Attraction took effect far faster than I had expected.
SCRAAAAAPE!
However, the instructor’s feet began digging diagonally into the ground like shovels.
‘I think he’s aiming for something.’
Perhaps this was a golden opportunity, but he looked as if he was waiting for me to approach, so I could not move in easily.
“Be on guard. He is a dangerous man. As dangerous as my biceps.”
“......Right.”
His words were strange, but the meaning Jio wanted to convey was the same. The instructor abruptly raised his head and smiled.
“You’ve got an interesting special ability. Those selfish eyes, and this thick, clinging power that pulls. Right?”
A shiver ran down my spine.
The instructor did not say it clearly, but he was accurate. The thought that he might have grasped everything made chills rise over me.
‘So this is real combat.’
Just as I grasped my opponent, my opponent grasped me as well.
The instructor was clearly a madman, but he was also a benefactor. Thanks to him, I learned that in real combat, I had to hide my cards.
“I won’t deny it.”
I answered vaguely, hoping to cause even the slightest confusion.
“Yes, excellent.”
That aside, perhaps this tugging sensation was why people went fishing, but even while I continued maintaining Attraction, there was no progress.
“It really was fun, but I need to get off work now.”
“......Pardon?”
At the same time as those words, the instructor entrusted his body to Attraction and rushed in like an arrow.
Tap! Tap!
The instructor’s speed rose even further as he used Attraction’s pulling force.
‘I can dodge.’
I did not retreat and waited for him. Until now, the instructor’s attacks had been followed by mana that began from his lower dantian.
So I judged that if I saw through the feint and dodged just once, I would be able to touch him.
“What you see is not everything.”
The moment the instructor finished speaking, he thrust his fist toward me.
‘It’s a feint.’
However, no mana flowed in the instructor’s hand. It was not even within reach.
It was a fist strike that would stop right in front of my eyes.
Because I had been measuring the instructor’s distance with the Heavenly Hound’s eyes all this time, I could estimate that much.
‘Don’t dodge. Just endure it once.’
Even if I was pushed forward by Attraction, the force would be considerably reduced.
Meanwhile, the instructor’s middle finger had hooked against his thumb like a bowstring drawn taut, but because he held a fist with such powerful momentum, it was hidden from me.
WHISTLE!
‘Now.’
Soon, the instructor’s fist filled my vision. As expected, it stopped right before my eyes.
Because of that, I was about to stretch out my hand with the thought that I only needed to touch him somewhere.
However, a strand of mana shot up like lightning from the instructor’s lower dantian. The explosive force, like detonating the primer of a bullet, connected to my forehead.
SNAP!
That was the last sound I heard.
***
I came to my senses while feeling an unfamiliar texture and looking at surroundings that had become somewhat familiar. How long had I been unconscious this time?
“Well, this is something.”
To think I would get used to it just because I had been here twice now. It was astonishing that I had visited the infirmary more often than my assigned dorm room.
‘But every time I wake up, I feel refreshed.’
I had never seen the school nurse until now, but they seemed to be skilled.
I raised my upper body and looked around. A different background from yesterday entered my eyes.
‘This time, it’s them.’
At the foot of the bed stood a familiar giant, keeping watch.
“Have you awakened, brother?”
I asked with all sincerity.
“Why do you call me brother?”
“I hold your grit in high regard. You are a great man I may well consider a brother.”
If I thought of it differently, it also meant that someone on the level of an heir to a prestigious guild recognized me that much.
‘That’s a good thing.’
And it was also an undeniable fact that he had been considerate enough to stay here with me.
Mom had told me not to be stingy with saying thank you. That way, I would be able to hear thank you later too.
“Thanks.”
“There is no need for thanks. That is what brothers are.”
It was a sweltering kind of romance. Still, it was true that it was too much, so I lay back down.
In that state, belatedly sorting through my severed memories, I reviewed my clash with the instructor.
‘I learned a lot.’
Thanks to the instructor, I learned the infinite possibilities of my special abilities and the basic qualifications for real combat.
