After defeating the Treeman, Wirn quickly pressed forward.
“Hmm?”
Before long, however, he stopped again.
He had reached a point where the single path split into dozens of branches like a spiderweb.
In other words, he could no longer continue choosing to simply go straight ahead.
“How many paths did they make?”
Dozens of paths stretched out in completely different directions.
Naturally, not all of them could lead to the destination.
If they did, there would have been no reason to go through the trouble of creating all this.
―Humm....
At that moment, a spherical orb appeared in midair.
Perhaps because the Mana inside it was so concentrated, the light radiating from it was remarkably vivid.
“So they want me to solve this to find the right path.”
Numerous sealing magic circles were plastered all over the orb.
Wirn immediately understood what they meant.
Only by undoing the seals on the orb would the location of the true path be revealed.
‘Should I just destroy it instead?’
The intention of whoever had designed this trial was simple and clear.
But Wirn wondered whether he really needed to play along.
Destroying the problem itself seemed far more efficient.
Just as he was about to cover the orb in Darkness—
―HUMM!
Light flowed from the black Mark.
‘You want to eat that?’
Its intention was obvious.
It wanted to devour the spherical orb Wirn had been planning to destroy.
“Hmm....”
However, Wirn couldn’t immediately tell it to devour the thing.
Someone was watching him from somewhere nearby.
‘Since they can’t see it, maybe it won’t matter?’
But as he thought it over, Wirn gradually decided that letting the Mark handle this would probably be fine.
After all, only he could see the Mark.
He could simply claim that whatever it did had been his doing.
Ooze... ooze.
So, just as he had when defeating the Treeman, Wirn released Darkness once again.
Then he used that Darkness to envelop the sealing magic circles.
Although only Wirn could see the Mark, he still didn’t want to openly reveal that he was using its power.
There was no telling when the Mark’s existence might become known.
‘Devour it.’
After concealing the magic circles beneath the Darkness, Wirn gave the creature urging him for food the signal.
GAPE!
A gigantic mouth emerged from the Mark.
It possessed the same nature as Wirn’s Darkness.
GULP!
The creature opened its mouth and swallowed the magic circles.
...FLASH!
At that moment, blue light erupted from inside its mouth.
At the same time, the Mana contained within the magic circles scattered in every direction and tore into the ground.
The sight of the thick earth being gouged apart was quite vicious.
‘That’s an enormous amount of Mana.’
Wirn clicked his tongue when he saw it.
If he had tried to destroy those magic circles with his own power alone, he would undoubtedly have struggled.
No.
He might even have been struck down by the power hidden inside them.
‘And whoever made this thing must be insane too.’
Realizing that participants were expected to deal with something this dangerous during the Hunting Ceremony, Wirn revised his opinion.
The Daylin Family had just as many screws loose as the Empire.
―Humm....
At that moment, a faint light flowed from the Mark that had devoured the magic circles.
‘Mana is overflowing.’
Wirn felt the Mana he had consumed while fighting the Treeman being replenished.
The Mana within his Circle was steadily growing stronger.
‘...Just what the hell are you?’
It devoured magic and replenished Mana.
Wirn stared at the Mark with a complicated expression as it accomplished both in an instant.
RUMBLE!
At that moment, the countless paths beyond the magic circles sank underground.
Only a single path remained before Wirn.
“...Well, I did solve it.”
Wirn shrugged as he looked at it.
He saw no reason to insist on doing things by the book.
He had always considered results more important than the process.
‘You did very well.’
So Wirn stroked the Mark on the back of his hand as though praising it.
―HUMM!
Listening to the Mark respond, he sprinted deeper inside.
***
After passing the second trial, a training ground appeared.
It had a similar atmosphere to the place where Wirn had previously trained.
Gray marble covered the ground, while the trees of the forest formed a boundary around the training area.
Wirn strode inside without hesitation.
―Humm....
A Teleportation Magic Circle appeared at the entrance opposite him.
“....”
It was the woman who had taken down five Orcs without chanting a short while ago.
‘Heinhern.’
Although this was technically the first time he had met her, Wirn immediately remembered her name.
That was possible because they had crossed paths in his previous life.
Of course, it hadn’t been a pleasant connection.
Wirn’s objective back then had been to kill Heinhern.
“Are you my opponent?”
Cold air flowed from her body.
