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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Crafting.”
A 3-meter-high earthen wall blocked the fireballs shot by the wyverns from reaching us.
Since I was riding a horse, accurate aiming was difficult, so the earthen wall I had erected barely managed to block the fireballs.
Bang!
The sound of the wall crumbling resonated vividly.
I, who had built more walls than ever before, glared at the wyverns and timed when to erect the next wall.
One mistake and we’re dead.
The survival instincts I had honed over 10 years were telling me the appropriate timing for when to create the wall.
I couldn’t die here.
Even if it was suffocating, we had to run away.
It would be more comfortable to confront them and fight, but that would be the worst move.
Our goal right now was to escape, not to fight.
Moreover, our opponents were wyverns.
Regardless of their strength, they had a very good compatibility against us.
They flew in the sky and shot fireballs from a distance, so we had no means to counterattack.
So what I ended up doing was this war of attrition, having the walls collide with the fireballs to block them as much as possible.
It was an extremely troublesome situation.
It was difficult to erect walls in the desired location while on a shaking horse, and the only material I could use was a pile of soil that wasn’t of very good quality.
Structures made of soil couldn’t stop the wyverns.
As they said, if they just rammed their bodies, the fragile earthen walls would crumble like styrofoam.
Although I would be grateful if they did that since it would slow them down.
“Ahhh! The horse won’t listen!”
“Steer calmly! Just maintain your balance so you don’t fall off!”
If we fell here, it would truly be the end.
Falling off a running horse was already life-threatening, but those crazy cultist bastards and wyverns would immediately cut off our barely remaining breath.
“Crafting. Crafting. Crafting.”
One wall for one fireball.
They were playing dirty with aerial combat, so I had no way to attack from my position.
They were flying so high that I couldn’t attack with my skills, and even if I made something like a bow, I didn’t know how to shoot it.
Was there anything useful among the items I bought from the general store?
In the rush of the situation, I had failed to consider this variable.
“Crafting, Crafting, Crafting.”
While frantically shouting ‘Crafting’, I desperately moved my hands to rummage through my bag.
Disgusting jerky, drinking water, various tools… When I had made about 10 more walls, a small pouch was grasped in my hand.
What was inside this…
…Would it work?
If it failed, we might burn to death instead.
But if the strategy I thought of was possible, it might buy us some time.
I stopped using skills and waited for the wyverns to shoot fireballs.
And the moment the wyverns’ necks glowed with a bright light, I opened the mouth of the pouch and threw it with all my might.
Purple powder scattered in the air.
Perhaps because we were riding extremely fast, the powder fortunately spread widely.
But it wasn’t over yet.
I used the skill again, ignoring my throbbing head.
“Crafting.”
An earthen wall, even larger than the ones I had made before, rose from the ground and blocked the view for a moment.
The size was enough to make my head dizzy, but if I didn’t make it, it was obvious that we would also be caught up in it.
“Millia! Cover your ears!”
“Okay!”
I was about to tell Renny to do the same, but I stopped.
What about Karina?
There was no choice.
One person had to sacrifice.
“Renny! Can you endure the loud noise?!”
“What?!”
“Cover Karina’s ears!”
Instead of Renny, whose body was tougher than steel, I chose to tell her to cover Karina’s ears.
Renny could probably endure this level of loud noise, but Karina couldn’t.
Fortunately, Renny skillfully turned her body and covered Karina’s ears as I had said.
And then, an explosion that made our eardrums tingle rang out, even though our ears were covered.
“If we hadn’t covered our ears, our eardrums would have ruptured…”
I sighed in relief as I looked at the staggering wyverns nearby, probably due to the loud noise.
They were such monstrous creatures that only one wyvern, the closest one, had crashed.
The other wyverns were just writhing in pain, shaking their heads, trying to regain their senses.
“Johann! The horse won’t listen!”
“What?”
I immediately turned my body and grabbed the reins.
As I pulled my body forward and checked the horse’s condition, it seemed to be running like crazy in a panic.
We had to keep running anyway, so let’s just control the direction.
I kicked the horse’s belly, pulled the reins, and guided it to only move forward, while looking towards Renny.
