. That is what the commander has decided, at least,” Roanna explained.
“T-That is why I shall go alone...” Flora said, faltering.
“Surely you are aware that royalty cannot be allowed to wander off alone,” Christina interrupted in a slightly exasperated voice.
“B-But, Christina!”
“Calm down. We haven’t abandoned him completely.”
“...Huh?” Flora looked at her sister in confusion.
“We’ll send a search team out as soon as our squad completes the drill,” Christina assured her, “So for now—”
“MRROOOOH!”
Suddenly, a monstrous roar echoed from the forest; the sound was loud enough to shake the trees. The startled animals in the forest fled all at once, making the students flinch.
Thump, thump, thump, thump. The noise of something hitting the ground sounded rhythmically, then fell silent for a beat, before an even louder sound reverberated. It was as though something enormous had taken a running leap.
Then, a giant figure emerged from the forest, looming in the sky.
“W-What is that?” Roanna exclaimed as she looked up above them.
It was a large humanoid creature, holding a sword carved from stone... But it clearly wasn’t human. Its mouth curved into a fearsome grin when it spotted the students below, before it landed back in the forest. A thunderous roar echoed alongside the tremor of its landing. The ground shook like a small earthquake had occurred, causing the weaker parts of the cliff to crumble away.
“W-Watch out for the cliff!” Roanna yelled, prompting the students to scramble away from the edge — but they didn’t enter the forest. The forest contained that creature, after all.
“It’s heading this way, Alphonse! What do we do?” Roanna yelled, wanting Alphonse to take the lead command, but he had completely shut down in a panic.
“Huh? Uh, w-what...?”
“We either fight or run! Give us your command!” Roanna impatiently pressed Alphonse for a response. But even in that short amount of time, the mysterious creature continued to approach until its huge silhouette peeked through the forest.
“Eek...!”
It presence was so daunting, several of the students’ faces twisted in fear, and cowered in terror with quivering legs. Step by step it approached, until the students finally had a clear view of its whole body.
It had a demonic bull’s face, with thick, pointy horns on its head. Its eyes were brimming with madness, and glowed a menacing, crimson red.
Its frame must have stood over ten feet tall.
The body was covered in rough, black skin, and bulged with huge, rugged muscles. A whip-like tail snapped about behind it.
“M... M-Monster...”
Its overwhelming presence turned the students’ expressions into utter despair, but there was still one person who hadn’t lost the will to fight.
It was Christina.
“What are you all standing around for?! Do you want to die?!” she said, stepping forth with her staff held at the ready to chant a spell.
“Fulgur Sphera!”
A geometric formula appeared at the end of her staff and launched a dense ball of lightning. The thunder ball, which was about three feet high, crackled in the air as it drew close to the monster’s head, sparking hope back into students’ eyes. But—
“MRROOOOOHH!!”
The bull-headed giant gave a tremendous howl as it raised its stone sword upwards, before bringing it down on the thunder ball in a crushing swing. The impact sent a cloud of dust into the air like an explosion.
“Wha...”
Even Christina was lost for words.
Fulgur Sphera was the strongest offensive magic she had in her arsenal; seeing it smacked down so easily was stunning. The difference in power between the princess and this monster was overwhelming.
“Gufufu.”
Seeing Christina’s astonishment, the bull-headed giant gave her a creepy smile.
“Eek...!” Christina’s body trembled.
“K-Kill it! Use your ice magic! Front guard, use Augendae Corporis to beat it up!” Alphonse yelled in a panic. The creature lumbered languidly towards the students as they desperately began to chant.
“Glacialis Lancea!” Flora, Roanna, and Elise readied their staves in the rear and chanted the same magic spell. The formula formed at the end of their staves and shot out a spear of ice.
“Augendae Corporis!” The male students chanted too. Their bands glowed and summoned the formula, activating their physical ability enchantments. They then charged forward after the barrage of ice lances sent forth by the three girls. However, the bull-headed monster moved and evaded the spears of ice with a swiftness unfitting for its large size. It closed in on one of the male students from the side and swung its sword in a sweeping motion. The student paled in fear of the stone blade as it approached, yet even then, his reflexes had far surpassed that of a normal human, allowing him to raise his shield in time to block the attack. As a result, the male student was blown away by the blade and sent crashing back against a tree.
“Gah...!” he cried out, blood spilling from his mouth before he slumped limply against the ground. Witnessing that, the others completely lost their will to fight, their brave advancement frozen midstep. They could just feel it — there was no way they could win this fight.