White crystals were visible drifting through the air, showing just how powerful her affinity with the ice attribute was.
Wirn watched them shimmer as he spoke.
“....”
No answer came.
She observed Wirn as though she were staring at a stone lying by the roadside.
“An adult’s talking to you, and you don’t even answer.”
Wirn frowned at her unfriendly attitude.
Humm....
At the same time, Darkness flowed from him.
“...Darkness.”
Heinhern flinched when she saw it.
It was the purest Darkness she had ever witnessed.
As she marveled at it, she also realized that the rumors spreading among the collateral branches hadn’t been false.
“....”
“....”
The wielder of cold capable of freezing everything.
The wielder of Darkness capable of consuming everything.
Two people regarded as geniuses of their respective attributes silently stared at each other.
Yet Darkness and cold continued pouring from their bodies.
As though refusing to yield even an inch, they filled the places where they stood with Darkness and freezing air.
And when there was no longer any room for either force to spread—
...!
Wirn and Heinhern charged at each other simultaneously.
Murderous intent filled their eyes, and their Circles rotated with thunderous force.
It openly revealed just how much they wanted to kill one another.
CRUNCH!
The Mana erupting from their bodies pressed down against the ground.
Cracks spread across the training ground, and the walls surrounding it shook violently.
HUMM!
Then Heinhern began chanting a spell.
She could manifest the magic formed within her mind without chanting, but she knew she needed greater power if she wanted to finish her opponent for certain.
So, for the first time since participating in the Hunting Ceremony, she chanted a spell.
[Blade of Despair.]
CRACKLE!
The freezing energy she had spread twisted according to her incantation.
It gathered and compressed until it finally transformed into sharp blades.
But they weren’t ordinary blades.
They were ice blades filled with enough cold to freeze everything around them.
WHOOSH!
Dozens of ice blades shot toward Wirn.
Since the two of them were already charging toward each other, only five seconds remained before the blades reached him.
One mistake, and the fight could end before they even exchanged their first move.
Grin.
‘...He’s smiling?’
Yet instead of despair, a smile spread across Wirn’s face.
Seeing it, Heinhern became suspicious.
At the same time, she carefully examined Wirn and his surroundings.
“!”
Then her eyes widened in shock.
[Frozen Blade of Darkness.]
In the space surrounding him, which had been completely empty only a second earlier, blades made of ice had appeared.
‘They’re different... Those are... different!’
But unlike Heinhern’s, they hadn’t been created solely through the ice attribute.
Darkness had seeped inside Wirn’s blades.
The combination looked so natural that it resembled black ink spreading through water before the water itself froze solid.
“That’s impossible.”
It was something Heinhern couldn’t even imagine doing.
Controlling a single attribute already consumed an enormous amount of mental strength.
Yet Wirn, who possessed only one Circle, was freely controlling two attributes.
Right before her eyes.
Gulp.
Goosebumps rose across Heinhern’s skin.
Despite being someone who primarily controlled cold, even she felt an icy chill run down her throat.
...CRASH! CRACK! CRUNCH!
Then it happened.
Wirn’s Frozen Blades of Darkness collided with Heinhern’s Blades of Despair.
Dozens of blades struck, cracked, and shattered against one another, gradually turning the training ground into a sea of ice.
But neither of them stopped charging toward the other.
Instead, they closed the distance even faster than before.
They both knew it.
Their fight would end within five moves.
[Burning Veil of Darkness.]
The instant their first spells collided, Wirn was the first to cast again.
It was a gigantic wall created through Darkness and Life Flame.
FWOOSH!
Dark-red flames of death surged from the ground.
The suddenly appearing veil of Darkness completely blocked Heinhern’s vision.
‘What...?’
Heinhern frowned.
Not even two seconds had passed since the first spell finished activating.
Yet Wirn had already cast a second spell.
In other words, he was manifesting magic at a speed approaching multi-casting....
‘And he isn’t running out of Mana?’
Despite that, the veil towered as high as a fortress wall.
If someone stood atop the structure rising over the training ground and looked around, they could probably see every participant in the Hunting Ceremony.
Grind.
She could feel the gap between herself and her opponent.
Realizing it herself, Heinhern ground her teeth.
But she couldn’t give up here.
She had to win this Hunting Ceremony.
[Protection of Frost.]
[Circle Overload.]
―HUUUMM!
Heinhern pushed her Circle to its absolute limit.
