47 – Entrance exam (8)

“I don’t know why.”

“… .”

Zion’s teacher stood still with his back to her and admired the scenery of the city spreading out the window.

“Shion, you have the most talent I’ve ever seen.”

“Then why the hell…!”

“But you are half.”

“Then I shouldn’t go to Eternia even more. There seems to be a mountain of things I still have to learn from Master, so I can’t afford to waste my time on something like Eternia.”

Shion considered entering Eternia meaningless. It was a complete waste of time to spend four years in Eternia, even though she had the best teacher of all time, the Sword Master, by her side.

However, Shion’s teacher had a different opinion.

“No, that’s why you have to go to Eternia even more.”

“You said that again.”

“That half is not something I can fill.”

“I have no idea what that half is. Unbecoming of a Master, you always talk so bluntly about this issue. It doesn’t matter. You must remember the bet from the other day. If you beat all the applicants, you’ll be allowed to drop out of Eternia.”

“Sure.”

“Once I’ve beaten Gail Varianne, there’s no one else who can match me. As promised, if you finish the entrance exam, I will give up on Eternia.”

He said, gently waving the wine glass in his hand.

“Didn’t I always emphasize it? It’s not over until it’s over.”

It was strange. Even in a situation where he beat the upperclassmen beyond the admissions applicants, he didn’t seem to think he would lose the bet.

“Master, do you think someone who can beat me will suddenly fall from the sky?”

he laughed heartily. He looked like a seasoned gambler.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! That is quite possible.”

It is nonsense. If it had been someone other than Master, I would have accused her of being pushy.

On the contrary, he was looking at Zion with pity.

“I’ve taken you all over the continent, but you’re still in the well.”

***

It’s in a well.

Shion continued to meditate on those words as he climbed Mount Grace.

She knew very well that her skills were not even up to her master’s toes, and that there was still a long way to go before reaching the highest level in the sword.

I can admit being in a well.

But to Zion, Eternia just felt like another well.

I couldn’t understand what kind of expectations Master had for Eternia.

It was Master who taught me to push to the end no matter what anyone said if I thought I was right. According to that teaching, Zion silently carries through with its own opinions.

I didn’t want to leave any marks. So Shion found a path that no one had gone through and broke through Mount Grace alone without anyone’s help.

That’s how Zion reached base 2 faster than anyone else.

Now, if you follow the route shown on the map, it will take less than half a day to reach the summit.

The feelings I felt when I saw an empty base were nothing like a sense of accomplishment or conquest. It was just a sense of skepticism.

He didn’t know what he was doing, and he was confused about what this meant.

On the one hand, he may have expected something unexpected to come out of the bet with his teacher.

However, the tests all went as expected and were completely leaning toward Zion.

As long as she doesn’t deliberately slow down, nothing will happen.

I have no intention of welcoming a challenger while waiting kindly. There is no such thing as meaning in the strange change that was obtained by making a fuss.

Shion didn’t hesitate at all and went straight to the A-route.

***

Lilith knew how to get the upper hand in a relationship.

You don’t have to want something from your opponent. If you keep this well, at least there is no law to lose to the other person, and if you know the other person’s needs, the relationship is perfectly divided.

It was a law that applies to all relationships, not just relationships between men and women.

The reason why so many nobles cling to Lilith is because they want something from her.

They coveted Lilith’s beauty, and because of her overflowing interest, she didn’t have to cling to one man. Lilith dominated the relationship as long as you perfectly figured out what the other person wanted.

But even if you knew the principle, you couldn’t do it your way in every situation.

Lilith was completely defeated by the masked man.

They depended on men for almost everything.

Lilith wants many things, but he wants nothing.

The man took the lead and disassembled the plantera that occasionally appeared.

she had nothing to do

He recovered the centenary wand, but funny enough, it was this man who made the centenary wand useless.

Considering his merits, he could have demanded a huge reward from Lilith. There is also a willingness to repay generously for this.

But he doesn’t ask for anything.

“Wow!”

Lilith tripped over a tree root and fell.

The man glanced back and grabbed Lilith by the wrist and lifted her up.

Silently, he brushed off the dirt from her clothes and stepped forward again.

“⋯.”

Like a real older brother who treats his little sister, the fact that he seemed indifferent but sometimes took care of him like this made Lilith burst into tears.

‘under. In the end, the map cares about me. Son of a bitch, but not a colleague? You’re right colleague… It’s a colleague!’

“Hey!”

The words filled my throat, but I held it in.

“Go with me… .”

They came out of the cave early in the morning and arrived at Base 2 before noon.

Unlike base 1, there is only one old two-story log cabin there.

Lilith looked around the base and said.

“no one is here? Are we the first to come?”

It was something I could never have imagined when I was just entering the entrance exam. To think she was ahead of Gail, Luna, and Cecil.

It was finally confirmed that the choice to follow the masked man was correct.

If you take the A and B routes here, you can finish the exam before sunset, and even if you don’t, it’s safe to pass.

Of course, it was impossible for Lilith to follow the A and B routes.

The closer you get to the top of Mount Grace, the stronger the magical energy coming out of the ground. Thanks to that, Plantera’s fighting ability is also greatly improved.

On that route, the aggression reaches its peak, and Plantera rushes in from all directions without a chance to breathe.

After arriving at the base, Lilith had only one question in her head.