“R-Retreat! Retreat now! Run for your lives!” Alphonse shrieked more than yelled. The students scattered in every direction as they fled into the forest. The bull-headed giant cackled with laughter as it slowly pursued them; it was almost as though it was enjoying the sight of the panicking students.
Meanwhile, the shock of seeing her thunder ball deflected had kept Christina rooted in place.
“Princess Christina, please pull yourself together!” Roanna rushed to shake her out of her shock.
“R-Right, thank you... Where’s Flora?” Christina asked, snapping back to the present.
“Nowhere in sight. I believe she has fled with everyone else already — let us hurry too.”
“Very well...”
With a conflicted expression, Christina left with Roanna.
◇◇◇
Just moments earlier, Rio was falling from the cliff towards the forest below. The cliff was easily over 100 feet high, producing that awful floating sensation in his chest.
It was scary... How could it be anything but? It was scary even though he knew he was unlikely to die — unless he made a mistake, that is.
Rio took a deep breath and released his essence, enhancing his physical body as much as he could. If he used magic, the process would involve a spell chant and a formula circle appearing, but neither happened in this circumstance.
Naturally, it wouldn’t — because what Rio was using right now wasn’t sorcery.
There were two types of enchantments that could affect the body: one that enhanced physical abilities, and one that enhanced the physical body. Magic could only enhance physical abilities — there was no known sorcery that could strengthen the body. With only the physical abilities enhanced, the body was known to injure itself while trying to keep up with its enhanced abilities. Many countries had ongoing research to achieve physical body enhancement, but none had succeeded in gaining any progress.
Yet for some reason, Rio was not only able to enhance his physical abilities, but his physical body as well — without the use of magic. This power had been awakened in him by the mysterious girl’s voice five years ago, on the day he regained his memories as Amakawa Haruto.
But there were other things that separated Rio from the people of this world too.
For example: how he could pour his essence into a formula to use sorcery, but he couldn’t store that formula within himself to acquire magic. Or, how he could see essence in its pure form — a faint light — when no one else could see it. Or even how he was able to imitate the flow of essence in a formula to recreate the effect of sorcery, despite his incompatibility with formula contracts for storing sorcery.
For example — Rio pushed his hands out towards the ground. A sudden gust of wind blasted from his hands, and the reverse thrust slowed his rapid fall downward. He couldn’t stop his descent completely, but it was enough to slow his falling speed — which was all he needed. Rio held out his hands to adjust his landing point with the wind, before grabbing onto a thick branch. The gesture completely killed the momentum of his fall, and he let go of the branch to drop down to the ground gracefully.
“Huh.”
With the crisis averted for now, Rio looked back up at the cliff, wondering what to do next. Honestly, it wouldn’t be that difficult to climb up and rejoin the others; a 100 foot climb was possible with his enhanced body, and he wouldn’t be at risk of dying if he fell, either. But with his inability to use magic, the others would find it strange if he showed up unharmed. That would be a pain. Either way, he needed to know what the situation was up above.
“Guess I’ll try to climb up first,” he murmured, before starting his ascent with a sigh.
In no time at all, Rio was at the top of the cliff again. He hid in the shadows of a tree and checked in on the state of the other students, who had just finished cleaning up the last of the monsters. He listened to them discuss what their current plan was; frankly speaking, it was a terrible discussion.
Both Alphonse and Stewart — the commander and the one who pushed Flora, respectively — were only concerned with protecting themselves.
Nearly all of the students had been too distracted by the surprise attack to witness the moment when Flora was pushed, which Stewart used to his advantage. Rio couldn’t hold back his faint smile when he heard the way Stewart bent the truth.
In the end, all the blame for Flora nearly falling off the cliff landed on Rio’s shoulders.
Flora herself had desperately tried to stand up for him, but was ultimately overpowered because of the lack of a witness. Yet, for some strange reason, Rio didn’t find himself disappointed or despaired, because he hadn’t expected anything more to begin with.
Rio lived at the bottom of a society where influence was everything. After all, in a society based on social status, social status itself became power. With enough power, nearly any kind of injustice could be turned a blind eye to. The concept of keeping that power in check didn’t exist — the only way to stop the abuse of power was with a higher power. As long as Rio lived in this kind of society with no status of his own, he was helpless against those powers. That was his reality — one that he had learned long ago.
Despite this reality, the reason why he continued to attend the Royal Academy was because of everything he could learn. He knew he wasn’t staying beyond graduation, and the time he spent with Celia was pleasant, so the pain was never more than he could bear.
