Episode 144. Mana Explosion and Aftershock (2)
Just before the mana explosion occurs in the Arpeggio Hall.
“It’s already dark… … .”
Chloe looked up at the darkening sky, then looked toward the rooftop area. Even as evening fell, the test hadn’t ended, and Chloe knew what that meant.
“Celestine, if the test hasn’t ended yet, does that mean you’ve made it to the final stage?”
“Yes, Miss. I guess so.”
Celestia handed the bundle of documents she was holding to Chloe.
“Americaman just sent me some information about the Jang Education Committee. If you read this, I think some of your questions will be answered.”
“I asked for it this morning. But it arrived now?”
“Since information was limited, it must have taken quite some time for the family as well.”
“It wasn’t like everyone was watching out for their older brother’s feelings?”
Celestia nodded, hesitating slightly. Witherspoon couldn’t lie to Youngae.
“Yes, I guess it’s because he’s a brigade commander… … .”
“I understand. That’s just how you are.”
Conrad Witherspoon.
The eldest son of the Witherspoon family and the commander of the Imperial Army’s Magic Brigade. As befitting his position, he was known as a magical genius from birth.
After the death of the evil spirit Amret, the five archmages were reduced to four, and he was the one who emerged as the most powerful person to fill the vacancy.
“You’ve always been strict with me since I was little. With you and with me.”
“… The great master cares for the young lady very much.”
“Well, maybe so. After all, siblings are siblings.”
Although the egg was big, their relationship was not as harmonious as Chloe said.
As was the fate of the imperial nobility, the blossoming talents had to endure restraint and pressure like rain and wind, so their longing was natural.
Especially Chloe, who is evaluated as having talent that surpasses Conrad.
Even Conrad, who was called a genius, could not look at his younger brother, who had the full trust of the family, with warmth.
Of course, Chloe maintained her cheerfulness even in such disappointment, but it was still difficult for her to fully understand her older brother.
“Anyway, Celestia.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Chloe quickly read through the stack of documents she had received, trying to change the subject.
“If they make it to the final stage, they must be excellent cadets, right? Then they’ll be transferred straight to the Magic Brigade?”
“Traditionally, it has been said that it takes several days to several weeks.”
A few weeks. For the procedures of the Imperial Army, one of the most powerful forces in the Empire, ‘a few weeks’ is too long. That must mean that they are very thorough in verifying identity.
Chloe, who was continuing to flip through the papers, suddenly looked dissatisfied.
“I feel like there’s too little information. The core of the Jang Education Committee is the exam magic tool? Why is there so little information?”
“That’s because it’s not a magical tool made by the Magic Brigade, Miss.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a magical tool taken from Americmana’s secret library.”
“Oh, right. I remembered. You said that it was made by our family and donated to the Imperial Army, right?”
“That’s right. It also has two first-class magic stones built in. Only Witherspoon can make a magic tool of this level.”
It was virtually impossible to steal, and it was a high-quality magical tool that could not be damaged, let alone destroyed, by external forces.
That was the identity of that testing tool.
“In addition, the magic tool also has a ‘guardian demon’ built into it.”
“Guardian beast?”
Chloe’s eyes widened.
Since every magic school teaches ‘magic biology’, the concept of a guardian monster itself was nothing special.
However, it was extremely important what the guardian was guarding. It was the only measure that could gauge the guardian’s rank.
“A guardian demon that protects such an amazing magical tool! Then how strong is it?”
“The family also invested a lot in that test magic tool. A guardian demon of that level could also be used as a soul weapon material.”
“That’s after we defeat the guardian demon and obtain its core. Oh, I made a mistake in my assumption. Before that, first, the test magic tool must be destroyed… .”
Once you successfully destroy the test magic tool, obtain the first-grade magic stone, defeat the guardian demon, and completely separate the core from it, it is by no means an easy task.
Just then, the look in the eyes of the two people who were talking changed for a moment. It was as if they sensed something.
Kwakwakwakwakwang!
At the same time, a storm came in so strong that it shook all the windows in the mansion.
“miss!”
Celesne quickly deployed defensive magic and stood in front of Chloe.
‘This is not a storm created by nature.’
A mana storm created by the twisting of mana.
Kwakwakwakwang!
There was a tremendous roaring noise.
Kuuuung―
Is the building collapsing?
No. This was not a physical collapse, but a mana explosion. As evidence, a sharp pain was emanating from the two people’s mana rings.
“Miss, it’s a mana explosion.”
“I know. What’s going on? Could it be… a test tool?”