Though I lost consciousness after being hit by a forehead flick, I could say I had gained a valuable experience for quite a cheap price.
“......Hm?”
It happened just as my sleeve rode up while I was straightening the bedding.
‘Why is this filled?’
At some point, the Thunderbird’s mark had reached almost ten percent.
I had not absorbed the instructor’s mana. I had merely looked at my special ability in a new way and applied it.
“I shouldn’t make assumptions.”
“What is it?”
“No. I think I saw wrong.”
I said that, but it felt like the corners of my mouth had risen all the way to my ears.
Because I had realized that absorbing mana was not the only way to fill the Thunderbird’s mark.
‘Why do I find things like this fun?’
Of course, all my expectations might be wrong.
However, amid the leisurely everyday life I had lived until now, this kind of subtle mystery was fleetingly perfect, making me look forward to every moment and to tomorrow.
***
Perhaps Instructor Wagner had held back, because I did not end up entering the liberal arts class late.
‘It’s surprisingly complicated.’
The others might have already learned it and found it boring, but everything was new to me, so even sitting in a chair was enjoyable.
After finishing all my classes like that, I went to the training ground.
‘What is all this?’
Naturally, all of Dormitory A had come to the training ground.
“Phew...... I’ll rest for just three minutes, then go back in.”
“Three minutes? Is there any need to rest?”
“Do you even have time to talk?”
The conversation, thick with bravado, was coming from in front of the mana concentration room prepared separately at the training ground.
Why the mana concentration room looked like a sauna where pride was on the line, I did not know.
If this too was part of Heroes, I had reason to join them. But it was unnecessary for me right now.
‘I definitely would’ve been fine even if it had been higher.’
So I planned to increase my proficiency with my special abilities while filling the Thunderbird’s mark as a side benefit.
The place I visited was the arms rental room.
“From here to here, please.”
Normally, I would have had to pay a separate rental fee, but students of Dormitory A were fully exempt.
And since this was something I had always wanted to try at least once, I felt fairly proud.
“All of this......?”
The rental room employee did not hide his uneasy expression. However, now that I had said it this way, there was nowhere to retreat.
“Yes, all of it, please.”
In a way, the rental room employee had reason to be reluctant.
What I had swept over with my index finger was magic books and small, miscellaneous items that carried mana.
The rental room employee cleared his throat and spoke as if delivering a final warning.
“Hmm...... Rather than trying to handle many things, it would be better to focus on one.”
If I answered, the employee looked ready to keep questioning me, so this time, I did not answer.
‘This is a psychological battle.’
After observing my reaction for a moment, the employee opened his mouth.
“If you insist, then......”
I won this time. I carried my spoils in both arms and set them down in a spacious area.
‘So this is a core.’
Contrary to how they looked on the outside, the items in the rental room possessed something called a core, like a person’s lower dantian or mana heart.
It was something I had just learned in the liberal arts class. First, I stretched out my hand toward a crystal ball about the size of my fist.
“Reclaim.”
The uncanny power struck the crystal ball. An unpleasant sound like fingernails scraping a chalkboard followed.
SCREEECH! CRACK!
“Ah!”
Soon, a crack was engraved like a scar into the crystal ball, which had low mana capacity. It was the backlash created by a power that defied providence.
It might have been my imagination, but I felt as if I heard the rental room employee scream, though the surroundings were noisy.
‘This is strangely exhausting.’
Just as mana operation consumed something, Kubanda’s special ability also consumed something.
For now, it was difficult to define what that something was.
‘Let’s just do as much as I can.’
Putting that aside, this time, I planned to use Attraction on a magic book. My plan was to control the output and hold it in midair.
If I did it this way, I would be able to discover various conditions for filling the Thunderbird’s mark.
And if holding something in midair became possible, it would be helpful someday.
‘I’m really no good at math.’
Of course, there was a convenient method called telekinesis magic, but my plan was to grow my strengths and cover my weaknesses.
“Release Attraction.”
Wondering if it might help, this time I animated my fingertips like a conductor.
Lift. Lift.
As if the magic book understood my feelings, it leisurely floated up.