But it seemed like time was up.
If he returned to the academy now, he’d be under false suspicion of pushing Flora off the cliff — and most likely end up in some kind of trouble. And there was no way for Rio to brush off those false accusations; if it came to that, he’d rather leave the academy here and now. He’d planned on graduating before he left the academy, but he had pretty much learned all he could in these last five years. There was no reason to stay any longer.
As long as Rio didn’t reveal himself to anyone here, they would all probably assume he was dead. He still needed to return to the academy once more to make the minimum preparations for his departure, but if he planned his timing carefully enough, he’d be able to sneak in without alerting anyone.
Celia’s face suddenly flashed across Rio’s mind... But his decision was inevitable. He was simply putting his plan into action a little ahead of schedule. That was why—
Let’s just get this over with, Rio finally decided.
But in that moment, the demonic, bull-headed giant appeared, making the other students immediately fall into a panic. Rio considered jumping in to assist them for a second, but realized he had no obligation to save the ones who thoughtlessly abandoned him. Instead, he stayed hidden behind the tree and continued to watch. The bull-headed giant was extremely strong — there was very little chance of the students winning against it in a head-on battle.
And yet, to Rio, it didn’t appear as though the enemy was fighting seriously.
With a body that large and abilities that polished, it should have been capable of closing the distance between it and the students and deciding the match in an instant. Instead, it looked more like it was making flashy movements to incite the students’ fear... for fun. It wasn’t as though it didn’t attack at all, but it did seem to be going easy on them.
In the meantime, the students had begun to flee. Their line of defense fell as they panicked, most of them only thinking of themselves as they ran and the bull-headed giant pursued them at a leisurely pace. The thought of the other students dying made Rio’s face twitch, but he didn’t budge.
◇◇◇
Flora had whisked away the boy that had been knocked unconscious by the bull-headed giant to heal him behind a tree in the forest. With his condition now stabilized, some of the color returned to his pale face. If he had been left alone, he would have died of internal bleeding. Instead, he was now resting peacefully against a tree trunk; with rest, he would make a full recovery.
The others had scattered in every direction, and the monster wandered off while laughing its creepy laugh. An almost eerie silence fell upon the forest and its greenery, signaling the end of the urgent situation. With that, there were no more traces of the panic that had just occurred. Yet, now, Flora was overwhelmed with uncertainty.
She was worried.
She had been separated from Christina and the others... Did they manage to get away?
Then, she thought of Rio. The boy who was scorned as the dunce of the Royal Academy of Beltrum, her savior—
Flora had a plethora of regrets and guilt when it came to the commoner, and she was certain that he hated her, too.
Why wouldn’t he?
In the last five years, Flora had done nothing to repay her debt to him, after Rio had suffered from being treated like a criminal in the castle. On top of that, he had been forced to enroll at the Royal Academy in the name of a reward, only to be harassed needlessly for his difference in social status. Rio was always alone — Flora had been shocked to learn that after her enrollment — and he’d been hurt countless times by others.
But even then, he never tried to hurt others in retaliation and simply continued to live his own way, moving forward. Flora thought he was a very strong person, unlike herself, as someone who only lived to please others.
Perhaps that was why, somewhere along the line, Flora’s gaze had started to follow Rio in the academy out of admiration.
The others in the academy would ridicule Rio, but she knew his good attributes. Recently, she’d overheard the girls in her class who watched the tournament praise him, which made her feel a little conflicted, but a little proud too. Still, Rio always seemed lonely. Seeing his side profile made Flora’s heart squeeze with pain.
She wanted to try talking to him. She had so much she wanted to say... But most of all, she wanted to be his friend.
Yet, she was unable to find her courage, and remained merely a spectator. That alone gave her no right to wish for such things. At that thought, Flora’s heart prickled with pain again.
Once, just the other day, she had witnessed Rio chatting amicably with Celia after classes. The two were talking in such a friendly manner, and seeing Rio’s expression directed towards Celia made her feel a little jealous. It was an expression that he didn’t normally show. Seeing that was what prompted her to gather her courage and talk to Rio today, which went directly against her sister’s orders. She was extremely nervous, and her heart had thumped audibly. But she wanted to be strong, like Rio, and took the first step forward.
As a result, she was able to talk to Rio... just a little. That alone had made her so happy that Flora immediately wanted to talk to him more. Rio didn’t have much longer at the primary division of the Royal Academy, but she’d try to talk to him more from now on.
And yet...
Rio fell off the cliff saving Flora.