“Yes, I think so. My words have become seeds. Look over there.”
Chloe approached the window. Before her eyes was a sturdy magic barrier created by Celesne. Beyond it, a blue pillar of light rising into the sky was clearly visible.
It’s a pillar of light.
It was one of the easily identifiable mana phenomena immediately after the mana explosion. The pillar of light was rising from the magic tower area, and its exact location would be the school’s Arpeggio Hall.
“Celestine, I… … .”
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“No. I absolutely cannot allow that!”
Celestia’s voice took on a stubbornness she had never heard of before. She read her desire to go into the school and check on her friends.
“The extent of the mana explosion isn’t that bad. You know that, Celestia.”
It’s as Chloe said. But once the mana explosion occurred, there was a high probability that the guardian monster inside the test magic tool would have awakened.
That much was absolutely unacceptable.
“If it was just a mana explosion, I would have allowed it. But you know, young lady. There is a guardian demon. Absolutely not.”
“Then what should we do? Ruden and Dahlia are still in the middle of their exams.”
“But since Principal Keegan is here, I think things will be somewhat manageable.”
“Oh, there was Principal Keegan. There was Professor Benitez. And there was Pondrian! So, that’s okay, right?”
Celesne couldn’t answer right away. I’m not sure how much help Fondrian would be, let alone Keegan or Benitez.
Although he was a capable officer and a promising wizard, he was not yet on par with Keegan or Benitez in terms of pure skill.
‘By the way, the test magic tool was destroyed. What on earth is going on?’
It was no ordinary thing for a magic tool made by the Witherspoons to be destroyed. Celesne wanted to see the situation with her own eyes.
But more than that, for the sake of safety, it was a priority to keep a close watch on the young lady here in the mansion.
* * *
“Hmm… … .”
Rubin looked up at the sky, disguised as an archer.
Wheeeeee.
Dozens of magic arrows rained down from the sky like meteors. It felt like the end of the world was coming. It was truly a spectacular sight.
A blazing ball of flames paints the world red. He has no fear of the magical attacks pouring down from all directions. He just hopes that everything goes as planned.
Kwakwakwakwang.
The moment the Ma-hwa-gok-po collides with the ground.
Rubin’s body was lifted into the air. Not only Rubin, but all the contestants who were in the final stage were lifted at the same time.
Swish.
Whether it was the effect of the mana explosion or not, I felt a strange sensation below my chest, as if I was floating above the water.
‘The extent of the mana explosion was as expected.’
The explosive power was as small as I expected.
The blast’s ripples spread to nearby cities, enough to make anyone with a Mana Ring feel strange, but that was about it. No one was seriously hurt.
“however…….”
After floating into the air and landing safely, Rubin’s eyes turned to one side.
Kuuuuuu… … .
“Hmm, I didn’t expect that.”
The examiners and candidates were all unconscious and collapsed, with Rubin alone standing.
“A creature created by magic. Is that what you call a ‘monster’?”
Thud thud.
The test tool was destroyed as planned, but something happened that wasn’t even recorded in the report.
Ugh.
A strange howling sound filled the interior. Then came the sound of metal being cut.
The view was filled with dust, but beyond that, something hazy could be clearly seen.
-With two Grade 1 Magic Stones embedded, it’s not surprising that there’s a guard like that. Rubin, are you okay?
As Haneke’s voice rang out from within, Rubin was unfolding his subspace pocket. It was against the rules during the test, but now he needed a weapon.
-It’ll be okay, if it’s you.
Haneke then said, looking at Rubin’s calm appearance as he held the Blood Frost. The appearance of the guardian spirit was certainly unexpected, but it was not bad news.
‘It turned out well’
Because you will be adequately compensated.
-It looks like all the test tubes here have fainted, but Keegan is different. He might step up.
‘I don’t think that will work.’
-hmm?’
Rubin was able to clearly see, thanks to the darkness, that ‘lump of iron’ hidden in the dust was trying to create a translucent barrier.
Easy.
If the guy hides inside the dome-shaped barrier, obtaining a level 1 magic stone becomes that much more troublesome.
Rubin lunged at the monster, willingly entering its territory as it pleased.
But Rubin wasn’t the only one in that realm.
“What are you doing!”
As we approached the monster, we heard someone shouting while confronting it.
It was Pondrian’s stomach. He had fainted right next to the point where the monster had awakened, and barely managed to wake up. He shouted sternly at Rubin’s appearance.
“Cadet Luden? Get out of here quickly. This guy is trying to establish his own territory… … .”
