4. Practice Training – 07

And Altina opened her eyes.

“…..”

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My head was throbbing and it hurt. What is it? What happened? Why was he lying in a place like this?

“Are you awake?”

Altina looked to the side at the voice echoing from the side. There, the figure of Erekaya holding a book in one hand was sitting there, as if she had been reading a while ago.

“… Kaya.”

“Don’t call me that nickname, Altina. Aren’t we the little children of that time now?”

Erekaya, who cuts off her nickname for herself and says that.

That figure was so calm and devoid of emotion, that Altina bit her lower lip without realizing it.

Apparently, thinking of Erekaya in front of her as a ‘friend’ seemed to be a one-sided misunderstanding on her part.

“… Yes Erekaya. I made a mistake. You and I have already grown up a long time ago.”

Altina sighed softly and at the same time stood up to stand up.

“Ugh-”

However, the moment she was about to get up, an intense pain surged through her body, causing Altina to groan.

“Don’t overdo it. You’re still sick. You will have to recuperate on the bed for the time being.”

“… patient?”

“You don’t remember? You forcibly raised an aura to block the ogre’s attack at the last moment. It is said that the spiritual veins of the whole body were temporarily depleted because the Aura was used in an immature state that had not yet been awakened. Maybe if I take a good rest for a day or two, I will be able to regain my old condition.”

That’s right, now I remember. Apparently, the ogre imprisoned in an iron cage was released due to the ‘Cocytus Spear’ used by Claire, and she suffered internal injuries while forcibly pulling out the aura to prevent the aftermath-

… No, more than that, what did Erekaya say?

“You, definitely come now-”

It’s nonsense. Since Altina awakened her Aura last night, she hadn’t revealed to anyone except Jin that she had reached the level of Master by jumping over the wall.

Of course, there was no way to find out that person was an Auror user unless he revealed it himself.

In the first place, there was no reason to hide the fact that the warrior had reached the level of a master by overcoming the wall that was blocking him.

… But there was just one exception. Even if the opponent hides that he or she is an Auror user, there is a way to find out that person is an Auror user.

That is to awaken the auror. A person who has awakened an aura has transcendental senses and spiritual eyes, so it is possible to easily grasp the flow of vital energy flowing through the other person’s body.

Altina did not reveal that she had awakened her aura to Erekaya, and Erekaya knew that she had awakened her aura even though Altina did not say anything.

So, putting all of these facts together-

“Yeah, right. I too have already reached the level of a master and awakened my aura.”

Erekaya admits that fact surprisingly meekly.

And seeing Erekaya like that, Altina clenched her fists tightly.

I was one step behind again. Again, behind her.

Ever since I was young, I was only one step behind. Altina was always looking at the back of Erekaya, who was ahead of her.

And now that he had awakened his aura, he thought he could surpass Erekaya. They thought that they would finally stand on equal footing and not have to chase after her.

But that was a really naive delusion. Because Erekaya was located far ahead of her in the first place.

“I didn’t mean to pry behind you on purpose. I accidentally witnessed you raise your aura and protect the other students around you right when the ogre was released from the cage.”

To be precise, I had my doubts by witnessing the scene, and I was convinced by calmly observing Altina, who had lost her mind right now.

“But you were too reckless. If that person hadn’t protected you, you wouldn’t have died at the hands of an ogre, but you could have been seriously injured.”

“… that person?”

In an instant, a vague memory pops up in Altina’s head.

Just before Altina was hit by an ogre’s fist, a man wrapped her around her.

Even when his whole body was covered in blood, his strong and courageous back that never gave in and protected her until the very last moment.

“Right, that person. Is that person all right? Aren’t you dead?”

“I am not dead. But that doesn’t mean it’s in perfect condition either. The man is also now lying in the hospital room. As you can see, the man’s condition was really nonsense.”

For reference, the healer in charge of the infirmary stuck out his tongue as he saw Jin’s miserable condition.

Could this guy have swallowed a bomb down his throat? Otherwise, it would be impossible for the whole body to be shattered to this extent.

“And the reason I’ve been waiting for you to wake up here is because of the lost man.”

“… why?”

“I will ask you directly. Altina, what do you think of that man named Jin?”

What do you think… . Now, why are you asking such a grandiose question when you have only met him for two days?

“Well… Well.”

If Altina had heard this question yesterday, she would have answered without any hesitation that she is a strange guy who makes people feel bad somewhere.

But just overnight, a lot has changed.

He was no ordinary person. He is a different person from the idiots that are widely spread here.

He is a person with enough ‘sight’ to lead Altina, who is facing the wall, to the level of a master, and he is also a skilled person who easily killed an ogre that was said to be able to stand up to a fair amount of knights.

I don’t know why such a talented person entered Nineveh, or why he pretended to be a student, saying he had something to learn, but-

‘Altina-!’

I still vividly remember the image of Jin running towards Altina, calling her name right before she lost consciousness, unable to control her emotions.

Why did he call his name like that? Why was he looking at himself with such strange eyes?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out. No, I didn’t want to know.