‘It works. This is huge, isn’t it?’
The moment I glimpsed the possibility, a strange trumpet sound cried out from the sky.
BWOOO! BWOOOO!
The magic book was immediately pulled into my hand. Even then, I stared at the sky spread outside the window.
‘It’s been a while since I heard that.’
Because the sound was not something only I could hear, the surroundings suddenly grew noisy.
“I’ve been hearing that sound a lot lately.”
“I heard some people call it the celestial trumpet.”
People said all sorts of things, from the resonant sound of tectonic shifts to the infrasonic waves of solar flares.
However, they were all wrong, and I was the only person who knew exactly what it was.
‘Still, the name celestial trumpet suits it.’
That sound was heard when Divine Beasts crossed into the human realm. I merely knew that this kind of sound occurred, and I did not know exactly what principle caused it.
“It seems to be inside the Academy?”
Judging by the direction of the sound, coincidentally, it was inside the Academy.
Curiosity about its identity arose, and then a strange expectation that I might be lucky enough to obtain another special ability followed.
‘I can just go and see.’
And though I did not show it, there was also something I wanted to ask.
‘It’d be nice if I could find out, even roughly.’
The words Kubanda had said, that something was happening up above.
***
At first, I used the sound to determine the direction, and as I got closer, I moved using the aura I sensed as a signpost.
Just when I thought I might be able to see it now, a foreign voice reached my ears.
“Haah...... How long has it been since I last came to the human realm?”
The moment I heard the voice, both my speed and stride shortened at the same time, and I naturally stopped.
Because although I could feel a belligerent nature like the Thunderbird’s, its tone was strangely noble and sounded as if it had reached enlightenment.
However, even that unease slowly changed into curiosity.
‘I came this far anyway, so I should at least confirm it.’
Divine Beasts were clearly different from magical beasts, so they were usually beneficial to humans, and leaving them alone was not normally a problem.
“......”
However, unlike what I had said, only after glancing at the Thunderbird’s mark hidden beneath my sleeve did I move my feet.
I had something to rely on too, so I had no intention of stopping now.
After securing my safety at a considerable distance, I activated the Heavenly Hound’s special ability.
“......This is really strange.”
There was a monkey in a pure white monk’s robe.
He was so famous that it did not take long to recognize him.
Moreover, he had the Golden Headband, which was close to his signature item, so there was no room to deny it.
‘Should I go back even now?’
The thought came naturally. No, what I knew and what I was seeing had to be different in moderation.
If he had been wearing splendid armor, my heart might have felt much lighter. But the sight of him in that white monk’s robe was full of dissonance.
‘He might have gone off the rails.’
He was the celestial realm’s libertine, an immortal stone monkey, and a troublemaker who could make even the god who governed the underworld faint.
For such a troublemaker to be wearing a monk’s robe that did not suit him meant either that it was not him, or that he had gone completely insane.
In that instant, the Heavenly Hound’s eyes and the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s eyes met in midair.
“......!”
Gulp!
Saliva slowly passed down my throat.
The ferocity of his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils drove me back like two suns.
‘This is bad.’
His Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils proved that he was the Great Sage Equaling Heaven himself, burning away my shallow hope that he might not be.
As far as I knew, the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils held the power to distinguish truth from falsehood and even see through the incomprehensible.
‘How will he take me?’
Because I had indirectly encountered the temperament of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, my hand trembled faintly for the first time, just as it had when I first watched Mom subjugate a magical beast.
‘Read the mood, would you?’
And I was curious about how the Great Sage Equaling Heaven would take me.
“You are the child Virudhaka spoke of.”
“......Huh?”
All I could do was blink my eyes as stupidly as possible.
Because the celestial rogue who had rebelled against even the Jade Emperor was wearing a kinder smile than anyone else.
‘Ah, is this the matter in the celestial realm?’
I could not understand it at all, so I had no choice but to piece it together within the range of what I knew.
“It is good to meet you like this. You have a fine look about you. On the whole, a handsome face indeed.”
I did not know why I kept thinking it would be better if he were a troublemaker instead.