Even as I said that, I knew it was too late. With Rubin and him in, the Guardians had already completely established their territory.
A dome-shaped, translucent barrier, like a thread, had trapped the two people. Now, in order to enter from the outside, this barrier had to be removed first.
The surroundings suddenly darkened, and only the guardian’s purple eyes flickered eerily.
“You idiot! I don’t have time to worry about you.”
Pondrian didn’t know that Rubin was the only one who could survive. He had a deep-rooted perception that he was just a magic student with excellent test scores.
Pondrian began to unleash his attack magic with darkened eyes. In front of him, the guardian monster slowly began to reveal its true form.
Grrrrrr!
A giant locust. However, its entire body is made of ‘red ore’, which can only be mined in the northern part of the continent. The red-tinged blade body was a bonus.
Rubin amplified his vision with his dark eyes and observed the guardian beast.
Although its skin and joints were made of red ore, its weak points were clearly exposed whenever it moved.
Only the part covering the connection area has a significantly lower density of red ore.
‘The nuke was there.’
Buck! Buck! Buck!
One of the characteristics of this guardian was that it was sensitive to mana rings. It was designed to be a priority target when the mana ring was strong.
‘Well, since this is a test for magic schools, I have to be wary of those with strong mana in order to protect the first-class magic stone.’
That was the reason why the Guardians were attacking Pondrian Bay right now.
Buck! Buck! Buck!
The giant red ore scythe that formed its forelegs was mercilessly crushing Pondrian’s shield.
“Ugh, shit!”
Pondrian shouted. He must have had many magical duels, but this was his first time facing this type of monster.
Hot hot hot.
Eventually, a crack developed in the shield.
‘Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be better to completely destroy the Jang Education Committee while we’re at it?’
Pondrian may have thought Rubin was too scared to do anything, but in reality Rubin was just watching the situation unfold.
As for Rubin, there was no reason for him to help Pondrian unless the guardian monster attacked him.
‘Fondrian will die anyway because of his failure to protect the test magic tool. Even if it’s ten years later, he hasn’t earned the Emperor’s trust yet.’
In the end, it’s the same ending.
Rather, a better outcome for Rubin would have been to create a little more confusion within the Education Committee and the Magic Brigade.
“f*ck, f*ck!”
The shield has been broken.
Choaaaak!
The scythe then cut off Pondrian’s head.
An ending decided in a single moment.
Before his return, he was the one who had the power of the Witherspoon family as Chloe’s husband. That was his vain ending.
With his neck cut off, Pondrian’s body collapsed with a thud.
Ugh.
The guardian’s purple eyes sparkled again. It had detected another ring of mana within an area completely sealed off from the outside world.
“Is it my turn now?”
Even though Rubin’s mana was extremely weak, it was still an enemy to the guardian demon.
Wheeeeeeing.
The red ore warthog swung his huge scythe. Rubin tightened his grip on the bloodfrost.
The darkness began to amplify all of my senses.
The moment the scythe approaches.
Rubin bounced and landed on the cross-section of the scythe that was slashing down at an angle.
Grrrr!
Rubin’s movements as he ran against the scythe’s cross-section were without even a sound.
If it’s someone who can sense the Mana Ring, it’s probably prepared for magical attacks.
That means there was no preparation for the dark.
“No, I don’t know the darkness itself.”
Oh my!
Rubin checked again in the dark where the monster’s core was located.
It was inside the shoulder joint. As he quickly approached it, he could clearly feel the guardian bewilderment. However, Rubin was too fast for it to catch up, and his movements were too clever.
As the giant scythe sliced through the air, Rubin kept his balance and aimed for the bastard’s shoulder.
Then he lifted the bloody frost vertically.
Push!
I took a picture.
So strong that the piercing sound resonates loudly.
The nucleus was there, after all. A single blow. From Rubin’s fingertips, Blood Frost spread a blizzard with a fierce howl.
Wheeeeee.
Kookung!
The moment the nuke was removed, the guardian monster could no longer move.
-It’s a small nucleus compared to the large body.
‘If you can find a good blacksmith, you could even use it as material for weapons.’
A nucleus the size of the palm of your hand.
Rubin put it in his subspace pocket.
‘By the way, where is the first-class magic stone?’
The demon’s core was only a secondary benefit. Rubin spread the darkness while looking around.
Then, I found something under the floor where the guardian spirit had been standing.
A flashing red jewel.
Following the traces of the craftsmanship, a beautiful red light spread out, and Rubin could not help but know what it was.
“I found it, a first-class magic stone.”
