I forgot who the culprit was that terrorized the Academy Territory, but knowing who it really was wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway.
I quickly figured out what I had to do.
“Boss. The boss is in this building.”
“Huh, huh?”
“There aren’t any bombs around here, so you’ll be safe inside for now. Yuri, Ariah. We’re heading back to the Academy.”
“…Back to the Academy right away? Aren’t we going to save people?”
Yuri questioned my decision, but I shook my head at her words.
“We’re just cadets. We haven’t been trained to rescue people, and we don’t even know the terrorists’ motives. It’s better to gather together and follow the professors’ instructions than to act individually.”
“…Kail.”
“What, are you objecting?”
I smirked as I said that, and Yuri nodded silently with an expressionless face.
“Surprisingly, you can actually think things through like this.”
“Hahaha! This is just basic common sense.”
With that, I led the two out of the shop. The streets were in chaos due to the bomb explosions, and those caught up in the terror were either injured and trembling in fear or panicking and running wildly.
While helping those with serious injuries and calmly evacuating the panicked ones, I made my way toward the Academy.
BOOM—
“The situation seems pretty dire…”
Even as we headed toward the Academy, the sound of explosions continued. I wondered who could possibly dare to pull something like this at the Academy.
No matter how powerful a secret organization might be, once the Imperial Palace starts investigating seriously, they’d be completely exposed.
“Are they insane?”
If not, then the gain from this terrorism must outweigh the losses caused by the palace’s intervention.
After organizing my thoughts somewhat, I arrived at the Academy and immediately took Yuri and Ariah to the auditorium.
We were always told to gather in the auditorium if anything happened, and sure enough, almost all the cadets and instructors were already there.
“This place should be safe.”
Having secured their safety, I began looking for a professor or the headmaster who could resolve this situation. Unfortunately, neither Gawein nor the headmaster were present—they’d already rushed off somewhere.
The only ones left were the instructors from the Knight Department. Judging by their bewildered expressions and frantic pacing, this was their first time dealing with such an event.
“Instructor.”
“Huh, oh. Cadet Kail. What is it?”
“How about starting with a headcount?”
“Oh, oh—headcount, right. Okay, everyone, listen up!”
Taking my advice, the instructor started sorting the cadets alongside another instructor, using the attendance sheet to list those present and absent.
It didn’t take long for them to finish categorizing, and upon realizing quite a few people were missing, the instructor bit their lip slightly.
“Instructor? Could I perhaps see that list?”
“Huh? No, this is for instructors only…”
“Please.”
The presence of an Aura Master naturally intimidates others, making them instinctively comply. Handing over the list, the instructor let me examine the names of those absent.
A significant number of individuals from the Knight Department, Magic Department, and Military Department were missing, including Hundred, Arthur, and Liber from the Knight Department.
‘This is…’
As I scanned the list, I noticed a pattern among those missing. They were all individuals whose skills had strangely improved recently.
Not just Liber from the Knight Department, but also the names Yuri mentioned had shown remarkable progress lately.
The sharp intuition of an Aura Master rang alarm bells. Piecing together scarce information with imagination, I relied on instinct rather than logic.
‘I see.’
Realization dawned.
The terrorists’ objectives and culprits.
Returning the list to the instructor, I immediately left the auditorium. As I exited, Yuri blocked my path.
“Kail, where are you going?”
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
“…You’re not going to get hurt again, are you?”
Hearing Yuri’s question, I chuckled lightly and pulled her into a brief embrace before letting go. She seemed to understand my intentions, wrinkling her nose slightly.
Ignoring the instructors trying to stop me, I stepped out of the auditorium and spotted a dragon flying far in the sky, eliciting a dry laugh from me.
“What the heck is that?”
Behind the dragon, the headmaster flew, firing spells at it. Forcing myself to halt my automatic steps toward the dragon, I closed my eyes and spread my Aura across the entire Academy.
‘Hunting dragons does sound appealing.’
But there were more urgent matters at hand. Spreading my Aura throughout the Academy, I began sensing the presence of everyone within it.
Then I started searching for the Aura of the person I was looking for.
Not this one, not this one, not this one either…
After what felt like an excruciatingly long time, I finally detected a familiar presence.
Pure and abundant—Aura rivaling my own.
“Found you.”
Locating Arthur, I immediately headed toward his location.
* * *
Arthur, training within the Academy, tensed up upon seeing the sudden arrival of unfamiliar people.
Their condition was far from normal. Their eyes were bloodshot, drool dripping from their mouths.
Among them, a man with long hair reaching his waist stepped forward. Arthur quickly glanced at the man’s chest and realized his name was Damian.
“Arthur. Is that correct?”
“Yes…?”
“Don’t remember hearing you were male… Well, doesn’t matter. Come with us.”
Damian demanded Arthur follow him, but Arthur shook his head and gripped his wooden sword.
“And if I refuse?”
“If you want to get hurt, that’s your choice.”
With a light flick of his hand, Damian signaled those around him to charge at Arthur. An intense Aura emanated from them, matching the power of Arthur’s heart-generated Aura.
Arthur enveloped his entire body in Aura. The overwhelming surge amplified his abilities beyond his usual limits, allowing him to somehow hold his ground against over ten Aura Users.