She hadn’t done a thing to repay her debt to him, and he saved her anyway.
Now... there was a chance they’d never see each other again.
Please, gods above, I beg of you — Flora murmured in her heart. Please let him be unharmed.
Then, just as she made her prayer... Thump! The sound of something hitting the ground echoed in the forest. Flora startled with her whole body.
“Is it... that monster?”
This time, she could hear the thunderous sound of something heavy land on the forest floor. It let out a piercing scream, and sounded like it was heading straight towards Flora.
“I-Is it coming back here? The thing...” All the color instantly drained from Flora’s face. “I-I have to get out of here... Ah, but...” There was an unconscious boy right next to her. She wanted to run... But she couldn’t leave him, nor was she sure she could get away while carrying him.
She didn’t know what to do, and she was too scared to think anymore.
In the meantime, it had nearly closed the gap between them, and there was no hesitation in its footsteps. Stomp, stomp, stomp. The rhythmical footsteps continued on.
W-What? Is it coming this way? Flora held her hands against her mouth to silence her scream, holding her breath while she trembled.
The thing’s footsteps came to a stop on the other side of the tree Flora was hiding behind. She could hear its rough breathing.
“Eek...!”
No... She didn’t want to die. This was terrifying.
“Ah, ah...” Her whole body quivered with fear as she slowly raised her head. The demon-like monster stared back at her as it reached for her small body with its left hand.
This was the end. Flora squeezed her teary eyes shut.
She cowered as the thought of her inevitable death crossed her mind... But no matter how long she waited, the looming hand never closed around her. On the contrary...
“GRRAAAH!”
The creature made a pained noise, causing Flora to fearfully opened her eyes. There, she saw the monster’s left arm, sliced off cleanly at the wrist. The severed hand rolled on the ground.
“Huh...?”
Flora’s jaw dropped in shock. Next to her stood a boy wearing the uniform of the Academy. A boy with a longsword and black hair that Flora knew well — Rio.
“GRAARGH!”
The creature leapt away with a roar. Distancing itself from Rio, it flipped in midair and landed with an earth-shaking rumble. Fury was buried deep in its eyes at it glared cautiously at the boy. “Take that student and run away now,” Rio said to Flora in a calm voice, not taking his eyes off the bull-headed giant.
“Huh? Ah, but...” Flora opened and closed her mouth wordlessly in shock.
“Quickly!”
“O-Okay!” The force behind Rio’s words made Flora reply with a flinch; she rushed to support the unconscious boy on her shoulder. Once Rio saw she was done, he spoke once more.
“Go, now!”
Just as Flora started to move, Rio charged directly at the monster. It welcomed his attack, swinging its sword down. Rio matched that by leaping with his sword in both hands.
They met swords in midair, making sparks fly everywhere.
Rio parried his opponent’s swing by directing the monster’s blade down towards the ground. With its sword buried in the dirt, Rio swung his blade diagonally upwards at the monster’s torso. It hurriedly bent backwards to avoid his attack, but his blade scratched its torso before it could fully evade.
Its skin was much harder than Rio was expecting, but it wasn’t unpiercable. Not a fatal wound, but Rio had managed to do some damage.
“M-MROOOOH!”
With a roar filled with rage, the monster lifted its stone sword and swung it roughly. Rio evaded it, jumping over the entire sword to avoid the swing. He twisted his body in the air and flipped once before landing, keeping his stance low as he sliced at the monster’s feet. The bull-headed giant jumped to avoid it, using the gravity of its fall to slam its sword straight down. The attack would have meant certain death — if it made contact. Rio stepped to the side to avoid it.
The two of their eyes met for a brief moment before they crossed swords again.
The clash of their blades created an impressive gust of wind that shook the surrounding trees. The difference in the size of their swords meant that it was only a matter of time before Rio’s blade wore out and snapped. In order to prevent that, Rio needed to implement some serious parrying techniques. Still, his weapon did not hesitate in the least as it carved its path through the air. Perhaps the long years he spent training had indeed improved his physical movements, as his blade showed no sign of wear.
But this still wasn’t easy by any means. Rio faced the endless onslaught of sword attacks, each filled with a killing intent. Each swing was equal to certain death, causing a cold chill to go down his spine.
He was desperate. He didn’t want to die — that one thought alone kept his blade moving.
...But if he truly didn’t want to die, he wouldn’t have initiated a brawl with the creature in the first place... While he had no intention of dying, Rio had no plan of attack when he’d challenged the beast.