Renny, like a knight who had ridden horses many times, quickly calmed the panicked horse and rode on.
Looking at her side profile, I could see an expression that indicated her head was throbbing.
It seemed that even Renny couldn’t be unscathed from the loud noise that felt like it would rupture her eardrums.
“Status window.”
“Huh?”
We had already run 20km?
Just how madly did we ride?
I closed the status window and turned my head to look at the wyverns and cultists, whose distance was gradually increasing.
It seemed we had shaken them off sufficiently.
The wyverns’ cries, the sound of fireballs exploding as they hit the ground, and the heat scorching our backs were no longer felt.
“…We narrowly escaped death.”
“Johann, I’m tired~”
Millia leaned against my body, limply.
As Millia’s head settled right below my chin, I rested my head on top of hers and adjusted my grip on the reins.
“If we enter the city you see over there, it’s the end. Just endure a little longer.”
The end was truly starting to come into view.
The end we had hoped for so much.
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“The horses are completely exhausted too.”
It couldn’t be helped since we had been on a forced march, but at this rate, it was no different from walking.
We had no choice but to get off the horses that couldn’t even move with trembling legs and walked towards the academy.
We wanted to run, but recklessly wasting our stamina in the current situation could lead to trouble.
“It’s hard…”
“Hang in there a little longer. The destination is right in front of us.”
Now, we had truly arrived at Kalon Academy.
Seeing Kalon Academy, the background of Survival Academy, in the size of a fingernail, I felt a renewed sense of emotion.
That academy that I had wandered around to the point of being sick of it in the game.
Now I couldn’t believe I could actually see it, so I rubbed my eyes.
10 years.
A whole 10 years.
The time I had wasted in the wrong place.
But even that was now coming to an end.
With not much distance left, it was maddeningly close.
It seemed like we were getting closer, but it also felt like the distance wasn’t narrowing.
When we arrived, would I also become a person belonging to Survival Academy?
Would something change?
I guess I’ll find out when I get there.
I calmed my mind and moved my aching feet frantically.
0.5.
0.4.
0.3.
0.2.
0.1…
It was right in front of us.
Right there.
A wyvern wouldn’t suddenly pop out, right?
Or an assassin from the academy…
It was an absurd worry.
But had there ever been a time when I wasn’t dealt with absurdly?
The closer the door got, the more I was on edge.
It’s not over until it’s over.
Words that suddenly came to mind.
But they were the words I needed to keep in mind the most right now.
“Halt! Entering the academy is currently prohibit-”
“Lady Karina is in critical condition! Quickly, move out of the way!”
At Renny’s shout, which could be compared to the roar of a dust explosion, the soldiers’ complexions turned pale.
The noise was loud enough to make our ears numb for a moment.
I looked at the guards while covering Millia’s ears with my palms.
It hurt my ears.
“Suddenly shouting, what is this…”
“Shut up! Be quiet and open it quickly! Before we break through!”
Could this be the roar of a ferocious beast?
Renny walked forward, exuding an aura that was terrifying just to look at.
If the gate was closed, she seemed ready to smash it and pass through.
Renny put her hand into her bosom, took out a shiny badge, and threw it at the guard.
The badge pierced through the stone wall.
The guard, with a face that looked like he was about to faint, looked at the mithril badge that proved the identity of the saint of the Kalon Church, and hurriedly turned his body and shouted.
“O-open the gate! The saint has arrived! The saint has arrived!”
Only then did the gate start to open.
The gate opened slowly, making us impatient.
I glanced to the side and saw that Renny was now almost ready to break through the gate.
Fortunately, Renny didn’t accelerate until the gate was fully open.
The gate was completely open.
But I didn’t move hastily.
An enemy could suddenly pop out.
I couldn’t let my guard down.
…Fortunately, what emerged from beyond the gate were startled guards in familiar uniforms.
Were there no more enemies?
I looked at the scene beyond the open gate with blurry eyes.
The well-organized gray roads, just like in the game.
The colorful houses clustered tightly together.
And the huge academy visible at the end of the road.
“…Finally.”
A gray window appeared before my relieved eyes.
Even without examining it closely, I felt like I knew what kind of window it was.
We had arrived at Kalon Academy.
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