Because the more he thought about that moment, the more he felt like something was digging into his head.

“… I do not know. However, it is certain that he is not an ordinary person.”

When Altina answered that while hiding the wild thoughts swirling in her mind, Erekaya nodded as if she agreed with her words.

“You know what? When the ‘Cocytus Spear’ hit the iron cage that was imprisoning the ogre, in fact, I was already raising the aura of my whole body. If something goes wrong, even if I reveal the fact that I’ve risen to the level of a Master, to save you. but-“

It is no longer necessary. Because, before Erekaya was even aware of it, Jin ran into the ogre and ended everything.

Yes. Erekaya was unaware that Jin was running towards the ogre. By activating the aura all over his body, he was unable to grasp his movements properly, even though his dynamic vision had increased several times higher than usual.

Erekaya knows that Jin didn’t use an aura at that time. Because I couldn’t feel the slightest sign of an Auror from him.

In other words, even without using an aura, he achieved a speed that exceeded the aura user’s dynamic vision. Even as a bare body without using any protection or supernatural abilities!

“… Does that make sense?”

“Of course it makes no sense. But I already knew that he was hiding that much potential. Because he is an exceptionally admitted student.”

“A special admissions student?”

exceptionally admitted students. There was no way Altina didn’t know what those words meant.

This is because Altina also had the qualification for special admission, and entered Nineveh by taking the entrance exam without using that qualification on purpose.

As Erekaya said, the fact that a man named Jin entered the school using the right of special admission means-

“that’s right. He is a descendant of those now forgotten by the world. I don’t know, but the skills he hides can never be said to be below us.”

“…..”

I thought that he was an unusual person, but was that man a person of that level?

“… But, you can only catch an ogre, and you were seriously injured.”

“He wasn’t injured by an ogre or something. Because all of his injuries were caused by his own power.”

Even if no one else knew, Erekaya saw it clearly. The moment he used an unknown power, the violent flow of power manifested in his body tore his whole body to shreds.

A man who grants the user enormous power, but at the same time handles the uneasy power that destroys his own body regardless of his friends.

‘… But, something is strange.’

The power Jin was dealing with seemed to have a fundamentally different direction.

If the purpose is not to strengthen the user who handles power, but to feel that it is specialized in destroying the user’s own body itself, is it just her misunderstanding?

“Anyway, he claims to be a descendant of heroes. Of course, I don’t intend to naively believe that fact, but it’s also true that he has extraordinary powers, so I’ve decided to keep an eye on him for the time being.”

“Then why are you telling me that? No matter how much I listen to it, it seems like information that no student should know.”

At that, Erekaya raised her index finger and slowly brought it to Altina’s lips.

“What happened today, and what you saw. Don’t go anywhere and talk about all these things. That’s why I told you all the facts. At least if you know the truth, you’ll think about it one more time before you speak.”

… In other words, did Erekaya keep silent in return for telling Altina the truth?

I didn’t tell you this information because I believed and trusted her, but because I didn’t trust her.

But none of that mattered to Altina. Even if Erekaya didn’t say that in the first place, Altina had no intention of going anywhere to talk about what happened today.

Jin is said to be a benefactor to Altina, and no matter what secrets he has or what goals he has, Altina will only treat him as a favor.

Rather than such useless information, there was one problem that must be pointed out.

“… Erekah, I have a question I want to ask you, can you answer it?”

“Any question I can answer.”

Erekaya nodded in affirmation to Altina’s words, and Altina tried to calm down her trembling hands and slowly opened her mouth.

“You said you had awakened your aura from long ago.”

“yes.”

“Then when did you awaken your aura?”

Suddenly, a friendship dance with Erekaya that happened around last year came to mind in Altina’s mind.

At that time, Altina was able to win the match against Erekaya with a really narrow margin.

… Although Erekaya was well aware of the fact that she hadn’t tried her best.

The woman Altina knew, Erekaya Del Pendragon, was not a woman who wielded her power to show off to others.

Still, I couldn’t help but have a little bit of hope.

Perhaps, perhaps, she would now stand on an equal footing with Erekaya. Even if they don’t really stand on an equal footing, wouldn’t Erekaya also recognize herself as a rival?

but.

“It was two years ago that I awakened my aura. But why?”

“… no, nothing.”

From the beginning, Erekaya and Altina had never been equal. No, far from being equal, Altina had never been crazy about Erekaya’s toes.

Everything, from the beginning, was Altina’s own terrible misunderstanding.

“What is it, cool. Anyway, take good care of yourself. Then see you in the next class.”

Saying that, Erekaya disappeared out of the infirmary that way. However, the traces of Erekaya still remained here, grabbing Altina’s heart and not letting go.

… It was miserable. I felt so small and weak.

How funny did Erekaya look at Altina during the friendly match that day a year ago? How small and weak did it feel?

He didn’t even really cheer up, but he must have looked so pitiful when he was elated after winning in such a friendly fight.

At this moment, only an endless sense of defeat and humiliation filled Altina’s heart.