And yet, here he was, fighting this monster. He hadn’t even realized he challenged it, and he wasn’t entirely sure why he’d done so in the first place.
But if he had to pick a reason, it was probably because he felt something towards the girl who had tried to help him, even a little — enough to save her, at least. The same reason had compelled him to dive off the cliff. But that was probably hypocritical of him; there was no guarantee he’d be rewarded for being swept away by his emotions and acting according to his beliefs. This, he was fully aware of; he had failed once before because of that, after all.
Even so, his body moved because of what was in his heart. Just when he’d had the chance to leave the academy without anyone’s knowledge, he threw that chance away.
But there was no looking back now. Whatever happened would happen — such indifferent thoughts passed through his mind as he desperately swung his sword.
Perhaps his senses had been sharpened by the body enchantment, or perhaps this high-stakes battle heightened his focus to its limits, but all of his opponents’ movements seemed slow to him.
Strangely, he didn’t feel like he could lose.
Rio had been exchanging the litany of blows with the creature for just a few moments before an opportunity to end the struggle presented itself. Until now, Rio had been using the minimum amount of effort to parry the enemy’s blade, waiting for the right moment to launch his own all-out attack...
“MROH!”
The monster shouted and gave a huge swing of its sword; its frustration with its inability to put an end to the match — against a underwhelmingly tiny opponent — had made its movements careless.
Rio didn’t let that brief chance slip by.
Before his enemy could bring down its sword, he launched a swift attack against its torso. His blade landed cleanly, straight across his opponent’s body, making the giant’s face twist with anguish. It flung its sword around in pain, but Rio backstepped safely out of reach.
But he wasn’t running away. His true objective was to prepare for the timing of an all-out attack. Rio held his sword in both hands and kicked off from the ground.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
With a feverous yell, he launched his best shot with all his might. The bull-headed creature also lowered its sword through its pain, but failed to make contact. Rio used his enemy’s body as a stepping stone to rush upwards, then sliced its neck off.
The severed head flew through the air as the headless frame swayed and fell to its knees. The fierce glint of light faded from the creature’s deep crimson eyes. After a short pause, its body snapped apart, and rapidly started to crumble away, and disintegrated until there was nothing left.
Only a considerably large aqua stone remained — an enchanted gem. The ones left behind by the goblins and orcs couldn’t even compare.
Rio picked up the fallen enchanted gem. “So it really was a monster...” he murmured as he inspected the stone up close.
Enchanted gems were the only items monsters left behind — it was the one signature that all monsters had in common. Still, it was quite rare to find such a violent monster like this one just loitering about. The academy certainly wouldn’t hold a drill in the vicinity of it...
So why did it appear in this forest? Had it migrated here from somewhere else? Just as Rio pondered that—
“Princess Flora!”
The echoes of people calling Flora’s name could be heard from far across the now-silent forest. They were probably searching for her.
Rio scanned the forest, searching the gaps between the trees with his eyes. He stopped on a moving mass just barely inside the limits of his vision.
It was Flora.
She had probably observed Rio’s battle from afar, but he didn’t to get into any more trouble. With that in mind, he immediately left the scene.
◇◇◇
In the sky, far above the current scene, a black-robed Reiss was floating through the air. His eyes, which far surpassed the ability of any human’s vision, were focused on a hastily retreating Rio.
“...And there he goes. Well, that was much more interesting than I expected... Definitely worth the effort of sending in a powered-up minotaur. Heheheh.” Reiss couldn’t help the smile that played on his lips.
“That black hair probably means he’s an immigrant from the Yagumo region. If so, it makes sense that he can use spirit arts — but it’ll be terrifying to see what the future holds for him,” the man analyzed with a hum.
Spirit arts — a secret art unlike any sorcery that had yet to spread through the Strahl region. There were some records of it hidden deep within the tomes of old literature, but no detailed knowledge about it was available. What was known about it was that it was similar to sorcery, in the way that essence was used to cause abnormal phenomena to occur, spell names didn’t need to be chanted, and that it was used mainly by elves, dwarves, and werebeasts — species that humans looked down upon and referred to as “demi-humans.”
Yet, somehow, Reiss had insight on spirit arts that no normal person had access to. That was why he understood why it was so amazing that Rio, a human living in Strahl, could use this level of spirit arts at his age.
“If I cannot feel any of the aural characteristics of spirits at this close distance, then he must not have a contract with a spirit. I suppose I shall just take a note of it and leave him be. That would suit that person’s plan better. Now, I must return to my original mission...” he said, before gliding off through the air into the distance.