‘Should this man go the A or B route?’

The man opened the cabin door wide and looked down at the floor. Sensing something strange, Lilith approached the lodge.

“What’s up?”

Following the man’s gaze, she also looked down.

There were footprints made of mud. The water wasn’t even dry.

Read at noblemtl.com

Judging by the size of her feet and the shape of her shoes, it was clearly a woman’s.

“We weren’t the first… .”

There was a person that came to Lilith’s mind. He seemed to think the same thing.

There is only one person who can go ahead of all.

“Zion… Is this right?”

The man did not enter the hut and stood still, then took out a bottle of potion from his bag.

Lilith didn’t know exactly what it was.

He did remember, however, that whenever there was a sign that a battle was about to break out, the man divided it into small portions and drank it. And after that, the man’s eyes shone lightly.

He lifted the mask slightly and placed the potion bottle on his mouth.

One sip, two sips, three sips.

Lilith’s pupils gradually widened.

Read at noblemtl.com

Just like that, I emptied all the potions.

It was the first time I saw him while walking with him.

That meant preparing for a very big battle.

‘They’re leaving in the end.’

Should we split up now?

I was expecting it to some extent, but when I actually met that time, my heart was strangely settled.

Needless to say, if Lilith caught up with her beyond this point, she would become a burden.

Only then did I realize

Lilith couldn’t be a friend.

His attitude was a bit understandable. Lilith won’t help much when it matters most.

The thought of leaving without saying goodbye made me feel sick and drained of energy.

“… tired. I will rest at the mountain hut.”

Lilith went inside the cabin first. He picked up some wood piled on one of the walls, threw it into the fireplace, and made a fire. And lay down on a long wooden bench.

If I closed and opened my eyes here, I could be sure that the man would be gone.

You shouldn’t regret it. Because it was originally a relationship like this.

***

The dirt roads around the cabin were all muddy because the rain that had fallen the night before hadn’t dried up yet.

I was able to find a footprint there.

I followed it quietly and it led to route A.

Since the entrance exams began, I hadn’t heard from Zion even once.

I wondered where it disappeared, but I never thought I’d come face to face with traces like this.

Read at noblemtl.com

Judging from the footprints of only one person, it seemed that he had come without a companion.

As rumored, it is a terrifying skill.

The time has now come for me to pour my energy into it.

However, I wasn’t sure if I would have any stamina left before the final gateway.

I went back to the lodge.

I threw firewood into the dying fireplace and checked Lilith.

She was squatting on a bench and taking a deep nap. Looking at it like this, I’m just a small, young girl.

I approached Lilith. Then she opened her closed fingers and squeezed three candies.

He wasn’t a very helpful kid, but thanks to coming with him, he wasn’t bored.

Now that you’ve come this far, you should be able to handle the rest on your own.

I came out of the hut again and opened the map. It was a rival chosen by Silverin himself, but I couldn’t chase after it.

I checked the direction to Route B and moved on. The moment I was about to leave the base and enter the B-route, someone shouted from behind.

“wait for a sec!”

When I looked back, Lilith was standing where the sound came from.

She opened her ax eye and strode towards me as if she was very angry.

“I knew it.”

“… .”

“To sneak away while you’re sleeping? How are people?”

Lilith walked up to me and grabbed my wrist.

Then he put a certain potion in my hand.

“It’s the Yumer family’s special vitality potion that I’ve been saving until the end. drink when tired I don’t need it anymore.”

“…”

Did you follow me to deliver this?

I put the potion in my arms.

However, Lilith’s stare at me was unusual for giving me a favored gift.

Those eyes were full of anger and resentment.

It seemed like he was waiting for something to be said, but I had no intention of responding to it.

Without saying a word, I turned around, turned my back on her, and went on my way again.

Thanks to the effects of the Gryphon potion, which made her senses more sensitive, she was able to overhear Lilith muttering to herself.

“… Bad baby. ”

***

A huge explosion reverberated through the mountains for a long time.

“Mom!”

Trisha was startled and hid behind Cecil’s back.

Cecil looked up at the source of the sound. It came from around the top of Mount Grace.

Except for Trisha, the other colleagues were all looking up at the top of the mountain as if they sensed something out of the ordinary.

Cecil took out her telescope and focused it on the top of Mount Grace. Sapphire light flashed several times through the cracks in the trees.

She hurriedly took out a map and compared it to where the light came from.

“Route A… I think it is.”

Cecile’s co-worker and cousin, Bertan, said as if bewildered.

“Nonsense. so quickly?”

“Are you sure. At that speed, there would be none other than Shion.”

“Ha ha ha, as rumored, it’s really bloody.”

kwaaang

And again, the sound of an explosion rang out.

“yes? The explosion is somewhere else?”

“Look there, look there!”

A colleague pointed me to another place.

From a place not far from where the blue light came from, a pure white light radiated like an occasional lightning strike.

Cecile checked the map and said,

“what. That’s the route B. Is there another one?”

“what? Is there anyone other than Zion who can go so fast?”

The pure white light was hitting the top of the mountain at breakneck speed.

Going up the B route at that speed? Judging from the intense bursts of light and the sound of explosions, it was clear that he was not an ordinary person.

Even in terms of momentum, it seemed that he would arrive faster than Zion.

Bertan muttered as he watched the scene blankly.

“What’s going on?”