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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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Kanion gritted his teeth, clutching his shoulder. Immediately after the duel, the professors had rushed over, and he had been transported to the infirmary.
They could have reattached his severed arm. The problem was, it had been burned by the flames.
After a long and complicated surgery, they had managed to reattach his left arm. But it was now shorter than his right arm, by about a finger’s length.
They had to create a new incision to reattach it.
It was a miracle he had survived, but Kanion still couldn’t believe he had lost.
“That damn… commoner…”
Ethan.
A nobody. An orphan.
The memory of the searing pain, the humiliation of being defeated by him, was still vivid.
Kanion unwrapped the bandages around his left shoulder. The mirror reflected the ⁸ and burn marks on his skin.
He didn’t know how long it would take before he could wield a sword again. He wasn’t even sure if it was possible with his mismatched arms.
Enraged, he contacted Lunia.
[Lunia, come here.]
[I’m sorry… I’m a little busy tonight…]
[You too? I need you tonight.]
Lunia knew about his condition. She couldn’t refuse.
[Alright. Where are you?]
Lunia arrived at the hotel. Kanion roughly pushed her onto the bed as soon as she entered.
Tears streamed down Lunia’s face as he choked her, her muffled sobs echoing through the room.
Afterward, Kanion grabbed a bottle of whiskey and drank straight from it.
“You should avoid alcohol… in your condition…”
“Did you get rid of it?”
“…”
“Why aren’t you answering me?”
Lunia remained silent.
“Damn it! Do you think I’m useless now that I’ve lost an arm?!”
He threw the empty whiskey bottle against the wall. It shattered.
“You didn’t, did you?”
“…I’m keeping it.”
“You’re keeping it? How?”
He had already become the subject of gossip after losing his arm in the duel. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if news of Lunia’s pregnancy spread.
“I’m taking a leave of absence. I’ve already submitted the application.”
“You crazy bitch.”
“I don’t care if the child grows up not knowing who its father is. I’ll raise it…”
Kanion grabbed her hair before she could finish, yanking her head back. Her feet dangled helplessly in the air.
“If you won’t get rid of it, I will.”
He channeled mana into his stiff left arm.
He punched her in the stomach. Lunia groaned. But then a surge of blue mana pushed Kanion away.
He crashed into the wall, a framed picture falling and shattering on the floor.
She had loved him once. She had believed he loved her too. But he was different now.
Lunia bit her lip.
She had hoped he would return to the man she had fallen in love with. But that hope was gone now.
“You bastard.”
“What… what did you just call me?”
“We’re done.”
Lunia grabbed her coat and walked towards the door. Kanion drew his sword and followed her.
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Late October.
The rumors about Kanion’s duel had died down.
I stretched, looking up at the clear autumn sky. October was almost over.
“Ethan, you’re learning quickly.”
I was receiving magic lessons from Professor Cassia.
I had been appointed as her assistant during the first semester. But because she had been busy, she had postponed my lessons until the second semester.
The private lessons were once a week, for an hour.
Contrary to my expectations, being Professor Cassia’s assistant wasn’t difficult. Maybe it was because Sepia had been tutoring me in magic.
My main duties were organizing reagents and paperwork. I had thought I would be a lab rat, forced to test potions, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
“It’s interesting that you want to learn Blink. It’s a mana-intensive spell.”
Blink, also known as Short-Range Teleportation, allowed the user to teleport a short distance.
It wasn’t very useful in combat. Channeling mana directly for movement was more efficient.
It consumed too much mana.
But I had a ridiculously large mana pool.
“It’s probably because you have a mana-compatible body. I’m so jealous.”
“But my mana circuits aren’t very efficient, so I still waste a lot of mana.”
I wasn’t born with efficient mana circuits like Sepia. So, even though my Mana Control skill had reached level 6, I still wasted more mana than others at the same level.
“What spell do you want to learn next?”
“I’m interested in barrier magic.”
“Barrier magic. That’s a high-level, mana-intensive spell.”
Cassia chuckled. Arthur would naturally acquire skills as he leveled up.
But I had to learn them the hard way.
“Why do you want to learn barrier magic?”
“Sometimes, I can’t release my mana freely during a fight. Especially indoors or in a city.”
“So you want to create a space where you can unleash your full power.”
I nodded. It was frustrating having to control my mana during battles in a city.
“It’s possible. All magic is a manifestation of your will. And mana is the price you pay. However, creating a barrier that can contain your full power requires a significant amount of mana.”
Cassia paused, then continued,
“You have enough mana, Ethan, but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to master it by winter break.”
If it was possible, that was enough for me.
It was almost time for Professor Cassia’s next lecture.
“Professor, one last question.”
“What is it?”
“Do you know any magic that allows a soul to possess another body?”
“A soul possessing another body…?”
Cassia stroked her chin thoughtfully.
I had tried researching it myself, but magic was a vast and complex field.
Perhaps it was a type of dark magic.
I had asked Hessia, but she didn’t know either. Dragons used magic instinctively. They didn’t study the theory.
“I’m not an expert in that area, so I’m not sure. Perhaps Yuffie, the Wise Witch, would know.”
Yuffie, the Wise Witch.
She was Sepia’s magic tutor. She was rumored to possess all the knowledge in the world.
But she was a recluse. No one knew where she lived.
That was the end of today’s lesson.
I bowed and left the classroom. I ran into Reus in the hallway.
He seemed to have something to say.
I already knew what it was.
“Ethan, I have a proposition for you.”
“What is it?”
“A dungeon exploration.”
As expected.
He was inviting me to join him on a dungeon raid.
“A dungeon exploration?”
“I found a dungeon during summer break.”
The problem was the entry requirements. There were three conditions that had to be met.
First, you had to have a hero or Hero Candidate mark.
Second, the party had to consist of three members.
Third, the combined number of demons defeated by the party members had to be at least three.
It was clearly designed for Arthur. In the original story, Arthur, Reus, and Sonny had each defeated one demon, fulfilling the requirement.
“Those are the conditions.”
“How many demons have you defeated, Reus?”
“One. I joined a demon subjugation squad during the summer. You’ve defeated two, right?”
The demon Reus had defeated was the 53rd ranked Caim.
And I had officially defeated two demons: Andromalius in the northern forest, and Zagan during the dormitory attack.
I had actually defeated four: Andromalius, Zagan, Vine, and Janet.
And Arthur had defeated Murmur.
“So, Ethan, what do you say? Will you join Sonny and me on a dungeon exploration?”
If I refused, Reus would be the only one who knew the location of the dungeon.
Even I, with my knowledge of the original story, didn’t know the exact location. The novel hadn’t provided that level of detail.
“Okay. But I have a condition.”
“A condition? What is it?”
I took a deep breath and spoke. It was a line from the original story, a line that Arthur had spoken.
And now it was my turn.
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Run, Lunia, Run!