“Grrr—Snap out of it!”
“Wooaaahhh—!”
But holding his ground was the limit. Arthur couldn’t bring himself to kill them, while they attacked relentlessly, uncaring whether he lived or died.
The wooden sword, unenhanced by Aura, couldn’t withstand the iron swords reinforced by Aura for long, and soon broke in half.
“Phew—”
With his sword broken, Arthur discarded it and began striking down the cadets barehanded. Surprisingly, this worked better. His Aura-enhanced body effortlessly knocked out the remaining cadets.
Just as Arthur managed to knock down nearly ten—Damian approached unnoticed and struck Arthur’s jaw.
“Ugh!?”
His jaw rattled, shaking his head and throwing him off balance. Though staggering, Arthur swung his leg, but Damian easily caught it and tripped him.
Stepping on Arthur’s chest, Damian looked down at him, his hand in his pocket.
“Your overflowing Aura is wasted without proper technique.”
“Grrr…!”
At that moment, Arthur roughly understood the man’s identity. He was the existence spoken of by the man who sent him to the Academy—the ancient organization coveting the dragon’s heart.
“T-The Forgotten Worshipers…”
“You know the name, so I’ve found the right place.”
Crushing his foot harder on Arthur’s chest, Damian’s eyes gleamed with greed as he stared down at him.
Gasping in unbearable pain, Arthur glared fiercely at Damian, vowing never to forget him, even if he died here.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you here. After taking your body back and figuring out how the dragon’s heart was embedded inside—”
“Afterward, what?”
“—What!?”
Damian whipped his head toward the voice. Standing there was Kail, 1.5 times larger than him.
How could he have missed someone that big approaching so closely? Damian stared incredulously at Kail before leaping backward to put distance between them.
“…Who are you.”
“I’m Kail Meyer.”
Kail helped Arthur to his feet, dusting off the dirt from his body before turning back to Damian.
“This guy’s friend.”
“Friend? So, you’re a first-year.”
“Yeah. And you’re a second-year? Senior, huh.”
“Ka, Kail… Be careful. That guy isn’t—”
Before Arthur could finish warning him, Damian charged in, swinging his sword. Remembering that only one of Arthur’s peers could match him in swordsmanship—and that Kail Meyer wasn’t the one—Damian acted accordingly.
However, contrary to Damian’s expectations, Kail effortlessly parried the blow. Only another Aura Expert could handle an Aura-infused sword so smoothly, causing Damian’s eyes to widen in shock.
“How?”
Watching from behind, even Arthur gasped in surprise. Kail continued to deflect strikes and countered by thrusting his sword toward Damian.
Struck in an unimaginable opening, Damian’s chest was slashed, and he clutched it while retreating.
“…At your age with that skill. You must have received an incredible blessing of talent.”
Glaring at Kail, Damian asked, “What now?” Kail shrugged nonchalantly. Seeing this, Damian chuckled and reached into his pocket.
Moments later, he held a glass bottle filled with red fruits.
“But times are changing. Talent alone won’t cut it anymore.”
Saying this, Damian popped the lid and poured the contents into his mouth. Confused, Kail tilted his head until, moments later, a surging red Aura erupted from Damian’s body.
An intensely visible Aura. Kail’s expression hardened as he watched the Aura pouring out of Damian, who burst into wild laughter.
“Hahaha—Yes! That’s exactly the look!”
Continuing to laugh, Damian focused the Aura spilling out of him into his sword. The red Aura enveloped the blade, forming the sharpest edge capable of cutting through anything.
“Aura Blade?”
Arthur gasped in shock. Damian, previously an Aura Expert, had just unleashed his Aura externally.
Observing everything, Kail roughly understood the secret but asked anyway.
“How did you do that?”
“Alright, I’ll tell you as a parting gift. Eating these Scarlet Life Fruits grants anyone immense vitality. Overflowing life force converts directly into Aura.”
“That’ll kill you if prolonged.”
Damian’s method mirrored techniques from martial arts novels—converting life force directly into Aura, a method that would kill an ordinary person within seconds.
Though unsure how it was made, Damian solved the issue by consuming life-filled fruits. Still, it remained perilous.
“It will if prolonged. But—who here can stop me? The principal off fighting the dragon? The former hero stopping terrorists?”
Only another Master could stop an Aura Master.
And the Academy had two Masters—both occupied elsewhere, unable to intervene.
Meaning Damian could kill Kail and kidnap Arthur without interference.
“Hmm—enough talk. Time to die.”
Damian slowly approached, his sword brimming with Aura Blade energy, intoxicated by his overflowing vitality.
Kail sighed, looking around and confirming no one else was nearby except Arthur, then turned to him.
“Hey, Arthur.”
“Ka, Kail. Forget about me and run—”
“Don’t tell anyone you saw this.”
“Huh, huh?”
Ah, I didn’t want to use it here.
Kail drew his sword and stepped forward. A blue Aura Blade had already formed on his blade.
“—That’s.”
“Can’t surpass with talent alone, huh?”
Half his face concealed by the Aura Blade, Kail smirked, glaring at Damian.
“That’s because your talent is lacking.”
“You, you—how much blessing do you need to be satisfied!?”
“Who knows.”
Never thought about it.
Muttering this, Kail charged at Damian.