It was a pair of spells that lowered her body temperature using the surrounding cold while simultaneously increasing the rotational speed of her Circle.
In an instant, Mana filled her body, and her five senses became extraordinarily sharp.
[Piercing Spear.]
CRUNCH!
A spear appeared in her hand.
A pure-white spear of ice.
It emerged from the freezing air for the sole purpose of piercing through the veil.
WHOOSH!
The instant the spearhead was fully formed, Heinhern hurled it with all her strength.
She intended to smash through that enormous veil and pierce Wirn’s heart on the other side.
THUD!
Had her efforts worked?
The Piercing Spear struck the veil directly in front of her.
At the same time, it rapidly froze the structure made of Darkness.
‘With this...!’
Heinhern saw hope of victory.
She realized that no matter how powerful Darkness was, she only needed to freeze it.
Even if another attack came from beyond the barrier, she became confident that she could freeze that as well.
RUMBLE!
At that moment, the barrier collapsed, revealing Wirn on the other side.
“!”
Then she stared in shock at the countless ice arrows floating around him.
This time, it wasn’t even a combination of Darkness and ice.
‘Lightning too...?!’
Electric currents spat sparks within the ice arrows he had created.
Those currents connected dozens of arrows together, forming an enormous ‘net.’
Grin.
Wirn smiled at Heinhern’s shocked expression.
Then he flicked a finger forward.
WHOOSH!
The arrows shot forward at a single gesture from Wirn.
CRACKLE!
“Urgh!”
Dozens of black ice arrows embedded themselves densely around her.
Then they released electrical currents, paralyzing her body.
The outcome had been completely decided after only two exchanges.
...THUD!
“You’re a rat trapped in a jar.”
Rustle.
Wirn approached until he stood directly in front of her, then formed tendrils from Darkness and bound both her arms.
“Admit defeat. Otherwise, I might break your arms and legs.”
“....”
Heinhern swallowed at Wirn’s words.
There wasn’t the slightest tremor in his voice or eyes.
From that alone, she realized he was completely serious.
“I can’t withdraw like this.”
But she didn’t give up.
No.
More precisely, she couldn’t.
“I—”
“If you don’t distinguish yourself here, you’ll have to live in the family basement. Were you about to say something like that?”
Just as she tried to explain, Wirn spoke the words Heinhern had been about to say.
“How do you know that...?”
Heinhern stared at Wirn in shock.
She hadn’t expected him to know about her circumstances.
It was a secret she had never told anyone.
Only the people from the collateral branch that had taken her in knew of that weakness, and even among them, only a very small number.
“I’m not going to tell you.”
But Wirn didn’t kindly answer her question.
“I’ll tell you how to escape your restraints.”
“!”
“Come find me after the spar is over. Then I’ll remove the mark on your body.”
After adding that he would resolve the predicament she was in—
THUD!
Wirn gathered Mana and struck her in the solar plexus.
“Ghk!”
A short cry escaped Heinhern’s mouth.
At the same time, her body went limp like water-soaked paper.
Rustle.
After confirming that, Wirn withdrew the tendrils binding her arms.
Then he dispersed the Darkness consuming the surroundings as well.
―HUUUMM!
A golden magic circle appeared before Wirn.
[Wirn. You passed every trial faster than anyone else.]
[You will be rewarded accordingly.]
[Return to the family through the magic circle.]
It was essentially a ‘finish line’ that appeared only for the person who cleared the trials the fastest.
“....”
Wirn raised his head at the man’s voice echoing through the air.
Then he stared at the small orb floating nearby.
No.
More precisely, he stared at the people who were undoubtedly watching him through that crystal orb.
“Hmm.”
He scratched his head.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like going back just yet.”
[What? What do you—]
“There’s still something I want to try.”
Tap!
Ignoring the man’s continuing voice, Wirn stretched his hand toward the wall.
―HUMM!
Then he compressed as much Mana as possible into his right hand.
CRASH—!
And fired it at the wall with all his strength.
RUMBLE!
The wall surrounding the training ground collapsed in an instant.
At the same time, the dense forest beyond it came into view.
Grin.
Wirn raised the corners of his lips as though he had finally found what he had been waiting for.
DASH!
Then he kicked off the ground and sprinted toward the forest before him.
‘The real hunt starts now.’
To obtain his second ingredient.